Nano 2016 Motivation and Confession Thread

[Caged Maiden]

Well, the only reason I'm margin progress at all right now is because I slapped a weak chapter together and left it at that. If I go back and tinker, trying to make it great, I'm going to lose what little momentum I've got built up.

However, I just completely redid a conversation in the next chapter, and feel like it's really going so much better than before. So, that's something. Not something great, just something.

 

[Svrtnsse]

380 words.
Went to hang out with some friends after work. Can't move. Too much cake.

 

[Chessie]

2088 for me today, putting me at 7790 words total. Ludmila's fiance forced her to drink a poison as part of their plan to find this mysterious healer...it's weird, yeah. I suppose he didn't technically force her, he just refused to do it himself after he had agreed to help her. This story is getting funner by the day and I'm liking not worrying about beautiful prose. I'll make the script shine on the second pass through. For right now, my only focus is in getting the structure of the story right the first time.

 

[Tom]

Wrote 1242 words despite taking an unexpected nap. Not too bad.

I'm looking forward to getting started tomorrow--I've got a big scene coming up, some secrets to blow wide open, and some character development to take place. I'm also starting to see a definite shift in Aeyu's character, from the innocent village girl she was when I first wrote her, to the ambitious prodigy who wants to rise above her station that she is now. I can't believe how far she's come. It's exciting.

 

[Gribba]

Work getting in the way... about 800 words yesterday and 500 today...
and thanks Caged Maiden, switching project and just write is what I needed.

 

[Ireth]

Made it past par, and just in time! Today turned out better than I thought.

 

[ThinkerX]

Another night, another thousand words. I figure 1000-1200 words a night will be the goal here, with greater spurts on my days off. Don't know how long I can keep it up. Hopefully for the month. Hopefully until I have something that can pass for a completed rough draft.

Hmmm, I definitely hear the "not enthused" sentiment. You know, the thing is, I love this book...but I am not enthused about this chapter I'm tackling now.

I think the reason is that when I think of the book, I see all the really emotional moments and I get sort of squishy on the inside. The moment where the characters fall in love. The scene where they realize they can't be together because they're distant relations. And then when they decide to throw that out the window and carry on anyways. And before all that, when they hated each other and didn't voice why, but after some scenes of forgiveness and honesty, they admit their shame and apologize for the animosity...which is sort of after the romantic feelings have surfaced a bit.

But...I've realized that one of the biggest problems I have, is that I tried to write epic fantasy...and I sort of don't. I mean, I think my plot is crap, and the writing, too, so your guess is as good as mine, why I can't do the epic thing, but I LIVE for the moments of internal reflection, and sometimes it's hard to force those. Unless I have some inspiration for those moments, the writing becomes dull and utilitarian, and it's endlessly defeating as I try to move forward with the story.

The more of this epic I write, the more I think of your experiences with that ten volume series, Caged. 'Empire: Judgment' is the sixth novella or short novel in this series, and four of the previous five are still rough drafts. 'Empire: Country,' first of the batch, is in the 2nd/3rd rewrite stage. Next year is going to be dedicated mostly to rewrites, I fear.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Yeah, I've been rewriting for almost three years. I'm feeling pretty "done" with it. I want to actually get finished with something. But even if I finish this one novel...it's smack in the middle of a series of books that do build on each other, despite being set generations apart sometimes. It would make me feel weird to query this book and not mention the ones that came before, that aren't edited enough to submit. Or the ones that follow, because I love those as much as I do this one.

It's so much easier to write a stand alone book. And in my last rewrite...my stand alone novel blew up and when I scraped up the pieces of it off the floor...I realized I'm going to have to (trust me) write a prequel and sequel to it if I'm ever going to turn it into something manageable.

What a mess. But unless I scrap everything and start completely over, I have to work with what I have, and sometimes the raw materials aren't top quality

 

[ThinkerX]

Well, the 'Empire' series does have a fairly solid basis, though it took me a long, long time to get the core characters right, and it wasn't until late last year I began to get comfortable writing them.

What keeps me sane is telling myself these are novellas of 35-40,000 words...though the last two (Metropolis and Spiral) blew that out of the water at 45 and 55 k respectively, and 'Country' is almost certain to pass the 50k mark when the rewrites are done. For that matter, all of these 'novellas' bar one ('Estate') are probably going to be in the 55-65k range when finished - or longer.

 

[Heliotrope]

Success on my 1700 words last night It takes me sooooooo long (average about 3 hours to do 1700 words), but I accomplished 7000 words this week and that is a BIG deal for me. Amazing really.

I officially finished my rough draft of my chapter five last night so I have that to play with now.

“Are we stopping at my house?” I asked, even thought I knew the answer. Mary didn’t respond. As soon as she sat in the passenger side she pulled down the cosmetic mirror and reapplied her mauve lipstick.

“At my house.” A monotone voice repeated. “At my house. At my house.”

The car jerked forward, then stopped abruptly before I had a chance to do up my seatbelt. I was sent sprawling into the seat adjacent and caught sight of something green and yellow on the dash.

“Blimey Mary, shut that bird up. 'es been talking me ear off all morning.” The driver put the engine back into gear and eased the car forward a few feet before gaining speed.

“Blimey Mary.” The voice repeated again. “Blimey Mary. Blimey Mary.” Mary turned to the driver. She had a massive purple lipstick streak from one corner of her lip down her jaw and into the white starched collar of her silk suit. She extended the golden tube toward the driver and mashed the remainder of the purple stick into the driver’s ear.

“Get off Mary, what you do that for?”

“You call yourself a driver?” She snarled. “What do I pay you for?”

“You ever tried to drive with a wooden leg, you bracket faced wench?” The car lurched forward again. “Me stump keeps sliding off the pedal.”

Mary pulled a packet of moist towelettes from her purse and began wiping the lipstick from her throat and chin with one hand while reaching for the green and yellow thing with the other.

“Come to mama darling,” she said in the same oozy voice she had used the first time I heard her in my kitchen. The green and yellow thing hopped from the dash to her hand and for the first time I saw it was a parrot. The parrot jumped from her hand, up her arm to her shoulder where it perched with its back to the front staring at me.

 

[Chessie]

Today is double-word count day, so my goal is 3400. So far I'm at 460. We'll see if I actually get there although it might take me all freaking day.

 

[Tom]

Let's see if I can get to 2500 today!

 

[Fluffypoodel]

Wrote almost 3k today! could have pushed out the extra 80 or so words but I really like the place i ended at here. Hope to do the same tomorrow!

 

[Caged Maiden]

@ Thinker X: Here's my issue with finishing things:

Book 1-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 2-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 3-Untitled, first draft--should never see the light of day

Book 4-The Silk Scarf/ Unseen Wisdom--First draft edited slightly, needs full rewrite, about 100k words

Book 5-The Satin Dress/ Unspoken Truth--Lost handwritten copy, needs full rewrite, about 100k words

Book 6-The Velvet Slipper/Unwritten Words--Outline only, needs full write, about 100k words

Book 7-Sayan Soul--Rewriting now, editing to completion, 150k+ words

Book 8-Dragon's Blood--Needs rewrite, 200k words

Book 9-Spirit's Shadow--Needs first draft finished and editing, 150k+ words

Book 10-Warrior's Heart--Needs complete rewrite and editing, 150k words


Then...

Dressed in Red--prequel to a novel I finished, needs first draft finished, 100k words

Written in Red--needs thorough edit, 150k+ words

Something else in Red--needs to be written to complete the trilogy, 100k+ words


And...

Novella:Overwound--needs first draft finished, 50-80k words

Novella:Villainous Princess (working title)--needs first draft finished, 50-80k words

Novel:Anamnesis needs research and first draft finished, 100k words


So...yeah, it sort of sucks trying to do epic adventures that all go together, because how can I just pick book 7 and say, "Oh, this one's worth submitting to an agent," if I have stories that come before it and after it? So tricky. So, for right now, I'm going to finish Sayan Soul, and then I'll decide what's next most important to work on and devote time to. Another major concern I have is that some of the novels are very adult in nature, while others are sort of fun adventures with lower key love stories. So...I worry fans of one won't like some others. I'm not quite sure how to overcome that problem or whether it is in fact a problem at all.

Ah, so time to get writing today. I had a pretty good day yesterday (as far as word count), but I left things pretty raw and know I need to go back at some point and jazz those up more than a little.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Got around 500 words today. Did not finish a chapter. Got one started though and now it's introduced and under way it should be smoother sailing tomorrow.

 

[Tom]

609 words today. Bleh. Today turned out to be less productive than I thought--leftover homework ate more time than expected. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get a lot more written.

 

[Chessie]

So exactly 1800 for today, putting me at 9590. I seriously struggled through that. Everything written was crap until probably the last 3 paragraphs.

 

[Caged Maiden]

yeah, Chesterama, I hear that! I'm not doing great with what I'm writing, but every day I go backward a little and change things to get a run-up for the next. Just keep going!

 

[ThinkerX]

So...yeah, it sort of sucks trying to do epic adventures that all go together, because how can I just pick book 7 and say, "Oh, this one's worth submitting to an agent," if I have stories that come before it and after it? So tricky. So, for right now, I'm going to finish Sayan Soul, and then I'll decide what's next most important to work on and devote time to. Another major concern I have is that some of the novels are very adult in nature, while others are sort of fun adventures with lower key love stories. So...I worry fans of one won't like some others. I'm not quite sure how to overcome that problem or whether it is in fact a problem at all.

A rule of thumb I developed or picked up and decided to adhere to:

'Do not publish or submit for publishing the first book in a series until you have at least a rough draft of the last book.'

Which is why I am tapping away at the rough draft for 'Novella 6' in the 'Empire' series rather than polishing the last draft of the Novella 1.

Another rule of sorts, adopted from carpentry of all things. (I have done a fair amount of construction through the decades).

'If the foundation is half an inch out of square, you will fight that half inch all the way to the attic.'

Or in writer terms, if the first tome in your series is flawed, you will fight that flaw through the remainder of the series.

I said earlier it took me a long time to get the core characters right for the 'Empire' series. Yes, I wrote the second novella a little over a year and a half ago, when their characters began to crystalize. But the first draft of the first novella was written three years prior to that. That was how long it took me to get the foundation squared - and its still not quite right.

Caged, I have read a fair bit of your work - both short stories and excerpts from your novels. Without intending offence, two things have stood out:

First, your writing could stand a tighter focus. I noted multiple asides and unneeded deviations.

Second, you seem to use about twice the words needed to get the main point across.

 

[Gribba]

2160 words today, so far so good.

Excerpt from my current writing:
I know now, that my mother was not in a good place when I was little and she definitely needed some help but I also know now, that as a child, I took the anger and the mean words and the loathing she had for me as one sign, she did not love me, did not want me and I was nothing to her.
She did care and she did show love, as well, but often with conditions, not all the time, but with time those tended to get lost in the mess of things, I was receiving. Believing she loved me or cared for me, was like believing that there was, this big guy, in the sky, all knowing and all that, one can hope but I don't believe in bullshit, so it was a no brainer for me.

She had a tendency to tell me that I would end up like my father, the man that was an alcoholic and drug user, the man that she only spoke unkind and mean words about, that did make my future look somewhat grim.
The words she often had for me were unkind and my little heart, early on, was shattered into pieces.
Being bullied in school was no less brutal, as my heart was already fragile.
One day, few of the girls from my class, had opened the window so the boys could look into the showers and they did not warn me, that moment when I see the boys looking at me in the shower and the girls laughing, shattered the remaining parts that had held together. It broke me to pieces, the realization, ‘Why would anyone ever like me, why would they be kind to me, if my own mother can't even love me’, that is what followed me for so many years. That day when I came home, broken, crying and humiliated, my mother burst into the school ready to tear any head off that said a wrong word to her but at that point, I was so broken, that I was unable to see her action as something of value.