A bit of rebel regret

GatsbyGal — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:32:05 -0500

I brought a half-finished story that I plan to publish into this year's NaNo as motivation to finish it. I'm almost done, but I'm realizing too late that I'm not having the same exciting experience as I did with last year's NaNo. Since I already know where the plot is going, there's not a whole lot to discover by just pantsing and seeing where it ends up. I keep reading threads in other forums about the brand new crazy direction their story is going and now they're having so much fun just being crazy and killing characters and blowing stuff up and all sorts of amazing thing. I...I'm kinda jealous. I look at my own story and know that I can't change things willy-nilly because I already have the plot laid out the way I want it to be told, and because I want to publish afterwards I'm trying to keep some semblance of order on the page so that I don't have *too* much editing and rewriting to do once I'm done (even though I just know there's going to be a lot anyway). But yeah, I miss the experience that I had last year where I made everything up on the fly and took the story into all kinds of weird directions and didn't care because I was only writing for myself. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm nearly finished with my story this year and it's all thanks to the motivation provided by NaNo, but at the same time... :\ Anyone else wishing they hadn't rebelled (whichever way you chose to rebel)?

Re: A bit of rebel regret

Emma Rosloff — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:43:24 -0500

I'm in a similar boat, although this is my first time doing Nano, and I was more or less at the beginning of my story when I started it. Still, I intend to get this published and have a relatively clear outline for the plot, which despite some divergence I've been trying to follow. I agree, doing things like killing people at random or certain unexplainable things/occurrences just won't do, particularly since my MC lives in an encapsulated society. There a few token things I need to address, as well as places I need to get to, and conflicts that need tying up. Sometimes it all feels far too business like, and I envy the WriMo's who, when faced with writer's block, say to hell with it and just jump off the cliff that wasn't even supposed to be there. I find that I'm afraid... afraid that if I do something like that I will muck up the good thing I've got going. I'm still open to change, though, and I've already made some interesting discoveries in the course of my NaNoWriMo experience this year. But I doubt I'll get to the end by 50k, which is somewhat disappointing, too, since I'm not really writing an entire novel in one month, just a good portion of it.

Re: A bit of rebel regret

Mynerva — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:56:49 -0500

I'm feeling a little like that right now. I'm carrying on from last year's Nano, though it's a story I've had in my head for years, so everything that's meant to happen is not only laid out, it's practically set in stone in my mind. It also means I've grown bored and stuck with writing the middle part of it, even though I know there's more exciting stuff to come. And skipping scenes doesn't work for me. So yes, I do miss some of the crazyness and excitement of writing a new story... but then I missed that a little last year too, and the year before, and every year I never got to finish a story properly. All that excitement just doesn't seem enough to make up for the let-down of ending up with yet another unfinished manuscript, not to mention the sudden post-nano withdrawal that takes most of the first week of December to recover from. So rather than make myself go through that rollercoaster ride, I'll pace it out, and just keep writing, even if it means still not finishing this November. Nano is good fun and motivation, but I too want to get this story finished and polished and sent out for publishing, and that has to mean more to me than just the thirty days and nights of crazy fun. *sigh* Well, there's always next year... ;o)

Re: A bit of rebel regret

ruwth — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:41:12 -0500

My rebel regret is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Novel writing is not on my agenda. I am not saying that I would never go in that direction but it isn't the direction that I am trying or wanting to go with my writing at this time. I want to write articles/essays. I want to earn money doing that. As my friends at Writing.Com prepared for NaNo, I was drawn in. At the last moment, I found out that I could join the fun as a NaNo Rebel and I did just that. They had been planning and preparing for a few weeks. I had not. So instead of a collection of "real" articles . . . I have a bunch of words . . . most of which go nowhere. So unlike those of you who wish for less structure . . . this Rebel is wishing for more. My goal from here on out to to try to write something with more direction instead of a lot of rambling. My main goal remains to simply write 50K by the end of the month and I have grown as a writer by doing this but I wish that my end result would have looked more like 50 articles versus a bunch of debris. Another rebel regret . . . it takes more to follow a story to its finish than it does to do what I have done. Folks that have less words than I do right now but are regular NaNoers have done something more that what I have done. :-( I still plan to validate if I succeed in reaching 50K but it won't mean as much as I once thought it would. For me, it pales in comparison to theirs. BUT . . . then again . . . I am not them. I am a Rebel . . . and had I not hopped on this train, I wouldn't have 33589 words in my collection of debris . . . So regrets aside . . . this Rebel will revel in what I have gained . . . am gaining . . . from this whole experience! The biggest thing for me is that I went from appreciating the finished product to enjoying the process . . . and silencing that pesky editor that lives in my head! YAY!! ~ ~ ~ ruwth ~ ~ ~

Re: A bit of rebel regret

Mackenzi. — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:31:16 -0500

I sort of miss the fun and shenanigans of the plot doctoring and adoption forums, and I hang out there anyway just to join in. For the most part that and the stuff on the genre forums don't apply to me, and it makes me miss having solid characters and plot and direction. But at the same time, I know I won't get far with that setup, it's better to write my "solid" stories in the summer, and my free-writing feels so amazingly good when I do it that it pretty much makes up for that. Besides, if I really want to add little snippets of my story ideas, there's nothing stopping me.

Re: A bit of rebel regret

mandiiminx — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:42:46 -0500

I've never done the whole 'crazy things happen' approach. Whether I planned the book or not. And I have never rebelled. I get jealous sometimes too, but I don't know, I feel much prouder when I win and know that my book is close to publishable :)

Re: A bit of rebel regret

tianne — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:41:29 -0500

I did spend a certain amount of time wishing I were writing some random fictional silliness, but man, the comfort factor of going into NaNo with a list of topic headings/chapters headings to cover, and the firm knowledge that even if I jumped ahead I could backtrack again and tie it all together...that just about made up for it. There was a lot less *drama* about writing going on in my head this time, and if there weren't the great moments of "discovery," there were also only a few times I was sort of blocked, and most of them I got around by jumping to another heading. There wasn't really the sheer despair that goes with being blocked on a seat of your pants fiction-writing project.

Re: A bit of rebel regret

Cophi — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:39:13 -0500

Continuing the story I started on in August is a lot harder, I found, than starting from scratch like I did last year. I'm starting to get sick of this story and I want it to be over! I keep reminiscing about last year, and how thrilling it was to just make everything up as I went along. Lesson learned!

Re: A bit of rebel regret

Forsaela — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:35:41 -0500

I'm continuing the novel I started in last year's NaNo because I've gotten so completely attached to the characters and the story and I just really really want to FINISH something for once... And it HAS meant that I can't be totally ridiculous and throw in a purple flying cow or something when the going gets tough. Though I never really had that chance anyway since this story decided to be super srs bzns right from the get-go (first line I ever wrote was "She killed my family", I mean really where else can you go from there). So I've been jealous of the people who can do that sort of thing since I began this, heheh... And I also can't say I haven't spent many, many minutes wistfully staring after ideas for my OTHER, completely fresh and *NEW* story that keep dancing oh-so-temptingly in front of me... with the fascinating and hilarious and ridiculous characters all just waiting for me to come and meet them and explore their personalities and discover their little quirks and come along with them on their adventures... I do have to say, though, that this has been a fantastic exercise in patience and perseverance. And I just know that even if I am jealous and a bit frustrated right now, I will not regret having done this once I can FINALLY type those beautiful words "The End" at the close of this monstrously huge novel. After all, there's always next year for the insanity. :)

Re: A bit of rebel regret

ruwth — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:04:04 -0500

I recommend: The Snowflake Guy If you purchase anything from Randy Ingermanson or communicate with him, please tell him that ruwth referred you to his site! I have a copy of "How to Write A Super Article". I am making a commitment to spend the rest of NaNo working on my own Super Article. This will be a significant change for me since up to now, I have been collecting debris. If I am successful, it will definitely reduce any feelings of regret. In fact, making this commitment has given me new zeal for my NaNo project! I am posting this comment as a way to publicly commit to this plan of action. ~ ~ ~ ruwth ~ ~ ~

Re: A bit of rebel regret

B. Susan — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:40:18 -0500

I feel some of the same regrets. Not about doing NaNoWriMo as a rebel. But I do miss the wild crazy, exhilaration of that first time, 3 years ago. In 2008, I had just completed my first book, a music memoir, and was waiting for it to be published in a couple of months. So I decided to do NaNoWriMo as a playful experiment, to see if I could write fiction. I loved the process! But no one loved the novel, even after a year of revision. So it was back to nonfiction. I was a rebel last year too, trying to pull together the research and scattered bits of writing I've been doing on this unruly nonfiction ethnic roots memoir project. Doing the same this year. Sometimes it feels like slogging through a college term paper :-(

Re: A bit of rebel regret

ruwth — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:01:49 -0500

I wish that I was having a slogging through a college term paper kind of experience. I just posted this message to my friends on writing.com: A sad thing for me is that I might end up writing 50K for my NaNo project . . . without ever getting a single 1K article. I hope that isn't the case. The last pep talk from Brandon Sanderson was a source of encouragement for me. Reminding me of the value of this experience no matter what my own NaNo project looks like at the end of the month. No matter what it looks like, I have grown as a writer through this experience. I keep reminding myself of that . . . as I continue to hope for at least one real article at the end. ~ ~ ~ ruwth ~ ~ ~

Re: A bit of rebel regret

AliceWrites — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:30:03 -0500

I just validated. I wish that I had managed to write more on my novel, but I did write 50,000 this month.

Re: A bit of rebel regret

theInsane — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:59:58 -0500

i'm not really regretting rebelling but since my project was sooo far off from a novel i used the word count bar as more of a 'progress tracker' which was pretty subjective so i won't be validating. I did the same thing last year when i rebelled but last year, even if you didn't validate and get the purple bar, your word count bar turned green once you got more than 50k. and i admit, i'm a bit sad not to at least get a green bar. :-( wouldn't matter as much if i were really happy with what i accomplished but... arg. yeah. trying to go for a more visual format but since i suck at drawing mostly i ended up just writing stuff like "so the scene should look like *this*, and the lighting should be like *that* and the overall mood should be *whatever*" and it kind of degenerated from there. so basically i just have a giant 37-page outline with directions and some crappy sketches. oh well. at least i got the gist of it down and out of my head.