FILL: Nanowrimo? Little tiny wrimos? What?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

No, no, no. Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month. November! Just around the weekend.

So, for those heading into NaNoWriMo, let's consider. 50,000 words in November? That's 1,666 a day or do 2,000 a day to build up a backlog. Of course, you could look at it as 12,500 words per week for the next four weeks. Or maybe tackle it as four weeks of five weekdays at 2,000 words per day, with just 2,500 to do over the weekend? Or if your weekdays are busy, try doing just 1,000 each weekday, and then polish off 7,500 over the weekend. Maybe 4,000 a day? Or 5,000 Saturday and 2,500 on Sunday?

Looking at the calendar, this is a good November. It has five weekends! So you can get a jump on things, starting with the first weekend. That will help when someone drags you out for turkey and stuffing and all that. Remember, Thanksgiving! So put some slack in the schedule and build up a reserve early.

The main point, of course, is to sit down and grind out those words. Hum-I think I saw a quote that fits here.

Yep. From Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg, under First Thoughts. She's talking about writing practice, and suggests timed exercise. And for that time, you should:

1. Keep your hand moving. Don't pause to reread
2. Don't cross out. Don't edit as you write
3. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar.
4. Lose control.
5. Don't think. Don't get logical.
6. Go for the jugular. If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it.

Forward momentum. Keep writing. Next month or next year you can come back and clean it up, go back and do the revisions, make all the changes you want. But for one month, just let the words flow.

And you may be surprised at what comes out.

So what'll it be? 2,000 words a day? You can do it.

tink
(318 words? 1,700 more to go...)
Keep those words a'rolling, rawhide?

TECH: GMC for Nanowrimo?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

[General Motors Car? What?]

A few days ago, someone on another list mentioned being a pantser. Since I hadn't heard the term in a while, I went ahead and looked up "plotter pantser" on Google. Plotters are the people who pre-plan their work -- outlines and so forth. Pantsers write by the seat-of-their-pants. Not that everyone buys these, nor does everyone fit completely into one or the other side, but generally, there are those who work it out largely in abstract form ahead of time and then write almost mechanically and those who are improvising as they write, boldly forging ahead.

But I don't really want to get into the discussion about which approach is better. Plotters and pantsers have pros and cons, and most of us will try both roads at different times and find out which one seems to work best for us. However, in the various links, I glanced at this one http://www.hodrw.com/ppii.htm and happened to get caught on an acronym. GMC charts? What are they talking about?

A bit of poking around revealed that Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts have been reduced to an acronym. Where is the character headed? Why do they want to get there? And what problems crop up to block them from just doing it?

So, for the nanowrimowers, let me suggest -- even while grinding out the daily quota, take time to think about your characters. What are their GMCs? Then bang them into each other, and let the words flow.

tink
[counting down to November . . .]

TECH: Nanowrimo Notes #1: Get Those Words UP!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Get those words up!

Five quick suggestions to help add more words to your nanowrimo efforts.

1. Words for the setting! Take a moment and think about what's around your characters. At least put a broad sketch in, and if you want to spend some words on details, do it. You've got 50,000 or more words to play with, don't hold back. Take a look at magazine pictures, mental images, or some other visual and then write it into your story. Put your characters in a setting, and tell us about the tree standing there with green leaves like three improbable scoops of pistachio ice cream dangling in midair.

2. While you're at it, run through the other senses of your characters, too. Is it hot or cold? Do they smell something? Are there sounds from the trucks on the highway outside the bar? What about that TV mumbling CNN headlines? If they're drinking or eating, or even chewing gum, you might have some tastes. And you definitely have stiff legs and sore backs from hunching over that table talking to each other face-to-face? Keep mixing in the senses, and adding to the word count.

3. Fill in those flashbacks! Don't just say he remembered learning that in school. Go back and show us his third-grade teacher slashing at the blackboard, dropping the chalk in a puff of dust, and brushing her hands together as she turned to glare at the class. And then she called on him, and he stood up, and stuck his hands in his pockets, and... he couldn't remember the answer. But Peggy Sue hissed behind him, "It's four." And he suddenly knew just what to say.

4. Make your little characters real. Don't just have the doorman opened the door. Make it the doorman, dressed in a color-coordinated uniform suited to an imaginary servant from 100 years or more in the past, doffed his hat with one hand and reached toward the door handle with his other white-gloved hand. He gently pulled the heavy door open, bowing slightly as they walked in. Or maybe you can have the waitress do a bit of gum-popping and joking while taking the orders? Whatever, add one or two details to help your bit players stand out -- and add a few more words to the stack.

5. Reactions. As your characters stumble, fail, learn about the new complications, run into more resistance, and otherwise find out just what kind of problems they are running into, they react. Inner monologue, dialogue, maybe even journal entries -- one way or another, let your characters explore their feelings. Let them rant! Let them interpret the situation for themself, weighing the costs, thinking it through, considering what all of the alternatives are - and making their decisions. Those inner thoughts are part of what makes us feel as if we know the characters -- and add yet a few more words to the stacks.

Settings, senses, flashbacks, little characters, and interior revelations?
Make those words rumble!
tink
(about 500 words, but who's counting?)