NaNo 2010 reflections

In case you missed it, November’s over, and so is National Novel Writing Month. Before the clock hit midnight on December 1st, I managed to write 47,877 words… this close to the 50K I needed in order to win.  Oops.

Don’t feel too sorry for me, though, because so far as I’m concerned, I won. I may not have made the requisite word count, but I did finish the rough drafts of “Areopagus“, “Spyder, Spyder“, and “Strength of the Fallen“. Each of the three projects now has an ending, if a sucky one.

I’m not too concerned about suckiness. The goal of NaNo is not to be perfect, it’s to be prolific – to suck, but to suck impressively. At this point, the hard part – the “getting words down” part – is over. What is left is the perfectionist’s dream. When editing, I can be as detail-oriented as I please, from the perspective of a writer, a world-builder, a reader, and a feminist. Revision brings out a polished shine to my impressively sucky words, and adds depth and thoughtfulness to an otherwise-flat world. Yes, revision is definitely my favorite part of the writing process.

But first, I get a break. I had homework to do December 1st, but on the 2nd I had my first taste of freedom. I got more than 6 hours of sleep (during the entire month of November I only managed this once), and when I woke up, I did whatever I wanted. So I really just played Pokemon in bed all day, but hey, that’s what I wanted!

The days to come will be slightly less fun, as I have one more week before finals. Still, I will be without a long-term creative project for at least a few weeks. Maybe I’ll do some art. I have a short autobio/journal comic planned for Winter Break. Nothing epic in scope, thank god.  I’m even too pooped to start thinking about Multiversed again. The goal for now is simply to recover. When I return to the drafts of the three projects, they will be new to me again, and more importantly, as exciting as they were when new.

So that’s the interesting stuff. What follows is a rundown of my NaNo 2010 experiences. If you like stats or listening to me blathering on about process, feel free to read below the cut.

Twelve characters, three stories, one kick-ass month

NaNoWriMo goes well so far.  I had a very stressful time last week, and I’m still recovering from that.  So I’m behind in my word count, but the last two days I’ve managed to pull off 2,000+ words.

This NaNo seems to be oddly easier, even with the setbacks.  It helps having established stories to work off of, I suppose, and the fact that I can switch between stories once my steam runs out.  I’ve written 5,744 words so far, about half in Spyder, Spyder, and half in Areopagus.

I found this awesome 12 Characters meme on the NaNo forums, but they’re down at the moment, so I thought I’d post mine here.  It’s crossover-tastic, as one might expect.  Later in the month I’ll probably be writing crossover-fic due to NaNo desperation, but for now, this scratches the itch pretty well.

Multiversing Strength of the Fallen

NaNo’s coming up quick, and to celebrate I thought I’d do a post a day on the projects I’ve got to look forward to. First up, Strength of the Fallen.

The plot: the S’riellan (translated as “the Fallen”) are the super-powered soldiers of the elves. But one morning, a S’riellan war hero named Minrei wakes up to find her strength, speed, and senses are those of a regular elf.

SotF is probably my favorite of the three NaNo projects.  It’s got a lot more going on than the stories I usually write, in that Minrei is not a predestined hero, nor a powerful rookie. Rather, Minrei is a physically-strong woman turned weak, an experienced fighter now reliant on smarts and creativity, and a fugitive from a government founded on conspiracies.

I reread the initial draft as prep for NaNo. Predictably, the writing became less well-thought-out as I went through it. I could tell when I started getting desperate for higher word counts, since I stopped using contractions and started adding notes about which swear words to use. (SotF was apparently written after watching Firefly, because I had decided to swear in Fijian. I now regret that decision. It’s too obvious.)

Basically, in the 88 page document, anything after page 40 might get cut. I’ve made a few plot-altering decisions for the coming NaNo already. A big one is that I’m cutting the romance bit that occurs in the last half. It doesn’t fit, and makes Minrei seem emotionally-weaker than I want her to be.

The other big change is that I’m making SotF part of 3PF canon – and by extension, Multiversed. When I first thought up Minrei, I used a similar worldbuilding premise to the one I used in 3PF. If you’re interested in an explanation, you can find it below the cut.

Tossing and turning the page

I’ve been having trouble sleeping recently. I go to bed and I toss and I turn, and I think about Multiversed. As a result, I’ve made a lot of progress in figuring out the chapter storylines. The prologue and chapter 1 still need some work, but chapters 2, 3, n-1, and n are more-or-less planned out in my head (where n is the magical chapter when shit goes down, yo). I even have chapter titles for some of them. It’s an exhilarating feeling, having solid plot to work with.

And, if you check my Multiversed references page, you’ll see that I’ve posted an update with Damien’s character sheet. I’d hoped to have Valerie’s revised character sheet done by today as well, but… see for yourself :

Heh heh. To misquote “Bend It Like Beckham,” when drawing, I tend to make even mosquito bites look like juicy juicy mangoes. ^^;;

Sleeplessness led to another awesome turn of events besides Multiversed progress. One night I stumbled back out of bed, and went back to my computer. I was looking for a couple of documents in which I keep spare ideas (for incorporating into a Multiversed storyline, say). But instead I ended up reading the beginning of Strength of the Fallen. Then, amazed, I read bits of Areopagus. Then Spyder, Spyder.

They were actually good.

It’s been long enough since I wrote these projects that I don’t remember anything but the barest details of them. It was as though someone else had written them, some writer who knew what she was doing.

For the first time in my life, I agree with my mother that I should try to get these things published. …Which means I should probably finish writing them.

Therefore I’m proud to announce that I will be doing National Novel Writing Month again this year. This time, I will be writing the ends to the drafts from my previous three NaNo’s. This month, my prep reading will be the drafts; my homework to brainstorm endings. I’m incredibly excited for this. NaNo is the most hectic but brilliant time. I feel so alive (if tired) during it, and I’m sure this time won’t be an exception.

(And look at those pep talk guests! Holly Black, Dave Eggers and Lemony Snicket. SQUEE. :3 )

Last but not least, I’m including an excerpt of Strength of the Fallen. There are a few things I’ll change in a later draft, of course, but it reminded me of all the intrigue that’s at the heart of this story. Click to read the excerpt.

Reboot

My heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest at any moment; there’s just so much to do and so much to remember to do right now. I’m excited and anxious and thoughtful all at the same time. My first class of the semester is in three hours or so, and the beginning of a new semester is just as bad as New Year’s for regrets and hopeful glances at the future. It’s a good time for backing up documents, for cleaning my room, for hurriedly completing unfinished work. It’s also a good time to take stock of current projects.

That the school year is a poor time for creative projects has been proven to me over and over again. I can promise that I will dutifully work on a project, but between homework and last-minute get-togethers, my own work tends to suffer. This semester is going to be especially tough, as I’ll be working on my CS capstone on top of the usual craziness.

It’s a safe bet that I will not be trying NaNoWriMo this year.

Here’s where I’m at with my open projects:

Areopagus, Strength of the Fallen, & Spyder, Spyder – All are awaiting revision of first drafts. These are on hold.

Cathy, Queen of Evil - Never made it out of embryonic stage. This project is effectively dead. World-building and character development from this project will be incorporated into Multiversed.

Past, Present and Probable Future – Also awaiting revision of (second?) draft. It is on hold. The main characters are being used in Multiversed. Multiversed occurs after the events of this novel, and thus will have spoilers, so I might discontinue work on this project.

Multiversed – Now has its own project page! Work continues on concept art.

Mark Two - My CS capstone project? TBA.

***

This semester I will be working on Multiversed concept art; Mark Two planning and execution; and The Mad Scientist Wars. Unfortunately, work on Multiversed may lag, since keeping up on the other two is especially important. Finishing homework, getting a job, and retaining sanity is also important. I make no promises in regard to the last item, though.

Current projects

Right now, I’m focusing on homework and getting everything done.  Surviving the weeks and trying not to be grumpy; that sort of thing.  Since I’m no longer reading webcomics everyday, but only on Saturdays, I’ve been getting a lot of reading done.  Actual books, can you imagine?  Yeah, reading used to be the only thing I ever did in my spare time.  And then I discovered webcomics… sigh.

Besides reading, I’ve been making an attempt to try the “Do Something Creative Everyday” resolution again. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve been working on:

I’ve been writing “Strength of the Fallen” again, though not in very large chunks.  It won’t be done anytime soon, I’m afraid, especially since I’ve written myself into a corner.  I have no idea how to get to the end from where I’m at, and I can tell the continuity is already messed up.  I will keep trying.

My fascination with text adventure games has once again led me to try learning Inform, which allows programming such games.  The first time I tried learning it, I found it too hard, and dropped it after creating one sample game.  Now, thanks to Computer Science classes, it’s almost too easy.  I understand creating objects, inheritance and all that other good stuff, so all that’s left is picking up the grammar of the language.  Shouldn’t be too hard.

Drawing?  Ha ha, you must be joking.  I’ve found some good stock art and reference sites for helping me practice, but doodles are all I’m capable of doing right now.  I’d like to do some “Tao of Geek” fanart, but… eh…  Time constraints.

I’m doing some writing outside of “Strength,” which is where a lot of time is going.  My Short Stories class does exercises in fiction, and I’m finding a lot of good ideas to expand on.  I may post one here at some point.  Not right now; nothing’s finished.   Soon, though, soon!

Breaking the fourth wall 2006 & 2007 (belated)

These should have been posted last year. As in 2007. Why? Because these are pictures for the project “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” a supposedly annual undertaking in which I draw my characters all together, interacting. It’s supposed to help me visualize my characters, as well as judge how my artwork has changed within a year.

Here’s the first one, made in 2006:

From right to left, the characters are:

• my avatar & evil side; an evil spider (from an unnamed, scrapped story)
• Character-Ashley (from “3PF“)
• a minotaur (from the same unnamed, scrapped story as the spider)
• Mr. Scotese (from “Sing a Song of Scotese” and real life)
• Dominick (from “the Four Friends” and not a stick figure in real life)
• Mr. C (from “Adventures in Spanish 2 with Mr. C” and real life)
• Jessica (from “3PF” and not a fan of Scotese in real life)
• Cathy and the Gatekeeper (from “Cathy Queen of Evil,” though currently in different forms)
• Annabelle (from “My Homeland Chicago“)
• Janet (from “My Homeland Chicago“)

Here’s the “4th Wall” for last year, 2007.  Half of the characters were drawn during the summer; the other half weren’t drawn until 2007 had just expired.  Even though I was drawing them this year (effectively cheating, I feel), I decided to ink them the old way, with the regular Micron pens instead of the brush pens.  So I wasn’t cheating too much.

The characters from right to left are:

• Stick Figure Dominick (“the Four Friends”)
• Annabelle (“My Homeland Chicago,” another early story that got scrapped [that's why she's so sad!])
• Good Cathy/’Angel’ (“Cathy Queen of Evil“)
• Jessica (“3PF“)
• Ashley/my avatar (“3PF“)
• Mr. Scotese (“Sing a Song of Scotese“)
• Evil Spider (unnamed, scrapped story)
• Mr. C (“Adventures in Spanish 2 with Mr. C”)
• Erica (“Areopagus“)
• Kyle (“Areopagus” [he's not blind, but is blindfolded so he won't accidentally see anyone's sins in their eyes])
• Minrei (“Strength of the Fallen“)

Huge difference in art styles, huh?  I can’t wait to see what I come up with later this year!

The end of NaNoWriMo: Looking ahead

I finished National Novel Writing Month with 40,174 words. That’s approximately ten thousand less than I needed to win, but approximately ten thousand more than I managed to eke out last year. If this kind of progress continues, I should be able to win it next year!

I’ve learned a little bit more about what it takes to get me to write. Optimism helps a lot, as does that word-count-craziness I talked about in the last post. My roomie Anne and my sister Dani told me often that I could do it, and that really made me feel supported, even when I was beginning to despair a bit.

In my free time, I either did homework or read, especially during the last week of November. At first I tried getting back into video games, but that quickly failed. Probably a good thing, too, since I didn’t need any other distractions.

Goals: They actually worked out this time. I liked having controlled access to webcomics during the month, though the practice drove me up the wall in regards to a certain recent “Tao of Geek” storyline… would you want to stop reading before finding out what a CD code-named “clever donkey porn” contained?

In any case, controlled access worked well enough that I’m going to continue using the method during the rest of the year. As I start writing again, I’ll spend every 10,000 words catching up on everything I’ve missed, occasionally delving into the archives I still haven’t read or finished yet.

As far as the actual writing, I’m still up in the air as to what approach works best – writing in timed sprints or writing by some other form of measurement (pages, thousands of words, scenes, etc.). The timed sprints work well in just getting everything out, so I’m more inclined to think they were more useful for high word counts in short amounts of time, though the word count per 15 minutes varied depending on how tired I was. On the other hand, writing a page at a time kept me writing fairly nice prose, with approximately 500-600 words in a varying amount of time.

Goals and strategies for next month:

• continue to use webcomic access as goals
• set ending goal of a donation or product to buy
• write in 4+ sprints a day (about 2,000+ words)
• pull 1+ write-a-thon or write-in
• use dares. lots of dares. ;D

Whiteboard photos, comics, and sketches coming up soon!

23,000 words!

… 27,000 left to go.  Can I hear a “whoop whoop”?  No.  Of course not.  People are beginning to tell me that I don’t have to finish, that I need my rest and sleep.  True, yes, but I’m beginning to get that excitement again, the one that punctuated my first NaNo days, the one that made me fall in love all over again with Minrei, if not her world.

It’s not quite a wild-eyed fury.  It is this inner strength, a clarity in the brain that comes when my every thought has a purpose.  Now that I’m here, I’m amazed that I never found it before.  It’s like saying, “Yeah, I don’t have much time left.  Yeah, I’m only halfway done.  But I will be writing for the rest of the month.  I have to finish.”

I’ve turned down “Mario Cart” and offers of lunch.  I can’t go to Drake Writer’s Night, or Anime Club.  I won’t go on Facebook.  I won’t start my Computer Science project or my math homework or any of my writing assignments (they’re due next week or later).  I am free of commitments.  I have one purpose, and one purpose only – to make it to 50,000 words by Friday, 11:59 pm.

See you soon.

How to save a (NaNoWriMo novel’s) life

I’m not sure there is such a way.  I am currently sitting at 17,043 words (according to the National Novel Writing Month word count validator).  I have 6 days left to make it to 50,000 words.  That means I would have to write approximately 5,500 words a day starting Sunday.  I’ve heard it’s doable.  I’ve heard that some NaNoWriMo participants have been pulling off 10,000 word days.  My own roommate has reached a one day word count that I can only dream of (last year; she’s not doing NaNo this year).

So how can I save “Strength of the Fallen”?

I could cheat.  I could quote from my middling selection of Neil Gaiman books, make up words, even copy in this blog post.  But… and this may sound crazy, but…  if I cheat, I would know it.  And worse, my characters would know it.  My characters are like the kids I will never have (unless any kids I have have magical powers or super-strength).  I can’t help thinking that if I cheat they will grow up to disrespect me, listen to devil music, have lots of unprotected sex, and follow herds of sheep off cliffs.

All of which actually would make very interesting plots, if I meant those consequences literally.  Which I don’t.  They just won’t love me as much.
But if I can’t cheat, then what can I do?

Answer: Establish new rules and new routines.  Drop any hint of a social life for the rest of the week.  Nix all word-count related goals – the only goal now is to make it to 50,000 words.  After which, some “Paprika,” webcomics, and lots & lots of sleeping will be in order.

I am still unsure of whether or not I can actually complete my NaNo novel in time.  It’s hard to look up from 17,043 words and see all the writing still left to go.  Still, it’s just as hard to look at my characters, my friends, my relatives, and myself, and imagine myself telling them, I couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t finish a NaNo novel.  Again.

5,500 words a day.  Hmmm…