Still way behind, thanks to spending the extra effort on Hunted. But the lines of where I am and where I should be are starting to converge... slowly.
Things I'm taking away from this year's nano:
- Practice is good. I think this goes without saying - the only way you get to be a better writer is by writing more.
- It takes time to "get into the groove". I already knew this from hours spent staring at the keyboard prevaricating, and doing anything, anything else instead (well almost anything: I didn't stoop to horrible things like ironing or hoovering, obviously).
- Once you're in the groove... don't stop! Obviously. See point 2.
- I am *not* a "discovery" writer. Unless discovery is all about meandering digressions about space toilets cos I can't think how to advance the plot (but hey, I did discover a floater, in the context of zero-G is *really* gross. Unfortunately for me, that was around dinner time!)
- There maybe a good novel in there somewhere, but this is not it. I'll keep bashing on, in the hope that I at least come up with a few good ideas that will be usable somewhere else, but I don't think this novel is destined even for the slush pile...
Writing group tonight. Should be fun :)
Till next time...
Some sound advice there, Tim.
ReplyDeleteI've been procrastinating lot myself recently, finding things that Must Be Done in order to avoid looking at that keyboard and screen (and that includes the hoovering!); the damned cursor keeps taunting me!
I must knuckle down.
Ah procrastination - an unrecognised art form. When swotting for my finals I found every split end in my hair and removed them one by one with nail scissors. Now THAT's how to waste time!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best motivations I found for getting the words flowing was what they called Word Wars and Sprints. You'd set a timer for anything from 15 minutes, 30, or an hour, and belt out as many words as possible, trying to beat your previous best. In the "wars" version, you're competing directly against someone else (most words wins...) Three half-hour sprints would easily see off a day's quota.
DeleteOf course, now I'm procrastinating the second draft of Hunted (I know, get on with it...)