drum roll...
Saturday, 31 October 2009 07:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eTonight at midnight (here in Australia) NaNoWriMo begins.
Scary, scary.
I haven't done my usual degree of planning for this year's story. This alone predicts my failure this time, however I might manage anyway because this story is quite different to any I've tried before. It has no "normal" structure. Most stories have an introduction, some device to build tension (like a journey or problem to solve), and then a climax where some kind of resolution is found. I don't think it's easy for this story to have have any of that.
Normally I plan the beginning, the ending, and significant milestones in between, mapping most of the chapters onto them. This time I've planned the beginning, the logic behind the story, and some of the major points I want to cover. Generally the ending is the second part of the story I map out, but not this time. I have an idea for the ending, but am not sure if I want to use it, so it is still up in the air. Oddly, I don't think that really matters with this story. I've never tried this approach before. It would be extremely easy for it not to work.
My first NaNoWriMo tried to make a story (Insurance) which I'd intended to avoid conflict. In the end I screwed up because I panicked, and added in some conflict at the last moment (the cyborg discontent) and blew it. I then had neither the story I wanted, nor a "good" standard story. On many levels that story failed, even though I remain rather proud of all the ideas I conveyed though it. I must rewrite it one day and try to yank the conflict (except for the calamity near the end -- I always intended that). Insurance would always have been clumsy because I'd written it like a series of short stories instead of a long-form story. Also something about it made it feel like a young adult story -- not what I was aiming for... especially with the bits of sex in there.
This year I'm hoping I can remain true to my aims and still produce something useful. We'll see. It could so easily turn into a fragmented mess. I have a lot more demands on my time this year so it is quite likely I won't finish inside the month. I'm quite okay with that. I'll try to keep going anyway. Most importantly I hope I can produce something worth reading.
I know I'm not a terribly good story writer, but each NaNoWriMo I notice significant improvement. This time I hope I make something I'm satisfied with. But if not, at least I'm trying. :) Janet Evanovich wrote 11 novels before she created something saleable. I'm happy to keep slogging.
Scary, scary.
I haven't done my usual degree of planning for this year's story. This alone predicts my failure this time, however I might manage anyway because this story is quite different to any I've tried before. It has no "normal" structure. Most stories have an introduction, some device to build tension (like a journey or problem to solve), and then a climax where some kind of resolution is found. I don't think it's easy for this story to have have any of that.
Normally I plan the beginning, the ending, and significant milestones in between, mapping most of the chapters onto them. This time I've planned the beginning, the logic behind the story, and some of the major points I want to cover. Generally the ending is the second part of the story I map out, but not this time. I have an idea for the ending, but am not sure if I want to use it, so it is still up in the air. Oddly, I don't think that really matters with this story. I've never tried this approach before. It would be extremely easy for it not to work.
My first NaNoWriMo tried to make a story (Insurance) which I'd intended to avoid conflict. In the end I screwed up because I panicked, and added in some conflict at the last moment (the cyborg discontent) and blew it. I then had neither the story I wanted, nor a "good" standard story. On many levels that story failed, even though I remain rather proud of all the ideas I conveyed though it. I must rewrite it one day and try to yank the conflict (except for the calamity near the end -- I always intended that). Insurance would always have been clumsy because I'd written it like a series of short stories instead of a long-form story. Also something about it made it feel like a young adult story -- not what I was aiming for... especially with the bits of sex in there.
This year I'm hoping I can remain true to my aims and still produce something useful. We'll see. It could so easily turn into a fragmented mess. I have a lot more demands on my time this year so it is quite likely I won't finish inside the month. I'm quite okay with that. I'll try to keep going anyway. Most importantly I hope I can produce something worth reading.
I know I'm not a terribly good story writer, but each NaNoWriMo I notice significant improvement. This time I hope I make something I'm satisfied with. But if not, at least I'm trying. :) Janet Evanovich wrote 11 novels before she created something saleable. I'm happy to keep slogging.
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 04:19 am (UTC)I have the first chapter up. Yay!
Are you writing this year?
no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 08:33 am (UTC)No, had no plans to write. The idea has never really interested me.
I tended to write poetry a lot when I was younger, but no, never really wanted to write stories.
I love to read them though. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 10:38 am (UTC)I hope you like this one.