long time, no blog

I've been writing scenes. Quite a few and new ones at that. I've also planned out a timeline, which means it is now easier to write some parts. I'm about halfway through and I am slightly stuck. I'm not sure which scenes should come next. I've been thinking about it for over a week now and I still can't get them in order.

I've decided to start writing the scenes from the first half and see if it all fits together, perhaps then I will see the second half more clearly. Of course the fact that I keep changing the climax of the story isn't helping. A little distance is needed.

update

I added approximately 1500 words last week. Not a huge amount, but not bad either. Currently, I write for just one hour a week. I know I need to write more. I just have trouble getting motivated. I'm so tired in the evenings that all I want to do is sit down and vegetate.

I worked out that if I continue at this rate, I will finish after one year. Better than never, but could be improved.

writing

When I first started this blog, I was worried that I would write here more than anywhere else. In fact it's turning out to be the opposite. I'm actually writing my novel and I hardly ever write here. I never really think about it to be honest.

I suppose that's a good thing, though the purpose of this blog was to give me more accountability. Still my writing has improved no end and even though I'm still not writing as much as I like, I am writing.

Chapter 4 is currently being written. I won't say re-written as I am changing almost everything except the broad out line. Not much is left from the original version. I'm not allowing myself to write anything in narrative summary, which is about all my previous drafts have ever amounted to. OK, so there was dialogue, but not much else.

This version is in scenes with action, dialogue and descriptions - totally different from any previous version. At times I have to force myself to write, but it is working.

I'm bad.....

at writing blog posts. I can't believe it's been so long since I updated. I have done some writing and I can honestly say that the quality of my writing is much improved.

OK, I'm not going to win any awards, but I am writing scenes and not just narrative summaries, which was my favorite way of getting out of the bits I wasn't enjoying.

I am now up to 6000 words of a novel. Here's to many more.

Yesterday

I had a good day writing. Wrote for just under an hour, but got a lot done. I am very happy with what I wrote and how much I wrote. Feeling much better because of it.

An update

I haven't been here for a while. A death followed by a health scare meant I just didn't have the energy to update the blog. Sorry.

Now all of that is over and I'm sort of catching up at work, so it is time to get back to writing or at least writing about not writing. I have my story. I know what's wrong with what I have written. Now all I need to do is make it right....

This should be interesting. I am attempting to get into the habit of writing every day, even if it is only for 5 minutes or so. I would love to write for an hour a day, but I'm not going to run before I can walk.

So time to finish the urgent stuff for work and then I will write. At least one sentence...

Tuesday's report

I forgot to write in my diary yesterday. I think I need to have it with me so I can write in it when I have the time or the inclination, rather than leaving it at home to write in it at 6pm.

However, I did write. I wrote a piece, which is part of my "novel" and I am using as a writing exercise. I'm trying a new way to create scenes. Hopefully it will work, but only time will tell. This method fits in well with my current writing style, so it's not like I have to make big changes. I will however have to go through my current draft and split it up differently and work on the individual parts. This is not a bad thing.

If I can get the individual parts to work, then I can put them back together and make the whole thing work. Well that's the plan anyway.

Yesterday

I didn't write. Well that's not entirely true. I wrote in my diary, but I didn't add to my novel.

What I did do is read about scenes. I found that I keep summarizing scenes and not actually writing them. If that makes any sense.

I summarise what the scene is about, maybe add in some dialogue, and that's it. I'm not describing the scene or moving people, not even allowing them to fidget or breathe. In fact some of my scenes are just talking heads, nothing more and I seem to be having trouble adding action or surroundings.

So I'm going to start some writing exercises in order to help with describing place and time and adding in actions. I start today. I have an hour free in which I will start.

Re-reading NaNoWriMo, I noticed that almost the entire thing is written in summary form. That is sad.

Bad end to the year

I did no writing in December 2010 due to personal reasons. Also, I was sick. Nothing went right.

Christmas was good when it finally happened as was old and new, which means New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Slowly I'm getting back into writing. Very slowly. I've been reading about writing at the moment. Today I need to start writing and I mean more than this post.

I'm thinking about writing a diary. That's something I've never done, but I know several writers who find it very useful. They begin with writing their diary entry and then find it easier to move to their work. I'm going to try this, starting tonight.

NaNoWriMo aftermath

I am so glad the NaNoWriMo is over. I will freely admit that I didn't enjoy it much this year, which came as a surprise to me. I thought I would. However I hated my story, which I think is the reason. The story was easy to write as I had a wonderful, detailed outline, but the story was boring and obvious. I chose it for that reason, so that I could finish a story from start to finish, where the plot didn't morph on the way. It's boring.

The characters, on the other hand, are interesting. They just didn't get to do anything interesting. So what I'm going to try to do is blend this year's characters with last year's plot. It may not work, but it also helps me get round a plot hole or two that I was having problems with.

And I start this weekend. Hopefully. A new outline, then new scenes, and finally a new novel.

Watch this space...

NaNoWriMo

So I finished with 51992 words according to the offical word counter. I din't blog much, because I was writing.

I wonder if next year I will take part and if I do, if I can do this without having to write so much during the last couple of days....

No progress

I'm still at just over 33000 words, which means I need to write just under 17000 words before midnight tomorrow. Definitely doable. OK, I might not finish until late tomorrow, but I will finish. I'll aim for 40000 words today and leave the last 10000 until tomorrow.

33000 words

Not too bad, not the 35000 words I was hoping for, but a lot better than I feared. And tomorrow is another day.

writing

I ended yesterday with just over 30000words. Today I've added about a thousand more and I can't think of a single thing more to write. I'm not feeling very well, but that's just an excuse. I really don't feel like writing. I was hoping to end the week with 40000 words, I'll be lucky to hit 35000 words.

Of course, this doesn't mean I won't reach the magic 50000 words. It just means I have more to do in the last remaining days. That is what I'm good at. I just wish I could be more consistent.

My spelling is improving, but I get the feeling my grammar is getting worse.

Today

Yesterday I ended up with a touch over 26000 words. I'm hoping to get to just over 30000 words today. It should be possible. In theory. Trouble is I was never very good at theory.

I have added 500 words so far today, which is progress. Let's hope it continues.

25000 words!

So I am now over the halfway mark. Less than 25000 words to write to win NaNoWriMo. I will write enough to win, but I won't be anywhere near my original target.

However I will have a good first draft, that needs expanding, re-writing and editing. In the end I will end up with a good manuscript. I have no idea if it will attract an agent, but I should get to that stage this time.

After NaNoWriMo, I will work on one chapter a week. I will, however, not start until next year, before that I'll work on the outline to another book. I need a break from this one. But this is, by far, the most advanced story I have to date. It is consistent.

The weekend

I reached 23000 words over the weekend. Not exactly brilliant, only an extra 500 words. But we are now into the home straight, so I know I'll start writing more.

Only 8 days to go and 27000 words, that should be no problem. It should take 6 days, so time to spare. Now it is time to write.

yesterday, Tuesday 16th

I wrote 1400 words, bring my total to 21700 words. So I'm still behind the NaNoWriMo average total for the given date. I'm not feeling well today, but I'll see how I do.

Some how I see myself writing the last 25000 words in the last weekend, and making it just in time. Sigh.

Writing

I'm finding it increasing difficult to write each day. I keep trying and I fail miserably. That doesn't mean I don't want to write or that I have nothing to write, but I just don't want it to become routine.

I don't know if that makes any sense. It makes sense in my head. I know I'll win NaNoWriMo - barring accidents of course - but it won't be until the final week. Then the deadline will be looming and the adrenalin will be flowing and I will end up writing 10000 words a day. It's the way I always win.

What worries me is will I be able to write away from NaNoWriMo. I didn't do so well last year, but part of that was a lack of an outline, meaning I got lost in an ever changing story. I've started the outline for that and I do intend to do the re-writing. I'm just worried I won't have the discipline to write consistently. Maybe I was never meant to do that.

Having the outline definitely helps. It's the best thing I ever did. This years NaNoWriMo is much more consistent than previous years. However it is nowhere near ready to submit. I'm skipping over chunks of the story by putting in a "telling" section. These need to be changed into "showing" scenes. I may even go back and start writing these before the end of November, as long as I've reached the end of course.

I may even need to do that to reach the 50000 words.....

Update

I wrote a total of 1100 words over the weekend. Not good, but at least I wrote something. This week I'm hoping to write 20000 words, with a target of writing 5000 words a day for 4 days out of the 7. I should be able to do this because I have done it before. It simply means I have to write. That means not writing here, or surfing the web or wasting time.

I'm very good at wasting time. Time to start writing.