NaNo Day 17: Post Writem
Nov. 17th, 2007 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6(Yes I know that's not proper Latin)
Final Word Count: 51,309 words
So, I finished today. Completed NaNo in 17 days, which is exceptional, because a) it's my first time really trying, and b) I was sure it would take all month. But I got momentum in the first few days and just kept going with it.
Technically storywise I only completed "Book One" of the story (carrying the main character from after escaping from Wonderland and meeting verious friends and foes before she leaves for the New World (where more recent and more American fictional creations live). Which doesn't even get me close to the point she was at in the original short story that inspired me to do this as NaNo, so maybe I'll write Book Two next year. Or maybe I'll just work on it idly, since I still had a bunch of ideas I didn't use.
Anyways, time for Things I Learned From NaNo:
I can write a good deal and write it fast, write a single story from beginning to end, writing in order, without jumping off to write something else. I can exceed 4000 words in a day if I want to, assuming I'm not too busy with anything else.
The problem is, when I do, I write crap. Much more than I normally do. It feels like I was writing almost all plot. Character (my weakest point probably) got very little definition, desciption was fairly sparse, I mostly got from A to B to C to D. The "this is crap" reaction is one of the major reasons I didn't post anything. I know most people probably think their work is crap and that NaNo's more about just writing rather than worrying about whether it's good, but I'm self-conscious about my writing at the best of times. I usually think I'm writing crap, but when I post it for other people read it it's usually at least short crap on a tight deadline.
I suppose in this case the problem is exacerbated by two factors:
1) I didn't have a very good sense of the world in my head, it was all very rough and ill-defined. If I wrote something set in a more modern context (or future sci-fi), I might have been able to do better.
2) I was writing something using a lot of classic, public domain characters, and, really, I was mostly writing based on memory because I didn't really have the time to research them very much, except in the barest senses. Some of this isn't so bad (since part of the point of the story is that there are multiple versions of many fictional characters, as different interpretations are created with everybody who reads them), but I think there were a few times I knew I probably wasn't being true to the character or setting I was using, and was sort of winging it.
I suppose on one level it's good, because with a workable plot in place I could theoretically rewrite it, keeping the plot intact but focusing on the other stuff I need to do, but I don't think I'm going to do that on this particular work. For some other project though it might be an encouraging avenue.
But what did I do well? Besides managing to get through the plot without any snags, I think for the most part I managed well adhering to my self-imposed rules. I managed to end every fourth chapter with some kind of semi-dramatic cliffhanger (since the short story that started it all was designed as simulating one segment of a Victorian serial novel, released four chapters at a time, I wanted to keep that format. The idea being that at the end of every four chapters there'd theoretically have been a "pick up next month's magazine..." type message, so you end on a cliffhanger to get people to pick it up). I also managed to do pretty good, but not perfectly, with my rule on using fictional characters. I tried to stick to European-created public domain characters for this book, created before Alice Through the Looking Glass was released. There were only four exceptions that I noticed to this rule:
1) One vague and unclear member of the Combine, who was not named or well described, but was technically an American character from the 20th century. The character himself comes from the New World though, so this is planned, not a departure.
2) Dracula, who, though English, was created after Alice. No excuses for this one but the Dracula/Frankenstein facedown was too tempting not to do. And hey, he was part of the Combine, and most of the other exceptions were also part of the Combine. I could theoretically replace him with an earlier Vampire like Lord Ruthven, and have him, if he returned in the second book, having been amalgamated from various vampires.
3) A reference to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I let this one slide because the character himself is a time traveller and wound up in King Arthur's court, so I let the reference slide, especially since he didn't actually appear.
4) A reference to Flatland, which also came after Alice (being the Queen's source for vorpal weapons). Kind of integral to the background of the plot, so probably wouldn't be able to replace it. Could use some sort of excuse about them being pushed back in time through the fourth dimension if I ever detailed Allie's encounters with them in more than a vague flashbacky way.
Otherwise I think I kept fairly close to my plan. There were also some nice plot points where I thought I was writing myself into a corner but then I found a solution I didn't see coming until I got to the point and realized they made sense with everything that came before. So yay that.
Also learned is that when I'm forcing myself to work on one thing for too long my mind does try to divert itself to other projects a lot. In this case, I managed to solve a problem I'd been having with another story and hopefully I'll be able to tackle it and finish it up after of course a little break from writing. Of course, I don't think I can really harness that ability because in general when I'm working on one thing and can't stop, by the time I have the time to go to one of my other ideas, I'll have lost most of the momentum, and if I _can_ stop, then the need to free myself by thinking of something else might not come as easily.
I don't think I could have managed NaNo without the writing schedule I'd been on since last year, which, of course, all started with last year's "Not Quite NaNo" (where I wrote a fair bit, totalling about 38k in November, but mostly on short stories), which really helped to prepare me, forcing the discipline on me to sit down and work to a strict quota.
Still, it might be time to up my word count for my 'on' weeks for writing, at least a little. But first I need the annual post November decompression. With two extra weeks in it (one of the reasons I worked so hard to get it done more quickly, so I could extra time as 'vacation').
Final Word Count: 51,309 words
So, I finished today. Completed NaNo in 17 days, which is exceptional, because a) it's my first time really trying, and b) I was sure it would take all month. But I got momentum in the first few days and just kept going with it.
Technically storywise I only completed "Book One" of the story (carrying the main character from after escaping from Wonderland and meeting verious friends and foes before she leaves for the New World (where more recent and more American fictional creations live). Which doesn't even get me close to the point she was at in the original short story that inspired me to do this as NaNo, so maybe I'll write Book Two next year. Or maybe I'll just work on it idly, since I still had a bunch of ideas I didn't use.
Anyways, time for Things I Learned From NaNo:
I can write a good deal and write it fast, write a single story from beginning to end, writing in order, without jumping off to write something else. I can exceed 4000 words in a day if I want to, assuming I'm not too busy with anything else.
The problem is, when I do, I write crap. Much more than I normally do. It feels like I was writing almost all plot. Character (my weakest point probably) got very little definition, desciption was fairly sparse, I mostly got from A to B to C to D. The "this is crap" reaction is one of the major reasons I didn't post anything. I know most people probably think their work is crap and that NaNo's more about just writing rather than worrying about whether it's good, but I'm self-conscious about my writing at the best of times. I usually think I'm writing crap, but when I post it for other people read it it's usually at least short crap on a tight deadline.
I suppose in this case the problem is exacerbated by two factors:
1) I didn't have a very good sense of the world in my head, it was all very rough and ill-defined. If I wrote something set in a more modern context (or future sci-fi), I might have been able to do better.
2) I was writing something using a lot of classic, public domain characters, and, really, I was mostly writing based on memory because I didn't really have the time to research them very much, except in the barest senses. Some of this isn't so bad (since part of the point of the story is that there are multiple versions of many fictional characters, as different interpretations are created with everybody who reads them), but I think there were a few times I knew I probably wasn't being true to the character or setting I was using, and was sort of winging it.
I suppose on one level it's good, because with a workable plot in place I could theoretically rewrite it, keeping the plot intact but focusing on the other stuff I need to do, but I don't think I'm going to do that on this particular work. For some other project though it might be an encouraging avenue.
But what did I do well? Besides managing to get through the plot without any snags, I think for the most part I managed well adhering to my self-imposed rules. I managed to end every fourth chapter with some kind of semi-dramatic cliffhanger (since the short story that started it all was designed as simulating one segment of a Victorian serial novel, released four chapters at a time, I wanted to keep that format. The idea being that at the end of every four chapters there'd theoretically have been a "pick up next month's magazine..." type message, so you end on a cliffhanger to get people to pick it up). I also managed to do pretty good, but not perfectly, with my rule on using fictional characters. I tried to stick to European-created public domain characters for this book, created before Alice Through the Looking Glass was released. There were only four exceptions that I noticed to this rule:
1) One vague and unclear member of the Combine, who was not named or well described, but was technically an American character from the 20th century. The character himself comes from the New World though, so this is planned, not a departure.
2) Dracula, who, though English, was created after Alice. No excuses for this one but the Dracula/Frankenstein facedown was too tempting not to do. And hey, he was part of the Combine, and most of the other exceptions were also part of the Combine. I could theoretically replace him with an earlier Vampire like Lord Ruthven, and have him, if he returned in the second book, having been amalgamated from various vampires.
3) A reference to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I let this one slide because the character himself is a time traveller and wound up in King Arthur's court, so I let the reference slide, especially since he didn't actually appear.
4) A reference to Flatland, which also came after Alice (being the Queen's source for vorpal weapons). Kind of integral to the background of the plot, so probably wouldn't be able to replace it. Could use some sort of excuse about them being pushed back in time through the fourth dimension if I ever detailed Allie's encounters with them in more than a vague flashbacky way.
Otherwise I think I kept fairly close to my plan. There were also some nice plot points where I thought I was writing myself into a corner but then I found a solution I didn't see coming until I got to the point and realized they made sense with everything that came before. So yay that.
Also learned is that when I'm forcing myself to work on one thing for too long my mind does try to divert itself to other projects a lot. In this case, I managed to solve a problem I'd been having with another story and hopefully I'll be able to tackle it and finish it up after of course a little break from writing. Of course, I don't think I can really harness that ability because in general when I'm working on one thing and can't stop, by the time I have the time to go to one of my other ideas, I'll have lost most of the momentum, and if I _can_ stop, then the need to free myself by thinking of something else might not come as easily.
I don't think I could have managed NaNo without the writing schedule I'd been on since last year, which, of course, all started with last year's "Not Quite NaNo" (where I wrote a fair bit, totalling about 38k in November, but mostly on short stories), which really helped to prepare me, forcing the discipline on me to sit down and work to a strict quota.
Still, it might be time to up my word count for my 'on' weeks for writing, at least a little. But first I need the annual post November decompression. With two extra weeks in it (one of the reasons I worked so hard to get it done more quickly, so I could extra time as 'vacation').
