27 hours.
One character name.
WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING?
Eep.
No closer to a beginning
I've spent most of my evening doing what I said I'd do yesterday (and the day before) - purging my playlist on iTunes and cruising the Nano forums. And I'm still not finished doing either. Good thing I have tomorrow off, I guess.
I still only have a character name at this point, but I'm preparing to wade into the forums again tomorrow for inspiration - namely the 'Dares'and 'Reaching 50,000' threads. I've got my handy-dandy notebook, all ready to go... now all I need is desire. Or sleep. Probably sleep.
Hopefully on Monday, my Moleskine notebooks will arrive and I'll be able to start putting them to use, too. I like to make notes on everything - ideas, quotes, websites, quirky features I see in other people. I had a notebook I'd used for the past couple of years that went everywhere with me, but I've managed to lose it in the past month (it's the main reason I'm getting the Moleskines). It was full of websites for names and character traits, some weak poetry I'd written and a dozen or so pages on ideas I had for a novel I'd been contemplating for a couple of years. I haven't felt such a loss for anything like that for years... and it's only a notebook.
TO DO for tomorrow
-continue rebuilding iTunes playlist, including borrowing a couple of CDs from a friend
-scour the Nano forums some more
-check out other writer's blogs
I still only have a character name at this point, but I'm preparing to wade into the forums again tomorrow for inspiration - namely the 'Dares'and 'Reaching 50,000' threads. I've got my handy-dandy notebook, all ready to go... now all I need is desire. Or sleep. Probably sleep.
Hopefully on Monday, my Moleskine notebooks will arrive and I'll be able to start putting them to use, too. I like to make notes on everything - ideas, quotes, websites, quirky features I see in other people. I had a notebook I'd used for the past couple of years that went everywhere with me, but I've managed to lose it in the past month (it's the main reason I'm getting the Moleskines). It was full of websites for names and character traits, some weak poetry I'd written and a dozen or so pages on ideas I had for a novel I'd been contemplating for a couple of years. I haven't felt such a loss for anything like that for years... and it's only a notebook.
TO DO for tomorrow
-continue rebuilding iTunes playlist, including borrowing a couple of CDs from a friend
-scour the Nano forums some more
-check out other writer's blogs
And this is what I think
A discussion on the Nano forums has brought up an interesting conundrum.
'Publishing' my novel via this blog basically nullifies it from ever being published as a real novel.
So sad for me, right?
Nope.
I see Nano as a chance to kick back, chat with other writers and just write for a couple of months. If I wanted to do something that I could send to a publisher, I'm sure as hell going to spend more than a month working on it.
Even with the stuff I've put on my website I know isn't going to get published, and I had it posted up long before I knew about the whole 'publisher's won't take a second look at anything already published on the internet' thing.
I really don't care if my write-as-fast-as-possible-who-cares-if-it's-grammatically-correct stuff never hits the bookstores, because I haven't really invested the time and energy necessary to get it to that point. Someday, I'd love to get published - right now, though, I'm just taking baby-steps and working my way to where I want to be.
There are lots of people over at Nano who are expecting to have their Nano novels published, and good for them. I think I'm a little more realistic in thinking that there's not enough time to write a good novel in a month - unless you've spent the previous 11 researching and outlining, and if you did, wow, I'll give you a tip of my perverbial hat.
I've been saying for months, if not years, now that I want to write a book. Maybe the next month will finally put me back into that groove I was in two years ago, when I'd write all the time. And who knows - maybe in a couple of years, I'll have something publishable. But I refuse to delude myself into thinking that a month is enough time to write something readable for the masses.
'Publishing' my novel via this blog basically nullifies it from ever being published as a real novel.
So sad for me, right?
Nope.
I see Nano as a chance to kick back, chat with other writers and just write for a couple of months. If I wanted to do something that I could send to a publisher, I'm sure as hell going to spend more than a month working on it.
Even with the stuff I've put on my website I know isn't going to get published, and I had it posted up long before I knew about the whole 'publisher's won't take a second look at anything already published on the internet' thing.
I really don't care if my write-as-fast-as-possible-who-cares-if-it's-grammatically-correct stuff never hits the bookstores, because I haven't really invested the time and energy necessary to get it to that point. Someday, I'd love to get published - right now, though, I'm just taking baby-steps and working my way to where I want to be.
There are lots of people over at Nano who are expecting to have their Nano novels published, and good for them. I think I'm a little more realistic in thinking that there's not enough time to write a good novel in a month - unless you've spent the previous 11 researching and outlining, and if you did, wow, I'll give you a tip of my perverbial hat.
I've been saying for months, if not years, now that I want to write a book. Maybe the next month will finally put me back into that groove I was in two years ago, when I'd write all the time. And who knows - maybe in a couple of years, I'll have something publishable. But I refuse to delude myself into thinking that a month is enough time to write something readable for the masses.
Less than 100 hours to go
I've semi-decided on a genre - fantasy/sci-fi/fiction. Like Harry Potter and the Jasper Fforde novels. I've never written anything in that genre before - I tend to stick with dystopic and mediocre fiction - so it should be interesting.
TO DO for tomorrow: (wow, only two things carried over from yesterday - two things I could have easily done instead of playing Sims 2 or watching Gilmore Girls)
-Purge iTunes
-Nano formus
-make shopping list to make health-conscious treats to snack on (ie. NO MORE MCDONALDS AND POTATO CHIPS!!!)
TO DO for tomorrow: (wow, only two things carried over from yesterday - two things I could have easily done instead of playing Sims 2 or watching Gilmore Girls)
-Purge iTunes
-Nano formus
-make shopping list to make health-conscious treats to snack on (ie. NO MORE MCDONALDS AND POTATO CHIPS!!!)
Needed: One Plot
I need a plot - anyone got a spare one just lying around?
Doesn't have to make sense, or anything... just a plot that I can work with for a month and then toss aside when Dec. 1 rolls around. I promise to treat it with loving care as I mould it into what I need it to be.
Doesn't have to make sense, or anything... just a plot that I can work with for a month and then toss aside when Dec. 1 rolls around. I promise to treat it with loving care as I mould it into what I need it to be.
Next, my personal challenge with tenses
The biggest hump to get over in starting to write isn't figuring out who your characters are or what the plot is - it's the title.
'Remote Matches' was discovered when I looked around my desk and saw a pack of matches and my TV remote. 'Haven't a Clue' was chosen after answering the 'what's the title this year' question one too many times. This year, I might wait until I'm finished to come up with a title. I still haven't decided if I'm going to do actual chapters, something I've never even attempted before, and if I do, I'm not sure if I'll end up naming them or just numbering them.
Five entire days to go. Eep.
'Remote Matches' was discovered when I looked around my desk and saw a pack of matches and my TV remote. 'Haven't a Clue' was chosen after answering the 'what's the title this year' question one too many times. This year, I might wait until I'm finished to come up with a title. I still haven't decided if I'm going to do actual chapters, something I've never even attempted before, and if I do, I'm not sure if I'll end up naming them or just numbering them.
Five entire days to go. Eep.
Almost the last minute
I've done Nano before - in 2002 and 2003. I completed my 2002 novel 'Remote Matches' after working a midnight shift on Nov. 30 (if I ever happen to get it posted here, you can see where I had let my sleep-deprived mind run amok); last year's dismall attempt at a novel, 'Haven't a Clue', was already in a mess by the time I gave up on it completely around Nov. 13. I have an excellent reason for not finishing last year's challenge, though (or at least I like to think it's a good reason) - we moved on Nov. 15 and I had a massive project to do at work. So there ;)
This year, I'm as unprepared as I was in 2002. I don't like to do outlines or character plotting or things like that. As 'Remote Matches' is the only one I've finished so far - if you can call it 'finshed' - I tend to look upon it as the gleaming example of how I should write a Nano novel. Don't prepare ahead of time, let things just flow for the first few days and then step back after day three or four and see what direction it might be heading in. I kept a notebook with me at all times that month so I could jot down plot ideas and things that popped into my head at random times when I wasn't around the computer. It helped, even if most of the time I completely ignored what I had written down and went off in a totally different direction.
I don't claim to be a professional or even that talented - I'm just interested in writing. Sure, it's something I'd love to do for a living someday, but right now, Nano is probably going to be the best way for me to sink my feet back into the quagmire that is writing. I haven't actually written anything (outside of a whack of blog entries at my other blog) since last November, and I'm slightly terrified of Nov. 1. I know it doesn't matter what I write, as long as I can crank out those 50,000 words by Nov. 30... but I will care what I've written at some point, even if it's next March or three years from now or whatever.
Right now, at this exact moment, I have this much prepared: a name. That's it. I won't even release the name till I start posting what I've written each day. I like the name and I haven't decided who's getting it (or what, for that matter). I don't have a genre, I don't have a plot... I got nothing.
I'll try to be a little more consistent in the postings here and prevent myself from moaning and groaning on my other blog, as this is my writing blog, after all.
TO DO for tomorrow:
(this section will be mainly to try to get my massive procrastinating behind away from the distractions I have around me and do some work)
-Go through iTunes playlist and purge
-Go through Nano forums for ideas/suggestions/general stuff
-Organize desk
This year, I'm as unprepared as I was in 2002. I don't like to do outlines or character plotting or things like that. As 'Remote Matches' is the only one I've finished so far - if you can call it 'finshed' - I tend to look upon it as the gleaming example of how I should write a Nano novel. Don't prepare ahead of time, let things just flow for the first few days and then step back after day three or four and see what direction it might be heading in. I kept a notebook with me at all times that month so I could jot down plot ideas and things that popped into my head at random times when I wasn't around the computer. It helped, even if most of the time I completely ignored what I had written down and went off in a totally different direction.
I don't claim to be a professional or even that talented - I'm just interested in writing. Sure, it's something I'd love to do for a living someday, but right now, Nano is probably going to be the best way for me to sink my feet back into the quagmire that is writing. I haven't actually written anything (outside of a whack of blog entries at my other blog) since last November, and I'm slightly terrified of Nov. 1. I know it doesn't matter what I write, as long as I can crank out those 50,000 words by Nov. 30... but I will care what I've written at some point, even if it's next March or three years from now or whatever.
Right now, at this exact moment, I have this much prepared: a name. That's it. I won't even release the name till I start posting what I've written each day. I like the name and I haven't decided who's getting it (or what, for that matter). I don't have a genre, I don't have a plot... I got nothing.
I'll try to be a little more consistent in the postings here and prevent myself from moaning and groaning on my other blog, as this is my writing blog, after all.
TO DO for tomorrow:
(this section will be mainly to try to get my massive procrastinating behind away from the distractions I have around me and do some work)
-Go through iTunes playlist and purge
-Go through Nano forums for ideas/suggestions/general stuff
-Organize desk
Allo, allo
Welcome to my Nano blog. I'm hoping to progress beyond just Nano this year (fingers and toes crossed) so it'll hopefully develop into a writing blog, as well.
Posts and links and stuff might be sketchy for a few days until I can get some away-from-work time to get everything off the ground, but probably by Monday or Tuesday, it should be good to go. But I am a professional procrastinator, so I may not have this blog up and running till... oh, let's say June.
Posts and links and stuff might be sketchy for a few days until I can get some away-from-work time to get everything off the ground, but probably by Monday or Tuesday, it should be good to go. But I am a professional procrastinator, so I may not have this blog up and running till... oh, let's say June.
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