Making a dent in Shattered Amulet
Filed under Writing Journal on November 4, 2008
Tagged: nanowrimo, Shattered Amulet
November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). For those who haven’t ever heard of this event, NaNoWriMo offers a challenge for writers to produce a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and November 30. If you do the math, that’s just under 1700 words per day. The goal is not to produce a polished manuscript that’s ready for submission to an agent, but to just finish a manuscript, something aspiring writers so often fail to accomplish.
I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but not with the intention of completing a 50k-word manuscript. My challenge will be to add 50,000 words to Shattered Amulet by the end of the month. It has been a struggle to get more than 300 words a night recently. This is primarily due to the amount of time I’m setting aside, but it also has to do with my inability to just get words on the page. Sometimes I feel like Luke trying to anticipate the remote’s next strike.
“Let go of your conscious self, Kameron,” Obi-Wan keeps telling me, “and act on instinct.”
“With only 30 days to produce 50,000, I can’t go back and edit,” I whine. “How am I supposed to write?”
“Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them. Stretch out with your feelings.”
NaNoWriMo will be my blast shield. My hope is that this exercise will break down those barriers and help me establish a connection with the story. Only then will the words truly flow.
I haven’t set myself any sort of length for the manuscript, but I imagine it will fall somewhere around 90k. Fifty-thousand words won’t get me to the end of Shattered Amulet, but I’ll have made a sizable dent.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I just had a great idea for a modern political thriller last night along the lines of Tom Clancy or similar works of that genre. Unfortunately, I’m not so much into writing modern political thrillers.
I do have the opportunity to do a lot of writing as I ride the bus to and from work, but I usually use that time to catch up on other tasks I have been putting off for years and years..
Maybe one of these days I’ll pick up the pen again (so to speak, since it will likely be typing at a terminal).
November 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The desire to get a laptop has been growing stronger and stronger for me, and being able to “write” while commuting or at lunch is one of the big motivations. I certainly enjoy reading during those times, but I’d give it up to act sooner when struck by inspiration during the day.
November 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
go with the laptop. you’ll love it…i take mine everywhere & “write” whenever i’ve the chance. i feel so much better emotionally, as well, since i’m able to do something productive & not simply waste time during those down times!