So NaNoWriMo is done and dusted for 2014. I was really stoked for it at the beginning, and determined to hit the 50,000 word mark. So how did I do? Did I succeed? Anyone who has read this blog in any depth will probably know the answer to that one.
No, I didn't make it to 50,000. I didn't even make it close, really. In the end I just cracked the halfway mark, with 25,000 words. In one sense you could call that a failure, but I'm not going to take it that way. Over the course of the last year I've been averaging a few thousand words a month, so I've done more than five times my usual output. That's a success. It may not have been the goal I set out to achieve, but it's still a pretty hefty total.
The best thing about it is that I feel like I barely had to make an effort at all (my favourite level of effort). Once I started falling behind I started taking my laptop to work to write during my lunch break, and also on the bus. Doing this I've been able to average 1,000 words a day with no trouble at all. It's more than I was doing when trying to write at home, probably because there are fewer distractions. Okay, there's the occasional drunk old man trying to get me to look up the news, but it's not quite as enticing as Castlevania. Whatever the reason, I'm getting more work done, and that's cool.
The Lightless Labyrinth is currently sitting at around 70,000 words, and I estimate that I'm maybe two-thirds of the way through. It's gotten much easier to write now that I've split my characters up and started killing a bunch of them. I think I'll be done with the first draft early next year.
WRITING PROGRESS SINCE MY LAST POST:
The Lightless Labyrinth - 17,235 words (69,214 total)
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
She by H. Rider Haggard
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Anatomy of Games blog by Jeremy Parish
Thor: God of Thunder #1-25 by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic and others
Guardians of the Galaxy #1-17 by Brian Bendis and others
What I'm Watching:
WWE Raw
Walking Dead season 5
Game Center CX season 1
What I'm Playing:
Castlevania on the NES
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest on the NES
Showing posts with label nanowrimo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nanowrimo. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014 Update - Week 1
Okay, so technically it's only the third day, but such technicalities are for lesser men. I'm calling it week 1, and if you don't like it, then stiff cheddar. Go and practice your accuracy elsewhere.
Anyway, I'm pleased to say that I've been doing really well so far. I was helped by my family taking off and leaving me home alone for a whole day, and so far I've knocked out over 3,000 words of The Lightless Labyrinth. At least on the word count front, NaNo 2014 has gotten off to a good start.
One area I haven't done so well at is the social side of things. NaNoWriMo has a thriving on-line community, and a whole load of live events as well. I've considered going along to one of the write-ins at the local library, or the kick-off picnic, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to go. As much as I do enjoy mingling with writerly types, I'm not so good at meeting large groups of people I don;t already know. It's the introverted, hateful soul I have, that doesn't want to engage with people. So for this year at least, it's going to be a solitary experience, but that's probably the way I like it. I've also dabbled with the NaNo forums, but I've never been much of a forum user. My best days of internet sociability went out with Usenet, I'm afraid. I'm just going to keep posting here, content that nobody is likely to read or answer. I'll just be here in my antisocial cocoon, writing about subterranean murders and stuff.
WEEKLY PROGRESS:
The Lightless Labyrinth - 3,716 words. Current total: 51,979 words. (It's down a couple of thousand since last time, but I cut out a lot of stuff during the redrafting process.)
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
She by H. Rider Haggard
What I'm Watching
WWE Raw
Walking Dead season 5
Doctor Who season 8
What I'm Playing:
Orthanc
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Game Boy Advance version)
Anyway, I'm pleased to say that I've been doing really well so far. I was helped by my family taking off and leaving me home alone for a whole day, and so far I've knocked out over 3,000 words of The Lightless Labyrinth. At least on the word count front, NaNo 2014 has gotten off to a good start.
One area I haven't done so well at is the social side of things. NaNoWriMo has a thriving on-line community, and a whole load of live events as well. I've considered going along to one of the write-ins at the local library, or the kick-off picnic, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to go. As much as I do enjoy mingling with writerly types, I'm not so good at meeting large groups of people I don;t already know. It's the introverted, hateful soul I have, that doesn't want to engage with people. So for this year at least, it's going to be a solitary experience, but that's probably the way I like it. I've also dabbled with the NaNo forums, but I've never been much of a forum user. My best days of internet sociability went out with Usenet, I'm afraid. I'm just going to keep posting here, content that nobody is likely to read or answer. I'll just be here in my antisocial cocoon, writing about subterranean murders and stuff.
WEEKLY PROGRESS:
The Lightless Labyrinth - 3,716 words. Current total: 51,979 words. (It's down a couple of thousand since last time, but I cut out a lot of stuff during the redrafting process.)
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
She by H. Rider Haggard
What I'm Watching
WWE Raw
Walking Dead season 5
Doctor Who season 8
What I'm Playing:
Orthanc
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Game Boy Advance version)
Sunday, October 26, 2014
The NaNoWriMo Deadline Approaches
At the time of writing, I have four nights to go before NaNoWriMo 2014 hits. One of those nights is being spent watching rasslin', so that's a write-off. I've got ten chapters of The Lightless Labyrinth left to redraft, which is doable, depending on how extensive those redrafts need to be. I'm thinking they'll be more extensive the closer I get to the end, but I think I can still make it.
I also want to sit down and plot out part 3 in detail before NaNo begins. I've learned from experience that the words flow out faster when I know where I'm going. Inevitably it's all going to be rewritten down the road, but I'd like the stuff that I bang out in November to be as usable as possible.
Overall, I'm looking forward to it. The redrafting process has been really refreshing, and I find that I'm enjoying what I wrote. I'm confident that there's a good book there just waiting to be finished.
WEEKLY PROGRESS:
The Lightless Labyrinth - redrafted part 1, chapters 7-23, and part 2, chapters 1-8. Current word count: 52,908 (up about 1,000 words since last week)
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
She by H. Rider Haggard
What I'm Watching
WWE Raw
Walking Dead season 5
Doctor Who season 8
What I'm Listening To:
Party Animals by Turbonegro
What I'm Playing:
Orthanc
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Game Boy Advance version)
I also want to sit down and plot out part 3 in detail before NaNo begins. I've learned from experience that the words flow out faster when I know where I'm going. Inevitably it's all going to be rewritten down the road, but I'd like the stuff that I bang out in November to be as usable as possible.
Overall, I'm looking forward to it. The redrafting process has been really refreshing, and I find that I'm enjoying what I wrote. I'm confident that there's a good book there just waiting to be finished.
WEEKLY PROGRESS:
The Lightless Labyrinth - redrafted part 1, chapters 7-23, and part 2, chapters 1-8. Current word count: 52,908 (up about 1,000 words since last week)
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
She by H. Rider Haggard
What I'm Watching
WWE Raw
Walking Dead season 5
Doctor Who season 8
What I'm Listening To:
Party Animals by Turbonegro
What I'm Playing:
Orthanc
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Game Boy Advance version)
Monday, October 13, 2014
Nanowrimo 2014
As I do every couple of years, I've decided to sign up for NaNoWriMo. In theory this is a very good idea for me. It should motivate me to get more work done, and really kick my novel into high gear. In practice... not so much. I've entered NaNoWriMo four or five times, but I've never finished it. I've never even come close.
But, here I am in 2014, ready to disappoint myself yet again. But, making the assumption that I will actually make a decent fist of it this time around, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to work on. I could always continue on with The Lightless Labyrinth. It would be the sensible thing to do, given that I'm 50,000 words into it. But, to be honest, I feel like I've hit a wall. The enthusiasm isn't there right now. I don't intend to abandon it, because there's so much awesome stuff in it that I've yet to write, but I'm closing in on the conclusion to part 2, at which point the narrative branches in three different directions. I feel like it's a good place to stop if i want to take a hiatus.
So at the moment I'm going back over what I've done, rewriting my super-over-expository prologue, and just generally tidying up some timeline issues and hammering the character arcs into place. Once I get parts 1 and 2 done, I can decide what to do for NaNoWriMo.
The first option, as I said, is to continue with The Lightless Labyrinth. The second, very enticing, option is to start on my next Jack Manley book - Jack Manley and the Interchronal Deathmatch Tournament. Going back to Jack Manley is really tempting. I can write him in my sleep. The prose style is dead simple. I've got the plot worked out. I think it would be fun to take a break for a month. But then there's always the risk that, once I leave The Lightless Labyrinth, I'll never go back to it. It's been a difficult beast to wrangle, and it's only going to throw up more challenges as I get further into it. I'm pretty sure I'll be a better writer if I manage to finish it, but... Man, writing Jack Manley is a hell of a lot of fun. I'll have to think about it.
PROGRESS SINCE MY LAST POST:
The Lightless Labyrinth - 1,632 words
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I've Been Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
What I've Been Watching:
Loads of WWE Raw
Doctor Who season 8
What I've Been Listening To:
Hot Cars and Used Contraceptives by Turbonegro
What I've Been Playing:
Orthanc on a PLATO emulator
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Wii
But, here I am in 2014, ready to disappoint myself yet again. But, making the assumption that I will actually make a decent fist of it this time around, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to work on. I could always continue on with The Lightless Labyrinth. It would be the sensible thing to do, given that I'm 50,000 words into it. But, to be honest, I feel like I've hit a wall. The enthusiasm isn't there right now. I don't intend to abandon it, because there's so much awesome stuff in it that I've yet to write, but I'm closing in on the conclusion to part 2, at which point the narrative branches in three different directions. I feel like it's a good place to stop if i want to take a hiatus.
So at the moment I'm going back over what I've done, rewriting my super-over-expository prologue, and just generally tidying up some timeline issues and hammering the character arcs into place. Once I get parts 1 and 2 done, I can decide what to do for NaNoWriMo.
The first option, as I said, is to continue with The Lightless Labyrinth. The second, very enticing, option is to start on my next Jack Manley book - Jack Manley and the Interchronal Deathmatch Tournament. Going back to Jack Manley is really tempting. I can write him in my sleep. The prose style is dead simple. I've got the plot worked out. I think it would be fun to take a break for a month. But then there's always the risk that, once I leave The Lightless Labyrinth, I'll never go back to it. It's been a difficult beast to wrangle, and it's only going to throw up more challenges as I get further into it. I'm pretty sure I'll be a better writer if I manage to finish it, but... Man, writing Jack Manley is a hell of a lot of fun. I'll have to think about it.
PROGRESS SINCE MY LAST POST:
The Lightless Labyrinth - 1,632 words
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I've Been Reading:
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
What I've Been Watching:
Loads of WWE Raw
Doctor Who season 8
What I've Been Listening To:
Hot Cars and Used Contraceptives by Turbonegro
What I've Been Playing:
Orthanc on a PLATO emulator
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Wii
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)