hooray! hooray! hooray!

well I've won. I've written just under eight thousand words today and I am exhausted. I honestly feel like I could sleep for a week but, sadly, I can only sleep for one night before getting up early and battling through mountains of snow to get to work. sigh. next year, I'm going to book the whole of December off.

until then, I'm going to work on my synopsis and get my first couple of thousand words ready for the Debut Dagger. oh, and I've entered a little Writers and Artists Yearbook competition, which really helped me focus.

I think that now I'm going to turn my brain off, watch an X Factor/I'm a Celeb double bill, drink some peppermint tea and try not to think about my story (which might be impossible). tomorrow, I'm getting a hair do and then I'm going to attempt some printing, although I fear that at a hundred and eighty pages (I double space) the printer may self destruct...right, I'm over typing. my fingers hurt. I wish I could gloat more, but I'm just...too...tired...zzzzzzzzzz...

and the weather outside is...

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

it's almost like the end of the world, but whiter. much, much whiter. is it spring time yet?

the Universe wants me to win NaNoWriMo...

...honestly, it does. I went to my paid-for-taken-by-a-real-writer writing group the other day, hoping to write something non Nanoey. We concentrated on scent. Kathleen gave us all a place to write about and mine was hospital. I'd known about the hospital scene in my story for about a week and a halF so ultimately, what I wrote was typed into the manuscript. I feel I can call it a manuscript now. Its over 32,000 words, over 100 pages (I double space, I can't write single spaced for more than a page, it makes me crazy).

So now, I have less than 18,000 words to go. My aim for Sunday is 40k. I'd like to finish by next weekend, that would be the dream. I've been worried that I don't have enough story but I think I do, even though it keeps going in different directions, and anyway, I read an interview in Writers News (which I can't decide whether I like or not) but this guy (child, he was a child) said that there was a point midway when he was just thinking "novella, novella, novella". I'm glad its not just me.

Right, I'm going to get up. I'm blogging from bed. Oh! The decadence! xx

goodbye, cruel world...hello, real one?

Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially lazy or my fingers are tired of typing, I will write on my blackberry and email it to myself. This also works if inspiration strikes on the bus (and its too wobbly to get my notebook out). The other night, I was particularly inspired to write quite a morbid letter from one character to another. At the time, I thought it was a suicide note (turns out its not) but the content is very “woe is me” very “goodbye cruel world” etc etc. So, anyway, I sent it on to my bijou email address and…it didn’t arrive. Turns out, there is a problem with emailing bijou from blackberry but that’s a different (and probably very, very boring) story. But it got me thinking. What if it hadn’t been a technical glitch in the land of emails and computer voodoo? What if I’d sent it to the wrong address? What if some poor, unsuspecting bijou version 2.0 had received the most miserable of goodbye letters, and not known that it was part of a story? How strange and creepy would that be?


In other news, I’m just about breaking even on NaNo, but an exciting thing happened to me at lunchtime. I was typing away, describing the village where the action takes place (which is loosely based on the village I grew up in because that’s easier, but this one is in a valley and surrounded by woods because, rumour has it, that is the best place to hide a roving gun man) and all of a sudden, it started to look very real in my head. In addition to this, one of my characters has an accent and I can hear it when I think about him. It hasn’t happened for all of them yet (and I wonder whether it will) but this is all very exciting. It makes me think that perhaps this story is the one that I will like enough to re-write, that perhaps this is the first thing I’ll ever really finish…either way, its all very exciting.

Day Eight...

...and I'm floundering. It was going so well. So, so well that I spent most of last week telling myself that it wouldn't last (whilst secretly hoping that it would). I wrote a lot, but more than that, I really felt like I knew where I was going. It felt like after every bit that I finished, the next bit would just pop into my head, and it was easy, and it was fun.

Now, I feel a little bit overwhelmed by it. I have 12036 words. This is a lot of words for me. Normally, I create my worlds in less than 3000, so I've got 4 times that and I know there is more to tell. I just feel like I'm losing it.

I have, however, learnt a lot from last year. Last year I took the whole no editing thing a bit too literally. I didn't even spell check, which meant that when I went to edit it, it was so messy I was disadvantaged from the start. This year, I've been spell checking. I have flashcards with my characters on them, and others with locations. I've been making a list of questions I need to research later. I just need to reclaim my confidence and take my story back.

So what if I've missed a day (Sunday) and the words I wrote on Saturday were pretty much just a big list. I tell more than I show in my first drafts, I know this. And so what if my characters aren't fully formed? I know I have too many characters, some of them will die (literally) and some of them will be written out, or amalgamated with others. I'm not going to know which ones are the most interesting and the best fun until later. The first draft will be like the first few dates, the re-draft is where the relationship begins. And so what if the chronology is all out of whack? I need to know what happens first and then I can worry about putting it in order.

Ok, so this is actually quite cathartic, writing it all down. Writing a novel in 30 days was never going to be easy. Writing a novel which retains some semblence of structure and sense was going to be harder still, but really, everything worth doing is difficult. And the Universe wants me to write this story. I read somewhere once that you have to learn how to read the signs in your life, and last week, my friend told me a story about how the police wouldn't let her boyfriend go back to his flat because there was a man with a gun in Percy Main (they don't just not let you back home, they check that you have somewhere to go and give you a number to call for updates. Oh, and they don't tell you it's because of a man with a gun unless they have to). Then, there was a link on BBC News website (I'm terrible for reading the news when I should be working) which was an article about gun laws and how incidents like the Whitehaven shootings could happen, and lastly, I received a Celebrity Death Beep informing me that Hall of Fame manger Sparky Anderson had died.

To put this in context...my story is called Sparky's War and is about a man who goes postal and starts shooting in his village.  Coincidence? Hmmmm.

Anyway, so I think what I'll do tomorrow is work through chapter by chapter making notes of who is where and what they're doing. I can make sure I complete the story arcs, and I won't forget where people are. And I can write on and finish the little stories that I've started, and they can all knit together and become a first draft. That sounds like a plan...right...I'll get on it (tomorrow).

Day One and...

...it's going well. So far (watch this space for future meltdowns)

Plus...check me out!

http://winningwords.wordpress.com/

how exciting!