An Autumn Adventure

Just got back from a lovely lunch break. I went out for a walk, with my copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel under my arm. As I read, I waded through a lake of dried autumn leaves, got a good clean lungful of crisp air, and said to myself, "Yup. I should probably start my NaNoWriMo project this year."

You didn't think I'd forgotten, did you? After all, noormally by this time I've doubled the size of the internet with incessant posts about how my NaNoWriMo novel is coming. Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that we're about a week into November, and I haven't posted a single thing.

Sadly, that's not because I finally realized that no one really cares how much writing I got done last night. Rather, this year I'm taking a new approach to NaNoWriMo.

I'm going to do it all in a week.

Okay, that's probably not exactly how things will shake out, but that's goal. I've saved up some vacation time, and I'll be taking a week off from my full-time job. Starting tomorrow, and lasting until next Tuesday, I will live the life of a full-time novelist, substituting my writing desk for the daily commute and pajama pants for grooming.

Seriously, guys, I'm so excited!

I won't be around the ol' Bloggerverce or Facebookville for the next week or whatever, so I won't be flooding everybody's RSS feeds with dithering updates like I've done in the past. Here's the only tidbit I plan on posting on this year's project before the finish:

Dr. Henry Stag sells patent medicines guaranteed to cure whatever ails you, and he'll back up that guarantee for as long as he is in town. Usually about a week. But how long can Dr. Stag stay in business when a mysterious stranger opens up shop, selling miracle cures that actually work?

Wish me luck!

What I Learned From NaNoWriMo

You know what that is? That's a certificate. It's a certificate I got for winning. Which is a thing I do, you know. Winning, that is. I do winning. Often. In fact, I do winning so much, I'm starting to get pretty good at it.

In short: BAM! I did it! 50,312 by the time I finished.

I loved NaNoWriMo so much last year because I learned so much from doing it. This year's project was pretty educational, too, although it wound up being something of a remedial course (for those who didn't save their notes, you can review them here). Still, I got a few new bits of wisdom from writing Alice and Wendy.

1 - Great Characters Write Themselves

I caught this happening a couple of times last year, but, since most of what I wrote last year was dictated by a meticulously crafted outline (re: something I wrote in pencil on October 31 while watching reruns of The Office), I didn't allow my characters the freedom they needed to react how they wanted to. Ironically, I feel like writing without an outline allowed my characters to behave more naturally than they would have otherwise.

Of course, I have to stress that it's not like this plot magically fell into place as I channeled some kind of supernatural energy into my laptop monitor. The plot is going to require a lot of ironing out. Which brings me to...

2 - A Good Writer Has a Plan

As fun as it was to just write without any idea of where my novel would go in the end, I'm pretty sure the novel's weaker for my lack of preparation. The exact timeline of events I've written is pretty unclear - I'm not sure what happens in flashback and what happens in the "current day." Heck, most of the time, I didn't even keep straight which day it was in the story. If the story were laid out in chronological order, every freaking day of the week would be Friday.

When I go back to revise, I'll make sure to have a freakin' calendar sitting on my desk.

3 - Miracles Will Happen As We Speak

Yeah, I noticed this happen a lot last year - connections I never could have made myself popped up in the strangest places. These connections will take a lot of cultivation to turn into anything meaningful, but they're the things that'll make the novel worth reading when it's all done.

This year, though, the surprising thing is that I came up with an ending to the novel literally out of nowhere. If you had asked me on Monday if I thought I'd have come up with a satisfying conclusion by Wednesday, I'd have probably slapped you (but I was in a bad mood on Monday).

I was halfway into Tuesday's writing, when I suddenly realized how the novel would have to end. There's pretty much NO OTHER WAY I could have ended this thing than the ending I chose. It's a sloppy ending right now, tying up loose ends more arbitrarily than the romantic leads pairing off in a Stephenie Meyer novel. That said, now when I go back to revise, I'll know what conclusion to work towards.

4 - Writing is the Only Way to Start Writing

Now that I've got 50,000 words of plot, I feel like I can finally start working on Alice and Wendy. It's like everything I've done up to this point was just preparation - I haven't really written a novel, but a 130-page working outline. And most of it is garbage.

Still, if I hadn't done all this writing all month long, I don't think I'd be able to come up with anything NEARLY as cool as the novel I'm envisioning in my head right now. Again, it'll probably be a lot of work to get this book to the point where I'm willing to show it to other people - probably even more work than last year's novel. But it'll be SO worth it if the final product will be as cohesive as I now think I can make it.

5 - Writing Sucks

The main reason I was behind so much this month is that, when I got home from work, I decided I wanted to do something OTHER than more work. There were several days when I sat down to write, and every word I pecked out on the keyboard felt like I was straining a muscle. I skipped several days altogether simply because I didn't feel like writing at all.

It may sound like I'm ending on a bit of a downer, but the truth is that I'm sure I needed to learn this particular lesson. I ended last year with a rush of euphoria, realizing that I really enjoy the process of writing. That's still true; however, there's not a CHANCE that I'll feel that way all the time. I have to accept - as I know expect most writers do - that the cool stuff in writing comes AFTER hours and hours of painful effort, and not always during.

Anyway, the goal this year is to use NaNoWriMo as a springboard. Last year, I took December off from dedicated noveling (it can be a word if I wish hard enough), and I never really picked it up again. This year, I'm not doing that, and I'll be pounding out another 1,000 words or so tomorrow.

The trouble is going to be in deciding what I want to do next: do I revise this year's novel, get back to work on last year's, or start a completely new project? Decisions, decisions.

NaNoWriMo: November 20 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,696
Total Words Written: 31479
Percent of Final Goal: 62%

Notes: New plot twists popped up as I was writing last night - totally surprised me. Apparently, my "Peter" character is... Actually, you may have to read the finished novel to get this particular twist.

I just wrote a fun section involving a Ouija board. Having never really used a Ouija board myself, I looked up a bunch of videos of kids playing with the "game" on YouTube. Most of the videos I saw purported to be people getting possessed by the spirits that communicate through Ouija. Personally, I thought it all looked fake, but in a good, kinda creepy kind of way.

I use the Ouija board to a different effect in the story I've got going. It's probably not the most ORIGINAL usage - basically, a dissociative man's submerged personality communicates through the board - but I had a lot of fun writing it.

I may not come back to Alice and Wendy right away in December, but scenes like the one I just described have pretty much ensured that I will come back at some point.

NaNoWriMo: November 16 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,673
Total Words Written: 25,951
Percent of Final Goal: 51%

Notes: There have been a couple of pretty difficult challenges to overcome as a result of the somewhat warped chronology my book’s events have gone through. Some things simply don’t make sense now – a lot of the buildup of the first few chapters is now for an event that I think has already transpired. It’ll all come out in revision, but it’ll take a while.

Alice and Wendy is now almost split into two books – one is a dark story of madness and intrigue, and the other is a pretty straightforward story of a delinquent high school student. I find it much easier to write the latter, as the “madness and intrigue” requires a LOT more specialized knowledge than I’ve got (seriously, I’m never gonna write anything based in the medical field AGAIN). However, I think I’ll be most satisfied with the story if I’m able to weave the two disparate components together.

I forgot to mention before, but I’m actually doing a “word count contest” this week with a friend from church. Whoever gets the most words written this week wins. I picked a pretty bad week for this, though, as I’m busy almost every night with other stuff. So far, I’ve met my minimum goal per day. I should be completely caught up by the end of the week (and I may even be able to get a bit ahead).

NaNoWriMo: November 13 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,761
Total Words Written: 20,578
Percent of Final Goal: 41%

Notes: Look at me! I’m only about a day behind schedule now. Go weekends!

I’ve said it before, but the process of discovery during NaNoWriMo is far and away the best part. I’ve been exploring my main character’s school life, and, as a result, I’ve uncovered a lot of interesting little plot threads. There’s a young man at Wendy’s school who obviously has a thing for her, although he doesn’t always choose to express himself in the best way.

Now, the coolest thing to happen this weekend came from a single word. My main character has a lot of resentment towards her father, who may or may not be a complete monster. I haven’t quite decided. Anyway, the important bit is that she PERCEIVES him to be, if not evil, at least out of touch. Her poor relationship with her father has started to affect Wendy’s school life – hence, her now frequent visits with the principal. In one of the principle’s lectures, I revealed that he doesn’t talk much with Wendy’s father “anymore.”

I hadn’t intended to write the word “anymore” – it just kind of slipped out of my fingers and onto the page. Suddenly, a whole, unspoken history between Wendy’s father and her principal revealed itself to me, and that history might have some pretty profound effects on the main story.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s darned awesome!

NaNoWriMo: November 11 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,810
Total Words Written: 14,474
Percent of Final Goal: 28%

Notes: Eek. I’m almost a full 2,500 words BEHIND schedule. That’s not good.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been reading young adult fiction recently, but I kinda want to explore the new environment I created for Wendy’s school. I created three new characters for her to interact with last night – an insensitive jock, an all-business school nurse, and the school principal (you can guess what kind of day poor Wendy had at school today).

The principal probably has one of my favorite character descriptions I’ve ever written: “he carried with him the potbelly that only the abnormally thin have when they get old, married, and settled.” Sadly, I think the reason I like it so much is because that’s what I expect I’LL look like when I get old, married, and settled.

Speaking of reading (which I was two paragraphs ago), I’m finding it advantageous to read continually WHILE writing. When I read, I tend to adopt the conventions of the writer into my speech (Shakespeare and Dickens make me a bit more flowery than I’d normally be). Since I’ve been reading Jerry Spinelli recently, I’ve found it a bit easier to come up with distinctive, abnormal descriptors for my characters – something Spinelli excels at in books like Maniac Magee and Loser. I’m not nearly as GOOD at it as Spinelli is, but it’s helpful nonetheless.

NaNoWriMo: November 8 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,770
Total Words Written: 12,664
Percent of Final Goal: 25%

Notes: You know how long it takes to write 1,666 words? Apparently, not all that long.

I spend about an hour and a half to two hours writing a night, but a good portion of that time is actually me standing up from the computer, walking out into the common room, and telling my roommate that I wrote another hundred words before telling him the latest cool thought I had about math.

Actually, that’s not quite true. He’s the one who tells ME about math.

Still, I find that the writing goes a little easier when I take small breaks in the middle – provided I’ve put in the effort to do some quality writing in the first place. I write a couple hundred words, go read a few comic strips (I’m working my way through the complete Calvin and Hobbes again) or a chapter from my book (currently reading Jerry Spinelli’s Loser), and then come back to the writing with a mostly fresh mind.

Not planning out the plot ahead of time is providing some interesting challenges. Right now, the novel feels more like an extended outline in development than a coherent narrative, but it’s providing me with some interesting choices. I’ve got a scene on the slate now that I had never intended to write – Wendy in her classes at school. Suddenly, there’s a whole new avenue that’s just opened up for new characters, conflicts, and settings.

In revision, I’m going to have to decide between turning the story into a psychological thriller or a regular YA novel. I’m not sure which way it’ll swing in the end.

NaNoWriMo: November 7 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,491
Total Words Written: 10,894
Percent of Final Goal: 21%

Notes: I almost didn’t do any writing yesterday. I didn’t even start the writing until nearly 10:00 at night, spending most of my evening reading up on the Tarot on Wikipedia. Also, I went bowling (55 is a TERRIBLE bowling score, by the way).

I started writing with very little enthusiasm – I don’t know enough about the Tarot to write convincingly about a Tarot reading, which was the next portion of the story I wanted to write. Everything I know about Tarot cards comes from an old video game my brothers and I played growing up called The Fool’s Errand, which, incidentally, is a LOT of fun for puzzle-lovers.

My enthusiasm grew quickly, however, when I started writing the character Ruby. I had no intention of including anyone like her in my story when I first started writing it. However, I figured SOMEONE had to provide Wendy with a card reading, and I didn’t want Alice to do it (which I think was the original goal). So I created this sassy old woman, contorted with severe scoliosis, and I think I have a new favorite character.

And THAT’S why I like NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo: November 6 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,096
Total Words Written: 8,403
Percent of Final Goal: 16%

Notes: I skipped a day over the weekend, and that’s actually put me about 1,000 words behind schedule. It’s pretty traumatic. I’ll be able to catch up in time, but… man.

This year’s NaNoWriMo project is so much more DIFFICULT than last year’s. There’s been almost no motivation to continue in the project. Again, just like last year, when I’m able to compel myself to sit down and work, I feel pretty good about the work I do (even though it’s mostly terrible writing). It’s that extra effort to sit down and WORK that I get hung up on.

One of the things that’s made this year’s project more difficult is the presence of a roommate. Last year, I lived on my own, so when I got home from work, I had no distractions at all. I just sat down, got to work, then played video games until it was time for bed. Now, I kinda wanna just chat with the roommate.

No wonder most famous authors have been depressive loners.

NaNoWriMo: November 3 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,768
Total Words Written: 4,615
Percent of Final Goal: 9%

Notes: Last night, I had an “Oh, yeah” moment. As in, “Oh, yeah, THAT’S why I like NaNoWriMo.”

I’ve been writing mostly introductory elements right now – explaining first meetings between the major characters and the like. A lot of what I’ve written (re: everything I’ve written) is total crap and won’t survive the first revision; however, it’s all been valuable. I’m building characters – except that’s not quite right. I’m DISCOVERING characters.

Wendy, for example, is an artist – she likes to draw and paint. I didn’t know that about her when I started. Her father, a doctor, treats his patients like family and his family like patients. He walks hunched over with his big hands folded into his pockets. Both of these characters are starting to feel like real people to me, and that’s EXCITING.

Tomorrow I start writing about Peter (yeah, HE’S in the story, too). I’m looking forward to getting to know him.

NaNoWriMo: November 2 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,101
Total Words Written: 2,847
Percent of Final Goal: 5.7%

Notes: Wednesdays were always the hard days last year. I work a full eight-hour day which I follow up with a three-hour improv workshop. Add an hour of travel time, and my day’s pretty much shot. I’m actually pleased that I was able to get any writing at all done last night, even if it was 500 words short of the daily goal.

My first day of writing could have been far more productive than it was, but I spent about an hour reading up on poker techniques on Wikipedia (it was research for the story, don’t worry). I’m coming to realize that, for my topic this year, there’s a LOT more I need to learn. I’ve decided not to worry about it now, but I’m keeping a list of things I want to read up on after the month is over so I can get a better idea of how to incorporate these subjects into my story. Already, my list includes poker, knitting, and pedophilia…

My book may be a little messed up. Just warning you all now.

NaNoWriMo: November 1 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,746
Total Words Written: 1,746
Percent of Final Goal: 3%

Notes: A bit of a struggle, but the first day counts as a success – I got just about as much writing done as I was supposed to.

Last year, I wrote from an outline – I hopped around to whichever part of the story I felt most like writing. This year… I’m not doing that. I decided to try letting the plot evolve more organically, writing from beginning to end. I have a couple of characters in mind, and a couple of plot points and images that I’ll be writing towards, but no real concrete scenes. Also, I have no premeditated conclusion. I have NO IDEA how this story is going to end, and that’s… kind of exciting.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I’ve added an element to the NaNoWriMo process this year that I didn’t include last year – a media fast. I’m not indulging in ANY superfluous electronic entertainment – that means no movies, TV shows, or music (I have allowed myself some classical music to write to, but that’s it) Also, no video games. My time’s a lot less abundant this year than it was last, so these sacrifices may just be necessary for me to even finish the project this year.

Time Once Again For...

That's right, I'm doing the NaNoWriMo thing again. That means I get to shut myself in my apartment and write 50,000 words of a novel - as if I didn't get enough torture last year.

Seriously, as much as I enjoyed doing NaNoWriMo LAST year, I find that I'm lacking the naive excitement that drove me to completing the project in 2010. This year, all I can think about is the sheer volume of work. Seriously, it's a LOT of work, and, from the beginning of the project, it appears to be a bit daunting.

Luckily, I've got a couple people I can keep tabs on (and who will HOPEFULLY return the favor). Last year, I had a friend who was instrumental in keeping me on task, so I'm planning on taking full advantage of that support.

Also, I'm incredibly excited for this year's novel, which I've been wanting to write since the middle of LAST NaNoWriMo...

Alice and Wendy

You might say I'm cheating a bit in picking Alice and Wendy as my NaNo project. After all, the rules say you're supposed to start a novel from scratch, and Alice and Wendy isn't exactly a brand-new concept for me. However, it's been a long poem for the last five years of its existence, so I say this is good.

So, yeah... NaNoWriMo begins NOW. Wish me luck!

What I Learned from NaNoWriMo

The goal of National Novel Writing Month is to encourage people to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

That translates to about 1,667 words per day - if you're diligent.

It also translates to AT LEAST 60 hours of active writing - and that's not counting the planning, preparation, and procrastination that goes into it.

The result is about 170 double-spaced pages - which is slightly shorter than the book Superfudge.

Oh, and most of what you write is complete and utter tripe.

So what's the point of doing NaNoWriMo?

EDUCATION.

Here's a quick list of what I learned:

1 - Writing is Hard Work

For me, this is actually a revelation. See, I studied writing in college, but I switched over to the Creative Writing emphasis from the Teaching emphasis because it was EASIER. Well, in the real world, it's not. Not really.

Like I said, it takes about two hours of work PER DAY to write effectively. That's two hours of work on top of the eight hours per day I put in at my day job - and, you know, there are just some days after work when I don't WANT to do any extra work. In those days, writing kind got shoved off to the side.

2 - There is Time for Everything

Probably the best lesson I learned, actually, is that I have time to write, if I make it a priority. During the month of November, I wrote just over 50,000 words. I also put in my regular 40 hours a week at work (and, no, I actually DIDN'T do any of my writing at work), prepared lessons for the Sunday School class I teach, continued to participate in workshops and performances for the Jesters Royale, updated my blog regularly, spent quality time with the family, hung out with friends... heck, I even got to play my video games when I really felt like vegging.

The point is, I probably have an extra 2 hours per day MOST days that I didn't do anything else productive with, so I have the time, if I choose to spend it.

The only thing I didn't really have time to do is clean my apartment. I've got, like, ten empty ice-cream cartons that really ought to be thrown out soon.

3 - No Battle Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy

In this case, the enemy is the writing itself, I guess. The days leading up to November 1, I sat down and wrote an elaborate (for me) outline of everything I wanted to cover in my novel. I made a list of all the characters I wanted to include, and I had all the plot twists carefully placed.

Then I sat down to write, and I wound up hating almost all of it.

Characters I chose to focus on never quite developed the way I wanted them to, and plot inconsistencies busted out all over like June (whatever that means - I never thought June was all that "busty"). I wrote a lot of scenes and stories I never planned to write, and, in the end, I decided that the characters I've written wouldn't really participate in the plot I'd planned. So, in revision, I'ma change the whole thing.

I'm glad I used an outline, but I don't feel like I need to stick to it religiously.

4 - There is a Writing Process - and it Works

I hear people say "Trust the process" all the time. Ideas come while you write, good characters write themselves, narratives evolve organically through the natural process of sitting down at the keyboard and forcing yourself to work. Turns out all this is true.

I wound up changing who my favorite character was about three times over the course of writing this story - to the point that, when I revise, I'm going to focus on a completely different character than the one I chose to be my protagonist and completely cut two other characters out simply because they wound up not fitting in to the story I'd created (see Lesson #3).

5 - Genius isn't Accidental

I long believed that all those great works of literature - stories by Dickens, Twain, Hemingway, and other stuffy people - were great completely by accident. After all, there is NO WAY an author could really depend on his or her readers understanding all those allusions and metaphors, right? They HAVE to be there by coincidence.

Turns out that I was wrong. I noticed connections and themes popping up in my head as I wrote my story - which, by the way, is FAR from genius at this point. Working in all of the brilliant ideas I got while writing will take me months, possibly years, of revising. I doubt my little story will ever be as influential or "literary" as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I now have greater respect for those fantastic works of literature and the authors who made them genius.

6 - Writing is Fun

Several times, over the course of the month of November, I got caught up in writing some insane tangent that I hadn't planned on writing that so excited me I called up a friend afterward to brag about it. I haven't written prose seriously in years - and I LOVED it.

So, yeah, it's hard work, time-consuming, a bit intimidating... but, if I really want to be a novelist, it's completely possible and TOTALLY worth the effort.

NaNoWriMo: November 28 Update - SUCCESS

Words Written Last Night: 6,238
Total Words Written: 50,148
Percent of Final Goal: 100%

Notes: Did you catch Jeopardy last night?

Contestant: “I’ll take ‘Awesome People’ for 500, Alex.”

Alex Trebec: “This stud is your daddy.”

*BUZZ*

Contestant: “Who is Stephen Bradford?”

Alex Trebec: CORRECT!!!

NaNoWriMo: November 26 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,500
Total Words Written: 43,910
Percent of Final Goal: 88%

Notes: I wish every day could be Thanksgiving. Seriously, I had four helpings of turkey, five slices of pie, and wrote 6,000 words. It was delightful.

Of course, considering how little work I did earlier in the week, I guess I was just making up for lost time.

I had a great experience last night. I created a character back when I was doing my outline for the story whose only purpose was to be bumped off a couple pages after she enters the story. Well, I got to the point where I was supposed to write her scene… and I don’t think I can kill her off. She’s much too fun to write.

A guy looks at her and asks, “How does someone get to be your friend?”

“He doesn’t ask stupid questions,” she says in response. “Also, he eats this sandwich.”

Anyway, my goal is to finish up this weekend. I was hoping to finish up today, but things suddenly got busy. I imagine I won’t finish until tomorrow, but that’s still a couple of days ahead of schedule, which I’d be fine with.

NaNoWriMo: November 22 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,026
Total Words Written: 35,281
Percent of Final Goal: 70%

Notes: I had an excellent weekend. Got to hang out with some good friends, played games, baked pies with my mom, went to a play, and had a fantastic performance with the Jesters Royale.

Oh, and I did almost no writing. Go me.

I’m still about a single day ahead of schedule – that’s all well and good, but I’m hoping to get done with the whole 50,000 word project by the end of Thanksgiving break – which will mean about 2,400 words per night from here on out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to crank out a lot of that on Friday.

I’m looking forward to the process of revising. Right now, a lot of the plot is fueled by coincidence, which I think is starting to make the narrative engine cough. I’m going to need to find a purer, cleaner, less contrived fuel before declare the novel “done,” but, for now, coincidence helps me get the scenes where I want them to be. Finding out the reasons behind the coincidence will probably pad the word count well beyond 50,000.

NaNoWriMo: November 18 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,039
Total Words Written: 31,419
Percent of Final Goal: 62%

Notes: Man, it is getting HARD to write nowadays. My enthusiasm for the project has really dropped off this week. I’ve stuck with it – mostly – but it’s been kind of an ordeal.

I really am getting quite close to the end of the material I had planned to write, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that I’m not quite happy with the way the story has gone. All the events I have planned take place over the course of six days. Five or so of those days are completely plotted out, and there’s not as much… INTERESTING stuff going on.

The parts I’m proudest of thus far are the little excerpts from different texts that the main characters have written (and that’s most of what I’ve posted on the other blog). So when I’m done with this and I go back to revise, I think most of the prose parts will get scrapped, while these other little bits will stay.

But I haven’t given up yet, and I think I’m still actually a little ahead of schedule, so it’s not all negative.

A Day in the Life of S.R. Braddy, Novelist

NaNoWriMo: November 14 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,921
Total Words Written: 25,274
Percent of Final Goal: 50%

Notes: Halfway done one day early. Not too shabby.

While walking down the street the other day, I hit upon a great idea for a brand new novel. This is usually the point where I give up all hope on my current project, as the excitement for the new project usually overshadows what I’ve already started working on. I’ll have to shelve that idea for now, though; I’ve put far too much work into what I’ve already got going to quit now. We’ll call the other project “NaNoWriMo 2011.”

I still haven’t had time to outline the new story threads that I want to work into the plan I’ve already got. I’m going to need to do that fairly soon – I’m running out of pre-planned material. I’ve written some new, unplanned segments, though, and they’re quickly becoming some of my favorites.

Available for Review: Angie at the Clinic