November 22, 2004
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I’m really glad that I signed on for Nanowrimo, because it got me started. But I just can’t work this way. I have to be able to edit what I wrote the day before. I have to be able to move things around. I am changing the descriptions of the characters, as I get to know them better. I back up each time to a floppy, but because of my lack of experience, I somehow manage to have two different versions. I am constantly comparing the two wondering why the word counts are different. One version will have a missing paragraph while the other has an older version of something that I thought I rewrote. It’s driving me crazy but I’m afraid to delete the second version.
The biggest problem though is that I can’t sit still this long. I am getting sick of the material, too. And I’m only at 26,250 words. But I easily have enough for a book. I haven’t even begun to try and make the sentences sing. It’s just the bare story. Maybe that will be harder.
What I dislike the most is trying to tie events and time frames together with idle chit-chat. I know when I read there is always some of that boring stuff, but at least it should be well-written. A lull in the story should be comforting. Maybe I can talk about food. I know I can write about Easter! It’s spring in my book.
Comments (6)
don’t…
don’t tie events and time frames together w/ idle chit-chat… if you’re bored, so is your reader… tie them together with themes, images, repeating phrases, or something else…
and the key to nano is not to think- just to write- but i’m a fine one to talk… i have two unfinished stories going now… ahh for some discipline! some self-control… must go SHOWER!!!!
Or just jump. Let the reader fill in the blanks. Readers usually prefer that to chitchat – every scene really should mean something, I think. Xanga is good for chitchat!
But don’t you need the chit-chat to bring the reader up to date? I have two characters that meet for lunch every Tuesday, and I’ve been using their conversations to fill the reader in on the stuff that I didn’t think warranted a scene. No? My story covers 21 years with two families, three generations.
Yes, I noted there was a new “mature” woman of grace on board here at Xangaland. Are you also in Portland? If you want to see just how wild my story was up to that point my autobio link is in the sidebar on my page. Welcome new friend!
If it works, then anything is possible. Just be wary of giving the reader more than they need and in ways that feel awkward for you to write.
it might work for you- your conversations, but i challenge you to go out to lunch by yourself at a place where women meet for lunch, and listen to them talk. do they use complete sentences? listen well? talk over each other? use short hand? how do they communicate and what do they do that says more than words? then, go back and read your dialogue. does it sound like them? does it have the same feel and pattern? i practice dialogue writing all the time this way, and it works. tell the backstory in narrative if you want. does any of this make sense?