mootmom (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mootmom) wrote,@ 2003-11-16 23:32:00 |
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Whoa! How'd I do that?!
Day: 16/30
Word count: 30,021/50,000
(I did originally type "Word cunt" up there, but I didn't feel that would be quite the appropriately respectful nickname, so I fixed it."
Spent most of the day feeling totally out of it again. Wanting to sleep. Getting other thing done, cooking, shopping, cleaning, ANYthing other than write. I forced myself to start typing out all the facts I knew that were relevant to my storyline. My thought was that I might see some patterns or interactions between the facts that would enable me to feel I could go ahead cleanly. I did the typing, but still didn't see anything coming clear. At least I added 280 words today. (Bleh.)
Finally got my act in gear and headed out to the midpoint party, at which many people were cheerfully interacting and others were politely interacting in between times when they were writing like mad. I spent 20 minutes withmortaine talking over details for her plotline where she was stuck, and I think I may have helped her think through some sticky points. I got home, intent on forcing myself to write a few hundred more words; after deciding, "OK, time to just pick a scene and start writing; let's pick the first scene in old Baltimore in 1849," I launched into it... and in three hours, wrote almost 4,200 words.
And best of all, I think I might have stumbled across a motivator for some of my characters to be doing in the present the things I'd had them doing -- that motivator was sorely missing from my mental outline of the plot. I'm still not 100% sure of it, but it's getting closer.
So although it seemed like a really stupid idea at the time, to go off merrily writing nothing at all, without a good idea how the plot points were going to tie together at this critical stage, I think it will ultimately turn into something good. And heavens above, I'm past 30,000 words! Remarkable. Can she maintain the momentum, folks? Think good thoughts and cross those fingers and toes...
Day: 16/30
Word count: 30,021/50,000
(I did originally type "Word cunt" up there, but I didn't feel that would be quite the appropriately respectful nickname, so I fixed it."
Spent most of the day feeling totally out of it again. Wanting to sleep. Getting other thing done, cooking, shopping, cleaning, ANYthing other than write. I forced myself to start typing out all the facts I knew that were relevant to my storyline. My thought was that I might see some patterns or interactions between the facts that would enable me to feel I could go ahead cleanly. I did the typing, but still didn't see anything coming clear. At least I added 280 words today. (Bleh.)
Finally got my act in gear and headed out to the midpoint party, at which many people were cheerfully interacting and others were politely interacting in between times when they were writing like mad. I spent 20 minutes with
mortaine talking over details for her plotline where she was stuck, and I think I may have helped her think through some sticky points. I got home, intent on forcing myself to write a few hundred more words; after deciding, "OK, time to just pick a scene and start writing; let's pick the first scene in old Baltimore in 1849," I launched into it... and in three hours, wrote almost 4,200 words. And best of all, I think I might have stumbled across a motivator for some of my characters to be doing in the present the things I'd had them doing -- that motivator was sorely missing from my mental outline of the plot. I'm still not 100% sure of it, but it's getting closer.
So although it seemed like a really stupid idea at the time, to go off merrily writing nothing at all, without a good idea how the plot points were going to tie together at this critical stage, I think it will ultimately turn into something good. And heavens above, I'm past 30,000 words! Remarkable. Can she maintain the momentum, folks? Think good thoughts and cross those fingers and toes...
