NaNoWriMo Week Three

Sunday, 15 November 2015

                      Are Writer’s Crazy?

I just tweaked my blog and now I’m rolling up my sleeves for another week of writing! I made it to 31,000 words today.

I read on one of the NaNoWriMo.org forums that our writers in Paris are all accounted for. Thank God! Even as a writer I find it hard to put into words the outrage I feel about the killings in Paris. What madness drives one human being to such fanaticism to kill innocent people?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Paris attack victims, their families, their friends and the survivors. Today, like many around the world, I am a Parisian.

Monday, 16 November 2015

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was keeping track of my writing time with Toggl. Each week they send an activity summary and this past week I spent eleven hours and 25 minutes writing my NaNoWriMo novel. I’m averaging over 2000 words a day, and average about an hour and forty minutes per day writing. That’s quite a jump from 500 a day before November.

What a confidence builder, especially for someone who works a full time job and has a family. If there are about 80,000 words in the average novel I can complete a first draft in less than forty days. What if I wrote full time? Woo woo!

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Saw a great quote on Twitter:

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” Mark Twain

That’s so true. If only it were that easy! Had to retweet this gem.

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Busy days at work so have to write in the commuter van on the way home, yuck. The seats are leather, I keep sliding off and there’s just no way to get comfortable with a laptop. It’s nearly impossible to keep my laptop on my lap.  BUT!!!! I made my goal and knocked out 1800 words. No Excuses!

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Drove myself in today instead of taking the commuter because of a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Knocked out 1700 words at lunch time. I’m just shy of 40,000 words. I’ll make up the difference tomorrow and then some since I’m off.

Since I drove in to work today I had the opportunity to listen to the latest podcast from the folks at The Story Grid. In this episode Shawn Coyne reviews Tim Grahl’s first scene for a book he plans to write. Shawn gave some great feedback and Tim’s learning quite a bit from Shawn, as am I.

Big takeaway today was how new authors tend to cram too much into a scene. I also picked up a gem from the “after show”:  if an author can write a good scene, she can write a novel.

Robert McKee just announced the schedule for his spring Story seminars HERE.

Friday, 20 November 2015

I completed over 40,000 words today. Now it’s just a short jog to the finish line.

NaNoWriMo has been a great exercise in discipline and I recommend National Novel Writer’s Month for any aspiring writer.

But what do you do now since you missed NaNoWriMo?

Why Camp NaNoWriMo, of course!

Camp NaNoWriMo challenges writers to write that 50,000 word novel in any month they choose. Check it out!

Saturday, 21 November 2015

Robert McKee’s Story is an impressive book for screenwriters and I suggest novelist read this book as well. McKee includes excellent chapters with suggested readings and filmography.

One of his suggested readings is John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist. I picked it up at Amazon and started reading it last night. I already like it and I’m just through the Preface and Introduction. I’ll write a blog about Gardner’s book once I’ve finished.

Word Count: 42,531

Until next week, JUST WRITE!

KeithShafer

Tagged with: John Gardner • Mark Twain • NaNoWriMo • NaNoWriMo 2015 • Paris • Robert McKee • Story • The Story Grid

Filed under: NaNoWriMo

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!