Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my new blog: The Zen of Murder (Writing, that is….)! I’m really excited about the upcoming National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) contest I’ve entered. More information can be found at NaNoWriMo.org (I’m Mystery Cat). I have the entire month of November to write a 50,000 word novel. Thirty days! It doesn’t have to be ‘good’, and it’s obviously not going to be a polished work of literature at the end of thirty days, but the point is to complete a first draft of a novel. So….what do I win when I’ve finished? Not a darn thing but bragging rights LOL. I reminded my gal pal Debe (another writer who got me off my duff after years of ‘silent pen syndrome’) of the competition and now she’s signed up also. There is another mutual friend, Carol, who will hopefully join us. Carol, like Debe, is an incredibly talented woman on many fronts.
So, what did I do this weekend writing-wise to nourish my soul? Well, actually nothing but so much! Oh, I wrote quite a bit but it was more to allow my brain to function next month. OK, I’ll back up and ‘splain’ what I meant.
This contest will be mentally grueling. If you put this feat into any perspective, you’ll realize that 50,000 words, and 30 days in a month minus at least one day to turkey, leaves 29 days in which I have to average 1,724.1379 words per day. Let’s just call it 1,725 because that’s much easier to type. So, on my really productive days right now I’m good for between 500-800 good words before my brain just shuts down: good meaning words that have been edited a bazillion times before I close down my computer. I’m going to have to put forth twice as much work for twice as many words every day except Thanksgiving. Somewhere in there, I have to work from 8-5 each day (no writing at work), occasionally eat which means grocery shopping, do laundry (so I’ll have clothes to wear to work), pay bills, go to meetings, and – well, you get the picture. I might as well not have a TV for November because I won’t have time to watch it and I don’t have a DVD-R thing to record any shows. I just checked the word count: 390.
Hmmm, so what does this have to do with writing a first draft? Well, I won’t have time to sit and ponder plot lines and the quirky mannerisms that make a character unique. Nor will I have time to research locale to find the nuggets that make a place interesting and ring historically true when I describe it. I won’t have the luxury of time to wallow in writer’s block (remember 1,725 words per day on average whether I’m sick, hungry, sleepy, or just plain don’t feel like writing a darn word on that particular day).
In other words, I have to be…dun dun dun ~ organized.
In the magazine or newspaper world, this paragraph would be a sidebar: Look at the font used to type the word ‘organized’, compare the word to my personality. I immediately hear some comedian holding a mic right up to his mouth and saying ‘organized’ like Gollum says ‘Precious’ in Lord of the Rings. Organized is an anathema to someone like myself, someone who likes to fly by the seat of her sweats (those or really ratty flannel pj’s are my writer’s uniform).
Back to the main page, so to speak. So, in order to get myself organized, I created a story board. It helps me outline my story structure so I know who’s going to do or say what and when. I’m using a science project board (come on, you remember those tri-fold poster boards that you pasted cut out magazine pictures of the planets on hoping for a better grade) divided into sections to keep me on track. Into each section, I put index cards explaining the actions of each character and also I keep notes like “explain why he had a knife” as a reminder to flush out certain aspects. Word count now is: 694.
Almost three times this much writing and I’ll be at my minimum for the day.
Where was I? Oh yes, staying organized. See what I mean? I went off track with the word count and almost lost where I was in this story. This is what I cannot allow to happen while I’m working on my NaNoWriMo novel. I have to use this last bit of time before 1 November to have my story fully outlined, know who my characters are, who the bad guy is and how and why the bad guy kills a character (I’m writing a murder mystery), how and when the hero and his girl fall in love, how the mystery gets resolved and everyone lives HEA (happily ever after). I also have to know the location of where the story takes place, what each person’s home looks like, the weather for that time of year (can’t talk about flowers in April if they don’t bloom until May or June there) and any other little goodies I can add to bring something special about a location to the page.
Somehow, I can’t see myself writing a novel in the short time I have to write each evening without having all the information previously mentioned readily available.
To further explain my original answer (nothing but so much) it was all brain activity that will lead to soul-nourishing at midnight, November 30th – when I will be finished with the first draft of “School of Hard Rocks.” Right now that’s my working title so I don’t give away any secrets.
OK – I’ve written enough for now. Wonder what my word count is? Ahhh, 969 words, over halfway through my daily minimum and while I could go on, and on, and on just for the sake of word count, that’s too much like spearing fish in a barrel. Who does that anyway?
So, my friends, I ask that you send me coupons for Lean Cuisines and by all means, please bring me dark chocolate and tons of decaf coffee.
But most of all, I ask for your support and best wishes. For my close friends who live nearby, I ask for your understanding when you don’t see much of me for the month of November. You know where I’ll be: in my apartment, sitting in front of a really old monitor that flickers from yellow to white as the background color can’t decide if it wants to stay or just give up the ghost all together, pounding away at my mystery and smiling because I can actually write instead of trying to figure out where to go next in my story. On reflection, I’m changing my previous font on the word ‘organized’ to:
Organized.
Doesn’t that look so much better? It certainly makes me feel better knowing that it’s done AND I have time to revise should I have any more ‘brilliant insights’ in the middle of the night! Friends, check out your writer friend’s home. We have notebooks everywhere just in case we are inspired and HAVE to get down this one thought before it goes away.
This word count checking is getting just a tad obsessive ….I’m just going to write, from now on, and not even peek and the numbers – at least not too often. Final word count on this piece is>>>> DRUM ROLL 1,253.
Welcome to my new blog: The Zen of Murder (Writing, that is….)! I’m really excited about the upcoming National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) contest I’ve entered. More information can be found at NaNoWriMo.org (I’m Mystery Cat). I have the entire month of November to write a 50,000 word novel. Thirty days! It doesn’t have to be ‘good’, and it’s obviously not going to be a polished work of literature at the end of thirty days, but the point is to complete a first draft of a novel. So….what do I win when I’ve finished? Not a darn thing but bragging rights LOL. I reminded my gal pal Debe (another writer who got me off my duff after years of ‘silent pen syndrome’) of the competition and now she’s signed up also. There is another mutual friend, Carol, who will hopefully join us. Carol, like Debe, is an incredibly talented woman on many fronts.
So, what did I do this weekend writing-wise to nourish my soul? Well, actually nothing but so much! Oh, I wrote quite a bit but it was more to allow my brain to function next month. OK, I’ll back up and ‘splain’ what I meant.
This contest will be mentally grueling. If you put this feat into any perspective, you’ll realize that 50,000 words, and 30 days in a month minus at least one day to turkey, leaves 29 days in which I have to average 1,724.1379 words per day. Let’s just call it 1,725 because that’s much easier to type. So, on my really productive days right now I’m good for between 500-800 good words before my brain just shuts down: good meaning words that have been edited a bazillion times before I close down my computer. I’m going to have to put forth twice as much work for twice as many words every day except Thanksgiving. Somewhere in there, I have to work from 8-5 each day (no writing at work), occasionally eat which means grocery shopping, do laundry (so I’ll have clothes to wear to work), pay bills, go to meetings, and – well, you get the picture. I might as well not have a TV for November because I won’t have time to watch it and I don’t have a DVD-R thing to record any shows. I just checked the word count: 390.
Hmmm, so what does this have to do with writing a first draft? Well, I won’t have time to sit and ponder plot lines and the quirky mannerisms that make a character unique. Nor will I have time to research locale to find the nuggets that make a place interesting and ring historically true when I describe it. I won’t have the luxury of time to wallow in writer’s block (remember 1,725 words per day on average whether I’m sick, hungry, sleepy, or just plain don’t feel like writing a darn word on that particular day).
In other words, I have to be…dun dun dun ~ organized.
In the magazine or newspaper world, this paragraph would be a sidebar: Look at the font used to type the word ‘organized’, compare the word to my personality. I immediately hear some comedian holding a mic right up to his mouth and saying ‘organized’ like Gollum says ‘Precious’ in Lord of the Rings. Organized is an anathema to someone like myself, someone who likes to fly by the seat of her sweats (those or really ratty flannel pj’s are my writer’s uniform).
Back to the main page, so to speak. So, in order to get myself organized, I created a story board. It helps me outline my story structure so I know who’s going to do or say what and when. I’m using a science project board (come on, you remember those tri-fold poster boards that you pasted cut out magazine pictures of the planets on hoping for a better grade) divided into sections to keep me on track. Into each section, I put index cards explaining the actions of each character and also I keep notes like “explain why he had a knife” as a reminder to flush out certain aspects. Word count now is: 694.
Almost three times this much writing and I’ll be at my minimum for the day.
Where was I? Oh yes, staying organized. See what I mean? I went off track with the word count and almost lost where I was in this story. This is what I cannot allow to happen while I’m working on my NaNoWriMo novel. I have to use this last bit of time before 1 November to have my story fully outlined, know who my characters are, who the bad guy is and how and why the bad guy kills a character (I’m writing a murder mystery), how and when the hero and his girl fall in love, how the mystery gets resolved and everyone lives HEA (happily ever after). I also have to know the location of where the story takes place, what each person’s home looks like, the weather for that time of year (can’t talk about flowers in April if they don’t bloom until May or June there) and any other little goodies I can add to bring something special about a location to the page.
Somehow, I can’t see myself writing a novel in the short time I have to write each evening without having all the information previously mentioned readily available.
To further explain my original answer (nothing but so much) it was all brain activity that will lead to soul-nourishing at midnight, November 30th – when I will be finished with the first draft of “School of Hard Rocks.” Right now that’s my working title so I don’t give away any secrets.
OK – I’ve written enough for now. Wonder what my word count is? Ahhh, 969 words, over halfway through my daily minimum and while I could go on, and on, and on just for the sake of word count, that’s too much like spearing fish in a barrel. Who does that anyway?
So, my friends, I ask that you send me coupons for Lean Cuisines and by all means, please bring me dark chocolate and tons of decaf coffee.
But most of all, I ask for your support and best wishes. For my close friends who live nearby, I ask for your understanding when you don’t see much of me for the month of November. You know where I’ll be: in my apartment, sitting in front of a really old monitor that flickers from yellow to white as the background color can’t decide if it wants to stay or just give up the ghost all together, pounding away at my mystery and smiling because I can actually write instead of trying to figure out where to go next in my story. On reflection, I’m changing my previous font on the word ‘organized’ to:
Organized.
Doesn’t that look so much better? It certainly makes me feel better knowing that it’s done AND I have time to revise should I have any more ‘brilliant insights’ in the middle of the night! Friends, check out your writer friend’s home. We have notebooks everywhere just in case we are inspired and HAVE to get down this one thought before it goes away.
This word count checking is getting just a tad obsessive ….I’m just going to write, from now on, and not even peek and the numbers – at least not too often. Final word count on this piece is>>>> DRUM ROLL 1,253.
Sorry, but the Jokerman font for the first use of 'organized' and the Lucida Calligraphy font used for the second use of 'organized did not carry over when I copied my Word document and pasted it into my blog. Anyone know how to do that????
Great! You're ready to go. Don't get hung up on details...so what if the flower you choose doesn't bloom till May and the story is in April...you'll fix it later...writing about those flowers could add an additional 25-30 words!!! Go Cathy, go Cathy! I look forward to meeting the challenge with you.
ReplyDeleteFor dedicated enthusiasts, Coveted serves as an essential resource. The daring Rolex Explorer II is ideal for those who seek adventure. On the other hand, the refined Cartier Tank Must is a sophisticated selection for upscale events. The sturdy Panerai Luminor Marina seamlessly combines aesthetics with practicality. Lastly, the exceptionally thin profile of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo epitomizes contemporary minimalism.
ReplyDelete