Tag: #NaNoWriMo2019

NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

So, You Win Again

At time of writing this, not only have I won but there’s no real signs of stopping.

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The longer this has gone on, the more I realise this is was never about doing the job in 30 days. Writing this story has become the means by which everything else that’s currently fucked up in my life is exposed and sorted. Of course, it was never the intention for that to take place, but it has. As I expose holes in my plot, more significant pits are uncovered. More importantly as I’ve hit 50k, there’s time now to go back and do some much-needed editing.

That will mean the word count will be minimally updated for the next few days, until I’m ready to push forward again. Getting the ‘win’ early means that part of the pressure’s off: so much needs to be addressed that was summarily left at the wayside to get the main thrust of the narrative sorted and strong. As I’m about to switch to a location in which an awful lot of significant action transpires, I want to leave everything that’s passed in as decent a state as possible.

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The redesign of the NaNo site, to be honest, was long overdue but needs a fair bit of work. The only part of the process that really matters is having the habit forming repetition of updating that count until 50k registers. Now that’s done I don’t need to be reminded, it just happens automatically. With five Winners wristbands on my right wrist but nothing as yet to show for those attempts, it is time for a change.

For the first time in five years, coming away with nothing is not an option. I need to not only make this work, but in a manner that makes me happy and comfortable that the maximum amount of effort was spent for the most reward. In that regard alone this is undoubtedly the happiest I have ever been about a NaNo attempt.

This one will be finished, oh yes.

General Writing Post/Internet of Words/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Monster

Yup, I’m definitely gonna need more than a month.

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It’s not like this story is writing itself, anything but. At times it has been a tough job, slogging through the numbers: with the first crescendo of action about to happen, I reckon I’m probably about a third of the way in. However, there is an awful lot of exposition in here, most of it warranted. After we hit the end of this section, things can pick up a bit.

I reckon 100k is probably nearer the mark for completion.

There’s nothing stopping me going back and editing stuff out at a later date, of course: for now, the priority is to tell the story as it stands, and that’s proving surprisingly simple. I’m really, REALLY glad that time was taken to plan this in advance, because there are several points where if it hadn’t been, giving up and walking away would have been a really easy thing to do.

This time however, I have something to prove.

I am not getting any younger, as the hand will attest. The reason I started doing this challenge, so many years ago, was to write a novel. In all the times when the month was over and I looked at what had been produced, there was never really satisfaction with the end product. This time around, this is a piece of work to be already immensely proud of. Whatever may transpire, this will be pushed beyond a first draft.

Creating a monster will come with a new set of responsibilities, but until the story is done, size really will not matter. I’m already organising December’s content around this, so that there is no interruption to my writing processes. It is perhaps most satisfying all that this is a narrative not only to get lost in, but which also is throwing up some genuinely interesting new directions from the original pitch.

Speaking of which, I need to write a new summary to post on the NaNo website…

Internet of Words/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Oops, I Did It Again

Having hit 25k on NaNo this morning, there MIGHT be a bit of a problem going forward…

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This isn’t like last year when I decided to stop because other things were more important. Nope, this time around has come the revelation that I do not want to stop. There is too much fun being had living and breathing this new narrative. In fact, considering where I am along my timeline, this 50k could at least double by the time I’m done. It is entirely possible we have a full blown epic tale on our hands.

Planning has presented this as possibility, and because there is understanding of what else needs to happen around the words, it’s probably the right moment for a rethink. This time however, instead of panicking and tossing the whole idea because it won’t fit into my current lifestyle choices… let’s do this differently. Let’s rearrange everything else around what has become most important and work from there.

For a change, personal happiness can take centre stage.

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This decision has produced an unexpected, knock-on effect. A couple of issues that I’ve been struggling to resolve are now sorted, complete without issue. My exercise regime’s taking an impressive upward turn. Willpower, instead of crumbling when it became apparent I’d not finish to time, has strengthened, which makes the desire to eat bad stuff that I’m having to ignore considerably easier.

I’m quite a binary being, when all is said and done. To realise that this enjoyment factor has been missing in my life is important: knowing why has been something of a revelation. Relaxing into this process has provided a key to a door that’s been locked since before counselling was started earlier this year. Here, it seems, is an important space not only to be explored, but inhabited.

I’m really looking forward to where this new journey takes me.

General Writing Post/Internet of Words/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Winter Trees

Welcome to the first of my #NaNoWriMo19 Updates.

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Things are off to an extremely positive start: in fact, I don’t remember having such a good first few days. It helps, undoubtedly, to have come into this with more planning than ever previously took place. Timings for this month have also been largely sympathetic; allowing several opportunities for clear, uninterrupted blocks of writing time. That will continue going forward.

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There are no worries or panics, either. This is the story I need to be writing, and completing it will happen. There is at least a part of my brain which thinks that 50k will not be enough, but that should be more apparent as we get into next week. Unlike last time, when the word total hit goal and then stopped, this is about completing the narrative. That’s what has to happen

No burning bridges or unexpected panics, and although there will inevitably be an attack of writer’s block somewhere, provision has been set aside. The eventuality is covered. All that is left therefore is the writing, sadly without my customary accompaniment of cake and biscuits. They’re both off the menu until  blood-work and cholesterol issues are resolved. Hooray for nuts and tea.

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I’ll be planning to post updates every Monday going forward, and next week will promise faithfully that this will be on time. It’s the arrangement of time post Half Term that got me this time, plus the front room reorganisation that still requires a measure of work to be complete. That’s the antidote to writer’s block, as it happens, but as we’re not yet in the realm of frustration, it’s time to crack on…

Internet of Words/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Love’s Great Adventure

You’ll be reading this in a time warp: It’s being published the day before NaNoWriMo 2019 began, yet the plan was to hype up how prepared I was for everything… the reality is, that as I type this, it’s already four days into the process. Last week’s health shock knocked everything into the air, and if truth be told, there’s still things I’m watching, waiting for them to land.

This year, however, organisation has saved me. Even if the real-time responses to things has been a bit arse about face, doing the preparation and knowing how important this whole process is to complete has provided the most welcome of cushions for the intervention of reality. It means that despite commentary being behind, word count is very much ahead of the curve.

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After a weekend where I took on an extremely important new responsibility (which I’ll talk about at length on Wednesday) it’s now a case of cleaning up the loose ends and ploughing forward. In reality of course, it’s not like tens of thousands of people read this blog and they’ll get confused with the timeline. If that were the case, it might be a different post that was being written.. but you guys understand how this works.

What this change also corresponds with is a marked improvement in organisation away from a desk. Those of you reading my personal blog will know that October, despite everything else, was my most productive month for physical health this year. That also needs to keep happening as I write, which means now I’ll be off for the first session of next week… or is this the third session of last week?

Trust me, true organisation is happening regardless.

Internet of Words/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Bird of Prey

With less than a week to go until everything kicks off, how ready am I for NaNoWriMo 2019?

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No really, it’s okay. I’ve got everything together, the WiP playlist is strong, plus there’s lots of enthusiasm. It also helps that I now have an operational computer again, and am well on the way to having a better, larger space in which to work. That alone should make the process more conducive. Not writing poetry will also be a pleasant change. There’s plenty of that to look forward to in December.

This however is not about submissions or progress. November is all for me.

All my November content will be inspired by the NaNoWriMo project, kicking off with a #Soundtracking2019 playlist that begins with one of my favourite pieces of Fatboy Slim music, an important prompt for a sequence of events in Ternary’s plot. As to what you’ll get from the #Narrating2019 list? It’s time for a bit of Alternate History… with some Steampunk elements thrown in for good measure…

Hopefully there’s enough time to arrange everything else that needs doing before that point: the plan, such as it stands, is to try and write for two hours every morning and then in the evenings when time allows. I’m also determined to get this narrative finished and then decently edited, in the hope that I may be able to do something with it. Self publishing is most definitely an option going forward.

Let’s not get ahead of myself until then.

NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

Things to Make and Do

The decision has been made, I’ve changed my NaNo page BACK to where we started a week ago. No more indecision. There’s a Soundtrack being updated and many changes in my head as to where action was initially going to head. Now, however, it is time for some honesty. I’ve mentioned before some of the technical shortcomings that hamper my long-form fiction work: repetition of words, bad grammar and the eternal problem of going on Multiple Tenses Safari.

All of this is known well enough to handle without worry: I can cut out superfluous words, but not too many, because that hampers decent narrative flow. It is a delicate combination of when and where, it is apparent. All of this goes without saying, but the majority of that should happen during my editing period and not whilst I’m writing. The issues then need to be admitted in public before going forward.

I seem to have terrible trouble being confident my narratives truly work.

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This is a pretty staggering admission from someone who likes to believe, on most days, that she’s capable of telling a damn fine story… except, there are always holes. This is the problem… going great guns, ready to start working… then discovering the plot’s got a gap in it that’s not really that wide, but can end up looking insurmountably deep. This time around, therefore, I’m going to do something that’s never been done for a NaNo before.

It’s time to transcribe the narrative, longhand, from start to finish. I don’t expect this to be either pretty or easy, but every plot hole needs to be identified and covered. If this doesn’t happen, it will just be like the last couple of times when I’ve tried to write something complex: my own brain will destroy the fragile confidence built up over the last few months and BANG we’ve gotten nowhere. It’s not happening.

The story is going to be finished.

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The hope is if I can do it once, then we can do it again with a couple of the unfinished manuscripts on my hard drive. Now the major shortcoming in long-form writing has been identified, it’s time to crack on with the task. There’s poetry scheduled over the next few days, but space has been provisioned at the weekend for the all-important first pass. Needless to say, you’ll know how it all worked out this time next week.

Cross everything please, it will be very much appreciated.

NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing Projects

The Test

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The havering is over. Normally, it’s never this organised inside Writing HQ for NaNoWriMo until the end of the month. This year’s Idea [TM] has very much been a toss up between Responsibility and Enjoyment: write the novel that already holds a chance at success, or do something that makes me happy. Right now, all that matters is the latter, because quite frankly I’m sick to death of the submission process.

Don’t worry, it’s still going to happen.

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It was, in the end, a simple choice. The soundtrack’s been on repeat now in the car for about a week, and there’s some rather vital changes to the narrative beginning to evolve from repeated exposure to certain pieces of music. The next week will be spent finally organising the track listing for that, but it’s already on Spotify. I have taken the good advice: write the thing you love, not the one you feel obliged to.

There will also be some poetry going on in November, but the major deadline item I want to submit will be started next week for completion after my birthday. However much the process of submission and rejection wears me down, it still keeps happening, because it is only through pain and suffering that the artist’s work will finally improve. She understands the limitations, but continues regardless, because… t’was ever thus.

Let’s hope I can finally do this idea justice.

#Narrating2019/#Soundtracking2019/Art/Poetry Projects/NaNoWriMo 2019/Writing as Therapy/Writing Projects

Beautiful Dreamer

Seven days into the October #FaithIoW project, things are going pretty well.

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The biggest single challenge currently remains the photography side of things, especially as there’s a phenomenal amount of Real Life still going on post my husband’s operation. However, content is planned for the whole of this week, which is a distinct improvement on where things were when this journey began. Therefore, I’ll take this as a success, even if the speed of other organisation isn’t going as I’d wish.

This week will see a couple of abortive projects resurrected, and some important groundwork for the beginning of November.

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The NaNoWriMo site has finally undergone an upgrade: although not technically perfect, I can now organise my work for next month already. We’ll talk more about Ternary in the coming weeks, but I have high hopes for this project. It also provides a much-needed alternative to poetry, which is going to get a lot of love to meet some important late October deadlines.

There’s also going to be a return to the normal business of daily poetry, short stories and YouTube playlists: I have a story to finish from August too, and am working out the best way to do this along with the abortive playlists that were never finished when I got sick. The most sensible idea, it occurs to me, is to just carry on where I left off… I wonder, is that feasible…?

Only one way to find out, I suppose…

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