Lackadaisical Lolligagging and Laziness!

I realize that I may not have come through on my promises of more content, and that it's been roughly eight months since last I posted anything, but I am indeed still here, and I'm taking the time to post that I will definitely be more active in the coming month. Why? Well if you've read many of the posts on this blog, you'd already know! But for those of you who may not know what's going on, in less than thirteen days, National Novel Writing Month begins anew, with all the challenge and wonder.

Last year was a great success for me, as well as many others, and as such, I'm going to be again utilizing this blog to lay down some creative techniques and time savers so that your month runs as smoothly as it possibly can while still blazing down the path of noveling. Be you a pantser or a plotter, this blog will (hopefully) give you some good tips and tricks for keeping yourself on track and beyond. This year, I'm going to be doing something a little different as well.

You see, last year, around this time, I started up a challenge for myself for writing ten short stories in the span of the ten days before NaNo began. This year, while I'll be doing the same thing (and the post detailing rules and such will be coming soon), I'm also going to try and run challenges, word wars, and various other fun things to keep you guys both entertained and sufficiently focused on the task at hand during November itself. On top of this, I'll maintain my inspirational posts, so that even in the depths of despair, you may realize that it's not all at an end. So, ending off this short little "I'm still here" post, it's good to be back, and I hope you guys enjoy the ride!

New Ventures Ahoy

So it seems that my prediction as of last update was completely wrong. Instead of ignoring that little Twitter thing, I've actually managed to keep up with that and instead forget nearly completely about this. In an effort to bring my attention back around, I'm going to try and keep myself to a bi-weekly schedule for the blog. So every two weeks, I'll be sure to come back around and update with goings on and various other topics. Which also brings me to touch upon the issue of content. Seeing as how NaNoWriMo has been over for a few months now, I'll be shifting focus on to a more general view on things. I'll still give writing advice if and when I see fit, and of course, I'll be updating with the status of my '10 novel, Shades of Change and the various stages of editing that it happens to be going through.

Other topics I may or may not post about are, in no particular order, personal news, video games, worldly happenings that I happen to have an opinion about (don't worry, there aren't really many of these), and things of the sort.

But, going back to the whole writing side of things for a moment, if you've somehow managed to keep an eye on this blog (with it's lack of updates and all) and its sidebar to the left there, you'll have known that I intended to finally begin revising Shades. Now, shamefully, I still haven't started on it; although I have taken a look back at the first few chapters and realize quite a few issues exist within the writing. The pacing for a lot of the beginning chapters is completely awful. There is basically no spacing between major events, and what little there is, is weak and fairly poorly written. Of course, being a NaNovel, I didn't expect too much more than this, and honestly, it's easily rectifiable. I've also found out that third-person limited may not actually be the best delivery method for the story itself, and indeed, it may benefit greatly from having a complete overhaul into first person perspective (see a few posts back to see some possible reasons why this is).

And, while I've found all of this out, another future project of mine that I've been planning for well over a year now has finally begun to open itself up and make itself available. I haven't really mentioned it very much on the blog here, but I've had this idea floating in my head for the longest time based upon a prompt that I came up with during a completely unrelated event. That being said, this idea refused to allow me to explore it much, and as such most of the planning I've done for it is terrible and probably won't see the light of day. However, recently I've come across a few things about this new plot that would work wonderfully if implemented correctly, and I hope to begin outlining it quite soon. Writing probably won't commence for quite a while, but the thought isn't going anywhere for a long, long time.

Which brings me to more current news. Again, if you've somehow managed to keep up with this blog, even while I haven't, you'll notice that I've also begun quite a new adventure; one more closely tied to my other great pass time, video games. I've begun a Let's Play series on one of my absolute favorite games of all time (which, incidentally, has some of the best writing in a video game that I've seen).

If you don't happen to know what a "Let's Play" is, allow me to explain. A Let's Play is a fairly new thing that has popped up out of the internet culture-pot, the SomethingAwful forums. The basic premise is one or two people take it upon themselves to record themselves playing a game, be it through screenshots or video, and provide a helpful walkthrough and/or humorous commentary. Some of the better Let's Players are able to do both with incredible skill, and they're often great time sinks.

That being said, I've started my own series on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. If you're interested in watching it, you can find it on YouTube on my channel page.

Anyway, that's all I have for all of you guys today. So, with all of that in mind, I bid you all adieu until two weeks from now.

Oh Wait, I Still Have a Blog.

Wow... so it's been an entire month without even so much as a peep out of this tiny little corner of that prismatic thing we call an internet. Anyway, there's been quite a few things happening around the world in my "absence", not the least of which being the holiday season and the start of a new year. It's been quite an adventurous month, as I've been ferried around through three or four states on roughly twenty different occasions, and that leaves fairly little time to do other things, as I'm sure you all know.

Anyway, as has already been stated around the world, quite many times, 2010 is over. That's right, another decade descends into the annals of history and a new one rises before us, waiting to be explored. People around the world have made resolutions for what they will be doing with their lives in this fantastic new year, and I for one, am no different. What is/are my resolutions? Well, simply put, to stop being so damned lazy.

I've been putting off quite a few things, and for quite a long time now. I aim to put a stop to all of it. First and foremost, I will be setting off with a full head of steam, editing the novel I wrote in November to a more polished, much more readable state. After that, well, it's one big mystery, but somewhere along the line, I know that I will probably set off on writing another novel and editing that. But that's another, erm... story. Secondly, I will be finding myself a stable job and saving money. This seems relatively straightforward, but with my lack of social skills, one can only hope this venture ends well. Thirdly, I am resolving to re-enroll in college. While this year off has been nice, I need to hunker down and set myself right.

After all of that, I honestly don't know. I have so many things that I want to do, and if I don't sit myself down and outline a plan, then nothing will get done, I'm sure of it. Regardless, that's the future. I'd like to also talk a bit about the past. 2010 was a year of a great many things - not the least of which being the year in which I wrote my first "full-length" novel. Just thinking back to what we're now calling last year calls forth such a dizzying amount of information and memories that I don't think I'd be able to recall it all to the extent that I would like.

One very prominent memory of last year comes to mind, and very clearly. Before I divulge that, however, I have to add in some back story first. You see, about three years ago, my family became split into about three groups, each living in separate states and all of that. My mother and father, dragging me along, moved to Connecticut. Shortly after that, my mother split from my father, me tagging along with her, and moved to New Jersey. And, remaining in Florida were my two brothers. Since then, one of my brothers has found his way up here, and is now living with us here in New Jersey.

Last year was special for me because it was the first time in two years that I'd seen all of my immediate family in one place, and for once, none of them were fighting each other. Let's just say it was a rather moving experience, and one that I dearly wish would repeat itself, even though common sense and logic are already telling me that it probably won't happen.

But that's enough about me. What about you guys? What have you been up to in this past month, and what are your resolutions for the year ahead?

Oh, December

Alright, so we are officially out of the craziness that is National Novel Writing Month and we're now out and about on our grand journey of either revision or deep coma. Personally, I'm still working at my novel bit by bit, but I feel the end is coming soon, at least. And that, my friends, is a good feeling.


Anyway, it's December. The month of ever colder weather, eggnog and/or hot chocolate, and of course the holidays. But, I don't want to delve into any of those vast topics for today's update. Instead, I wanted to say a few things on perspective. As in writing perspective, something I've been mulling over quite awhile.

I've found over the years that I write best under the third person limited perspective, and that any attempts to write anything else often end up flat and unimaginative. I also know some people who swear by first person and so on. But perspective doesn't just provide a vehicle for the reader's adventure to take place. It also has an impact that fluctuates depending on the content of the story, I've found. Let's hypothesize a moment.

Say you have a story that's full of traumatic events for your main character. Sure, you could convey that quite well using third person, and perhaps it works for you; but say you write it in first person instead. Instead of watching as the character experiences these dreadful things, you can make your reader experience them alongside your character, and by far that creates a connection between your readers and your characters, providing points of reference, as well as a bit of realism that you can inject into your story.

Why is realism important? Well, this all goes back to my how-to back in October, when I talked about the importance of plotting; realism brings credence to your story, even if it's fantasy. Suspension of disbelief is a term that's quite often used to describe fiction, be it written medium, or otherwise. Basically you're trying to make your story as believable as possible so that your readers can relate to your characters' plight and pull for them, as opposed to making them hate your characters, which often leads to the readers not liking the story as much.

But, back to perspective. Emotional/physical trauma isn't the only forte of first-person. If your story focuses mainly on one character as they grow into a role or something of the like, the perspective also shines here. I've recently been reading Mogworld by "Yahtzee" Croshaw, and it is written from the perspective from the main character as he goes on a fun little quest (albeit one that heavily parodies standard online role-playing games' procedures), but it's less the quest and more the character's quirks and views on the world that bring the story to life.

Similarly, third person shines when there's something bigger than just the character's exploits going on in the world, or when you wish to tell the story from more than one point of view (unless you're writing 3-P limited).

But whatever you like to write, keep in mind your audience and your preferred perspective's pros and cons. That being said, which perspective do you enjoy writing in?

All Good Things...

National Novel Writing Month is almost over! It seems like just yesterday we started on the grand voyage of fifty thousand words, and now? Now it's coming to a close. Sadness abound, I think we've had a good time this month, and it's almost time to (possibly) revise our little projects until next year. Personally, I've got a lot of work to do. I still haven't finished my own story (I know, pretty terrible for having won halfway through.) and after that comes editing, editing, editing.

So before I ramble my head off, I'll let you all finish up your own novels, and I'll see you in the winner's circle. Next update should be a real update, and not any of this short stuff I've been trying to pass off as good blogging.

Should Characters be Treated as Real People?

Yesterday, I came across a post on the Fantasy Genre Lounge on the NaNo forums that regarded the topic of character "realness". For the past few years that I've known about the National Novel Writing Month, I've maintained that even though I may outline and plan, bordering on obsessively, my characters actually have the final say on plot outliers and the like. You know the deal, really interesting tangent that you figure you can fit into the main narrative to explain a little bit of one of your character's motivation and background? I generally chalk that up to the character in question begging to be explored a little more.

But, in keeping with topic, the author of the post brings up good points to the contrary of a character's life and reality (in the figurative sense, not the literal).

Writing a novel requires that you take mastery over the facets of your novel the way a skilled painter would the pigments on his or her palette. Your characters, plot, theme, setting, and dialogue are all under your exclusive control. No external force, no magical muse, is taking your hand and making you do anything. That's why I tend to feel frustration when I see a would-be author blaming one of the aforementioned for hijacking the tale.

I both agree and disagree with their sentiments here. Yes, you have direct control over what your characters say, think, do, and like. But sometimes there are points in which your mind begins to think as if it was the character. Your mind says, "hey, this would be something extremely cool to put in the story, because it explores a what-if situation you hadn't planned on". That's what I speak about when I say that my character set off on a tangent. I don't go out of my way and say that my character is writing the story using me as a vessel to set his words on paper (or screen).

You are telling the tale, and should be consciously making use of your novel's elements to do so. The lion's share of misplaced blame for novel derailment gets heaped on characters. When you're saying "My character refuses to do this!" what you're really telling us is that you've failed to give the character proper motivations in the story up to this point, and now your mind does not feel that it would be logical for the character to move on to your desired course.

Now this is something I definitely agree with the post's author on. Character motivations are a tricky business, but are absolutely essential to a good tale. Sometimes you as a writer forget to add something essential that would cause a character to do something or to think some particular way. That's the beginning of a pretty big plot hole just waiting to happen. Your inner editor stops you before you make the plunge into this plot hole, and that's when you run into issues in your will to write. That's when irrelevant tangents take over your story and it begins to act in a different way than you want. And if you don't want it that way, the readers likely won't either. To use a cooking analogy and try and warp it into a writing one, don't use a wine that you wouldn't drink to cook with. In writing, that becomes, if you don't like writing it, your reader won't like to read it.

One method is to go on the new logical route and see where it takes you. If you are a discovery writer, as opposed to someone who outlines, this can be a healthy process. If it's going to leave your story in shambles instead, or destroy all of the carefully laid plans for your plot, then you need to step back and rewind. Find out where you failed to give your characters proper motivation, and make the necessary changes. Take ownership of your characters as tools to tell your tale.

Of course, pantsers are allowed, and in fact celebrated. But here's another part where I agree with the post. If you don't directly control your characters when you're outlining, things can become very messy, very quickly; unless of course some of these subplots would actually work well with the main plot (see my original blurb).

The big pitfall of believing your characters are actual, sentient beings is that you lose the ability to tell the best possible story with them. Grow too attached and you'll always find a way to keep bad things from happening to the character. You'll enhance their traits until they're the embodiment of everything you want to be. You'll give them unrealistic rewards, or become blind to their faults. You'll stop using them to serve the needs of the story, and they will become a parody of excellence that you may adore, but no one else will want to read.

Sometimes, bad things need to happen to great characters to facilitate the best possible outcome. If you behave as if you're the characters' kind and loving creator, instead of an artist who is using a tool to shape your tale, you're always going to be tempted to mitigate any disasters that occur to your imaginary friends. 

Here, they make another very valid argument in why falling too "in love" with your characters is a massive mistake. In fact, to correlate their point, I'm going to pull an example from one of my favorite video games to show exactly what they mean. In Mass Effect, you play a character called Commander Shepard. In the most basic terms I can afford to use, they are a bad ass (trying to avoid pronouns because it's up to you whether they're male or female). But at the start of Mass Effect 2, the developers, BioWare decide to throw you a big 'ole curveball (you only need to watch 'till 2:49 for full effect). They aren't afraid to destroy what they've built in the first game in order to provide a richer storytelling experience. Many writers would do well to heed this advice, and don't grow too attached to their characters. Of course, just a little is necessary for believability, but as it is in almost all things, moderation is key.

So, what do you think about the issue? Are characters real entities, entitled to their own opinions apart from what you have set out for them? Or are they tools with awesome personalities and weird quirks that make you love them?

50k and Beyond

Yesterday, I think I experienced my most successful day of writing ever. Not because I wrote a lot, or wrote some truly spectacular stuff, because I know I didn't do either, but because I sat myself down, amidst at least five distractions or more around me, and I wrote as if there were none. And because of that, I made it to the target of 50,000 yesterday. And, well, I'm pretty excited.

But there are still plenty of people out there struggling along in their novels this month, and that's okay too. I've said in other posts that word count does not mean everything, that sometimes you need to disregard some higher goals to get to where you want to be, and that it's good to take a small break every once in a while. But now we've reached the midpoint of November, and thereby NaNo, and many find that the game changes a little bit when this time rolls around. Late bloomers see their word counts soaring, stragglers begin to not straggle so much as they see the end of the month looming over them (or maybe not, I don't happen to know), and all over the world, novels begin to... well, end.

Maybe you are a late bloomer, making one of those heroic dashes to the finish line in style, as the final seconds tick down on the clock. Or maybe this year just wasn't your year, distractions and real life finding ways to get into your writing time and sucking it all away. Either way, if you're behind at this point, it's still okay. Today's advice is quite possibly the most important I can impart upon you guys: DO NOT GIVE UP. As long as you don't give up, there is still a great big possibility that you can pull out a win.

I have heard stories about NaNo winners who literally took until 11:58pm on November 30th to verify their 50k wins. There is no shame in such a thing, nor is there even shame in losing. Because you tried. You tried your hardest and either you came out on top, or maybe you didn't and fell short a bit. Either way, you're all winners because you simply attempted to write a novel this month.

But, whichever way you want to look at it, remember these words: do not give up.

More Excerpt Time

Yesterday I accomplished something in my writing that I never thought I'd manage to do. I wrote a thousand words in less than an hour. How? Well, to be honest, I'm not quite sure, but I do know that it probably had something to do with a system I was trying out for the first time yesterday: writing for reward. I told myself, "Self, for every thousand words you write, take an hour and play one of your favorite games, and once that hour's over, go back and write another thousand."

So I did. I wrote three thousand words yesterday morning, in a total of just less than three hours (I meant to write more, but fate conspired against me and included travel in my schedule for the day). I'm feeling rather good about my NaNo this year, and I'm sure to hit 50k within the next two or three days, if yesterday was any example. Moral for the story? Writing for reward works wonders (just so long as the reward is something you really enjoy) for your word count.

My last update, I promised an excerpt, and an excerpt you shall get.

On Why Sleeping is A Fairly Important Thing

Hey, everyone.

We're nearing the halfway point of the entire National Novel Writing Month thing and I must say that I've run into a bit of a trouble spot. It isn't with the material I'm writing, or even the Week Two disease. No, I'm suffering from the rare disorder of Really Strange Sleep Schedule.

Now, this sort of thing isn't exactly a rare occurrence with me, but I rather hoped that it wouldn't show it's ugly face during the month of November. It's not the hardest thing to overcome, but it definitely interferes with my writing time, and that is NOT a good thing. I said two days ago that sometimes a day off can get you re-focused on your novel and your writing, but I suppose those days off that I took didn't help me much.

Anyway, to keep from rambling, I've decided to finally disregard my 5k a day regimen (as if that wasn't quite apparent already), and have started striving only for the 1.6k that serves as the original daily requirement. If I happen to write more, then so be it. If not, eh, at least I have that massive buffer. I intend to keep writing until I can't write any more while in keeping with the story, so it's rather safe to say that Shades of Change will be totally complete by the end of November. Minus major edits, of course. This year's goal (as seen on my "Projects Listing" page) was 50-75k, and so long as I keep up the current pace, I'll probably end up over a hundred thousand. And again, if not, well, 75 shouldn't be a difficult number to obtain.

But to keep with the title of this update, I reiterate: sleeping is a good practice. Try not to lose TOO much over NaNo. Unless you are like me and suffer frequently from RSSS. In that case, write when you can while you're awake. My next update will most likely include another excerpt from the novel, if I can decide on what I want to share with you all.

Taking a Day Off (Of NaNo)

Yesterday and today, for me have been days of relative inactivity. I did absolutely no work on Shades of Change, and I don't feel the least bit upset about it. Why? Because as I said two days ago, NaNo isn't about word count goals, self-imposed or otherwise. It's about writing a novel. And if that novel ends up taking just a bit longer than a month? So be it. That's the way of the world regardless.

But in my case, I don't think I should have that much of a problem, I must say. But, unfortunately the same thing can't be said for others in the great writing marathon. So, here's my NaNoWriMo advice for this post: take a day off that you yourself have a control on the reason 'why'. Writing doesn't have to be a stressful endeavor, but often day to day life seems to get in the way and makes it so. So take a day off and remember why you enjoy to write.

Daylight Savings Time

Many of you probably already know this, but it's time for the fun little half-year of DST to say bye-bye. I, for one, could not be happier. Not only does this give me, and in fact all of us, an extra little hour push for the day's writing, but it provides something fairly valuable besides just that. It gives us a bit longer in the sunlight.

Sunlight is good. It feeds the grass and trees (unless it's fall, in which it allows us to watch all these wonderful things wither and die), it signifies the day time, and of course, it's most important job, in that it provides us with a great source of light, as the name might ever-so-subtly imply. But, of course this all depends on whether or not it's being covered by a generous helping of clouds or not.

Anyway, beyond what magic happens in the realm of the sky, or what sorcery turns time back and forth an hour every other season, it's still time to write. And, as we are all probably aware, writing is good too. Which brings me to my first reason for bothering to write a blog post at 2:30 in the morning.

As I said in my post a couple of days ago, I had to somewhat stop myself in my conquest of my novel's progress in order to attend the weekly Dungeons and Dragons game. I had a plan, and I didn't adhere to it quite as well as I had... well... planned. My original thought was that I'd use small breaks in the action and write a little bit in the notebook at all possible times. Of course, this didn't happen. Well, I at least managed to bring the notebook and a writing tool, but everything else just kind of fell flat. So, yesterday, I found myself needing to play just a small game of catch-up to jump from my 21-or-so-thousand word count up to 30 thousand, in keeping with my 5k a day attitude.

I'm proud to say that I made it most of the way in another vastly helpful 6,500 word day, which leaves me short just less than a thousand words from 30k, which means another 6k day is in order for me to be back on track with myself. But, on the plus side, I've got a hook for a possible sequel. Maybe next year?

And that, boys and girls, is what will segue into my advice for today. Not the part about the sequel, but the whole word count thing.

On Various Things Vaguely Related to NaNo.

At the outset of this post, I left the title line rather blank. Not because I didn't know what I wanted it to be, but because I was unsure of how to phrase it. This, admittedly, happens more than I like it to. Titles are supposed to be an indication of what something contains, and as such they should be clear and concise, and all of that fun little nonsense. But no one ever tells you in schooling, what makes a good title? Is it how short it is, or how detailed it is, or is it just how cool it happens to sound while remaining in the ballpark area of what's within? Whatever it is, titles are not today's topic.

As I've stated before, I've been enjoying great success in my National Novel Writing to date, putting in an average of at least 5,000 words per day (although I am quite proud of my 6k day yesterday, that was refreshing!) and not showing the least bit of interest in slowing down. However, tonight, all that has to change due to prior obligations.

That's right, it's Dungeons and Dragons night. And I'm fully expected to be there.

So, what am I to do? Well, I've already decided that I'll be taking a pad and a pen to the game and at every chance I'm able to get, jot down a few hundred or so words, or whatever I happen to be able to fit in the time I'm given. During breaks, that's when I'll get up to about a thousand down or so. And when the night's all said and done, I get to come back home and transcribe. This also gives me the chance to edit some of the work to flow better and not sound so... disjointed.

And that brings me to the true topic of the day: editing during NaNo.

I went around to a few different writers' blogs yesterday in an attempt to slow myself down just a little, and I came across a few stating their opinions on the taboo that is editing in November's writing insanity. I'd just like to say one thing in opening: without mid-writing editing, I would be a lost soul. I rely on a few bits of editing here and there to soothe my minor bouts of OCD (no, I don't actually have the disorder, but my brain works in such a way at times.), so that my inner editor is calm enough to allow me some time alone to write whatever fancies me.

I seem to have perfected the art while I was busy writing fan fiction stories. I was never one for drafting, and often times, the very moment I finished a chapter I would publish it on the website, so that meant that I needed to have a relatively readable and at least somewhat edited piece of work ready when I did so. How did I manage this? I used the trusty old pencil-and-paper technique. I find it allows for quick and easy edits during the transcription process, because as you're typing the information in, you yourself are forced to read what you wrote and see if it just so happens to work. If it doesn't, make changes as you type. All the time you spend in writing your story longhand comes back to you in transcription, with the added bonus of more quality to show off to all of your wonderful readers.

And the good thing is, that it works both ways. Say you're pressed for time, and you'd like to keep a paragraph or two that you've typed in on your computer for context. Write it down in your notebook, making small edits to that little snippet, take that notebook with you, continue where you left off, and when you're ready to sit back down at the computer, take those paragraphs and rephrase them using the edits in your notebook. You'll thank yourself for it in December, I promise.

But, what about classic editing? You know, reading line by line in an effort to find even the smallest discrepancy? Don't do that, unless you find yourself very far ahead in your writing or if you find yourself stuck. For instance, if you're stuck, there's a good chance that going back and looking at what you've written already will clue you into some things you can write to continue on and move not only your novel, but your word count into higher territory. Just don't do it too much. That can be a bad thing and perhaps even dissuade you from writing anything at all, which is definitely not good.

So, with all of that having been said, I'm off to begin writing today's 4k so that I can keep my pace up and hopefully hit the halfway mark of NaNo's 50k today. Happy NaNoing, everyone.

P.S.: I almost just hit the 'publish' button without titling the damn post. Curse you, title fairy! Also, quick question for you guys. Do you like to title your chapters, or do you prefer to leave the chapters as mere numbers?

NaNo News: Day Three

So it comes to be that day three is nearly past and NaNo is definitely in full swing now, with hundreds of thousands of writers pouring their wit upon the now-not-so-blank page in their efforts to write what some of us crazies hope will become the next bestselling novel. I, in a more personal generalization, have enjoyed great success in my own little noveling world, hitting a stride of two 5k word days in a row, and working on making the third one a reality (though it's a little more difficult than the first two were, I must say. A terrible case of the stubborn scene seems to have hit me particularly hard today.) My current word count? 12,778 words, and with four hours to go until the official end of the day, I have a total of 3,009 words to slog through in order to make my self-imposed quota.

Just about an hour and a half ago, I received a comment on my last post regarding my word count and my status as a college student, and I suppose there isn't a better topic today than to give a quick rundown on my writing habits.

First off, I want to say that I am an absolute sucker for pen-and-paper writing. It has given me something to do when there's been nothing else to occupy my time, and it's probably preserved what's left of my sanity admirably. This goes for NaNo especially; while in a particularly redundant lecture, I'm able to pull out my trusty novel notebook and begin busting out passages and scenes that I can later expand upon and type into my novel-in-progress file on the computer. This alone has probably accounted for more than a half of the current word count, plain and simple.

The second thing I do is when I find any free time at all, I write. Five minutes to get to class? Rush and get there early, pull out the notebook or laptop and begin typing furiously. Personal word wars are fantastic in such short bursts. There's also a great potential for inspiration to be drawn from your courses, given the right circumstances. For instance, history courses offer a great starting point. Find a little fact from hundreds of years ago? There's a novel or short story premise, right there.

Thirdly, I find that homework isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's provided me with enough pent-up writing energy and excitement that when I'm finally able to work on my novel for the month, it's a blur of ideas rushing straight from my brain to my computer's hard drive. Okay, so maybe a little bit of finger movement is involved, but hey, it's as close to directly beaming my thoughts into a word processor as it gets, eh?

So there you have it. Writing on a short time frame doesn't necessarily mean you have to sacrifice words when there are plenty to go around. So, what do you all do in terms of quick-writing rituals during times of having no time?

Success on Day One

So my first official day of noveling insanity is finally done and over with, at a total of 5,017 words. Which means that I also completed my forum challenge of 5k on the first day. To celebrate, I'm providing everyone with a blog post, as well as an excerpt! Huzzah!

As it turns out, I actually found challenge where I expected none. I figured my excitement of finally starting work on Shades of Change would simply carry me away to success, but apparently my brain didn't want any of that. Every so often, it would wander away in search of something else, be it a word I couldn't find, another thing I wanted to do, or whatever. In short, my brain forced me to take many, many, many small breaks while I was trying to sit and write seriously. Thankfully, I already had close to the daily goal of 1,667 during the midnight write-off and that helped immensely in my quest for wordly domination (see what I did there?).

Incidentally, inspiration struck yet again while I was trying to drain my brain of inspired thought, as it so often does. Unsatisfied with the way my novel's beginning ended up coming out on paper, I actually figured out a way to fix it while still ignoring it in favor of fresh progress, so at the end of the competition, I will be writing the true beginning of my novel, as long as I don't forget about it.

Now for excerpts!

T-Minus Eight Hours, and Counting

I've mentioned before that time seems to slow considerably when you're anticipating something, and it couldn't be more true now. With just about eight hours until the grand event, and Halloween festivities providing a buffer between now and then, I don't see things moving much more quickly, either. But, that's all well and good, though. You see, these last few hours are providing me some valuable insight time to make sure that my story will play out as I've planned (maybe not, depending on what little plot bunnies discover themselves during my frenzied writing over the next month). Characters are solidifying themselves and others are discovering their wants and needs. Motives swim in and out as they see fit. In other words, my mind is abuzz with the symphony of the not-too-distant plot, looking forward to it's release into the world.

Around the world, NaNo is starting, and the only thing to do now is wait for it to reach the east coast. Midnight tonight will be filled with the sounds of keys being struck with a pace yet unseen this year. Happy NaNo, everyone, and good luck.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: 2 Days.

So last night was Dungeons and Dragons night, and as per pre-NaNo preparations, I told the group my intentions for the next month, and that I was definitely going to be above my word count goals for every Friday so that I could come and play with everyone instead of being a lonely miser. So, now this provides the all-important mid-November incentive and one of those fun (and more than a little creative) distractions I mentioned a few days ago. And, of course, I developed a few more scenes for the novel in dreams that I can eventually use to beef out the story and characters. Those are always good.

Today's post, however, has almost nothing to do with NaNo. It has to do with gaming, my other great love.

I mentioned D&D at the top of the post, a thing I regretfully only just found enjoyment in a few months ago. I believe that any gamer who is in the least bit interested in story-based gaming should give it a go at least once or twice. As for me, fancying myself a writer, as well as someone who enjoys a grand fantasy story, I should have found my love for this long, long ago. Okay, so that line about being about gaming, but not NaNo? You probably guessed by now, but I kinda lied. NaNo-ers can draw great inspiration from a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, no matter which era it happens to be. I personally am plying my fourth edition experience into my writing style.

Unfortunately though, tabletop gaming has seen a large decline (but definitely not death) at the hands of console gaming, and someone like me is left wondering how such a thing could happen. These things should coincide with each other. Tabletop gaming is a wonderful thing, and can forge great friendships, or perhaps strengthen those that already exist. But, what is really satisfying about games such as D&D is the interactions between two or more players in-character. This is the stuff that many writers should really pay attention to, because this interaction is just about as real as if the characters existed in the 'real' world. It provides important insight into character background, gives them their own voice, and most importantly, brings them to life - a skill that some, like myself, have struggled with in times past.

So, if you're a writer, make an attempt to go down to your local tabletop game store, see when they run (if they run) their D&D (or similar) games and sit in on one or two of them, you might be surprised with what you can come up with. Or, if you're feeling really adventurous, see if you can join in on the fun.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: 7 Days.

Well, it's only a week until the great noveling race begins and we're all bustling about in our attempts to get novel ideas out of our heads so that new ones may take root and flourish in our minds for next year. But, before that, we have the wonderfully awesome holiday of Halloween to consider. Tons of candy, little monsters showing up at your doorstep, and an excuse to watch the cheesiest of B-rated horror movies. What reason is there not to enjoy Halloween?

Why speak of the holiday though? Why not speak of the grand contest occurring afterward? Well, there are answers to these questions. These being, because I can, and I could be respectively.

For instance, there's much inspiration to be had in Halloween for any writers, young or old. I vividly remember in elementary school how our teachers would always challenge us to create scary stories to share in a darkened classroom, the bottom portion of our faces illuminated by those silly flashlights. Those were my favorite times. We weren't expected to write anything serious or school-related. We were only requested to have fun and write something we were proud of. Needless to say, it's likely that very few of these stories have stood the test of time, but all the same, there's the hope that the feeling remains. How does this tie in with NaNo? Easily. While the official reason why NaNo is held in November is to take advantage of rather poor weather, I'd like to think that it also wishes us to feed from the creative font of Halloween.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: 8 Days.

Today I wanted to talk about distractions and writing, in preparation for the insanity inherent of NaNo.

The fine people over at the Office of Letters and Lights and the authors they find to produce their pep talks through the month of November all tell you at least once to find a way to remove yourself from all distractions so that you can focus on your writing. I want to tell you that it may actually not be so bad to surround yourself with one or two of your favorite distractions, be it TV or whatnot.

Why? Because if you fall into a block in your writing, perhaps a distraction is exactly what you need.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: 10 Days

Okay, so first off, apologies. I know I said that I'd make up for the lack of short story two days ago with a double story yesterday. That obviously didn't happen, but I have excuses reasons on the 'why'.

It's been... a rather rough week to be honest. Finally getting over a double dose of the common cold, catching some strain of Strep, going to Maryland for the weekend, and having an unexpectedly busy schedule are some of the things giving me trouble. Not even mentioning the small writer's block I'm getting when I try to think about continuing on with the short that I posted on Tuesday.

So, in lieu of doing my 12 for 12 challenge this year, I will at the very least post up some posts for the days leading up to the big event. If the post just so happens to contain a short story, then it's a win-win, right? Next year, I will rehash the challenge (with some revised rules), and perhaps even complete it!

In NaNo-news, I'm finally just about done with plotting my novel for this year and I just can't wait to finally get started. It seems, now that I really think about it, that the rest of this year just happened so quickly and yet now that November's rolling around, the world decides to slow down and make it take forever to finally arrive. Funny how that works. Anyway, I've accepted some of those fun word-count-on-the-first-day challenges. Most notably the 5k in a day challenge. Which, honestly, I don't think I'll have an issue with, and might just roll into the 10k/first day challenge. But, that also means that while I'm busy writing my novel, I may or may not have a blog post for everyone. Perhaps once I'm satisfied with my progress for the day, I'll come here and sum up the day's fun little plot bunnies, and of course, update with my word count. Just thinking about the fun I'll have wrecking my novel's setting makes me want to get writing. November just can't come fast enough.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: 12 Days - "Beginning of the End"

Last night was one of the worst of my career. Why, you ask? Well, the undead had a pretty big part in it. The other reasons? You'll have to hear them to believe.

It started out, much like any other night; a cool breeze rushed through the city streets, as was a normal event for an autumn evening. The wind briefly shook the trees lining the park in which I was enjoying a short stroll, alone. You see, I'm not one for company or friends. Honestly, in my line of work, that's frowned upon. More on that later, though. I was dressed in a cloth hoodie and loose jeans - the standard fare for most people my age. Hands in pockets, I strode silently through the twilight hours, simply enjoying the scenery.

That's about when everything started going sour.