NaNo Update
We are now only a few days away from the NaNoWriMo half-way point, and as you can see from the little widget at the side, I am more than half way to the 50,000 word goal. Yay me! I have not managed to achieve this without some sacrifices, notably of projects that I’ve had to resist working on, and reading time. If you’re one of my Goodreads friends, you might be aware that I’m currently reading THE BOOK THIEF by Marcus Zusak. This book won the poll I held some months ago when I was trying to decide what book to purchase next. Those of you that voted for this book knew what you were doing (thank you all!!). I’m enjoying it a lot so far, and if it weren’t for NaNo, I would probably have finished it already. Hopefully this sacrifice of my reading time will prove to be worthwhile.
The WIP I’m working on for NaNo is shaping up quite well. I have a much clearer idea of where the story’s going than I ever did. At the moment, I feel like the sculptor starting out on a new statue. There’s a basic form to the piece, but there’s a lot more stone here than I will need in the end. After NaNo’s over, I will begin the work of chiseling off all the extraneous pieces, and doing the delicate fine-tuning work, until I end up with something worth sharing with the world. I hope, anyway.
That’s not to say NaNo’s been a problem-free experience, so far. There’s still a nagging doubt in the back of my mind that, as much as I’m enjoying the story, it’s not something anyone else will care about. There’s a lot of world-building, though I’m trying to build that into the story, and not have too much exposition. Also, since I’ve chosen to write from the first-person perspective of the alien main character, I’ve had to really watch my style. Word choices have to be consistent with her voice, not mine. This has given me some painful moments, where I’ve thought of a wonderfully eloquent way of describing something, and then realized those words are beyond her vocabulary, and had to rephrase that description a lot less eloquently. I can already see this will be one of the hardest revision tasks: refining the voice so it’s authentically hers, but engaging to read.
One temptation I’ve already had to avoid is research. The bulk of the story is set in Victorian London, and I did some reading a while ago on the period to get a feel for the setting. Now that I’m facing specifics (What would they have eaten for breakfast? How did they keep large quantities of meat fresh? What books would have been in the library?), I have to resist the urge to jump back into the books. That’s for the revision stage and would use up way too much time now. I know enough to put in ideas about these things, and I can always research later to refine or change what I wrote. So far, most of these details have been world-building, and not critical to the plot.
So, how’s your NaNo going, if you’re doing NaNo? Well done to all my NaNo Buddies for persisting to the half-way point, no matter how close you are to your goal. I’m impressed that some of you are already nearly to the 50K mark. Please, take time to breath, eat, sleep this week! My goal is to be at the 50K point by Thanksgiving. I want to be able to relax a bit over the holiday weekend without stressing over keeping up with my word count. I doubt very much I’ll have finished the novel by 50K words, but that will mark significant progress for me.
The issue of alien voice is really interesting! Have you ever spent time with people for whom English is a (recent) second or third language? I learned a lot about language working with my students who came from many different countries–you start to recognize the idiosyncrasies of the way things translate from specific other languages. Actually, that might be something to consider–are there little quirks of phrasing and word order that might add to her voice? I’m not sure if it’s applicable, but I know you’re a fellow admirer of Scott Westerfeld and I think this is something he does especially well.
Keep up the great pace–good luck with your goal of hitting the finish line by Thanksgiving!
Yes, I have spent time with foreign nationals, and you’re right–drawing on that experience is helpful. I have also done some language study myself, and I have a daughter who is trying to learn three Asian languages, so I have little excuse for not considering the issues involved! 🙂
Of course, it’s not simply language, but culture, too. And while my MC knows something of Earth cultures, she is quite ignorant of 19th century Earth cultures, so she has the added complexity of trying to leverage the 21st century English she has learned to make herself understood in 19th century London.
The real challenge, I think, in the revision stage is going to be making her style (which incorporates, as you suggest, word order as well as word choice) sound alien, but without being annoying. I want the reader to be engaged by her style, not frustrated.
Thank you for your thoughts and good wishes, Mrs. S! 🙂
Wow! Your word count is blowing me away right now. I’m still sitting at 15,000 words. Yep. But you know what? I’m all right with that. 🙂 There was a point this week when my story just started to get so, so boring that I didn’t even know where to go with it next. I found myself slipping into bad writing habits again, like being wordy just to meet my daily word goal. It started frustrating me so much, that I needed to take a step back. I like to do revisions, but I didn’t know how I would revise this thing without tearing it to shreds, deleting and starting all of those parts over. That’s twice the work! No thanks.
I’ve said this before, but I love the premise for your story! Such a great idea. 🙂 I think I would have the same problems that you’re mentioning: wanting to engage in research, trying so hard for consistency in voice… Big challenges, especially when you’re only a click away from the internet where you can lose yourself for hours on just research. You’ve got an awesome lead on your word count, and I think you’ll have no problems reaching 50K by Thanksgiving. 🙂
Thanks, Jaime! Did you read Beth Revis’ recent blog post where she talked about getting about 10,000 words into NaNo, and then deleting it all and starting over? This was why her word count at that time was only about 600. She said she wasn’t happy at all with the 10K she had written. It wasn’t where she wanted to story to go–it was just all wrong. She says the 600 words she had rewritten may not be an impressive total, and it may put her behind on the NaNo goal, but she is much happier with those 600 words than with the 10K she had before. Indeed, she would gladly trade the higher word count, and possible NaNo success, for having the right words.
In a way, I think this is a side benefit of NaNo. It gives you the opportunity, or, perhaps, permission, to write what you think is the story you have in your head, and discover that what you thought was good in fact isn’t–and perhaps be inspired with a new and better direction for the story. I know there’s a lot of dialog, and perhaps even scenes I’ve written that won’t survive the edits. But that dialog and those scenes are helping me flesh out the world and develop the characters. One of my characters entered a scene as a name, and left as a frumpy Scottish woman! 🙂
As for research… I actually pulled two books and put them to the side in case I needed to look stuff up. I’ve returned those books to the shelf. Historical accuracy doesn’t matter at the moment. The story’s what counts, and that’s what I need to focus on–as hard as it is to resist the lure of Google… 🙂
Well, I care about your WiP. It’s interesting with a very unique MC and I look forward to reading it when it’s published. Very my kind of thing. 🙂
I’m so tempted to research as well. There’s so much ghost mythology and theories that I’m tempted to start making tons of notes and going back. But I need to be good and save it for editing. 🙂
Thank you, Robin! Are you volunteering yourself as a beta reader…? 😉
I have a confession–and I hope Jaime’s reading this: one of the best, and most unexpected, sources for research–at least pre-NaNo–has been Downton Abbey. When I first started thinking and researching this novel, I hadn’t even heard of Downton Abbey. I’m not saying the show is primary research material for details, but for atmosphere and general points it has been invaluable. I’m so glad I watched it prior to this month!
But wait, one (i.e., Jaime) might object, Downton Abbey is set post-Victorian era (I think it starts in 1910). However, according to my reading, there wasn’t much that was different in England between 1879 and 1910. Sure, in 1879, use of electricity was not widespread, and there were no cars; but the way homes like Downton Abbey operated was pretty much the same (as were many of the tasks performed by the staff), and there was still a rigid class structure in place. All elements that are crucial to my story. 🙂 Hmmm, have I given away some of the plot…? 😀
Colin! You are doing so amazingly well! I’m super impressed with your pace, as well as your attitude. My NaNo project is moving right along. I’m currently at 22,611 and hoping to hit the halfway mark by tomorrow. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for the encouragement, Katy! Well done for being so close to the half-way point. I’m sure you’ll have no problem pushing through and meeting your goals. 🙂
I know how the doubts feel. “Is this any better than the mess I made last year? Will I be able to edit this into something worth reading?” But then I tell myself it’s the first MS I’ve put together in a while and I’m so happy to just be writing again that I know I can worry about the small things later.
Victorian London sounds so cool. I bet it does require research and that’s such an interesting point about food.
Good luck reacing 50k! You’re sooooo close now!
You’re absolutely right, Cole. Whether or not anything comes of this NaNo project, it will be another novel written, which contributes to my experience, and hopefully improves me as a writer. Of course, I hope I can make something readable out of it. Yes, there’s such a lot of coolness potential in it! 🙂
Thanks for your encouragement. 😀
That’s so great that you’re ahead of schedule on word count! I feel your pain on the issue of cutting word choices that reflect your voice and not your character’s. I’ve had to hack some phrasing I loved because it sounds a little on the purple side coming from my mc. Your book sounds fascinating. An alien in Victorian England? Now, that I would definitely pick off the shelf at the bookstore!
Loved THE BOOK THIEF. I originally signed it out of the library, but it was a keeper so I recently picked up a copy of my own. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it as well.
Thanks, Erin! When I got the idea for the novel, I really couldn’t let it go. Aliens in Victorian London has been done already (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS), but not a teen alien–and especially not a teen girl alien. I hope it’s as good as it could be–better even!
And I can’t believe I misspelled Markus Zusak’s name! It’s Markus with a K!! (face-palm-head-desk). The book is also good motivation for finishing NaNo: I’ll have more time to read it! 😀