I kicked off the new year with the last 4 episodes of House M.D Season 3, a bottle of fizzy water, chocolates leftover from Christmas and a blank Word Document sitting in front of me. An hour and a half later and I've already got 2,636 words of my 600,000. It's not as much as I could type in an hour and a half but it's still a pretty decent amount considering I had set my January 1st target at being 3,000 words. I think it's safe to say I'll reach that amount.
The chapters are short, I've just started Chapter 4, and they're pretty sparce in details I think. I was using the original, hand written copy as a staring point and guideline to get the storyline back in my head and the story is a little lacking in direction right now but hopefully with the whole day ahead of me I think I can make the story stronger and I can fix the beginning in a rewrite at a later point.
Total Wordcount: 2,636
Wordcount for Day: 2,636
Last Sentence Typed:
'It bounced of his bed.'
Thursday, December 31, 2009
My Great American Adventure
Google Earth and Google Maps are the greatest invention ever. I've spent most of the day researching things for my February novel My American Adventure and I swear my novel is going to be so much better for actually knowing a little about the area I'm writing about. I've now got maps of the 5 states I'll be setting my story in. I've also got post-it notes with information about each characters journey, their jobs, train routes and little plot points. I've also got information plus pictures for the cars they'll be using and I managed to find houses for rent in the areas I want my characters to live and got pictures to use for reference for them too. They're a great tool really. My research wall now looks amazingly full of information.
Now that I've got most of the research done for February I'm completely ready to start writing my novel for January as soon as midnight rolls around. It's my first year attempting WriYe and I'm really excited...as you may have guessed from the research wall pictured above (I normally do little to no research and have never done anything close to a research wall before).
Roll on midnight!
All Set To Go
I've been going over all the written pages I have for the first novel I have planned. There's two different versions so far that I can work with. At the moment Love, Life and Friends is sitting at 6,500 words of complete rubbish with a storyline craftily hidden in there. I'm ready to start it over from scratch come tomorrow and give it a complete rewrite. I'm going to write an outline later today but first I'm going to spend the rest of the day researching for 'My American Adventure'.
I've worked out that I need to find a heck of a lot of info on streets, roads and towns in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. I'm going to print out a map of America and mark the routes they'll take during the story and then I'll get a closer map of the area the story will be set in and then I'll be able to mark in some roads/streets to use in the story. I have to say since I have no idea about America whatsoever since I live in the UK this is going to be fun for me. I'm going to start researching Illinois and Tennessee first since they're where most of the story will be taking place and then I'll research Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana since they're important to the story but not a lot of action takes place in them.
Other than that I'm going to just sit around and watch House M.D Dvd's all day.
I've worked out that I need to find a heck of a lot of info on streets, roads and towns in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. I'm going to print out a map of America and mark the routes they'll take during the story and then I'll get a closer map of the area the story will be set in and then I'll be able to mark in some roads/streets to use in the story. I have to say since I have no idea about America whatsoever since I live in the UK this is going to be fun for me. I'm going to start researching Illinois and Tennessee first since they're where most of the story will be taking place and then I'll research Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana since they're important to the story but not a lot of action takes place in them.
Other than that I'm going to just sit around and watch House M.D Dvd's all day.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
2 Days To Plan
Since I don't have a job and don't plan on being in college by the end of 2010 I've come up with something that will keep me occupied throughout the year. Usually every year I take part in a writing contest/group called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which takes place in November. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I've taken part in NaNoWriMo in 2007 and 2009 and I managed to write the 50,000 words for both of those attempts (55,858 for 07 and 50,202 for 09). So, for this year, I've decided that I'm going to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel every month for the entire year.
I have a lot of half started stories that I've done since 2005 and then never gone back to so I'm going to see if I can complete all of these stories over the course of 2010. My aim is to write 5,000 words everyday which will be more than the 1,667 or so words that I need to write each day to get the 50K each month. My overall goal for the end of the year is to have 600,000 words by this time next year but if I keep to my target of 5,000 words each day then I can reach a target of 1,775,000 words which would be an amazing achievement for me.
My plan is to use a combination of old stories that have been half started and new ideas so that I don't end up getting bored before the end of the first month. Currently my list is looking like this:
JANUARY: Love, Life and Friends (Old novel from 2006)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- Story about 4 friends who are in a band, they enter a competition (Battle of the Bands type thing) and there the main character, Hailey, meets one of the other musicians from one of the other bands and becomes friends with him. It's a cheesy love story that I liked at the time but now I cringe when I look over it. There's going to be a lot of that over the course of the year. Basically they go to the competition, two of the friends fall out, girl falls in love with boy, their bands make it to the end of the competition, friends make up, the two bands collaborate...or something along those lines.
- It's currently sitting at six chapters but it will get a complete rewrite over the month.
FEBRUARY: The Art of Life (New Idea)
-Fantasy
-(This is exactly what I wrote when I came up with this idea at around 2am one night) Ordinary girl, artist/writer. One day, discovers that she has special powers: telekenisis/pyrotechnics. A new kid starts to show up everywhere she goes: college/neighbourhood/shops. She gets visited by a strange, eccentric person who warns her that the kid is after her powers. He gives her a gift; a pencil. She's a little unsure of the gift but when she uses it, she discovers that whatever she draws on paper comes to life and whatever she draws on walls; doors, windows, etc. becomes real. She now has to learn how to use the pencil properly before the mysterious stranger finds her and tries to steal her powers and use them to destroy an underground organisation who is out to get them both.
-Currently no word count on this, the idea is still a little jumbled up and it doesn't have a definite storyline to it yet but come February it will do.
MARCH: My American Adventure (New Idea)
- Chick Literature, Comedy, Romance
- (This idea I came up with two days ago, also at around 2am) Scottish girl moves to America to get a job and start a new life. She makes plans to stay with a family in Illinois and then flies out. She arrives and the family want to drive to Tennessee. Girl goes with them but they dump her on a highway in Indiana, leaving her with nothing but the phone in pocket. She keeps walking along the highway and follows rail tracks until she reaches Tennessee. While leaving the train station she bumps into two men who offer to help her. They take her back to their hotel and she cleans herself up. She's attracted to both men and they are both attracted to her. They help her to get a job and the three of them move into a house together in Tennesee. Lots of things happen including one of the guys and the girl dating, the girl being kidnapped by the family that dumped her etc. but in the end the girl and the guy she chooses live happily ever after. Also, not sure whether the other guy dies. (This plan was so much better in my head but once I've researched this enough and sorted out all the kinks in the storyline I think it could be another cringeworthy story.)
- Also no word count on this one so far.
APRIL: The Art Store (New Idea thought up a few months ago)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- Artistic girl moves to new area, finds an art store run by handsome guy. She gets to know him and eventually they start dating. Something happpens that breaks them up. They sort it out, live happily ever after. (Not very good at the summaries as you may have guessed.)
- Did have a little typed up but seem to have lost it so there is currently no word count on this story either.
MAY: The Office (Old Idea from 2008)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- No summary for this one.
- Has a few thousand words written but not a lot.
JUNE: Love Is Blind (Old novel adapted from a Fan Fiction from 2005)
- Chick Literature, Romance, Comedy
- No summary for this one.
- Has a chapter written up but will get rewritten when the time comes.
JULY: Lucky Stars (Old novel from 2007, Green Day Fan Fiction)
- Fan Fiction (No longer a Green Day fan but I do like the story)
- It's about four fans who win a competition and get to tour with Green Day for two months, I think. It doesn't have a definite storyline, I was just writing whatever came into my head at the time.
- Has quite a bit written but will get a complete rewrite.
AUGUST: If Only... (Old novel from 2007)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- No summary for this.
- Has a couple of chapters written.
SEPTEMBER: Lands of Sildoon (Old novel from 2008)
- Fantasy
- No Summary for this.
- Has a little amount written but not a lot.
OCTOBER: Expect the Unexpected (Old novel from 2007, collaborated with a friend on the idea)
- Murder/Mystery
- I don't even know the whole plotline for this myself yet.
- First chapter is written but needs a rewrite.
NOVEMBER: Destiny Approaches (Rewrite of the NaNoWriMo novel I did in 2007)
- Fantasy
- Nilan was just a slave boy who worked in a local tavern, until he started having strange dreams. Dreams that involved strange people and snatches of a past he doesn't remember. Now one of the people from his dreams is staying at the tavern and Nilan is about to become part of an adventure he neve intended to take. (I spent a lot of time on that summary.)
- This one is currently sitting at thousands of words, written in a few different ways, with multiple beginnings. This is why I'm doing the rewrite of this.
DECEMBER: Once Upon A Time (New Idea for a friend)
- Fantasy
- No summary for this.
- I promised an 8 year old that I would write this novel a few years ago and I'm finally going to get around to it. It's currently sitting on 0 words.
So, I have a variety of novels to work on this year and each of them is different in it's own way, although some of them are a little similar in some ways. I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'm hoping that it will expand my writing technique and vocabulary significantly. I think over the next couple of days I'll research for My American Adventure considering it needs the most research and I won't have a lot of time to do the research in the New Year.
I have a lot of half started stories that I've done since 2005 and then never gone back to so I'm going to see if I can complete all of these stories over the course of 2010. My aim is to write 5,000 words everyday which will be more than the 1,667 or so words that I need to write each day to get the 50K each month. My overall goal for the end of the year is to have 600,000 words by this time next year but if I keep to my target of 5,000 words each day then I can reach a target of 1,775,000 words which would be an amazing achievement for me.
My plan is to use a combination of old stories that have been half started and new ideas so that I don't end up getting bored before the end of the first month. Currently my list is looking like this:
JANUARY: Love, Life and Friends (Old novel from 2006)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- Story about 4 friends who are in a band, they enter a competition (Battle of the Bands type thing) and there the main character, Hailey, meets one of the other musicians from one of the other bands and becomes friends with him. It's a cheesy love story that I liked at the time but now I cringe when I look over it. There's going to be a lot of that over the course of the year. Basically they go to the competition, two of the friends fall out, girl falls in love with boy, their bands make it to the end of the competition, friends make up, the two bands collaborate...or something along those lines.
- It's currently sitting at six chapters but it will get a complete rewrite over the month.
FEBRUARY: The Art of Life (New Idea)
-Fantasy
-(This is exactly what I wrote when I came up with this idea at around 2am one night) Ordinary girl, artist/writer. One day, discovers that she has special powers: telekenisis/pyrotechnics. A new kid starts to show up everywhere she goes: college/neighbourhood/shops. She gets visited by a strange, eccentric person who warns her that the kid is after her powers. He gives her a gift; a pencil. She's a little unsure of the gift but when she uses it, she discovers that whatever she draws on paper comes to life and whatever she draws on walls; doors, windows, etc. becomes real. She now has to learn how to use the pencil properly before the mysterious stranger finds her and tries to steal her powers and use them to destroy an underground organisation who is out to get them both.
-Currently no word count on this, the idea is still a little jumbled up and it doesn't have a definite storyline to it yet but come February it will do.
MARCH: My American Adventure (New Idea)
- Chick Literature, Comedy, Romance
- (This idea I came up with two days ago, also at around 2am) Scottish girl moves to America to get a job and start a new life. She makes plans to stay with a family in Illinois and then flies out. She arrives and the family want to drive to Tennessee. Girl goes with them but they dump her on a highway in Indiana, leaving her with nothing but the phone in pocket. She keeps walking along the highway and follows rail tracks until she reaches Tennessee. While leaving the train station she bumps into two men who offer to help her. They take her back to their hotel and she cleans herself up. She's attracted to both men and they are both attracted to her. They help her to get a job and the three of them move into a house together in Tennesee. Lots of things happen including one of the guys and the girl dating, the girl being kidnapped by the family that dumped her etc. but in the end the girl and the guy she chooses live happily ever after. Also, not sure whether the other guy dies. (This plan was so much better in my head but once I've researched this enough and sorted out all the kinks in the storyline I think it could be another cringeworthy story.)
- Also no word count on this one so far.
APRIL: The Art Store (New Idea thought up a few months ago)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- Artistic girl moves to new area, finds an art store run by handsome guy. She gets to know him and eventually they start dating. Something happpens that breaks them up. They sort it out, live happily ever after. (Not very good at the summaries as you may have guessed.)
- Did have a little typed up but seem to have lost it so there is currently no word count on this story either.
MAY: The Office (Old Idea from 2008)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- No summary for this one.
- Has a few thousand words written but not a lot.
JUNE: Love Is Blind (Old novel adapted from a Fan Fiction from 2005)
- Chick Literature, Romance, Comedy
- No summary for this one.
- Has a chapter written up but will get rewritten when the time comes.
JULY: Lucky Stars (Old novel from 2007, Green Day Fan Fiction)
- Fan Fiction (No longer a Green Day fan but I do like the story)
- It's about four fans who win a competition and get to tour with Green Day for two months, I think. It doesn't have a definite storyline, I was just writing whatever came into my head at the time.
- Has quite a bit written but will get a complete rewrite.
AUGUST: If Only... (Old novel from 2007)
- Chick Literature, Romance
- No summary for this.
- Has a couple of chapters written.
SEPTEMBER: Lands of Sildoon (Old novel from 2008)
- Fantasy
- No Summary for this.
- Has a little amount written but not a lot.
OCTOBER: Expect the Unexpected (Old novel from 2007, collaborated with a friend on the idea)
- Murder/Mystery
- I don't even know the whole plotline for this myself yet.
- First chapter is written but needs a rewrite.
NOVEMBER: Destiny Approaches (Rewrite of the NaNoWriMo novel I did in 2007)
- Fantasy
- Nilan was just a slave boy who worked in a local tavern, until he started having strange dreams. Dreams that involved strange people and snatches of a past he doesn't remember. Now one of the people from his dreams is staying at the tavern and Nilan is about to become part of an adventure he neve intended to take. (I spent a lot of time on that summary.)
- This one is currently sitting at thousands of words, written in a few different ways, with multiple beginnings. This is why I'm doing the rewrite of this.
DECEMBER: Once Upon A Time (New Idea for a friend)
- Fantasy
- No summary for this.
- I promised an 8 year old that I would write this novel a few years ago and I'm finally going to get around to it. It's currently sitting on 0 words.
So, I have a variety of novels to work on this year and each of them is different in it's own way, although some of them are a little similar in some ways. I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'm hoping that it will expand my writing technique and vocabulary significantly. I think over the next couple of days I'll research for My American Adventure considering it needs the most research and I won't have a lot of time to do the research in the New Year.
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