Steam(punk)ing Right Along

I literally just finished my first edit pass through my steampunk novel. I finished the manuscript about two months or so ago and I've been letting it sit, getting some distance from it be before doing my own beta-read. As far as the last 25K words or so go, it was the first time I'd read them at all. I can't tell you how excited I am to find that I really like this book! I honestly didn't know if the story would hold up, if it made sense, if it was loaded with contradictions and inconsistencies that would have to be corrected, etc., etc. I can confidently say it does, it does, and it wasn't. Yay! I haven't felt this good about a project in a long time. I still have to go through all my tracked changes before sending it to my beta readers, of course, but wheeeeeee! That clearly hasn't dampened my enthusiasm. ;-)

I hope everyone who has chosen to participate in NaNoWriMo this year is steaming merrily along on their own works! I might have to start a new novel this month myself just because I can. Hee-hee!

Good night, NaNoWriMo.

I wouldn't say it's been a blast this time around, but it hasn't sucked like last year, so I'll take that as another win for 2011.

My novel isn't done yet, but it is over 50K...for the moment. Somehow I think it's going to end up under that once it's finished and then edited. But that's okay. I'll probably like it better that way.

Anyway, see you next year! (Because I am a glutton for punishment--and meaningless, arbitrary, self-imposed deadlines, apparently.)

Victories

NaNoWriMo is a series of victories. Committing to do it is the first one. Sticking with it for 30 days is another. Reaching 50K is yet another. Actually finishing a manuscript is another still. In six years of NaNoing (and six years of winning, ;-D ), I have only finished a full manuscript first draft on one occasion within the 30 days, and that was the first year I participated (2006). That book's been published: The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing. My second NaNovel (drafted in 2007) has at last found a home and a publisher and will be coming out around the New Year: Rose & Thorn. Those are two more victories.

Last year, the greatest victory for me was making 50K. It was like pulling teeth! It was a misery! Not that I don't love the book and its characters. Don't get me wrong on that. It was just that I think I had a combination of burn-out (It was the third book in that particular universe, three NaNoWriMos in a row.), and some sort of fifth-year slump. A friend experienced the latter this year, so there may be something to that theory.

This year, the challenge was that, while I love the idea behind this year's story, I don't feel like I'm telling it very well. It's tough to stay motivated when you feel like your book is clunky and awkward. I had to remind myself that the goal was to get it out there, not make it The Next Great Novel (TM) right off the bat. So that's what I've done. I've gotten it out there. It's not done yet, and it won't be done by midnight on Wednesday. But it is getting there. And I think, once I am finished, and I've literally cut and pasted it into a better order of events, and then edited the hell out of it, that it's going to be a pretty damn fine book. Whether the final products is still over 50K words... Well, that remains to be seen.

Has anyone else been NaNoing this year (or in past years) and want to share your experiences? I'd love to hear it in the comments!

When Pantsers Plot

This is a topic that's been heavy on me of late. I am a pantser. Always have been. But this year for NaNoWriMo, I had a plot before I had anything else. I didn't know any characters' names or much about the world itself when I started. I only knew that it was sort of like the present, only not; and that there had to be a psychic working with the police. To me, this is utterly backwards. My usual m.o. is characters=>world=>plot. This whole plot=>world + characters thing is downright freaky and wrong. As a result, my writing this NaNo has been sporadic. I'm still reaching my daily goal averaged over the month, but it's coming as 3K or 5K one day, and <1K other days. Why? Simple. It's because I know how the book ends and as a result, I'm bored. Nothing is as fun when you know how it ends! I've never been one to skip to the end of a book to see how it comes out, so writing as if I had done just that is incredibly challenging.

I'm finding that the days when I'm getting the most verbiage written, the days that are at times almost easy, are the days when I'm writing character-based scenes that I didn't plan ahead in any way. I'm making new discoveries and digging into these characters whose names I didn't even know until less than a month ago. At the same time, they are giving me insight into the world they live in, which is incredibly helpful because, dude, what is this world, you know? I still don't even have a name for the city! It's downright nuts. They're letting me in on the technology, the legal structure, the society—because like I said, it's here and now, only it's not quite. It's a little bit left of here and a little more ahead of now.  Think Max Headroom, only less prophetic. (Seriously, that show got way too many things right, and they're not the good things.) What did they say on that show's credits? A week from next Sunday? Something like that.

So I keep plugging away. I have every expectation that I'll reach 50K before the end of the month. I suspect, though, that this manuscript will need more rewriting and editing than any of my previous NaNovels because I can already see where I'm missing including details that would make the world richer and more complete. But that's not what this month is about. This month is about getting words and story out onto the page. Finesse is not part of the equation. That's what December is for. Or January. Or February... Oh, hell. I'll see you in the spring. Maybe.

From NaNoWriMo to Haggis Hunting

It's a good thing that NaNoWriMo and The Haggis Hunt only overlap by one day.

I'm just sayin'.

NaNoWriMo Winner!

I've managed to do it again. For the fifth year in a row, I've won NaNoWriMo! Of course, as was the case in all the previous years, the book isn't actually done yet. If the previous two in this series are any indication, I have about another 30 - 35K before the end. But, hey, that's fine by me! I'll be taking today off and picking up again on Friday. We'll see how close I can get to finished by the 30th.

I hope everyone one in the U.S. is enjoying their Thanksgiving! And for those in other locales, you can be thankful that it's almost the weekend, right? ;-D

I'm sorry, but *what* season is this?

I know there are places in North America where snow in mid- to late-November is commonplace. Places were people don't blink when, days before Thanksgiving, the temperature and the snow fall. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. And yet, here I sit, while outside my living room window, the wind blows about the snow that fell today, making it look as though it is still snowing. Now, it didn't snow all day, nor did it snow terribly heavily, but any snow when it is still technically autumn, is more than a little mind-bending. And this was enough to accumulate on the trees, cars, and sidewalks, and even the street out front has got some left from this morning and a fresh coating over that. Weird. Weird, weird, weird.

On the positive side, I didn't have anywhere I had to go, plenty to do inside my house, and cozy kitties to keep me company. I'll be going out tonight for my friend's birthday, though. Fortunately she only lives a few miles away.

Also on the positive side, the weather gave me a great excuse to sit on my butt and pound out today's word count for NaNoWriMo. It's not even 5:00 and the laundry's done and I've written 2500 words on my NaNovel. And the show sure has been pretty to look at. And yet... IT'S NOVEMBER, NOT JANUARY!

Okay. I'm over it now. Or I will be. Eventually. When it melts.

Just...weird.

ETA: I take it back. We're not going out tonight to celebrate my friend's b-day. The hill is, naturally, slicker than snot, and I won't ask the hubs to go driving on that. He could handle it. It's the idiots and the unlucky I fear.

NaNoWriMo has commenced!

Technically, it commenced yesterday. I, however, wrote not a word yesterday, so I began today. I managed to reach my one-day word-count goal by lunch, and I just moments ago reached that same goal for today. I am now 33 words over my personal goal of 2K/day. Woot! I can only hope the rest of the months goes as well.

Autumn Traditions

Autumn has struck here with a vengeance. Lots of wind and rain--and the small power outages that tend to come with the wind and the rain. I love autumn, though. I love the wacky weather. I love the colours that the leaves turn. There are a couple of streets near me where the trees all look like flavours of jam. There's apricot and plum and golden raspberry peach. Makes me hungry for a PB&J just looking at them. Halloween decorations are appearing in people's yards, too. I put mine out Saturday--just before the weather hit. I haven't done that the past two years because I haven't been home on Halloween, and I've missed the ritual digging out of the big plastic bin and the unpacking of the decorations.

Another autumn tradition I enjoy is roasting pumpkins. I'll do that next week. It makes the whole house smell pumpkiny good! I'm a freak for autumn foods, you see. Last night it was butternut squash enchiladas. Last week it was pasta with mushroom sauce. The week before was sweet potato and chick pea stew. Mmmm! The flavours of fall!

Let's not forget the tradition of watching Kenneth Branagh's Henry V on St. Crispin's Day. (That was yesterday, in case you didn't know. This year is the 595th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.)

And last but far from least, there's the autumn--or more specifically November--tradition of NaNoWriMo. I'm participating again this year. This is year five for me. I've "won" every year, but this time I'm not so sure I'll make it. I'm even less prepared than usual, I'm afraid. We'll see. I am a competitive person, even when I'm just competing with myself, so perhaps I'll bring in another one. ::fingers crossed::

So, what about you? What autumnal traditions do you most enjoy?

What's she reading this week?

I finally finished Kushiel's Dart, which was brilliant. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys: fantasy; action/adventure; political drama; erotic romance.

So, what am I reading this week? I'm reading the print galley for The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing. It comes out in print on 28 April and of course that means a chance to fix typos before that happens. I'm nearly done--just one chapter to go--which is good since it's due next Monday.

Also, I won NaNoWriMo again this year. Yay! I'm a three-peat winner! (We'll ignore for now the fact that the novel isn't acutally done.)

Finally, I have a free read holiday story that will be available soon through the Samhain Cafe yahoo group and I think on the Samhellion Blog. When it's up, I'll let you know!

Write? Right!

I had a most successful time at this evening's write-in. Not only did I win one word war (yay for prizes!), I got in 5000+ words on the day, and ::drumroll::

I passed 50K for the month! I'm currently looking a green bar (if you know NaNoWriMo, you know what I mean) and a total word count of 50,077. And you know what? I'm not even close to done. When I'm finished happy dancing, I may weep. LOL

Come Write-in!

Hey there. Sorry to have vanished. It's just that I'm once again participating in NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month, for those who don't know. I've been churning out words like a Dutch dairy maid in a 19th century comic opera. Get it? Churn? Okay so it's a good thing I'm not trying to write stand-up comedy.

I'm doing pretty well so far. ::quickly knocks on wood:: I crossed over the 40K mark yesterday evening. If I stay on pace, I'll make 50K this weekend. We'll see... Part of that attempt will take place at an official write-in on Thursday evening. I'll be joining my fellow WriMos at a local coffee shop, Cafe Van Gogh, in Wedgewood from 6 - 9 pm. The lovely owner has generously agreed to remain open three hours later than usual that night just for us. So, if you're in the nieghbourhood and feel like stopping by to wave the flag of moral support and/or get yourself a fabulous cuppa java, please do! And if you're NaNoing yourself, bring that laptop along and join in. There will be word wars and fabulous prizes to be won! And did I mention the delicious coffee? Yeah. Mmm...coffee.

Hope to see you there!