And so it begins...the MDC NaNoWriMo Thread! - Page 5

[puddle]

oops! i'm about to be stuck i think. i hope this story has a mind of its own, because it isn't turning out like i planned. my main character was just born, and apparently everything that i meant to happen during her life (and be the plot!) has already happened before she was ever born! i'm kind of identifying with her mother anyway--her mom may end up being the MC!

i'm way behind today because we went to the zoo instead of writing. it was fun though!

[LionTigerBear]

So here I am writing after all. DH came to his darling senses and said he would do his exam this evening, and even stay up late if necessary. That's my guy. : I was really touched. Now he's taken the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's, and here I am typing away . . . 5209 . . .

[LionTigerBear]

6001!!! :

Haven't been able to log into the NaNo website at all this afternoon . . .

[wfuteach]

Way to go. I was just able to get into Nano, but briefly. Haven't updated my total yet. Am just shy of 5000.

Anyone having trouble with action? I keep writing and thinking, "readers would be bored with this." It's more of a storytelling venture than I'd expected, and the characters aren't experiencing enough drama. The conflicts are internal I suppose...and I wonder if they are conveying well on paper...

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by wfuteach

Anyone having trouble with action? I keep writing and thinking, "readers would be bored with this." It's more of a storytelling venture than I'd expected, and the characters aren't experiencing enough drama. The conflicts are internal I suppose...and I wonder if they are conveying well on paper...

I wouldn't worry about it too much. You know, quantity not quality. I have some action but it seems a little bit boring too-- just the way I'm telling it I guess. But, I know most of it should smooth out easily with a little rewriting. It's easy for me to figure out how something should read when I'm reading it on paper, but not so much on the screen, I don't know why. I'm great with editing, just not so much with finishing things, so that's why I think NaNo will be good for me!

Yeah, storytelling is such a huge part of it. It's going so much more easily for me now that I have a basic kind of outline figured out. It's just a simple plan that calls for a couple of points to hit in each chapter and gives me a basic idea of where my story is going next, without being too limiting.

[almama]

Readers? Are we supposed to be caring about readers?

Actually the reader I care about is my DS (7) who reads really well and is trying to get a peek of what I'm doing. It is not R, but it is definitely not PG!!

I think it comes down to why we are doing it. Wouldn't it be nice to be a published author with all the life trappings? I was thinking of it as running a marathon. No one would ever confuse the last runner chugging along at a marathon with an Olympian, but as long as you give it a whirl, it will always be one of your life achievements. Yes, I have a pretty low bar, but it meets my needs right now

[Red]

I'm well under way. (which is why I haven't posted yet. ) 5980 so far. THat's a ropugh count as I'm doing it all out longhand. I'll type it out on days when I have no concentration.


Readers? I'm deliberately NOT considering readers. I'm just writing. My big problem in the past has been wondering how a certain part would go over with my readers. So, I'm ignoring them.

No luck with the nano site.

Back to my novel!

[Twocoolboys]

I'm still plugging along at the minimum for each day. I'm happy with the direction my novel is going so far. I don't seem to have trouble with action, but I do have trouble with the emotions. I don't think thats coming across for my mc. Any tips on how to show his emotions a little better without out right stating them? (He's 11 years old).

[alaskaberry]

DS thought it would be funny to dump a glass of water on my laptop last night...So I am about 3000 words behind

[wfuteach]

Originally Posted by alaskaberry

DS thought it would be funny to dump a glass of water on my laptop last night...So I am about 3000 words behind

Oh no! Is it working, or has it gone to laptop heaven?

TwoCoolBoys: I think the best way to show emotions without stating them is to get inside his head as much as possible. By showing exactly what he's thinking, I think you can be incredibly illustrative. Also, somethng I always find myself doing is using conversation. Saying, "Katherine replied quietly, trying not to anger Joseph any further than she already had." Better than just saying, Joseph was p!ssed off.

But...what do I know...I'm winging it!

[AdinaL]

Oh phoebe!!! That's awful! Let it all dry out, take it apart as much as you can to let the inside dry out....maybe it will be okay.

Cranking along here. 2402 today. Getting a little harder to get started...I have started writing myself notes at the end of each day's writing to jump start myself. Characters are talking, and seemingly growing. We'll see.

Whew. This is fun.

[enfpintj]

Help!!!! I started on thursday while on a trip and haven't been able to get back to it much. I only have 2000 words. We got back at 11:30 last night and I'm whipped from a week with the inlaws and a long driving trip. and I don't like my story. It's just a along rant. And I can't work out the characters. Yuck!!! I hate this.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by enfpintj

Help!!!! I started on thursday while on a trip and haven't been able to get back to it much. I only have 2000 words. We got back at 11:30 last night and I'm whipped from a week with the inlaws and a long driving trip.

First, take a break and get a little rested. But not too much of a break.

and I don't like my story. It's just a long rant. And I can't work out the characters. Yuck!!! I hate this.

Okay, just write anyway. Don't go back and change anything. I suppose you could go back and add stuff, but don't go back and rewrite anything, just forge on ahead. If you don't like how it's coming out, go in a different direction, but if there's no way to change it to make it likeable, just write anyway! At the end at the very least you'll be able to say, "I did it." The characters will become more clear to you as you go. And again, you can go back later (in December or later) and rewrite some of the character stuff once you have a better undertsanding of them. It'll be fine. Don't worry about getting it "right"-- just try to enjoy the processas much as you can and plunge on.


As for me, I don't work on my novel on the Sabbath, so I am enjoying my day of rest now. Ahhhh. I can still make my quota if I do 2000 words a day, every day except Sundays, which I've been doing so far.

[dynamicdoula]

Okay mamas, I need plot help.

Why would a (single) mother sacrifice (or even kill) her own (12yo) daughter?

Thats what my MC is going to do, and I don't know why. I just know that's where this is going. It disturbs me greatly and I want to find a palatable reason for her to do it but I have a feeling this is going to be dark.

I just don't know why it's going to happen. Any ideas?

[Ammaarah]

Originally Posted by dynamicdoula

Okay mamas, I need plot help.

Why would a (single) mother sacrifice (or even kill) her own (12yo) daughter?

Thats what my MC is going to do, and I don't know why. I just know that's where this is going. It disturbs me greatly and I want to find a palatable reason for her to do it but I have a feeling this is going to be dark.

I just don't know why it's going to happen. Any ideas?

The only reasons I can think of have to do with mental illness, like delusions that the girl was the AntiChrist or something along that line. Or, if you want to go ultra-sinister, the mother might really know that the daughter is evil a la The Bad Seed and she feels she must "put her down" before her evil is unleashed on the world.

Another reason could be accidental. Mother loses it, hits the daughter and she goes flying into a spiky ornament or flies onto a fireplace poker or something.

[Cassiopeia]

The other option might be some kind of mercy killing (like the world is too evil for her daughter, or her daughter is sick,etc) or maybe to save the life of someone else.

I'm at about 2500 words so I'm behind but doing okay. I feel like I still have lots of different ways the story can go. I'm finding myself in a bad mood at the end of my writing sessions which I didn't really expect. Anyone else having trouble transitioning out of writing mode back to real life mode?

[puddle]

Originally Posted by dynamicdoula

Okay mamas, I need plot help.

Why would a (single) mother sacrifice (or even kill) her own (12yo) daughter?

Thats what my MC is going to do, and I don't know why. I just know that's where this is going. It disturbs me greatly and I want to find a palatable reason for her to do it but I have a feeling this is going to be dark.

I just don't know why it's going to happen. Any ideas?

i remember reading that soviet mothers sometimes drowned their small children when they were captured by allied troops after defecting. they knew when they were sent back that stalin would have them killed but their young children would be raised under the atheist communist regime--so they did it to save their souls. maybe a religious belief of some kind--saving her daughter's soul by sacrificing her body?

my MC was supposed to be taken from her mother at birth, but i couldn't bring myself to do it so i waited a few years

[almama]

Originally Posted by dynamicdoula

Okay mamas, I need plot help.

Why would a (single) mother sacrifice (or even kill) her own (12yo) daughter?

Thats what my MC is going to do, and I don't know why. I just know that's where this is going. It disturbs me greatly and I want to find a palatable reason for her to do it but I have a feeling this is going to be dark.

I just don't know why it's going to happen. Any ideas?

Yikes - it could happen if a person felt trapped and that there was no way for her daughter to be safe. Basically given up hope and going for a peace. The scenarios are numerous -she finds the daughter on the sex trade sold there by drug dealer dad . . .can't keep her safe . . . ugh it is hard to think about.

[AdinaL]

I would think the only way I would do that to my DD was to save her from something else. Abusive dad? Being tortured? If she was so sick that she was in constant pain? Soemthing like that. Where what I was going to do would be far less horrific than what she would face alive.

[CarenSwan]

Originally Posted by dynamicdoula View Post
Okay mamas, I need plot help.

Why would a (single) mother sacrifice (or even kill) her own (12yo) daughter?

Thats what my MC is going to do, and I don't know why. I just know that's where this is going. It disturbs me greatly and I want to find a palatable reason for her to do it but I have a feeling this is going to be dark.

I just don't know why it's going to happen. Any ideas?

It reminds me of Sula (is that the name of the MC) in Beloved by Toni Morrisson. She kills her kid(s) to save her/them from the slave catchers. It's so intense, but very believeable, because the reader has witnessed the horrors of slavery through the eyes of Sula.

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention that to let you know that it is a horrific act that can believably be carried out in love, though that doens't mean the reader is left thinking it was a good decision, just that it was understandable. Speaking of understandable, I'm not making sense tonight, so I'm going to bed!