nano getting very bad

[rivendellrose]

NaNoWriMo: And now, my nightly appointment with the Characters of Immense Boredom and their complete lack of plot.

You think I'm joking, but really - no plot. None. I swear. There was this concept, early on... and I kept thinking it would develop. It has failed to do so. In a staggeringly horrible sort of way.

I can write. I just don't have ideas. This is the most depressing thought in the world to me. People who have all sorts of ideas but are crap at putting them out are still geniuses. People with technical ability and no ideas? Soulless, boring hacks who lack any kind of spirit.

...Don't mind me, I'll be fine as soon as I've written my 1,667 words for the night and begun again to pretend that this thing doesn't exist. And the word count? I'm not even talking about it. I'm not letting myself give up, but really, this is just pathetic. Unfortunately, it's not the fact that a full week behind that upsets me. I know perfectly well that I can write unending reams of meaningless drivel - I just can't give it an interesting plotline (or even the beginnings of one) to save my gods-damned soul.

Comments

[hoperomantic.livejournal.com]

Hang in there. *hugs* Sorry about the cliche, but it's kindly meant. *grin*
Really, you can do it. Try not to stress if you can.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I know, and I really do appreciate it. It's just frustrating - I know I can make the word count. The rest is what's killing me.

[jfrog78.livejournal.com]

A funny thing about NaNoWriMo:
http://www.homeonthestrange.com/view.php?ID=127

Enjoy also see previous comic for other nano funnies.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's so very true. *g* Thank you!

[jfrog78.livejournal.com]

My pleasure. I may not write but I can atleast bring smiles to those who do.

[aris-tgd.livejournal.com]

Here, try this: http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html -- It hasn't helped me with wordcount, but it sure gave me a plot. It just, erm, didn't give me a plot long enough to make a novel out of, even a nano. ;)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

...didn't give me a plot long enough to make a novel out of, even a nano. ;)

Yeah, that's been the problem with my brain, so far. I keep kind of shoving at it to try to give it the idea that no, this really isn't enough... and it's sort of like trying to get olives out of a jar with a chopstick. Every now and then you spear something, but you'll never quite manage to get more than a little teensy bit at a time.

I'll have to take a look at that thing, though - maybe it'll spark something!

[moonvoyager.livejournal.com]

I'm not an outline person, but I've found that brainstorming with a pen in my hand works wonders. And because it's part of the business of the novel, it counts. I would suggest this: Just start doodling about your characters. Ask yourself questions about them (in writing) to find out more about them, and then answer yourself (in writing--everything that comes to mind, no matter how unformed or far fetched). You will be amazed how much detail you'll get. Not just about the characters--about what they want to do--which creates the plot. What do they want? How are they different? The same? How are they in conflict? If you are interested, I will try to dig up my Pat Murphy plot exercise from Clarion West if you give me your email address (mine's calesabre @ juno . com). I used to write drafts with nothing more than an idea & some characters & let the story shape itself. This worked about 50% of the time. Since I started brainstorming on paper--and remember, this counts as words toward your goal, and the words will actually start flowing more quickly than structured narrative, so you will find yourself catching up--I found that I discovered much more about the storyline than I could find out from daydreaming, which had always been my mainstay. I still have plenty of freedom to let my characters do what they want--and whenever I have a new idea, I'll jot it in the margins & explore it through more brainstorming, if needed--but this gives me some idea of where it's all going. It really helps, I swear. People tend to get hung up on plot--as in, "I can't plot to save my life" (quoting my former self). But I've found that plot is really an outgrowth of character. Character wants X, confronted by Y, placed in situation Z--what happens next? Both in the short term & the big picture? It's not separate from the characters--it's not really an entity on its own, but a way of describing the phenomenon of events. At least, that's how I experience it these days.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

God no - my idea of outlining consists of either me writing big blank-verse paragraphs that sometimes resemble the back cover of a book and sometimes are more like me asking and answering questions back and forth with myself and throwing in a lot of sardonic commentary. Or, later on when I've already got a little bit of something, I start writing script form parodies of whatever I'm working on, so that I can try to see what I'm doing right/wrong by caricaturing it to the extreme. I hadn't thought of counting that into my word count, though... interesting.

I'd love any plot-building exercises you're willing to share (or, hell, any exercises - I'm not at the point to refuse anything that might help!)

I think what it comes down to is that I need more practice with writing big pieces - I'm good at character spots, vignettes, introspection, and dialogue. Less good at the big picture, at getting people from point A to B to F, if you get what I mean. But I'm working on it, and working on figuring out how I can make my characters lead me where they want to go. And thank god, last night was mostly just a fit of pique brought on by frustration and (joy) hormones, so... I'm not quite as freaked out and depressive as I sounded? At least not at the moment. ;)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaand, I'm dumb - if you happen to run across those exercises you mentioned, my best email is jrosegreen (at) gmail dot com. The hotmail in my user info is also perfectly acceptable, if that's easier somehow for you (I don't know if Juno is one of those ISPs that likes to be cranky about other email providers).

(I shall refrain from fangirling over the Clarion West thing. At least not much. But damn that's cool that you were able to go! One of these days... but only after I've grown up more in my writing. ;) )

[zinjadu.livejournal.com]

I know you write kind of like I do ("oh god oh god, where am I going, just keep typing!"), so maybe helpful hints are welcome?

Plot is only so-so important for me. Less about massive universe moving events, more about what the characters want. My main character wants to stop being possessed. Main evil thing wants to keep possessing him. Hence conflict! Try going back and introducing the evil early, if you can, and see how things shake out. Cause without the evil, the good guys would be content to live out their lives not doing much of anything.

I don't know what story you're writing, but I will say I know you have great ideas. Honestly, you've got a few that I wish I'd thought of myself. And they have a lot of potential to make one hell of a read.

Anyway. Think of what your characters want. Write short introspective pieces for the good guys and the bad guys to get you back on track. And don't worry about how far behind you are. You're writing every day and therefore (so says the kid who took logic, so you know I'm right) you are working in the fullest spirit of NaNo! ^_^

Cheer up, emo kid. ♥ *hugs*

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

"Oh god oh god," pretty much sums up my writing process, yup. *g*

That's the thing - I know what the main character wants, I know what's preventing her from having it... and I still can't seem to make things come together right. Honestly, I think I'm just slow at plotting or something - things keep coming out, they just take forever to tease into existence and then figure out where things ought to be, how I ought to deal with them, etc. Probably because I'm not with the plotting ahead of time - I like to just jump in and figure things out as I go, which always makes things messy.

And you're right, I've got the spirit of the thing down, if not the actual practice, and this thing has me writing original work again. Which is a minor miracle, as well you know - left to my own devices, I'd just keep tooling around with other people's universes forever, where the Big Problems are already made clear and I can just mess around with characters and dialogue.

Thank you. I'm feeling a lot better today (turns out I was emo for the usual reason... why hello thar hormones...), and hoping to get cracking again on the whole "random scenes, random scenes!" method of writing. *g*

[reve-lucide.livejournal.com]

I can write. I just don't have ideas.
Oh, that is SO me. I sympathize.
*sympathizes*

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Hell of a pickle, ain't it? :P

But hey... at least when we do get something in our heads, it will theoretically be wonderful? At least this is what I keep telling myself...

[reve-lucide.livejournal.com]

Now that's an interesting way to look at it! I'm going to have to remember that one. :D

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I'm practiced at the art of convincing myself (at least for short periods of time) that the fact that ideas don't come easily to me is not necessarily the end of any hope of a career in writing.

...The other possibility, of course, is finding someone who is a font of ideas and absolute ass at writing them, and then attaching myself to that person in the manner of a barnacle on a whale. Mutually beneficial, if probably frustrating, and I like to think I'm not arrogant enough to mind as long as I liked their ideas. Hell, I've been tooling with other people's universes for long enough as a fic writer that that'd probably be the best thing for me.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

If you have no interest in anything about this novel, why are you still working on it? Just for the practice of writing?

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

For that, and for the fact that if I don't force myself to finish the things I start, I won't ever learn. Also because I do occasionally see hope in this story, and I think the only way I can work through it is to do exactly that - work. The whole point of NaNoWriMo is writing for the sake of writing, and I'm a big believer in that.