Out on a Limb

Okay, I've had a hard time getting back to work on 'Crash'.

So, in an attempt to motivate myself, I have hooked up with Number One Guy Friend, who as far back as January promised to read the finished work and give me his honest opinion.

The novel isn't finished yet. But I've sent him the first part (it now falls in three parts - it's the third I can't seem to finish), and am awaiting some constructive criticism.

Just doing it - actually showing something I've written to someone I know in real life - is a major step for me.

And because there's no such thing as a free lunch I have promised to read his Greatest Novel Of Our Time (still under construction - like mine) in return. He sent me the first chapter last night. I laughed my backside off several times. It's good. It's funny. It does the job of getting me curious about what will happen next. It makes me wonder if my own work is any good, really.

Aw hell, I don't want to think like that.

Instead I'll just keep writing. I'm doing it for the fun and challenge of it, after all. If anyone actually likes reading it that's an added bonus.

I'm doing it for me, when all is said and done.

Certified

Well, it's even more official now.

I got the winner's icon and certificate.

And the final script stands at 163 pages.

I have now converted all the novel script I had (remember this was an incomplete script I was working from). Job well done, it feels like.

So it's back to 'Crash'. After taking maybe a day or two out.

Split Personality?

The Screnzy is in full swing, and to my surprise - given that one week ago my head was so overflowing with 'Crash' I hadn't given 'Space Race' much thought at all - things are going well. Thirty-one pages written so far.

But.

While I have managed to distract myself from 'Crash', I can't say 'Space Race' has my undivided attention.

I made the mistake a few days ago of going over the notes from an old fantasy idea that I'm considering reworking for this year's NaNoWriMo (yes, I know, seven months away...) and now I keep getting interference from that. And there's a lot of interference; I'm considering expanding the original idea into a trilogy. I'd love to do a trilogy.
Trouble is, I shouldn't even be thinking about November yet! Especially given that 'Crash' still isn't finished, and finishing it is one of my Big, Fun, Scary goals (and one I really believe I can accomplish).

And on top of that I've got this angsty telepathy-psychodrama-thing brainworming me. Can't use it in 'Space Race' since that's a comedy, so I've started yet another file for that.

Trouble prioritising, much?

No Mo EdMo

No, really. I've had it, and my Red Pen is all but ink'd out.

I did it, though. As of ten minutes ago I had logged 50,15 hours of editing. And the word count now stands at 132901.

And tomorrow the Screnzy starts...

I must be mad. MAD, I say!

Monster

Well. I have ink again. And am editing.

I am also writing new material, filling those plotholes as well as working on the ending.

I wasn't going to set myself a word count goal for this month, given that I've got the EdMo on.

But at the start of the month I was just over the 100000 line. And now I've passed 125000.

This thing is growing beyond my control.

I have birthed a monster.

The Progress of March

Still going strong.

Have edited for just under ten hours out of the fifty. It does actually take longer than I'd have thought.
And I am literally doing it with a real, no-fake Red Pen. I find it easier that way to get an overview. The downside of this method is, of course, the amount of paper and printer ink it uses up. Ah well. The trees will have to suffer (though I do print on both sides of the paper).

I'm also writing new stuff. Have introduced a not-quite-fearless reporter to assist SMC in uncovering the perfidy of the Sleazy Politician. I spy an ending in sight. Word count creeping up.

In short, I'm rather enjoying myself.

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!

Okay.

As of now my word count is at **101121** words.

So I've completed the February goal.

YAY ME! *pats self on back*

Okay, that's enough self-congratulation for now.

More importantly, I've filled a few holes along the way, plus I've not only advanced the plot, I've also managed to map out most of the remainder of the plot (I tend to start at point A with a point B in mind but little concrete idea how I'm going to get there - most of my stuff is seat-of-the-pants flying without a parachute) and have a good idea regarding the rest.

Now, originally I was going to write in March as well. However, being that I have now decided to join NaNoEdMo I shall be devoting March to some serious editing. That's not saying I won't be writing as well; I sure would love to finally nail the plotline into place. But 50 hours of editing will be my main goal.
For that same reason I wouldn't dare set a word count goal, since I know full well there's some stuff that will most likely be drastically cut if not axed altogether.

So.

Fifty hours' worth of editing, plus whatever writing I might squeeze in: that's the agenda for March.

April is, of course, ScriptFrenzy month.

So come May, it will be interesting (that's putting it mildly!) to see where I'm at.

It's The Count!

Fast update: As of my last save I'm at **93618** words. Still seven thousand to go to reach the goal. But I'm daring to believe it can be done.
If only I don't get this flu I feel like I'm coming down with... On the other hand, could write some interesting stuff...

Yawn. Signing off.

Bad Accent

Thing is, I came across this entry on Kel's blog, and it got me thinking.

I actually tried to do a couple of lines of Cockney in my NaNo novel for one of the lesser characters.
Kel's plaintive request that no aitches be dropped, however, has made me remember the first time I read a Dorothy L. Sayers novel in the original English. I was actually thankful that I'd read it in Danish before; this meant that I knew beforehand what the dialogue was about and could concentrate on understanding the language.
So now I'm just going to make sure the reader knows my character is London born and raised the first time he opens his mouth.

The experience has taught me that accents can be incredibly hard to write - which makes me slightly more sympathetic towards those writers who can't pull it off properly - but only slightly - couldn't those people just realise the limits of their abilities rather than inflict them upon us all?

Little rant there. Feels good.

Kel: thanks for the inspiration.

H2G2 mk. II

... or, in other words: PANIC.

Why?

Well.

My full script needs to be at least 100552 words long by the end of the month for me to have written 15000 words in February, as per my Big, Fun and Scary goal.
So far it stands at 88690 words.

And 100552-88690=11862 words to go.

In six days.

Also if I'm going to do NaNoEdMo in March I need to finish the plotline.

It can be done. Sure.

But why do I have to be the one that has to do it?

The imp of perversion is laughing at me.

January Word Goal

Okay: I've reached my January word count goal: At the end of December I was at 70338 words; currently the count stands at **85552** words. So that's 15224 words gross in January.

Guess I'll have time to start editing after all.

To Edit Or...?

Well.

On the one hand I'm doing all right with my self-imposed monthly word count: I've written approximately 12200 words this month (not counting the 1400 still being considered), so I should reach my target with no excessive perspiration.

On the other hand there's a fairly big chunk at the beginning that I now realise needs some serious rewriting.

But the thing is, the 15000 per month is gross. Which means it has to be relative to the overall word count. So if I start to rewrite the beginning the stuff I write will be cancelled out by the stuff I erase. In other words, it won't make much of a dent on the word count. It might, in fact, decrease it! (oh horror! oh woe!)

Okay, I know it should be about quality, not quantity. But for the purpose of getting the story written in the first place quantity is the better yardstick for me.

So I guess the thing to do is wait until I've fulfilled this month's quota, then start the rewrite in a separate document so I can just copy-paste it once my word count is high enough to let me get away with it.

Sneaky.

Crash Update

Have set myself a firm goal for my novel: Will write a minimum of 15000 words per month, including this one, for Crash.
A less firm goal: Will (hopefully) have finished full first draft of Crash by April 1.

There. No weaselling out now, missy.

The Saga Continuums

CWC: **57326** words. It's as if they're breeding.

I keep returning, it's as simple as that. After a near-month of writing this story, prefaced by a couple of months' worth of planning, plot outlining, character constructing et cetera (anything not actually considered writing the story), I can't simply consign it to a shallow grave on the hard drive.
Oops, I think I used that expression before. D*mn. Oh well. Never mind

So the story goes:
LLD has learned of MMC's affair with SMC. I'm not sure what her exact reaction is, so far that remains a plothole. It's certain, however, that she's mad as hell.
As a consequence MMC has more or less broken up with SMC. SMC then decided to get out of his skull in the spirit of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, but is rescued by a True Friend before his brain is turned to mush. TF talks some sense into him, leading him to realise that MMC is the love of his life and he needs to patch things up before it's too late.
This leads to the first face-to-face between SMC and LLD, over the dead body of one of LLD's schoolmates...

Ah, drama.

Potholes or Plotholes?

So I haven't been updating.

In fact, I've been having trouble writing at all.

That's the main problem with writing a story, I find; inside my head it all hangs together and I know exactly how I want my characters to speak, think, act; but getting it down on the screen so that it still hangs together can be pure agony.

It's the sort of thing that makes me wish for Bobbi Anderson's mind-reading typewriter in Stephen King's The Tommyknockers; and I'm probably not the only one to engage in wishful thinking along those lines. Especially during the month of November; there are, literally, thousands of people worldwide going crazy over novel ideas (in either sense) these days.

But the important thing is: I am still writing. Moreover, I'm keeping up with the average daily output; I am right now just over 200 words shy of the 30000-word milestone I need to reach today in order to remain on track. And I'll get them too. This book isn't going to get my goat!

CWC: **29797** to be exact.

Title consideration: The working title of my Greatest Novel Of Our Time (2007 edition) has so far been 'Cross' - for no particular reason. I'm now going to rename it, though; henceforth, the GNOOT shall be forever (or until I change my mind again) known as:

CRASH

Because I say so.

Blogging through November...

... I hope.

Okay, this is how it is.

I'm participating in the annual National Novel Writing Month - for the seventh year running. Only this time I've decided to try to write a daily blog entry throughout. Just in case my carpal tunnel syndrome doesn't kick in otherwise.

Time is now just seven hours twenty minutes till my personal local-time kick-off, and I can hardly wait. It almost makes me wish I lived in Australia, then I'd already be going at it.

So to all other NaNo'ers out there, as well as anyone else who might someday feel inspired: Go for it!
And to the folks at the Office of Letters and Light, without whom I probably wouldn't even have written word one all those years ago: Thank you. Thank you for inventing such a crazy, wonderful event.

Seven hours sixteen minutes... AND COUNTING :-D