NaNoWriMo 2011
It's that time of year again. ;)
I'm currently on 16,718 words - which I'm hugely proud of, mostly because I didn't think I was going to get to 15K over the weekend. Dad's friend Dave came over for the weekend and for Bonfire Night, so my writing time has been somewhat limited because I've been busy being sociable. But - thanks to a half-hour writing frenzy last night - I hit 15K, and then this afternoon I scraped together 1,700-odd words with Write or Die.
I have a couple of issues with the site this year. Yes, I'm delighted that it's up and running and working and not crashing. But. I miss the wordcount bars and wordcount widgets. The widgets, especially. I like the little month-long widget that shows up with red/orange/yellow/green boxes depending on how well/badly the days go. :(
Apparently, they'll be coming soon. I hope so! I want my widgets!
Warning: rambling about my NaNovel coming up!
This year, I'm writing a novel based on Geocaching. My main characters are all under 18. The magic only kicks in slowly, and mostly later on.
This is a huge, huge, huge departure for me (normally, I write High Fantasy and/or Science Fiction in November!) and it is terrifying and I don't even know if it's going well any more. D:
So. My main characters. The first three are siblings. They're adventuring together because the three kids' Mum and the other guy's Dad are together, and the three are visiting for the summer; their Mum and his Dad can't get time off work, so they send the kids off Geocaching to keep them busy, out of mischief and give them time to 'bond'.
Melanie (15) - a total cow. I hate her. She does nothing but whine, moan and bitch, mainly about the fact that her Mum left her Dad and ruined her life. She likes make-up, fashion, shopping and boys. Basically, she is everything that I'm not.
Sarah (nearly 11) - bookworm. That is about it as far as personality goes, so far. :/ Not sure how to make her individual and exciting; maybe when she gets her Special Artefact later on she'll liven up ...
Riley (7) - impressionable, great imagination, believes in magic, wants an adventure. Essentially, Riley is me, but in a 7YO boy's body. He likes Doctor Who and Star Wars, he wants magic to be real, and he carries a terry bear (called Amadeus) everywhere with him.* Riley is thus far my favourite character to write. :P No idea if he sounds like he's seven or not, but hey! I'm enjoying myself.
Jacob (18) - not biologically related to the other three, but soon to be their step-brother (though they don't know that at the start). About to go to University to study Geography. Lives with his Mum in Cornwall for most of the year, but lives with his Dad in the Lake District during the summer holidays.** He surfs. (That wasn't planned.) He likes hill walking and outdoor pursuits. (That was.) He might be gay, but I'm not sure - it depends how his relationship with Adam turns out. (Adam's a secondary character/bonus MC. He's going to join them later on ...)
* I actually own that bear. He really is called Amadeus.
** Basically, I set his life in two of my favourite places in England. The story's set in the Lakes because I wanted pretty scenery and hills and a multitude of campsites.
Then there's Carter - who also might be gay. (It depends on whether my Evil Villain turns out to be male or female. I know why he/she is acting the way he/she is, but he/she won't tell me his/her name or gender - and until I have that, Carter's sexuality is up in the air.) Carter's from the world of Magic, and he has pointy ears, and OK I lied - I've had the most fun writing Carter so far, but since I only get to write one scene with him before the Big Finale ... that's sort of redundant information. :(
Basically, the kids have to go around collecting artifacts that keep the World of Magic and the World of Science (ie: our world) in balance with one another. Someone (Evil Villain) is trying to bring them together, and cause mass chaos - or so they think ...
I think my plot's about to start picking up a bit, because so far? It's been kind of dull. And full of Melanie being a whiney cow.
Novel-time Tomorrow, I think I'm going to send them to Patterdale - or the in-novel equivalent outdoor pursuits activity centre. (Which needs a name, quite urgently ...) They're going to Gorge Walking and Sailing, I think, and possibly something weird and magical is going to come through and freak them out. :P
I don't have much else to say on this, really, that isn't just rambling for the sake of it. So I'll shut up about my NaNo for a minute and talk about something else.
I'm also working on a Sherlock fic at the moment. It's quite long and plotty and complicated. I started it just after 'The Great Game' aired, then forgot about it for about nine months, then came back to it and have spent basically all of the summer working out my plot. (I know, I need to get a life.) A couple of days ago, I found out that the first ep. of the new series is being aired to a select, paying audience in early December. (It's going to actually air in early 2012 - I'm guessing Jan. or Feb., though it would be cool if they could wait until April since 'The Great Game' apparently took place in April ...)
I freaked out. I want this fic posted before the new series airs. Mostly because it's a coda/continuation of 'The Great Game' and it's going to be jossed as soon as the new series comes out and ARGH.
So, effectively, I've given myself another NaNo - a fanfic NaNo. I'm about 1/3 through the plot right now, I think. It's hard to tell. It's particularly difficult because I really really don't want to plot out/write out the ending because somehow knowing exactly how I'm going to end something - or making a note of how I'm going to end something - is like the Kiss Of Death to any fanfic I work on. :/ So, hopefully, by forcing myself to just remember it, I'll work faster (so I don't forget) and also stay enthusiastic about it.
I have my 1,667 words of NaNo for today, so I'd better get my nose to the grindstone and hammer out another chapter or two of fic! Wish me luck, flist. I'm going to need it.
Oh, and on top of all this: I have a cold and tonsillitis. Yay!
.
I'm currently on 16,718 words - which I'm hugely proud of, mostly because I didn't think I was going to get to 15K over the weekend. Dad's friend Dave came over for the weekend and for Bonfire Night, so my writing time has been somewhat limited because I've been busy being sociable. But - thanks to a half-hour writing frenzy last night - I hit 15K, and then this afternoon I scraped together 1,700-odd words with Write or Die.
I have a couple of issues with the site this year. Yes, I'm delighted that it's up and running and working and not crashing. But. I miss the wordcount bars and wordcount widgets. The widgets, especially. I like the little month-long widget that shows up with red/orange/yellow/green boxes depending on how well/badly the days go. :(
Apparently, they'll be coming soon. I hope so! I want my widgets!
Warning: rambling about my NaNovel coming up!
This year, I'm writing a novel based on Geocaching. My main characters are all under 18. The magic only kicks in slowly, and mostly later on.
This is a huge, huge, huge departure for me (normally, I write High Fantasy and/or Science Fiction in November!) and it is terrifying and I don't even know if it's going well any more. D:
So. My main characters. The first three are siblings. They're adventuring together because the three kids' Mum and the other guy's Dad are together, and the three are visiting for the summer; their Mum and his Dad can't get time off work, so they send the kids off Geocaching to keep them busy, out of mischief and give them time to 'bond'.
Melanie (15) - a total cow. I hate her. She does nothing but whine, moan and bitch, mainly about the fact that her Mum left her Dad and ruined her life. She likes make-up, fashion, shopping and boys. Basically, she is everything that I'm not.
Sarah (nearly 11) - bookworm. That is about it as far as personality goes, so far. :/ Not sure how to make her individual and exciting; maybe when she gets her Special Artefact later on she'll liven up ...
Riley (7) - impressionable, great imagination, believes in magic, wants an adventure. Essentially, Riley is me, but in a 7YO boy's body. He likes Doctor Who and Star Wars, he wants magic to be real, and he carries a terry bear (called Amadeus) everywhere with him.* Riley is thus far my favourite character to write. :P No idea if he sounds like he's seven or not, but hey! I'm enjoying myself.
Jacob (18) - not biologically related to the other three, but soon to be their step-brother (though they don't know that at the start). About to go to University to study Geography. Lives with his Mum in Cornwall for most of the year, but lives with his Dad in the Lake District during the summer holidays.** He surfs. (That wasn't planned.) He likes hill walking and outdoor pursuits. (That was.) He might be gay, but I'm not sure - it depends how his relationship with Adam turns out. (Adam's a secondary character/bonus MC. He's going to join them later on ...)
* I actually own that bear. He really is called Amadeus.
** Basically, I set his life in two of my favourite places in England. The story's set in the Lakes because I wanted pretty scenery and hills and a multitude of campsites.
Then there's Carter - who also might be gay. (It depends on whether my Evil Villain turns out to be male or female. I know why he/she is acting the way he/she is, but he/she won't tell me his/her name or gender - and until I have that, Carter's sexuality is up in the air.) Carter's from the world of Magic, and he has pointy ears, and OK I lied - I've had the most fun writing Carter so far, but since I only get to write one scene with him before the Big Finale ... that's sort of redundant information. :(
Basically, the kids have to go around collecting artifacts that keep the World of Magic and the World of Science (ie: our world) in balance with one another. Someone (Evil Villain) is trying to bring them together, and cause mass chaos - or so they think ...
I think my plot's about to start picking up a bit, because so far? It's been kind of dull. And full of Melanie being a whiney cow.
Novel-time Tomorrow, I think I'm going to send them to Patterdale - or the in-novel equivalent outdoor pursuits activity centre. (Which needs a name, quite urgently ...) They're going to Gorge Walking and Sailing, I think, and possibly something weird and magical is going to come through and freak them out. :P
I don't have much else to say on this, really, that isn't just rambling for the sake of it. So I'll shut up about my NaNo for a minute and talk about something else.
I'm also working on a Sherlock fic at the moment. It's quite long and plotty and complicated. I started it just after 'The Great Game' aired, then forgot about it for about nine months, then came back to it and have spent basically all of the summer working out my plot. (I know, I need to get a life.) A couple of days ago, I found out that the first ep. of the new series is being aired to a select, paying audience in early December. (It's going to actually air in early 2012 - I'm guessing Jan. or Feb., though it would be cool if they could wait until April since 'The Great Game' apparently took place in April ...)
I freaked out. I want this fic posted before the new series airs. Mostly because it's a coda/continuation of 'The Great Game' and it's going to be jossed as soon as the new series comes out and ARGH.
So, effectively, I've given myself another NaNo - a fanfic NaNo. I'm about 1/3 through the plot right now, I think. It's hard to tell. It's particularly difficult because I really really don't want to plot out/write out the ending because somehow knowing exactly how I'm going to end something - or making a note of how I'm going to end something - is like the Kiss Of Death to any fanfic I work on. :/ So, hopefully, by forcing myself to just remember it, I'll work faster (so I don't forget) and also stay enthusiastic about it.
I have my 1,667 words of NaNo for today, so I'd better get my nose to the grindstone and hammer out another chapter or two of fic! Wish me luck, flist. I'm going to need it.
Oh, and on top of all this: I have a cold and tonsillitis. Yay!
.