Progress -- or not?
Nov. 18th, 2008 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
musingaloudI always thought I was a person who could concentrate really hard on things. Imagine my surprise when I realize I'm not. I suppose it's one of those things that's easily seen from the outside looking in, but not so easy the other way around. The grandbaby went home early today so I've had some time to write. Hard to tell exactly how much, as I also went outside and planted some Spanish bluebell and Paperwhite bulbs I forgot I had, plus I dug up two rooted Goldmound Spireas that I found when I was pulling weeds and potted them up. So I don't know if I actually tried to write for an hour or two, but anyway I did have a chunk of time, and had high hopes for at least 1k. And I only have 838 words to show for it. Because I have to stop and go play a game of freecell when I lose the map of where the story's going. Do a few more words and then play another game. blah blah blah. My discovery is that I don't concentrate as well as I thought I did. I am easily distracted, as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mylefteye said. It's all his fault. I blame him. Yep, Mike's fault. I'd write a little more but I'm bored and need to go play freecell.
Addendum: I made myself write to 1 k after I wrote that last night, so I ended up with 1048 words yesterday.
I've also discovered, in the process of attempting Nano and failing at it, that I do need a roadmap. I hate calling it an Outline, because the very word sends me into shivers of loathing. But without a map, I get very worrisome and then I avoid the conflict of trying to decide what to have the characters do next by doing something I'm not supposed to be doing -- like watching tv or playing a computer game.
So my failure at Nano is actually a very positive thing. Whereas I think it's ok to not have a detailed roadmap in a short story, I have learned that it's vital for me to have one with a novel. I'm also starting to think of the novel in terms of scenes, something I wasn't really able to do before. I'm finding that exceedingly helpful. So from here on out I know to not attempt a novel unless I have a map of scenes at the very least. I don't have to have detailed Outline--I would hate that, it sounds so rigid to me and I like it when the story takes a life of its own and heads off on a rampage through a city or a wood that I didn't expect it to. But I do need to have a vague sort of heading for myself.
I haven't stopped my Nano attempt yet. I'm hoping to get halfway there and will consider that a success. But i'm at the end of having any sort of idea of what happens next in the story, so I may completely stall out after today. But as of now, I have 11,350 words, and that with not starting until the 5th of the month. I've only had 2 days of over 2 k (but hey! That was an eye-opener that I *can* do it!) and only 3 days of over 1k.
mylefteye said. It's all his fault. I blame him. Yep, Mike's fault. I'd write a little more but I'm bored and need to go play freecell.Addendum: I made myself write to 1 k after I wrote that last night, so I ended up with 1048 words yesterday.
I've also discovered, in the process of attempting Nano and failing at it, that I do need a roadmap. I hate calling it an Outline, because the very word sends me into shivers of loathing. But without a map, I get very worrisome and then I avoid the conflict of trying to decide what to have the characters do next by doing something I'm not supposed to be doing -- like watching tv or playing a computer game.
So my failure at Nano is actually a very positive thing. Whereas I think it's ok to not have a detailed roadmap in a short story, I have learned that it's vital for me to have one with a novel. I'm also starting to think of the novel in terms of scenes, something I wasn't really able to do before. I'm finding that exceedingly helpful. So from here on out I know to not attempt a novel unless I have a map of scenes at the very least. I don't have to have detailed Outline--I would hate that, it sounds so rigid to me and I like it when the story takes a life of its own and heads off on a rampage through a city or a wood that I didn't expect it to. But I do need to have a vague sort of heading for myself.
I haven't stopped my Nano attempt yet. I'm hoping to get halfway there and will consider that a success. But i'm at the end of having any sort of idea of what happens next in the story, so I may completely stall out after today. But as of now, I have 11,350 words, and that with not starting until the 5th of the month. I've only had 2 days of over 2 k (but hey! That was an eye-opener that I *can* do it!) and only 3 days of over 1k.
