It's the kickoff of week two on the NaNo calendar, when all those exuberant plans turn to suck. This is why you spend the first week building up a wordcount buffer, so Week Two can come by and consume it nom nom nom-style. I wrote a post on the Brigade topic about powering through this week. tl;dr version: just write anything, and count everything you write. And for the love of the Rhino, don't worry about what you've already written. There is no such thing as "continuity" in the first draft (or quality, or pacing) so if you're fretting about these things, stop right now, and write instead. Write about the fretting, even. I'm writing this on Saturday night, dosed up on cold medication and hot tea, on the cusp of the end of summer time and theoretically an extra hour of sleep (or writing. Let's not kid ourselves.) Plotwise, I'm about to step into that great unknown void in the middle of my story, where I know the characters need to get from point A to B, but I'm a little blurry on the specifics in between, and how some planned scenes fit into the schedule. The transitions will be rough and random, but I know I'll be able to smooth them out later, when I can breathe and look at the novel as a whole. That time is not now. Now it's time to embrace the suck, and move on, always on.
6 comments:
Last night was the first night of Week Two, no matter what the calendar says. It was transition out of the setup and into the plot proper and four double-spaced elite pages was WORK.
Simon
That's a great rhino!
My own problem is simply lack of time. I'm enjoying my story, but it's already becoming clear that finishing in November is probably not in the cards. I hope to keep going into December and January if need be, though.
So on top of everything else, you've got a COLD? I hope you get better soon!
Best wishes for making it over this bump in the NaNo road. These novels seem to take on a life of their own, don't they, and have a distinctive personality.
I know this much: they don't like to be criticized! I've had to bite my tongue many times over the past seven days, but it doesn't help me to say anything less-than-glowing to the Rhino.
Best to push on! May we all have the strength.
(word verfication: pacmyl. Thanks, Rhino!)
Dear (Inter)Webs: Do not believe Mr. Clemens's's claims that he is blocked in any way. He is a plutonium-powered, relentless writing machine, long ago having had traded his fragile human form for something better, faster, stronger.
In all seriousness, I experienced teh suck this weekend, but instead of fighting it, I relaxed into it. Like freezing to death. I let a whole day go by where I read and relaxed and refueled my brain, then promptly went on a seven thousand-word bender the next couple of days.
But it takes willing, oh yes.
"'Tis no man, 'tis a relentless writing machine!"
I'm with Richard. Most years I've managed to make time...this year, it's not really happening. I like my story, mostly, I think it has potential, but I'm almost to the point of throwing in the towel, at least with regards to actually hitting 50k by month end. On the bright side, this year I've proved to myself that I can be consistent about writing on a more or less daily basis, so I guess it's not the end of the world if I set it aside. We'll see how the rest of this week goes.
Word verif: adyssy. An epic voyage through commercialism.
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