Final Ten Days Pep Talk

Now THAT is what I call a Pep Talk! *2 thumbs up*

I'll be adding some more bulk to the word count over the next few days - in the spirit of not having to sing inane cross-border-mandated lyrics. You can do it too!!

Things I learned at the Marathon Write In:

#15: Mady is a translator.

Not that I'm banking we'll lose, but we could get her to translate the song into French, since she has so much extra time now that she's hit 50K. Then we could sing it in French. They probably wouldn't know if the translation wasn't exact... hint...hint.....

On the same vane, they never did say *how* we had to sing it... I'm thinking Bob Dylan-esq, mumbled and completely indecipherable... I'm sure we can all hold the tune to Margaritaville.

But considering that we all have that as encouragement, I think we'll be able to lay on some speed and words and pass them by the end of November!

~ K.

Seriously more motivated to avoid singing than by making 50K at this point. Which is why I plan to keep on going till the bitter end. Stretch that plot (if you can call it that) for all its worth.

I need to listen to that song to see if it gets my hands moving faster than the CDs I have now. If typing to a good beat isn't working, maybe fear will be enough.

It worked well for me. I've added close to 5000 words today and I'm hoping the fear with keep me going for at lest the same tomorrow!

They never should have sent us that song! It's giving us more motivation then we had! ^_~

The song is over on their site, I can't find the link right now though.

~ K.

I really don't want to bring myself to type the name because this monitor is a little bit reflective and I wouldn't want to summon him all "Bloody Mary" styles.

Added nearly 3000 words so far today, and the story isn't finished yet. Go Ottawa, go!!

Woo...here's hoping I'll actually make the 50k this year. >.>;;;

You're about where I am now. It's doable. I managed to pull my daily word counts up in the last week last Nano, and I hope to do the same this year.

What will help is coming out to at least one write-in in the next week. I find that my writing speed picks up during them. I'm also hitting the library near me (the Woodroffe branch, a block north of the Carlingwood mall) on Saturday to see if a change of scenery will help me get further.

I guess I need to add something to the pep talk because my situation doesn't really fit any of those categories well. My story has ended; but I'm only at 44,794 words. This hasn't happened to me before in fiction, only in all those essays I had to write in school.

So, for those of you whose stories, like mine, are smaller than 50,000 words, do what I'm going to do: take heed of the "Starting from 50,000" section. Go back and flesh out some scenes. Add some dialogue or description. Add a scene or two. Fill. Fill. Fill. Remember, the filling makes the sandwich tasty. Filling makes the tooth stop hurting (usually). Fill is good. Long live the fill.

Go forth and fillify.

50K, here I come.

I am all for judicious "word-padding" if it's done carefully and with an eye to staying cohesive with the rest of the story. What I don't like* are those random "let's throw in the email I just got from my mother!" tricks which really have no part in your story.

You've worked really hard to tell a good story in your 44K - if it's only a few thousand words you still need, there are lots of ways to do it that don't mess with the story's flow or plot, and add nuance to your characters and settings.

Here are only a few ideas:

Add a dream sequence where the MC(s) are mulling over a conflict of some sort, or relive something that's happened in the story.

Add a restaurant scene, complete with yummy food descriptions and snooty (or overly-friendly) wait staff

Add a movie scene (with dialogue and snippets of the movie mixed in)

Have your MC find a letter or diary, and read part of it that might (might!) relate to your plot

Have a character take public transportation and describe the people he'/she sees

Give one of your characters a phobia, then describe why and how that phobia was discovered or triggered. Bonus points if it relates to the plot in some way.

Sports events! Lots of play-by-play, dialogue, and on-field action!

Have your character bake something, and include the recipe (bonus points again if it relates to the plot, double bonus points if it relates to the phobia)

Have a character visit a psychologist and talk about a past trauma at great length. Use for exposition and/or plot advancement. (Phobia, anyone? Heh.)

Give a character his/her favourite song, and use part of the lyrics as a jumping point for some kind of reflection or exposition. Include the lyrics, of course.

Good luck Nancy!

*note: I don't mean to insult anyone's writing style or efforts this month. I'm speaking mostly from my own POV - I try to tell a coherent story and don't want to just add random stuff to fluff my word count. If it works for you and you're happy with it, go for it! To each their own (NaNo). :)

Or... you could drop a ninja in there and see what flies!

*Love* scenes do wonders as well...

Thanks for the ideas MadyV and Siobhann.

I already have a movie and it is an integral part of the plot. I plan to flesh it out and describe it in detail. That should add about 3K words. It is a fictional movie (doesn’t exist but could) that is kind of like “An Inconvenient Truth” but about peak oil instead of global warming. It is a little like writing a story in a story. I’m doing double duty here.

My MC has already worked on a couple of recipes for the first time. That’s in addition to gardening for the first time. She is learning how to can and preserve her bounty.

As for favourite song, well, that’s how the book begins and ends. The title is “It’s the End of the World As We Know It”. The ending is “And I feel fine”.

Love scenes are already present in mild forms. Ninjas don’t really fit with the reality in the book.

I have decided killing off a minor character should add another 1K. My MC will reconnect with the people who told her about peak oil in the first place. That should fill in the final 1K.

I intend to post this novel online, so there won’t be anything extraneous that I would have to edit out in a rewrite.

Another idea, although it might be more work because it means going back to stuff you have already written is to make sure when describing a scene, especially the really critical ones, is to make sure to describe them using as many senses as you can. Often we only help our readers visualize what is happening, but add in smell little background noises, how the flooring or air feels, taste (if applicable). Add texture to the walls where you characters walk maybe weather or the effects of the lunar cycle. on a characters psychy. pad your novel by inviting the reader into your new world and have them experience it.
I don't know about your story line or if you have already thought of this but a prologue setting up some part of the climax or an epilogue can also help.
Good luck

Thanks lemming. I already have a prologue. It's excerpted in my profile.

I have about 4,000 words left to write and won't have much trouble doing it. I have a movie in the middle of the book that I had just made a note to flesh out. Now I am fleshing it out. It is a documentary like "An Inconvenient Truth"; but on a the subject of peak oil. I started writing it tonight at the write-in and will continue this weekend. It appears to have enough to carry me over the 50K mark. That spares the life of a minor character.

So, if you do kill off the minor character, it's for fun and not just for the extra words the death would generate? :)

I've just killed off a character but since my novel is based on real life, I have major concerns that this will send bad energy into the universe for that person in real life. (She's dying of cancer but I don't want to hasten her death.) So, in my case it wasn't for fun, simply word count. I can't believe how crappy a person I am. I used to think I was really nice!

I am not writing (...) to please critics. Writing is itself one of the experiments of truth. - Gandhi

Dustinus,

I had planned to kill the minor character and may still do it. The story doesn't specifically require it; but it would highlight some issues with medical care not being readily available in a crisis and people with pre-existing conditions being at greater risk than the rest of us. I still have 2,700 words to write and the movie will take up most of it. I suspect, even if I make it to 50K beforehand, I will kill the character just for the reasons I gave. No, not for fun or word count; but because it would fit well.

UPDATE: I did kill off the character and managed to squeak to 50,151 words.

What I find really helps my word count is internal dialogue.

Word wars, I do mostly internal dialogue. And also when my muse is waiting to be resurrected.

Internal dialogue also helps flesh out characters a lot, whether its just for the moment, or for the overall story arch.

And if you're really tired of writing in novel format, write in another way like poetry, just dialogue, IM-style...