Does peer pressure work?

Today, I was reading the blog of another writer, and I noticed that they had a little note in the sidebar about the number of words that they have written in their current project. Which brings me to the question---does peer pressure work for any writer?

One of the suggestions that the Nanowrimo people suggest is telling people that you are working on a novel. The theory is that people will hound you to keep up your stream and complete the project in a timely manner. Who are these people who can make a writer get to work?

My friends are the last people who can motivate me to work. In fact, it is almost certain that my friends will cause me to slack off. And my beloved wife is no help either. I think it is mainly because she doesn't picture me as a writer.

(Honestly, can you picture me as a college professor? That is what my wife thinks I should be.)

I have never found peer pressure to be a good motivator for me. Maybe I am weird; perhaps there are writers who find that posting their process helps motivate them.

For myself, I have found that self-motivation is more important. Then again, I have OCD tendencies. A project gets under my skin, and I can't focus completely on anything else until I work it out of my system. Not even the threats of an editor matches the head of stream I can generate when my touch of insanity rears its head.

(I call it insanity not because I think that I am insane, but rather because of how other people [non-writers] react to me when I am in its grip.)

And if you are curious about my latest project---I have written a whole three words. C'mon peer pressure! Bring it on!

NaNoWriMo 2011

So am I going to be doing NaNoWriMo 2011? Yes and no.

Yes, I am going to do it because why should I break my losing streak now? For the record, I have never succeeded in writing 50,000 words in the space of thirty days. At least, not on a single project. If you are willing to count the number of words that I have devoted to term papers during November the past few years, then I am scoring about fifty percent.

No, because I have three more postion papers, two book reviews, two research papers, and probably a lot of stuff I am forgetting here. In addtition to that amount of writing, I have to do the reading and research to support that amount of writing.

No. Do I look insane?

Yes, because I keep having scenes pop in my head. Damn it Harmik get back in the cab! I am trying to do homework here.

So am I doing NaNoWriMo 2011? Maybe. Depends on who wins in the cage match between Harmik and my college professors.

(For those of you who are curious, Harmik is a six feet tall troll who drives a cab in one of the stories that I am working on...he tends to be a little loud.)

NaNoWriMo is approaching fast

National Novel Writing Month (NaNiWriMo), which takes place in November, is fast approaching. And I am so not ready for it.

I have yet to slip over to the NaNoWriMo website and register for this year. I have yet to figure out my plot, or even what type of novel I am aiming for this year. I have yet to choose my inspirational/plot suggestion/grammar checking book. And I have yet to attempt to get ahead on my college homework to attempt to make any of this happen.

A large part of delay is the fact that my sister's voice is still ringing loudly in my head. There is nothing like being told by your favorite relative that you are wasting your time pursuing writing, a college education, and your career to take the winds out of your sails...except maybe a bullet though the heart.

Ironically, this may actually be the best chance I have to actually hack out 50,000 words in the space of thirty days. Revenge and proving people wrong is a big motivator in my family.

I guess we will see at the end of November if she did me a favor or not.

Thinking about my NaNoWriMo plot

Yesterday, I was visiting the local Denver support site for National Novel Writing Month (can you write 50,000 words in a month?!) and hit the plot me button. Got this for a plot.

While traveling to Timbuktu via pack mule, a man with horns lives in a dungeon creating shadow puppets.

It is probably as good as any plot that I am going to walk into NaNoWriMo with. So far, in the past, I have tried Maritian colony murder mystery, and fairy tales gone wrong.

Then again, I may not even need a plot. Last year, I ended up dropping out early in the month as term papers took me out. We will see about this year.

Of course, this year I have the additional handicap of my sister's voice ringing in my ears; basically, she exploded at me for being a selfish b******, and told me that I will never be a writer. There were a lot of other stuff said...needless to say, I still feel an urge to stuck her head in a toliet.

Anyway, it is just 27 days and 12 hours until the writing frenzy begins. Are you ready?

First thousand plus words dwon, 49 thousand to go

Last night, I was so eager to get started on my new masterpiece of a novel (it is still early; it might be a masterpiece), I actually started to wrote at midnight.

(The late night Samhain [Halloween] ritual helped too. After all, I am one of those silly pagans/wiccans who view October 31st as the start of the new year.)

So at this point, having not written another word since I got up this morning, I am at 1163 words, just 48,837 words to go before my world famous novel is completed.

(As a sidenote, I havent been able to post my current count on the NaNoWriMo site. Typically first day rush, I imagine.)

Excerpts from Death On Mars

“The human race, as they left their ancestral home, took all that they were with them. All their virtues and vices, they transplanted to the stars. It just a shame that like cockroaches, they had more vices than virtues.”
--Black Badger Woman, Twenty-second century philosopher

“Mankind hoped that crime would not exist as they moved out into space. It took them awhile to realize that crime had its roots in human nature. Much to their horror, they realized that they needed law enforcement in the far reaches of space.”
--“:The Early Years of the Star Cops.”

“For years, it puzzled me where the term ‘Star Cops’ came from. It hardly seemed reasonable that mankind would willingly choose such a term. Finally, I traced it down to a journalist, who was also a reader of that prophetic type of fiction that was called science fiction. One of their forgotten entertainment programs was called ‘Star Cops.’ As a joke, he had referred to the High Justice Corps by this forgotten reference, and it stuck. Ironically, he fulfilled the very prediction that was made by the prophecy.”
--“:The Early Years of the Star Cops.”

It is time for National Novel Writing Month to start

Well, it is almost time for National Novel Writing Month to start. It is just a four more hours here in Denver; and then at midnight, the fun begins.

I got my Neo in the mail today, so I don't have to write any of this by hand and type it in later.

I am both excited and nervous. Comfort food has already been indulged in.

Looking ahead

Been thinking alot about what I want to do for my novel next month; I think I have some good ideas and am looking forward to doing National Novel Writing Month. C'mon the first of November!

It is almost National Novel Writing Month

Well, the leaves are being to fall from the trees, and it is time to think about working on your novel. And I do mean work on it--yes, that is right--next month is National Novel Writing Month.

Are you ready for the joys of trying to hack out 50,000 words in the space of a month? Are you ready for your loved ones to look at you like you should be sedated? Of course, you are.

So go and register and start thinking about what type of novel you are going to hack out in Novemeber.

Results of last month's experiment

As my regular readers know, last month I attempted to write 50,000 words in the space of one month. I failed. I got to a little over half that amount done, at least on the novel I was hacking out (I might have written that much if everything had been all on the same project, but true to form I was doing other writing also).

So did I fail? The answer to that depends on what you consider success. From my viewpoint, it was worthwhile. I learned more about how I write. And I ended up with a character and some supporting cast that I think will work in a better plotted story. I also ended up with some background for that type of world (urban fantasy/alternate history) that I can use for that character and one of my preexisting characters.

So while I did not cross the finish line for a whole rough draft of a novel, I did accomplish a lot that I can use for a foundation in other works. And that is good enourgh for me.

Oh why?

Someone yesterday asked me why I thought that I felt that I was not going to make my goal of 50,000 words for the month. Quite honestly, I am just too far behind to catch up. And the world is just not cooperating with me either at the moment.

With what is starting to pile up on my desk, most of it lodge (Golden Dawn) related, it is easier to acknowledge that I am going to fail in this task than continue to pull my hair out.

Note that I am stubborn enough to continue working on it--I think that I can rescue part of it and make it into a publishable story. It is just realistically I have to choose which is more important--hacking out 50,000 words which I may or may not be able to use, or work on some Golden Dawn lectures that I know that I can recycle.

Considering Golden Dawn is my writing speciality, it wins.

Sooner or later, if you are a sucessful writer, you have to make choices like this. As a writer, and a businessman (I would use business person here, but it sounds tinny to my ear), you have to be aware of opportunity costs.

Opportunity cost for those who have not taken economics is defined as the best alternative to what you actually did. Before this opportunity to expand the lodge's lectures arose, the best alternative to writing the 50,000 words was to spend time writing for Helium, AC and CC--provided of course that writer's block or depression didn't raise its ugly head. And a few short submissions for the print market.

Now the opportunity cost if I continue to focus mainly on the 50,000 words will be a lost opportunity to expand the lodge's lessons (which I can harvest bits from to make a few dollars) and a good chance that my local Golden Dawn lodge can overcome its membership shortage. Considering that Bast Temple is my test field for my Golden Dawn writings, its membership is important to me. As is the SOM.

We are looking at the difference between a sure thing and a really long shot. At this point, I chose the sure thing. Mainly because it is a proved field for me.

Golden Dawn is one of the subjects that I can potboil. It is something that I am an expert on, that I can write rapidly, and that I have already established the setup for future PR campaigns. For me, despite the fact that a successful novel would result in more money, it is the better bet.

That is my logic. Besides it will be more exciting to attempt a whole novel in November; after all, November is term paper season.

I am not going to make it

Yesterday, I realized that there was just no way that I was going to succeed at writing 50,000 words this month. At least, not all on one project. If you count the blogs, the webpages, the miscellaneous articles, then I have been writing enough to accomplish it.

But because (true to form) I have been scattered among several projects, I am just simply not going to make it. In part, it is because I keep losing time to things outside of my control. For instance, Sunday originally was supposed to be a writing day. I ended up spending it in lodge business (meeting a new applicant) and research on a long term project. Necessary tasks.

I am going to lose this entire afternoon to necessary tasks (like how Saturday turned out), things that absolutely need to get done around the house.

Hopefully, I do better during November, the official National Novel Writing Month.

Holding the line...

Well, I haven't made much progress over the last two days of accomplishing my 50,000 words in a month. If I wanted to catch up completely today I would need to hack out 20309 words. But assuming that I just do the 1667 words for today, my word count shortage is down to 18,642 words.

Now, some of the writing yesterday was a "cheat." I went to the website for the National Novel Writing Month and looked around for inspiration. Which led me to an article, about last year's contest and how one of the writers a little short of her final count, and done with her story, decided to write a short message to her readers. I followed suit, through my address to my readers is in the first half of the novel.

And I regret to say that today promises to be another day where I just hold the line. I have accomplished some stuff today--market research mainly (another dozen sites that I might be able to sell writing to come this Fall), and did some dishes and laundry. Oh, and cleaned a couple of windows.

So maybe, now that I have jogged around the house, taking out the trash and scooping out the litter boxes, I can get myself to sit down and actually work on the novel. Wish me luck (as you can see I also wrote a blog), I am going to need it.

Closing the gap...

Well, today I made some progress on catching up to where I should be at this point towards my 50,000 word goal for the month. And this despite allowing myself to get sidetracked some; I had a couple of other things requiring my attention today.

So at this point, I am at 7920 words, which is still well short of my goal. 18,752 words, in fact.

Nevertheless, I managed to complete the 1667 words I needed for today, and lessen the shortage by 483 words. This makes me feel good. And gives me hope that maybe I can do better tomorrow.

The purpose of writing 50,000 words in the space of a month

So I am guessing that many people wonder what would be the purpose of writing 50,000 words in the space of a month. Quite simply, it is for the experience of doing so.

We learn our craft as writers by writing. It is just that simple. No matter how much we read on the subject, or plot out stories and articles, it is not until we are sitting in front of the keyboard that we start to learn how to write. Up to that point, all is just theory. Learning to write just from articles is like trying to learn to drive from reading the manual without taking the car out for a spin.

Many novelists have to write a couple of novels, as in actually finish them, before they hit the point where what they are writing is publishable. In light of that fact, having never written a piece that long before, July promises to be a learning experience.

I think of it as an extensive month long course in the craft of novel writing. I will propbably learn more about the craft of novel writing in one month than I would in several years of reading about it.

And besides, I do need to clean out the cobwebs out of my head. Between school and the pressure of having to support myself by writing, I am on the edge of a case of full blown writers block. Better that I take a month off this summer, and just write something where it is for the act of writing. No thought of pay, or needing to do it. Just writing for writing's sake.

National Novel Writing Month

Now, some of you that read my commitment to write 50,000 words in July may be wondering why 50,000 words. The answer to that is simple, that is the goal for the National Novel Writing Month. Back in 1999, a writer in the San Franciso Bay area (Chris Baty) decided what he really needed to do was to write a novel in a month.

It may sound like a lunatic's idea. But obvivously, he is not the only lunatic out there, for during the first year, twenty-one otehr writers signed up to do it also. And amazingly, six people won.

Won as in they actually finished 50,000 words in the space of a month. If you finish, you are a winner. Period. No matter how bad the novel is.

Each year, the "contest" gets more people involved. Last year, there was 79,000 writers involved. And 13,000 people won.

So why am I doing it in July, rather than November? Simple, I am a college sophomore and that is the height of term paper season. I would like to play in November, but I might be busy, so I am doing it in July. Just to prove to myself that I can (and to edge out of my borderline writer's block).

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

50,000 words in 30 days

Yesterday, I was at the library. Originally, it was to meet someone. They didn't show. So I spent my time there people watching and browsing though the stacks. That is how I found No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days.

Reading the first three chapters of it, I realized that I would much rather spend my summer vacation hacking out the first draft of a novel (50,000 pages) than what I have been doing--mainly trying to force myself to write items for pay and setting up a webpage.

I guess part of it is the fact that the pressure to produce money-making copy has killed my creativity. Now, that the money issue is settled, I would actually like to accomplish something this summer. Or at least something I want to accomplish.

I know, hardly the attitude that a professional writer is supposed to have. But there it is--my ever constant attitude problem. I am supposed to love slaving away for money, or so I get told by those who are handing me small piles of pennies.

And with my 42 birthday approaching, I would like to accomplish the task of writing a complete draft of a novel, even if it promises to be cat litter and unpublishable.

There is also the fact that I refuse to believe that a certain writer friend of mine is better at this business than I am. Yes, pride comes before a fall. If he can hack out a couple of novels in the space of a year, then so can I. And it is not like I have anything better to do in the month of July.

So during the month of July, I promise to hack out 50,000 words--a novel in the space of a month--not good words, but no rough draft is good words.

For those, who want to watch this insanity, I will be posting my progress here periodically over the next month. It promises to make term paper season look like a cakewalk.