So, I finally hit the 15k word mark today, which those of you mathematically-inclined (or with access to calculators) know means that I am 30% of the way to the Nanowrimo goal of 50k words. Not too shabby, eh? For those of you keeping count, my current word count is 15,619.
For all you fellow Nanowrimo-ers out there, good luck and keep it up!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Nanowrimo: Day 08
Not a very productive day in terms of additional word count -- zero for today -- so I'll just have to coast by on my gains from yesterday. That mean I'm currently at 12,310 words.
But I did have some thoughts and insights into enriching the story and possibly setting the ground work for future sequel and/or prequels. Can you say trilogy?
But I did have some thoughts and insights into enriching the story and possibly setting the ground work for future sequel and/or prequels. Can you say trilogy?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Nanowrimo: Day 05
Did some catching up today . . . or is that just less falling behind? My word count is at 5,698. Eh, no worries. I should have no problem catching up tomorrow.
A couple of things I've learned. First, don't put off writing into the evening, because there are way too many distraction. Dinner time, prime time, family time . . . you get the idea.
Second, don't get too focused on quantity versus quality. Sure, the point is to hit a 50k word count by the end of the month, but it does no good if you end up with nothing but gibberish. Then again, you don't want to take forever on what is inevitably going to be one of many drafts with plenty of future revisions. I guess the best course is to take some time to plan what to write and then try to stick to it, while executing it in a timely fashion.
Third, don't censor ideas and edit too much. Now this might seem counter to the last point about not just spewing for the sake of driving up the numbers, but there is actually another good reason. If you can't take a lot of time to sift through the chaff to find the wheat, then mill it into flour, then knead it into dough, then let it rise, and then bake it into a nice loaf of bread . . . then at least make sure you get as much wheat as you can. The idea is not to throw the baby out with the bath water -- just type and keep what you get. Everything. That way, you don't lose any diamonds in the rough which you can better find and polish up later. (Okay, enough with the hackneyed phrases.)
Oh, and fourth, don't forget the writing music. Music that is good for reading, is usually good for writing as well. While I have lots of good musics from various albums I've collected over the years, I decided to treat myself to a new CD for this year's Nanowrimo -- "for Book Lovers" by Decca. Cheesy title, yup. Cheesy cover, affirmative. Good music, most definitely.
Anyhoo, this entry was supposed to be short, but got a bit long-winded. Gee, if only I spent as much time typing my novel as I did my blog posts. Hmmm . . . .
A couple of things I've learned. First, don't put off writing into the evening, because there are way too many distraction. Dinner time, prime time, family time . . . you get the idea.
Second, don't get too focused on quantity versus quality. Sure, the point is to hit a 50k word count by the end of the month, but it does no good if you end up with nothing but gibberish. Then again, you don't want to take forever on what is inevitably going to be one of many drafts with plenty of future revisions. I guess the best course is to take some time to plan what to write and then try to stick to it, while executing it in a timely fashion.
Third, don't censor ideas and edit too much. Now this might seem counter to the last point about not just spewing for the sake of driving up the numbers, but there is actually another good reason. If you can't take a lot of time to sift through the chaff to find the wheat, then mill it into flour, then knead it into dough, then let it rise, and then bake it into a nice loaf of bread . . . then at least make sure you get as much wheat as you can. The idea is not to throw the baby out with the bath water -- just type and keep what you get. Everything. That way, you don't lose any diamonds in the rough which you can better find and polish up later. (Okay, enough with the hackneyed phrases.)
Oh, and fourth, don't forget the writing music. Music that is good for reading, is usually good for writing as well. While I have lots of good musics from various albums I've collected over the years, I decided to treat myself to a new CD for this year's Nanowrimo -- "for Book Lovers" by Decca. Cheesy title, yup. Cheesy cover, affirmative. Good music, most definitely.
Anyhoo, this entry was supposed to be short, but got a bit long-winded. Gee, if only I spent as much time typing my novel as I did my blog posts. Hmmm . . . .
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Nanowrimo: Day 04
Well, as of today, the word count is at 4,355.
Unfortunately, I've fallen behind a bit thanks to a bout of food poisoning yesterday, which resulted in no typing whatsoever on Saturday, Day 03.
That's okay. Not much I can do about it now. I'm not really worried too much, since I had figured I would take at least one day off per week. It was just ahead of schedule, that's all. Anyway, I'm feeling fine now and I'm ready to go.
It's good to see that for the most part my writing buddies are doing well. In fact, I find myself playing catch up quite a bit. It's good motivation, such friendly competition.
Unfortunately, I've fallen behind a bit thanks to a bout of food poisoning yesterday, which resulted in no typing whatsoever on Saturday, Day 03.
That's okay. Not much I can do about it now. I'm not really worried too much, since I had figured I would take at least one day off per week. It was just ahead of schedule, that's all. Anyway, I'm feeling fine now and I'm ready to go.
It's good to see that for the most part my writing buddies are doing well. In fact, I find myself playing catch up quite a bit. It's good motivation, such friendly competition.
Friday, November 2, 2007
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
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.
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