On writing and the lack of creepy
I've hit the halfway mark of NaNo's 50,000 word target today, two days ahead of schedule - my current total is 25,509 to be exact but I've not finished for the day yet (Updated at 9pm, final total is 26,475). If I carry on writing as much as I have been doing so far, according to the reckoning on the website, I'll hit that target on the 25th, five days ahead of schedule! The first few days of writing were quite a struggle, probably for two reasons. Firstly because it's been so long since I've written anything that it was hard to get back into it again, and secondly, I was trying to stay away from the previous two starts of this novel I'd done a few years ago. I think I've got back into the swing of writing now which is good and also I'm coming up to the end of chapter 4 (of 13) so I'm well into the story now too.
This week has been difficult though. That first week, there's the joy of finally being able to write something, especially something that I'd been planning like mad the previous week. And there's the whole camaraderie on the website from all the other writers, knowing that you're all in this together and as equally eager to get started. It's quite easy to find the time and the incentive to write. But then in the second week, that initial shine has worn off, and it's just you and the blank page. You start finding other things to do rather than write and it turns into an annoyance. I know I'm lucky in that I'm not having to fit it around work, but there's the knowledge in the back of my mind that I'm getting behind on things like my email, LJ and the feeds that I read regularly. (It also doesn't help that Marvel Avengers Alliance that I play regularly has chosen this month not only to do a Special Operation but to do a PVP fight as well, so I keep switching between writing and killing vampires or demons.)
I'm also getting a little despondent with my novel. It's a completely different genre from what I've written before and I think that's causing me a few problems. I've described The Dreamstone as a supernatural thriller and the closest I've written to that would be nightmare scenes but they were more gory than creepy. (For those who are interested, I did a nightmare scene in my Harry Potter fanfic that I was really pleased with, that's the opening of Father To Son: Chapter Four and the second is a fear-themed Harry Potter ficlet The Sum of All Fears.) I want The Dreamstone to be creepy, sort of like one of the new Doctor Who monsters in everyday things type of creepy. I mean, that's pretty much what it is, it's a necklace with a seriously twisted sense of humour but at the moment I think it's on a par with 1970s man in a rubber costume level of Doctor Who creepy. That's if there's any creepy in it at all. I'm just not sure I'm able to do it justice. I need to be more Neil Gaiman, and I think I'm a bit too Neil Patrick Harris.
This week has been difficult though. That first week, there's the joy of finally being able to write something, especially something that I'd been planning like mad the previous week. And there's the whole camaraderie on the website from all the other writers, knowing that you're all in this together and as equally eager to get started. It's quite easy to find the time and the incentive to write. But then in the second week, that initial shine has worn off, and it's just you and the blank page. You start finding other things to do rather than write and it turns into an annoyance. I know I'm lucky in that I'm not having to fit it around work, but there's the knowledge in the back of my mind that I'm getting behind on things like my email, LJ and the feeds that I read regularly. (It also doesn't help that Marvel Avengers Alliance that I play regularly has chosen this month not only to do a Special Operation but to do a PVP fight as well, so I keep switching between writing and killing vampires or demons.)
I'm also getting a little despondent with my novel. It's a completely different genre from what I've written before and I think that's causing me a few problems. I've described The Dreamstone as a supernatural thriller and the closest I've written to that would be nightmare scenes but they were more gory than creepy. (For those who are interested, I did a nightmare scene in my Harry Potter fanfic that I was really pleased with, that's the opening of Father To Son: Chapter Four and the second is a fear-themed Harry Potter ficlet The Sum of All Fears.) I want The Dreamstone to be creepy, sort of like one of the new Doctor Who monsters in everyday things type of creepy. I mean, that's pretty much what it is, it's a necklace with a seriously twisted sense of humour but at the moment I think it's on a par with 1970s man in a rubber costume level of Doctor Who creepy. That's if there's any creepy in it at all. I'm just not sure I'm able to do it justice. I need to be more Neil Gaiman, and I think I'm a bit too Neil Patrick Harris.