NaNo / 2

We're over halfway through NaNo. How's everyone doing so far?

 

I feel stuck, which isn't much of a surprise. this usually happens when I hit the halfway mark of a novel. it's like every word I manage to write has been ripped from my head, then splattered onto the page. it's not pretty.

 

so! if anyone else is having this problem here are some things that might help (they help me, at least):

 

1. The most obvious: keep writing. you'll eventually pass that sagging middle and get to the fun stuff. (you can go back and fix the middle after you finish writing the story, so don't worry about that)
2. Skip to the fun stuff. sometimes when I hit a part of the novel I can't seem to slog through, I'll skip it and go to a scene I've been eager to write.
3. Really, this is part B of #2: skip to the end and write. this helps when I get intimidated by the word count. I think: I've already written 30k, how am I supposed to get 30,000 more words out of this thing?? Well, when I've written 10k of the end I have less to write overall, which makes finishing the story seem a little more bearable. (of course, I'll have to go back and fix all the continuity problems that arise when I do inevitably write the middle... but let's not think about that.)
4. Have a clear idea of where the story is headed. think about a scene before you begin writing it. know what's going to happen.
5. Take the story one scene at a time. whenever I start to look at the big picture, that's when I either freeze up or rush through to the end. and when I rush, I skip a lot of the meat of the story.

 

remember: you'll finish. if you keep writing, you will finish. I promise.

 

just some ideas. hopefully they help!

anyone have any other tips?

 

- k.

ideas and dreams and things

So the other night I was in bed, trying to fall asleep, and I was writing a query letter in my head for the novel I'm currently working on (so so super excited about this WIP! like, I can't even explain), and I was coming up with these wonderful, catchy phrases that I knew, absolutely knew, would catch an agent's attention. Seriously, the stuff I was coming up with, whew! it would blow these agents away like a category five hurricane (okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little... it would probably be a category 4).

And then--curse my sudden tiredness!--I fell asleep.
And of course when I woke up the next morning I couldn't remember a thing.

I don't even know how many times this has happened to me. whether it be while writing a query or a scene in my head, or coming up with the Next Great Novel Idea. What makes it truly frustrating is that I know I've forgotten. It's like my mind is taunting me, withholding this vital info that could make. my. novel. awesome. Do you hear that, brain??

But just as there have been times where I've fallen asleep, there have been times where I've forced myself to get up and then easily churned out a couple thousand words of my novel. words that were so full of emotion and beauty I'm surprised I wrote them.

It seems I get my best ideas when I'm just about to fall asleep (or sometimes when I'm just waking up). I guess my mind is still in dream world, overflowing with creativity, but coherent enough to think of semi-plausible ideas.

Anyone else get their best ideas when they're falling asleep/sleeping/waking up?

((on a more random note: so I'm sitting here watching TV and a commercial comes up on ABC Family for their Harry Potter five day weekend event... and, uh, when did Wednesday, Thursday and Friday become part of the weekend? but whatevs, I love these HP weekends :)
also: late Sunday afternoon I glanced out the window and saw it was already dark outside. got very confused. thought "wow, it sure got dark all of a sudden!" then I remembered daylight saving time had ended and that was why. this realization completely threw off my whole day... which, admittedly, was already over.))

- k.

a NaNoWriMo haiku

Happy first day of NaNoWriMo!!!
hope you guys are off to a great start! to celebrate, I've written a little something:

November writers
They frantically tell stories
Until December

yes. yes, that is one spectacular haiku, isn't it? if anyone has their own NaNoWriMo haiku, please share in the comments!

- k.


p.s. I'm posting this at 1:11 on 11/1/11... does that mean it's lucky or something? :)