Dandyfunk

Goldberg Variations

This is from chapter 56 of Wild Mind, "Whales."
Natalie Goldberg says: "The problem is that there are no good maps for the journey of a writer; each one goes it alone. Ultimately, that is always true, but it would be good to hear accounts of the process, so we know others have walked the path."
This is the reason that I read a lot of how-to books. I find that the writer writing about writing often says more about themselves than writing.
Every writer had a "first sale" story. There's a hunger among beginning writers to know and to find out just how it's done. And maybe later in the writer's career they'll be a break point, or a dark night of the soul. A much more personal moment, one where writing becomes something more than just a paycheck. Robert Silverberg's transformation from hack writer to Grandmaster as detailed in Science Fiction 101 is a perfect example.
I read how-to books to see another writer's path, not so much as a road map, but as an adventure story. How those story ideas formed, how that first sale was made, how chance brought an agent around are all more interesting than how to format a manuscript or how to develop interesting characters.

Confessions of a How to Book Junkie

Wild Mind, Living the Writer's Life, by Natalie Goldberg

Much like her previous book, Writing Down the Bones,  Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind contains short chapters and exercises about writing. They are not traditional exercises, they are things that usually begin "try this." She's not concerned with the plotting, manuscript formating or trying-to-find an agent aspects of some writing books, but the getting the thoughts down on paper type of writing. She does a lot a free writing, which is stream of consciousness writing without worrying about content or form. And every chapter has a nugget of a good idea at its core. This book leads you to write "wild" and get rid of the things holding you back.
I haven't done any of the exercises (yet!) but there were so many interesting topics here that I think I'll start a new series of post discussing them. I'll label them "Goldberg Variations."

NaNoWriMo R.I.P

Final wordcount for NaNo -- 24,676.

This was my worst NaNo ever, after winning twice. I just never had much enthusiasm for the story, and I really had to work to figure out what to write. I liked the characters, I had a plot, and the setting was one I used in a few short stories, but when I put them all together they just didn't work out. There's a lot more to a novel then just the individual parts.

I also tried not to fall into the "write anything, even if its crap" mode. This slowed me down a bit, but I feel its worth it. I didn't enjoy the prospect of having another 50,000 word novel that needs major editing (I haven't done a thing with my old NaNo novels).
So I tried not to lapse into producing just wordage, and tried to write well.

NaNoWriMo Update

In a show of solidarity for the WGA strike, I've honored their picket line by not writing anything for the last two days.
Honest! It had nothing to do with not having a plot or hating my characters or trying to stop the gag reflex as I looked over chapters 1-12.
But since my sacrifice has gone unnoticed, and the strike looks as deadlocked as ever, I'll open up yWriter and get back to work.

Words: 17,250

NaNoWriMo Update

15,215 words.
Very slow going. I need more plot!!!

NaNoWriMo Update

8566 words so far.

The plot has exploded, dropping new characters all over and derailing the the initial narrative flow. But I see now that the original idea needed some fleshing out, so I will ride this out.

NaNoWriMo Update

6803 words, as of last night.

Hints and Tips for NaNoWriMo

Visualize Success   Before you start, sit back and close your eyes. Think about November 30th, and how it's going to feel when you finish. Don't think about eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, or weeks without a full night's sleep. Think about the good things: the sense of accomplishment, the pride of finishing, the joy of having written a novel.  Try this mental exercise each day before you start. It will give you a taste of what all the work is for.

Aim high   try to shoot for more than 1667 words a day, to get ahead of the game. If you miss a day, you won't be that far behind.

Give your mind and your body frequent breaks.  For the last two NaNo's I've tracked  time  as well as words. And I found that I can go for about 45 minutes before I need a break. I don't take a long one, just enough to get up, move around, crack the knuckles, think about something else for a few minutes. The most time in one day I've spent writing is 3 hours and 45 minutes, but it was done by four or five sittings at the computer.

You will have a bad day. Face it, it's hard to keep up the pace. If you have one bad day (no writing, low word count) don't worry about it and start fresh the next day. There is also the mid-month doldrums, when the enthusiasm of the first week or two wares off. Don't worry about it, just keep going.

NaNoWriMo

I've decided to participate in the National Novel Writing Month "contest," or NaNoWriMo as it is called. I've tried it and won in 2004 and 2005. Winning means finishing a 50,000 word novel in one month.
One thing I've learned is that 50k is not long enough for a full novel, so depending on how things go, I'll press on into December and try for 100k words by the end of the year.
I've already got a couple of characters, a setting and some plot to get things started.

Moments

There are certain moments in the writing of a story. The best known and loved is, of course, "Yahoo! I'm finished!" But there are other moments, many of them variations on the idea "WTF happens next?!"

But I had two moments on the story I'm writing now. While typing, I needed an obstacle to make a task more difficult. Then it hit me. A new character and a whole new sub-plot that fits into the story. That was a good moment.
I just had another one. This is a re-write of a story I never finished, and I wasn't sure how this one was going to end. I do outline stories, but as we all know, no outline survives contact with a keyboard. And then it just came to me, while sitting around after dinner, how the ending would go. That was a great moment.
Now I just have to write it.