So, my SciFi novel is completed. I finished on Day 7 with just over 67,000 words. Despite the astonishing achievement that represents for myself, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I really wanted to hang on for at least 75k or 100, but the story just decided it was over. So, we'll see what happens in the rewrite. Its possible I might add entire chapters/sections.
Once I finished my novel I hit the "week 2 blahs" pretty hard. Trying to stretch my novel to 75,000 when it just wasn't going to make it really took a lot out of me. In fact, I sort of hit a mini-depression sort of feeling for a few days. However, I decided (with the invaluable encouragement and support of my fellow Over Achiever WriMo's) to move on to another story. So, after completing a short fanfiction Harry Potter crossover with Alice in Wonderland, I decided to start working on the sequel of my first novel.
At this point I'm at just over 15k for that novel and the story is just now really starting to unfold in my mind. I do not outline, so up until this point I only had vague ideas about where I wanted things to go. Now, however, I'm considering simply tacking on this "novel" as a second part of the first book and making it all one big piece. Something like Tolkien's 6 books in 3 novels scheme might suit this book. I'm not sure whether there will be a third portion, or if the story will be all over at the end of this one, but I can't wait to find out.
It's funny how readily my mind slipped back into the world of that series, though. The only difficulty I had at the beginning really was the normal "pantsing" problem of getting into the character's voice and getting the story to flow. Now, though, things are coming along just fine.
With a total word count quickly approaching 90k I am impressed by my own fortitude. I expected to burnout sometime last week, but somehow I managed to push through week 2 and now I'm looking at week 3 with no intentions of slowing.
Shout out to all my Over Achiever friends! Write all the words!
Showing posts with label passion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label passion. Show all posts
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Well, I'm back
So, I've been neglecting my written blog in favor of my Vlog on another account. I suppose its time to come back to the world of writing. Still, multimedia is great stuff! I love it when authors and other artists take the effort and time to make their work a multimedia explosion of goodness rather than just one medium. Don't get me wrong, operating in one specialized medium is still great! I just like being immersed in the art that I take in sometimes so its cool to see different forms of the same stuff.
In any event, I'm back and I'm having a dilemma. There are two plots/ideas buzzing around inside my skull for my first NaNoWriMo novel in November. Its coming down to the wire here with November about a week away, so I need to make a decision. Anyone with an idea or suggestion please comment!
OK, so I was going to do my novel in the fantasy world I've been building for almost 10 years. I've designed a new nation, culture, and even their language as part of the planning process for the book. However, just yesterday I had a flash of inspiration for a wicked badass SciFi plot. So, my question is this:
Which idea should I go with? The primitive rainforest dwelling tribes being invaded and annexed by the Empire in a High Fantasy medeival sort of environment? Or the futuristic SciFi novel where we've all nearly become cyborgs and there are only three massive empires to serve as political bodies in the world? OR, the dangerous option, BOTH?
Now, I'm already going back-to-back with novels in October and November. I also feel like I might be gearing up for 6 back-to-back month novels, possibly even a whole year of books. Still, my first book was done in 10 days! So its entirely plausible I could complete two novels in a month. What do you all think?
I have a sneaking suspicion I'll end up doing both, but I'm unsure. I did say I'd take my second novel at a more sane pace to try and get it really right. This new plot is just so delicious though.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Ah, the Sweet Relief!
My first novel is complete.
It's very rough and in a definite first draft form. Still, the moment I pecked out that last word I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast writing the book! Writing 52,332 words in ten days (most of that total in the last four days) can really take it out of you though! I'm glad it's all on (digital) paper now. I can relax now and just wait.
I'm still planning on doing the official NaNoWriMo in November. Next time, though, I think I'll pace myself a little better. I am proud of myself for cranking out those 119 pages in less than two weeks, but geez is it tiring. A more sane pacing, I think, is necessary for the next novel.
The next agonizing part about my first novel, though, is waiting for the rewrite. I want to set it aside for a good solid month or so before I touch it again. Stephen King recommends putting one's work in a drawer and forgetting about it for a while to move onto new things in his book On Writing and I find this to be sound advice. It allows one to get fresh eyes on it and be brutally merciless in the rewrite. When the book/story is so fresh out of one's mind it still feels like one's child. If you abandon it to the dust bunnies in your bottom drawer then come back to it weeks or months later there is less of an affectionate feeling there. I can see that.
Still, I'm a very impatient person, so if I'm back in a few days talking about rewriting don't be shocked. It's a character defect, I know, I'm working on it among others! At least I didn't procrastinate with the novel. It felt good to pound it out so furiously. It was almost like that feeling you get after vomiting profusely where everything feels so much better and there's that relief. Or when you poke yourself repeatedly with a thumbtack because it feels so good when you stop. It's cathartic.
One thing that really started to spook me as I got further in the book was this:
I didn't feel like I was writing it. It felt as though the characters had actually come to life and begun to tell their story their way. When I wrote the novel I was barely present. I was just moving my fingers and the words came from someone else reading it to me straight from their own fictional memories. That blew me away. I'd never had that feeling before. It felt simultaneously very cool and very frightening! It's one of those out-of-control feelings where you don't feel like you have any say in what happens. Disconcerting to say the least.
Still, I think it makes the world all that much more real. Someone told me when I explained this sensation "It's your book, but it's their world." That about summed it up for me. It's exactly like that. The characters demanded that the story be told the way it was told. My fingers on the keys just followed their instructions. The weirdest thing was how quickly I could phase in and out of that mindset. I'd be completely immersed in my own novel for an hour then in a flash be texting my fiancee and have no trouble going right back to the novel a moment later. Like I said, really cool and really spooky.
Anyway, I'll be back to post an excerpt soon! Keep your eyeballs peeled! (This assumes people are actually reading this bullshit, lol.)
In Earnest,
-Adam - AKA Lykeios -
It's very rough and in a definite first draft form. Still, the moment I pecked out that last word I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast writing the book! Writing 52,332 words in ten days (most of that total in the last four days) can really take it out of you though! I'm glad it's all on (digital) paper now. I can relax now and just wait.
I'm still planning on doing the official NaNoWriMo in November. Next time, though, I think I'll pace myself a little better. I am proud of myself for cranking out those 119 pages in less than two weeks, but geez is it tiring. A more sane pacing, I think, is necessary for the next novel.
The next agonizing part about my first novel, though, is waiting for the rewrite. I want to set it aside for a good solid month or so before I touch it again. Stephen King recommends putting one's work in a drawer and forgetting about it for a while to move onto new things in his book On Writing and I find this to be sound advice. It allows one to get fresh eyes on it and be brutally merciless in the rewrite. When the book/story is so fresh out of one's mind it still feels like one's child. If you abandon it to the dust bunnies in your bottom drawer then come back to it weeks or months later there is less of an affectionate feeling there. I can see that.
Still, I'm a very impatient person, so if I'm back in a few days talking about rewriting don't be shocked. It's a character defect, I know, I'm working on it among others! At least I didn't procrastinate with the novel. It felt good to pound it out so furiously. It was almost like that feeling you get after vomiting profusely where everything feels so much better and there's that relief. Or when you poke yourself repeatedly with a thumbtack because it feels so good when you stop. It's cathartic.
One thing that really started to spook me as I got further in the book was this:
I didn't feel like I was writing it. It felt as though the characters had actually come to life and begun to tell their story their way. When I wrote the novel I was barely present. I was just moving my fingers and the words came from someone else reading it to me straight from their own fictional memories. That blew me away. I'd never had that feeling before. It felt simultaneously very cool and very frightening! It's one of those out-of-control feelings where you don't feel like you have any say in what happens. Disconcerting to say the least.
Still, I think it makes the world all that much more real. Someone told me when I explained this sensation "It's your book, but it's their world." That about summed it up for me. It's exactly like that. The characters demanded that the story be told the way it was told. My fingers on the keys just followed their instructions. The weirdest thing was how quickly I could phase in and out of that mindset. I'd be completely immersed in my own novel for an hour then in a flash be texting my fiancee and have no trouble going right back to the novel a moment later. Like I said, really cool and really spooky.
Anyway, I'll be back to post an excerpt soon! Keep your eyeballs peeled! (This assumes people are actually reading this bullshit, lol.)
In Earnest,
-Adam - AKA Lykeios -
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