Post NaNoWriMo life...

So yet again it has come to that time of year where life has settled back down to post NaNoWriMo, or supposedly has... Novemeber still hasn't come to an end yet and since finishing my draft (one important thing I've learnt over the years and in particular this year is that it is a DRAFT not a complete story or a novel. it still needs a hell of a lot of work) I have had to focus on getting my essay handed in and other bits and pieces like that.

I have also, very excitedly, been planning this other story, although it needs lots of detailed planning or it won't work so I'm trying to take it slowly and not rush into it. It's hard though. But I need a break (sort of.. I should really..) and I want to think about it for a bit.

I also have my previous story to edit and rework, and it will have been good to have a break from that.

Finished!

So I have completed NaNoWriMo for the year. YAY! I had 5,000 left this morning and decided to just go for it and finish it, which left me with an aching hand and also a feeling of guilt at the work I should have been doing, but I did feel good to finish it. I have to say I think I've finished earlier than usual, which is impressive, and although I did rush the last 5,000 and am definitely not as happy with them as I am with the rest of what I wrote I suppose that's a part of NaNo and it was going to happen. It definitely needs a lot of work, but I did it. I thought also that I would have enough story to take me way beyond the 50,000 mark, it turned out I didn't and struggled to get there in the last few hundred words - maybe that was psychological, I don't know, but it was rather annoying. It was probably becuase I was rushing to finish and although I kenw what I wanted to happen, didn't think about it enough. But why am I complaining? I have managed to write 50,000 words in 21 days, which is pretty impressive and I enjoy being able ot do that.
I have definitely improved so much since my first NaNo which was a pile of nonsense, and I actually (sort of) had enough story to get me to the end without throwing in a ridiculous plot.
Oddly, I didn't feel quite as happy and relieved as I should have done to finish. Maybe becuase I rushed it to get to the end, that feeling didn't come.
Oh well.
I still like my idea. I'm not sick of it. Good? Bad?
But at the same time I'm looking forward to getting back to editing my other project, and starting to plan my next one whilst giving this one a rest before I look at it again.
Also, the story changed completely from what I expected it to be, but that was quite exciitng, and the way I like it to be - where I vaguely know what I want to happen, but there's so much space for other stuff to happen that its exciting and not a stressful thing when you realise that will work better.
I have been enjoying Maureen Johnson's NaNo advice each day on her tumblr, it is very useful and I want to copy it and keep it all as inspiration. Really, go read it. So helpful.
In other news, I handed in a story today for CW that I really wasn't that happy with, but it had to do. My essay is nearly finished too. Yay!
My wrist is killing now, need to get off the computer, and go have supper.

Ideas and Dreams

I have a dream the other night which was so bizarre, but I kept remembering it and yesterday I suddenly thought of an AWESOME idea for a story which will be really interesting and exciting to write, and I'm already really excited about it.

Unfortuantely, it doesn't fit into my 500 word proposal I have to write, nor the story on the royal family I have to write (this is surprisingly hard - I always used to write about real people (fanfic) but writing it for something that has to be handed in is difficult). It doesn't fit into my NaNo story, nor my essay on Shakespeare (what a surprise there). Nor do I want to write it as a short story for my course.

So I'm just going to make lots of notes and keep thinking about it, and have something to look forward to writing when November is over....

Eleven days into November and I have already hit 30,000 words. I don't know where this burst of energy has come from, but I'm not complaining. I'm really not. It obviously means I like the story and I'm into it and it works. I suppose I have had more practice at writing this many words and it doesn't seem so much of a challenge anymore.
But it's still great to have a deadline and something to work towards doing.
All in all, it seems to be going well. So happy to be writing something huge again. Although lack of short story ideas for short fiction module is a little bit worrying...

things to do this November.

1. 3,000 word essay

2. short story proposal

3. lots of reading (a few plays and dissertation stuff)

4. write a novel

5. See people about dissertation

6. creative writing journal

it could be worse....

inspiration?

I spend a lot of my time writing, or thinking about writing, or reading. Which I suppose is only a good thing.

However, its just over a week until NaNoWriMo starts and I'm itching to start my idea. I want to start it now, so I'm stuck in that strange inbetween period, whilst editing other stuff, I don't really have anything I'm particuarly working on. Which saddens me because I want to be working on something. Yet in a week I will be starting something. I have tonnes of ideas for longer pieces, but nothing for anything shorter at the minute, and considering my creative writing module I'm taking this term is focused on short fiction I feel like I should be collecting some ideas for that and writing some short stories. Yet nothing is coming to me for that. I'm writing lots of background for my NaNo, and I know that's important, but it feels like it will all soon be irrelevant, when I could have been working on some short stories for later in the term. But I have nothing. I've tried just writing and I don't get anything I like. My head is too focused on all these other longer things I want to write, or am still editing.

Although I bet when it comes to it, I'll have loads of ideas for one and not for the other.

I just feel like I should be writing. But what?

editing, more writing and planning.

So I reached the end of the first draft. And then tried my best to leave it at least a week before looking at it again (which I managed). Having spent the last few days reading through a chapter or two when I've had time, noting anything which was inconsistent, I didn't like or needed to add, and I'm quite happy. Okay, so there's loads that I'm unhappy with and lots of adding in I need to do and things to change and all of that, but its there, there's a shell of something. And I like it. Sort of. Bits of it. Just a lot more editing to do. Fun times!

Whilst I've been doing that, I've also been doing various assignments for my creative writing module, and keeping up my writing journal for that. I usually keep a journal/notebook anyway so this isn't much of a hardship, and we had to do it for assessment purposes last year, so I'm well used to it. It is strange though what modes you find yourself stuck in. At the minute I'm struggling to do the assignment set for us, because it involves us really thinking about different 'writing modes' we use and being very aware of them. For some reason this makes it hard and my mind has gone blank on good ideas. Or what I perceive as good. The assignment for the first week however I found 'easy' and had an idea straight away. This is a little tougher. Around this I've found myself writing background for the next thing I was going to talk about.

Planning my NaNoWriMo novel for this year. The idea I'm going with this year is one that I thought quite a lot about over the summer and has been festering there for a few months now, so this seems like an opportune moment to write it, as I may never write it otherwise. I wasn't going to do NaNo this year, but after five years it has kinda become part of my routine for a November, and I can't imagine NOT doing it. And my good friend persuaded me to do it. Mainly because we always send each other packages and I didn't want to say no. I hadn't really thought about whether I was doing it this year until then. But hey ho, I am. And I can incorporate the stuff into my module this term. It will be good to develop characters and such. Good times.

Trying to finish this task at the minute, but watching AVPM at the same time is not particularly constructive.