Noveling in February! - Page 2

[Sagesgirl]

Well, I got the chromatography thing figured out. Who could have guessed there are so many different forms? I decided to use a take-off of paper chromatography, as that's what I saw in my mind when I decided to use it. It has the bonus of being a simple test to perform & therefore explain.

I also realized today while scribbling that my heroine just knows one heck of a lot more than most in this genre. She's a professional.

[BabyMae09]

I started! I wrote five pages the other day and seven more today (in 1.5 hours!) - and it's mostly all pretty dang good! Wow it feels so good to finally start WRITING this sucker instead of just thinking about it! In fact, I have at least the first 3-4 chapters all planned out on paper and in my head yay!

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by Sagesgirl

I also realized today while scribbling that my heroine just knows one heck of a lot more than most in this genre. She's a professional.

It's great to have helpful characters, isn't it?

Originally Posted by BabyMae09

I started! I wrote five pages the other day and seven more today (in 1.5 hours!) - and it's mostly all pretty dang good! Wow it feels so good to finally start WRITING this sucker instead of just thinking about it! In fact, I have at least the first 3-4 chapters all planned out on paper and in my head yay!

Go you! That sounds like a great start.


Me: So it turns out I'm sorta pregnant (5w4d) and it's already screwing with my noveling because I am soooooo tired in the evenings, and that's when I usually write. Yesterday I went to bed 1.5 hours early.

I finished the long synopsis (5 pages) and revised the first two chapters and scene 1 of chapter 3, and I'm submitting all of that to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association summer literary contest. I just have to get up the energy to walk over to the drug store and buy a ginormous manilla envelope to mail it all (in triplicate, of course!) off in...

[BabyMae09]

Thanks Aufilia! I wrote another 10 pages late last night. It's like now that I started, I can't stop

As for the being pregnant thing, I'm about 7 months along, and am a night owl as well. For the first 6 or so months of pregnancy, I was in bed almost every night by ten! Maybe your early to bed phase won't last as long as mine

Congrats on the new baby!

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

It's great to have helpful characters, isn't it?



Go you! That sounds like a great start.


Me: So it turns out I'm sorta pregnant (5w4d) and it's already screwing with my noveling because I am soooooo tired in the evenings, and that's when I usually write. Yesterday I went to bed 1.5 hours early.

I finished the long synopsis (5 pages) and revised the first two chapters and scene 1 of chapter 3, and I'm submitting all of that to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association summer literary contest. I just have to get up the energy to walk over to the drug store and buy a ginormous manilla envelope to mail it all (in triplicate, of course!) off in...

Congratulations!!! :

[Sagesgirl]

Congratulations, Aufilia. Make the hubby go buy your envelopes, it's partly his fault you can't stay awake. And who knows, perhaps some of those wonderfully vivid pregnancy dreams will help you plot your next novel. I used to get some great story ideas while pregnant.

[Oriole]

Can I join? I'm starting afresh, and would like some company to keep me going. Pretty please?

I'm very impressed with everyone who actually finished their first draft. 133K (!) I hope to get there some day, but I'm taking it 1000 at a time. My goal is to write 1K a day, so hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a finished draft on my hands.

*pulling a chair up and joining the club*

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by Oriole

Can I join? I'm starting afresh, and would like some company to keep me going. Pretty please?

I'm very impressed with everyone who actually finished their first draft. 133K (!) I hope to get there some day, but I'm taking it 1000 at a time. My goal is to write 1K a day, so hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a finished draft on my hands.

*pulling a chair up and joining the club*

Welcome!!! writers write, right?


I am about halfway through reading my printed out beast of a first draft...I had to go out and get new ink and another reem of paper! I didn't realized just how much 133K was until I had to feed the printer for an entire day...holy cow...anyway...I'm not sure I want to just read it anymore...my itch to start editing is practically stagnating me from reading any further. Should I just start hacking away at it? Or first read it and then hack away?

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by Sagesgirl

And who knows, perhaps some of those wonderfully vivid pregnancy dreams will help you plot your next novel. I used to get some great story ideas while pregnant.

Hah, I hope! So far I've only had stupid, repetitive dreams about boring crap, like whether or not bus 311 goes through my neighborhood. When I was pregnant with DD I actually stopped reading fiction entirely because I would have vivid yet incredibly stupid, repetative and BORING dreams about whatever I'd read that day. It drove me nuts.

Originally Posted by Oriole

Can I join? I'm starting afresh, and would like some company to keep me going. Pretty please?

I'm very impressed with everyone who actually finished their first draft. 133K (!) I hope to get there some day, but I'm taking it 1000 at a time. My goal is to write 1K a day, so hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a finished draft on my hands.

At 1k a day it won't take you that long -- maybe 3 months!

Originally Posted by MommyHawk

I am about halfway through reading my printed out beast of a first draft...I had to go out and get new ink and another reem of paper! I didn't realized just how much 133K was until I had to feed the printer for an entire day...holy cow...anyway...I'm not sure I want to just read it anymore...my itch to start editing is practically stagnating me from reading any further. Should I just start hacking away at it? Or first read it and then hack away?

Ugh, I'm not good with questions like this. I never have read through my whole novel in a sitting. I will read through 5-6 chapters at once, though. I've been editing 2-3 chapters a week before sending them to my writing group, then sometimes if I feel sparked by what they say I'll go back and re-edit those same chapters again right away.

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

Ugh, I'm not good with questions like this. I never have read through my whole novel in a sitting. I will read through 5-6 chapters at once, though. I've been editing 2-3 chapters a week before sending them to my writing group, then sometimes if I feel sparked by what they say I'll go back and re-edit those same chapters again right away.

so you have a writing group, as in a critique group? how did you find yours?

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by MommyHawk

so you have a writing group, as in a critique group? how did you find yours?

Yes, I have a critique group that meets weekly on Thursday nights. They found me, really. And oddly enough, I had 2 points of contact with the group before I joined:

(1) My group runs a writing workshop at our local science fiction convention. I submitted some short stories to it and so my name and some work had been read by the group several months before I was invited to audition.

(2) At the time I auditioned there was also a member of the weekly group who had gone to a major writing workshop (Viable Paradise) with me the year before. There were only 3 VP graduates in the entire state at the time and the 3rd was also auditioning at the same time as me.

[Oriole]

Well, today my character development took an unexpected turn, and listening to the Bangled, completely messed up my plans.

[flowers]

Hi! Mind if I join?

I have never written anything novelish before and a few nights ago I was hit with quite an inspiration. Dh is home for the winter so he has the boys and I have three weeks to bang out outlines and a few sample chapters to get things going.

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by Oriole

Well, today my character development took an unexpected turn, and listening to the Bangled, completely messed up my plans.

That sounds like fun! I love new discoveries about my characters.

Originally Posted by flowers

Hi! Mind if I join?

I have never written anything novelish before and a few nights ago I was hit with quite an inspiration. Dh is home for the winter so he has the boys and I have three weeks to bang out outlines and a few sample chapters to get things going.

Hi there! You go, girl! You can get a lot done in 3 weeks. It's awesome that your DH is giving you time to write!

[flowers]

Thanks for the welcome Erin!

I am really excited. I usually write non-fiction, so to have this inspiration and the sudden surge of ideas is just almost funny to me!

I spent part of the day today at Barnes & Nobles in the Young Adults section skimming books, seeing what is out there and checking out publishers. Then tonight after yoga I spent some time writing out synopsis just to get the ideas out. I have been writing by hand, but am thinking I should move to the computer for speed purposes.

[PJsmomma]

I'm so excited. I sat down tonight and my goal was 200 words. I wrote 1600!

:

It is so true and very funny how the character starts behaving apart from my thoughts! Mine almost had a dog tonight but I thought through things and told her no

But the bane of my existence is past tense and be verbs. HOW do I get past that? Any exercises I can do?

[Oriole]

I am starting to notice a pattern that concerns me... I wake up with ideas, and I have to write them down. It's all fine and dandy, however, next week I am back to work, how and when will I write?

I am a morning person, everything comes easier to me around 8-9 AM. Suggestions?

[Aufilia]

Oriole -- What's the rest of your day like?

I take the bus to work and back, and I found that when I was in the midst of the first draft I would take my commute time to just sit and think about whatever plot problem I was facing, or the next scene I needed to write, or whatever was bothering me. I kept a steno pad with me so I could write down whatever ideas or dialogue snippets or whatever came to mind during the day. Often when I get home it's 3 hours or more before I can sit down again, but as long as I'd written down the stuff I wanted to remember I could then sit down and start transcribing my notes onto the computer and get into the writing, even if I wasn't feeling very creative by that time of night.

[Oriole]

I drive to work, so I can't be writing during my commute (well, I guess I could, but pedestrians and other drivers will frown on it, for sure.)

I teach until 3PM, wrap up my day at school around 4, and I am back home around 4:30. Between making dinner and correcting papers - I'm worn out. That's why I chose to do only 1,000 words a day in the first place. I wish I could write in the morning...

I'm thinking I might choose to get up earlier than usual, and get to work an hour or so early. That way I can write before I need to be ready for the day.

Thanks for making me take another look at my day, I really hope I can have the discipline to do this.