Writing Update - April

Melissa:

So, as you probably noted, I changed the title of the posts.  From:  NaNoWriMo Re-Writes Update, To: Writing Update.  I hope Jackie doesn't mind.

It seems we are picking up so many different things as we go and noting more than just the NaNoWriMo projects.  And what a better way to track all we do, even our sidetracks... as I know I've been sidetracked. *sigh*

I've been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month.  I produced a little over 10k words in the first 9 days, yes I did take a few off.  I was excited!  And wasn't ready to let go of the story yet.... At 10k I knew I'd have another 10k to finish, at least.  Then I talked with Danni on Twitter and....decided another 15-20k to finish.  See, I was trying to keep this a *short* story, novella length.  And left a character out that could turn things at the end.  So, the question is Happy Ending?  Not so happy ending?  Does the main character *really* need a man to fall back on?  I was going to go with no.  But...seeing it feels like a romance, figured there should be a good man in her life.  So...now I need to go back and add this character in. *sigh*  It's all good though.  More words, more creating, more fun.

This story seems to be coming this way:  I had a "plan."  Okay, it was a rather rough plan, but a plan, to start with.  This guy was in it, but I wanted to keep the story shorter so left him out.  Well, it seems I do want him there, and have added him.  The writing comes in sections.  Strange really, for me anyway.  I think at one point I had three scenes going at once.  I started a scene, thought of something I wanted to mention so started another scene to come, and went back to the previous one.  On the days I wasn't writing, the brain was stuck on what I had wrote and added little things and hints to it.

It's definitely it's own process this round.  Toward the end there are some things that need to be added as I skipped a section where there is a great opportunity to shine with some steampunk ideas....but I need to come up with them yet. lol.  But I just couldn't wait to get to the end, and excitement thing.  I knew what was to happen and wanted to write it.  And I did.

Then!  I started a bar scene that I've had stuck in my head...376 words only and more to it than that, but that's what you get when doing it at work.

So...I also wrote an acknowledgement to people for a work I've done.  It's for one that no where near done, and may never be published, but I wanted to remember those how helped inspire.  Also...I might have wrote a bit about where the name of a character came from and why it means so much in the characters personality and what I based it off of.  I'm goofy! I swear! LOL!

What did I clock out at in words this month... lets say 30,052!  Outstanding, right!?  24,893 at the Main Camp Nano project.  3,218 at a separate short story.  1941 at another short story.

All these have lots to add.  The short stories are started and there for me to play with any time I need an escape.  That's what they are for, for me at this time.  One day, maybe I'll fine tune them and sell them to anthologies or something...who knows.

What did I learn this month... um, I'm not sure.  Haha...  Alright, I have to say what I learned is I can work through it.  The more I do, the more the mind roams and creates other things.  Everywhere I look now I see something I can question or create something from.  Is it a full novel?  No, but the mind has been open to different ideas.

Now, back to re-writes on previous and the new project created here.  Lots of work to do and create.  There are whole new leg of work to do with WIP 1, and lots to redo on WIP 2.

Jackie:

I love the new title of the post! Though, really, had Melissa asked me before changing it, my suggestion would have been more like "The Funk to End All Funks". Considering it was only me struck by this affliction, it would have been one sided though, so it stays as is :)

Really, I started the month with great plans. I figured 10k would be easy to achieve, especially considering my new line of thought for the main WIP that I planned to have completed. I even posited at one point that I might make the 25k mark with all the new stuff I wanted to add. Well, it turned out to be harder than I imagined.

Poor Melissa had to (virtually) listen to me whine about lack of time, regardless of how true it was, and the fact that nothing was coming out. I would rack up word counts of 80 or 376 in a day, versus the 1300 we would do on a normal November NaNo day. It was seriously pathetic. But Melissa kept encouraging me, so I plodded along, typing in whatever dismal additions that I could.

Late in the month, like say April 29th late? I had an idea. I started typing a silly line but it's one that always gets me going. It has something to do with a cartoon pooch that types out great works of mystery on top of his doghouse. This morphed into 5k by the end and added into the total for my main WIP and another short story I was working on, I finished the month at 10101 words (which apparently has no meaning in binary, I checked.)

So, as Melissa worked out a conclusion to what she learned last month, I'll add in my two cents also. First, I should always listen to Melissa; she knows what she's talking about :D Second, I am a world-class procrastinator and my own worst enemy. I will not get the word count out if I don't actually sit down in front of the computer and type. If I want to make something happen with my writing, I have to write.

This seems obvious, but let me tell you, screwing the pooch (and I mean this in the proverbial sense, not the rooftop typing pooch I referred to earlier) is a way easier thing to do than pouring your heart, soul, or imagination into something that someone may read down the road. It's intimidating to think about what you're doing under these terms but from the point I'm at to the point where a shiny new book would be placed into someone's hands is miles away. One step at a time, right?

Three, I was able to sufficiently stick to March's promise to bombard Melissa with my clichés and idioms, though I didn't do it on a daily basis. I did however, work hard to not include them in my writing, unless it was for the purpose of making fun of it, then that made it okay, lol.

I'm happy to say that coming into May, my new idea has taken more shape in my head and has worked itself into a fuller story, complete with a potential arc for a multi-book thing...wait, that's me getting ahead of myself again! Anyway, hope May is good to all of you and your word counts.