Saturday 11 November 2017

NaNo Week 2 + Beautiful Books

Hey guys!

So NaNoWriMo's second week - and first full week - draws to a close. And...I didn't do as well as I wish I had.

In my defence, I had an assignment due with my Open University module and so, obviously, that took a lot of my time. But, because I didn't even write for a couple of days this week, I'm not going to break down what I wrote each day. I'm just going to give you my final word-count. A grand total of....18500.

So still just about at the word-count I need to be at, but not as far ahead as I hoped to be by this point. But all things considered, I'm not entirely disappointed with it. And next week is an opportunity for me to get ahead!

So now we're going to use the Beautiful Books questionnaire - you know the one, I've used it before a lot, it's run by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In This one is a continuation of the last one, looking at how you've progressed since.

Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

My mental state is...a thing. It's not been amazing, with how little I've written this week, I've been feeling kind of down about it. But I've been doing okay with writing so far today and hopefully I'm going to write more after this is posted. An update on if I manage much more will be posted next week. 
My novel is going pretty good. There is a space of a couple of chapters where I was struggling a lot with writing, so the chapters aren't the best, but I got through it and I'm back to where I'm comfortable with the story. So that's good!

What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

Honestly, Reinette is the most relatable character in this story.

Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

This question is completely unwarranted and, honestly, rude.

I genuinely can't decide, I love all three of my nerds too much to choose. They are all smol and precious. So, I don't have one. Definitely one of my three MCs though.

What do you love about your novel so far?

The dialogue. I haven't written a story based in modern times before, so having the ability to write my characters talking the way that I talk is so much fun. 
The story's also based around where I live, in places that I've been to, so that's been a very new and exciting experience.

Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

Not that I can immediately find. I normally find and edit any major typos that I can see and any others are hard to find unless I actively take the time to edit.

What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

My favourite is definitely the beginning, with the middle coming a close second. I always find wrapping a story up the hardest.

What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!


My current writing space is this - me sat on a chair with my feet up and a blanket. The most ergonomic, of course. I have no specific snack I eat, but I do snack on a few different things. I do listen to music, I have my story playlist ready to go on Spotify. 
I probably write the best in the evening, there's less distraction and also the imminent deadline of midnight approaching rapidly. 

How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

I show my sister a bit of it and I share snippets every so often, but I'm relatively private. I don't let most people read all of the rough draft.

What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

The deadline? Crying? 
I guess it's just the desire to reach my goals, really. Because I really want to do it, it means that even when it's hard I still push through it.

What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?
  1. Just write. Seriously. It doesn't matter how bad it is, you can always fix it later. Just push through it and write.
  2. Fluffy blankets are surprisingly helpful.
  3. Listen to those darn characters. Most of the time, if a scene is going badly and the characters aren't going where you want them to go, they're actually right about it. You write it differently and it's better than it would've been. Listen to them. They're normally right.
And that's the end of the questions. Overall, not my best week, but okay all things considered. I'm hoping to write a bit more tonight. Now before I go, have a snippet.


In which my MCs meet the personification of the River Dee. 

Yeah, I don't know where that came from either.

And that is it! Next week, I'll be back with another update. See you then.

How's your NaNoWriMo going? Written many words? Or are you at least happy with what you have written? Tell me down in the comments.

1 comment:

  1. Writing tip #3 is a good one! Giving characters room to be themselves is the best way I've found to keep the words flowing and the story true.

    ReplyDelete

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