NaNoWriMo Know the Novel: Part 2: Within the WIP
Okay, I'm not going to lie. This month has been chaotic in the best sense of the word, but writing itself has been my safe spot in a whirlwind world. Here are some questions for the second part of Christine Smith's "Know the Novel" linkup I'm taking part in.
So without further ado, here we go!
Q 1. How's the writing going overall?
If you've ever been on a roller coaster, you'll be familiar with the "hills." This month has been a lot like a roller coaster. There have been times when writing has been easy and then there's been times in what I like to call "the slog."
If anyone has read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, they'll be familiar with the "Slough of Despond."
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| Art by:
George
Woolliscroft Rhead, Frederick Rhead and Louis Rhead
When I refer to "the slog", most of the time this is what I picture. It's been a fight to write my daily word count and keep going to not fall behind. The characters have been fighting me at every turn and refusing to move when they're told to.
Q 2. What's been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?
Oh, boy. Where do I start? I
know! I'll give you three things. Three is my favorite random number.
Q 3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who's your favorite to write about?
I LOVE my characters! All of
them, good and evil alike. Some of them aren't as fleshed out as I'd like them
to be, but we're working on that. Some just like to keep their mouths shut and
not share with the class.
As for my favorite to write
about? I love all of them. I have no favorites. Guys... They're looking at me.
Do you have any idea how hard this question is to answer when I'm being stared
at by three characters? It's awful, I tell you! Awful!
Oh! They just got
distracted. I'll try to make this quick and tell you before they get back.
My favorite, without a
doubt, is Tolliver. She is just so quirky, fun and feisty! She'll do things
just to get a reaction from her guardian and sometimes I have to pause and stare
at the screen because I cannot believe she just did that!
*laughs nervously* No. Not all.
Ignore the horrible disease that just appeared out of nowhere and that scares
me to death.
Ignore the underground
newspaper. It doesn't exist! Sh! Don't listen to my characters.
Oh! And the biggest surprise?
There was a character who was supposed to have left the city. In my
original plans, he was supposed to have left early in the story. Now,
he's showing up and threatening my protagonist and antagonist/protagonist. I
mean... WHAT?
Q 5. Have you come across any problem areas?
No! Of
course not! Why would you say that? *shoves plot holes under the carpet*
Okay, so I'm
a plantser. I plan some things out, but mostly I just write by the
"seat of my pants". There will inevitably be parts that need
patching, character that need help and better description thrown into the mix.
But hey! That's what editing is for, right?
Q 6. What's been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?
Being able
to write every day, so far. I'm not going to lie. This month has been a
whirlwind of emotions. The beginning of this month, I had to deal with a loss
in the family and the emotions that came with that. For a while, I didn't
feel like doing much except crying, but I continued to write through
that and I firmly believe that writing helped me process things during those
days.
Q 7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you'd be? Would you take any different actions than they have?
Oh, dear...
Let me think. I don't think I'd be able to deal with the lives that my main
characters have, so it would have to be a side character. There's a character
that makes a hard choice to stay in a dangerous area and help people and I'd
like to think that I'd be this character. For now, her name will stay
a secret. I'm not sure if I would have taken a different action than her, but I
might have gotten the kids in her care out of there. It's a hard choice right
now because they don't really have anywhere else to go.
Q 8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets.
*Note: To
separate the quotes from the rest of the text, I've enclosed them in brackets.
Hope this helps. There are probably typos, but it's a first draft. This is raw
and unedited. Also, the formatting totally got thrown to the wind when I tried to copy and paste it. Not sure why.
First sentence:
[“Excuse me?” a small, feminine voice said.]
Snippet 1 (a bit of Ross and Tolliver, two of my MCs):
[She placed her head on her arms and looked up at him. “How much
longer?”
Ross pulled out his watch from his coat pocket. “Five more
minutes. I got a call to go down to the docks. Do you want to come?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said dryly.
“I supposed you just wanted to stay in your room all day and work
on all that needlework,” Ross jibed. He winked.
Tolliver laughed. “Very funny and don’t you dare call me
Elizabeth. I’m not one of those proper ladies. I don’t have time for
needlework.”
“It is your name, you know,” Ross said, writing something down
with his pencil. He folded up the paper and stuck it in his pocket.
“I know, but I don’t have to like it.” ]
Snippet 2 (My MC/Antagonist, James Quinn, featuring a very tiny
fairy):
[“I might be able to help,” the fairy said. She walked over
to him. She tumbled and grasped his arm for balance.
James groaned. “Unless you have some inspiration, somewhere,
some fix to get rid of this block, you really can’t. Perhaps my father was
right. Writing is a worthless pursuit.”
She frowned. “Never,” she said. ]
Q 9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! [ For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!]
I usually write early in the morning from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
(I found out early on this year that this was an hour in which nothing else was
going on so I made it my writing hour.).
During NaNoWriMo, I've taken this hour and got as
close to my word count as I could and then, providing it was a day that I could
take my laptop to work, I lugged my computer in my backpack and got the rest of
the words at work.
Fun note: I've noticed that because I do a lot of my
writing at work in the evenings, the NaNoWriMo website has dubbed me a
"mid-morning flamingo." I'm not even sure what that means, but I'm
taking it as a compliment.
Typos? I've had plenty, but for the life of me, I
can't seem to remember any particularly memorable ones. I know I've made some
on purpose because one of my characters is a ten-year-old kid and he can't say
things quite right or spell things correctly all the time.
Yes, I've derailed from my outline because my
characters are very stubborn and have minds of their own.
They like frustrating their author and running into trouble, even if
I tell them not to.
Killed off a character? Maaybee? My lips are
sealed. Well, okay. There was that one character... and possibly another. Plans
to kill off yet another...
Q 10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee ( or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media ( *cough, cough*)? Tell all!
So, I've touched on my normal
writing times, but what I neglected to mention is the fact that I usually have
a cup of hot earl grey tea with bergamot (it has to have bergamot. It's
essential! Trust me on this.), with a dash of maple syrup, a teaspoon of
vanilla stevia and a splash of almond milk. Steep for two minutes and remove
the tea bag. (Yes, I'm very precise.)
At home, I write in my room
where I can hopefully pull thoughts from my brain in silence. (No writing
music. I prefer to sit in silence. Oh, the horror!)
At work, there's music
going on in the background, but I've heard it so many times that I just tune it
out. Here, I usually write 25 minutes on and 5 minutes off so I can move around
and do things. (That is, if I don't get distracted by social media.
It happens, not gonna lie, but it's part of the process.)
Work brings a whole new
selection of drinks, usually water and/or a Bia drink for an afternoon boost of
caffeine.
If I absolutely need to listen to
music, I'll usually listen to it in the car, away from my writing space. I
listen to a lot of instrumental/choral music like "Two Steps from
Hell" and "Epic Trailer Music". Ambient Mixer.com has
a bunch of ambient sounds you can either string together to create an
atmosphere of your own, or select one that someone else created. It's super
cool!
Sometimes I'll listen to
music with lyrics and they'll provide inspiration. Some of my favorite bands
which have provided inspiration for Tear and a lot of my short
stories are: Twenty One Pilots and Owl
City.
NaNoWriMo has been great
for boosting creativity all the way around. All I want to do is write, read and
create little projects like charm bracelets and fan art. I mean, isn't that
great?
So,
that's all for today! Hope you've enjoyed a brief peek into my crazy month.
Now
I want to hear from you. Are you doing NaNoWriMo? How's it going? Have you been
able to stay on track or have you got distracted from all the creative juices
flowing too?
Let me know in the comment section below.
I'd love to hear from you.
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