So far so good for National Novel Writing Month. Well, except for the changes.
My antagonist is now the protagonist, and my protagonist is what – unemployed? Re-written?
Despite extensive planning and outlining, the story has turned in on itself, the story arc becoming more of a mobius strip, the characters changing roles more often like non-equity actors struggling to make rent.
What have I learned from this?
Roll with it. Resistance is futile, and the rational mind can be a real pain in the ass. This is, after all, a creative endeavour. I decided a couple of hours into it to abandon the linear, structured approach. It’s a given that large scale editing will be required, so I modified my approach with this in mind.
I’m writing what’s fun, and what holds my attention at the moment, not necessarily what needs to happen next. The scenes will need to be tidied up and stitched together later anyway, so why not write the chase scene first?
Being a geek, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to revel in the technology that I’m using.
Write or Die: I downloaded the desktop edition on a whim. Best whim i’ve ever had. I did not think the imagination would respond so well to being bullied by a computer. Nor did I think I could write as much as fast as I do. Granted, there will come a time when I will need to Edit or Die. I write more and faster than I thought I could, but I also type worse than I thought. If you need a little push and/or ego stroke, I recommend this program. Plus, it’s just kinda fun.
Android: Oh, my Android handset/smartphone/pocket-sized-computer-I-can-use-to-call-a-cab-and-order-pizza, how I love thee.
Most of all, I love the Gdocs app. I can make quick notes while at work, and it syncs them with my Google docs account for later embellishment. Voice Recorder is my other go-to tool. I like to walk, and it does the brain a world of good. It relaxes and starts spitting out ideas and snippets of dialogue. I used to tax the memory, then scribble it down on my return. Now, I just talk to myself as I walk through the park. It has long been my opinion that the most appropriate use of computers is as a second brain, and these apps let me do just that.
Only 45959 words to go….
Technorati Tags: nanowrimo
Cool. Tony N’s using write or die. I may have to download myself… can you tell me more about voice recorder? Can I download to my itouch? I’m about same wc as you… off to bed.
And there was me using a plain text editor (Q10 is great for the first draft though).
Glad to see you off to a good start — keep it up!