Yes, that was a scream of frustration and dismay.
Suddenly on day 10 I discover that I went from first person to third person and back to first person. I have fought the urge to go back and read in detail, to edit and correct. For all I know I could be bouncing back and forth like a tennis ball. It is, after all, about just getting the words down; and this can be fixed.
That's what I keep telling myself...it can be fixed.
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65,882 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2007 - 11 36
Yep! It can be fixed. In December! :) Just keep writing. Edit later!
----------15,144 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2007 - 14 25
LOL One of my characters has moved from a house to a flat in a half a day. (Despite a check list) Wish I could find that speedy removal firm plus the solicitor and estate agent who engineered it.
Also the MC female keeps forgetting what colour her eyes are.
summerdaze
Cat is cross at being ignored so is now sitting between me and the screen. Perhaps it deserves a mention? Will not be happy if it walks on keyboard and text vanishes.
50,333 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 11 25
Had some trouble with my names for people and places changing. I started putting in xxx for some of the places, will sort it out later. Yeah, my cat has been angry too, plus a bunch of people who are easier to ignore!
50,524 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2007 - 14 08
Thank you all for the encouragement. The urge remains to go back, but I am controlling it.
50,026 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2007 - 13 38
I've already come upon some issues, too, but I simply email myself a reminder and will get back to answering questions and solving the issues. lol. I hope! Good luck to you!
50,524 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 06 51
Nice idea, the e-mail reminder. Thanks for the tip.
26,473 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 12 04
Whatever I write, I don't decide on first v first person (or present v past tense) until I've finished. I just write it however feels most natural at the time. When I've finished, I look back and see what I've done. If it's all in 1st or 3rd then I keep to that. If it's a mixture, I look at the strongest scenes, check if the whole thing will work that way and change accordingly.
There are quite a few things I don't decide untl later - characters names are another. I just pick something at random (If I'm stuck, I grab a book and use the author or a characters name) I usually find that after a while, I'm thinking of them by a different name, so that's what I call them.
51,051 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 14 16
Very interesting approach, phots-moll! The bit about names is interesting, because I often find that my characters don't want the names I give them. I'll keep forgetting what they're supposed to be called--that's one tipoff.
----------Lower your standards and keep going. - William Stafford
51,226 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 14 54
I have a hard time coming up with names for ancillary characters so I developed a habit of using the names of people I know. I mix and match first and last names, though. If I'm looking for a specific nationality or ethnicity I Google " names" and see what I get. There are lots of sites with lists of names, many with meanings.
In another story I floundering for names for a couple British secret service agents. I was writing while on a sailboat, and some marine instrument was there in front of me. It was manufactured by Weems and Plath. So those are my two agents. Unfortunately, they've continued to appear in that series of stories -- unfortunate not because I don't like the names, but because Weems and Plath is a very well known marine supplier and the names must jump out at anyone who knows that. Even I keep expecting there to be some nautical connection!
Names for main characters are another matter. I tend to pick one and if it isn't sticking I just wait until something else emerges. Now and then the name has some importance, but not usually.
I do tend to research as I go, particularly for place names as my story involves some travel. I want to be sure the amount of time spent traveling between places is logical, that they don't cover hundreds of miles in an afternoon or spend days going ten miles. This really does seem important because the locations work into the plot and I would not want, later, to have to rework large sections because, say, I have them visiting a waterfall when in fact they could never have reached one in the time allowed. I spent some time before November plotting out their progress and don't want to have to throw that out with the bathwater (yikes, what a horrible metaphor!).
In the process of researching distances I get the place names, all of it from on-line sources -- if I can't find it quickly I do give up and wing it. However, if I'm referring to someplace or person now who was last mentioned many pages back I usually just insert or if I can't remember.
I use the pointy brackets because I can search on them later.
My strategies, for what they're worth.
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Life is short, but November is shorter.