Sunday, 6 November 2016

Uh Oh, ReDo

I was hoping I would be able to write blog posts keeping you updated of my NaNoWriMo progress and this is my attempt at the first post. If this post reads a little unusual, it is because I'm not actually writing it with my keyboard. Because writing nanowrimo right after my countdown is a little bit tiring, and I don't want to use excess energy on blog posts, I am writing this post using the text to speech program on my mobile phone, with only minor editing to fix up mistakes. This means I can Speak 'n' Spell the entire posts without worrying about wearing myself out for the upcoming writing session.
[Author's Note: I gave up on the text-to-speech half-way through. It turns out that getting frustrated with a new function on your phone is more tiring and a results in a much less natural way of speaking than sitting down and writing.]
And the next writing session is going to be a big one . . .
See I have good news and bad news, the good news is I've written over 2000 words already for my NaNoWriMo attempt. The bad news is, I'm going to have to scrap all of my writing so far.
See, after four days of writing the story, I have come to a realization: I haven't done enough research for this story so that I can just sit down and write it.
See usually when I write my research as I go it's not the best habit but it's the one that I have gotten into. However, when it comes to NaNoWriMo you can't just research as you go because you have a word quota to fulfill. So, I tried to change my writing habits, but it just didn't fit the story. I needed to do a lot of research on the Australian Police Force, basic forensic analysis and call signs and codes and attitudes and and laws... it was just going to be a mess. So, I made an executive decision to scrap everything I've written so far for NaNoWriMo; store it elsewhere & reboot my National Novel Writing Month with a new story.
So, tomorrow I will begin writing again, and I will have twenty-five days to write fifty thousand words. This does mean that I will have to increase my daily writing quota to fulfill this new shortened schedule, but I'm confident that I can do it. See, to alleviate the burden of constant research I've decided that this new story will be science fiction, I've even spent the last twenty-four hours organising the timeline, the characters, the motivations and the themes so that now all I'm really missing are the words that make this story a book.
Because I'm much more experience whend it comes to writing science fiction (since I've been running Duke forever for so very very long) and since I'm somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to science it gives me a lot of leeway to write as I please and fill in any gaps with sci-fi technobabble fun times.
So, I suppose for you other writers out there, my suggestion is do your research. I found myself stopping and starting so often with the story that on my second day of writing for NaNoWriMo, I I wrote a grand total of eleven words. That's pathetic. And all because I hadn't done my research.
Also, my timeline wasn't fully developed, but the lack of research was the real kick in the pants.

This also means that I will have to apologize, I thought that my first update post would be about some of the interesting things I am written about or some of those fun things you discover as you build a story from the ground up. Unfortunately all I have is a cautionary tale. But don't let that discourage you, I sure as hell haven't let it discourage me. I am going to have to write two-thousand words a day to make up for this little hiccup, and I'm going to damn well try to get this story done by the 30th of November 2016.
[Author's Note: I just realized that I forgot to mention something . . . what can I say, I'm tired, I've been plotting for twenty-four hours. But anyway, the plan is that I will keep you guys updated by writing a blog post of my progress every five days. This schedule may shift depending on my personal responsibilities, levels of fatigue and unforeseen circumstances.]
As for the story itself? I don't want to give too much away, since I am trying to make this story publishable. But, I can tell you three things before I wrap up this blog post. Firstly, I have called the main character Gene Endroe, and she is a graffiti artist (yes, she; my original story had a male homicide detective, so when I rebooted, I decided to give the fairer sex the chance at leading the story). Secondly, I think robots are really cool, and this affected what I included in this story. Thirdly, besides my sweet Beloved, what inspired this story was a simple concept: 'Urban Sci-Fi'.
That's all I can say for now, I hope it peaks your interest.

Until next time, I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, and I'm going to lie down. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow.