NaNoWriMo 2022

 

Oops. I finally got here, better late than never right?

I did participate in NaNoWriMo this year (still going of course). I hit 50k already, but will keep going for the rest of the month and hopefully beyond.

The difference this year is that I participated in NaNo as a rebel - rewriting/revising a novel that was already mostly finished many years ago.

With advice from my excellent critique partner, I devised a beat sheet in the days beforehand and then got to work on November 1. I've revised the beat sheet a few times as problems cropped up - thankfully none too major.

I was a bit distracted leading up to November, because I got the sad news late in October that my high school best friend had passed away. Because of certain factors, her funeral has not happened yet - it's next week on Tuesday. So it's been quite a wait for her family as well as all of us, her friends left behind.

Anyway ... that's been on my mind since I got the news. But NaNo has been quite a nice distraction as well.

I had a week off this week which was very nice, although I'd like at least two more! Thankfully the holiday season isn't far away, and so I'll get more time off then.

In between then and now, there is a lot of stuff that needs doing at work, so no doubt I'll be exhausted again by the time the holidays roll around.

I have not been feeling particularly creative this year, due to work being full-on as usual, and my "second full time job" the animal rescue still being busy as well). But I'm glad I managed to make myself do NaNo, as it feels good to have at least achieved something creative this year.

My hope is that I'll be able to focus mostly on revising existing books into the future.

I hope everyone out there is doing well. I wish that I was still heavily involved in this wonderful writer community, but alas other stuff in life has taken over. Maybe someday I'll get back to posting here more. I might try to make that a priority.

May Blog Chain @ Absolute Write - character relationships

It's time for another Absolute Write Blog Chain, and this time our theme is as follows:

Show a character's approach to relationships in a short scene. A harmless exchange between mother and daughter? A submissive character overwhelmed by a dominant partner? A passionate lover's quarrel? A forlorn, unrequited letter?

Use your characters' interaction to show the dynamics of their relationship, show how they're growing together or growing apart, or just have silly fun. Character descriptions at the beginning are forbidden this time around--let them speak or act for themselves!

I've chosen an excerpt from CARNIVAL (after a loooooot of deliberation about which novel I should pick an excerpt from, since I considered about 3-4 different ones). This is the second book (sort of; more like a prequel I guess) in the SUNDOWN series. I'm not allowed to tell you about the characters, but have to let this writing speak for itself. It'll be interesting to see if it does or not:

Adelai helped the unsteady girl up and supported her on her feet. Then she started making the rounds saying farewell to the others. I waited eagerly for her to tell me goodbye too. This was my chance. I'd wait until she was gone, and then I'd slip out quietly and head back downtown. The CBD was within easy reach, only ten minutes walk away. And nobody here would notice my disappearance. They were all off their faces.

It was a good plan, until it dissolved before my eyes.

Adelai stopped in front of me. "You coming?"

"Um…where?" My mind was suddenly working overtime.

"If he wants to stay, that's cool!" the bartender called, and others added their agreement.

Oh hell no. I climbed resignedly to my feet.

"I told you there'd be a couch available," Adelai murmured, her gaze steady. "It's a bit crowded here. You're welcome at ours."

"I'm all right," I said. "I'll just head on home."

"How will you get there?"

My mind couldn't keep up. I just ended up staring at her stupidly.

She shook her head. "Well, there you go. You're coming with us. And remember, I'm the one who dragged you into this. I wouldn't want to leave you stranded." I went to protest, but she continued smoothly, "I remember you spent all your money, too." A small smile appeared on her face. "We're getting a cab, so why don't you come along? Our couch is really comfy."

I just stared down at her, increasingly frustrated with the situation, and with myself for being so slow-witted. I tried to buy some time to think by handing the bass guitar back to the bartender. But that didn't take long, and when I turned to face Adelai again, she was still watching me with an unreadable expression.

What the hell did she want from me anyway? She was being kind and generous, some might say to a stupid degree…but what did she get out of it? What would hanging out with a walking train wreck like me do for her?

"John!" she yelled out of the blue, startling me. She turned her head slightly in the direction of the hall.

I heard a voice call out faintly from elsewhere in the house.

Adelai called loudly, "We're going home right now! You coming?"

Another muffled response followed, and Adelai smiled faintly and shrugged. Then she gestured for me to follow her.

With consternation, I did just that.

Check out the other participants in this month's Blog Chain:

orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month's post)
Proach - http://desstories.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
Yoghurtelf - http://thefarseas.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
AuburnAssassin - http://clairegillian.com (link to this month's post)
aimeelaine - http://www.aimeelaine.com/blog (link to this month's post)
Della Odell - http://dellaodell.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
jkellerford - http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
juniper - http://www.katjuniper.com (link to this month's post)
Steam&Ink - http://steamandink.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
LadyMage - http://www.katherinegilraine.com/ (link to this month's post)
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.com/ (link to this month's post)
xcomplex - http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
Inkstrokes - http://drlong67.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

Writing G O A L S + 2011

2009 Achievements:
1. Finished off DAPHNE, after 10 years of writing it (I was 19 when I began, and 29 when I finished). Still needs editing!
2. Wrote little bits and pieces of stories, and edited bits and pieces of others, during the year, until November, when...
3. During NaNoWriMo I finished a 116,000 word story (the first in the Midnight SUNDOWN series) and quickly started in on its prequel, for which I wrote about 20k before the end of November

2010 Achievements:
1. Completed 3 novels in the Midnight SUNDOWN series, then realised that the 2nd novel actually needed to be divided in 2. The second half of it made a complete novel, but the first half needed some better ending. I still haven't given it that.
2. Started book 4 (which since the division of book 2 became book 5) in the Midnight SUNDOWN series, and still have not finished it.
3. Completed first revision of SUNDOWN, taking word count from 116,000 to 147,000. Yikes.
4. Cut about 19k from SUNDOWN during 2nd revision (have not finished this revision, but hoping to get there in the next week or so).
5. Participated in NaNoWriMo 2010, and won with a 94k novel.

And now onto the point of this blog entry: things I want to achieve in 2011.

Things I know I can do in 2011
1. Finish current edit of Sundown and order a proof copy of it via CreateSpace (this is free!!)
2. Participate in NaNoEdMo 2011, working either on book 4 of the Midnight SUNDOWN series, or my DAPHNE novel - at the moment I'm leaning further towards concentrating on Daphne
3. Participate/run the short story year-long workshop project with my critiquing buddies, possibly will be showcase this on Blogger - the Chrysalis Experiment
4. Keep my writing blog at Blogspot going & hopefully prospering a bit
5. Win NaNo 2011
6. Finish off first draft of STORM from the Midnight SUNDOWN series
7. Maybe look at doing a preliminary read-through/edit of Nausicaa (NaNo '10 novel)

Things I'd like to look at but probably will not get done in 2011
1. Preliminary edits of FIRE and EXCISION from the Midnight SUNDOWN novels
2. Figure out how to finish off CARNIVAL from the Midnight SUNDOWN novels series
3. Finish off 2008's NaNo novel (TURKEY BOURKE)
4. Get through 1st proper edit of SQUEAKY

Things I KNOW I will not get done in 2011
1. Finish off RAGEWATER book 1
2. Finish off SOMANA from the RAGEWATER series (probably has 40k to go)