Midway NaNoWriMo

How has NaNo gone? We’re at about the halfway point and I’m at about 15,000 words, 10,000 short. It took me a while to get out of the gate, but I had a big day yesterday and posted 2700.

A writing style problem/obsession for me is getting that first chapter or two just right. Not just the storyline and character arc set-up. The voice has to feel right. It took a couple of versions until I found what works and now that is carrying me through. One of the NaNoWriMo pep talk emails talked about the mid-NaNo blues in which the excitement of a new story has worn off and the “the end” is too far off. The author said that if you fall behind the daily word goals, it’s easy to make up with a big day or two. Seems she said 10,000 words big day with 3000 words here and 3500 words there throughout the day. Whatever.

Outlining continues to be instrumental. At each chapter’s start, I chart out what needs to happen. I can even project ahead and add scenes for a chapter or two down the road.

Another thing that hit me was a free write. Ann Cannon at WIFYR likes the free write idea and has pushed it. I don’t really have a set agenda, like asking how would your mc react if such and such were cast in his direction, as Ann would do. I start typing something like how I think the story is going and what it needs. It is ten minutes of non-story writing, but it seems to loosen the juices for actual writing time. I’ve done it for a few days and have gone a day or two without.

And breaks are important. I’ve managed three or more writing hours the last few days. I can’t sit in one place for too long, so I pull the laptop and the lap to various couches and chairs and whatnot around the room. Got a timer on the phone that goes off every hour (actually set for 1 hour and 1 minute) at which I pick up and change positions. I try to give myself five minutes or so. I pace around the place, bug the dogs because I need a diversion, or get something to drink.

Whatever works for you, hope it is working. Happy NaNo-ing.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Revision

I was in Ann Cannon’s WIFYR workshop last month. She offered plenty of advice on the craft and among the gems, she shared how she revises a novel.

The first thing she does is print out a copy of the story. She puts it in a three-ring binder then celebrates that she has a book. Good in and of itself. We need to pat ourselves on the back whenever we can.

At this point, she puts it away for a few weeks. This is so when she returns to it, she comes back at it with fresh eyes.

Next – and this is important - she checks into a motel for a day or two just to read the story. Got to get away from the day-to-day interruptions – family, friends, the garden, chores – half finished chores, chores not started, etc.

In the motel, armed with colored sticky notes, Ann reads the book several times through. She has a different purpose with each pass over. She reads looking at plot, to see if the story makes sense. Are there gaps in logic? Is it is moving forward in a logical manner? Does one chapter lead to the next? Do readers want to find out what happens next? At WIFYR, Ann spoke of grounding the characters in the space/time continuum, which she looks at her initial reading as well.

With a different colored sticky, Ann reads again, concentrating on her characters, asking questions as she goes. How soon do readers learn names, age, and gender of the main characters? Do we know what they want and have a sense of what is preventing them? She looks at the minor characters. Are they distinct in name and personality? Do you have too many of them and if so, can you combine them into fewer? For major and minor characters, are their motivations consistent and realistic? Do they have purpose other than to just to move the plot?

Another reading and Ann looks at setting. Does she have enough physical description to give a sense of place? Does she maximize setting to create mood or to tell about the characters. Has she engaged the readers’ senses?

Then Ann reads just for language, to insure clarity of meaning and intention with a rule of thumb: precision first, flowery words second. Is she saying things the best way possible? Has she avoided passive language?

Great advice. Wish I had followed it. I have been 99.9 % finished with a project the four months. I’m tired of it and want to get it into publishers’ hands soon. I did not shelve it for weeks. I didn’t do the different colored stickies, nor read it several times. Probably should have checked into a motel for a few days, too. There’s way too many things going on that interrupt the flow of analyzing a story.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com )

We're writing a book...

There were so many wonderful things going on at WIFYR. Ann Cannon’s workshop certainly ranked high for those of us in attendance.

The morning workshops are the heart of WIFYR. Carol Williams pulls in ten superb faculty members who run morning sessions. Each manages their groups differently, but the major focus is critique of participants’ work. Not only does this help improve your own story, learning to critique makes you a better writer.

Our group was particularly amazing. Time together, four hours a day, five mornings a week, creates a special bond. Ann guided our crew by encouraging honest yet positive critique. Each of us shared twenty pages and was afforded an hour or more of attention solely to our own stories. We first had to mention authors or books that inspired us, or whose style we want to imitate. Ann let workshop members share their thoughts first, and then finished with comments of her own. The opinions and open discussion of several writers gives the author a variety of options for improving their story.

I liked the routine Ann established for us. We began the day with a free write. She would put a noun, such as bicycle or dog and we wrote about it. Next came a recap of the day prior. We shared thoughts that struck us from the afternoon sessions of Martine Leavitt, J Scott Savage, or the agents and others.

Before we moved onto critiques, Ann shared some of her craft secrets. The WIFYR word was to torture your characters and Ann agreed. She suggested brainstorming obstacles for them to overcome and told us to make the situation helpless for them. Keep the characters grounded in the space/time continuum so that the reader knows when and where the action occurs. I like what she does once she’s finished the first draft. Ann prints the whole thing out, puts it in a 3-ring binder, and celebrates that she has a book. You may choose to put it away for a few weeks so that you return to it with fresh eyes. When she’s ready to revise, she rereads the whole thing, several times, armed with sticky notes. She reads it looking to insure her characters are grounded, that it makes sense. She notes on a different colored sticky when she reads for plot, and then again for character, and language clarity. Then she takes the stickies and writes herself an editorial letter, the same kind an agent would send pointing out the flaws in the manuscript. She prints it and puts it in the front of the 3-ring binder and checks the things off as she addresses them.

Perhaps the most trivial, yet notable thing she suggested was a daily affirmation of ourselves as writers. This evoked memories of Stuart Smalley’s “I’m good enough; I’m smart enough; and doggone it, people like me” from Saturday Night Live. But the idea is good. The mantra for the week she gave us: “We’re writing a book that someone will want to read.”

Thanks, Ann. We learned a lot.