NANOWRIMO: Keep on keeping on!
Oct. 3rd, 2018 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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writercises Original posting Nov. 3, 2017
That’s really the rallying cry, I think, of Nanowrimo. Just like most marathons (does anyone do dance marathons anymore? I’ve seen them in movies, at least), the question isn’t really so much getting started, or how beautifully you run or dance, but simply keeping going. One word after another, one step after another, keep on trucking, keep those words coming! And, in a little while, badda boom badda bim, you will have a big pile of words. Yes, some of them may not be wonderful, some of them may in fact badly need trimming or discarding, and revision is a wonderful thing, but... learning that you too can crunch out the words, keep them coming, and keep it going for a month... that’s a big thing!
So, here we are, 3 days in, probably somewhere around 6,000 words more or less depending on whether you got excited and forged ahead (Yay! As those down south are reputed to say, good on you!) or you might be a bit lower with perhaps a plan to push on over the weekend or later. But you may also be feeling some quivers from that old inner editor urging you to go back and do some revision, just a little rewriting, some clean up. Resist that urge! Make notes if you want about that new idea, the cleanup that you thought of, or whatever, but keep on moving forward! Revision comes later. Right now we are in production mode, full speed ahead, damn the errors, just keep writing and fix it later!
Still crunching away? Great. But you might consider the basic building block of the Lester Dent Plot. Really pretty simple. Start by heaping trouble on the hero. Let him struggle with it, leading up to a physical conflict. Then bring in a plot twist, something intriguing to keep the reader going. Trouble, struggle, and the ever popular yes-but or no-and. What are those? Yes-but means the hero succeeds, BUT that very success leads to a new and bigger problem. No-and? The hero fails, falls flat on his face, AND in failing, finds out that things are worse than before! That’s right, no matter how the hero struggles, things get more complicated or worse. Poor hero! But that’s what readers love, is that continuing struggle despite the continuing addition of new problems and worsening conditions.
So are you enjoying churning out the words? Finding it relaxing, thinking about how these characters face their problems, stand up and try to achieve great things, dream the impossible dream... outstanding! Just keep on keeping on, and before long, well, there will be enough words to make the story ring, and plenty to work on when you do turn back and start revising. And just think, you’ll know who these people are, where they are, what they are doing, and all that! Why? Because you pushed ahead and wrote, wrote, wrote until the story started to make sense, and you could see what was going on. Even though there were times when you thought it was going to turn into so much random hash, when you get far enough, you’ll look back and say, “Yes! Now I see it.” I mean, we all talk about how great the view is when we’re looking back, and how often we don’t see things when we are in the midst of the struggle, but somehow we expect our writing to be different, that we will know everything ahead of time. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. All too often, you have to write the story to find out what you need to know about it — and then you can go back and do that great revision! But if you wait for perfect knowledge before you start, you will have a long, long wait.
So, keep on crunching out those words. Just think, you’re about one tenth done already! Only 9 tenths more to go! Sure, 27 Days, but take it one day at a time, and keep on keeping on. You’ll be glad you did!
Write?
That’s really the rallying cry, I think, of Nanowrimo. Just like most marathons (does anyone do dance marathons anymore? I’ve seen them in movies, at least), the question isn’t really so much getting started, or how beautifully you run or dance, but simply keeping going. One word after another, one step after another, keep on trucking, keep those words coming! And, in a little while, badda boom badda bim, you will have a big pile of words. Yes, some of them may not be wonderful, some of them may in fact badly need trimming or discarding, and revision is a wonderful thing, but... learning that you too can crunch out the words, keep them coming, and keep it going for a month... that’s a big thing!
So, here we are, 3 days in, probably somewhere around 6,000 words more or less depending on whether you got excited and forged ahead (Yay! As those down south are reputed to say, good on you!) or you might be a bit lower with perhaps a plan to push on over the weekend or later. But you may also be feeling some quivers from that old inner editor urging you to go back and do some revision, just a little rewriting, some clean up. Resist that urge! Make notes if you want about that new idea, the cleanup that you thought of, or whatever, but keep on moving forward! Revision comes later. Right now we are in production mode, full speed ahead, damn the errors, just keep writing and fix it later!
Still crunching away? Great. But you might consider the basic building block of the Lester Dent Plot. Really pretty simple. Start by heaping trouble on the hero. Let him struggle with it, leading up to a physical conflict. Then bring in a plot twist, something intriguing to keep the reader going. Trouble, struggle, and the ever popular yes-but or no-and. What are those? Yes-but means the hero succeeds, BUT that very success leads to a new and bigger problem. No-and? The hero fails, falls flat on his face, AND in failing, finds out that things are worse than before! That’s right, no matter how the hero struggles, things get more complicated or worse. Poor hero! But that’s what readers love, is that continuing struggle despite the continuing addition of new problems and worsening conditions.
So are you enjoying churning out the words? Finding it relaxing, thinking about how these characters face their problems, stand up and try to achieve great things, dream the impossible dream... outstanding! Just keep on keeping on, and before long, well, there will be enough words to make the story ring, and plenty to work on when you do turn back and start revising. And just think, you’ll know who these people are, where they are, what they are doing, and all that! Why? Because you pushed ahead and wrote, wrote, wrote until the story started to make sense, and you could see what was going on. Even though there were times when you thought it was going to turn into so much random hash, when you get far enough, you’ll look back and say, “Yes! Now I see it.” I mean, we all talk about how great the view is when we’re looking back, and how often we don’t see things when we are in the midst of the struggle, but somehow we expect our writing to be different, that we will know everything ahead of time. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. All too often, you have to write the story to find out what you need to know about it — and then you can go back and do that great revision! But if you wait for perfect knowledge before you start, you will have a long, long wait.
So, keep on crunching out those words. Just think, you’re about one tenth done already! Only 9 tenths more to go! Sure, 27 Days, but take it one day at a time, and keep on keeping on. You’ll be glad you did!
Write?