In which there is wittering.
As it turns out, I don't think the NaNoWriMo "spew out lots of words at all costs never delete anything MOAR WORDS" approach works well for me with novel-writing. I am reviewing what I have-- which is a nice pile of new words even though I'm nowhere near the required NaNo pace-- and it's an editing nightmare. Even though I have an outline to write to, I am still in the discovery phase with this story. Every bit of worldbuilding I do is something that the existing text has to be reconciled with. And I discover new things about where my story should go, even with the outline. So… I have stuff that needs to be edited. I can't stop and edit because omg wordcount.
I generally get started writing on any given day by opening my story file to some random spot and reading through what I have. I tweak, edit, get excited/annoyed/interested and then I'm in motion. This tactic also does not play well with NaNo, because it has editing at its heart. It's not about the spew.
Meanwhile the editing problems are becoming sort of epic. I just read a section that's totally out of place given where my characters' friendship is at that point. I wrote it earlier, when I didn't know how they were going to meet & get entangled in [imbroglio elided] together. Now I know. This stuff has to change. I am constitutionally incapable of leaving it untouched.
So I'm letting NaNo go hang. I'm editing. I'm not worried about finishing this novel. It's reached critical mass in my head. The characters are themselves now. It's sort of cool.
ObCat: The kitten I mentioned from a couple of weeks ago, with the funky tail, got adopted! So all ends well. The kitten cycle continues.
ObHistory: If you're into the Second World War at all, you might enjoy RealTimeWWII on Twitter. They're tweeting through 1939 right now. It's fascinating and upsetting. Last weekend the juxtaposition of the German crackdown on Prague university students with the #occupywallstreet crackdown tweets was excruciating.
I generally get started writing on any given day by opening my story file to some random spot and reading through what I have. I tweak, edit, get excited/annoyed/interested and then I'm in motion. This tactic also does not play well with NaNo, because it has editing at its heart. It's not about the spew.
Meanwhile the editing problems are becoming sort of epic. I just read a section that's totally out of place given where my characters' friendship is at that point. I wrote it earlier, when I didn't know how they were going to meet & get entangled in [imbroglio elided] together. Now I know. This stuff has to change. I am constitutionally incapable of leaving it untouched.
So I'm letting NaNo go hang. I'm editing. I'm not worried about finishing this novel. It's reached critical mass in my head. The characters are themselves now. It's sort of cool.
ObCat: The kitten I mentioned from a couple of weeks ago, with the funky tail, got adopted! So all ends well. The kitten cycle continues.
ObHistory: If you're into the Second World War at all, you might enjoy RealTimeWWII on Twitter. They're tweeting through 1939 right now. It's fascinating and upsetting. Last weekend the juxtaposition of the German crackdown on Prague university students with the #occupywallstreet crackdown tweets was excruciating.