Now that we have passed the half-way point, and entered the realm of sagging middles, how is everyone doing? Any challenges you're struggling with? Help needed? Crazy stories you'd like to share? Breakthroughs you'd like to crow about or wisdom gained?
Personally, I have learned how much I don't know about camping, non-industrial societies, music, horses, sailing, and wildlife, all of which now feature in my novel in a most unrealistic way. Should make next year's editing of this novel a lot more work. However, I have also discovered that I can create a fantasy world that has a weird but ok logic to it.
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57,407 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 02 04
I've discovered that even without planning it in advance, I can make seemingly unconnected tangents come together in a logical and (I presume) entertaining way at the end of the novel. Which makes no sense. But since it worked, I owe a nod of thanks to my muse and will speculate about 'how' it happened some other time. I finished my NaNo a few nights ago and now I'm giving it a rest so I can read it with fresh eyes in a couple of weeks to start the editing process. I am gleefully shocked at how fast I was able to do it. Ignoring your family, friends and the NaNo forums is particularly helpful for getting seat time at the keyboard. Now I get to make amends...
----------MadMike
21,110 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 06 47
Argh, I just tried to reply and then (I think) deleted my reply. If 2 replies from me end up here, please excuse me; I must be tireder than I think. Anyway I am very impressed with your word counts!!! Sigh. Mine's very slow, and low. I'm stuck right now in terms of plot--do I go with the illicit affair, the mad cow disease, the reverse blackmail, or a combination? They all make sense in terms of my story about a city boy working for a dead livestock removal firm. I don't know which way to go so right now I'm writing a version of each and seeing which one takes off in my mind.
There's a cliche that says you don't know what you think until you see what you say, and I'm finding that true. I thought I knew my characters when I gave them their silly names (Pete Moss, Forrest Greene etc.) but they surprise me sometimes by doing things I did not expect.
What I find easiest: dialogue and voice. That just comes naturally. What I find hardest: description and locale. That slows me write down so i tend to want to write another interesting conversation between my characters. Eventually I will have to do some more research on the dead livestock industry (good times!); one can only fake so much.
50,022 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 08 15
I am at the point that I know where the ending takes place: who's there, what key plot points occur to bring them there, and a minor happening or two that qualifies as In The Ending Somewhere.
I just have to write the characters from the current middle to the end, which is proving more difficult. My characters are wilfully trying to make EVERYTHING happen inside of three weeks instead of the four-five month timeline with which I'd started. It's vexing, I tell you - I need to learn to write transition scenes that aren't boring. I'm not too concerned about this - it's for the editing phase.
My biggest problem is that I find I take up one group of characters and write their interractions... and then realize I'm neglecting other characters. I take them up... and forget about the first group. Despite the fact that all of them are supposed to be hanging out together on a regular basis at their high school, I can't seem to make scenes happen that way. Perhaps this square peg + round hole feeling means they're not supposed to be there. Maybe it's just a knack I need to learn, this blending of storylines.
I'm running out of useful dead metaphors.
At least I'm 32k+, and I have more to write - the road to success will be strewn with terrible prose, but the journey there is awfully fun. :)
50,689 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 21 21
As I expected I got through everything I figured out 18 months ago then stalled. I'm attempting to work up the energy to apply Neil Gaiman's advice. I have in my head a bunch of bits and pieces of scenes that I may put in a "to be inserted somewhere" file that gets counted along with the rest.
Perhaps the fact that alan is about to pass me will give me the extra boost!