Hillsdale County

Not quite Hillsdale county but right over the borderline. I'm doing pretty well but this isn't my first book -- maybe something like my 30th. I hope to finish it or get to 150k by the end of the month, whichever comes first.

About all I can say is hang in there and write. I'll be glad to lend what help I'm able.

-- Wes

Visit my web site at Spearfish Lake Tales -- FREE Mainstream Books and Serials Online

Hey Wes, I'm not from your neck of the woods, I'm up here in Lake county, but I've seen you around on other boards, and I was wondering since you have a bug crawling around on your page trying to eat all those words you've wrote so far, and I'm so far behind, because I'm too dang busy this month, I was wondering if you could see through loaning me a few. 30 thousand would do, to catch me up! and you'd still be over the top! Ok, I'm just joking! But please do tell me how you do that so fast? I've been studying writing for 20 + years, and you see my word count don't you?

Happy Writing!

Diana

Welcome Wild_Heart, I see that this is your first year! that was me last year! Don't worry about support, there's tons of people on the boards that are willing to lend you a helping hand. :) Just have fun, because that's what it's all about. Writing with no limit, or expectation. But I must admit, if I don't make my word count this year, after winning last year, there would definitely be tears in my eyes come the 31st... So I gotta go get busy, but you have a wonderful time, and good luck on your writing!

Diana

I wish I had a straight answer for you about how I write so fast, but I'm afraid I don't. I've always been a fast writer, it just comes naturally. I can't admit to studying writing, but I've done very little of it except for high school and college classes, and that was long ago and far away. Reading a lot helps, it gives you a feel for the flavor and texture of how a story is supposed to go. That much said, the majority of my reading isn't high level literature, in fact, most of it is nonfiction. My fiction reading runs to people like J.D. Robb, David Weber, John Sandford and Tom Clancey, who may not be high end literature but immensely readable. I'd note that the first two, especially, kick out a lot of words on a regular basis so they obviously don't waste a lot of time agonizing about it.

On top of that, there's lots of practice. I have written something like thirty books and have learned to write them fast because if I don't they won't hold my interest. I have to get the story down while it's trying to get out. If I stall I often stay stalled. I don't want to think about how many semi-completed books I have cluttering various hard drives.

A few years ago I decided to write a short story to pass the time one evening. It went up going about 6000 words. I thought about it, and decided that while I didn't like the story very well, the consequences could change a lot of lives twenty years down the road. Two months later I had 384,000 words. That still left unanswered questions -- first 110k worth in about ten days several months later, then 225k in several bursts three months after that, then another 175k after that, and finally another 280k. And there's yet another one laying there half written -- maybe 75k -- that I haven't figured out how it ends yet.
That's about 1250k, not counting backups, editing, and the like. If you multiply that by six, the average number of letters in a word, you come up with 7.5 million keystrokes and still going! And that's only 5 1/2 books, although two of them are among the longest I've ever written.

Another time an idea came to me in the night. I'd posed a problem in an earlier book that I knew I was going to have to write about some day but I didn't know what the answer was going to be. I was laying awake thinking about this problem when all of a sudden the solution hit me. I headed down to the shop, wrote up about 15 pages of notes as fast as I could type, and then started in on the book -- 135k in 11 days, and that number includes two days lost to power failure. And I think it's one of my best.

Like I said, go figure. About all I can say is "tell the story". Follow the road wherever it leads, and sometimes it will lead you into some strange places. Sometimes a character making a chance remark leads to a whole story line. That happened to me tonight, for example, but no point in going into the details here.

My understanding of NaNoWriMo is to help you with the process of sitting down and writing. Not sitting around thinking about it, agonizing over the proper word, rewriting lines over and over again until they ring true -- it's about the raw activity of telling the story, getting the words down on paper (or onto semiconductors, any more). Write now, edit later. Basically that system has worked for me for many years, and I like to think that I'm a good enough writer that I don't have to worry about editing too much. And I do edit. That 384k word novel I mentioned above was trimmed down to 343k in editing, and it would be hard to cut it down much more without really hacking into the story. I can think of a few places I might trim down some detail, but since the book isn't going to be printed, most likely, and I'm satisfied with it, why bother?

Now, all that said, you may be wondering what a guy that writes as fast as I do is doing on NaNoWriMo in the first place. Good question. I've thought about giving it a try for some time. I've been somehow blocked for nearly two years. In that time I've started half a dozen books, some with really good premises, and I seem to stall out about 30k words if I get that far. I thought maybe the publically stated goal of FINISHING a book of around 150k in November might break me out of that slump. So far it seems to be working. I don't think this book is going to be one of my favorites, partly because I'm trying a new genre (Young Adult Adventure) that I find irritating -- everything has to be so darn squeaky-clean, noooo sex, no bad language, trying to keep the complicated sentences down, limited complex vocabulary -- you get the picture. I wouldn't be surprised if when I'm done that I get mad, go back and write in some four letter words and a few sex scenes, just to break the spell. But I like to write in different styles, different genres, it presents new challenges each time I start a project.

I don't know if any of this helps but I'm in a mood to ramble tonight. I rarely have the chance to sit down and talk with other compulsive writers, (with the exception of a sports writer I know, and he gets compulsive about writing football). The bottom line about being a compulsive writer is that you find yourself writing a lot.

I made the comment one time that the real reason why I write is this: Like I said, I'm a writer. I go out and buy the latest Tom Clancey (if there is one, there hasn't been in a while.). It costs me 25 bucks. Now, I'm a fast reader and I can burn through one of those doorstoppers in two evenings, easily. Then I'm out 25 bucks and it's two years (or longer) before the next Tom Clancey comes out. If I write the book myself, it can take two weeks or two months, rather than two nights, I'm out less money, and I still don't know what happens in the end until I get to it.

I guess, don't agonize over it. Let it flow. Tell the story. Hope this helps.

-- Wes

Visit my web site at Spearfish Lake Tales -- FREE Mainstream Books and Serials Online

Hey, Hillsdale County!!

I couldn't believe it when I saw that on the "Michigan:elsewhere" section. I was born in Coldwater but raised in Hillsdale, lived there for 18 years until I went off to college, and even lived in Pittsford for a brief time.

On the very off chance that I could be stirring up someone's memory, I graduated in the very strange Class of '77. We may be moving back nearby within the next year so it's great to know that there's a NaNoWriMo group already there!

2005: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
2006: Maxwell's Silver Hammer
2007: The Fool on the Hill