Changing your mind

So, here we are... actually, it was on the 23rd when I changed my mind about what I write for this year's NaNoWriMo.

In my earlier post, I've told you that this time I would write a romcom, which is not a genre I usually write in, and I still like that novel idea, very, very much (though it might be a better script-idea), so I will write it sometime in the future, but now I'm going back to my original plan.

When I started in 2010, I thought it would be a one-book novel. But during November, I realised the story is going to stretch more. Then, over the weeks, months, years... I came to the conclusion that it might be a trilogy. I'm getting more sure every day, actually.

Anyway, when I won in 2010, I planned to continue and write the second book in my next English year*, which meant 2012. Right now. And since I have serious plans for this story, I think it's more efficient to write it now. And in the beginning of October, I've spent a lot of time on the first book and finally finished it (YAY!), so...

It's really close to me, too :) And it's fantasy :D

So, now I have 5 days (and 2 days till the Kick-off in my region!) to come up with an outline for it. Of course, I have some from 2010 (when I thought it would only be a one-book deal), but I need to think up details, because if I aim to 75k this year, then I won't really have time for it during November. I'm afraid I'd still need to do some research, but I'll try to keep it to the minimum and fix things later.

Dear, fellow Wrimos, have you ever changed your mind about what you're writing for NaNoWriMo the last minute? How did it go? :o

*For new readers (or old ones, for that matter, who don't remember, because I've posted about my NaNoWriMo habits so long ago, they forgot about it): every odd year, I write in my native language (Hungarian) and every even year, I write in English. Therefore, for my 4th NaNoWriMo, which is in 2012, I write in English :)

ROW80 R2 #1 & Goals

Weee! A Wednesday check-in! Quite rare from me, isn't it?

Ahem. Let's state my goals for this round. Even though it half-worked in round 1, now it's already spring and I have more energy. Also, I have goals (and self-proclaimed deadlines) beyond ROW80, so I thought I must pick up my pace a little.

The details are... flexible. Originally, I wanted to write 2 pages per day. Every day. But I realized that might be too much of a jump after my performance in round 1. So I opted for 6 or 5 days per week.

Then I calculated some and arrived at the decision that I wanted to have 6000 new words per week for this novel I've started in January.

Concluding the first 3 days of the first week of round 2, I've reached a compromise with myself: my aim is 6000 words per week for this novel. If I can write 2 pages per day, that's quite great, but there might be a day when I write less, so there will probably be days when I write more. The average is 2 pages (which is around 1000-1100 words, I guess), but it can be amended.

Also, I have some other projects (loads of them) and while I'm certainly grateful for NaNoWriMo, I realized it made me learn to concentrate on one project at a time. Which is really not my style, since I tend to jump around from here to there. So, I'll try to get some writing done on those 'currently work in progress for years' projects, after I've written my daily dose for this new novel. And I don't start on another novel, until I've finished this one.

I hope this method works and lets me to get back my skill on concentrating on more than one projects at once. This first half of the week was deemed successful in this aspect, as well.

583 words on Monday, 1025 words on Tuesday, plus 727 words for another project, and today I've stopped with 1157 words. AND I've crossed the 20k line. Which is not much, but if I keep up the good pace I set in the beginning of this week *knocks on wood thrice*, then I can write more and come up with a respectable wordcount at the end of R2.

Well, I'm curious.

Here's a link to other participants' entries.

Good luck, everyone!!!

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

Only a little more than a day and it starts! I'm really excited, eager to write which is a great feeling! Writing is easier when one's enthusiastic, right?

Right. Still need to figure some things out before it begins. But I would love to write instead of smoothing out the details. I've just finished the outline yesterday evening. I was glad I can finally see exactly where I wanted the story to go and how to prevent time's material from fracturing further, when who decided to join? After I mentally finished my story? Another character! It's so frustrating, because now I have to edit the 2/3 of the outline so she would fit into the storyline. However, I can see how she would propel some events and she also has a big role in the romantic thread of the story.

Ah, the romantic thread. I hope I'll be okay with it this year, because I'm afraid that in my last NaNo, it only existed in my imagination, but not in my actual storytelling. Maybe I should re-read some of my old works.

I used a new method (for me) this year while collecting my ideas for my novel. My mp3 player broke, but I can still use the dictaphone mode. So I made notes on that and later, listened to my own voice (ugh) and it took a few afternoons and evenings, but I finally managed to get everything typed into my computer. The best thing is, my notes on the dictaphone are in Hungarian, while I was writing them down in English. A warm-up for my NaNo this year, because I'm writing it in English!

The point is, I love that it captures more of my ideas and I can think paralelly not only on 2 or 3 threads, but on one more and I won't forget it, because I only need to listen to it once more, after I wrote down my other idea(s). So it may take more time, but I think it's perfect for being more creative and for a brainstorming session, of course.

What methods do you use while outlining? How are you preparing for NaNoWriMo? Are you as excited to begin as I am?

Challenge!

I took on a creative writing course at the University this semester. The first lesson was on Thursday, and as far as I can see, we'll be focusing on the various genres. E. g. Memoirs, Utopias & Distopias, Fairy Tales, Historic novels... AND there'll be a lesson dedicated to Translation & Editing.

We need to turn in an essay and one of our own texts. I'm already done with my essay. We had 3 topics to choose from:
1) The reason why literature exists
2) My favourite texts
3) A text by me

I went with the first one. Because A) How can you ask a writer for her favourite text? Clearly, she has many. And I was a bit lazy trying to decide which ones should I include. B) Usually, I takes me minimum 7 pages to write a whole short-story, otherwise it'll be a bit... ungainly. This task also said that the writing should be around 3-5 pages.

And I wanted to create something new to reflect my current writing style (though on second thought, I don't know if the first choice can really do that) and I usually have novel-lenght ideas. A bit harder for me to write a complete short story.

For the record, I was thinking for days what to write in my essay. 'The reason why literature exists'... Eventually, I had several point of views and opinions to choose from.

So, with this creative writing course and November coming (NaNoWriMo!) and starting my thesis, I won't be bored this semester. (Did I mention lots of seminars, yet?)