Limen: Days 22 and 23 January 25, 2008
Posted by Christina in Writing- NaNoWriMo.Tags: Entropy, Limen, NaNoWriMo, Power Hour
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Today’s nifty NaNoWriMo daily noveling brief explains “you’re in a period of limen right now…in these neither-here-nor-there periods…where levels of energy and disorder run high.”
Right on, dude. My total word count is over 47,000 and I’m nearing the end. I might well hit 50,000 words tomorrow. But I’m definitely not completed with the story yet (just a few thousand more!), and I’m wondering what exactly is going to happen in the end? I don’t know. I don’t know quite how to get there. I’m excited about what’s written so far and I have the energy to keep working on it. Maybe I’m throwing out new ideas, new complications just so I don’t have to get to the end.
I’m a little nervous about putting that final period (exclamation point, question mark, ellipses) on the story. Because I know it’s not done, the holey, underdeveloped beast that this is turning out to be. “Disorder” is the nice way of putting it. (Does entropy work too?) Because I have to re-read and then I’ll realize, truly realize that this thing is a mess. It’s easy to delude yourself into thinking you have good ideas when they’re only in your brain.
How to get to this imperfect “end point”? This weekend, my writing group, the five of us insane NaNos, are driving to a cabin in Indiana, free from TV and Internet where we’ll buckle down and get some serious writing done. Hopefully, away from the over-stimulating city, the crisp, freaking cold Indianaian air will clear up the brain cells. Throw in a couple power hours and maybe I’ll have a novel when I get back.
A Loooong Weekend: Days 18, 19 and 20 January 22, 2008
Posted by Christina in Writing- NaNoWriMo.Tags: NaNoWriMo, Power Hour, Speed Writing
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It’s getting a little harder. With about 42,000 words I know I’ll hit 50,000 words soon enough but I won’t be done with the whole project then. Curses! I realize I’ve thrown out a loooot of stuff on whatever magical whimsy I felt that day and now I don’t know what to do with this stuff. I already cut one character but now I’m stuck with these accordion players and seriously. Where do they fit in? Sigh…
NaNoWriMo says that with the finish line so close “Stomp that foot down on the accelerator and don’t look back.” Day 18, thought I hit the quota, it was a struggle to get there and for the first time since I started the project I had absolutely no desire to look at the thing for a long time. So, with that accelerator in mind, Chris and I sat down on Day 19 for a Power Hour.
The goal: as many words as possible in one hour.
The repercussions: red squiggle lines all over the document, sore wrists and cramped fingers from not pausing typing for more than three seconds.
The results: besides the above, the most amount of words either of us has written in that short amount of time. Me: 2, 179! Chris: almost 1,900! (If only he didn’t need to use the bathroom. Hehehe.)
That inspired me and made me feel much better about myself. Speed Writing is NaNoWriMo on crack. They say focus on the plot of your story, which, I’m finding, is what you need to do to get to the finish line. And when Speed Writing, you’re not getting far if you’re preoccupied with illustrating the precise hue of someone’s dress. I wrote some accordion players in but if I can’t figure how to tie them into the rest of the story, oh well. They’ll be cut out in the editing process. Adios!
As for the follow up day, it was a truly pathetic one since I had it off. In an hour I only managed 680. Triply pathetic when taking into account when can be accomplished in an hour. But… it was a holiday…
Time to plow ahead!
