Written Notes

Motivation

NaNoWriMo writing buddies are good to have since they spur you to write and get a higher word count than what they have. Still working on mine.

Writing Mood Music

When all else fails, it’s time for 80s mullet rock for that extra umph and the mood to write. I hit 35k words with the help Foreigner playing in the background. It’s always either Journey or Foreigner for me. What about you? What’s your mood music for writing?

Rules, To Avoid 'Over-Writing'

Over the last two days I have been critiquing my course-mates’ writing. Only four stories, but I took my time. I enjoy ‘editing’.

Each piece has unique strengths and weaknessess. But all have a problem w/ ‘over-writing’. That is, using words, sentences and paragraphs unnecessarily.

I had this problem. I use these rules to avoid it:

Be Aware Of The Information In Your Sentences

Not just the concrete details, but also what implications are present, and what the reader could infer. I can’t predict everything the reader concludes, but analysing each sentence helps prevent me from repeating myself.

Never Use Metaphors Or Similes

Not everyone would agree, but I hate them. Readers can visualise w/out abstractions. Keep it concrete.

Only Keep Relevant Description(/Adjectives)

If the details have no bearing on the story, don’t waste words. Readers have imaginations. If my leading lady’s appearance doesn’t matter, let the reader style her. If the decor of her boudoir is unimportant, let the reader decorate. They’ll have fun.

Never Use Adverbs

Self-explanatory. But flexible, under extreme circumstances.

Never Use ‘Half-Hearted’ Words

‘Quite’, ‘slightly’, ‘really’, ‘very’, &c.

Why Use Two Words When You Can Use One?

A journalist taught me this. It keeps my writing tight.

Kill Your Darlings

This rule is - debatably - attributed to William Faulkner. When I write a line that makes me proud, I delete it. If I can’t consider a line objectively, then it’s dangerous. It must be cut.

Be Brutal To Your Words

The fundamental rule.

(by 8bitscribe)

On Killing Characters

Someone on the forum was asking if killing characters is difficult. The way said person agonizes about the death of the character makes me think that the author thinks too much about it. However, I always start a story already intending to kill a few off. Maybe it is not so for the author.

Maybe this being the author’s first NaNoWriMo, he hasn’t gotten into the whole, if you can’t push the plot forward, just kill a random character and see what happens. I don’t have emotional attachments with my characters since I only see them for a month in a year and then they just live in my computer until I get around to editing the story, if ever.

Maybe I’m just a grumpy old-hand at this and just want people to stop complaining and just do it already. It could also mean that I’m just a cold-hearted person who enjoys killing characters in horrible, horrible ways.

NaNoWriMo Status Update #3

Chapters: 11 

Words So Far: 26,935 (I’m finally ahead of the daily word count. This gives me about a day of breathing space if I decide not to write tonight but that’s not going to happen.)

Deaths: A tiger, and elephant and a pygmy hippo that’s missing but presumed dead.

Status of the main characters: They’re finally together and going to get married.

Coffee: None so far today there’s a high chance of that during lunch later.

What’s next in story land: A very small, intimate wedding at the registration of marriages place. Maybe a dead bear and revealing of the bad guys.