Stay busy = Stay hungry

I learned a lesson tonight that I know has made my writing better. Since starting this daily writing thing, I know my writing has gotten better - I can tell when I read the stuff I have written that day, and I can feel it in my confidence.

Case in point:
Earlier tonight, I was asked how the book was going. I said I was over 25,000 words, which is right on pace with my 2,000 word-per-day goal for National Novel Writing Month that started on Nov. 1. The person I was talking to was confused. They wondered what I was talking about.

Sure enough, we were talking about different things. While I was talking about my NaNoWriMo project, they were talking about the first draft I finished in early October. We laughed, and then I explained that I was letting that one sit until December to look at it with a pair of fresh eyes, and then both of us went on our merry ways.

And here's the lesson (sorry for the long explanation): I've gained confidence, and I feel my writing is better by sticking to it. I know I love doing it, but doing it has to be a labor of love.

When I finished one project, I kept right on writing on the next one because I wanted to keep the writing flow going. This message isn't anything new, but I think it bears repeating: Immerse yourself in it, and you will get better, and who doesn't want to keep getting better?

My level of busy is directly proportional to my level of desire to make my projects great. That may take awhile, but it won't happen at all if I'm not dedicated to what I'm doing.

Only a day away

With all due respect to Little Orphan Annie, we're less than 24 hours from me starting my second (really? second? that still sounds weird) novel. It's also my first foray into National Novel Writing Month, so that should also be interesting.

The first draft of Novel No. 1 is still hibernating in the hopper, so it's full steam ahead and all focus on the next idea. That's refreshing on a few levels.

First of all, I know that I can do it, so it's not nearly as intimidating this time around. Secondly, I'm just as excited to get going on this one as I was on the next one. And finally, I have an idea that is completely different from my first idea, so I can't wait to tackle the challenges that brings forward.

The thing about NaNoWriMo is that you're trying to get 50,000 words crammed into 30 days, but I don't think it should be a problem. I was averaging around 2,000 words per day over the final month of writing my previous first draft, so I'm not worried about the goal.

What I am worried about is making sure the silly thing makes sense. The key in doing this, as it is with any writing, is to maintain that confidence and stick to your guns. I'm looking forward to the experience - and seeing if I can do it all over again.

Back on horse, sort of

With my first draft in the vault for awhile, I've found that starting up on other stuff is much, much easier.

Before I got into a routine, it was tough getting myself to write. I've long said that the most important part of writing is actually getting your can in front of the computer and just typing. Now that I'm used to it, things are much, much easier.

I've come up with a couple more ideas I think are good, but I'm trying to organize them now. I don't want to start any of them until National Novel Writing Month starts, but I should be good and organized for my first foray into NaNoWriMo.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying doing some other stuff - short stories for the most part. The one thing I've noticed is that things come much easier to me know. I don't have the novel hanging over my head any more, and I was worried about this limbo between NaNoWriMo, but I can tell that my writing is better. Even with this short stuff.

Top benefit of finished first draft: I'm a more confident writer, and that has led to better writing.

Take that!

Is there anything more liberating than writing a scene in which one of your characters tells everyone to go fly a kite?

That's what I got to rattle through today, and the result was a whopping 2,030 words in an hour and 15 minutes. I had been waiting to write that scene, and had it all locked up in the ol' noggin just waiting to bust out. Once it got out there, it felt great.

I'm coming down the home stretch (I know, I've been saying that for awhile), but I really feel that I'm only a few more writing days away from wrapping up this first draft. I'm starting to tie up things here. For as much frustration as I had trying to decipher an ending, getting there is a very liberating feeling.

This has done a lot for my motivation, and I really can sense that I will have this first draft done in the next week (or early next week at the earliest).

Not only are my characters starting to free themselves from the things that were holding them back for 55,000 words, but I feel like I'm starting to free myself from the frustration of writing the last 10,000 to 20,000 words.

And man, it feels pretty darn good.

To the victor go the spoils

There is nothing more rewarding than a super-duper writing session, and I had two of those today. I don't like tooting my own horn, but I feel pretty darn good right now, so I had to write about it.

Since this morning, I conquered a HUGE (in importance, not necessarily in size) chapter in which there is a giant conflict between a few characters, and it was one that had taken me some time (and a few fingernails) to get through. I had been struggling with it, and had typed up a few different options for it.

Finally, the trees became the forest, and everything came into view. I was able to plow through the chapter, and I went over 60,000 words on my work in progress along the way. To stick with the forest metaphor, I'm not longer on the way into the woods, I know really, really feel like I'm on my way out. There are a few more important scenes and whatnot left to write, and things might get tinkered with in editing, but confidence right now is over the moon.

I'm not published. I don't know what it feels like to get 'The Call' from an agent or that first check from a publisher or any of that good stuff. But that's not why I started writing a novel.

I started writing this novel because I love writing. I continue writing this novel for the feelings of accomplishment like I have bubbling through me right now.

I was going to go to bed, but I just can't.

Double time

I'm getting into the real guts of the novel now, and I've been trying something a little different as of late with the writing sessions.

It's no secret to my loyal blog readers (the two or three of you out there) that I shoot for at least 1,000 words per day. I usually try to get my writing out in one big session, and I try to get that session in during the morning.

The past few days, I've really been writing with a lot of confidence, and I've tacked on another writing session, this time right before I go to bed. The result? I've cranked out more than 6,000 words the last three days (and counting). I don't know if I can keep that pace up, but if I can, that would translate into 60,000 words per month. That's not too shabby.

I blogged earlier about how I like to stop when I'm on a roll, setting myself up for a running start when I get going the next day. I've found it invigorating and motivating when there isn't much time between my writing sessions, and my ideas have really been flowing.

I don't know if I'll be able to keep up this pace (being that work is picking up a little more as the school year has started), but I'm going to ride the wave as long as I can. The main thing this has shown me is that there is room for growth with my writing sessions.

The only drawback? Sometimes, the later session has ended late. I'm usually so jacked up after writing that I can't get to sleep right away. But is that a bad thing?

Getting to know you

Today's writing session provided an interesting twist for me.

No, I didn't introduce a race of zombies into my town, or turn all of the characters into aliens, or reveal that the whole story was happening in a snow globe.

This isn't something new to writers, and I'm sure it happens all of the time. But for the first time, I had a revelation about a character that wasn't the main character. Suddenly, this guy went from static to dynamic in, oh, about 500 words.

I was just typing along and it hit me: This guy's a waaaay bigger deal than I thought. He was just sneaking up on me. Once again, I got to hit one of those milestones that I'm sure most writers have all of the time. That doesn't mean they don't feel good.

I'm getting t0 points where stuff is happening to a lot of different characters, and it's cool to watch them turn into different things. Some of this growth and development will change how they talk or act (or both) in the earlier stuff I wrote, but that's what second drafts are for.

Discovering more about your characters has helped me discover more about my writing, and proved to me - at least for one day - that something's actually going on with these guys.

Don't stop...Believin'

The novel-writing process can be a confounding one.

Do you ever experience the strange feeling of hammering out a dozen sentences, and then just stopping? As if your thoughts ran off a cliff? Do sentences seem to come like you're dragging them through a trough of oatmeal? Do you finish a chapter and stop and wonder 'Now what am I going to do?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, then I'm with ya. And it stinks. Some of the toughest parts are keeping the momentum going. I have written more than 4,000 words in the last few days, and I'm still shaky about all of them.

The problem is that I can't be paranoid about where I'm going when I plod through the first draft. For me, just getting a cohesive story down first and foremost is an important part of the process. Straightening it out? I can take care of that when I'm banging my head against the wall during the editing process.

For now, I'm enjoying watching my idea start to take shape. I know which direction I want it to go, but sometimes the machete dulls a little bit as I'm hacking through the jungle to that destination.

I'm still confident in what I've got, and I still think what I've got is pretty darn good. Of course, it's my first novel, so it will probably get shot down faster than a guy in a leisure suit at a Victoria's Secret convention. But that doesn't mean I'm going to quit, I'll worry about getting rejected when I actually get rejected.

Right now, the focus is on the book. You gotta believe that it's good, and going to be good when you get through the tough spots, or no one else will.

Because you never know. Maybe when that guy changes clothes, and tweaks his delivery, he'll score one of those dream dates.

Always in the mood

If today has proven anything to me, it's that any time is a good time to write.

I've heard a lot of people say that they have to be in the right mood or the correct frame of mind to be able to sit down and work on their novels. To me, that's just horsepucky.

There have been times where I have sat down and really felt like writing, and I knock out a bunch of words and feel that sense of accomplishment. There are times where I have sat down and said "man, I don't feel like doing this right now," but I knocked out a bunch of words, and still felt a sense of accomplishment.

I've said this before, but I've promised myself that I'm going to write at least 1,000 words per day by hook or by crook, and I won't accept anything less. It keeps me involved in what I'm working on, and it keeps the story and characters and everything else fresh and bubbly in my head.

Today, I was going on about 4 hours of sleep when I went and helped a couple of good friends move into their new house for the bulk of the day. I got home and ate. One of the last thing I wanted to do was start dealing with the problems of the folks in my novel. I wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

But I knew I couldn't do that. I've got a book to write, dag nabbit! An hour later, I had nearly 1,300 words, and have a good idea of where I'm going to start off tomorrow. Done, and done.

I know, I know. It's different strokes for different folks. No two writers go about getting their stuff from brain to flash drive in the same fashion. But my advice would make Phil Knight proud: Just Do It.

Whatever works for particular writers is going to work. But what happens when you're not in the right mood for a few days? And your characters get stale? Or worse, they get bored and take off from your consciousness?

This is something that I want to be doing. It's just me, but I'm not going to wait for the mood to strike. Whether it's there or not, and you write stuff you wind up taking out later, that's all part of the process. And it's all helpful.

Dangers of writing late

I just wrapped up my 1,000 words, and it's creeping on 2 a.m. in my neck o' the woods.

Yes, it's late. I know. The snoring dog and test pattern on the TV will attest to that. I should be relieved I stuck to my plan and got in my daily dose of words, right? Well, not so fast, my friends.

That last session was a really good one. I finished another chapter, so there was the sense of double accomplishment. Those 1,326 words felt so good, in fact, that I immediately read through the the chapter again and did a quick lil' editing session, too. And I'm pumped about it.

And there's the ol' Catch-22. I'm relieved to be done so I can go to bed. But hitting the sack right now would be an exercise in futility. I'd just lie awake because of what I was just able to accomplish. I'm still a little jazzed up.

In case you haven't read, I'm a reporter by trade right now. These kinds of accomplishments are akin to hammering out a good, complete story under the gun and getting it in just under deadline. There is an adrenaline rush that makes you turn into a box of Mexican jumping beans.

But that's part of the draw of being a reporter, at least for this fella. Part of the reason I want to write a novel is for that same type of rush, so bring it on, no matter the hour. It does wonders for my confidence, even if it cuts into my sheep counting.

It may be 2 a.m., but I'm still enjoying what I just accomplished. Yeah, I'll be tired tomorrow, but I don't have to be at work until around noon (silver lining, right?).

Maybe I'll end up taking a nap, which could lead to knocking my sleep schedule out of whack again, which could lead to me being up at 2 a.m. again tomorrow doing more cartwheels about writing.

Isn't this fun?

Wanted: More hours in a day

I'm a reporter. A sports reporter. I love reporting. I love sports. But come on, here. I just started a novel!

With the school year starting, that means my schedule is going to get a little wackier than the laid back summer schedule of only working 50 hours per week.

The problem with that is that there are only 24 hours in a day. If some one could find a way to bump that up to around 26, that would be ideal. Just take my suggestion into consideration.

The problem lies in this: I have dedicated myself to typing 1,000 words per day on the novel (at the very least), and I don't want to turn myself into a liar. I also don't want something as silly as my job getting in the way of my book.

Colleen Lindsay wrote a great post on her blog, The Swivet (see links on the right) about life getting in the way of her duties as a literary agent. That means I'm going to have to do some planning.

It may not sound like a big deal, but sticking to your guns when working on something like this might be the most important aspect. Even more so than character development and dialogue and plot and everything else. None of that other stuff happens if you're not writing everyday.

Making time will go from scheduling ahead, or just cramming in my 1,000 words whenever possible. I would like to do it all in one sitting, but I'm not going to get picky if I'm in a pinch.

I have no problem shirking sleep at night. I'm used to doing that anyway, because I love naps. Besides, the people around me are used to me being cranky during the week anyway.

Not batting 1.000

I had been on a hot streak lately, but yesterday was a drag. It was a struggle just plowing through my 1,000 words, and when I read through some of the stuff today, I didn't like maybe 998 of them.

That's fine with me because I still learned something. I'm still wandering through the woods in this process, and now I need to find an alternate route out of the forest. That's all.

I was going to write this morning, but canned the session and decided to do edited instead. I've also come up with some new ideas, and I'll try to tackle some of those as I move along tonight. I plan on getting my writing done tonight, and I'm hoping for a long session that generates at least 1,500 words.

Every day isn't going to be a real whammer where you hammer out a whole chapter in 15 minutes. But I know it's still there, and I still have confidence that my idea is strong.

I just need a little extra time in the batting cage today, that's all.

Make that a tripleheader

When you're on a roll, you're on a roll.

Last night's late night rockathon led to this morning's solid session. I felt so darn good after work that I skipped my nap (pause so those who know me can gasp) to get some more work done. The result? Another cool grand on the total and I wrapped up a chapter.

Lesson learned from the last two days: Don't stop just because you hit your quota of words. If there is more gas left in the tank to get to the next filling station, might as well push it.

Once again, this goes back to confidence. I'm finding out where my limits are, and where I work the best. To me, that's just as important as any killer sentence I typed today (and I did have a couple, thank ya, thank ya).

Am I always going to be able to rank out 2,200 words per day like I did today? Nope. Not right now anyway, and I don't care. That's why I'm enjoying these days whenever I get the chance to pull one off.

Stick to your guns!

I am a working stiff. I admit it. Worst part? I write 1,000s of words per day for my bill-paying gig as a reporter.

That leaves room for some burnout when it comes to the writing department. For me, that's no excuse to shirk the dream. I burn hours staring at the glowing cube of this laptop screen each day for work. Don't I at least owe it myself to spend an hour or two (at least) staring at this screen doing something I like?

That doesn't mean it isn't tough some days.

I'm trying to crank out my 1,000 words per day on the novel shortly after I get up, so I can get the creative juices used to flowing at the same time each day. Get in a routine, and then the muse will know when to show up for work each day, they say. (Who 'they' are remains to be seen, as I've never met 'them.') Sounds like good advice, so I may as well give it a whirl, right?

Still, there are days (like this one) where I don't get that writing in right away in the morning. That's why there might be coffee going at midnight at the Collins residence. I'm GOING to get those words in tonight.

Sure, I'm a little tired, but I'm also amped to be working on something I love. Can't lose sight of that.

Confidence is cool

I was able to hammer out about 2,300 words today, which is a great day by my standards.

These are the days that are the best when going through this process. I love writing, and I love how it feels to whip together a great sentence that speaks to you instead of just reads well. But when things really seem to take shape over a work session is the most rewarding thing.

When a kid turns a big blob of PlayDoh into (what he or she thinks is) a car or something, that's the best part. It might not look like much to everybody else, but they know what it is.

I don't know how many of those words are going to be hanging around when the ax comes down between first and second drafts, but I'm not worrying about that now.

Throughout this process, I've found out that confidence has a lot to do with it. There are going to be days where I feel like I was walking uphill through knee-deep oatmeal. Those days suck. But days where you are able to get a lot of something done are the days you have to remember.

Confidence is everything, I'm starting to believe. When you feel good about what you're doing, you're just going to write better. At least that's how it works with me anyway. It's not like I'm going to quit after the bad days, but these good days are the ones that have me where I can't wait to get back to it later.

And anything that keeps me stuck to the work is more than welcome.