NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 7

UPDATE

Another new post from me at The Vanishing Blog. This time, "Why Portal 2 is Awesome."

Check it out.

END UPDATE

"If you want your reader to understand something about a given character, his habits of intellection and control of his emotions, show the reader what the character thinks about, and then the reader will think about it too."

-George V. Higgens

See, this is what I want you to think about.
It's working, right? :)

And so we progress. Into week two. Or, well, the end of week one, technically. But let's focus on the fact that it is Monday, instead.

Into week two!

I'm feeling like I'm running out of profound things to say in this space. Granted, I haven't been especially diligent in saying profound things here anyway, but I'm focusing so much on NOT sticking to my schedule, and yet still getting the work done, that it seems I have little thought left to devote to this space.

So, instead, I'm going to share one of my favoritest episodes of Writing Excuses, lovingly referred to as "The One Where Mary Schools Brandon, Dan, and Howard," AKA Season 3, Episode 14: The Four Principles of Puppetry with Mary Robinette Kowal.

The ideas explored in the above episode dovetail nicely into the above quote and presents some really powerful and effective tools for you to consider employing as you try to write from the perspective of your characters.

As always, if thinking about craft as you frantically try to churn out words is a detriment to the actual churning out of words, then go ahead and save this for the end of the month, or after you've churned out your words for the day, whichever you think is best.

Enjoy!

Until next time...
-josh k.

NaNoWriMo 2011 Progress
Today: 2,333/1,666 words
So far: 11,459/11,666 words
Total: 11,459/50,000 words

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 6

"The unconscious mind takes the gem of an idea and develops it, but usually this happens only when a writer has tried hard, and logically, to develop it himself. After he has given it up for a few hours, getting nowhere, a great advancement of the plot will pop into his head. I have been waked up in the night sometimes by a plot advancement or a solution of a problem that I have not even been dreaming about."

-Patricia Highsmith

"Okay, okay, I'll write my NaNo!

Well, that was a fun weekend. Now it's time to play catch-up.

I quite unintentionally took Saturday off from writing in order to play video games.

Did I enjoy it? Heck, yes.

Do I regret it? Only if I don't finish my NaNo.

As it is, between the work I had done earlier in the week to put myself a head mixed with my extraordinary boost in productivity this afternoon (2100 words in an hour and a half; I think that's a new record for me), I'm just at the recommended wordcount levels for today.

I am, of course, behind for my own goals, but I'm happy enough to have caught up with the official pace.

Now, as I head into another week of work and school, I get to play my juggling act of productivity all over again.

Because of that, I hope you will forgive me for making this a shorter post. If you're looking for more insight than I can provide, I recommend that you go check out this week's episode of Writing Excuses, or read a short story, or take a nap, or buy The War of Art, or play Arkham Asylum (you can find my review of it at The Vanishing Blog).

Any number of things can help improve your creativity. Sometimes desperation is the best motivator (as I have proven today), but I highly doubt it's the healthiest.

Until next time...
-josh k.

(Also, you'll have likely noticed the "Writings" tab above. I don't have news about that yet, but pay attention for an announcement sometime this week, as I'll hopefully have it all worked out by then.)

NaNoWriMo 2011 Progress
Today: 2,135/1,666 words
So far: 9,126/10,000 words
Total: 9,126/50,000 words

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 3

"Sit in sun. Sun goes behind cloud. Look at watch. Notice that second-hand does not always point directly at little marks on dial. Sometimes it does, though. Then sometimes it doesn't. Why? Feel panic at how quickly life slips by. Get to work."
-Nicholson Baker

My friend brought me one.
It was spicy.
No, that's not a euphemism.
Shut up.

Goal for today: Regain momentum.

Did I meet it?

Not yet...though I probably will.

Right now, I'm sitting at around 1500 words for the day. That's really close to the recommended daily dosage, but it's still 1,000 words behind my personal daily goal. (Remember, I'm taking Fridays off, I don't expect to get anything done over Thanksgiving break, and I'm trying to do this "one chapter a day" thing. That's why I'm being so strict with myself.)

I'm on track, according to the official site. In fact, I'm ahead of schedule. But I'm not far enough ahead, and my production is clearly beginning to lag.

(For those of you who are still struggling to get started, yes, I realize that this is a luxurious complaint to have, but there it is anyways.)

Let's look at the numbers:

Day 1 wordcount: 3,151
Day 2 wordcount: 1,667
Day 3 wordcount: 1,491 (so far)

That's a trend, folks. And it's one that I don't like.

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 2

"Don't look back -- something might be gaining on you."

-Satchel Paige

Yes. There was some at breakfast today.
That is all.

Goal for today: Don't lose momentum.

Did I meet it?

Yeah, mostly...

Okay, thus far, I have successfully met the wordcount suggested by NaNoWriMo for today. And this puts me ahead overall and on schedule to finish early. So I'm happy about all that.

However...it's not up to yesterday's stellar start, nor does it match my own standards set for myself.

That's...a bit disappointing.

Even so, I'm still glad that I'm keeping up with it. And I'm maintaining my goal of finishing at least one chapter each day. And I'm further maintaining that goal by keeping the wordcount of each chapter around 2500 words. (They've been a wee bit short thus far, but I'm okay with that. It means I'll have some leftover words to shove into some of the juicier chapters.)

I'm just hoping that this isn't a sign of things to come and I simply continue to backslide off of my strong opening.

Anyways, that's all I've really got for right now. If I think of anything more profound to say, I'll throw it in here with an exciting "UPDATE" tag. But until then...I've got other work to do.

-josh k.

NaNoWriMo 2011 Progress
Today: 1,667/1,666 words.
So far: 4,818/3,333 words.
Overall: 4,818/50,000 words.

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 1

"There's a myth among amateurs, optimists, and fools that beyond a certain level of achievement, famous artists retire to some kind of Elysium where criticism no longer wounds and work materializes without their effort."
     -Mark Matousek

We're all in this together guys.
No HSM references, please.

And...we're off with NaNoWriMo 2011. Now with more kitties!

Right, so I should probably explain that.

My roommate is to blame, honestly. We were talking about blogging and he made an offhand comment about how "I would only ever get people to really start reading if I had pictures of cats." [Paraphrased]. Well, between that and another offhand comment about how some people could probably use a greater "cute cats" presence in their life -- for emotional sanity, y'know? -- I decided to take him up on that challenge.

So, for all of you who are stressed out about NaNo, school, work, family, friends, life, and whatever else, I hope that this can be a comforting place for you to come and release some of that emotional tension by looking at pictures of cats.

At least for the first glance. After that, we're back to concrete NaNo discussions.

Also, I'll try to share a quote about writing or creativity or perseverance or somesuch, just to make sure I fulfill my "Inspiring" quota for the year. (Yeah...don't expect it to last.)

Anyways. Let's begin now, shall we?