NaNoFiMo- 2010 & beyond

[Fizchick]

Ahhh. December 1. It's here and I'm already missing the NaNoWriMo

 

54,151 words danced from my fingers last month and now, I find it maybe, half way done ( half full, not half empty), this first rough, rough draft....

 

I'm gonna keep going, and I'm hoping that anyone else will join in who's not finished with any project and wants to share in the process.

 

Who's in?

[Steve E]

Hello Advanced Member.

 

Ahhh. December 1. It's here and I'm already missing the NaNoWriMo

I've been there. Heck, I'm there now. The cool-down process can take a while.

 

54,151 words danced from my fingers last month and now, I find it maybe, half way done ( half full, not half empty), this first rough, rough draft....

I think it's fair to say that's where I am now too. Last year I was about 90% finished by the end of NaNo but then I discovered an enormous plot hole. Fixing it meant changing a lot of things and almost doubling the story length.

 

I'm gonna keep going, and I'm hoping that anyone else will join in who's not finished with any project and wants to share in the process.

Who's in?

Well, I'm certainly "in" but what's the topic? How far along we are with our NaNoWriMo 2010 book?

 

"I'm in with the in crowd." - From The "In" Crowd, Sung by Dobie Gray in 1965 (a year before The Mamas & the Papas popularized it.)

- Thoth

[marguerite]

I've been there. Heck, I'm there now. The cool-down process can take a while.

Not me. I heaved a huge sigh of relief the moment I crossed the finish line and have been happy as a clam ever since (and what makes clams so happy anyway? it's not like they actually do anything except sit there and filter water through their gills).

 

I think it's fair to say that's where I am now too. Last year I was about 90% finished by the end of NaNo but then I discovered an enormous plot hole. Fixing it meant changing a lot of things and almost doubling the story length.

I wouldn't know how to describe where I am at this moment. I set off to develop a plot thread from my ongoing novel, which I mostly did, wreaking havoc with the overall timeline but in general improving the story. How far I am from a fully integrated subplot, though, is really difficult to tell.

 

Well, I'm certainly "in" but what's the topic? How far along we are with our NaNoWriMo 2010 book?

Thoth

How about brainstorming some of those plot holes or sharing brilliant solutions to same? Sure, most people prefer to avoid revealing too many details of their work in a public forum, but conversations about writing, specific or otherwise, interest me more than "I have 70,000 words now" updates. Especially since, outside of NaNo, quality counts more than quantity....

Just a thought,

M

[Fizchick]

Replying to you both above:

 

Well, thanks for coming along.

 

my advanced status belies my greenness about this process...

I guess, I my intent was to have a thread to continue the nano in spirit of the work and the checking in, support , camaraderie and accountability...

 

I do appreciate the openness of discussion of where you and I might be in the process and stumbling blocks and breakthroughs ... and for me, the occasional mention of a word count acknowledgment being supported and not off limits would be nice too. So just a place to check in- and discuss and chortle of the whole thing of make believe people in make believe worlds that come through our fingers.

 

3 cheers for quality too. hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!

 

In the end, for me, my uncontrollable intensity for excellence is unquenchable.

[marguerite]

Sounds good to me. Yes, of course, word counts are not off-limits.

M

[Steve E]

Not me. I heaved a huge sigh of relief the moment I crossed the finish line and have been happy as a clam ever since (and what makes clams so happy anyway? it's not like they actually do anything except sit there and filter water through their gills).

In the words of the late great French oceanographer and documentary director, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, "the clam is the most melancholy of bivalves."

 

I wouldn't know how to describe where I am at this moment. I set off to develop a plot thread from my ongoing novel, which I mostly did, wreaking havoc with the overall timeline but in general improving the story. How far I am from a fully integrated subplot, though, is really difficult to tell.

I know what you mean. I have a character who is imprisoned at the beginning of the plot thread but hadn't been imprisoned yet many pages in. The problem is that it actually reads a lot better that way, logic be damned.

 

How about brainstorming some of those plot holes or sharing brilliant solutions to same? Sure, most people prefer to avoid revealing too many details of their work in a public forum, but conversations about writing, specific or otherwise, interest me more than "I have 70,000 words now" updates. Especially since, outside of NaNo, quality counts more than quantity....

I have 70,000 plot holes—just kidding. It's less than half that. But I have zero brilliant solutions so far.

 

Perhaps sharing the problems, just organizing them and writing them down, can help inspire solutions.

- Thoth

[Steve E]

I guess, I my intent was to have a thread to continue the nano in spirit of the work and the checking in, support , camaraderie and accountability...

You can't force camaraderie. I know. I've tried. The constant bludgeoning only made things worse.

 

I do appreciate the openness of discussion of where you and I might be in the process and stumbling blocks and breakthroughs ... and for me, the occasional mention of a word count acknowledgment being supported and not off limits would be nice too. So just a place to check in- and discuss and chortle of the whole thing of make believe people in make believe worlds that come through our fingers.

I don't know how happy we're going to be to discuss our problems or read about someone else's. And the word count thing adds pressure to perform (as it's supposed to). I wonder if there is Viagra® for Writers? In any event it may be worth a try. (Check out TAS's thread here.)

 

In the end, for me, my uncontrollable intensity for excellence is unquenchable.

I'm an inveterate tweaker, myself. And actually, it's a habit I'm trying to break.

 

Uncontrollable intensity for excellence?

Now I'm intimidated. (Where's that Viagra®?)

- Thoth

[Steve]

My 2010 Nano manuscript is probably best left in the drawer, but I'm going to start editing my 2008 manuscript in January.

 

So I'm in.

 

-Steve

[marguerite]

My 2010 Nano manuscript is probably best left in the drawer, but I'm going to start editing my 2008 manuscript in January.

 

So I'm in.

 

-Steve

What is the 2008 manuscript, Steve?

Just curious,

M

[orrenm]

I had way too much on my plate to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but I have a manuscript for a sci-fi novel that I'm about 29,000 words into at this moment, and my goal is to be finished by July 2011. Between now and then I have:

* 40hr. week day job

* Weekly webcomic

* A printed comic project also in the works

* Writing flavor text for a FaceBook game

* Writing a pro audio product manual

* Editing pro audio plug-in manuals

* Writing a few pro audio reviews

 

So finishing this novel by July is looking pretty optimistic! If I can write about 2,000 words/week I can probably do it. History seems to indicate that is unlikely. But I'm definitely going to try!

 

I am also in the process of self-publishing (both in print and digitally) a novel I wrote a few years ago; I'll of course post more as it becomes reality!

 

Orren

[thealtruismsociety]

I had way too much on my plate to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but I have a manuscript for a sci-fi novel that I'm about 29,000 words into at this moment, and my goal is to be finished by July 2011. Between now and then I have:

* 40hr. week day job

* Weekly webcomic

* A printed comic project also in the works

* Writing flavor text for a FaceBook game

* Writing a pro audio product manual

* Editing pro audio plug-in manuals

* Writing a few pro audio reviews

 

So finishing this novel by July is looking pretty optimistic! If I can write about 2,000 words/week I can probably do it. History seems to indicate that is unlikely. But I'm definitely going to try!

 

I am also in the process of self-publishing (both in print and digitally) a novel I wrote a few years ago; I'll of course post more as it becomes reality!

 

Orren

 

Looking forward to hearing about the self publish.

[Steve E]

Looking forward to hearing about the self publish.

Same here. I'm always interested in the nuts and bolts.

(Orren seems to have too much time on his hands. He probably spends it doing unproductive things like eating and sleeping.)

Everyone keep up the wonderful work

- Thoth

[Fizchick]

Not me. I heaved a huge sigh of relief the moment I crossed the finish line and have been happy as a clam ever since (and what makes clams so happy anyway? it's not like they actually do anything except sit there and filter water through their gills).

 

I'm getting that relief now too! I'm a late bloomer...

 

And the excitement and overwhelm of "wow- now I can take a little more time to actually think..."

Thinking can be soooo dangerous...

 

I did find that I painted first then wrote this morning... might try that more. Hands expressing differently...

[Steve]

What is the 2008 manuscript, Steve?

Just curious,

M

 

Its a story about a town's struggle to survive the Great Depression as told, Scheherazade-style, by a dying grandmother to her grandson in an effort to save his marriage.

 

And my memory is going. This was my 2007 manuscript.

 

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Yeah Fiz, feel free to read and comment on my short story I wrote during this years NaNo, don't worry about hurting feeling, give me an honest opinion. I'm rewriting it right now but any feedback would be great.

[Fizchick]

Yeah Fiz, feel free to read and comment on my short story I wrote during this years NaNo, don't worry about hurting feeling, give me an honest opinion. I'm rewriting it right now but any feedback would be great.

 

I would love too- leave me a trail of yellow brick crumbs or a bread crumb road to it.

 

Or, a link. Did I miss it?

 

marco! polo!

[marguerite]

I would love too- leave me a trail of yellow brick crumbs or a bread crumb road to it.

 

Or, a link. Did I miss it?

 

marco! polo!

He put it in the Sharing section, Fizchick (under Using Storyist).

 

Your book sounds interesting, Steve.

 

This thread should be fun!

 

Getting back to my story after a week away....

Best,

M

[Steve E]

Yeah Fiz, feel free to read and comment on my short story I wrote during this years NaNo, don't worry about hurting feeling, give me an honest opinion. I'm rewriting it right now but any feedback would be great.

I hope you don't mind comments from me either (I lack fluffy feathers).

 

First, the mechanics. Go over your punctuation. E.g. Your quote marks are unbalanced in several places. Easily fixed.

Grammar. I sometimes have a problem following your sentence structure. (I've been accused of this myself.) E.g., "she had left him long ago with a younger man who loved motorcycles and oily hair" should probably be "she had left him long ago for a younger man with oily hair, who loved motorcycles" unless you meant he loved his oily hair, which is a possibility. (And, no, I didn't mean his oily hair loved motorcycles; note the comma.)

Story. I liked the story but the religious bent at the end ("Or is the world ending because I tried to see it with God’s eyes?") just seems to come out of nowhere for this scientist. Why would he even think this? I'm reminded of a famous short story (so famous that I can't even remember its name or who wrote it) about a scientist realizing that the super-bright full moon everyone was enjoying meant that the other side of the Earth was being fried by a solar flare, and they had only until dawn to live. Try to look that one up. I think it will inspire you.

General. Sort of drags in the middle for so short a story. It probably would have read better if the thread hadn't shredded your formatting.

 

So, it can all be fixed by draft two. Which is probably more than most of us can say.

- Thoth

[thealtruismsociety]

I hope you don't mind comments from me either (I lack fluffy feathers).

 

First, the mechanics. Go over your punctuation. E.g. Your quote marks are unbalanced in several places. Easily fixed.

Grammar. I sometimes have a problem following your sentence structure. (I've been accused of this myself.) E.g., "she had left him long ago with a younger man who loved motorcycles and oily hair" should probably be "she had left him long ago for a younger man with oily hair, who loved motorcycles" unless you meant he loved his oily hair, which is a possibility. (And, no, I didn't mean his oily hair loved motorcycles; note the comma.)

Story. I liked the story but the religious bent at the end ("Or is the world ending because I tried to see it with God’s eyes?") just seems to come out of nowhere for this scientist. Why would he even think this? I'm reminded of a famous short story (so famous that I can't even remember its name or who wrote it) about a scientist realizing that the super-bright full moon everyone was enjoying meant that the other side of the Earth was being fried by a solar flare, and they had only until dawn to live. Try to look that one up. I think it will inspire you.

General. Sort of drags in the middle for so short a story. It probably would have read better if the thread hadn't shredded your formatting.

 

So, it can all be fixed by draft two. Which is probably more than most of us can say.

- Thoth

 

Cool, spelling and grammar usually a problem for me so I'll work on that. I rewrote a lot of it so hopefully it reads better now. The oily hair part for instance is completely changed, hehe.

 

I was thinking don't people who know they are going to die, especially quickly and without warning, suddenly become religious because they WANT to believe there is something afterwards? Like a hardened criminal praying for God on the electric chair. Kinda what I was thinking. I'll have to gauge how much I like it when everything is closer to being finished.

[Steve E]

I was thinking don't people who know they are going to die, especially quickly and without warning, suddenly become religious because they WANT to believe there is something afterwards? Like a hardened criminal praying for God on the electric chair. Kinda what I was thinking. I'll have to gauge how much I like it when everything is closer to being finished.

Sure, a drowning man grasps at straws when there are nothing but straws to grasp at. But those Death Row conversions usually come with contrition. Your story didn't leave me with the sense that your protagonist was giving up science and praying for God to save us all from his (the scientist's) folly. (God is destroying the Earth because this guy peeked a few minutes back in time? Really?)

 

In the 17th century, a bishop asked the great French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes why, as a scientist, he was religious. He said it was a simple equation: a mere lifetime of following God's rules bet against an eternity of bliss is a fine and reasonable wager. Of course the Enlightenment argued that there was no knowing which set of rules to follow, as there are many religions and their interpretations. It's interesting that no one argued about Heaven being blissful, except Mark Twain, and that was over a century later. -- The point being, how much a finer and more reasonable wager it must seem when you know that you are betting so little at your end.

 

"I know I'm not a good man, but doesn't it please you Lord that I try to please you?" — Forgotten his name.

- Thoth

[orrenm]

(God is destroying the Earth because this guy peeked a few minutes back in time? Really?)

 

Believe it or not, but that's almost pulled out of recent headlines!

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/...13lhc.html?_r=2

 

Orren

[thealtruismsociety]

Believe it or not, but that's almost pulled out of recent headlines!

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/...13lhc.html?_r=2

 

Orren

 

Heh nice, actually the main problem I had with doing this story was how for the main character to know the world was gonna end cause originally I was thinking a telescope but, since nothing travels faster than the speed of light, there's no way for ANYONE on Earth to know the sun went Nova until we were dead. Since a telescope is still seeing light 8 minutes old the person looking through it would be dead when he saw it erupting. So when I thought about just looking into the future, it gave me a way to write it.

[thealtruismsociety]

Sure, a drowning man grasps at straws when there are nothing but straws to grasp at. But those Death Row conversions usually come with contrition. Your story didn't leave me with the sense that your protagonist was giving up science and praying for God to save us all from his (the scientist's) folly. (God is destroying the Earth because this guy peeked a few minutes back in time? Really?)

 

In the 17th century, a bishop asked the great French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes why, as a scientist, he was religious. He said it was a simple equation: a mere lifetime of following God's rules bet against an eternity of bliss is a fine and reasonable wager. Of course the Enlightenment argued that there was no knowing which set of rules to follow, as there are many religions and their interpretations. It's interesting that no one argued about Heaven being blissful, except Mark Twain, and that was over a century later. -- The point being, how much a finer and more reasonable wager it must seem when you know that you are betting so little at your end.

 

"I know I'm not a good man, but doesn't it please you Lord that I try to please you?" — Forgotten his name.

- Thoth

 

Hmm my guy wasn't giving up science or praying to God, just asking a final question. I'll look into that part more.

 

And Orren was right, the scientist was pondering if the act of peering into the future caused the nova itself through some twisted physics we don't have any knowledge of yet, not that GOD himself was pissed.

[orrenm]

Heh nice, actually the main problem I had with doing this story was how for the main character to know the world was gonna end cause originally I was thinking a telescope but, since nothing travels faster than the speed of light, there's no way for ANYONE on Earth to know the sun went Nova until we were dead. Since a telescope is still seeing light 8 minutes old the person looking through it would be dead when he saw it erupting. So when I thought about just looking into the future, it gave me a way to write it.

 

Speaking of faster than light, there's a bit of science theory that I'm using in my story.The concept of "quantum entanglement" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement) basically means that you can have two quantum particles in two arbitrary locations and because the two particles are entangled, any change in one is instantly reflected in the other. This is faster than light, because the change doesn't seem to "travel" but the change is simultaneous in both.

 

Now, current theory does not leave room for this being used for extremely complex communication. But of course, I'm writing science fiction...

 

Anyway, not that this has any application in your story, but if there were particles near the sun that were connected via quantum entanglement to other particles in a lab, and they could carry communication, that is one way to get "instant notice" of something faster than light would travel.

 

Orren

[thealtruismsociety]

The only problem with entanglement is that information is being sent faster than the speed of light. I didn't read that article but from memory wasn't there a problem with the two particles reflecting the EXACT change. I gotta look. But faster than light is so needed in Science Fiction. The distances in space are just too great for our meager life spans. I wonder if immortals would even have faster than light in their fiction.