NaNoWriMo – Week 1

It’s Day 2 and already I’m feeling some doubt. The word count for Day 1 came out at just over 2800 (go me!), but this morning I made the fatal mistake of re-reading it. Hoo boy…. in came the Inner Critic just SCREAMING for a chance to edit.

Which is, of course, the point. NaNoWriMo – I’m told – is about quantity, not quality. It’s a way to get the Inner Critic to shut up for a while and just let the words flow, no matter how rubbish. And just as water standing in the pipes too long starts out brown and gritty, my first words on a new project can be particularly rubbish. And I KNOW this about how my process works. So why don’t I remember until after I’ve gone through this inner debate?

Never mind. Today was a blissful mix of catching up with a long-time-no-see girlfriend, and vegging out on the couch with the lovely hubby. Tonight I’m back on the horse and by this time tomorrow, I’ll have the daily average word count right back on track.

Because I’m not re-reading any more. No way, no how.

I’ve done my planning. I have my scene lists. I know what the next scene is about; and the one after that; and the one after that. If there are inconsistencies or minor plot holes, they’ll get fixed AFTER November. My Inner Critic can knock itself out then. For now, I’m sending it to its room for a nap.

Which reminds me, I forgot to introduce the cat in scene 2.

Darn. Must make a note…

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

It’s less than a week to my very first NaNoWriMo and I’m a typical virgin: excited, eager, terrified and wondering what my friends will say.

It’s a great concept. Participants have exactly 30 days through the month of November to write a 50,000 word novel. The huge online community offers a myriad wonderful distractions: blogs, fora, Twitter, Facebook, etc.  So many procrastinations, so little time.

With its short timeframe, NaNoWriMo is an ideal way to try new things. First, I’m tackling a genre I’ve never tried, although I have used elements of it in other works. “New Leaf” will be a sexy thriller romance with no speculative fiction elements. Although having said that, I can already feel paranormal elements scratching at the door.

Secondly, I’m doing more planning than I normally would. My first novel, “Kindred Spirits” went through major restructures and re-drafts; there has to be a better way. I thought I was a pantser, but perhaps I need a better GPS to keep me on track. I’m trying out the Snowflake Method as described by Randy Ingermanson, and I’m finding the process more valuable than I’d imagined. Characters are already becoming interesting and complex, making story demands I’d not anticipated.

Most of the actual writing will be done by hand, since the only other practical option for me right now is MacSpeech Dictate voice recognition. We are still learning to love each other – sometimes it turns into a sulky teenager and simply refuses to listen, and on those occasions I send it to its room to think about its behaviour, then we try again later.

I aim to blog regularly throughout the process, imagining that my hordes of readers are spurring me on to the heights of fabulous word count and great story. Right now, I’m off to find out more about Vanessa, Anthony and Bradford. Wonder what they’ve been up to overnight …

ABC Challenge

Thanks to Merrilee Faber over at Not Enough Words and Anna at Quills and Zebras for a fun word challenge!

The rules are this: write a story that is 26 sentences long. The first sentence must start with the letter ‘A’, and every following sentence begins with the subsequent letter of the alphabet, ending with ‘Z’. Easy, right?  Sure…

Here is my crack at it. Let me know what you think.

(Warning – may contain a swear word…)

** Update! Ruzkin over at Scribbles & Dreams is in on the game too!

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All along the seafront they came.

Bevies of them slid through the waves, flopping themselves up onto the darkended shoreline. Charlie wasn’t sure whether to run away, take photos or try and capture one. Digging cold fingers into the sand, he rolled out of the way just as a huge specimen crashed onto the spot he’d been lying.

Elephant seal, he thought, but he couldn’t be sure in the dark – he just knew it was black and shiny.

“Fuck me! Get away, ye big blubbery bastard!” He didn’t wait any longer. In a few minute more, the beach would be overrun with the damn thing. Just one was large enough to crush a man. Kneeling up for a better look, he realised he’d made his decision. Leaving, and leaving NOW, was his only option.

Moonlight greyed the eastern sky, and at last he could make out a path through the dark shapes. Not enough light yet to make out what they were, he thought with a shudder, but enough to get away. One cautious step at a time he crept towards freedom, but a hole in the sand tripped him and his camera felll out of his hand and bounced off the flank of the nearest leviathan.

Photography forgotten, he fled. Quick as thought, he bolted through the patchwork of dark and light. Running at full pelt, he didn’t see the tentacle keeping pace, slithering along beside him.

“Stop!”

Turning to see the source of the voice, he tripped again, sprawling full length on his belly. Underneath him the tentacle wriggled, then erupted out of the sand, rolling him onto his back.

Venturing one terrified glance upwards, Charlie was stunned to see his camera, still intact, held out to him in the delicate webbing of a second tentacle.

Warily he reached out and took the dangling strap in one hand. Xanthous spots shimmered yellowy-green along the gleaming black flesh.

“Yours, I think,” said the voice, a strange blubbery kind of sound.

Zoology definitely didn’t prepare him for this.

It’s DONE!

Is it just me? Or has 2009 been crazy time for everyone else too? Someone told me yesterday it’s 12 weeks to Christmas, which brought on an attack of end-of-year contemplations.

I don’t indulge in New Year resolutions. But I generally do a kind of end-of-year roundup of what-I’ve-learned and what-do-I-want-more-of. I shan’t impose that on you, gentle reader, but I can’t help reflect on what a weird year it’s been.

And in amongst all the craziness, I have FINALLY complete the manuscript for Kindred Spirit and it has been forwarded to Bernadette Foley at Orbit Books Australia for consideration. You may remember it was one of the works picked up for the inaugural QWC/Orbit Manuscript Development Program in 2008. Clearly, it needed more development than most!

Now I have a new Work In Progress. Working title is Starstruck, but that will change once I think of something better…  ;-)

Short and sweet

OK, so blogging became a major drain and heavy energy because it was A-A-A-ALL about being SERIOUS…   ACK!!

Meanwhile I fell in love with Twitter – 140 characters, what’s not to love? So now I’m back to the blog in the new short form.

Quick update – arm injury still present; finally taking 4 weeks off work away from keyboard; home computer time is all one-handed..  another reason for keeping it short!  Do have voice recognition software (thanks J-A) but still miss my fast typing.

Anyone have suggestions for rapid healing of tennis elbow??  

self-sabotage 101…

please excuse this week’s entry w/out caps.

brilliant lesson about self-care – did a task for work that i THOUGHT i had to do because nobody else would (oh my, can you smell the stench of burning human flesh??? – but i digress…)

anywho, that choice resulted in an rsi type injury and now i have to keep keyboarding to short bursts or not at all (hence the 1-handed blog)

which means this weekend’s intensive edit is not going to happen.

aaargh!

wow, that is one way to finally, once and for all, get the message to JUST SAY NO!!!

Anyone game for Dr Wicked?

Just stumbled across Dr Wicked’s Write or Die page – how cute! Pick how long you want to write for, start typing and if you stop SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS! You can set the level of horribleness and you can pause ONCE during the attempt.

Haven’t tried it myself yet as it’s time for bed and I have a sore arm (ooh I’m good at the excuses…). It’s one to check out over the weekend or next time I get completely stuck. Wahay!

Total immersion

I’m feeling the need to immerse myself in SF so have just signed up for TWO events which are serendipitously cheek-by-jowl on the last weekend of March.

A few weeks ago, I submitted to go into the Vic Writers’ Centre “Year of Speculative Fiction” program with Lucy Sussex. Now feeling quite clever about this, BTW, since several people subsequently emailed me to suggest it, haha! Best of all, I’ve submitted a new novel, so it’s a FABULOUS incentive to get the current one wrapped up by my intended deadline of 9 March (yes, I know, just over a week to go, so what am I doing spending time blogging?) First session is on 28 March.

Have also just now booked in for the world-building workshop at Supernova with Jennifer Fallon and Sonny Whitelaw, and that’s on 29 March! Chose the option that includes an ms assessment of 1000 words within 30 days of the workshop – can you see where I”m going with this? Cunning plan to get as much expert critiquing as possible nice and EARLY so this one doesn’t take <ahem> years to write. 

Talk about an immersive weekend, floating on a sea of creativity … bliss.  I hope to catch up with the excellent Marianne de Pierres as well, probably have to wade through scads of other adoring fans   

So it’s back to Kindred Spirit for now. The chisels, planes and sandpaper are all put away and I’m now buffing with the polishing cloth. Bits are lovely and shiny, others are still stubbornly matt but the gleam lurks underneath. Thanks to J-A and F who have kindly agreed to do a final read for me.

Onward and upward!

Ozcars

So, what did everyone think of the Oscars this year? 

Loved Hugh Jackman, loved the return to a more intimate, relaxed, approach – size, as I’ve said on this blog before, is not everything! – and LOVED the way all the acting nominees got a personal affirmation from a previous winner. How great to have that peer recognition!

But it got me thinking about the concept of competition and prizes as a mark of validation. Does the winning of a prize make someone a better artist? Is it necessary to have that validation to feel good about oneself?  How do we, as viewers of competitions, feed into that energy?  Do we value people because of what they win?

I don’t follow sports but I do barrack for friends who are shortlisted for literary prizes, get a thrill when Aussies win Oscars, watch the occasional equestrian event. And in some environments I can be intensely competitive – just watch me in a computer class; pick the geek not wanting to show her age…

But of course, when we stand out of the way enough to let the truly amazing and brilliant through, it’s not really coming from us at all. The value we bring to the things we do comes from two things: our capacity to get our egos out of the way so great ideas can come through; and our willingness to put in whatever’s needed to polish the gem so it sparkles.

Perhaps competition is simply a recognition of that capacity to stand aside; and the commitment to the work. And I can live with that. 

Thought I still don’t get football and cricket

Book progress

Right, time to report in for all the Orbiteers and anyone else who is keeping track. Love you for keeping me motivated!

Kindred Spirit is making steady progress at last. Chapter One has been almost entirely rewritten, to up the adrenaline and intrigue. Act 2 has been tightened and expanded where needed. And I’ve found more ways to confuse and torture my heroine (yes!)

Word count is now 74,500 approx, with another 5,000 still to be written, possibly more.  I’m battling a flaky internet connection which is highly irritating for those moments where I need to do quick research. For instance, when Triss is given her lost father’s ring – what stone would have the most appropriate significance? (Currently I’m deciding between carnelian – action; and bloodstone – courage)

I’m going public now to declare I will have this draft completed by 9th March, the day before my parents come to visit for 2 weeks.  Wow, it’s unnerving to have an actual deadline.