| Rhiannon Brid | Main Characters....and other dirty word count tricks? |
   83,099 / 50,000 Joined: Okt 27, 2005
Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts:
282
Posted on:
Nov 1, 2009 - 03 11 |
Well I thought I'd share a little about my main character. She went from being known by one single name, to being known by three. The character in question was Morgaine, and is now Morgaine le Faye. Always, there is no exception. And yes, she is the historical Morgan le Faye out of the Arthurian Legends. She and a band of others get transported to an alternate world. |
|
|
Home :: Info :: Zoeken :: My NaNoWriMo :: FAQs :: Fun Stuff :: Donaties/Winkel :: Forums :: Onze Programma's
Privacy Beleid :: Privacy Policy :: Voorwaarden :: Retourzendingen :: Terms and Conditions :: Codes of Conduct :: Returns Policy
Copyright © 2009 The Office of Letters and Light :: All posted novel excerpts remain copyright their authors.
Powered by Drupal
81,295 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 03 30
Well, I don't have any dirty word count tricks (yet ;-)) but I will say that one of my characters has two nicknames and is referred to within the text variously as Jason, Poo and Rabbit. Two others have nicknames too, and I'm keeping the reader alert by using them interchangeably :D
Body language is a good word count trick, I think . . .
\m/ Kat
----------Banner thanks to AmaiRose
Sources:
http://axeraider70.deviantart.com/art/Life-Brushes-83812716
http://rabidwire-stock.deviantart.com/art/Roadie-21-8456620
83,099 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 03 42
Body language. Hhhmmm. I'm having enough trouble with writing lengthy descriptions. I think its the current scene I'm writing, it's boring me, but I refuse to write non linear.
----------2005, 2006, 2007 - WON
2008 - FAILED
2009 § The Sidereal Rose
http://thesiderealrose.blogspot.com/
81,295 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 03 56
It comes to me that it might be a bad sign for any possible readership if the author is bored writing a certain passage . . . ROFL
\m/ Kat
----------Banner thanks to AmaiRose
Sources:
http://axeraider70.deviantart.com/art/Life-Brushes-83812716
http://rabidwire-stock.deviantart.com/art/Roadie-21-8456620
83,099 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 00
lol. Well the section I'm writing is new territory for me. The settlement of a colony. I'm determined to put the detail in this year rather than just gloss over it like I have in years past. So I guess "boring" might be the wrong word. It's more that I'm struggling to do it justice. :(
----------2005, 2006, 2007 - WON
2008 - FAILED
2009 § The Sidereal Rose
http://thesiderealrose.blogspot.com/
920 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 19
Odd, I have the opposite probelm - I tend to spend so long on the details and world-building that I don't get up to actually writing the plot (or characters, or settings).
For NaNo, one Dirty Word Trick would be to do the standard "show, don't tell". So instead of writing "he was furious", instead you'd write "he strode across the room, picked up the old clock and flung it against the wall, cursing the darkest explatives the whole time". 23 words instead of 3.
Another good rule for good story writing is "in late, out early". So for example, if you have a staff meeting where the budget is discussed but one staff member goes nuts and shoots everyone then the full version of the scene would start with the people entering the room, getting organised, the first half of the meeting then the shooting followed by the police arriving, a standoff an arrest and then a trip to the police station. A "punchier" story would start just prior to the shooting taking place (establishing a meeting) and then end as the last shell casing hits the floor.
So the story has arrived just in time for all the "action" but leaves as soon as it is over. The minutae of everything else is irrelevant to the story. But for NaNo, you want to get all the words you can get your hands on, so you tell out the whole scene. (You would edit out the boring bits in December!)
----------When words writing one important order is the is.
81,295 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 37
\m/ Kat
----------Banner thanks to AmaiRose
Sources:
http://axeraider70.deviantart.com/art/Life-Brushes-83812716
http://rabidwire-stock.deviantart.com/art/Roadie-21-8456620
53,504 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 48
Dirty word tricks...
"I recognised the guy. What was his name? Carl? Robert? Anthony? Stewart? Lee? Xerxes? ...."
...and I am a huge fan of the big names. 'The Mighty Fierce Pirate Captain John Blackbird' was a character in my first Nano, and it never got abbreviated to less than 'Captain John Blackbird'.
Amy
----------Nanowrimo. There is no substitute for quantity.
83,099 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 49
hehe. Yep, I love the long descriptions of emotions and so on. I remember my first year of nano, it was simple "he said she said" type of stuff... now its always ... "he said, raising his eyebrows, both shocked and amused at the thought." 12 words rather than two.
----------2005, 2006, 2007 - WON
2008 - FAILED
2009 § The Sidereal Rose
http://thesiderealrose.blogspot.com/
52,107 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 05 48
Ha I'm totally the opposite. my main character is called Saxon, but i always get lazy and call him Sax, then I get paranoid I'm not doing it right and have to re read sentences, which leads to editing. lame. Hopefully i will wean off y editor over the next couple of days.
My terribly cheat-y trick it the word that. A lot of times it means nothing, really, but is so good to insert into sentences and pad. (he knew that it was his only option/ he knew it was his only option) but yes. December is for getting rid of the crap and the 'thats'
----------- Ness -
7,403 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 05 57
My main character is a small boy called Cicero Julian Reisterer, but only his mother calls him CJ - usually I can refer to him as Cicero Julian and thereby get an extra word out of every naming :)
----------NaNo 2008: G Sharp Minor (WINNER)
NaNo 2009: Letters to Agnes, Santa and God
45,055 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 06 54
At the moment, I'm just taking my time in introducing the names of my characters, so I can call someone 'the lad with the captain's hat and the eye patch' for longer than is probably necessary until someone else names him for me. XD
...I really suck at working out how best to introduce names, especially in third person. So epic descriptions of people will suffice. I can edit in December! XD
Also. I plan on epic but completely pointless conversations between Andrew, my MC, and his talking radio, the voice of which did eventually settle on what year it was from (1973). Andrew doesn't know WTF it is and I plan to have the voice as the most pointlessly useful voice ever. It's not going to give him some dire warning about the future. It's not going to warn him about the impending apocalypse and how to avoid it. It's just going to talk to him about mundane things, like toast. And what a DJ is. And how to make an electric guitar. XD I could make those stretch on for ages if I get stuck for words. :D
----------R.I.P. GeoCities
NaNo 2009
Title: Moonlighting
Genre: Steampunk-ish fanfic AU
Fandom: The Chaser RPS
Setting: AU!Birmingham, UK circa 1822
Current Mood: procrastinating horribly
920 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 14 49
Depending on your novel, another good way to add more words is to throw in a few teenagers. Instead of "I don't like him" you can write "he was all, like, you know, whatever and like, a total loser in the worst way, like, you know. Whatever!".
Okay, maybe if it was set in 80's America.... <.<
----------When words writing one important order is the is.
0 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 16 09
Actually I'm pretty sure I've heard teenagers talking like that recently.
----------Beware - I send random private messages =D
52,107 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 18 43
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That made me choke on my coffee. hilarious
- Ness -
----------- Ness -
81,295 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 19 57
ROFL
\m/ Kat
----------Banner thanks to AmaiRose
Sources:
http://axeraider70.deviantart.com/art/Life-Brushes-83812716
http://rabidwire-stock.deviantart.com/art/Roadie-21-8456620
45,055 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 19 58
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That made me choke on my coffee. hilarious
That's what I was aiming for. Hilarious word padding FTW. :D
----------R.I.P. GeoCities
NaNo 2009
Title: Moonlighting
Genre: Steampunk-ish fanfic AU
Fandom: The Chaser RPS
Setting: AU!Birmingham, UK circa 1822
Current Mood: procrastinating horribly
1,006 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 03 22
Sneaky Hints, huh:
----------Hyphenating words I normally would just contract into a single word - like super-dooper (most word counts will see that as two words not one.)
The other trick is to give some of your settings colloquial names. For example. I have a pub know as The Elizabeth that will feature a lot, only all the locals call it The Disreputable Old Woman. Likewise, the youth of the novel call the cathedral the Center for Bells and Smells or Penguin Town.
83,099 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 03 53
Okay, I'm borrowing an idea from Holly Black's Tithe and Ironside novels. Basically Faerie have a three word name that only they know, everybody else knows them by one name out of the three. Now in my novel all my Sidhe are known to eachother publically by those three names. When it comes to humans and other fae they will simply introduce themselves by one name only.
eg. Lance Lane Limerick smiled and extended a hand, "You may call me Lance."
And no, Lance does not feature in my novel. I may edit it out come December, or just rework the names.
----------2005, 2006, 2007 - WON
2008 - FAILED
2009 § The Sidereal Rose
http://thesiderealrose.blogspot.com/
28,020 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 04 17
"I recognised the guy. What was his name? Carl? Robert? Anthony? Stewart? Lee? Xerxes? ...."
Hahaha - thanks for this, it made me laugh out loud!
----------89,944 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 04 22
Some of this is starting to look really useful about now ;)
----------Location : Somewhere on the far side of crazy, past the dark side of the moon, and on my way to becoming comfortably numb.
Interested in Cannabis Law Reform in Australia? visit here : https://www.cannabisfacts.info/members/index.php and join in
15,015 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 06 04
Okay, maybe if it was set in 80's America.... <.<
Argh, there's too many of those that I have to listen to around here as it is. I don't want them in my head too.....
;-)
89,944 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 06 10
AS I can't decide what to call the end of civilisation Mark I, I have to describe it as the "Bad Thing that happened a long time ago" every time I refer to it ;)
It's a lot longer than Apocalypse :D
----------Location : Somewhere on the far side of crazy, past the dark side of the moon, and on my way to becoming comfortably numb.
Interested in Cannabis Law Reform in Australia? visit here : https://www.cannabisfacts.info/members/index.php and join in
52,107 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 01 20
While I haven't gone so far as to name my chapters yet, I've done the next worst thing - I've recently started putting quotes/ song lyrics at the heading of each chapter, the idea is that they tie together the theme of the chapter, and give a little insight into the character the chapter focuses on. The IDEA is that, but it has only been true for.... 25% of the time. the rest is just quotes i like and pay want to use later. It's Ok, cleaning them up is what December is for.
----------- Ness -
53,504 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 01 50
While I haven't gone so far as to name my chapters yet, I've done the next worst thing - I've recently started putting quotes/ song lyrics at the heading of each chapter, the idea is that they tie together the theme of the chapter, and give a little insight into the character the chapter focuses on. The IDEA is that, but it has only been true for.... 25% of the time. the rest is just quotes i like and pay want to use later. It's Ok, cleaning them up is what December is for.
Oh yeah, definitely go the long chapter titles. 'Chapter one - in which the main character is introduced to the novel, as well as a few minor characters who may or may not be relevant'.
Amy
----------Nanowrimo. There is no substitute for quantity.
53,504 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 00 48
"Ahiohs ghweo ehif seihgiho adie ngoaein gji egpo epog Hyweo vnae," said the alien.
"What did he say?" I asked, turning to my translator.
"He says his name is Hyweo," said the translator.
"Oh. Ask him where's he's from," I said.
"?Midun sufno sfou pawih giwu oadh a-weihg aidsuh apongu songuw donwu vmabod," asked the translator.
"Audh weuh aswfchywl wdfho sdofih weihf oahifwi avhoi asdofyo ipoi waiod pwh poidh wohf pa dh[piha dfioiw diow dnpoau weidi awpod aovhi adipu hioswa xciohyw xow ay aiseoi cjwpy dhoawy nhpioaw jopd aogo dtogua," said the alien.
"What did he say?" I ask.
"He says, he's from Canada."
___
100 words a minute. 6000 words an hour. Dirtiest. Word count trick. Ever.
Amy, who is loving the write-ins madly.
----------Nanowrimo. There is no substitute for quantity.
81,295 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 03 39
I can't type that fast . . . :-( but I do alright for all that.
I, too, love the write-ins - I got nearly 4k there today, in five hours. Hey, I do nearly type as fast as you! How cool!
Am feeling awesome about my contribution today :D
\m/ Kat
----------Banner thanks to AmaiRose
Sources:
http://axeraider70.deviantart.com/art/Life-Brushes-83812716
http://rabidwire-stock.deviantart.com/art/Roadie-21-8456620
28,020 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 05 04
"What did he say?" I asked, turning to my translator.
"He says his name is Hyweo," said the translator.
"Oh. Ask him where's he's from," I said.
"?Midun sufno sfou pawih giwu oadh a-weihg aidsuh apongu songuw donwu vmabod," asked the translator.
"Audh weuh aswfchywl wdfho sdofih weihf oahifwi avhoi asdofyo ipoi waiod pwh poidh wohf pa dh[piha dfioiw diow dnpoau weidi awpod aovhi adipu hioswa xciohyw xow ay aiseoi cjwpy dhoawy nhpioaw jopd aogo dtogua," said the alien.
"What did he say?" I ask.
"He says, he's from Canada."
Damn. You are devious! I wish I thought like that!
----------52,107 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 05 36
"Audh weuh aswfchywl wdfho sdofih weihf oahifwi avhoi asdofyo ipoi waiod pwh poidh wohf pa dh[piha dfioiw diow dnpoau weidi awpod aovhi adipu hioswa xciohyw xow ay aiseoi cjwpy dhoawy nhpioaw jopd aogo dtogua," said the alien.
"What did he say?" I ask.
"He says, he's from Canada."
Love This
----------- Ness -