Although I wasn’t entirely sure what I would write–as in, which story idea I would go with–I ended Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month on a successful note, exceeding the minimum of 1667 words by topping out at 2138. This is already close to half the word total of last year’s failed attempt.
The second day is one of the toughest in my experience. It’s fairly easy to blurf out almost anything to get started, but the second day is where you need to start finding a direction for the story if you haven’t already. It was at this point last year that I stalled out and never recovered.
But I am cautiously optimistic this time. Sort of.
It is the eve of National Novel Writing Month and I technically have a story ready to go, though I’m actually not really sure what I’ll be writing tomorrow. I’ll be writing something, though. A story of some sort, all fictional-like.
What I do know is I won’t be writing on a shiny new MacBook because Apple has decided to make all of their laptops insanely great expensive. I’m still a little tempted by the “low end” MacBook Pro or even the old model that they’re still selling for $1549. Sure it’s a little slower and a little heavier but for $350 less I might be able to live with that. We’ll see.
In the meantime, tomorrow begins the great writing adventure once again. I can’t say I have a good feeling about it this year but I may surprise myself. I have made a promise to keep writing even if my NaNoWriMo project fizzles and if I break that promise I will make myself feel bad. That’ll show me.
Potential ideas: 2. This doesn’t sound like much, but with nine days before National Novel Writing Month is underway, having two ideas ready to go puts me way ahead of where I usually am, which is zero ideas the day before. Still, the ideas aren’t making my socks roll up and down yet so I am still hunting around for more. At least I’m not trying to recycle an existing story again, something that has failed more often than it’s worked. “No, I’m sure we’ll miss the iceberg this time!”
Writing tools: I’d previously decided to write in text/markdown format, which broadens my choices of writing software quite a bit since the file(s) will easily move between programs without any formatting weirdness happening, since there will essentially be no formatting.
However, I would still prefer to use a program that works on all three platforms I’m likely to use:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Right now the only option that covers all three is Word and Word is the super-colossal opposite of a plain text writing program. Most of my other choices are available on two of the three platforms. My original idea was to use FocusWriter because it works on PC and Mac, and then to use one of the many plain text programs available on iOS, like iA Writer. I’d wanted to use WriteMonkey again but it looks like it won’t be out of beta before NaNo starts. Boo. But I’ve never really used FocusWriter and now I’m trying the Mac and iOS-only demo version of Ulysses, which is kind of like Scrivener but with the billion features I never use removed. And it saves seamlessly, unlike Scrivener, which always feels like it’s on the verge of destroying everything you’ve written because of its insane save-every-two-seconds coupled with millions of disparate files and not forgetting you better not have your project open on another device. I mean, it’s fine, but it scares me.
So I am in the odd position of having a story idea (or two) ready to go but still haven’t figured out how I’m going to actually write the thing yet.
Maybe I will write longhand, in loving tribute to Harlan Ellison.
Haha, no.
He would think this entire post is completely stupid, though. Did Ben Franklin fret about which feather quill to write with? No, he just killed a turkey, plucked a feather and started writing. On paper, I mean, not the turkey. Or maybe on the turkey. I don’t know, maybe that was a thing back then.
This blog post was created on a Mac using Ulysses. Ulysses is one of those zen writing programs, sort of halfway between Scrivener and a text editor. It’s Mac-only, which is a bit of a bummer.
It’s also expensive in Canadian dollars, but this trial version is enabled until December 7th, to allow people to use it for NaNoWriMo, which I may or may not do.
I thought of this while looking at my wrist, which is where my Apple Watch is, and realizing how much of my interaction with my watch is via Siri (voice commands for the uninitiated).
Sometimes it’s handy to do a little writing during the commute when you’re smushed in with everyone else, by pecking out a few sentences on your phone. Except actually doing this completely sucks because pecking out anything on a phone is a maddening exercise in madness and commutes are awful enough without trying to enhance the effect.
But doing some quick voice dictation would be pretty easy and sometimes even accurate enough to not qualify for one of those “Oh, autocorrect, you lovable scamp!” websites. The only problem here is dictating a story into your phone on a crowded train will do nothing but enhance your reputation for being a scary and/or eccentric person.
The solution?
Some fancy technology that allows your voice to transmit to your device while being completely silent to everyone around you. Yes, you’d still look like a kook talking to yourself, but at least you’d do so while preserving your voice and preventing others from hearing and therefore swiping your million dollar ideas.
Hmm, I swear this idea sounded better when I spoke it aloud to myself.
With two weeks before the writingpalooza of National Novel Writing Month begins, I came up with another idea, this one while laying in bed waiting to fall asleep. Weirdly, I managed to remember the idea and recorded it the next day.
I’ve been itching to do some kind of alternate dimension/parallel universe story but the ones I’ve mulled (or actually tried) have proven too ambitious for the fevered writing that NaNoWriMo demands. This new idea pares everything down considerably and in the end is basically a simple love story.
I’ve tentatively titled it One Slip and the story goes something like this:
A couple meet in their early 20s and spend the next 20+ years together, experiencing the usual ups and downs of any relationship, against the backdrop of the Vancouver gay community and the specter of AIDs.
One day as they stroll around the rugged terrain of a national park, one of the partners slips at the edge of a lookout over a spectacular waterfall. There is a safety barrier but it’s too low and he goes over, as his partner watches in horror. The body is never found.
As the surviving partner grapples with the loss of his spouse, he begins to experience odd phenomenon that seems related to his departed lover. Gradually he begins to wonder if they are messages “from beyond the grave.” Eventually he realizes that his partner is still alive and somehow trapped in another dimension, one that has a portal just below the falls. The other dimension is unstable and unfriendly and time is running out.
The story concludes with a return to the waterfall and a last ditch effort to pull the missing partner back into the world where he belongs–or risk having both end up in the other world where neither should be.
The ending could be radically different, as this is just idle thinking right now, and the details of the alternate dimension, sketchy as they are, may also change. But it’s still meatier than the subway story so it might gain some traction.
And I still have two weeks to think of a third and even more undoubtedly spectacular idea. Go, creativity! (please)
With three days left before my self-imposed deadline to come up with a spiffy idea for NaNoWriMo (and six days before the official forum gets reset and would-be authors are permitted to post details of their 2016 novels), I have…one fragment of an idea.
It goes like this: The protagonist gets on a commuter train and instead of taking him to work as it always has, it takes him somewhere else, somewhere weird, wrong or possibly horrible. From there, the rest of the story chronicles how he and his fellow commuters puzzle out how and if they can get back to their comfortably mundane world.
It’s not much but the fact that I have a smidgen of something gives me some hope I may be able to meet at least the technical requirement of having an idea in place by October 1st.
Here’s my second pre-NaNoWriMo update. Exciting news ahead, depending on how very generously you define exciting.
Story idea progress: None
This is slightly disturbing because my goal was to have an idea picked out by the end of the month OR ELSE. There are eight days left in the month. Tick tock tick tock…
Tool selection: Tentatively done
I have come up with what is likely to be the final selection of writing tools for NaNoWriMo. In theory I could choose a tool that would work across all three major OSes I’ll be writing in (Windows, Mac and iOS) by using Word, for example, but I’ve opted to stick with using distraction-free programs and saving in txt format. The winners are:
Windows: WriteMonkey. I am still hoping version 3 gets a final release before November, but I’ve written over 50,000 words using version 2.7, so it’s not a big deal if it doesn’t.
macOS: FocusWriter. Mainly because WriteMonkey is not yet available on Macs yet (another reason to hope for version 3’s release).
iOS: iA Writer. I already have it, it’s simple and works. I am also testing out a couple of other apps, such as Werdsmith, but so far none has really won me over. I don’t expect to do a lot of writing on my iPad, anyway.
I will be using OneDrive again to save to the big fluffy cloud, with local backups on each platform. I may also send backups to Dropbox or Google Drive if I’m feeling zany.
Under the usual headline of “We found some fresh pins for you” I looked over my latest email from Pinterest (a name that is equal parts dumb and clever). Most of these messages contain collections of tips on writing because I indicated writing was my primary interest when I signed up, rather than drag racing or bocci.
Here’s a “pinterest” from the latest missive I received, along with what I suggest is the only possible correct response:
How to make your novel impossible for the reader to put down
[expand more_text=”Click for answer” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_color=”#1e73be” link_style=”underlined”]Super glue on the cover[/expand]
Let’s check in on my progress in preparing for NaNoWriMo 2016!
First, a recap of my prep schedule below.
September:
Come up with a story idea
Choose a program for the actual writing part
October:
Ruminate over the chosen idea, perhaps outline a bit
Configure the writing program as necessary
Since October hasn’t arrived yet, let’s look closer at September:
Come up with a story idea
Progress: None whatsoever. I can say without hesitation that I have devoted no thought to what I might write about, other than a vague notion that it will be a story in which things happen. This is partly because the first week of September is the start of the fall semester and this is a very hectic time for me in my current work. My brain is not inclined to creative thinking during these early days. This is a bit of a stretch this year as Labor Day didn’t fall until the 5th, meaning I had five entire days to do nothing but think without significant distraction and instead of thinking I did other things, like eat olives. Mmm, olives.
2. Choose a program for the actual writing part
Progress: Some actual progress. Right now I’m looking at four different programs and mulling the pros and cons of each. The four are:
Microsoft Word 2016
WriteMonkey
FocusWriter
Scrivener
I’ve used three of the four in previous NaNoWriMos, with FocusWriter being the brash rookie trying to win me over. A succinct evaluation of my experience in using each would be:
Microsoft Word 2016: Technically I used earlier versions of Word but the last few have been essentially the same. I’ve encountered no issues in using Word for NaNoWriMo.
Pro: Works across Windows, Mac and iOS Con: Way more than you need to write a straightforward novel, formatting code is a hidden, tentacled monster that will try to strangle your story if you start mucking about with it
WriteMonkey: Again, no issues. The spartan nature of the interface puts it squarely in the distraction-free writing category. Most of its extra functionality is hidden behind keyboard shortcuts or a single menu that is hidden by default.
Pro: Simple, highly configurable interface Con: Curiously slow to start up, current version is Windows-only, some features are limited or hard to use
Scrivener: A mix-up in local vs. cloud (in this case, Dropbox) saves resulted in a catastrophic loss of a large chunk of the story (thousands of words). This derailed my attempt and further pushed me away from using Scrivener for any writing. Scrivener is essentially the opposite of WriteMonkey, with an absolute ton of options and tools, most of them staring you right in the face (though you can hide most if you choose).
Pro: Many options for researching, outlining, organizing characters and more, interface can be tweaked, scenes can be easily moved around, works across Windows, Mac and iOS Con: Instead of a single file, it creates many, introducing more points of failure, save mechanism annoyingly saves after two seconds of inactivity by default. This can wreak havoc if you save to a cloud-based drive.
FocusWriteris similar to WriteMonkey, but emphasizes a different set of features, including backgrounds and ambient music intended to put you into a relaxed and writin’ kind of mood. Curiously I find these rather distracting so have turned them off. It works on Windows and Mac, which is a plus.
At this point I am leaning toward either WriteMonkey or FocusWriter. WM has a spiffy new version in the works but it may not be ready before November. The current version (2.70) is still perfectly fine, just less sexy (and Windows-only). FocusWriter is nice but I haven’t found that feature yet that would convince me to use it over WriteMonkey.
I expect to have settled on the tool in the next few weeks. As for the story idea? Maybe I’ll do some brainstorming this weekend. Yes, that’s it.
It’s only two months until National Novel Writing Month 2016 rolls around. Will I take part? Most likely. Will I succeed? Odds are trending toward 50/50 (at best). My current plan is I have no plan, but this year I will definitely make a plan and have it in place one full month before this whole thing kicks off on November 1st.
I’ll report back at the end of September on the status of the plan, possibly while weeping in despair.
Yesterday I spent some time looking at various distraction-free writing programs but didn’t find any that really clicked. I still prefer WriteMonkey and am hoping the sexy new version launches soon, though I am doubtful of that. I could use the current version of WriteMonkey and probably should. Or Word. Or a notepad and crayons. Or anything. It already feels like I’m making excuses. I wrote my first (admittedly unfinished) novel by hand–using a pencil! Well, several pencils. I don’t need the newest, shiniest writing software in order to write.
But I want it.
Anyway, the proto-plan still in development is to have both the tool and story idea nailed down a month in advance. If I don’t I will officially give up before I even start.
Here’s to my maybe success in a month and my maybe greater success in three months!
No writing on Days 10-16. I am now a little over 20,000 words behind the required pace.
This does not bode well. If it was a suspense story, it would be one of the “where exactly is the suspense?” variety. We know how it’s going to end. In failure. [sad trombone sound]
And yet I am not sad nor am I discouraged. Is it because I am drunk? No. Is it because I have succumbed to despair and no longer care? No. Is it because I’ve become suddenly obsessed with adult coloring books? No. (What’s up with those, anyway? What a weird yet ultimately harmless fad.)
It is because while this version of Weirdsmith currently languishes (turns out third time is not always the charm) I am still confident that the latter half of the month will be a productive one writing-wise. How? I shall discuss this soon.
