Hi everyone! Another NaNoWriMo is behind us – dropped phrases clamor to be remembered and the chalk outlines of little darlings litter the lane like snowflakes.
To all of you that succeeded at NaNo: Congratulations!
I “cashed in” a bit over 50k last Monday, a little over two novella’s. Currently, I’m reverse engineering the first of the Ben stories. What that means, for me, is digging through the draft and notes I had: Seeing what I missed and creating a new outline to guide the second draft. This is one part of the process that I really love because it is a chance to go in and bring the depth of the characters and story out. On a first pass I tend to stick with the main character and plot points and skim over descriptions and window dressings, which makes this a prime chance for me to pick out paint, carpet and maybe a cherub fountain for the lobby.
As for goals: I have three. First, I’ll be completing the re-engineer of Ben One in the next couple of days and will be heading into the second draft after that. The plan is to complete the second draft by December 16th and keep moving it forward towards a first quarter 2013 release.
The second goal: Learn Calibre, Sigil and Photoshop. Tall order I know, but I’ve already started on this and have all the programs, so now it is really just a matter of spending time working with them. The real goal is to format my own ebooks and eventually do my own cover designs.
The third goal: The new blog. Yep, I’ve talked about this for some time and somewhere between now and February of 2013, I’ll be moving this forward in order to get out from under the yolk of WP.com’s arbitrary changes to code and start using some of the awesome plug-in’s that are available.
Three “simple” goals that will take me forward into 2013.
If you NaNo’d, did you finish? What struggles did you find along the way? Will you plan for NaNo next year or would it take wild badgers to drive you back? Have you started setting goals yet for 2013 and do they clearly define the direction you want to take? I’d love to chat with you.
Be sure to get out and support your fellow ROWer’s.
Peaceful Journeys.
Gene Lempp ~ Writer 
I won NaNo! But not as soon as I thought – their verification’s word count is less than Word’s – and significantly less than WriteWayPro’s! So I had to go and add an author’s note to make up for the shortfall.
My draft was much like yours in that it’s lacking in description, emotion, and subplot details (or even ends). Luckily, I also love the revision process! Good luck with yours and congrats on your win!
I finished NaNo, my 9th one, but I am putting the story to one side to finish a re-write of another story. The naNo write has possibilities, the story line is good but the writing terrible so will need to start from the beginning with it but NaNo is always good to try out a differnt genre.
I like seeing the NaNoWriMo WINNER badge on the sidebar here! Congrats, Gene. I secretly threw my name in halfway through and didn’t even tell anybody I was NaNo-ing. I’ve been in edits with my WIP and finally realized that I like editing first, then letting some writing juices out on a different project. The back and forth is working much better than I originally thought. Did I win NaNo? Nope. Not even close. But I have 15k words, and I like a lot of them. 🙂
Have a marvelous week!
Congrats on winning Nano! I didn’t, but I did start way late, after all. And it got me to finally dive in to a new project!
IMO, the best way to learn Photoshop is to find someone who knows it and have them show you. For me at least, it was not very intuitive, and I had a horrible time learning from books and tutorials. Good luck!
I can’t believe another Nano is behind us. Well done on winning. I did finish. The writing was terrible and the plot all over the place though.
Great goals for the new year. I’ve not planned mine yet – not beyond a thinking stage anyway.
x
Your new badge is very pretty, congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing your new blog and reading about how that change goes. I’d like to make the change myself, I’d like to make it a goal for next year, but I’m not there yet. I want to get the novella I’ve been editing forever finally out the door which will happen in the next week…then who knows. Scrivener is on my list of programs to learn and I hope to start that as soon as I hit send, it will be my reward 🙂 Congrats again on Nano and on a great week.
Congrats on winning NaNo but I knew it was a foregone conclusion! I’m tempted to jump in next Nov just for the cool badges. Very hefty goals but when you’ve accomplished them, and I know you will, they’ll serve you well. As far as the book covers go, you have a keen eye and I think you’ll create some eye-catching images. (Have I used enough cliches yet?)
With your books, are they a serial (like a soap opera) or are they episodic? I’m wondering which might sell better or if there would be a difference in reader preference.
I have my goals in place as well for this month and Q1. I have two courses I purchased and will begin working on the first one in two weeks. I’m adding a new page to my website soon and cleaning up a couple of others in order to monetize the website. I just got my 1st newsletter out and am writing a PDF to give away with subscriptions. I’m working on writing an ebook using some of the posts from my blog. January will see some new ideas for my writing and I’ll be busy outlining and researching.
Since we’ll both be so busy,we mustn’t forget to stay in touch. Have a fab week, my awesome friend!
Yup got the badge – trying to keep ahead of you spurred me on:) like you its the plot only on first fast draft and then the colouring in at leisure – I enjoy that bit – the voices in my head clamouring to be released have died down to the occasional murmur and I can concentrate better
I struggle with the cover angle although I learn a little bit more about photo manipulation each time i try – but photoshop defeated me – I would llike to do what some artists can do:(
all the best with your goals and with this coming week:)
Jennette: I think mine was around 300 words lower between Scrivener and Word – which has never made sense to me since word count should just be simple math. *shrugs* Enjoy your revisions, I know I’ll be enjoying mine 😀
Valerie: Most first drafts, especially when written at a higher pace, tend to a bit rough. It’s much like carpentry. The wood is rough, the first cuts leave jagged edges, edges aren’t squared and sawdust is everywhere. To think it may someday be a spice rack or table seems to be a long shot, but with careful sanding, stain, varnish and a sweep up – it will glow as long as the design (story) is strong. Good luck with your writing 🙂
Julie: Sneaky! And glad you joined us, even if briefly. I tend to mix writing and non-writing tasks during my day, although in reality, quite a few of my non-writing tasks require writing, like right now (smiles). Congrats on the 15k, great work 🙂
Ruth: Try is what counts, not whether one wins or loses. Photoshop, or maybe just the documentation for it, does seem a bit confusing. I’m usually a quick study for software, but this program has far too many nuances to learn rapidly. We have a few community college courses coming up for it and our town library is well stocked with For Dummies books. Thanks!
Laura: Congrats on completing NaNo! Good luck editing through your NaNo draft if that is the direction you choose to go 🙂
S.J.: Scrivener is an awesome program and fairly easy to use. What took me the longest with it was setting up my own custom templates. The program itself is easy to use and understand. As for the blog, yep, I will definitely be sharing my journey with all of you through the coming months. I’m sure it will be a blast 🙂
Marcia: Thanks! The novella’s are planned as episodic, in that I could write the entire series as a single book with each novella as a mega-chapter. Basically. I have a planned structure for the overall, know the absolute ending and key series points, etc. I’ll be subscribed to your newsletter right after I finish here. I have similar plans for doing a PDF pulled from my blog and may use it as formatting practice and put it into epub and mobi as well (if I can figure out how). I know we are both going to have a fantastic 2013 – all the best, always, my friend 😀
Alberta: LOL! Glad we could spur each other on. While I’d love my first cover to be a stellar piece of art for the ages, like the album covers of the 70’s & 80’s I’ll be happy for a picture, a title and my name on it. Have a great week, Alberta 🙂
Gene –
Sometimes, when I read your posts, I feel a little like you must be my long-lost brother, at least in temperament and vision.
I whipped through NaNo fast. I found a template a couple of weeks before NaNo commenced, and it allowed me to carry my basic idea forward into a bona-fide working plan that still left a great deal of open-ended space, so that my characters could tell their own stories.
The novel isn’t done – maybe about two-thirds – but I am continuing to write, because I am really loving this story, and am excited to see how it’s all going to work out.
I tend not to add anything more than the sketchiest of setting details until the third draft! I focus on my characters – their thoughts, emotions, dialogues, actions, and relationships – and the setting more or less evolves around them as I learn more about my characters and the world they occupy…
In this story, the planet my characters inhabit has just revealed her consciousness, and is actively engaged in attempting to rid herself of the aliens who are damaging her…that was a surprise!
I was just thinking that I would like to learn Photoshop in the not too distant future….but not just yet. i will be reading your posts with interest. as you do!
I am also wanting to learn more about creating my own ebooks and covers. In order to get back in touch with the part of me that used to love drawing, I am planning to take my daughter out to a local art store, where she can select some painting supplies, and I can pick up a sketchbook, India inks and maybe a few nibs for my long-neglected India ink pen, charcoals, and maybe oil pastels – all media I have deeply enjoyed playing with, in the long-ago past.
I’m feeling a desire to connect with my characters and their worlds on a deeper, more sensory level.
I have been giving some thought and dreaming time to my 2013 goals and purpose, and I have an overarching theme for the year that keeps popping up my awareness. I will wait to be specific until this Round is done, but I feel that these nascent goals will open up my writing – and my life.
Thanks again for the inspiration, and happy, happy writing!
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Oh. My. Lord. You’re as bad as I am! Just three “simple” little tasks… You’re gonna be out of your mind by Valentine’s Day.
That being said: BRAVO, dude! And I can’t wait to learn Calibre through and with you. It’s on my to-do list too. 🙂
Good luck with all your “to do” list. 🙂 Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!