I opened two of my novel documents today. Can't say I actually wrote a lot, but at least I looked at them.
One of them is my novel rewrite. I wrote a paragraph or two of that - no where near enough - but I am working on it, just slowly. I feel like I should be working on it quicker, seeing as I've already written it once, and am just writing it again in a different time period/setting, but it's harder than I thought. I need to just sit down and get on with it, rather than procrastinating.
The other one I wrote a tiny bit of was a novel which I started planning in October last year, and started this year. I've written the prologue and am working on chapter 1. I want to spend a lot of time on this and not rush it - I really like it, but there are quite a few plot holes I need to fill before I can actually write it properly. I have been reading through my notes for this - feeling pleased with how it's going to go actually :D Just need to sit down and write - always the hard part!
Friday, 22 July 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
I have an idea!
So, while I was lying in bed last night, waiting to fall asleep, a light bulb switched on. Now, I'm not talking about a real lightbulb - I'm talking about one in my brain. A metaphorical lightbulb, if you like. And now that lightbulb has turned itself on, it won't go off again. This idea will not leave my mind, so, I'm thinking that maybe I should go with it.
Here's the idea. In November last year, I wrote a novel. I personally think it's kind of boring, but maybe that's just cause it's my writing. I leant my copy of this novel to my friend, who kindly read it, and had a few comments to make.
Number 1 comment was that she loved it. She said she really enjoyed it. I guess that's the best thing anyone could say. She also said my descriptions are beautifully written.
Now for the creative criticism. She said she didn't think it was long enough (I only aimed for 50,000 words, only wrote about 1000 more than that) which is a very fair point. She also said that I didn't get into all of my character's heads enough.
And when she said that, I completely agreed.
It's one of the things I find difficult with writing. I know my character's so well, because I came up with them - they live in my head. But I need to push harder to get my character's across to other people. I know them well, but the people reading about them obviously don't!
So we had a chat about the novel, and I couldn't stop trying to work out what I could do to improve. And then in bed last night, it hit me.
A word that I was dreading was going to force itself upon me.
Rewrite.
And not even just rewriting a certain chapter, or just adding a bit in. I mean a whole rewrite. All of it. Every single part.
And not even just a rewrite to improve it. No, my brain - thinking it's clever - had an even better idea than that.
A rewrite where I use the same characters, same plot - but different settings and a different time period.
Thank you so much brain!
But now, the more I think about rewriting the novel differently, the more I think that it's a good idea. The more I fall in love with the idea even. It'd be a much better way to get into my character's heads, strengthen my plot... Everything.
No idea when to actually start, but I'm considering doing it for CampNaNo. Who knows?
Here's the idea. In November last year, I wrote a novel. I personally think it's kind of boring, but maybe that's just cause it's my writing. I leant my copy of this novel to my friend, who kindly read it, and had a few comments to make.
Number 1 comment was that she loved it. She said she really enjoyed it. I guess that's the best thing anyone could say. She also said my descriptions are beautifully written.
Now for the creative criticism. She said she didn't think it was long enough (I only aimed for 50,000 words, only wrote about 1000 more than that) which is a very fair point. She also said that I didn't get into all of my character's heads enough.
And when she said that, I completely agreed.
It's one of the things I find difficult with writing. I know my character's so well, because I came up with them - they live in my head. But I need to push harder to get my character's across to other people. I know them well, but the people reading about them obviously don't!
So we had a chat about the novel, and I couldn't stop trying to work out what I could do to improve. And then in bed last night, it hit me.
A word that I was dreading was going to force itself upon me.
Rewrite.
And not even just rewriting a certain chapter, or just adding a bit in. I mean a whole rewrite. All of it. Every single part.
And not even just a rewrite to improve it. No, my brain - thinking it's clever - had an even better idea than that.
A rewrite where I use the same characters, same plot - but different settings and a different time period.
Thank you so much brain!
But now, the more I think about rewriting the novel differently, the more I think that it's a good idea. The more I fall in love with the idea even. It'd be a much better way to get into my character's heads, strengthen my plot... Everything.
No idea when to actually start, but I'm considering doing it for CampNaNo. Who knows?
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Day I'm not 100% sure what: WriYe is harder than I thought.
Yes, no blog since March - I'm very very bad at keeping this!
I don't know what day this is meant to be, and I don't dare to open my spreadsheet and look. I'm scared of the amount of red days that'll be on there, and how far I'm actually behind on my writing.
So, here's the deal.
I've decided that instead of counting the number of words - something which really stresses me out, cause I always seem to keep one eye on the word count and one eye on what I'm writing (a habit I seem to have now dropped, thank goodness!) I'm going to work by finishing novels instead.
So, by the end of this year (there's 6 months left of it!) I am aiming to have finished 3 or possibly 4 novels.
I am currently writing one which is closer to being finished than anything else at the moment. (Because I have to look) it's just over the 40,000 word mark, and will be finished after another... 5 chapters maybe? Each chapter will be around 4,000 words, so this novel is aiming for around 60,000 words.
Heather did a critique for me, so I need to print that off and go through and edit what I have so far. Apparently I use the word "and" way too much, and both of us decided it's because I'm trying to up my wordcount with it.
Oops?
I have another novel which is sitting at roughly 6 or 7k, and that's just the prologue and half of chapter 1. I'm really taking my time writing this novel as I want it to be perfect :P I feel that my writing is a lot better in that one, than the other one :P
The third and fourth (possible) novels are ones which I will write for Camp NaNoWriMo (whenever that takes place... Either that, or I can do a JulNoWriMo and just set myself a target for the month) and also for NaNoWriMo in November.
It's a lot of writing, and I have no idea what to do with these novels once I've finished. People keep telling me I should send them off to get published, but photography is what I want to pursue, and also what I'm going to university for.
Well... we'll see really.
I should probably get back to writing...
I don't know what day this is meant to be, and I don't dare to open my spreadsheet and look. I'm scared of the amount of red days that'll be on there, and how far I'm actually behind on my writing.
So, here's the deal.
I've decided that instead of counting the number of words - something which really stresses me out, cause I always seem to keep one eye on the word count and one eye on what I'm writing (a habit I seem to have now dropped, thank goodness!) I'm going to work by finishing novels instead.
So, by the end of this year (there's 6 months left of it!) I am aiming to have finished 3 or possibly 4 novels.
I am currently writing one which is closer to being finished than anything else at the moment. (Because I have to look) it's just over the 40,000 word mark, and will be finished after another... 5 chapters maybe? Each chapter will be around 4,000 words, so this novel is aiming for around 60,000 words.
Heather did a critique for me, so I need to print that off and go through and edit what I have so far. Apparently I use the word "and" way too much, and both of us decided it's because I'm trying to up my wordcount with it.
Oops?
I have another novel which is sitting at roughly 6 or 7k, and that's just the prologue and half of chapter 1. I'm really taking my time writing this novel as I want it to be perfect :P I feel that my writing is a lot better in that one, than the other one :P
The third and fourth (possible) novels are ones which I will write for Camp NaNoWriMo (whenever that takes place... Either that, or I can do a JulNoWriMo and just set myself a target for the month) and also for NaNoWriMo in November.
It's a lot of writing, and I have no idea what to do with these novels once I've finished. People keep telling me I should send them off to get published, but photography is what I want to pursue, and also what I'm going to university for.
Well... we'll see really.
I should probably get back to writing...
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Day 74: Blog keeping is not my strong point.
Yeah - I suck at keeping a blog. I keep forgetting to update everyone on what I'm doing, not that it's very interesting, so maybe everyone else is just better off not actually knowing, because it won't benefit them in anyway whatsoever.
So, recently, I've been doing loads of photography (it's important and I do like taking photos :P ) and have been updating my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/revolutionofperception/
It can be found at that link, just in case you wondered. And yes, another shameless plug.
This month, I had 9 consecutive days of not writing after 4 or 5 days of days where I wrote over 1,000 each day. I don't know how I can vary so much in a month, but yesterday I wrote 3,263 words and so far today, I have written 1,065 words. I'm feeling a lot more positive about my writing this week. When I got my proof copy, I read it and thought "This is utter crap" which really knocked my confidence. I'm not sure if I'm going to rewrite it or not, or just leave it as a project that I completed and it was practice for greater things to come. Possibly.
Right now, I've started a short story/exercise where I put iTunes on shuffle, and write scenes for this story depending on the song. The scenes are inspired by the mood of the song and the lyrics. It's pretty fun, and I like music so it does help with writing. Right now though, I'm having a bit of a chill by listening to Basshunter - I love Basshunter xD His music is my guilty pleasure... like James Blunt's music too.
So that's what I've been doing. Take a Bite has reached 39,276 words so far, and it's a way off from being finished, so perhaps I'll be able to get up to 60k or so with it - not sure how much more I'm going to be writing. I think another 20k definitely, although I'd like it to be a little longer than that.
Happy writing.
So, recently, I've been doing loads of photography (it's important and I do like taking photos :P ) and have been updating my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/revolutionofperception/
It can be found at that link, just in case you wondered. And yes, another shameless plug.
This month, I had 9 consecutive days of not writing after 4 or 5 days of days where I wrote over 1,000 each day. I don't know how I can vary so much in a month, but yesterday I wrote 3,263 words and so far today, I have written 1,065 words. I'm feeling a lot more positive about my writing this week. When I got my proof copy, I read it and thought "This is utter crap" which really knocked my confidence. I'm not sure if I'm going to rewrite it or not, or just leave it as a project that I completed and it was practice for greater things to come. Possibly.
Right now, I've started a short story/exercise where I put iTunes on shuffle, and write scenes for this story depending on the song. The scenes are inspired by the mood of the song and the lyrics. It's pretty fun, and I like music so it does help with writing. Right now though, I'm having a bit of a chill by listening to Basshunter - I love Basshunter xD His music is my guilty pleasure... like James Blunt's music too.
So that's what I've been doing. Take a Bite has reached 39,276 words so far, and it's a way off from being finished, so perhaps I'll be able to get up to 60k or so with it - not sure how much more I'm going to be writing. I think another 20k definitely, although I'd like it to be a little longer than that.
Happy writing.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Day 67: The sun is out, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are...
YOU! :D
So, the past couple of days, I've been slacking on my writing cause I'm bad and have been doing photography instead, which is a good thing in some ways. It's been sunny and the sunshine puts me in a good mood, so yeah :)
For those of you who don't know - I got a flickr account to show off let people see my photography.
Here's a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/revolutionofperception/
Clickie the photos to make them bigger /shameless plug *shifty eyes*
Also - my proof copy of my NaNo novel arrived yesterday and I love it :D The writing does need work and I've spotted some spelling mistakes in it already (oops) and I need to re-write some of it, but I think the plot is good. Maybe the characters need a bit more development, I'm not sure - I might ask Heather to critique some of my writing cause she's nice like that, and has been wanting to read it :P
I'll take some photos of my proof when I remember later :)
So, the past couple of days, I've been slacking on my writing cause I'm bad and have been doing photography instead, which is a good thing in some ways. It's been sunny and the sunshine puts me in a good mood, so yeah :)
For those of you who don't know - I got a flickr account to show off let people see my photography.
Here's a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/revolutionofperception/
Clickie the photos to make them bigger /shameless plug *shifty eyes*
Also - my proof copy of my NaNo novel arrived yesterday and I love it :D The writing does need work and I've spotted some spelling mistakes in it already (oops) and I need to re-write some of it, but I think the plot is good. Maybe the characters need a bit more development, I'm not sure - I might ask Heather to critique some of my writing cause she's nice like that, and has been wanting to read it :P
I'll take some photos of my proof when I remember later :)
Monday, 28 February 2011
Day 59: Coming to the end of the month.
This month has been pretty unproductive for me, really. I've written 13,247 words this month compared to January's total of 34,190. This past week, I haven't felt like doing a lot of stuff really - I haven't played on the sims, I have hardly written... But I did take a lot of photos yesterday, which is a good thing, as I want to be a photographer, and am taking photography at university in September :D How exciting?
I might attempt to do some writing, but I don't think I'll be too disappointed in myself if I don't. My inner-editor and mentor has obviously gone on holiday or something, cause I'm no longer getting too annoyed at myself if I don't write. What is wrong with me?
I'll try and finish off my Vampire prologue today, as that's one scene and then that's done. The prologue is standing at about 2,500 words at the moment - I hope that's not too much for a prologue, especially as it's only going to get longer. I think my writing for that is a lot better than it was for my NaNo novel, and also for the other novel I'm writing at the moment.
I think I will actually print out my other novel today, and have a read through. Hopefully that'll get me motivated for next month, and will give me some ideas. I know where the novel is going pretty much, I just need to write it, instead of just having the ideas mulling around my head, as they do. At least I'm motivated for photography, because at the moment - writing is just meant to be a hobby. I don't know if anything will ever come of it, and I'm not too fussed if it doesn't :) It's just something I'm meant to enjoy.
My WriYe total is 47,347 and if I do push today, I could get up to 50,000, which would be quite good really. I'll see how motivated I am when it actually comes to writing :)
I didn't get a chance to talk to Heather yesterday - normally we attempt to motivate each other or end up watching TV at the same time or even playing the sims xD - and it's weird not talking to her xD Hopefully I'll catch her today, and we'll both agree that March will be a much better month for us.
I might attempt to do some writing, but I don't think I'll be too disappointed in myself if I don't. My inner-editor and mentor has obviously gone on holiday or something, cause I'm no longer getting too annoyed at myself if I don't write. What is wrong with me?
I'll try and finish off my Vampire prologue today, as that's one scene and then that's done. The prologue is standing at about 2,500 words at the moment - I hope that's not too much for a prologue, especially as it's only going to get longer. I think my writing for that is a lot better than it was for my NaNo novel, and also for the other novel I'm writing at the moment.
I think I will actually print out my other novel today, and have a read through. Hopefully that'll get me motivated for next month, and will give me some ideas. I know where the novel is going pretty much, I just need to write it, instead of just having the ideas mulling around my head, as they do. At least I'm motivated for photography, because at the moment - writing is just meant to be a hobby. I don't know if anything will ever come of it, and I'm not too fussed if it doesn't :) It's just something I'm meant to enjoy.
My WriYe total is 47,347 and if I do push today, I could get up to 50,000, which would be quite good really. I'll see how motivated I am when it actually comes to writing :)
I didn't get a chance to talk to Heather yesterday - normally we attempt to motivate each other or end up watching TV at the same time or even playing the sims xD - and it's weird not talking to her xD Hopefully I'll catch her today, and we'll both agree that March will be a much better month for us.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Day 57: Google must think I'm weird.
I have been actually doing research for my Vampire novel, as I want to get things to do with the prologue's time period accurate. Google must think I am very odd, because of some of the things I searched. Yesterday, it was 18th Century goblets, today it was 18th Century bath tubs, mahogany wood and all sorts of weird things. It's quite fun though, and I'm enjoying doing it (Bet Heather thinks I'm weird for saying that xD)
I've written a little bit of my Vampire novel today, and I really need to write some more of my other novel. I shouldn't be writing more than one thing at once, because it means that I'm de-focused on one of the projects, but never mind.
I haven't given my stats for a while, so even though it's not quite the end of the month yet, I'll give a breakdown now, as it gives me something to do :D (I wish blog posts counted towards word count *shifty eyes*)
Wordcount breakdown:
Novel 1: 36,073
Vampire Novel: 2,318
Train Spotter's Anonymous (a short story): 274
Superheroing Made Easy. Sort of. : 1,163
Exercises/Short stories: 1,285
Planning: 5,583
Total wordcount: 46,696
I think that's a good total for almost two months work :) Obviously no where near NaNo worthy but I'm still pleased with that :)
I've written a little bit of my Vampire novel today, and I really need to write some more of my other novel. I shouldn't be writing more than one thing at once, because it means that I'm de-focused on one of the projects, but never mind.
I haven't given my stats for a while, so even though it's not quite the end of the month yet, I'll give a breakdown now, as it gives me something to do :D (I wish blog posts counted towards word count *shifty eyes*)
Wordcount breakdown:
Novel 1: 36,073
Vampire Novel: 2,318
Train Spotter's Anonymous (a short story): 274
Superheroing Made Easy. Sort of. : 1,163
Exercises/Short stories: 1,285
Planning: 5,583
Total wordcount: 46,696
I think that's a good total for almost two months work :) Obviously no where near NaNo worthy but I'm still pleased with that :)
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