Rise From Your Grave

Well hello again, ladies and gents. It's been a while. Perhaps too long, maybe not long enough. Either way, I'm back around these parts, at least for the moment, to go back to roots. You may already be aware, but if not, National Novel Writing Month is upon us again, and I'm throwing my hat into the ring once again. A few years ago, when I made my last blog post, I mentioned that I was going to participate that year, but unfortunately, things just didn't pan out. Life got in the way, and I haven't really been able to get back into the swing of things until now, and I'm ready to rip through another month of wordsmithing.

As ready as I am, however, this year, things have changed. Some changes for the better, some for the worse, and some that I'm not entirely sure on. I've got less time to write, less energy, and by far less writing stamina. I'm finding an unfamiliar difficulty in staying focused, keeping my eyes on the ball, another unnecessary metaphor; and that, friends, is what brings me back here. I'm hoping that by revisiting old haunts, reconnecting to resources I stopped caring about long ago, that I can recapture that fighting spirit, the will to write, and the drive to succeed in this mad month.

So, in an effort to start back on the right foot here, let me tell you a little bit about my novel for the event.

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!

Early Post is Early

I realize that this post is a bit early, according to my last update, but I wanted to talk about Dungeons and Dragons again. It's been a long time since I've mentioned it, and in that time, our group has gone their separate ways for now, having other obligations that needed tending to. But let me start by saying that I really miss playing D and D.

The main reason I loved to play was first and foremost, the friendships that I was able to forge amongst the other players. We all had common interests, similar senses of humor, and a deep love for rich, in-depth storytelling in our gaming experiences. The fact that I was able to meet these people at all, much less around the table of an awesome D and D campaign is something that I'm not likely to play off as coincidence.

I'll openly admit that I am what many would call a nerd. In fact, I'm so comfortable with it, that I don't even take offense to it anymore. It is who I am, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I find high fantasy and science fiction to be among the coolest genres out there. I find dragons immensely fascinating. Hell, I even played World of Warcraft for the longest time. But I'm going off on a tangent. What I'm really trying to say here is that I miss meeting with these people on a weekly basis. That interaction was most often the highlight of my week, and not having it there anymore is honestly a very depressing... hole, for lack of better terms.

Secondly, I loved both the game itself, and its mechanics. Prior to last year, I hadn't actually ever played Dungeons and Dragons, or any other table top role-playing game for that matter. I'd played games using similar mechanics, but under the shiny interface of some kind of video game system. It was the first time that I'd gotten really down into the dirt that is the math beneath the flash. In fact, the game that I've been playing for the past few days, Knights of the Old Republic, happens to use almost the exact D and D system that I had learned during the past year. So, going back and playing it again gave me a new appreciation and understanding about the mechanics behind all of the fancy lightsaber swinging and blaster shots, thereby enriching my time playing the game.

And if all of that wasn't enough, the game was FUN. Ask just about anyone what the most important part of gaming is, and many of them will tell you it's all about having some fun. Between the amazing people and the interesting gameplay, and adding in some very adaptable storyline, Dungeons and Dragons happens to be one of the most fun games I've played, and trust me, I've played more than enough to know what I like. Besides, in what other game would you be able to slay the dragon using nothing but a tin can and some string?

Anyway, I think I've rambled on long enough. I'll still be updating next Sunday with something or other, so if you're interested in whatever I'll have to say, please, feel free to stick around.

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.

Social Networking

If you haven't noticed by now, I have created a Twitter account that I'll promptly ignore for a long time, and you can see anything that I may find important enough to 'tweet' down and to the left, or at twitter.com/python862. What does this mean? Well, should I actually find myself using it, I'll be giving more up-to-date information on what I happen to be doing at the time. This means along the lines of "Hey guys, new blog post," or "Hey guys, new YouTube video," or, "Hey guys, I'm writing/playing something," and not "Hey guys, I made lunch."

While I'm at it, let me wax poetic about Twitter, or rather, social networking on the internet. If you would have asked me two years ago about what I thought of it, I would have probably either laughed in your face, or told you something along the lines of "it's the devil and deserves to reside in the lowest circle of Hell itself." Now? Well, my opinions so far haven't much changed, but I suppose that Twitter's a good enough way to send and receive information in a short and concise manner, and I recognize and appreciate its purpose. It should probably still sit firmly in Hell, though.

You see, social networking websites have never quite sat well with me. When Myspace was new and fresh in everyone's minds, I was perhaps the only person on Earth to shun and turn my back on it. I never felt any remorse for that decision. Then Facebook came along and took the throne of 'flavor of the month' networking site. At first, I turned my back on that, too. But then I came to realize that perhaps I was being a little closed-minded about it all. I never really had an issue with the form or function of these websites, I just unreasonably and unequivocally despised the idea. My thinking at the time was that if you weren't able to keep track of all of your friends out in the real world, then why would you bother trying at all? But then again, I always was the one with the smaller groups of friends. One of the black sheep, if you will.

So recently, I tried Facebook out and found that it's incredibly easy to keep tabs on what people are doing. Even that long-lost uncle that seems to be missing more than a few screws. The one thing I really don't like about the service? All those damn apps and the message spam you're liable to receive if one of your friends uses them. I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't care about the wood on your farmstead, or who you just served in your little café. At least there's the option to ignore all of those updates.

Anyway, what're your thoughts about Facebook and its ilk?

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.

Verificationalizingness.

So three days ago, verification opened up on the NaNo website, and now hundred of writers are sitting in the winner's circle with a (perhaps?) completed novel and a shiny new certificate and stuffs. I have just verified not ten minutes ago, and I'm feeling pretty good. I just want to say good luck and best wishes for those of you that haven't yet gotten to 50,000, because I know it's been a long ride and I'm confident that you'll all get there before the 30th is over!

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy NaNo!

So yesterday was Thanksgiving for those who happen to be in America and enjoy gorging themselves entirely on the delicacy of turkey, gravy and tons and tons of potatoes. Yesterday also marked the day where verification on NaNoWriMo began, where around the world, millions of words are being counted, and thousands and thousands of writers are finally crossing the finish line on the month of craziness and amazing awesomeness. I'm actually waiting until I actually finish the novel before heading off to verify, if only for my own obstinate personality. But, that isn't to say that I won't verify if it's 11:58 and I'm still not done.

Regardless, today is the recovery day, where we all get back up and out of the house to do some Black Friday shopping in early preparation for the rest of the holiday seasons. And if not, well, today's sit back and try to enjoy the day. So, whatever you have planned for today, I hope you had a happy yesterday. I sure did.

Review: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Hey, guys.

So it's come to my attention that I totally spaced and forgot to post something the past two update days. I feel like... well, I don't know what I feel like, but I'll get back to you on that. Meanwhile, I wanted to talk about something besides NaNo today, for once. I know, I know, such a shock and a travesty, and all sorts of other things, right?

Anyway, I've been playing a lot of games recently. Mostly just Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, though. That seems like a good enough topic to begin on, eh?

If you pay any attention at all to the world of video games and the like, you've probably heard mention of the AC franchise before. When the original was released it was a breath of fresh air, a new concept, and most importantly, FUN. The story was amazing, the action was absolutely awesome, and the fact that you could climb walls at your leisure was simply friggen' stunning. Flash forward a few years and now we have three console games, two hand-held games, a Facebook app, and one or two cellphone adaptations. Brotherhood happens to be the former of the three.

It picks up where you left off after the events of AC2, understandably, and immediately you're thrust into the world of Desmond Miles and Ezio Auditore de Firenze, his ancestor. If you haven't played and/or heard about Assassin's Creed, then you may want to shut your eyes, place your hands over your ears and yell "la la la, I can't hear you," at the top of your lungs, unless you're privy to spoilers and important plot points.

So basically, if you haven't a clue as to why Desmond is able to see, hear, act and think as his ancestor did, it's all due to a fun little device called the Animus. The Animus allows the user to essentially use their DNA to relive the memories of those that came before him or her. Now Desmond's ancestors happen to belong to an ancient order of assassins who fight against the Templar order, trying to keep them from assuming control of mystical and mysterious devices known as 'Pieces of Eden', and therefore taking control of the world at large.

Long story short, Desmond is taken in by the Templars, due to his illustrious ancestry, to track down these Pieces of Eden in their modern day holdings. He is soon rescued by an undercover agent of the assassins and spirited away to learn more about who he is and what he can do, and in the process, find the missing Pieces for the assassins. Anyway, at the start of Brotherhood, Ezio has defeated the big bad and had one such object in his possession, after which he was alerted of a doomsday prophecy and all of that fun stuff.

So Ezio is now in possession of the particular PoE the assassins of the modern world are looking for and it's only a matter of finding where he put it, right? Wrong. Something big happens, protagonist loses all of his armor, weapons, and some of his abilities (sad face, Metroid, sad face.) and we the player are forced to do it all again.

But, in order to stave away further spoilers, I'll leave it at that.

If I were to review Brotherhood properly, I'd say something like, "A good game, true to its predecessors, very stylish and polished. Story is up to par, and indeed, a fairly unexpected plot twist occurs at the end, causing a cliffhanger and a hook for the next installment (because there's almost a 100% chance of it happening - the series is much too successful for Ubisoft to call it quits here. Being milked like the cash cow it just so happens to be...)."

My judgment on AC: Brotherhood? Buy it, at the least for its replayability, but more than that, because it stands up to those that came before it and adds to the experience without bogging it all down.

Next update should be something more novel-ish. Or maybe turkeyish. I don't know, but I swear!

A Short Post About Stuff

Hey guys. Didn't do much in terms of writing over the past week, simply lying back and enjoying my relatively stress-free November. I know, it may seem like I'm gloating to others who may not have the same luxury, but I'm definitely not. I sympathize with all of you guys.

Anyway, I was one of the lucky hundred thousand or so across America who got to go attend a midnight showing of HP: Deathly Hallows: Part One last night/this morning, and I am... wowed. To keep it short and full of brevity, I can't wait for the second part to come out. Anyway, I'm sorry for such a short update, but it seems as though I have little time right at the moment. Perhaps later I'll try and expand on something or other.

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?