The intended goal is to write a 50,000 worded novel over the course of the month of November. Each day your writing goal is around 1,600 words in order to accomplish this. So far I have about 3,700 words written and I need around 1,700 written today to keep up.
I love to write Horror, scary stories, fiction in general with disturbing twists and turns that dabble with the strange, unusual, and surreal. For this NaNoWriMo I have decided to try my hand at realistic fiction. Keeping it in the ‘real’ world the best I can. So, of course, the book I’m working on right now is a Mystery/Crime/Thriller. Let’s see if I can pull it off.
What I’m listening to:
Pinterest Board/Inspiration:
Thank you for following me! And coming along on this new and exciting journey!
It’s been a few weeks since my last update, I’ve been busy baking, working on music, and being haunted by my characters.
Although I’m well into the fourth rough draft at this point, I can’t help but feel that there are a lot of parts that I’m missing in my novel. I’m trying to piece together what parts those could be, there are holes here and there when I replay the story in my head, not necessarily explanations or details but parts of the story that I’ve somehow overlooked and forgotten, parts that directly contribute to the story as a whole. I think it’s because of this that I’ve been finding myself haunted by my characters.
I’ll be out running errands, or at work, and suddenly I’ll start to hear parts of their conversations (my characters) running through my head. I’ll see the setting, the house, the open field and memories of their past all important. I’ll see something, or hear someone say something in my everyday life, and it will all come flooding back to me, the story, the characters, moments that I haven’t seen before, or new ones I haven’t seen yet.
This may all just sound like ramblings but I’m sure that some writer’s out there know what I’m talking about, when the characters, the story just suddenly doesn’t seem to be your story, it comes alive and starts to do what it wants, unapologetically. Then it’s more of your duty to document, write, what that story is or it just starts to nag at you.
The parts that I’ve missed they’re now surfacing into my everyday life like this, just out of the blue coming up and telling me this or that. The trick is that this story isn’t necessarily taking place in the present and the past is hard to interpret. All I am doing is trying to make sense of these little slices that are revealing themselves to me now. They must be important to the story in a broader sense, so I keep inserting these random scenes or dialogues here and there in my fourth rough draft.
I thought a couple months ago that all the progress I had been making since last fall with this novel signified that it was somehow closer to a complete manuscript, or at least cohesive whole but now I’m beginning to question that feeling. There appears to be more that my novel has to say than what I originally thought.
And the feeling that I’m being haunted by my characters, that somewhere they’re always chatting away to each other is becoming more and more apparent. Knowing that this is how so and so would talk, how she would respond, the sound of her laugh and eerie look of their eyes as they tell the truth, it’s all there. But really, it is too much sometimes. I know I’m filling in missing parts here and there, but a lot of it is unnecessary excess.
So that’s where I’m at, piecing together and filtering through the excess parts that have been coming to me in the last few weeks.
Besides baking and working on my music, I’ve been reading On Writing Horror,
A handbook put together by The Horror Writers Association. I’m about half-way through and it’s a fascinating read, filled with interviews, essays, talks, and pointers. My main goal is to write something equally disturbing and unforgettable, something that readers will never forget, that will resurface in their minds for the rest of their lives. But sadly I’ve been told multiple times that my writing isn’t really terrifying when reading but just has scary elements. Doesn’t really make sense but I know that it means my writing is not achieving my overall goal.
A Discovery of Witches I finished the first season in two days, it’s an interesting concept but feels a little jam-packed and overwhelming sometimes. I am now starting to read the first book, to take a look at Deborah Harkness‘ writing style and approach. I’m not really sure if I like this series or not.
Well, that’s all, thanks for reading up on my long update! Again to all my followers and regular readers, I appreciate you, all the time and attention you’ve given to my words, Thank you.
I’ve been reading bits and parts of my third draft and I’m liking it a lot. I’m trying to enjoy it as if it’s just a regular book, distancing myself from my work the best that I can. But now I’m not sure what to do next (I don’t think it’s anywhere near where it should be before I ask anyone to edit it). My gut tells me I still need to work through a few more drafts before it’ll be anywhere near done and by then I should have a few more kinks straightened out.
What I’ve been doing besides reading my rough draft?
Playing around with Ableton Live 10 . I bought myself a mini midi keyboard that I’ve been hooking up and using, plus learning how to play piano bit by bit with skoove. I am just messing around but I have been working on a handful of songs that are just ideas. I want to buy an analog interface so I can hook up my electric guitar, and I also need to get a microphone. (I’ve been playing with the idea of using Ableton to record myself reading my poetry and posting the recordings on this blog).
Besides working on music and trying to learn how to play piano, I’ve also been reading one of my favorite books from high school The Wereling, which is one of three in a series. A really cheesy but good werewolf story. I love this series and I was so excited to buy the series and start reading it. I am taking my time to devour it and pull as much from it that I love (the blood, the gore) with the hopes of inspiring me to work on the parts of my book that need a little help with (the blood and the gore).
I plan on starting on draft #4 soon and I look forward to it, I just need to organize my time better so I can get it done.
Thanks for reading about my journey writing My First Novel!
A few days after my last post I had a breakthrough. I was working on my daily writing one morning and finally got up enough courage to look over the rough draft of my book I’ve been working on. I ended up editing and rewriting a few pages and before I knew it I had worked my way all the way to Part 3 of my book. I was surprised, after more than a month of struggling I had just slipped back into working on my book. After a couple more days I finished my third rough draft of my book at a local coffee shop. The final chapters still need quite a bit of work and I need to solidify a final ending but the climax action scenes (the most important stuff) is all done.
I am so relieved that I was finally able to break through my wall, whatever it was. The expectations, the stress, the pain of doubting myself and my work. I know there is still more work to be done and I’m barely even close to having a finished manuscript but the progress I’ve made this last week pushes me to continue.
What else have I been up to?
I’m currently reading Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin, I forgot that I have read this book before and I get a sneaky feeling it might’ve been last year. I love the way this story is written and Levin’s style is something that I respond to, how he synthesizes facts and real-world events with the otherworldly and supernatural. By grounding his horrifying story with descriptions pulled from the real-world, he creates a foundation in which I can easily find myself falling for the trick of ‘is this possible?’ (of course not).
I”m also reading, Leonard Cohen’s Beautiful Losers. This work feels like a surreal dreamscape interwoven with sex. It is compelling, funny, and a little disorienting but I like Cohen’s writing. His style is different, free-flowing and almost scattered but when I take a closer look, I think it only feels ‘scattered’ because Cohen wants me to think it is.
What I’m listening to:
Thank you for reading and following me on my journey,
I’ve been in denial for a while now but I admit it, I’ve hit a wall. For the last month or so I have barely worked on my novel. Opening the googledoc and looking at a chapter, fiddling with the dialogue in another chapter, I always end up ignoring my book after about fifteen minutes. At the beginning of this year, I would spend hours a day and sometimes a whole day working on my book. Pumping out chapters or reworking them at break-neck speed, trying to get everything down on the page as fast as possible.
But I’ve felt stuck for a while, distracted by everything else going on in my life. I think I’m also distracting myself, starting and finishing new books while I have a whole pile that I’ve been meaning to finish for a couple months now. How does it feel to hit a wall? Like I can’t get anything done and the world is leaving me behind. I just can’t get back on the fast track to finishing my book right now.
There is also an overwhelming feeling of pressure whenever I think about my book. I know I need to work on the ending and solidify each chapter, rework dialogue here and there and round out my characters but I am worried about what comes after. Will I ever have a final product? Is it even worth my time to look for a publisher or should I think about self-publishing through kindle? I think I’m getting too caught up in my doubts.
I feel like I need a reset to clear my mind and get back to it.
like my Patti Smith bender, I think I’m gonna dive deep into Didion to keep my mind fresh
Listening to:
good music is always required
Overall, I already know what I need to do, just write. I’m sticking to my daily writing schedule and for last month wrote over 31,000 words. My daily writing consists of writing 1,000 words minimum a day, doesn’t matter what I’m writing, poetry, fiction, non-fiction as long as it is writing. I try not to make my daily writing into journal entries if I am lacking a focus and this is one of the hardest things to do. I know that as long as I stick with my daily writing, I can eventually get back into the groove of working on my novel.
To all my followers/readers and you, thanks for sticking with me,
