NaNoWriMo 2005

[duchess of malfi]

I hope that you will give it a try. The whole point is in stretching your wings and being creative. No one here would ever hold it against you in any way, shape, or form if you do not get up to the 50k words. But we'll all be very happy for you just knowing that you have tried it. If there is one universal among the majority of the members here is that we love to read. And in order to fill our voracious reading appetites, people must write.

Cho -- I am another who stops by your blog at least 2-3 times weekly, though I might not add things very often. You have a talent girl, and the things you write are very warm and human.

[CovenantJr]

You have a talent girl, and the things you write are very warm and human.

By contrast, the things I write are cold and inhuman What fun my NaNo novel will be

[duchess of malfi]

Yeah, I know double post.

But I was just uploading today's work so I could get a word count and noticed this for the first time:

NOTE: Microsoft Word documents should not be uploaded into the word counter, as the Word formatting inflates word count by about 30%. Also, they make the validator gassy. Only .txt files will be uploadable beginning November 25th, when winner validation begins.

Guess which word processor I have?

Popp, poop, poop!

Does anyone else have Microsoft Word? Has anyone who has done this before had problems with using Microsoft Word documents at the end of the month for their final word count?

[I'm Murrin]

Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, open NotePad, Ctrl+V.

I'm writing in Microsoft Word, I've not once uploaded a .doc.

Edit: I'm beginning to think I may be trying a bit too hard with the main char's grief. So far, I ended one chapter with a dream which recounts the full sotry of his wife's death, the next with him breaking down into tears thinking about it, and the third with this:

They reached the new camp at dusk. As soon as he got the chance, Faber lay down and covered himself up with his cloak, and tried to sleep. His thoughts kept returning to the madman in the tunnels, trapped underground in darkness for so long… Faber pitied the man. As he fell asleep, he remembered the smell of the acrid mist over what was once a city.
That night he dreamt that he wandered in darkness, endlessly chasing the sound of her laughter. Every time he came close, he heard her voice calling him onwards, only to turn the next bend and find nothing but emptiness, and in the distance, her voice, laughing – or is she screaming? He runs ahead, and finds himself in rooms filled with harsh green light, and her screams echo around his head, engulfing him, drowning him in their agony. He runs after her through room after room, street after street, until he finds himself in that doorway again, and his eyes find the dress torn and bloody on the floor. And his footsteps carry him onwards inexorably; inevitably following the same path they take every night, in every dream. He sees the bed, and lifts his eyes to her face.
He woke screaming.

Just a little taster for the KW folks.

[Khaliban]

I apologize for this. It is something I must see written.

True writing exists not on the page or in the moment of perception and understanding but in the author's pain. I read much about writing. I read about literature, rhetoric, grammar, symbolism, character, dialogue, description, funny quotes, history, etimology, universal psychological underpinnings and voice. I read and analyze classics. I study, I research, I compile, I assimilate, I organize and I define. I suffer over the opening sentence and the closing paragraph. I motivate characters, I individualize them and I listen to them talk. But I only write when I hurt. Otherwise, I am typing. Writing is not length or plot or character. Writing is not a race or a victory. Writing is battling to the last man, because the second-to-last is a cop-out. It is easy to study writing. It is easy to learn writing. It is easy to follow rules and comments and suggestions. It is easy to have ideas. It must never be easy to write.

In this struggle, don't beat the word count and don't let the novel win. Don't be clever. Don't try tricks. Don't let the ideas get in the way of the story. Someone else has had every idea you think of. No one cares about ideas. Witty phrases do nothing. Elaborate description, clever dialogue and intricate plots are a shield to push back the emotions. Emotions drive the story. Without them, you have a series of events connected by "Later that day..." or "The following morning...", but not a story. The story is the part you're afraid to look at. The demon does not claw at the back of your head to get you to construct classical mythological themes within a dystopian urban sprawl to indicate the universality of the heroic spirit and sacrifice against a manifestation of pseudo-godhood. It claws at the back of your head to find the memory of the person or the event that causes you guilt and anguish every day of your life for twenty years.

My first true story was written about my best friend in grade school betraying me. If you are not afraid of your story, it's not any good. I don't care what the word count is.

[ChoChiyo]

Excellent, Khaliban. I wrote a lot of very personal stuff last year--memoirs from my grim childhood.

I was terrified actually putting that stuff in writing--but it was a good release, and it was sort of empowering.

Duchess! Sweet thing! Thanks for the nice words.

If you (any of you) do drop by, just say "hi" inthe comments--that way I know someone in the void has heard my voice.

Heh heh heh

Sometimes the void is so...so...voidish!

[duchess of malfi]

My first true story was written about my best friend in grade school betraying me. If you are not afraid of your story, it's not any good. I don't care what the word count is.

Well, I wrote myself into a corner yesterday. This story has turned out to be about the death of my father and losing the great love of my life.

I stopped typing when I couldn't stop crying.

The thing is -- how can I get my character past her grief when I can't seem to get past mine?

I'll try again after breakfast. Maybe a bagel and cream cheese and juice and some tea will work a miracle.

[CovenantJr]

I apologize for this.

Good. I'm getting sick of your condescending attitude. You are not the oracle. You don't have the answers. You have opinions, just like the rest of us. Give the emphatic declarative a rest for a while.

[duchess of malfi]

Rather than writing today, I've been busy thinking (always a dangerous thing for me ). Since I have no answer for grief, maybe that's it. My character might not be able to find an answer, either.

It does get better with time -- but at this point, I think for the rest of my life there will be an odd moment here and there where the thought pops up in my mind of Oh, how I wish my belovedgoneperson could be here to see/hear/smell/experience this. My belovedgoneperson would have loved this. Not that you can't have moments of sheer joy, where you want to strip off your clothes and dance next to a waterfall in the rain with a good friend, and not where you can't be moved by unexpected and bright beauty -- but love for the lost person will always be there, and memories and thoughts about that person are always going to pop up from time to time.

Maybe that's the answer I've been looking for. You are always going to miss that person. Once you gave your heart, you will always love them, whether they are in your life or not. But maybe in time, you can smile at your ghosts instead of cry?

[I'm Murrin]

I'm a long way below word count so far today, but I've written a fairly good scene anyway. I must say, I was faintly amused when I found myself typing the lines:
Soldier: "Then why not kill yourself?"
MC: "Because it's too easy."

[lucimay]

CovenantJr writes,

Khaliban wrote:
I apologize for this.

Good. I'm getting sick of your condescending attitude. You are not the oracle. You don't have the answers. You have opinions, just like the rest of us. Give the emphatic declarative a rest for a while.

what a totally COVENANT-like thing to say!!!


i don't think Khaliban's intentionally trying to be condescending CovJr, i think he's just workin it out, maybe. we all have to do that in our own way, don't we?

[CovenantJr]

Khaliban likes to drop in a bit of his "this is the way it is" posturing whenever a discussion turns to the writing process. He seems blind to the fact that it's not the same for everyone. It grates after a while.

[lucimay]

i understand, you just caught me by surprise there. didn't mean to be pissy with you.

i guess i was interested in what Khal was saying and doing a little comparison with the way i feel about writing. a lot of you have been here longer than me and consequently know one another better and so, i guess, feel comfortable saying whatever to each other.
don't mind me at all!! have at it!!!

[CovenantJr]

I didn't think you were being pissy

And I don't know Khaliban particularly well. I'm just not shy about lambasting those who anger me.

[lucimay]

heh. lambast! good word. remind me not to anger you.

[Khaliban]

I apologize for this.

Good. I'm getting sick of your condescending attitude. You are not the oracle. You don't have the answers. You have opinions, just like the rest of us. Give the emphatic declarative a rest for a while.

I have consciously developed certain habits to avoid conflict. The reasons are personal. One such tactic is to offer up opinions in a form of finality. I do not assume my answers are correct. I do assume some people can benefit from them. If you don't like the comments, ignore them. If you don't like my posts, don't read them. I wrote the previous post mostly for myself and to myself, because it is the area of writing I struggle with the most. It was a lesson taught to me by one of my creative writing professors as a regular part of his curiculum. I collect quotes and information on writing and am willing to pass on this information to others. I also listen to the ideas and experiences of others about writing. No one writer knows it all. Duchess brought up the subject of emotions and writing, and it inspired the essay. If you don't like it or agree with it, don't use it. Your writing is yours. I have encountered a wealth of good writing quotes that would never apply to my style. "There are three rules to writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." --W. Somerset Maughm. Read, study and explore writing in whatever way you wish. The path is yours alone. I offered up some of the insights and answers of my personal struggle to those who have met the same demons. That was all.

From now on, I will not read, reply to or comment on any of your posts. That should end at least some of your problems.

[ChoChiyo]

I'm a long way below word count so far today, but I've written a fairly good scene anyway. I must say, I was faintly amused when I found myself typing the lines:
Soldier: "Then why not kill yourself?"
MC: "Because it's too easy."

I LIKE it.

I've written NOTHING today.

I am filled with guilt and remorser.

Cho

[CovenantJr]

Up to 6534. Badly behind schedule.

[I'm Murrin]

Think of it this way: On the memberlist, there are more than 900 pages of users with lower wordcounts than you.

I'm having to push myself quite hard to manage it, but I'm managing to stay just a couple of hundred words behind schedule each day. I'm really forcing myself tonight, trying to hit 10k before midnight.
Edit: Ended the day on 9874. Burned myself out for the night, will pick up the scene tomorrow.

[duchess of malfi]

I haven't written much this weekend, either. But after I give my kids their turn with the computer to work on their homework, my batteries are recharged and I am ready to go!

No one should feel bad for taking a bit of a break. As far as I know, we all have work, school, or family obligations (or combos of all three), and those are important, too.