Writer at Large

Well . . . another year, another successful NaNoWriMo . . .

First, some statistics:

Total word count: 55,921
Average daily word count: 1,864

This year’s personal challenge—and I always seem to end up setting myself up for one once I get started—was to write a story that was deliberately not going to be structured in chronological order in its final form.

While this did free up the muse (somewhat) to wander around to whatever scenes she liked from day to day, it did present some challenges of its own. I can see that I’m going to need to keep careful track of what happened when and to close out any half-finished sequences in time.

This year’s post-NaNoWriMo challenge (not unlike almost every other year): actually complete the novel, revise it, and submit it.

Anyone want to place any bets on any of those?

With four weeks behind me, and only two days left to go, here are my current statistics:

• Total word count: 52,941 (well ahead of target, and actually completed, if you want to get technical about it)
• Average daily word count for the week: 2,329 (a new personal best of any week for any year that I’ve participated)
• Nearly all of the sections written this week were large sequential chunks. There are a few “stragglers”, but chiefly in places where there needs to be some kind of transition between the opening and the main event of the sequence.
• I am still struggling to find an overarching plot. Most of these week was spent on (probably overly) exploring vignettes involving personal life events, so any plot itself has not moved along much. I do have a general idea for the climatic battle scene now, but need to flesh it out more.

For the remaining two days, I will probably strive to hit my personal goal of 1,800 words each day and then call it in sometime Tuesday night.

Until then . . .

The statistics at the two-week milestone (and nearly halfway point) include:

• Total word count: 36,638 (nicely pacing just ahead of target)
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,797 (just under my aspirational goal of 1,800, chiefly due to an underproductive day on Thursday)
• This week again there have been large sections written as sequential chunks.
• I’m still struggling with a plot . . . I think. And a main antagonist has not yet reared its villainous head, but I think I’m starting to arrive at a concept for one.
• Two important breakthroughs this week:
  • I have a final scene. (It came to me just minutes before I wrote this.) It provides exactly the kind of ending I wanted. It isn't the conclusion of the plot, though, so that's still an issue.
  • I understand the theme of this book now. I suspect I knew what it was all along, but had not recognized it at a conscious level. I'm not going to reveal it here, but will say that involves a societal issue that has long bothered me.

I have a handful of scenes in mind to write next week, but I have a feeling that Week Four is going to be a challenging one nonetheless. And this is definitely not a book that will be complete in 50,000 words.

The statistics at the two-week milestone (and nearly halfway point) include:

• Total word count: 24,056 (right on target, and just a few words short of my personal best for the second week)
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,511 (a bit below target due to almost no progress as expected on Tuesday through Thursday)
• Although I still plan to structure the overall novel as a series of vignettes, large sections of this week’s work have been sequential chunks.
• I still have only the vague notion of the overall plot—and almost none at all about the main antagonist.
• Even if this turns out to be the (fictional) biographical study of a superhero, it’s going to need something climatic at the end. I don’t think either a “He lived happily ever after.” or  “He died quietly in his sleep.” is quite going to work.

Here’s hoping that it all starts to come together in Week Three!

And we’re off! At the one week mark, my statistics look like this:

• Total word count: 13,479 (Looking back, that’s a new personal best for Week 1)
• I have a (working) title: Heroic Measures.
• I have several characters who are actually doing things, or starting to do things.
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,926

Although the “voice” of this novel is similar to other things I’ve written before, it is the first time that I have deliberately set things up to not be in sequence. The story is constructed as a series of vignettes in the main character’s history.

I anticipate my progress being zero (or close enough as not to matter) from Tuesday through Thursday due to work-related commitments, so my statistics next week are likely to look kind of wonky in comparison to usual. However, but plan to go into the week with a two-day buffer, so hopefully that will help.

Onward!

Yes, it’s that time of year again—the insanity that strikes right before the even greater chaos and mayhem that are the traditional winter holidays: National Novel Writing Month. 50,000 words in 30 days. Who in their right mind does this?

Since there are many out there who would be more than willing testify under oath that I am often not in a “right mind”, I guess this includes me. So, a preview of this year . . .

Here’s where I am so far:

• a main character
• a vague sort of concept for the story
• a world setting
• something of a storytelling timeline structure
• a few ideas for a handful of supporting and other minor characters
• some half-formed metaphors that underlay the story
• the lack of a solid plot
• the lack of a key antagonist

At this moment, I’m very concerned that there isn’t enough here to sustain through 50,000 words. If I can fill in some of the gaps quickly, though, I think it just might work.

As usual, if you care to, you can monitor my progress here. Weekly updates will be posted as always.

Total words: 53,306 (official NaNoWriMo count)
Average words per day: 1,777

It looked like it was going to end with a word count of 50,566, but then the muse would not shut up yesterday (3,194 words).

Yes, I “won”. The story itself is far from finished. At the 53,000-word mark, I think it’s probably about one-third completed.

This year was a bit less difficult than 2006, but seemed nowhere near the flowing ease of the 2007. (It’s interesting how memory fades. I went back and re-read those reports from 2007 and saw that I was struggling there too, but persistence won out.)

My next task is to put the scenes in the proper order so that later drafts will make a bit more sense. I also want to write up more complete notes on each of the main characters—particularly those who did not exist when I first started the story.

It’s been an interesting writing adventure this year.

Fourth week down and two days to go . . .

• Total word count: 49,513
• No new characters introduced this week. Okay . . . no new major characters. I gave some of the characters in the background first names so they weren’t just anonymous drones, but that doesn’t really count.
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,865. Nicely above average, thank you. I had set myself a stretch goal of 1,800 words a day and was pleased to not only meet, but exceed it this week.
• The muse cooperated for the most part this week. It hasn’t been as smooth of sailing as 2007 was, but definitely much less painful than 2006. (Never again!) I still don’t think I’ve quite found the voice for this novel, but I think it will sort itself out shortly.

And why didn’t I just push through and crank out those last 487 words and finish two days early? Because it was late, I was tired, and I knew I still had two more days to go. (And also I there were scenes I still wanted to try to write between now and the 30th.)

See you in two days . . .

And on Week 3, this is what NaNoWriMo did to me . . .

• Total word count: 36,458
• I introduced another character this week. I also realized that there are two of them that I know I need, but have done little more than introduce them. One of them needs to connect up with the main character, but I have yet to devise a believable manner of doing so that doesn’t smack of cliché.
• The muse has been kind, particularly during the latter part of the week. I’ve learned that she gets nervous when I take her away from the work and then starts spouting off ideas. Good muse! Biscuit!
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,759. This is back up from last week and just about dead on where I want it to be. I’m shooting for a minimum of 1,700 words each day, with a push toward 1,800 words if I can manage it.

And one last note . . . true to form, the muse has already determined the last scene in the book, as well as a scene in the sequel. (I had not originally planned on a sequel to this book, but the muse had her own ideas on the matter. And I do like how she tied it into another book of mine [yet to be written].)

One week and a small number of days to go . . .

On the second week of NaNo, my muse she said to me . . .

• Total word count: 24,142
• I have introduced a new character that will help immensely in dealing with one of the main thematic issues in the story.
• The week continued to be almost exclusively sequential storytelling, from the beginning toward the end. I can see, however, that starting to slip away. But words is words. There’s nothing in the rules that said they had to be in the right order.
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,685. This is slightly down from last week, that’s chiefly due to a lesser word count than expected on Saturday. Thank goodness I was (and still am!) slightly ahead.

The muse tended to stay fairly focused this week, (that lower count on Saturday was not her fault), but I can see her attention wondering. I have a bad feeling that Week Three is going to be, for me, nearly everyone else’s Week Two.

That’s all the procrastination for now. Until next week . . .

Let’s see . . .

• Total word count: 12,345 (yes, really)
• I have a title: Soul of the Machine.
• I have some main characters who are doing things, or starting to do things.
• Average daily word count for the week: 1,764

I have to admit, although it’s taken a swift kick in the adverbs to get the muse going some days (she usually decides to poke her head in around word 1,200 or so), it has been going a  bit better than I originally anticipated. Am I going to end up with a readable, interesting story out of all this?

Ask me again on December 1^st.

Tonight is October 31. In addition to it being Halloween, it is also the eve of the madness known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, for short).

This year shows promise to be an interesting and challenging one. Several of my writing friends who had taken one or both of the previous two years off are returning to share in the mutual insanity. This year, I tossed my proverbial hat into the proverbial ring and picked up not one, but two newbies to serve as their mentor in all things NaNoWriMo. While it is said that writing is a solitary vice, apparently it is both contagious and highly communicable between those who are susceptible to such syndromes.

For this year's writing effort, I have an idea. Okay, I have slightly more than an idea. I also have a main character, a bit about his background, and some information about technology that he interacts with. What I don't have at this moment is a plot. What I have is the thinnest notion of an concept for a story. You know: the kind they base entire Tom Cruise movies on.

I'm really hoping that this will turn out to be one of those stories where the character drives the plot, and that events will unfold in an interesting and readable manner. Otherwise, I suspect this novel will be my personal equivalent of God Emperor of Dune. (I seem to be one of only five or so people who actually like that book in the "Dune" series, but that's a topic for another time.)

As in NaNoWriMo years past, I will post weekly reports of my progress here, as well as a summary at the end. If you're interested in reading it as it goes along, you can find it here: http://sfwriter13-nanowrimo2009.blogspot.com.

Total words: 20,018
Average words per day: 664

No, I didn't hit 50,000 words. Yes, I did hit 20,000 (20,018 to be exact). And an average of 664 words per day is much greater than the usual 250-word goal I set for myself each day.

I didn't "win", but I did hit my personal goal. I doubt that I'll ever put in a performance like last year, but you never know. And I did get 20,000 words done for a new novel.

There's always 2009 . . . :)

Total words to date: 18,492
Average words per day: 605 (lowest of the month)

The lower average is chiefly because I missed one day entirely. if it weren't for that, my daily average would have been a much more respectable 705 words per day.

Reaching my goal of 20,000 words this year seems within reasonable reach. It's kind of disappointing after last year's 56,000 words, but 20,000 words is better than 10,000 or 5,000 or none.

Two more days and then it's done for this year . . .

Total words to date: 14,260
Average words per day: 674 (down from last week, but higher than Week 1)

Getting assigned to sit on a jury this week seriously ate into the available writing time this week as evenings were needed to get caught up work missed during the day. That said, I'm pleased that the daily average stayed as high as it did.

The muse has also chosen this week to be particularly stubborn, but I suspect that she's been distracted by other matters. With luck and perseverance, next week should be better.

Total words to date: 9,550
Average words per day: 707 (slightly higher than last week :) )

The muse has been mostly cooperating; it's more been a matter of finding the time to write it down. She's usually been keeping two scenes in reserve, so I haven't had any days this week when I had no idea what to write.

I do need to better develop most of the main characters. Their personal flaws are too internal and too personal, so it's probably difficult for readers to relate to them and equally difficult to have them carry some scenes. I'm not yet sure how to fix it, but the writing will go on.

As of last night, my word count is 4,595 words. For those who are counting, that's a little over 650 words a day. It's a far cry from the needed 1,667 words each days to stay on track, but slightly above the more realistic goal of 500 words per day I had expected.

50,000 words in 2008? Unlikely. 20,000 words? You betcha.

I figure any word count total greater than zero is a good thing.

My goal for the weekend is to write at least 2,000 words. We'll see!

What I'm Listening to Now: Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert

They're finally getting around to recording unabridged versions of the later books in the Dune series. So far, I have found the reading to be very well done (although I do wonder why it was decided to give the Honored Matres a kind of pseudo-Russian accent).

What I'm Listening to Now: Valentine Pontifex by Robert Silverberg

The third in the Majipoor series, this book covers the period about ten years after the events in Lord Valentine's Castle. The book is performed by several readers, which adds to its variety and effectiveness.

HeroCon 2008

Yeah, I know this report is a little tardy, but still . . .

On October 18th, I spent some of the day at the inaugural HeroCon 2008, a fun-filled day of all things City of Heroes/City of Villains. I went to two panel sessions and one workshop:

• Walking the Cat-Walk: Fashion in City of Heroes
• Getting Your Foot in the Door: How to get a job in the industry
• Making Movies with City of Heroes

I only took 10 photos, none of which are all that spectacular. But I post them here anyway for your amusement and bemusement.





It was interesting to see the wide breadth of ages (and cities of origin) of people who came to HeroCon. I was by no means the oldest person there. That was reassuring. :) There were a lot of couples there, both of whom were involved in the game. (I wonder if there's ever been a study . . .)

NaNoWriMo 2008

In five hours and thirty minutes Pacific Standard Time, NaNoWriMo 2008 officially begins. Expect only weekly updates here as time permits. As always, you can follow my progress here.

Yes, it's done. The story itself is not yet finished--far from it, in fact. But November has come to close and, with it, NaNoWriMo 2007.

This year was in many ways a similar experience to last year, and in some ways quite different. In looking back at last year's reports, I see the same complaints of difficulties with the muse during approximately the same periods. This year, though, I knew better than to believe that I could start slow and catch up later. With a specific daily goal, and a strong goad of discipline, this year was a much more satisfying experience. I spent less time worrying over how much I'd fallen behind my needed word count (which I never did this year) and more about the progression of the story.

[For those of you interested in the statistics: To reach the 50,000-word mark requires an average of 1,667 words/day. I set a personal goal of 1,700 words/day to give myself a very small buffer. Had I maintained that, I would have reached 50,000 words on the 29th--only one day early. My average was slightly more than 1,800 words/day. What a difference an extra 100 words make!)

I believe this year's story is much more structured than last year's effort. Although I had to do some literary tap-dancing a bit here and there, it generally adheres to the overall structure I set out for it. I do recognize that there are gaps that I need to fill in order to complete the overall story, but I think that as it is, it works (or will work, when completed) as a sufficiently self-contained story.

It's nice to know that I can learn from my mistakes. :)

Done. But not finished.

I reached the 50,000-word mark around 10:30 pm on Monday. Compared to last year's mad sprint to the finish line, it felt incredibly anti-climatic. Maybe because it wasn't even close to the 30th? I don't know. Yes, I still felt a faint glow of pride that I had hit the mark. 50,000 words in less than 30 days is an even more admirable feat, I suppose?

The writing process itself was better this week than during Weeks 2 and 3. I had several long bursts of creativity, even hitting a word count that exceeded 2,700 words on one day. (I just checked: that was Thanksgiving Day. I guess I had much to be thankful for that day! :) )

I have continued on and will record my final word count at some point Friday night. The story is not yet over and I'm not ready for it to end.