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.
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
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.
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