NaNo Day 2

At the end of today, my word count is 4,339 (+1209). Not what I was hoping for because it means I need to rock pretty hard this week. Is he up to the challenge? I hope so YES. I’ll probably have to knock out 300 words or so during my lunch breaks.

About the WIP

In my intro to creative writing course (waaaay back in ‘06), we were required to keep a journal-ish thing where we wrote 300 words every day. It was an exercise in developing good habits. Anyway, I started a story about a kid who goes to magic college, meets a hottie, and ends up on an adventure. It’s what we all want out of college, right? I wrote a short story in that universe toward the end of the semester, then pretty much ignored it for two years. It seemed like a good candidate for an overhaul for NaNo, so I dug it out. It’s going much better so far.

The big thing I’m doing differently is introducing more characters. Originally, I was starting on the first day of class and having my main character, Kai, meet the hottie and her brother, and then getting caught up in TEH MYSTERIOUSNESS on the same day. This time, I start Kai getting dropped off at the school by his master (they spend 2 years with a low-level master, 4 with an actual good mage if they show promise, then 4 years at a magical university if they show signs of greatness) . He meets the girl while waiting to talk to an advisor, then a shopkeeper who gives him a job, then two RAs, then an annoying classmate who lives down the hall, then that kid’s parents…People! I like them. They’re making the world much more interesting, I think.

I think I just figured out why novels were so hard before. I never made the transition from the short fiction cast to the long fiction cast. When you’re writing something that tops out at 5,000 words, you don’t get to introduce interesting-yet-useless characters. There’s just no time — it bogs down the story. Novels are different. Having “extras” enriches the world. It’s pretty rad.

Anyway, it’s 10:30, which is officially past my bedtime these days. Please don’t tell ca. 2003 Stan, as he would be ashamed and probably a little bit angry.

Like

Unlike

Some Thoughts on Writing Dialogue

I’m not going to pretend to know why this happens, but occasionally something pops into my head and I imagine people talking about it. Yesterday, rather than just let myself be amused, I harnessed the random thoughts and tried to follow them to see what I was doing, and to see if it helped me as a writer. I think it does. (more…)

Like

Unlike

Working With the Voices

My writing professors always said that the hardest part of writing was character dialogue. That isn’t the case for me — I suck at everything else, but I think I nail the whole talking thing pretty well.

Based on what I’ve read (particularly on the interwebs), my professors seemed to be on to something — I’ve seen many good ideas that were ruined by poorly-executed dialogue. It baffles me that otherwise competent writers can let this happen. I don’t think the issue is necessarily whether dialogue is hard or not, though. I’ll run through some scenarios, and you guys let me know if I’m on the right track or totally crazy. (more…)

Like

Unlike