NaNoWriMo update: week 2

For those of you wondering what NaNoWriMo is: it's the mad idea of writing (or at least starting) a novel by writing at least 50,000 words in the month of November. Find out more about it here.

Alright... first off, it's really a lot harder for me this year around. Unlike last year, my main problem is time. I have way more courses than last year and the work there will no longer be ignored.

Because of that, I haven't written a word since Friday afternoon. I'm currently at 13,723 words - around 5,000 words behind. I hate it. I had hoped that even if I can't exceed the goal like I did last year, I'd at least be able to keep up.

I haven't given up hope yet completely though. I hope that I'll find the time and the necessary pull to catch up, that I'll go into a writing frenzy and the words just tumble out. But last year's passion is slow in coming this time around, and that makes me sad. I'm having a hard time getting back in sync with the characters. I'm confused with my plot (or lack thereof). For once, I wish I was one of those people who write outlines. Having a written book in the back to go back to and link forward from seems to make things harder instead of easier, as I had thought it would.

So yeah, my motivation is a bit low at the moment. I feel like I should do a million things at once and am half-assing them all. All those things are important to me, and I don't like half-assing things. I don't know what else to do though. If one of you has one of those time-inverter thingies (don't know what they're called in English, read it in German) like Hermione in The Prisoner of Azkaban, I could need one.

On a more positive note, one of my main-but-not-THE-main characters is developing in an unexpected direction and sort of getting her own arc, and I really like what's happening with her. I mean it sucks for her because she's confused and hurting both physically and emotionally, but she's developing and something is going on with her and I feel she's gaining depth. So that's been my silver lining in the raincloud of what was my past week for the most part. I'll try to put in some words now. Half an hour till midnight...

How are you guys' projects coming along? Any tips or experiences to share? Similar problems, or other issues? Or are you lucky and everything is coming along amazing and you feel that buzz under your skin and constantly have a smile on our face and a spring in your step? Tell me about that too, maybe it will re-kindle last year's fire in me ;) Feel free to link me to your own NaNo post if you have one.

NaNoWriMo update

Hey guys! As I said in my post last Monday (I think), I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year to write the sequel to last year's novel. I'll be posting weekly updates on Sundays (yes, I'm aware that's it's been Monday for like 25 minutes as I write this).

Last year, I started off with low expectations. I was actually participating in the watered-down NaNo version an author I admire was hosting on her blog. The goal was  30,000 words and they could also take the form of short stories. That was my aim. I thought I was writing a cute little warm-up short story....
Yeah. Turns out it was more like a huge monster. I had 66k by the end of the month and finished at 95k at the end of January.

I only finished the first re-read this week. Starting off at the sequel was difficult. The first day, I didn't get around to writing a single word. It was past midnight on Nov 2 when I forced myself to at least jot down 1000 words. I wasn't sure where to attach the sequel to the previous story, how much to repeat. Hell, I didn't even remember all that had happened! I wasn't done re-reading yet. I felt that my writing was unfocused and all-over the place. Just... awkward.

That I got ill on Friday didn't help. My nose is clogged and my eyes hot and itchy from fever as I write this. But I caught up on Saturday, chucking out around 3000 words. After day 4, I'm at 6745 words now and kinda proud of myself for holding on despite how much of a germ heap I feel.

They're not all good words. I'll probably delete half of them in the re-write to speed up the flow of the story. But I needed to get them down, to find the voice of my main character again and write myself into his world, to see how it changed and how his choices at the end of book 1 affected him and his surroundings. I feel like things are getting moving now and hope that the words will start to flow a bit more easily.

And no, like 100,000 words into the story (if you look at it as a big whole) I still haven't outlined anything and only have like 5 pages of notes. I feel like an amateur, but well... it's working? I tried plotting and outlining. I really did. But my brain just dries up and nothing comes to mind. Either that or really clichéd, overdone plot strands that make me want to quit. I have to write the story for it to come to me.

Anyhow, I'd be curious to see how my fellow Wrimos are doing! So if you read this, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your own NaNo updates! You can also add me as a writing buddy. My username is ButterflyGhost.