TECH: And the beat goes on? Nanonotes #27?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 27 Nov 2010

Hi, ho. I have to admit, I feel very odd. This week has been rugged, what with funerals and the end of quarter classes, all mixed up with my sinuses playing all kinds of tricky fun on me. I mean, Monday evening, Mitsuko's friend called and told us that her father had died. Tuesday we drove a couple of hours, then attended the evening service. I had taken a sinus pill to help get through it all. Then we stayed at a hotel in the area, and on Wednesday went to the main service at noon. And ended up being invited to the family meal afterward, and even to help with the final ceremony at the crematorium. I spent the day drugged, again. And then Thursday, back at school, one of the last classes.

Friday, I pulled all the scattered nanowrimo files together, and dumped the result into the validator. Which promptly said "We have a WINNER!" But you know, even with the count over the target 50,000, it doesn't feel? well, I wish it was coherent. I have bits and pieces, scattered shards that might develop into a story, but nothing that I feel as if I even want to show anyone. So it was nice to realize that I could grind out the words at that rate, but? I really want a better frame, somehow, so that the words make a whole, instead of just being a pile?

Two oddities. First, Friday I actually thought I was still short of the total, but somehow didn't really feel like sitting down and grinding out another chunk. I sort of wanted to not finish? I've noticed this before, and it ties into my feeling of letdown at realizing that we've reached the end of another quarter at the school. I enjoy starting projects, I love chunking along doing some work every day (or week, or whatever), but finishing? I don't like to let go, I want to keep going. I actually put the full file together for nanowrimo partly to see just how much more I needed to do -- and was a little disappointed to realize that I had finished, at least as far as they were concerned.

Second is my impression today -- I have a list of scenes to work on, and other stuff, but I also have this feeling that I should just declare a holiday, and let it ride. Except I know better -- I promised myself yesterday that I was going to keep on trucking, try to keep grinding out the words, mostly because I really enjoy it. Maybe I'll grab the list of "little stories" that I've kind of put aside while I was grinding on the nanowrimo story and do one of those (busman's holiday, so to speak). Anyway, it's interesting that having reached the goal, I feel like stopping for a while.

Anyway, back to the old nanonotes. Over here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/147843.html I rambled about quotes from Bradbury, celebrating the madness of writing. And it does seem somewhat appropriate for the tail end of nanowrimo. Whether you are looking at a final burst of words to reach 50,000, have stopped struggling to reach that goal and are just enjoying the feeling of having tried, or even sat back and wondered why anyone would do this kind of thing, hey, you've got some insights into the fun of words. Grinding them out, laying them in place one carefully chosen word at a time, or just enjoying the re-visioning that every reader commits in collaboration with the writer? Hey, words are what writing is all about!

Tell you what. This time around, how about?
Imagine!

TECH: Nanonotes #28? The End is in SIGHT!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 28 Nov 2010

Hey, ho. Hope everyone is enjoying the tail end of Thanksgiving (turkey croquettes? Or turkey hash? We used to end up with some creative solutions to finishing up the leftovers about now?)

And, of course, the Nanowrimowers are running down to the wire, filling up their wordmills with just a few more revs of the keyboard, a dot and dash more to get those words up and over the goal? or perhaps sinking down into the realization that it isn't going to be 50K by midnight Tuesday, no matter what? But? at least you tried, right! And look how far you got, what you learned about setting yourself up to do it again, and what you figured out about that story that you never would have imagined without pushing for 50K in the Nanowrimo mills. Go ahead, take what you can from the month, and consider what you are going to tackle next!

Over here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/148059.html I rambled a bit about two different, but related possibilities. First is the notion of several approaches to exploration, to giving yourself a kick in the pants, that you might want to try. Pick a number from one to 14, then try out an approach to finding new ideas. Second is just a collection of six scruples, some moral dilemmas that might spark some thoughts of a story for you. Or a subplot, or a complication, or even a flashback or just a speculation? Something or the other. Pick a number from one to six, then take a look at which moral sticky wicket you have driven your random ball into, and?

Write, of course.

TECH: Starting Pewylwriti? The End of Nanowrimo...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 1 Dec 2010

Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, is over again. Celebrations for those who tried, whether they hit the 50K mark or not, are certainly in order. So give yourself a cheer!

And then, before losing track completely of that feeling of accomplishment, it must be time to prepare for pewylwriti! Pronounced pee-while-rye-tie, it stands for PErsonal WYL WRIting TIme. Personal writing time? Well, yes. Not organized at the national, state, or even small group level, just what you and I decide we want to do. Writing time? Sure, not a special month, just the continuing adventures of writing.

You might want to think about Heinlein's four step program for writing. Write, Finish what you write, Submit, and Keep it Going (my short summary).

Now, you get to decide what you write, but you need to write. That can include outlining, research, all that stuff, but mostly, it means putting words on paper. Figure out how much you want to do, probably on a weekly or something basis, and make a commitment to yourself to do it. Just like you did with nanowrimo! 1,667 words a day? How about 800 words a day? Whatever, you decide, but write.

You need to finish chunks -- short stories, poems, novels, whatever you are writing, finish it! Personally, I don't think Heinlein meant toss it out without revision, as some people suggest, but simply finish the job and let go of it. It's so easy to get tied up in making it perfect, and never ever let it go. So make up your mind to finish pieces, as well as you can, and then let go of them. Finish pieces. Again, make a commitment. A story a week, a novel in X months, or whatever. And finish that piece!

At which point, of course, you submit it. This is where the commercial side of writing bites, because response times are often long, but... Submit that piece. Find the right market, check the submission requirements and method, and send it off. (Psst! Then go back and write some more!)

Keep going? That applies to writing, finishing, and submitting. Especially to submitting -- there's a tendency to take those rejections too seriously, and decide to yank a piece off the market, or rewrite, or whatever. Don't. Just send it to the next market, and put the new pieces you've written while you were waiting out there, too. Keep going.

Okay? Set yourself up for pewylwriti!

There's a hand raised in the back? Yes, you have a question? Oh, WYL?

Aha, you're right, I did forget to explain that. It's very simple, though. What You Like -- wyl. So the entire phrase is personal, what you like, writing time. And you know, I think it is hard to handle because it isn't limited and defined like nanowrimo. Nobody says here's the goal -- 50K words in a month. You have to set your own goals and times. And no-one is going to hand you a certificate if you meet your goals, or even comment if you don't meet them. Although, to be fair, you'll know. And that's important -- so set your goals, and make a deal with yourself about meeting them. Then see what happens!

Write?