Hello Everyone,
I am behind of course, but would like to ask a question of those of you who are veterans at this. Did you do a lot of research prior to writing? I did some, but to be honest, the book is coming straight out of my head! I know I can finish it, but it doesn't seem to interesting a story right now. I haven't even gone back to read over what I've already written. Well, actually I did, and then got stuck trying to change things. Noticed that one of my characters was stranded in chapter 2! Realized then that I would have to stop doing that before the whole novel went to..... I suppose its to late to actually think about having a plan, but anyway, just wondering if others are having to same experience.
Josette
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50,017 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2007 - 19 44
Reading over what you've written isn't the best idea, for the reasons you mentioned. Simply put, you'll be writing a lot of crap. And if you're like me, you'll want to change it into something less craptastic. But that takes time that could be spent writing new crap, and taking that time is unacceptable.
I don't usually research too much, and I go in with a kind of vague idea of my plot. I've won twice and finished the story once, but what works for me might not work for you. But if you're on a roll, don't stop! You can't take how you feel about your NaNo to be any indication of quality, trust me. Just keep trucking.
50,057 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2007 - 21 18
Do not read over what you've written until December! You've already discovered the dangers therein ;) You're likely to find too much to fix, and if you're disappointed in how you wrote some passages (forgetting you were half asleep when you wrote them) you might become discouraged. Remember: what you are writing now is a rough draft! You can really edit it when you're done writing the whole story.
I break my own rules sometimes and go back to find specific lines of dialogue to make sure I'm not allowing chars to know more than they should, but generally reading back over things is a terrible idea.
As for research, this year I had to do more than I've done for past nanos simply because I had extremely vague ideas of how pirates actually did their pirating back in the day. So I bought two books just for this story, one on how pirates did what they did and another on how pirates talked. I read a bit of both before starting but they've been invaluable as reference books during my writing. I usually find myself doing much more research-as-I-go simply because a lot of questions I have while writing I never would've thought to ask before I'd got to that point in the story. As an example, I had to look up what kind of fruit bearing trees grow in the Caribbean today, but I wouldn't have known to look that up prior to nano.
It really depends on the type of story I'm writing, and when I do urban fantasies there's no real need to do research outside of refreshers on mythical creatures/stories/deities, which I use wikipedia for.
Good luck on the rest of your story! Looks like we're pretty close in the word count department :)
50,053 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2007 - 07 15
My story is far from interesting. oh, when i do the one or two sentence boil down, people are saying, "Wow, sounds complex, good luck with that."
my goal is to get my 50k! it's fun for me, to realize i can sit down and spit out 400-600 words that is readable, and worth molding!
for me, it's keep writing, one word at a time, or one 20 minute session at a time. that's how i've approached it.
and as far as research goes, i do like Miri, write a vague idea of what i want. so later, i will be able to research.
oh, and, if i'm stuck on a scene and i know it is just so crappy, i write a few adjectives to convey a feeling so when i go back in december, i'll be able to at least know whree i was trying to go.
good luck, i KNOW you can do it!!!
Robin
50,715 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2007 - 21 55
I've been trying so hard to ~not~ read the previous chapters or so, but sometimes I forget and I have to slap my hand (figuratively) :p ... it usually happens when I go back up to find something I need to draw in, or that I need to change because hey ... I was watching the news and realized I had accidentally typed in the wrong city for the state I was in ... so I needed to change it while it was fresh on my mind. :p
I'm just thankful inspiration happened today. I had written myself into a wall and was afraid to sit down at my computer. It helped to go out on a date with myself and just outline the rest of the plot on a napkin, away from my computer. I had an outline, but pulled in my previous climatic moment to use to build some tension. So I needed something different. And more. Lots more.
50,220 / 50,000
Nov 24, 2007 - 04 06
Yes, I'm still typing away. Noticed its strange that some days it seems so easy, and then the next day, like yesterdat, I've had to resort to adding a lot of unnecessary details. Well, hopefully this morning will be productive. I've gettin up a 4am for the last week or so. Its the only time I can work uninterupted.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement,
Josette