What Kind of Writer?

Since this is the 25th March, it must be EdMo day 25. I've logged a mere 16 hours so far, which is woefully behind schedule - and that's despite having a Skeelly day last Saturday, accounting for roughly half of those hours!

No matter, it's all valuable experience...

As is often the case, these things don't always go to plan and I managed to kill off one of my characters last Saturday. So, I'm now dealing with a murder mystery! This, coupled with the idea to switch from a first person to a multiple (well two - three at the most) third person point of view, means that the story's structure has changed direction in a big way. I knew I would need at least another strand to take care of part of the story but I hadn't explored it in too great a detail. To be fair, as a NaNo, I was concentrating on bashing out a mere 50,000 words. A full length first draft however is more like double that - so in reality, there's another 50,000 words to find and this is the position I find myself in now.

If I've learned nothing else, I've discovered what kind of writer I am; a planner rather than a "Seat of your pants" type. The NaNo I'm editing now was the most planned novel I've attempted so far, and as a NaNo it was an absolute dream to write. But, as already mentioned, it needs roughly another 50,000 words, and this is why I've struggled with it. It's because of this that a part of me wants to scrap it (and all other partially completed novels) and start again on something completely new. Another part of me (quite a big part as it happens,) thinks I should persist with it; I've come this far, it would be a shame to turn around and go back now. In typical Libran fashion, I'm undecided.

What's the answer? Perhaps I need a plan for the other 50,000 words? It all seems a very disjointed way of doing things but I would be much better equipped to deal with future novels as a result (did you see that glimmer of optimism?) So, what's it to be? Scrap everything and start again with a completely new plan and the thrill of writing 100,000 new words? Or, the thrill of writing 50,000 new words to a new plan and the satisfaction of a finished project? Somehow,I think I've answered my own question but I'd be curious to know what others would do when faced with a similar dilemma?

EdMo Day 8

Arghhhhh...!

Well folks, I've not made as much progress as I would have liked. So far I have logged 6 hours and 40 minutes, which is 6.55 hours behind. This is partly because I have logged precisely zero hours this weekend - that's it - nada!

Just when I think it's time to stop kidding myself, I read this week's article on the EdMo site. In a nutshell, this is saying; editing is hard work! All those little blips we stumble across along the way - yep they're normal.

So, my advice to myself is: pick yourself up, dust yourself down, stop pulling your hair out (it's normal for men to go bald - but women tend to get stared at) and just get back to it. Remember, this is NOT about EdMo, it's about me finishing a novel. EdMo is simply there to steer me along the path, that's all. I have to do the actual work. So, here's to tomorrow!

EdMo Day 3 and a bit of a moan...

Another quick post, touching base. I was going to rant about Facebook and their apparent lack of responsibility when it comes to approving groups or members. I've decided it can wait for another time - if I can be bothered. I'm seriously thinking of pulling my Facebook account if they continue to allow such utter morons to set up, at best, stupid and at worst, such seriously offensive groups. It saddens me that certain sections of society have stooped so low.

Get your act together Facebook!

A mere hour of edits today. I'm noticing all the plot holes more and more as we go. Some of these plot holes are in the form of questions which I just haven't found satisfactory answers to yet. I've tried writing the questions down on a notepad on my bedside and looking at them before dropping off to sleep - but so far the answers have evaded me. I hear that this method can sometimes take a while to work so I'll just have to be patient.

NaNoEdMo - Day Two

I've so far managed to log just under four hours over the past two days - so I'm slightly ahead of schedule! I'm still not sure what my editing style is yet. So far I'm working on a chapter at a time. I've even copied each chapter into a separate file because I feel it's less daunting working on smaller chunks. There are a few plot points to iron out, but I'm getting there... slowly.