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NaNoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo talk
Nov. 3rd, 2008 01:33 pmFirst of all, my stats, as they currently stand:
1/11/08, 02:00: 3K
1/11/08, 14:00: 5.5K
1/11/08, 22:47: 7.8K
2/11/08, 14:16: 9,769
2/11/08, 22:31: 12,551
Oh, sorry, what is that, over 10K in the first two days? Why yes, yes I think that's me.
I just gave my novel the title Se Reveiller, which, uh, just means "to wake [oneself] up" in French, but it's one of the novel's themes (personal awakening, anyway), and it's in French so everything sounds better. Mostly it's because my profile page looked very sad without any sort of title on it.
Let's see, what else have I noticed...my inner editor is being surprisingly quiet right now, partially because I have yet to actually reread anything I've written, and partially because...I don't know where she's gone, which scares me. I'm actually kind of struggling with myself right now, because my first NaNo, my inner editor was in full gear, but that meant for the most part I could post what I had written without having to edit it too much, whereas right now, I have no idea what kind of condition my writing is in.
So would it be better to take a little more time, and have something I'm more satisfied with, straight-off-the-bat, or is it better to just go and worry about it all when I'm done?
I mean, since NaNo last year, I have finished Not Yet by Lightning AND edited it, and finished Falling Slowly and begun the long, somewhat arduous process of editing it as well.
I should explain here that I infinitely INFINITELY prefer the term "edit" to the term "rewrite," even if often what I'm doing involves rewriting sentences...or paragraphs...you know. To me, "rewriting" comes with this image of sitting down with a blank piece of paper and starting over completely--I mean, not completely, but without all the things you've already written, because they weren't good enough so you have to rewrite them. I find the image/idea of "rewriting" singularly exhausting.
Editing, on the other hand--whee! Editing is going back to those sentences and saying "ugh, you're crap, GOODBYE" and "oh, you'd be so much better if I would just switch those around, look, that's lovely," as well as occasionally giving yourself the opportunity to say "you know, that was very well-done the first time around, bravo me" and "holy crap, what did I mean by this? Why did I write this? Why does it feel so important? HOW DO I MAKE THIS BETTER HELP."*
*this is the step where Quark shows up and graciously lends her assistance
Anyway, the point is...what else have I written since last year? A little bit of Zutara fanfic. The Most Perfect Enchanted Fanfic Ever If I Do Say So Myself. Quark's birthday present. Three pieces to go into the Unrequited collection. But somewhere in all this, I have apparently learned how to make myself write? How to just sit down and start writing and pick up steam as I go?
I kind of miss those moments of inspiration, though, when I'd suddenly have an idea and a conversation and bam I would produce something kinda cool and there it would be, all complete and pretty, with minimal need for editing!
and somewhere between starting this post and and finishing it, I got totally sidetracked by things like LEGOFIC and GENERAL INSANITY, and so I have lost my train of thought.
I've already killed off two parents! And I have at least two more to kill!
I'm really enjoying what I've written so far, and I think I'll probably go back and edit it and add more scenes--I appear to be exploring the theme of friendship, and it's turning out to be a really fun theme to explore. Who knew?
The whole atmosphere of writing in France--I spent Saturday afternoon walking around the center of town, up and down cobblestone streets near houses that have been there for, oh, several hundred years, you know, walking by that castle that's been around since, say, 1300-something--is really invigorating. As is the fact that I cannot get distracted by the internet. Finally, it's turning into a blessing!
Anyway, good luck, everyone!
1/11/08, 02:00: 3K
1/11/08, 14:00: 5.5K
1/11/08, 22:47: 7.8K
2/11/08, 14:16: 9,769
2/11/08, 22:31: 12,551
Oh, sorry, what is that, over 10K in the first two days? Why yes, yes I think that's me.
I just gave my novel the title Se Reveiller, which, uh, just means "to wake [oneself] up" in French, but it's one of the novel's themes (personal awakening, anyway), and it's in French so everything sounds better. Mostly it's because my profile page looked very sad without any sort of title on it.
Let's see, what else have I noticed...my inner editor is being surprisingly quiet right now, partially because I have yet to actually reread anything I've written, and partially because...I don't know where she's gone, which scares me. I'm actually kind of struggling with myself right now, because my first NaNo, my inner editor was in full gear, but that meant for the most part I could post what I had written without having to edit it too much, whereas right now, I have no idea what kind of condition my writing is in.
So would it be better to take a little more time, and have something I'm more satisfied with, straight-off-the-bat, or is it better to just go and worry about it all when I'm done?
I mean, since NaNo last year, I have finished Not Yet by Lightning AND edited it, and finished Falling Slowly and begun the long, somewhat arduous process of editing it as well.
I should explain here that I infinitely INFINITELY prefer the term "edit" to the term "rewrite," even if often what I'm doing involves rewriting sentences...or paragraphs...you know. To me, "rewriting" comes with this image of sitting down with a blank piece of paper and starting over completely--I mean, not completely, but without all the things you've already written, because they weren't good enough so you have to rewrite them. I find the image/idea of "rewriting" singularly exhausting.
Editing, on the other hand--whee! Editing is going back to those sentences and saying "ugh, you're crap, GOODBYE" and "oh, you'd be so much better if I would just switch those around, look, that's lovely," as well as occasionally giving yourself the opportunity to say "you know, that was very well-done the first time around, bravo me" and "holy crap, what did I mean by this? Why did I write this? Why does it feel so important? HOW DO I MAKE THIS BETTER HELP."*
*this is the step where Quark shows up and graciously lends her assistance
Anyway, the point is...what else have I written since last year? A little bit of Zutara fanfic. The Most Perfect Enchanted Fanfic Ever If I Do Say So Myself. Quark's birthday present. Three pieces to go into the Unrequited collection. But somewhere in all this, I have apparently learned how to make myself write? How to just sit down and start writing and pick up steam as I go?
I kind of miss those moments of inspiration, though, when I'd suddenly have an idea and a conversation and bam I would produce something kinda cool and there it would be, all complete and pretty, with minimal need for editing!
and somewhere between starting this post and and finishing it, I got totally sidetracked by things like LEGOFIC and GENERAL INSANITY, and so I have lost my train of thought.
I've already killed off two parents! And I have at least two more to kill!
I'm really enjoying what I've written so far, and I think I'll probably go back and edit it and add more scenes--I appear to be exploring the theme of friendship, and it's turning out to be a really fun theme to explore. Who knew?
The whole atmosphere of writing in France--I spent Saturday afternoon walking around the center of town, up and down cobblestone streets near houses that have been there for, oh, several hundred years, you know, walking by that castle that's been around since, say, 1300-something--is really invigorating. As is the fact that I cannot get distracted by the internet. Finally, it's turning into a blessing!
Anyway, good luck, everyone!
