Category Archives: Storytelling

Nanowrimo Week 2

  By Robert Watson | 8 November, 2013 - 22:35 |
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So the second week of Nanowrimo is now upon us. According to the numbers I crunched in October, this is the week we’re likely seeing a lot of people throwing in the towel.

Just because I’m not doing Nano this year, doesn’t mean I don’t have my own literary battles to deal with. So perhaps a pact is in order. You finish your novel, and I’ll finish revising mine.

If your word count is lagging, I think it’s time to (re)visit an important question:

 

Who are you writing for? Yourself, or for an arbitrary challenge?

 

This is the week where motivation starts to run dry. If you really want to finish your novel, you probably will. Perhaps not by the deadline, but who cares? The point of Nano is to write a book, not cross a “finish line” for the sake of completing a literary marathon. Maybe you won’t get a fancy digital certificate, but Photoshop or GIMP can help you out there*, and nobody would ever know the difference.

Write for you. If you’re 6,000 words behind schedule and catching up seems hopeless, then it doesn’t matter. You’re not trying to hit a word count goal, you’re tying to finish a book.

On a slightly related note, about 40,000 people have signed up for Nanowrimo after 1 November. It appears the total word count has surpassed one billion. From the site, as of 22:31 (Eastern) 8 November, 2013:

 

site wordcount: 1085028275

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average: 6314.95
count: 171819

 

I think it’s interesting that the average word count is already 6,300. I don’t think this suggests by the end of the month we’ll see about 4 times as many words. I think this suggests that there was an initial surge, and we’ll start to see the progress slow down as people run out of steam. Unless, of course, my “pep talk” above inspired hundreds of thousands of people to keep going. Somehow I doubt that, though.

We’ll see what happens next week, I suppose.

* If you’re arrested for counterfeiting Nanowrimo winner certificates, don’t forget that I didn’t actually suggest you do it. My hands are clean.

Revision Sunday – Mara of the Ori

  By Robert Watson | 3 November, 2013 - 03:28 | , ,
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Largely due to my other commitments, the monthly riddles are now on hiatus. But I’ve also been mulling over the Mara of the Ori riddles (the two that have been posted, and the unpublished ones).

Originally I just wrote them for fun. I think, though, there may be more potential in them – if I can get some consistency in the level of the mathematics – as well as changing that level itself.

The two published riddles have a very high level of math. The second one, which is my favorite of the two, was based off of a problem I was given in a course I took in functional analysis. For those who haven’t heard of it – it’s a 6000-level math course (graduate level) at the University of Tulsa.

I think Mara of the Ori would do better to serve as a means to share a wonderful subject with people who otherwise view it as a dry, soulless exercise they must perform to earn a degree.

This means revising the mathematical principles that support the riddles. The tales themselves would remain largely unchanged – except for the ends, of course.

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Consider this an impending reboot, I suppose, of the first two riddles. It’s something I’m a bit hesitant to do on this blog. I generally consider sites like DeviantART my repository for drafts, and the blog for final copies. But I think the project has the potential to mature, and I’d hate to hold it back for the purposes of a rule that exists only in my mind.

In the meantime, I should post a discussion of the answers to the original versions, since I did receive quite a few answers (and I thank those of you who were supportive!)

However, for now, I have the second draft of An Ember in the Wind to wrestle with.

justmara

Merciless with Words

  By Robert Watson | 1 November, 2013 - 22:25 | ,
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Fordham Forest { Full View }

Fordham Forest { Full View }

 

Nanowrimo has officially started, and my word count currently sits at zero. Of course, I’m not participating anyway, so pfft. Rather, I’m still tying up the loose ends of An Ember in the Wind – and by that I mean working my inner editor into the wee hours of the morning.

I use bits and pieces of the “Nanowrimo approach” to writing a first draft, mainly in the “ignoring the inner editor” aspect. The problem with this is that I’ve spent so long shooing it away that when I want it to come back, it behaves like a frightened squirrel, running at the first drop of a pin.

The little voice that was all too pronounced when it wasn’t needed has hardly a peep to say now.

I’m willing to say it is not fatigue. I took a few weeks off after I finished the first draft. Maybe more would’ve been in order, but I felt ready to dive back in when I did.

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Perhaps it is rather the age of the project. Ember is going on seven years old, although some pieces are much older. And all the original lines are in full view.

A technical note: Most people use word processors to write. I use LaTeX, which compiles the document from a source file. One handy feature is that I can easily comment lines out, so that even if they’re not visible in the document output, they’re still visible in the source. The problem with that is I’m constantly starting at a seven-year history consisting of minor changes up through complete revamps of the plot and characters.

It’s not a distraction. There’s a constant reminder there’s a history to each word and sentence – the last sort of thing you’d want lurking when it’s time to bring out the word-chopping axe. And I mean “constant reminder” literally. It’s right there in the comments, “I wrote this paragraph in Buxton, NC.”

I’m not sure why I thought I’d want to know that several years later. It’s fun to read through the comments, though. I’m sure once I’m done revising, I’ll be glad they’re there – it’s why I haven’t deleted them.

In the meantime, I suppose it’s time to get merciless with my words.

Fun fact: What do Sheridan, Mingo, Elm, Peoria, Aspen, and Utica all have in common, besides being characters in A Foundation in Wisdom?

They’re all streets in Tulsa, OK.