Sometime within the next few hours, you'll reach two important milestones.
First, you'll find you're suddenly in Week Three. The nightmare of Week Two is over. You (probably) survived, and if you're readng this you are (probably) thinking about continuing. Week Three is when people realise that Nano is Hell.
In Week One, enthusiasm and the giddy excitement of madcap excitement carries most nano-ers along. Before they know it, it is over. Yup, a few run into difficulties straight away, but Week One is a time of wild optimism. "So what, I've only got 500 words, and I've just had both hands amputated. I can so do this!"
Week Two is usually pretty tough. Dismal reality sets in. What had seemed like a flurry of plot ideas turns out to have been a plot unravelling. Characters that seemed 'mysterious' in Week One are now just stubborn. Those foolish enough to credit muses for their inspiration, generally discover that muses are fickle, work-shy slackers who bolt at the first sign of trouble.
Week Three is different and yet the same. Some are horrified to find that the problems of Week Two don't magically disappear in Week Three. Others realise just how bloody big a task they've set themselves. Others start to feel the effects of nano's pressure cooker environment - they get stressed, they get sick, they give up.
Some people hang on, bitterly punching out words, because somewhere in Week Three, they will reach 25K - the half way stage. And when they do, they think, they'll feel better. Half way! Wheeee!
That's the other milestone you'll reach today. Halfway. That didn't take very long, did it? Like childhood, the first two weeks take forever, but suddenly hey are all over and you're left blinking and thinking, "Where did all that time go? How come I didn't manage to do anything more with it?"
Still, if you're on target, you should be halfway to 50K by now. So it's all downhill (in a good way) form here, isn't it? Wrong. Halfway is just that. When you hit 25K, you'll feel like a train wreck. You'll be tired, sick, depressed, confused, saddled with a plot that you have no faith in and characters you hate. And you'll be acutely aware that once you reach 25K, you have another 25K to go. And you won't be sure that you want to do it. And you won't know if you can to do it. Because doing it once hurt like Hell. So doing it twice will hurt like two Hells. And that can't be good.
That's when you need to keep on going. 25K isn't anything special. Everytime I've reached it, I've found it to be an anti-climax. But somewhere between 25K and 35K (usually 28K to 32K), I reach what I call the tipping point. Suddenly I realise - really properly realise - that I've written a whole lot more than I still have to write. If all the words I'd written were piled up, and another pile of the words I still have to write was put beside it, the first pile would be much bigger than the second pile.
And suddenly, you realise that you're going to damn well do this thing, no matter what. Up until now, you might have said you're going to do it, but it's always been with a little sliver of doubt. But now you know you can, and you will. And this time you really mean it. And that's the tipping point. From there on, it isn't easy. But it is easier. The last 20K or so can still be painful, but somehow you know you're going to get there.
So ... um ... yeah. Just keep going. No matter how much it hurts. There isn't much more to say. If you're behind, you need to catch up, this weekend, otherwise you won't make it - simple as that. If you're on target, you need to keep plugging away, because falling behind now can be fatal. So blink helplessly at the computer screen, contemplate the impossibility of writing another 25K in two weeks, and start doing it, anyway.
Saturday 15 November 2008
Wednesday 12 November 2008
The importance of found objects
Belopw is ann email I sent out to m 2007 newbies, descrining the miserable situation I was in at ... gosh ... just about this time last year!
I've included it because, first of all, I want to emphasise how typical it is to feel anguished at this stage. The email that I sent out in 07 was simply titled 'Ugh' because that was how I felt. You'll notice that I complain about endless recapping and rehashing stuff I already know, in the hope of finding something new in it. I am in exactly the same situation this year - Jack is trailing about, talking to people, waiting for someone to say something remarkable that opens up the nxt avenue.
Second, note the comment about the drunk in the field and the mysteriously absent wife. That was thrown in as a bit of filler to help me reach my word count one night. I didn't plan on it being important in any way, shape or form. It was just something I found and decided to chuck in for the Hell of it. But it did, in fact, turn out to be absolutely essential. The killing of Effie Burden cracked the case. So don't be afraid to explore random little avenues that you notice - you never know where they will lead, but it will PROBABLY (I promise nothing) be somewhere good.
Here's the original email from 07:
I've included it because, first of all, I want to emphasise how typical it is to feel anguished at this stage. The email that I sent out in 07 was simply titled 'Ugh' because that was how I felt. You'll notice that I complain about endless recapping and rehashing stuff I already know, in the hope of finding something new in it. I am in exactly the same situation this year - Jack is trailing about, talking to people, waiting for someone to say something remarkable that opens up the nxt avenue.
Second, note the comment about the drunk in the field and the mysteriously absent wife. That was thrown in as a bit of filler to help me reach my word count one night. I didn't plan on it being important in any way, shape or form. It was just something I found and decided to chuck in for the Hell of it. But it did, in fact, turn out to be absolutely essential. The killing of Effie Burden cracked the case. So don't be afraid to explore random little avenues that you notice - you never know where they will lead, but it will PROBABLY (I promise nothing) be somewhere good.
Here's the original email from 07:
It had to happen. After three or four nights (why does it feel like November has already been going on for weeks?) where ideas had been bouncing out onto the page, I found myslef stuggling tonight.
The problem is that up until now I've been setting up - introducing the setting, characters and backstory. This can be done in a pretty random manner, which is what I thrive on. But now - after 16K - my detective has to start detecting stuff, making connections and uncovering clues, motives and DARK SECRETS. And winging that can be dicey.
So tonight I sent him to talk to the journalist who puts out the local paper. I figured that the journalist would be a good source of information. Perhaps some inspiration
would strike and I'd be able to run with it. Didn't happen tonight. So I spent 2,000 words recapping and recounting as the journalist and the 'tec discussed one of the murders (there have been three so far, all taking place before the narrative started). It didn't take long to write, but it was infuriating to find myself baffled. Tommorrow, they'll carry on talking. If they don't find something else out, I'll have to try something else.If all else fails, I've got an ace up my sleeve - the other night I improvised a scene where the detective stumbles upon a drunk in the fields. They swapped some dialogue, and the drunk quoted ominous verses from the books of Job and Revelation. All pretty cliched. But when the tec helped the drunk back to his shack, I didn't get the sense that his woman - importantly, not his wife - was there. So I didn't write her in. I implied she was next door, ignoring her drunken lover. But it struck me after writing that there might be a much more sinister reason why she didn't come out.
So if the current killings don't inspire, maybe I'll introduce another one. Sounds silly? Yes, it is. But since thisI'm using nano to explore ideas, rather than flesh out a pre-plkanned plot, I can always cut out the other killings. Heck, I'm even thinking about cutting out my main character and replacing him with a local. But not until December.
Incidentally, the whole novel turned out to hinge on that one random encounter, and a second diversion I employed, where I sent Jack to a Wild Party at a backwoods speakeasy. There he met lots of people, alll of whom would try to do terrible things to him later on. It is a GOOD SIGN, I thin, that I'm sending Jack to another party now, in 2008.
Monday 10 November 2008
Feeling the burn
Week Two is definately upon me. I can tell because I'm exhausted, dispirited, lost in a plot I don't understand and which doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I'm aware that nano is having a knock on to my 'real' life, because tiredness and confusion don't go away just because you click 'Save' and update your word count. I'm aware of IMPORTANT STUFF not getting done at work, chronic exhaustion affecting my alertness and decision-making, and a creeping depression tainting my life. This is what Week two does to you.
Little voices are starting to whisper in my head, "It's not worth it." More serious voices are question if I shouldn't re-prioritise, take some of the strain off myself. And Nano is the only thing that can go. I tell you this so you know, if you are feeling the same, that it is normal. Every year, round about this stage, thousands of people just give up and walk away, because they decide it is too tough. In all probability, you've got at least 30K to go, and it is natural to wonder if it is possible. Fir 15-20K has taken this much out of you, how will you feel after another 30?
It is natural, but false. 10K to 30K is the worst part, in my experience. Every year, between these two points, I feel like giving up, because it just seems too hard. But if I can carry on slogging to 30K, suddenly it gets a lot more 'do-able,' as the amount written suddenly seems a lot bigger than the amount left to write. So just hang in there, if you are stuggling. Keep on posting the 1667, if that is all you can manage. This is what I am doing at the moment - the bare minimum. If you are behind, stop the rot, try to write a bit extra and catch up. But don't not write up. Keep going. Fail better.
Little voices are starting to whisper in my head, "It's not worth it." More serious voices are question if I shouldn't re-prioritise, take some of the strain off myself. And Nano is the only thing that can go. I tell you this so you know, if you are feeling the same, that it is normal. Every year, round about this stage, thousands of people just give up and walk away, because they decide it is too tough. In all probability, you've got at least 30K to go, and it is natural to wonder if it is possible. Fir 15-20K has taken this much out of you, how will you feel after another 30?
It is natural, but false. 10K to 30K is the worst part, in my experience. Every year, between these two points, I feel like giving up, because it just seems too hard. But if I can carry on slogging to 30K, suddenly it gets a lot more 'do-able,' as the amount written suddenly seems a lot bigger than the amount left to write. So just hang in there, if you are stuggling. Keep on posting the 1667, if that is all you can manage. This is what I am doing at the moment - the bare minimum. If you are behind, stop the rot, try to write a bit extra and catch up. But don't not write up. Keep going. Fail better.
Saturday 8 November 2008
Week Two Cometh
I reached my first Nano 08 milestone, reaching 15,000 words (15,021 to be exactm, thank you very much) by the end of Week One.
Right now, I'm on the up-swing. SO far, I've managed to keep myself focused on my mainplot line (albeit, I don't know what it is yet) and some ideas are starting to emerge. ALso, I'm taking my time and not lunging wildly at ideas. It actually feels, kinda like the opening sequence of a novel should do. Though really badly written.
Week Two is traditionally Hell Week for nanoer. A lot of writers burn out in Week Two. Reality kicks in as the giddy thrill of Week One wears off. "Woo-Hoo! I'm writing!" is replaced by "I've got to keep on writing for how much longer?" The build-up of fustrations, mistakes and general disgust at your owen immense uselessness reaches a critical point. Suddenly every little chore that you've been avoiding for months becomes much more interesting.
So eek Two is often where you will win or lose. If you can stay on target through out Week Two, you will probably win - by the end, you'll be on almost halfway. From there on, you can stagger to the winning line. But if you do fall behind, you might find there just isn't time left to catch up.
So it's important to keep focused, turn up, write, hit your targets. Keep on top of things. Continue to be selfish. Slog on.
Right now, I'm on the up-swing. SO far, I've managed to keep myself focused on my mainplot line (albeit, I don't know what it is yet) and some ideas are starting to emerge. ALso, I'm taking my time and not lunging wildly at ideas. It actually feels, kinda like the opening sequence of a novel should do. Though really badly written.
Week Two is traditionally Hell Week for nanoer. A lot of writers burn out in Week Two. Reality kicks in as the giddy thrill of Week One wears off. "Woo-Hoo! I'm writing!" is replaced by "I've got to keep on writing for how much longer?" The build-up of fustrations, mistakes and general disgust at your owen immense uselessness reaches a critical point. Suddenly every little chore that you've been avoiding for months becomes much more interesting.
So eek Two is often where you will win or lose. If you can stay on target through out Week Two, you will probably win - by the end, you'll be on almost halfway. From there on, you can stagger to the winning line. But if you do fall behind, you might find there just isn't time left to catch up.
So it's important to keep focused, turn up, write, hit your targets. Keep on top of things. Continue to be selfish. Slog on.
Thursday 6 November 2008
Diversion #6 - recapping
This is a useful tool when you need a few hundred words somewhere, which can also help you untangle sticky plot problems and develop character. I've only realised how I've been using it this year. It is a new thing for 2008.
A recap is very simple and exactly what the name suggests. Someone says, "What the Hell is going on here?" and another character fills him/her in on the action to date. A summary of some key plot points of the novel. Depending ont he characters, this could be a coupel of sentences, or it could be a couple of pages. If the latter, you'll probably need to trim it down in editing, but don't worry about that now - let the characters talk.
This doesn't just eat up some words, but it can also help you work things out for yourself. THis is especially good if you are winging it. It is also useful if you have noticed an inconsistency in your plot that is bugging you - you have a quick recap, writing it the way you now want it to be, and the nagging feeling of writing incoherent mince should vanish. I've already done this a couple of times this year, as I'm winging it and my plot is veering around all over the place. Having Jack recap what he knows with other characters allows me to keep what is gonig on, and what Jack knows, straight in my head.
Of course, you have to be careful how you stage the recap - characters aren't just going to spill everything they know to everyone. Logical points will suggest themselves to you - when they meet someone they can trust, or someone on whom they will have to rely, or someone who can give them useful information or resources.
The last category is important, particularly in the genre I'm writing in, detective fiction. When Jack does a recap, it is a chance for another character to add a bit of information to the puzzle. I've developed a couple of useful leads this way, which are helping me build some sort of semblance of a plot. r if you are writing traditional fantasy, with a Band of Heros, when they recruit a new member, it is a fine time for a quick recap - "So, why are we seeking the amulet of Thurg?"
Another cool thing about recapping is it can help you develop character. Think about it. How would different characters describe their experiences? Honestly, or with exaggeration? Eloquently, or mumbling almost incoherently? Would they speak, or write?
(Joseph Conrad, the Greatest Novelist Who Ever Lived, used recapping extensively in The Greatest Novel He Ever Wrote, Nostromo - the story was such a mess of shifting time frames it was essential to help the reader keep track of what was going on! Sometimes it took the form of people talking, another occasion saw a character writing a letter effectively summarizing the first part of the book)
Some recapping may turn out to be redundant and vanish in the editing process - having the daughters recap how they went to a Wild Party, which occurred only a few pages before, might no tbe necessary, but writing it in just now might help you keep going. ALso, of course, you could have fun with that idea - why not have the girls recap what happened to their father, first of all, and then to their friends? Think of the divergent versions you'd get to write. ANd because it is giving useful information to you and the reader about characters, it isn't simply word-vomit.
A recap is very simple and exactly what the name suggests. Someone says, "What the Hell is going on here?" and another character fills him/her in on the action to date. A summary of some key plot points of the novel. Depending ont he characters, this could be a coupel of sentences, or it could be a couple of pages. If the latter, you'll probably need to trim it down in editing, but don't worry about that now - let the characters talk.
This doesn't just eat up some words, but it can also help you work things out for yourself. THis is especially good if you are winging it. It is also useful if you have noticed an inconsistency in your plot that is bugging you - you have a quick recap, writing it the way you now want it to be, and the nagging feeling of writing incoherent mince should vanish. I've already done this a couple of times this year, as I'm winging it and my plot is veering around all over the place. Having Jack recap what he knows with other characters allows me to keep what is gonig on, and what Jack knows, straight in my head.
Of course, you have to be careful how you stage the recap - characters aren't just going to spill everything they know to everyone. Logical points will suggest themselves to you - when they meet someone they can trust, or someone on whom they will have to rely, or someone who can give them useful information or resources.
The last category is important, particularly in the genre I'm writing in, detective fiction. When Jack does a recap, it is a chance for another character to add a bit of information to the puzzle. I've developed a couple of useful leads this way, which are helping me build some sort of semblance of a plot. r if you are writing traditional fantasy, with a Band of Heros, when they recruit a new member, it is a fine time for a quick recap - "So, why are we seeking the amulet of Thurg?"
Another cool thing about recapping is it can help you develop character. Think about it. How would different characters describe their experiences? Honestly, or with exaggeration? Eloquently, or mumbling almost incoherently? Would they speak, or write?
(Joseph Conrad, the Greatest Novelist Who Ever Lived, used recapping extensively in The Greatest Novel He Ever Wrote, Nostromo - the story was such a mess of shifting time frames it was essential to help the reader keep track of what was going on! Sometimes it took the form of people talking, another occasion saw a character writing a letter effectively summarizing the first part of the book)
Some recapping may turn out to be redundant and vanish in the editing process - having the daughters recap how they went to a Wild Party, which occurred only a few pages before, might no tbe necessary, but writing it in just now might help you keep going. ALso, of course, you could have fun with that idea - why not have the girls recap what happened to their father, first of all, and then to their friends? Think of the divergent versions you'd get to write. ANd because it is giving useful information to you and the reader about characters, it isn't simply word-vomit.
Monday 3 November 2008
Remember rewards (& backing up)
Two important points.
Remember to reward yourself. If you've hit a milestones, go out and buy yourself the reward you promised yourself. If you didn't set any rewards, or you're one of the newbies that joined at the last minute (or after the last minute), then set youself some now. It might be hitting 11669 by the end of Day 7 (that's where you should be if you've been writing 1667 per day), or whatever target you think is both reasonable and challenging.
For the record, if I can hit 15K by Friday night, I'll be buying my first reward on Saturday. I'm thinking of taking a hour to myself to browse a second hand bookshop and find something bizarre and delightful - the sort of thing you can't get in a mainstream bookshop. That means I need to keep slogging away. If it seems I'm going wild wioth the word count just now, remember I am front loading like a fiend - Junior Exams are coming up at the end of this week and that may knock me out for a night or two, and then in Week Two I'll have a night off when I have to attend Honours Awards for the seniors. So I'm trying to insulate myself against those imminent calamities.
The other important thing is remember to back up your writing! If you don't you're almost sure to suffer some miserable disaster which results in you losing everything you've writen. And that is the WORST THING in the ENTIRE WORLD. So back up. I simply email my novel to my hotmail acocunt. That way. it is safe in cyberspace if something happens to this computer.
Third thing (Yeah, I know, I only said two things - but I lied) - can you update me on your word count and your morale? Rate morale on the following scale:
1 - I'm taking up residence in the Nanowrimo Ate My Soul Forum
2 - I'm suffering, but I'm ploughing on.
3 - I'm doing okay, I guess. I'm not exactly enjoying this, but I'm still doing it.
4 - I'm doing good.
5 - I post joyous messages in the This is Going Better Than Expected Forum.
For the record, I'm probably a 3 or perhaps even a 4. So far, things are going really well. I'm hurting, physically, with flu and tiredness, and so on, but I'm enjoying the writing. I don't know what I'm writing about - I literally have to cast my mind back and screw up my forehead to remember what is happening in the story - but it is flowing easily enough, and it also makes some sort sense. You can not ask for any more than that during Nano.
Also can you see any major obstacles coming up or things that are worrying you?
Remember to reward yourself. If you've hit a milestones, go out and buy yourself the reward you promised yourself. If you didn't set any rewards, or you're one of the newbies that joined at the last minute (or after the last minute), then set youself some now. It might be hitting 11669 by the end of Day 7 (that's where you should be if you've been writing 1667 per day), or whatever target you think is both reasonable and challenging.
For the record, if I can hit 15K by Friday night, I'll be buying my first reward on Saturday. I'm thinking of taking a hour to myself to browse a second hand bookshop and find something bizarre and delightful - the sort of thing you can't get in a mainstream bookshop. That means I need to keep slogging away. If it seems I'm going wild wioth the word count just now, remember I am front loading like a fiend - Junior Exams are coming up at the end of this week and that may knock me out for a night or two, and then in Week Two I'll have a night off when I have to attend Honours Awards for the seniors. So I'm trying to insulate myself against those imminent calamities.
The other important thing is remember to back up your writing! If you don't you're almost sure to suffer some miserable disaster which results in you losing everything you've writen. And that is the WORST THING in the ENTIRE WORLD. So back up. I simply email my novel to my hotmail acocunt. That way. it is safe in cyberspace if something happens to this computer.
Third thing (Yeah, I know, I only said two things - but I lied) - can you update me on your word count and your morale? Rate morale on the following scale:
1 - I'm taking up residence in the Nanowrimo Ate My Soul Forum
2 - I'm suffering, but I'm ploughing on.
3 - I'm doing okay, I guess. I'm not exactly enjoying this, but I'm still doing it.
4 - I'm doing good.
5 - I post joyous messages in the This is Going Better Than Expected Forum.
For the record, I'm probably a 3 or perhaps even a 4. So far, things are going really well. I'm hurting, physically, with flu and tiredness, and so on, but I'm enjoying the writing. I don't know what I'm writing about - I literally have to cast my mind back and screw up my forehead to remember what is happening in the story - but it is flowing easily enough, and it also makes some sort sense. You can not ask for any more than that during Nano.
Also can you see any major obstacles coming up or things that are worrying you?
DAY THREE
Day Three is a milestone in Nanowrimo, official or otherwise. By the end of Day Three, you should have completed 5,000 words, if you are writing even the bare minimum every night. Any less than 5,000 words by the end of Day Three, and you are in trouble. Nano is short and brutal - you don''t have much time to make up words, most of your time is simply spent getting the nightly quota down. So if you miss a little here, a little there, it is easyto find yourself falling further behind, even though you're showing up every nigh. Think about what you're planning on writing tonight - if it isn't going to get you to 5,000, you need to rethink.
(n.b. If you've previously indicated you're pursuing some idiosyncratic schedule and perhaps won't be writing much in the first week, or whatever, that's fine - as long as you know what is going on and have a realistic plan to complete by the end of the month.)
Whether or not you're on target, you will shortly start to feel the effects of fatigue. If you are on a roll, you might get another couple of days of good writing in before you start to feel weary, but it will almost certainly happen this week. For those of you who have strggled from Day One, you'll already be wracked by physical and spiritual exhaustion. You have to be tough, and keep forcing yourself to plough on. It will get better. Maybe not for another 25 days, but it will.
Usually Day three sees the first signs of freinds and family starting to seriously impinge. Until now, they may have been unhelpful, unsupportive or annoying, but Day Three or Day Four is when they start to really irk. This is because they are starting to feel the effects of your commitment to Nano, and they dislike it. ALso, perhaps unconsciously, you are starting to miss them a bit as well. Be strong. Make sure they know the rules. Be blunt. Relationships can be saved in December. You warned them. They need to listen. This won't be the last time you do this, so they'd better work it out now.
(n.b. If you've previously indicated you're pursuing some idiosyncratic schedule and perhaps won't be writing much in the first week, or whatever, that's fine - as long as you know what is going on and have a realistic plan to complete by the end of the month.)
Whether or not you're on target, you will shortly start to feel the effects of fatigue. If you are on a roll, you might get another couple of days of good writing in before you start to feel weary, but it will almost certainly happen this week. For those of you who have strggled from Day One, you'll already be wracked by physical and spiritual exhaustion. You have to be tough, and keep forcing yourself to plough on. It will get better. Maybe not for another 25 days, but it will.
Usually Day three sees the first signs of freinds and family starting to seriously impinge. Until now, they may have been unhelpful, unsupportive or annoying, but Day Three or Day Four is when they start to really irk. This is because they are starting to feel the effects of your commitment to Nano, and they dislike it. ALso, perhaps unconsciously, you are starting to miss them a bit as well. Be strong. Make sure they know the rules. Be blunt. Relationships can be saved in December. You warned them. They need to listen. This won't be the last time you do this, so they'd better work it out now.
Saturday 1 November 2008
Beware burnout and disillusion
The first days of Nanowrimo are always hectic. Either you whirl away at a mad rate and write a huge number of words, or you plod along at a painfully slow rate and no matter how many words you write, the target for the day just seems impossibly far away ...
On top of that, I got nanoflu on Saturday, which made writing a fairly miserable affair. This is usual - looking abck over my notes from last year, I got the flu at the start of Nano 07 and 08 as well. Mostl likely you'll get it this week, also. It is one of the Nanobeast's ploys. Don't let it work.
Some other things to watch out.
First, burn out. If you make a great start, that's great. But it is early days. Burnout is a killer - people decide they can't be bothered anf give up. They might have great plots and characters and all that, but they get tired of staring at the screen and pounding out words, night after night.
There are more interesting things out there, to be sure. Compared to sex, drugs and rock and roll, or even a good book that someone else has written, Nano is a pretty dull way to spend your free time. Or maybe giving up that free time makes people realise how much they love their partner/child/cat and they'd rather spend their time with them.
Just remember why you're doing this. You want to be a writer, right?
Second, disillusion. It is okay to get sick of your plot and characters. I realised I was going to have a very long Novemeber after only a couple of hundred words. My nicely planned out plot seemed silly and it really hurt writing even just 200 words to cover thos plot points ... Again, this is typical. Looking back at what I've said before, I thought that I was writing the worst guff I'd ever written and was hating the whole sorry experience.And now in 2009, I'm pretty sure that this is the weakest nano I've ever written.
Novemeber is not the time to make judgement calls. Just carry on with it. When you revist thiwhat you write this month, you'll be amazed at how not-rubbish it is.
There's a long way to go yet. And though the first 3 weeks of nano can be unmitigated Hell, the last fortnight is a rush like nothing you've ever experienced. So keep going, no matter how much you don't want to.
On top of that, I got nanoflu on Saturday, which made writing a fairly miserable affair. This is usual - looking abck over my notes from last year, I got the flu at the start of Nano 07 and 08 as well. Mostl likely you'll get it this week, also. It is one of the Nanobeast's ploys. Don't let it work.
Some other things to watch out.
First, burn out. If you make a great start, that's great. But it is early days. Burnout is a killer - people decide they can't be bothered anf give up. They might have great plots and characters and all that, but they get tired of staring at the screen and pounding out words, night after night.
There are more interesting things out there, to be sure. Compared to sex, drugs and rock and roll, or even a good book that someone else has written, Nano is a pretty dull way to spend your free time. Or maybe giving up that free time makes people realise how much they love their partner/child/cat and they'd rather spend their time with them.
Just remember why you're doing this. You want to be a writer, right?
Second, disillusion. It is okay to get sick of your plot and characters. I realised I was going to have a very long Novemeber after only a couple of hundred words. My nicely planned out plot seemed silly and it really hurt writing even just 200 words to cover thos plot points ... Again, this is typical. Looking back at what I've said before, I thought that I was writing the worst guff I'd ever written and was hating the whole sorry experience.And now in 2009, I'm pretty sure that this is the weakest nano I've ever written.
Novemeber is not the time to make judgement calls. Just carry on with it. When you revist thiwhat you write this month, you'll be amazed at how not-rubbish it is.
There's a long way to go yet. And though the first 3 weeks of nano can be unmitigated Hell, the last fortnight is a rush like nothing you've ever experienced. So keep going, no matter how much you don't want to.
DAY ONE
You absolutely have to hit your word count for Day One. Even if it means staying up to 3am you have to get that 1667 words (or whatever targetyou set) nailed. Otherwise, you'll go to bed miserable and guilty, instead of warmed by the glow of having faced the Nanobeast and survived the first round.
By now you should have worked out your daily word quota. I'm going for 2000 words a day. I have a vague plan - a lot vaguer than it was, after yesterday's attack of plot munchies - but it doesn't amount to much. How the Hell am I going to write 2000 words?
My first step is "Donna is asked to try to find out what happened to a missing schoolgirl." That's got to be spun out to 2000 words. I'm breaking that down into five chunks, each of about 400 words.
There is a trade off, because you can focus so much on breaking down the action into chunks that you lose more time than you gain, and it may also lead to a feeling of trundling along the steps of a pre-planned route with no scope left for flair or creativity. So you'll have to decide how much preplanning you do, and how far aherad. I'm aiming to 'map out' each night's work, but some of you, I know, already have the whole novel planned out. Some of you have nothing at all. I salute you all!
By now you should have worked out your daily word quota. I'm going for 2000 words a day. I have a vague plan - a lot vaguer than it was, after yesterday's attack of plot munchies - but it doesn't amount to much. How the Hell am I going to write 2000 words?
My first step is "Donna is asked to try to find out what happened to a missing schoolgirl." That's got to be spun out to 2000 words. I'm breaking that down into five chunks, each of about 400 words.
- PROLOGUE. A spooky opening where Donna experiences the final moments of an unidentified victim.
- CHAPTER ONE. Donna is contacted by the mother of a missing schoolgirl, Judy, and is asked to help.
- Donna goes to the mother's house and meets her.
- The mother specifies she wants Donna to use a Ouija board to communicate with the spirit world.
- Donna, reluctantly, complies and receives a garbled message suggesting murder.
- PROLOGUE. A description of the final moments of an unidentified victim, from their point of view. Purpose - a dramatic opening, setting the appropriate menacing tone.
- We discover this is actually being expereinced by Donna, the MC. Purpose - to establish that Donna believes her psychic powers are genuine. Also, a bit of misdirection, as the reader should assume this is what happened to the missing schoolgirl we are about to meet. Which is not, infact, the case.
- CHAPTER ONE. Donna receives a phone call from the mother of a missing school girl.
- The mother explains she wants Donna to try to contact her daughter, who she believes is dead.
- Donna travels to the mother's house, and meets the mother. She observes the mother is morbidly obese and either too ashamed, or incapable, of coming to vsit Donna's house.
- Donna observes the living room of the mother's house, noting various items. Purpose is to establish that Donna is observant and intuitive - there is a concurrent rational explanation for her deductions f you don't like the psychic option.
- The mother drags out a Ouija board and asks Donna to use it.
- Donna reacts with disgust, though she doesn't show it. Purpose it to show, again, that Donna is genuine in her intentions if not in her gift - she dsislike parlour tricks and showmanship, and regards the Ouija Board as silly.
- She uses the Ouija board, concentrating on a photograph on the mother's mantelpiece - the missing girl playing soccer with her school team. This will allow Donna to identify the girl when she encounters her, as she'll have a clear idea what she looks like. A lso allows her to unconsciously register her involvement with sports.
- After completing the seance, the board has spelled out a garbled message that might indicate murder - though crucially the time frame is lacking. The mother takes this as meaning her daughter has been murdered. Donna is surprised by the strange satidsfaction she seems to take in this.
There is a trade off, because you can focus so much on breaking down the action into chunks that you lose more time than you gain, and it may also lead to a feeling of trundling along the steps of a pre-planned route with no scope left for flair or creativity. So you'll have to decide how much preplanning you do, and how far aherad. I'm aiming to 'map out' each night's work, but some of you, I know, already have the whole novel planned out. Some of you have nothing at all. I salute you all!
Tuesday 28 October 2008
Oops, I did it again
I think this happens to me every year.
In October, I make some plans. Usually, they are pretty vague. I'm terrified of over-planning and killing my enthusiasm for a project - I love the sense of exploring a storyline, feeling my way around and tryingto work out what is going on.
The, every year, I tear it up and decide to wing it. ANd once agian, this year, this has been my experience.
I had an idea, and it was a pretty cool one, I thought. I was gonig to write a murder mystery where the fact that there has been a murder would be concealed from the reader until the end. The main character wouldn't mention it, and the other characters would either not know, not care or be actively trying to conceal the fact. The point, ultimately, was that the person was a nobody in the eyes of all the other characters, so his disappearance went unnoticed. Only the main character realises what has happened and sets out to expose the killing. Twist being that the killing isn't referred to directly, so the reader wil be surprised by its revelation.
I still think this is a great idea, only it is not one I can write just now.
So, three days out, I am left without a plot. I'll stick with my seasoned sidekick, Jack Callaghan, but unless the mother of all plot bunnies dashes out from under my feet, I'll be winging it again - with all the horror and confusion that entails.
My only idea so far is to put my money where my mouth is, and start of with a diversion. Jack will attend a party. A wild party, where he'll be very much an outsider. Why he's there, I don't know. What will happen, I don't know. But I'll find out.
In October, I make some plans. Usually, they are pretty vague. I'm terrified of over-planning and killing my enthusiasm for a project - I love the sense of exploring a storyline, feeling my way around and tryingto work out what is going on.
The, every year, I tear it up and decide to wing it. ANd once agian, this year, this has been my experience.
I had an idea, and it was a pretty cool one, I thought. I was gonig to write a murder mystery where the fact that there has been a murder would be concealed from the reader until the end. The main character wouldn't mention it, and the other characters would either not know, not care or be actively trying to conceal the fact. The point, ultimately, was that the person was a nobody in the eyes of all the other characters, so his disappearance went unnoticed. Only the main character realises what has happened and sets out to expose the killing. Twist being that the killing isn't referred to directly, so the reader wil be surprised by its revelation.
I still think this is a great idea, only it is not one I can write just now.
So, three days out, I am left without a plot. I'll stick with my seasoned sidekick, Jack Callaghan, but unless the mother of all plot bunnies dashes out from under my feet, I'll be winging it again - with all the horror and confusion that entails.
My only idea so far is to put my money where my mouth is, and start of with a diversion. Jack will attend a party. A wild party, where he'll be very much an outsider. Why he's there, I don't know. What will happen, I don't know. But I'll find out.
Saturday 25 October 2008
What are you going to write about on Day One?
It is almost upon us. Bet you didn't think it would roll round so quickly. bet you can't wait to get started. Bet you'd do anything for another day. Welcome to nanoland. It's a confusing place.
Day One is hugely important. It is, in fact, the most important day of the lot - apart from Day Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and so on, right up to Day Thirty.
But Day One is special. It isn't like any other day in Nanowrimo, because if you screw up on Day One, while the impact on your daily word count might not be that great (assuming you wrote nothing at all, your daily target for the rest of the month would be 1725 - 60 words extra a night), but the psychological impact is huge.
Missing the target on any day is bad, because it immediately increases the volume of all those little voices of doubt. Suddenly the "You're going to fail ... why bother ... it's too much," muttered sotto voce, but a bellowing howl of "FAILURE! I TOLD YOU SO! YOU ... CAN'T DO IT! YOU SCREWED UP! ON THE VERY FIRST DAY!"
And they won't go away, even if you catch up. And that is a very heavy weight to carry about all month long.
So, best not to stuff up on the first day, eh?
As mentioned previously, I'm not a big planner. What plans I make, I tend to put aside at the last moment, in favour of some madcap scheme. Even so, I like to think things out before I start writing. So while I might not know what is going to happen in my novel, I usually come up with the bones of what I'll be writing about in the first scene, which should get me through the first couple of days. It isn't much more than a bunch of bullet points, but it will be enough for me to build on. I'll also know what my first line is going to be. I'll repeat it over to myself, savouring it, looking forward to getting the damn thing out of my head and onto the page. the scene around it can visualise, even if I don't know precisely how I'm going to describe it.
Whether or not you've got a clear plan, it is time to start visualizing that first scene. Explore it in your head, Give your narrator a voice and let him describe it. Play it in your mind like the perfect film that the greatest director of all time would make of your book.
Rehearse your opening lines - nothing is more satisfying than sitting down to write on day one, tapping away at the keyboard and (in your head) crying out, "Fifty words in a minute! Take that, Nanobeast! At this rate, I'll be finished in 5,000 minutes, which is only 83.33 hours! Which is less than three and a half days!" Of course, it doesn't work like that, because after those first fifty words everything becomes more difficult, but it is satisfying to get some little black marks marching across the deadly whiteness of the screen ...
Day One is hugely important. It is, in fact, the most important day of the lot - apart from Day Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and so on, right up to Day Thirty.
But Day One is special. It isn't like any other day in Nanowrimo, because if you screw up on Day One, while the impact on your daily word count might not be that great (assuming you wrote nothing at all, your daily target for the rest of the month would be 1725 - 60 words extra a night), but the psychological impact is huge.
Missing the target on any day is bad, because it immediately increases the volume of all those little voices of doubt. Suddenly the "You're going to fail ... why bother ... it's too much," muttered sotto voce, but a bellowing howl of "FAILURE! I TOLD YOU SO! YOU ... CAN'T DO IT! YOU SCREWED UP! ON THE VERY FIRST DAY!"
And they won't go away, even if you catch up. And that is a very heavy weight to carry about all month long.
So, best not to stuff up on the first day, eh?
As mentioned previously, I'm not a big planner. What plans I make, I tend to put aside at the last moment, in favour of some madcap scheme. Even so, I like to think things out before I start writing. So while I might not know what is going to happen in my novel, I usually come up with the bones of what I'll be writing about in the first scene, which should get me through the first couple of days. It isn't much more than a bunch of bullet points, but it will be enough for me to build on. I'll also know what my first line is going to be. I'll repeat it over to myself, savouring it, looking forward to getting the damn thing out of my head and onto the page. the scene around it can visualise, even if I don't know precisely how I'm going to describe it.
Whether or not you've got a clear plan, it is time to start visualizing that first scene. Explore it in your head, Give your narrator a voice and let him describe it. Play it in your mind like the perfect film that the greatest director of all time would make of your book.
Rehearse your opening lines - nothing is more satisfying than sitting down to write on day one, tapping away at the keyboard and (in your head) crying out, "Fifty words in a minute! Take that, Nanobeast! At this rate, I'll be finished in 5,000 minutes, which is only 83.33 hours! Which is less than three and a half days!" Of course, it doesn't work like that, because after those first fifty words everything becomes more difficult, but it is satisfying to get some little black marks marching across the deadly whiteness of the screen ...
Front loading
Front loading is the only way you can legitimately take a night off during Nanowrimo.
The concept is very, very simple, but very important - you write more words than your daily quota. Eventually, they add up to an extra day's quota, making one less day you have to write.
If you do it the other way round, you are just creating problems for yourself. If you skip a day, leaving yourself behind, you can - IN THEORY - catch up. But it is a difficultprocess, andthe likelihood of falling further behind, and eventually abandoning the project, is increased. Don't do it.
This year, Nano starts on a weekend. This has big implications for front loading, as you will have the chance to go hard out for the first Saturday and Sunday and build up a good 'bank.' In fact, I am contemplating something i usually recommend against - starting writing at the stroke of midnight, to get some extra words in.
Normally I recommend against it because I think writing should be a routine activity, something you do every day. Staying up late to take part in some made jamboree of words doesn't foster that impression, so it is normally something I recommend against.
(You always get some people in the 'Nanowrimo ate my soul' forum wailing, "I was here at midnight and I sat for three hours staring at my screen waiting for some words to come, but they didn't, I'm giving up!" Of course they won't come. Put that much pressure on your magination and no wonder it reacts like a startled rabbit.)
But this time, I might try it. My goal for the weekend is 7.5k. I'm thinking of breaking that down into five sessions of 1.5K - one at midnight, the a morning and evening session on each day of the weekend. I need to do some major front loading because I know I'll be struggling to write every day in Week One - I'll have exams to mark, which will probably take up two nights, and in Week Two I have toattend the school's honours awards. So I aim to get ahead of my word count, allowing me to take these nights off without falling behind.
I don't recommend you do the whole 'Start at the stroke of midnight' thing just for the Hell of it. But it is an option, given this year we get a weekend start. Whether or not you do start at midnight, or at some saner hour, try to use the blessed hours of the first weekend to get ahead. You'll thank yourself for it further down the line.
The concept is very, very simple, but very important - you write more words than your daily quota. Eventually, they add up to an extra day's quota, making one less day you have to write.
If you do it the other way round, you are just creating problems for yourself. If you skip a day, leaving yourself behind, you can - IN THEORY - catch up. But it is a difficultprocess, andthe likelihood of falling further behind, and eventually abandoning the project, is increased. Don't do it.
This year, Nano starts on a weekend. This has big implications for front loading, as you will have the chance to go hard out for the first Saturday and Sunday and build up a good 'bank.' In fact, I am contemplating something i usually recommend against - starting writing at the stroke of midnight, to get some extra words in.
Normally I recommend against it because I think writing should be a routine activity, something you do every day. Staying up late to take part in some made jamboree of words doesn't foster that impression, so it is normally something I recommend against.
(You always get some people in the 'Nanowrimo ate my soul' forum wailing, "I was here at midnight and I sat for three hours staring at my screen waiting for some words to come, but they didn't, I'm giving up!" Of course they won't come. Put that much pressure on your magination and no wonder it reacts like a startled rabbit.)
But this time, I might try it. My goal for the weekend is 7.5k. I'm thinking of breaking that down into five sessions of 1.5K - one at midnight, the a morning and evening session on each day of the weekend. I need to do some major front loading because I know I'll be struggling to write every day in Week One - I'll have exams to mark, which will probably take up two nights, and in Week Two I have toattend the school's honours awards. So I aim to get ahead of my word count, allowing me to take these nights off without falling behind.
I don't recommend you do the whole 'Start at the stroke of midnight' thing just for the Hell of it. But it is an option, given this year we get a weekend start. Whether or not you do start at midnight, or at some saner hour, try to use the blessed hours of the first weekend to get ahead. You'll thank yourself for it further down the line.
Milestones and rewards
Look, it doesn't all have to be bad. For every mile of stick, there can be a little bit of carrot.
I want you to work out a series of Nano milestones - word count targets that you are going to aspire to reach, on schedule. The idea is that these are bigger than the daily grind, but more manageable than the full 50K. As long as you are hitting these milestones on schedule, you are doing okay. You also get a treat for doing so (see below).
Typically, these will be every ten thousand words, but depending on experience, you might vary them. If you're feeling particularly nervous, you might want to schedule the first one at 5K, to give yourself a manageable target for the first three days (1667 x 3 = 5001 words. We won't fight about that one extra word). It is important to work out what day you are meant to hit that total on, as well. SO if you are doing the standard 1667 words per day, with a milestone every 10K, these are your milestones and the date you need to reach them on:
10K - Day 6
20K - Day 12
30K - Day 18
40K - Day 24
50K - Day 30
It is important to remember real word commitments when scheduling milestones - if you are going to be away from the keyboard, unavoidably, in the first few days of November, you need to reflect that in your word counts and due dates.
As an experienced Nano-er, I'm only placing three milestones - one at 15K, one at 30K and one at 50K. And I should be reaching them on or before Day 9, Day 18 and Day 30, at 1667 per day.
Here's the nice part - If you hit your milestones on schedule, you get a reward. This is something prearranged and isn't anything too flash - no new cars or $500 shoes. Just a little treat to acknowledge your achievement - a book or a CD or similar. Unless you are so madly rich that $500 shoes count as a tiny treat.
I'll treat myself to a book at 15K, a CD at 30K and a DVD at 50K. I'm not specifying what book or CD, because most of the pleasure lies in choosing. The DVD will be Hurly Burly - I remember seeing it in the cinema, years ago, and was really impressed by the dialogue and acting, and I'd like to see it again.
Nights off are NOT a reward. You can't work for ten days, hitting your word count, and then give yourself a night off - you'll simply put yourself behind. The only way to earn a reward is by front loading - getting ahead of the writing schedule, e.g. writing 10 days of words in 9 days. ANd even then, I recommend you only do this when you are trying to cover for a real world commitment you can't wriggle out of. The risk with giving yourself a day off as a reward sis, bluntly, they taste too good. Take a day off from the keyboard, and it will be very difficult to make yourself come back.
Please emal me what your milestones are and what day you expect to hit them on. Specifying rewards are optional.
I want you to work out a series of Nano milestones - word count targets that you are going to aspire to reach, on schedule. The idea is that these are bigger than the daily grind, but more manageable than the full 50K. As long as you are hitting these milestones on schedule, you are doing okay. You also get a treat for doing so (see below).
Typically, these will be every ten thousand words, but depending on experience, you might vary them. If you're feeling particularly nervous, you might want to schedule the first one at 5K, to give yourself a manageable target for the first three days (1667 x 3 = 5001 words. We won't fight about that one extra word). It is important to work out what day you are meant to hit that total on, as well. SO if you are doing the standard 1667 words per day, with a milestone every 10K, these are your milestones and the date you need to reach them on:
10K - Day 6
20K - Day 12
30K - Day 18
40K - Day 24
50K - Day 30
It is important to remember real word commitments when scheduling milestones - if you are going to be away from the keyboard, unavoidably, in the first few days of November, you need to reflect that in your word counts and due dates.
As an experienced Nano-er, I'm only placing three milestones - one at 15K, one at 30K and one at 50K. And I should be reaching them on or before Day 9, Day 18 and Day 30, at 1667 per day.
Here's the nice part - If you hit your milestones on schedule, you get a reward. This is something prearranged and isn't anything too flash - no new cars or $500 shoes. Just a little treat to acknowledge your achievement - a book or a CD or similar. Unless you are so madly rich that $500 shoes count as a tiny treat.
I'll treat myself to a book at 15K, a CD at 30K and a DVD at 50K. I'm not specifying what book or CD, because most of the pleasure lies in choosing. The DVD will be Hurly Burly - I remember seeing it in the cinema, years ago, and was really impressed by the dialogue and acting, and I'd like to see it again.
Nights off are NOT a reward. You can't work for ten days, hitting your word count, and then give yourself a night off - you'll simply put yourself behind. The only way to earn a reward is by front loading - getting ahead of the writing schedule, e.g. writing 10 days of words in 9 days. ANd even then, I recommend you only do this when you are trying to cover for a real world commitment you can't wriggle out of. The risk with giving yourself a day off as a reward sis, bluntly, they taste too good. Take a day off from the keyboard, and it will be very difficult to make yourself come back.
Please emal me what your milestones are and what day you expect to hit them on. Specifying rewards are optional.
Friday 24 October 2008
One week out
It's one week to the start of Nanowrimo 08, which means it is time to start thinking seriously about How You Are Going To Write This Thing.
Somethings to think about. Some of this might seem repetitive, but it is important that yoou've thought about this stuff. Having beautiful characters and a wondrous plot is all very well, but if you haven't organised time to actually write, you'll find November very unpleasant. So, once more, with feeling, is some of the essential prep you really need to be thinkng of.
There is a time and a place for everything. But have you organised yours? Are you giving yourself a realistic amount of time when you'll be able to write? Ideally, this should be the same time every night, same place. That way, your sub- or unconcious mind will become habituated and will start producing ideas on cue. There are some people who thrive on chaos and find writing in the middle of a sea of screaming children while the dog is gnawing on their leg helps their creativity, but these people are, I think, far rarer that they think they are. Most of us would like to think we are like that, but aren't. Remember what I said about insulation - you HAVE to be selfish here.
So get accustomed to the idea that 8pm-10pm (or whatever) is novelling time. Make sure you're somewhere away from your nearest and dearest, lovely distractions like the TV, and start settling into your routine. Settle yourself down with a cup of your Nano beverage of choice, put on the music you'll be listening to for writing. During Nano I listen to the same few albums, over and over - now as soon as I here those songs, I can write (Tom Waits and an obscure British band called Gene, mostly). Get into the habit of doing some literary pottering about for a while, each night - write a short story, or a journal, or plan for nano. But make sure you're getting into a comfortable, workable routine.
As remarked previously, this is also fairer on other people, who will come to recognise it will happen. Of course, I'm not thinking of their feelings - but if they are acclimatized to you sealing yourself away every evening NOW, they won't complain so much in November. AND the last thing you want is resentful spouses demmanding some attention in November. Family are great, but in November they are often just another pawn of the Nanobeast, in its war to stop you reaching 50K.
Somethings to think about. Some of this might seem repetitive, but it is important that yoou've thought about this stuff. Having beautiful characters and a wondrous plot is all very well, but if you haven't organised time to actually write, you'll find November very unpleasant. So, once more, with feeling, is some of the essential prep you really need to be thinkng of.
There is a time and a place for everything. But have you organised yours? Are you giving yourself a realistic amount of time when you'll be able to write? Ideally, this should be the same time every night, same place. That way, your sub- or unconcious mind will become habituated and will start producing ideas on cue. There are some people who thrive on chaos and find writing in the middle of a sea of screaming children while the dog is gnawing on their leg helps their creativity, but these people are, I think, far rarer that they think they are. Most of us would like to think we are like that, but aren't. Remember what I said about insulation - you HAVE to be selfish here.
So get accustomed to the idea that 8pm-10pm (or whatever) is novelling time. Make sure you're somewhere away from your nearest and dearest, lovely distractions like the TV, and start settling into your routine. Settle yourself down with a cup of your Nano beverage of choice, put on the music you'll be listening to for writing. During Nano I listen to the same few albums, over and over - now as soon as I here those songs, I can write (Tom Waits and an obscure British band called Gene, mostly). Get into the habit of doing some literary pottering about for a while, each night - write a short story, or a journal, or plan for nano. But make sure you're getting into a comfortable, workable routine.
As remarked previously, this is also fairer on other people, who will come to recognise it will happen. Of course, I'm not thinking of their feelings - but if they are acclimatized to you sealing yourself away every evening NOW, they won't complain so much in November. AND the last thing you want is resentful spouses demmanding some attention in November. Family are great, but in November they are often just another pawn of the Nanobeast, in its war to stop you reaching 50K.
Friday 10 October 2008
Wrestling with the Nanobeast
My first Nano was 2004. I found out about Nano two weeks into November. I signed up, with no plan and 16 days to write 50,000 words. That meant I had to write 4,000 words a day.
All I had was an idea for a first scene - a young man, coming to his senses after a drinking binge, with no idea what happened while he was blacked out. I had a hangover that day, which might be why I found the idea interesting. Beyond that, I thought he would be implicated in a series of murders and have to investigate them to prove his innocence, only to discover that he is actually the killer. But it was all very vague.
I wrote furiously. Whatever I could think of, I crammed in there somehow. I introduced all sorts of characters who did all sorts of stuff. There was a lot of sex. Finally, I reached the point where Bob would discover that he was the killer. Only then did I realise there was a gaping hole in the heart of my murder-mystery - I'd forgotten to kill anyone.
Still, I learned a lot from that experience. First, I should kill people kill people, frequently, and worry about who did it and why later. Second, I could do this writing thing quite well. There are some scenes in that story which I still rate among the best things I've ever written. Also, I learned a lot of dirty tricks to help me write when I didn't know what I was going to write about. Not like having characters sit about singing "American Pie," or describing the plots of films they've seen. I mean stuff that actually helps you develop characters and conflicts, introduce new events and ideas into your story, or at least write entertaining diversions.
Second attempt at Nano saw me screw up in a different way. After 50,000 words, I'd killed someone but wasn't able to work out who did it. The problem was my narrator. I'd started off using a narrator based on myself. I discovered I was a boring person to write about, and the least likely person to solve a mystery. In the end I made another character punch my fictional alter ego, and simply introduced a new narrator - a gutsy, loud mouthed school girl. She was fun to write, but there were too many structural issues with the story. After after hitting 50,000 I put it to rest. Lesson learned from all this - do what you have to do. If you find your original idea sucks, find a way of abandoning it and moving onto a better one.
Third nano was my first attempt at hardboiled murder mystery - think Humphrey Bogart, 1920s, cool cars and tough guys, Prohibition. I had a rough idea, but as I wrote I found two plot lines developing. I wanted to knit them together but in the end they diverged too much. So I seperated them and re-wrote one into a full story in its own right. Hey presto! A rough draft of a not completely rubbish story, 62,044 words long.
The next year, 2007, I revisited the pulp genre and my long sufferring PI. I sent him down to Mississippi to investigate a killing there. My goal was to write 50,000 words in November, and then carry on until the damn thing was done - the year before I'd taken a few months off before completing the story. Mission accomplished! I wrote through November, December and into January, completing the rough draft. It was very far from perfect, but it wasn't disasterous. And at 89,238 words, it was the longest thing I'd ever written.
So it took me four attempts to get it anywhere near right. It isn't an instant process. Don't be disappointed if you make a mess of it the first time. The Irish playwright Samuel Beckett described his work as a series of attempts to 'Fail better.' And he won the Nobel Prize for Literature with his failures. Keep trying, keep failing, fail better.
All I had was an idea for a first scene - a young man, coming to his senses after a drinking binge, with no idea what happened while he was blacked out. I had a hangover that day, which might be why I found the idea interesting. Beyond that, I thought he would be implicated in a series of murders and have to investigate them to prove his innocence, only to discover that he is actually the killer. But it was all very vague.
I wrote furiously. Whatever I could think of, I crammed in there somehow. I introduced all sorts of characters who did all sorts of stuff. There was a lot of sex. Finally, I reached the point where Bob would discover that he was the killer. Only then did I realise there was a gaping hole in the heart of my murder-mystery - I'd forgotten to kill anyone.
Still, I learned a lot from that experience. First, I should kill people kill people, frequently, and worry about who did it and why later. Second, I could do this writing thing quite well. There are some scenes in that story which I still rate among the best things I've ever written. Also, I learned a lot of dirty tricks to help me write when I didn't know what I was going to write about. Not like having characters sit about singing "American Pie," or describing the plots of films they've seen. I mean stuff that actually helps you develop characters and conflicts, introduce new events and ideas into your story, or at least write entertaining diversions.
Second attempt at Nano saw me screw up in a different way. After 50,000 words, I'd killed someone but wasn't able to work out who did it. The problem was my narrator. I'd started off using a narrator based on myself. I discovered I was a boring person to write about, and the least likely person to solve a mystery. In the end I made another character punch my fictional alter ego, and simply introduced a new narrator - a gutsy, loud mouthed school girl. She was fun to write, but there were too many structural issues with the story. After after hitting 50,000 I put it to rest. Lesson learned from all this - do what you have to do. If you find your original idea sucks, find a way of abandoning it and moving onto a better one.
Third nano was my first attempt at hardboiled murder mystery - think Humphrey Bogart, 1920s, cool cars and tough guys, Prohibition. I had a rough idea, but as I wrote I found two plot lines developing. I wanted to knit them together but in the end they diverged too much. So I seperated them and re-wrote one into a full story in its own right. Hey presto! A rough draft of a not completely rubbish story, 62,044 words long.
The next year, 2007, I revisited the pulp genre and my long sufferring PI. I sent him down to Mississippi to investigate a killing there. My goal was to write 50,000 words in November, and then carry on until the damn thing was done - the year before I'd taken a few months off before completing the story. Mission accomplished! I wrote through November, December and into January, completing the rough draft. It was very far from perfect, but it wasn't disasterous. And at 89,238 words, it was the longest thing I'd ever written.
So it took me four attempts to get it anywhere near right. It isn't an instant process. Don't be disappointed if you make a mess of it the first time. The Irish playwright Samuel Beckett described his work as a series of attempts to 'Fail better.' And he won the Nobel Prize for Literature with his failures. Keep trying, keep failing, fail better.
Wednesday 8 October 2008
Are you experienced?
Nanowrimo is a strange experience. Writing in itself is an odd thing to do and probably not as glamorous or interesting as it is made out to be. In the movies, characters who are supposed to be writers never actually seem to spend much time writing. Instead, they are forever investigating slayings, being very witty or getting seduced.
Based on my own Nano experience, you won't have time for any of that. You won't have tim for anything much, other that writing and tearing your hair. part of my pre-nano ritual is that I go skinhead, to avoid this.
With this in mind, it is important that you know what you are getting yourself into. Think about the following:
If you haven't written anything longer than a few hundred words before, you need to have a trial run. Try to write a short story, 1,500-2,000 words, just so you know what it feels like, and how long it takes you. And then try to do it three nights in a row - doesn't matter if it is three different stories, or one big story. The point is to find out how long it will take you to reach that nightly target of 1667 words per night.
(I usually aim for 2,000, as I like to finish early and have 'emergency cover.')
Try to find a tim slot that you can write in. It should be a habit - same time, every night. I always write after the children are put to bed, between 9pm and 11pm. Some people prefer to write in the morning, when they are fresh and energized, before the troubles of the day spoil their mood. I'm not a morning person, and I write gruesome violent pulp fiction, so I find it better to write AFTER the day's troubles have had a go at me. Then I take out all my stress and tension on my luckless hero, Jack. So find out what works for you.
BE SELFISH. You have to make time for yourself, and other people have to be told to leave you alone. On the first day of Nano last year, I was getting myslef set up and my wife was pottering about and talking to me. I told her she I needed her to leave me alone now. She gave me a wounded look and barely talked to me for the rest of the month. Which was pretty mean of me, but was also necessary. Incidentally, setting aside the same block of time easch day is slightly less selfish, becuase other people will get accustomed to it and learn to leave you alone. But they'll get very fustrated if you are writing in unpredicatable 15 minute bursts at all sorts of times of the day.
BE REALISTIC. You need to know how long it takes you to write your word count, and allow yourself that time. I've had newbies who have said they really want to do Nano, but when I ask them how much time they are going to set aside, they say half an hour a day. If you want to succeed, you need to back it up with concrete decisions and actions, not good intentions and vague hopes. Incidentally, the other advantage I find of writing in the evening is that you can force yourself to carry on into the wee hours if necessary. If you write in the mornings, you soon have to stop because kids need breakfast or you have to go to work. Again, it is a case of finding what works for you, but try not to fool yourself into choosing an option that is going to make it harder. God knows, Nanowrimo is hard enough without self-sabotage.
Based on my own Nano experience, you won't have time for any of that. You won't have tim for anything much, other that writing and tearing your hair. part of my pre-nano ritual is that I go skinhead, to avoid this.
With this in mind, it is important that you know what you are getting yourself into. Think about the following:
- What is the longest piece of writing you have ever written?
- Are you in the habit of sitting down to write every day?
- How long does it take you to write a thousand words?
- Do you have twice that amount of time to set aside, every day, for writing?
- When is that time going to be?
- Have you warned all your friends and family that you aren't going to be able to see them between now and the end of November?
- Have you warned yourself that you aren't goingt to be able to see your friends and family between now and the end of November?
If you haven't written anything longer than a few hundred words before, you need to have a trial run. Try to write a short story, 1,500-2,000 words, just so you know what it feels like, and how long it takes you. And then try to do it three nights in a row - doesn't matter if it is three different stories, or one big story. The point is to find out how long it will take you to reach that nightly target of 1667 words per night.
(I usually aim for 2,000, as I like to finish early and have 'emergency cover.')
Try to find a tim slot that you can write in. It should be a habit - same time, every night. I always write after the children are put to bed, between 9pm and 11pm. Some people prefer to write in the morning, when they are fresh and energized, before the troubles of the day spoil their mood. I'm not a morning person, and I write gruesome violent pulp fiction, so I find it better to write AFTER the day's troubles have had a go at me. Then I take out all my stress and tension on my luckless hero, Jack. So find out what works for you.
BE SELFISH. You have to make time for yourself, and other people have to be told to leave you alone. On the first day of Nano last year, I was getting myslef set up and my wife was pottering about and talking to me. I told her she I needed her to leave me alone now. She gave me a wounded look and barely talked to me for the rest of the month. Which was pretty mean of me, but was also necessary. Incidentally, setting aside the same block of time easch day is slightly less selfish, becuase other people will get accustomed to it and learn to leave you alone. But they'll get very fustrated if you are writing in unpredicatable 15 minute bursts at all sorts of times of the day.
BE REALISTIC. You need to know how long it takes you to write your word count, and allow yourself that time. I've had newbies who have said they really want to do Nano, but when I ask them how much time they are going to set aside, they say half an hour a day. If you want to succeed, you need to back it up with concrete decisions and actions, not good intentions and vague hopes. Incidentally, the other advantage I find of writing in the evening is that you can force yourself to carry on into the wee hours if necessary. If you write in the mornings, you soon have to stop because kids need breakfast or you have to go to work. Again, it is a case of finding what works for you, but try not to fool yourself into choosing an option that is going to make it harder. God knows, Nanowrimo is hard enough without self-sabotage.
Accept that you will fail
The first thing you have to understand about naowrimo is that you will fail. This doesn't mean that you won't write 50,000 words. During the month, you'll discover that just writing 50,000 words is nothing to do with success. No matter how many words we write, we all lose.
You'll fail because whatever beautiful idea you had in your head, or whatever hopes you had of writing something beautiful, will be torn to pieces. Nanowrimo is not about writing something beautiful. It is about writing in its more brutal and ugly form, night after night. After a month of this, you'll feel horrible, like you've completely ruined whatever hopes you had, and you'll be questioning you ability as a writer and your worth as a human being.
Repeat to yourself, over and over, "I am going to fail. I'm going to screw up. I will hate what I am writing, but I'm going to write it anyway." This is the truth, get used to it. Befriend it. Invite it into your home. Hug it to you every night. Failure is something you'll become very accustomed to over the next few weeks.
This is how it will be: even if you manage to stay on top of your word count, you won't write anything like you want to write. The necessity of producing 1667, or 2000, or however many, words per day ensures you'll spend a lot of your time writing stuff you think is sludge. After a few days of continuously writing sludge, you'll want to quit. I'm telling you this now because it is impossible to keep a sense perspective in the broil of Nano.
Writing every day for a big target is intense and you tend to become slightly demented - you're either exhilarated ("I wrote words! I am the greatest!") or despondent and full of self- and novel- loathing. Either state is perfectly natural. Unfortunately, its a lot easier to slip into despondency than it is to maintain manic exhilaration. There are just too many ways you can slip up - falling behind your word count, writing sludge, losing track of your plot, exhaustion, stuff happening in the rest of your life ... all these things can convince you that you're wasting your time, that you're a failure.
Failure is what writing is all about. No writer manages to realize their vision perfectly, not in the first draft or in the fiftieth. The Nobel Prize winner, Samuel Beckett, wrote, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." He was probably thinking about his own experience as a writer, each new work an attempt to capture the ideas he sensed, but always which always eluded him. He kept trying, is the important thing.
Put a mirror above your work station and a sign above it saying, "This is a picture of failure." If you can see yourself in that mirror, you're in the right place. At least you're where you should be, trying to fail better. If the mirror reflects an empty chair, only then are you failing, irredeemably.
You'll fail because whatever beautiful idea you had in your head, or whatever hopes you had of writing something beautiful, will be torn to pieces. Nanowrimo is not about writing something beautiful. It is about writing in its more brutal and ugly form, night after night. After a month of this, you'll feel horrible, like you've completely ruined whatever hopes you had, and you'll be questioning you ability as a writer and your worth as a human being.
Repeat to yourself, over and over, "I am going to fail. I'm going to screw up. I will hate what I am writing, but I'm going to write it anyway." This is the truth, get used to it. Befriend it. Invite it into your home. Hug it to you every night. Failure is something you'll become very accustomed to over the next few weeks.
This is how it will be: even if you manage to stay on top of your word count, you won't write anything like you want to write. The necessity of producing 1667, or 2000, or however many, words per day ensures you'll spend a lot of your time writing stuff you think is sludge. After a few days of continuously writing sludge, you'll want to quit. I'm telling you this now because it is impossible to keep a sense perspective in the broil of Nano.
Writing every day for a big target is intense and you tend to become slightly demented - you're either exhilarated ("I wrote words! I am the greatest!") or despondent and full of self- and novel- loathing. Either state is perfectly natural. Unfortunately, its a lot easier to slip into despondency than it is to maintain manic exhilaration. There are just too many ways you can slip up - falling behind your word count, writing sludge, losing track of your plot, exhaustion, stuff happening in the rest of your life ... all these things can convince you that you're wasting your time, that you're a failure.
Failure is what writing is all about. No writer manages to realize their vision perfectly, not in the first draft or in the fiftieth. The Nobel Prize winner, Samuel Beckett, wrote, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." He was probably thinking about his own experience as a writer, each new work an attempt to capture the ideas he sensed, but always which always eluded him. He kept trying, is the important thing.
Put a mirror above your work station and a sign above it saying, "This is a picture of failure." If you can see yourself in that mirror, you're in the right place. At least you're where you should be, trying to fail better. If the mirror reflects an empty chair, only then are you failing, irredeemably.
Monday 6 October 2008
'Egad, the Nanomonster is almost upon us
Is it October again, already?
Does this mean I'll be doing nanowrimo. No. Then again, maybe ... I've logged on to the website, advertised my services to newbies, attended pre-nano meet ups, resolved to PLAN and PLOT this time ... even though I'm officially NOT DOING IT. Who am I kidding? I'm doing it, I just don't have a clue what I'm doing. As bloody usual.
I started footering about with one of my stagnant stories, last week - the one about the NZ psychic detective climbing a hill. To resolve the plot difficuties that stymied me earlier in the year, I've moved forwards several scenes and I'm writing a party sequence. I have no idea who the people at the party are, how Donna got there, or what might happen, but what the Hell, at least I've put down a couple of thousand words that weren't there before.
Mistakes can be corrected, wild inconsistencies ironed out. But you can't do anything unless you write something, no matter how bad.
Does this mean I'll be doing nanowrimo. No. Then again, maybe ... I've logged on to the website, advertised my services to newbies, attended pre-nano meet ups, resolved to PLAN and PLOT this time ... even though I'm officially NOT DOING IT. Who am I kidding? I'm doing it, I just don't have a clue what I'm doing. As bloody usual.
I started footering about with one of my stagnant stories, last week - the one about the NZ psychic detective climbing a hill. To resolve the plot difficuties that stymied me earlier in the year, I've moved forwards several scenes and I'm writing a party sequence. I have no idea who the people at the party are, how Donna got there, or what might happen, but what the Hell, at least I've put down a couple of thousand words that weren't there before.
Mistakes can be corrected, wild inconsistencies ironed out. But you can't do anything unless you write something, no matter how bad.
Saturday 5 July 2008
Spoke too soon
So much for SocNoc salvaging my writing in 2008. After grinding out 30,000 words, a combination of flu, employment, new child and plotlessness undid me. With 20K to write and a week to go, I realised I wasn't going to make it, and did the honourable thing, which was to run like the coward I am. The Hell with all this heroic crap about desperate charges, trying to write 15,000 words in the last ten minutes, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and so on. I am Scottish. I know that defeat is inevitable, the only choice is between defeat and disaster. Given the forces arrayed against me, I decided not to lose it all (literally, I think I would have died if I had carried on writing) in a romantic, but still doomed, effort.
Seriously, having done Nanowri mo four times, SocNoc once and various other writerly challenges, I didn't feel the need to prove myself. I KNOW I can write incoherent muck. I think the next stage in my writerly evolution may be to try and write some coherent muck. Yes, that may mean that I attempt to PLAN something, instead of freestyling, come Nanowrimo 08.
Seriously, having done Nanowri mo four times, SocNoc once and various other writerly challenges, I didn't feel the need to prove myself. I KNOW I can write incoherent muck. I think the next stage in my writerly evolution may be to try and write some coherent muck. Yes, that may mean that I attempt to PLAN something, instead of freestyling, come Nanowrimo 08.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Southern Cross Novel Challenge
I've been having a very mixed 2008.
It started very well, with me finishing off last year's NaNoWriMo effort. It was a rough and hideous thing, incoherent in the extreme, but it was still done. Then I embarked on a new project. I was trying for something shamelessly commercial, but it came undone. Couldn't make it work. My bloody detective wouldn't detect. She just mooned about, trying to ignore my attempts to prod her in the right direction.
So I abandoned her, somewhere in a field in the Manawatu, if I remember rightly. Twenty thousand words. Going nowhere. Blergh. Then I tried to make amends, and get her to do something else. Again, she wasn't having it and this second attempt was put on hold after just a thousand words or so. They were good words. But they weren't going anywhere.
But now it is June, and June is So.C.No.C. and that means I really have to try to write something. Forget the new job and the new child and the benighted in-laws that just won't go away. I have to find something to write about, so I've reverted to type. I've dragged the long sufferring Jack Callaghan out of (unofficial) retirement for another stumbling, incoherent, and probably very violent adventure.
So far, it's going pretty well. I've managed to set a new personal best, killing seven people in the first couple of thousand words. Shotguns in enclosed spaces will do that, every time. And, after the fustration of the failed efforts earlier in the year, writing hackneyed pulp nonsense is a breeze.
It started very well, with me finishing off last year's NaNoWriMo effort. It was a rough and hideous thing, incoherent in the extreme, but it was still done. Then I embarked on a new project. I was trying for something shamelessly commercial, but it came undone. Couldn't make it work. My bloody detective wouldn't detect. She just mooned about, trying to ignore my attempts to prod her in the right direction.
So I abandoned her, somewhere in a field in the Manawatu, if I remember rightly. Twenty thousand words. Going nowhere. Blergh. Then I tried to make amends, and get her to do something else. Again, she wasn't having it and this second attempt was put on hold after just a thousand words or so. They were good words. But they weren't going anywhere.
But now it is June, and June is So.C.No.C. and that means I really have to try to write something. Forget the new job and the new child and the benighted in-laws that just won't go away. I have to find something to write about, so I've reverted to type. I've dragged the long sufferring Jack Callaghan out of (unofficial) retirement for another stumbling, incoherent, and probably very violent adventure.
So far, it's going pretty well. I've managed to set a new personal best, killing seven people in the first couple of thousand words. Shotguns in enclosed spaces will do that, every time. And, after the fustration of the failed efforts earlier in the year, writing hackneyed pulp nonsense is a breeze.
Monday 10 March 2008
Quotes on poverty
"Poverty is without its mark unless it is contrasted with wealth."
"Pox of Poverty, it makes a Man a Slave, makes Wit and Honour sneak, my Soul grow lean and rusty for want of Credit."
- John Ross, polar explorer."Come away; poverty's catching"
"Pox of Poverty, it makes a Man a Slave, makes Wit and Honour sneak, my Soul grow lean and rusty for want of Credit."
- Aphra Behn, novellist, spy, and more.
Monday 7 January 2008
New beginnings
So tonight I started ... something. Urk. I know I've bragged about my contempt for planning, but please understand - everytime I start a new stroy, it is with the best intentions of abandoning my feckless ways and planning before I start. Then I think "If I do that, I'll never start! I'll be deciding on the colours of cars driving by in the introductory sceen, and have written 10,000 words of outline, but not the story." So aware that time gallops by regardless of how much or how little planning I do, I lurched into another story without knowing anything about it.
Okay, not true. I know the following. My protagonist is female (tired of writing from Jack's surly, male point-of-view) and she's climbing a steep hill, somewhere in New Zealand. There's someone with her, a man. There are a couple of other ideas that I'm keeping back, for obvious reasons, this being a murder mystery and all. Oh, and she (my main character) is psychic. Or she thinks she is. I'm not sure if she is or not. But, at this time, I haven't decided on her name yet. I've managed to write 1,000 words without that being important, but I'm not sure how much longer this can be maintained. Curiously, I managed to name her male companion without any difficulty.
Knowing so little, I've concentrated on description. Again, this may be a reaction to my previous story, which had little description in it - except for the frequent fistfights. In this case, I have a significant advantage over my previous effort. While it has been over ten years since I was last in anything approximating a fist fight, I have often been hot, uncomfortable and sore, so I can get good mileage out of that.
Still, sooner or latter, some decisions will have to be made. Can't have people calling my character "You there!" or "Ma'am" all the time.
WORD COUNT: 1,013
TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS THAT ARE WORD COUNT BOOSTING WAFFLE: 30 ("I’d gone out to watch a film, and then gone home to eat dinner and watch TV. I called Aroha and made a date to see her at the weekend.")
KNOWN INCONSITENCIES: 0
NAMES CONSIDERED AND REJECTED: 3 (Portia, Tanya, Sarah)
Okay, not true. I know the following. My protagonist is female (tired of writing from Jack's surly, male point-of-view) and she's climbing a steep hill, somewhere in New Zealand. There's someone with her, a man. There are a couple of other ideas that I'm keeping back, for obvious reasons, this being a murder mystery and all. Oh, and she (my main character) is psychic. Or she thinks she is. I'm not sure if she is or not. But, at this time, I haven't decided on her name yet. I've managed to write 1,000 words without that being important, but I'm not sure how much longer this can be maintained. Curiously, I managed to name her male companion without any difficulty.
Knowing so little, I've concentrated on description. Again, this may be a reaction to my previous story, which had little description in it - except for the frequent fistfights. In this case, I have a significant advantage over my previous effort. While it has been over ten years since I was last in anything approximating a fist fight, I have often been hot, uncomfortable and sore, so I can get good mileage out of that.
Still, sooner or latter, some decisions will have to be made. Can't have people calling my character "You there!" or "Ma'am" all the time.
WORD COUNT: 1,013
TOTAL NUMBER OF WORDS THAT ARE WORD COUNT BOOSTING WAFFLE: 30 ("I’d gone out to watch a film, and then gone home to eat dinner and watch TV. I called Aroha and made a date to see her at the weekend.")
KNOWN INCONSITENCIES: 0
NAMES CONSIDERED AND REJECTED: 3 (Portia, Tanya, Sarah)
Wednesday 2 January 2008
Finishing ... day what?
Word count is somewhere about 85K. That's 50K from November, 30K from December, and I've just started writing again. The end is in sight! Only three major scenes to go.
Frighteningly, at this point I am still introducing characters. Worse, I have still to introduce my Baron Greenback / Blofeld type baddie, the one who is BEHIND IT ALL. Yup, he isn't getting introduced until the scene where he is revealed as the fiend in human form who has caused all this suffering.
Obviously, in mystery cirlces, this is frowned on. One shouldn't spring a new character on the reader ast the last moment. t is even worse than revealing an EVIL TWIN or a SCOOBY-DOO ending where masks get pulled off. I hang my head in shame. All I can do is promise that, if I re-draft, I'll go back and add in an introductory scene earlier in the story.
Here are some of the other inconsistencies / issues I'm aware of that need to be cleared up:
Frighteningly, at this point I am still introducing characters. Worse, I have still to introduce my Baron Greenback / Blofeld type baddie, the one who is BEHIND IT ALL. Yup, he isn't getting introduced until the scene where he is revealed as the fiend in human form who has caused all this suffering.
Obviously, in mystery cirlces, this is frowned on. One shouldn't spring a new character on the reader ast the last moment. t is even worse than revealing an EVIL TWIN or a SCOOBY-DOO ending where masks get pulled off. I hang my head in shame. All I can do is promise that, if I re-draft, I'll go back and add in an introductory scene earlier in the story.
Here are some of the other inconsistencies / issues I'm aware of that need to be cleared up:
- Jack spends a large amount of time drinking whisky in public, while traveling by train across the USA. I did this as I have no idea what travelling by train in the 1920s was like, or what impression travelling across the continent would create. So I bottled out of it and made him get sloshed. Afterwards I recalled that Prohibition was in force.
- The fat, unlikeable sherrif informs Jack that his missing friend was murdered, rather than dying by accident. Jack reacts with shock and rage. In a subsequent scene, Jack seems to have forgotten this and reacts with shock and rage all over again.
- The alluring belle that accompanied Jack on the last leg of his cross-continental train journey simply drops out of the narrative after flirting with him and inviting him to a party.
- The party never takes place, even though it is refered to later on.
- Sitting in a house he has never been in before, Jack recalls a previous visit.
- I have a character who is in two places at once.
- A suspect in the killing of Effie Randel ihas an alibi, as he is seen at a card game on the night of the killing. THis meant he wouldn't have been able to be at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately for me, the killer was also at the same card game.
- I have no idea who killed one of the victims. In fact, the poor fellow's murder has never been investigated. He's been completely forgotten.
- Crucial witness Wilt Fleming has been completely neglected for about 40K. He's sitting in jail for his own safety. Even though one of the kilelr's is a lawman, no-one has bothered to speak to him or try to harm him.
- Who were the third and fourth persons present at the killing of Rusty Mains?
All of this can be tidied up. But if there are that many holes I know about, how many more are as yet undiscovered?
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