Yesterday

I wrote 1831 words yesterday on 'The Haunted House', which impresses me at least. It's the most I've written in one day for a long time. December last year was probably the last time I wrote that much in one day.

I did struggle towards the end. I was having trouble with what to write and some things ended up more as a summary than prose. I need to learn to rewrite this parts to make them better to read and if I get time today, that's what I will try to do.

I didn't do anything on the outline for NaNoWriMo. I really ought to do five to ten minutes a day. I'll be finished well in time for October even at that rate. I know that when I start I tend to write for much longer than I intended to. I get sucked into the story and forget about time and the real world for a while.

It's the starting that's hard.

A miracle

This weekend I wrote something. I actually added to the scenes for NaNoWriMo. I only added three more scenes, but I also dealt a little with the timeline. I had just been going from one day to the next without worrying about how many days there are in a week.

For most people the week in split into five work days and two weekend days, I felt that I should keep to this. The book is set in a school, so this does make perfect sense. Having a break for the weekend, will also help the story move on despite there being no real action during this time.

Then the second half of the story begins. I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out or in fact which ending will work best, but over the next few weeks I hope to find out. I get the feeling it's going to be a bit in between the extremes - the MC either going fully bad or staying fully good.

Still I wonder if he'll make the right choice...

Bad news

I received some bad news yesterday, which threw me off a bit. There's been rumors and gossip for a week or two and now the news has been confirmed. Nothing is actually decided yet, but the advice is now known. This means I might not have a job soon.

So I haven't thought about writing, never mind actually written anything for a couple of days. I am hoping to change that this weekend, by at least producing some more scene scenarios for NaNoWriMo. I might write a bit more on other things, but that's not so likely to happen.

My desktop is dead and has gone back to HP to see if they can fix it. I won't know the verdict for another week or two. Unfortunately all my writing was on the hard drive. At least I have a back up of most of it as I also use my netbook for writing too. But anything I did in the last two weeks is on the one I can't access.

HP should put a copy of the disk onto a secure webpage for me, so that I can download the contents again. I wonder if this will work or not...

So there won't be any real loss. Just some annoyance because I don't have my desktop. And the expense, if I have to get a new one. Theoretically they have to either fix it or replace it, but I have a nasty feeling I'm not going to like the replacement. They don't have the one I bought any more and I have rather specific requirements.

I'm just thinking that everything will go wrong at the moment. I'm sure not everything will, but still...

The weekend

I've written a little bit more, but not as much as I would've liked. I had a very busy weekend and I didn't get a chance to stop and think. It spilt over into this week, which means I didn't do anything last night either.

I am writing now, which is an improvement. I am starting to write more slowly. By that I mean writing on more days and not just writing 5000 words in one sitting and then nothing for a week or two.

OK, so I'm not writing a huge amount in each session, but it's starting to become more consistent. Today I'm hoping to write up a scene that came to me yesterday. It's either the start of a story or a turning point in one. This may sound a little weird, but it tends to be how I start of a story at least.

I start with a scene. That suggests a set up or a set of characters or a place that becomes a large part of a longer story. The scene won't necessarily make it past the first draft, but it is the inspiration for the story. Seems to work for me.

more scenes

Since my last post, I've written some more scene description for NaNoWriMo 2012. I have extended the idea and add a new dimension to the story. It should be interesting. Plus, of course, it gives me a whole load more scenes to write. The more the merrier.

Well the more scenes, the more likely I will be to reach 50 000 words. No 5000 word scenes describing the MC making a sandwich (that was from year 1).

I've also done a bit of unrelated writing too. The start of a new story with a working title of The Haunted House, which strangely enough is not actually a ghost story. I don't have an outline or even a defined plot for this one. It's just a write what comes into my mind story.

I haven't written one of those for a long time. They don't normally work out that well as I sort of write myself into knots that are impossible to undo. Still it's a fun way to write.

Yesterday

I didn't write a thing yesterday evening. I intended to, but my desktop computer failed. So instead I spent the evening trying to work out why and then finding the original receipt. It's only 9 months old so it's still under warranty.

This means I wasted an evening. I still have to look up the return/fix procedure for the company, but there's nothing I can do until next week. I still have my netbook, so I can still write. It's just annoying that I wasted so much time on the other computer.

The netbook is quite limited in it's capacity, so I'll have to try to use my work laptop to replace the desktop for the time being. I just hope it's not completely dead. Trouble is, I fear it might be.

Now, I'm annoyed, upset and tired. And not necessarily in that order.

NaNoWriMo outline

I've actually started the outline. Mostly in broad strokes, but some details when they occurred to me. This is the earliest I've ever started planning and probably the furthest I've ever got.

Last year I did some outlining too, but sort of go side tracked half way through, so I never finished. This time I've almost finished. I know how the story ends and I know how to add in more scenes.

I need a few more 'complications', but I have a long list I can use. Sometimes I find myself unable to come up with one plausible sub-plot. This time I can add in or not as I need. I do have to make sure that they don't obscure the real plot...

...though having said that, maybe I should allow it to be somewhat obscured. Might make things more interesting. Of course it could go horribly wrong, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So far this is all hand written. I'll try to get it put across into yWriter and set up so that I can just open the chapter or scene, see the summary and start writing. Famous last words...

Still at least I know what I'm going to write and I have some writing exercises I can do between NaNoWriMo and now. Maybe I'll even keep this up-to-date.

Long time, no write

On here at least. I did do some writing, but not much.

However, I do have this year's NaNoWriMo plot. It came to me a couple of days ago. It's not something that I normally would write, but I think I need to try something different. It's still a murder mystery. No change there. It's the point of view and how the narrator relates to the rest of the cast that will be very different from anything else I've written.

The plot came to me as I was just starting a writing exercise, which had to be written in first person. I never write in first as I generally hate prose written that way, with one or two notable exceptions. It's one of these that is partly responsible for the point of view choice.

The plot could work in two particular situations. One of these would make it young adult. I've never written nor considered writing something other than fiction for adults. So I'm in two minds, should I try young adult instead? I think I might. Sometimes it's good to do something totally different.

I've already got the storyline. I'm going to start plotting it out in more detail. How much detail will depend on how much time I have and what I can think of. Sometimes I do better when I don't detail too much. Other times I have no idea what to write and that can kill a NaNoWriMo.