Wednesday, March 31, 2010

What a Quandry

I decided the other day that I was going to start typing up th 75+ pages I've hand written only to realize that I wrote quite a bit before the character revolt. Now I'm torn between correcting it as I go along typing or just typing it up and fixing it next draft. Gah! My characters are going to drive me insane. I love (most) of them dearly but I don't know if I can keep my head about me with these changes.

So I'm going to start with the stuff post-revolution and stress about the prior stuff after mu relaxing vacation next week... Maybe.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Just About Halfway

So as my original deadline is fast approaching I decided to take a look at where I stand. I have to say while I'm trucking along with what I've been doing at work, I am definitely far from being where I need to be. I printed out my original writings and put it into a 3-ring binder and it looked like I had done a lot (I did write 50k words, so I guess that is a lot). Then I placed upon myself a crazy ridiculous deadline. Now here I am, 3 days away from that and only about halfway through. At least that's how I felt a little earlier today. And then I realized...

I'm HALFWAY through!!!

Crazy, I know. I know that I've given myself another month in which to finish my first draft and that will come up faster than I would probably like. But for now I'm basking in the glory of HALFWAY. I struggle a lot with the "I should be further along/I can't believe how much I've done" inner monologue and it has been really hard for me. I took quite a few weeks off and I do wonder if I hadn't have taken that time would I be closer to finishing. I am 99% sure I would be but I don't think that I would be as happy with the product as I am now.

I like where the story is heading, I like what I've added, and I'm enjoying getting to know my characters better. Even if they don't like what I originally had planned for them. Writing this has become much more than just a learning experience on writing, it has become a lesson on me. I see so much of myself reflected in my words that it makes me proud that I have taken this on. And so what if it isn't "complete" by the time I turn 30. I wrote a novel, damn it! There are plenty of people who haven't, and a lot of them probably say that one day they will. Well, that one day has come for me.

I have set the goal of finishing by April 23 but I don't think I'm going to set it in stone. If my hiatus taught me anything it's that these little people I have running about in my head are the ones who are controlling the pace, not me. I wish I could give myself over freely to them and not have to work in the real world, but for now that's not an option. So I will listen to them when I can and I'll finish my draft in time to see it in print through the NaNo offer. And that is that!

Monday, March 15, 2010

This Is Mutiny!

So there has been a revolt. I was thinking (just thinking, no writing. My stuff was toi far away and I felt awful) about where my story was heading. You see my main male character (MMC for future reference) has decided there was not enough conflict in my writing. So Andrew has decided that he isn't going to like Vic, my female main character (FMC). And if that wasn't causing enough stress on my revision Andrew's girlfriend (soon to be ex) has decided she is not as dumb as I originally planned for her to be! This is not fair!

I've never been a fan of Kaitlyn (the ex/girlfriend) since the beginning. (And yes, it is very possible to hate your own creations) and I've been tempted to just write her out. She's is having none of that. Instead she decides that she is going to realize there is something different about Vic and threatens to expose her. Stupid Kaitlyn! I tried to tell her that I can't deal with her drama. I have enough on my hands with Andrew but do either of them listen? Of course not.

Oh and Marcus, the instigator of the climax, decided 2 chapters weren't enough for him so he showed up about 10 chapters before he was supposed to be here. I tried to tell him that he'll get his chance in the sequel but he's not having it.

Mutiny I tell you. Mutiny!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Revision or Rewrite?

I'm fully aware that this is supposed to be my journey of novel revision and so on but a random thought struck me as I was doing my hour writing session today at work. Cam it really be called revision if I'm basically writing each chapter as I go using what I wrote during NaNo as a guide?

Any author you talk to (or read blogs of) will tell you that it takes several revisions to get a finished product. Understandable. Right now I'm faced with the feeling that I'm just now writing my first draft working off an outline. There is so much cjaracter development and scene fleshing going on right now that its feeling like I'm writing this for the first time. A lot of things have changed in this first pass and I'm liking the direction that they are taking. My characters feel more real and their lives are becoming more realistic. Which is definitely a good thing. The more like people they become the more fun I'm having writing them. The last couple days of work have beem hard to cut off when I have to go back to my job.

I'm really glad I didn't allow anyone to read what I had "finished" at the end of November because they probably wouldn't recognize it after this pass is done. From here on out I'm considering my work now as my first draft and will keep trucking on!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

On Writing

So I finally took the advice of fellow NaNoers and picked up a book to read more about the craft of writing. And it's called "On Writing". Shocking, I know! But it came highly recommended so I thought what the heck. Plus, it's written by Stephen King, arguably one of the best writers of the modern era. I truly love his work. And this turned out to be no exception. He worked off of personal experience and there are some really great words of wisdom in there.

To say that it was inspirational wouldn't be saying enough. There are so many things in there that I related to and he made it seem not quite so difficult. He's straight forward without being in your face and I could take hours of creative writing classes to get what he teaches. I would recommend the book to any aspiring writer out there. Or to anyone who is a fan of Stephen King as it shows a different side of the horror writer.

I'm feeling more confident in what I'm writing and while I still have my reservations about the quality of my writing I know that I'm an adequate writer. And I'm on my way to being a good one. I have a long way to go to get to that point but I will get there.

I even finished Chapter 3 today at lunch. It's all hand-written but someday I'll translate it to Word. I'm just enjoying the connection I have with the pen and the page.

PS - I had actually written a post today at work but I accidentally hit a button on my phone and POOF it was gone. So my excitement on the writing has waned a bit, but it's still there!