Nanowrimo: Day 02

Okay, I've decided to knock off for this, the second day of Nanowrimo. My word count is now 3,489.

I got a lot done today; I made up some ground and I got caught up. Granted, my actual goal is to be typing around 2,000 words per day, for 25 days of typing. (I figure it's better to build in a buffer with a few days off, just in case.) Actually, truth be told, I should be to typing at least 3,000 words a day, if I want to write 75,000 words in 25 days.

Why 75,000 rather than 50,000? Well, I would like for the finished novel to be 300 pages in length. At an average of 250 words per page, that means a total of 75,000 words. But even if I just aim for 50k or 60k, the reality is that I'm more likely to add to, rather than take away from, the novel's total word count with the subsequent revisions . . . at least initially. So I suppose there's no point in going overboard now.

Anyway, in the end it's all rather arbitrary, since the novel will be whatever length it will be, and should be. No more, no less.

Testing desktop blogging apps

Surprising there aren't too many good desktop blogging apps out there. Most of the best ones (at least commercial ones) have been for the Windows platform. Most of the Mac ones are really not that good.

But perhaps I'm guilty of being too harsh, too hasty, or not thorough enough. I'm gonna make an active effort to find a decent desktop blogging app for my Mac. (Preferably the most full-featured, cheapest one available.)

And the sooner I find one the better, because I think we can all agree that Blogger's web-based posting editor sucks in a major way.

Let slip the hounds of typing!

So, today is the first day of Nanowrimo and I've done only 1,577 words (or 1,578 depending on which word processor I use.) A little off the pace I suppose, but at least I started. 

I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. I'm not really worried about hitting my word count goals. Nor am I worried about hitting the 50k total word mark. My big question is what how efficient will I be?

Should I just type like the wind and spew stuff down as quickly as possible? Or should I take a wee bit longer (and thus be a wee bit slower) and try to write it better, the first time around? 

I know there is a point at which I'll get diminishing returns and just waste too much time for Nanowrimo purposes, but I don't just want a novel out of this. I want a good novel, and I don't want to waste a lot of time. Or more precisely, I want to write this novel the right way. 

Perhaps Nanowrimo is not the best vehicle for producing my novel -- one I hope to have published someday soon. But I think I might be tempted to waste too much time otherwise, without the Nanowrimo induced timeframe. 

I guess we'll see. The truth is that I didn't really spend all that much actual time writing today -- and the beginning can be the hardest part -- so all in all, I'm pretty happy. Now all I have to do, is keep the momentum going. 

Mourn the orphans

One of the things which fascinates me about the writing process are the orphans -- all the little concepts, characters, phrases, plot lines, and drafts that are created and eventually discarded along the way.

The road of writer's journey is littered with them. Generally they go unmourned, hardly noticed. Long forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind.

But sometimes I wonder . . . what could they have become, if circumstance had been right?

Not quite a pup-in-a-blanket, but tasty nonetheless, no?

What in the world is this, and why am I posting it, you might ask?

To answer the former, just as it appears to the naked eye, it is quite literally a doggie bag. (Pun intended.) Both cute and disturbing at the same time.

To answer the latter, I saw this little gem down in San Diego at this year's Comic-Con on the way to lunch and immediately thought of Joseph Mallozzi who was to appear at the much anticipated (from my perspective) Stargate Atlantis panel and occasionally blogs about, and posts pictures of, four little dogs he and his wife own.

Writing alone, together

As some of you may know, my transition to becoming a writer has been a long time in coming. A long time, because I had been thinking about it and planning it for years before actually doing something about it. Planner, I am no more! A man of action, am I! This year I finally took steps toward creating a more "writerly" life.

I decided I needed to surround myself with all things literature and writing related. So, I joined my local library's mystery book club . . . which led to a desire to read science fiction, the genre of choice during my youth, as well as chat with others about it, too . . . which lead to finding a few like-minded library staffers and starting a science fiction / speculative fiction book club . . . which led to finding other stymied, writers-in-waiting . . . which led to form a writing group.

So, how's the writing coming, you might ask? Actually, pretty good! (Thanks for asking.)

The writing group has been the best thing for my writing. I can set goals from here to eternity, but there's nothing like a group of fellow writers, to whom I am accountable, to help keep me on track. And the fact that I am not only helping myself, but helping others along on their own writing journeys, is a great motivator. It helps that we keep things low-key and light. As an example, just check out the name of our writing group and its blog, Fifty Lashes with a Wet Noodle: The Writing Group, or Fifty Lashes, for short.

We're actually moving along quite nicely in our preparation for this year's NaNoWriMo. Our goal is to finish the first drafts of our novels via NaNo during the month of November. This will be the first NaNo for the majority of the group. (I've tried to do NaNo twice before, but never actually started writing anything. See, it's that whole not following through problem I was talking about.)

Anyway, I suggest you think about joining, or starting, a writing group if you're serious about becoming a writer. Sure, you could always do things yourself, alone. But it's so much more fun with company.

Hanging at the library

So, my local library is great. Nice new facilities, lots of good books and resources, and free Internet access via wifi. The only downside, besides the fact that the Internet access is a tad slow, is that my cell phone's signal is weak to non-existent inside.

It's not that I'm planning on taking calls and chatting loudly in the library. How rude would that be? I would step out to take calls, natch. It's just that there are times when you need continuous mobile communications, when every second counts . . . you know, family emergencies, agent calling, surfing on my Blackberry. That sort of stuff.

It's situations like these when it would be nice to have the Blackberry Curve 8320. With its UMA capabilities, the Curve would allow me to send and receive phone calls in poor cell reception areas via the Internet in areas that have an available wifi network. Of course it'll cost an additional $10 (or is it $20?) a month for T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service, but improved indoor cell phone usage, plus unlimited calling while using wifi, would be worth it.

Now, if I could only just figure out how to deal with whole $250 price tag to upgrade.