I'm way past the halfway point to winning NaNo, and more than 1/3 of the way through where I plan to be for the month. I'm at 37,406 words, aiming for 90k for the month. But... this baby is getting wordy. We may be at more of 100k or even 120k. I've read too many of the real gothic romances of the 18th and 19th century, I'm afraid. I won't be getting away with Wilkie Collins or Mrs. Radcliffe type word counts!
I'm finding my outline to be a lifesaver. I think that's why I'm going along so well. I've added quite a bit as I've gone along and the Scrivener "note card" system is really helping. Adding my notes as I go along is a breeze. I've also added all my character cards from real life into the ones in the computer. There's a handy function where you can do a split screen and view your cards above or beside your word processing page. It's a great little refresher, as the plot is about to open up and I'm going to need all those imaginary people. So far, it's just been my girl in the spooky ol' house with the spooky ol' guardian and the crackpot team of servants.
Where are you at? How is it going? We're not even at the halfway point - if you're lagging, I hope you give yourself a little room to get caught up as we go along. Best of luck, WriMo's!
Woo, you are certainly moving right along! Yes, I'm finding that mine is much, much wordier than I usually get. I generally finish around the 60K mark with any story, but this one is probably going to surpass the longest one I've ever written, which was only about 75K.
ReplyDeleteI like fast, constant action, so my stories tend to move quickly. I hate it when books get bogged down in narrative. (Like... I wanted to love "Clockwork Angel", but I could only like it due to the lack of action.)
It looks like you're doing great for NaNo!
Thank you my friend! and despite my length, I'm worrying I'm cramming too much into one "day". I may have to spread things out in rewrite. I'm horrible at timelines, like, keeping track of Tuesday... etc. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd it's Bettie, but this fucking thing wn't let me post as myself.
Yay to you on your word count. I'm still struggling to get out of the beginning of my novel, but I'm having some hand/wrist malfunction issues over here - the novel is fine.
ReplyDeleteI'm also finding that a better outline helps move through the first draft. I still have major rewrites - I always seem to come up with my best ideas after writing a few thousand words - but I think this draft will be more coherent.
Have you used the "Quick Reference" function in Scrivener? Another way to have a note page (or few) handy as you're writing - even in Compose mode. Cheers!
Wow, you have done quite well. All the best to you.
ReplyDeleteJennifer - oh no.. I have wrist trouble as well, so I'm on a steady stream of ibuprofin. I hope you get better. & yes, I'm making use of the quick reference now. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Razib. Best luck to you as well.