I just noticed that I try to make everything into compound words!

I was scrolling down through my NaNo writing to find where I left off and I started noticing all of the red underlines (spelling errors) and most of them were two word nouns that I had attempted to make into one word… Like bunk beds, bar stools, litter box, water bottle.

Maybe separating them will help my word count? lol.

(Source: teacher-of-literacy.com)

I’m about 10k into my story and I’m starting to hate my characters…

I am a little behind from starting my new job this weekend, but I am also four chapters in and starting to get annoyed with my writing which is slowing me down a lot. I dunno if it’s because I’m so tired lately but everything that is coming out just feels so incredibly lame. It started out really good but I feel like I have settled in with my characters are too immature. They sort of ended up acting more like teenagers or college students and I don’t feel like they’re turning out to be the adults I originally wanted them to be… (Hello real life problems with my life showing up in my writing?)

For my MC it sort of makes sense because in the scene I’m up to she is visiting a place from her childhood and ends up sort of regressing into some old habits, but because of that I feel as if I’m de-aging all my supporting characters too so they seem like they are on the same level. Which wasn’t my intention, that was just the natural way the dialogue ended up coming out.

Yesterday’s NaNoWriMo Announcement did remind me that I’m not alone though:

Sent at: November 08, 2011 14:36
Subject: Week Two: The Secret Sauce

Wrimos, it’s Week Two: a notoriously tricky time in the month-long noveling process. 

You’ve committed to your characters and this story you are developing. And you’ve written enough in these seven or so days that, if you’re starting to hate one or the other (or both), it feels too late to turn back. 

But I come to you with good—no, great—tidings of noveling joy. 

If you’re bored with, annoyed by, sick of, divorced from, totally over, or hurling tomatoes at your characters or plot, there’s no need to turn back, and zero reason to start over. 

Erin Morgenstern told us in last week’s pep talk that when she got tired of her NaNo-novel, she sent her characters to the circus. And look where she is now! 

This past weekend, my über-prissy main character was making me nuts with her stuffy, uptight behavior and old-fashioned judgements. She was meant to be irrepressibly optimistic; almost annoyingly joyful. Somehow she came out just annoying. I couldn’t bear to spend one more paragraph with her. And that was seriously slowing down my word count. 

For the sake of my novel and my sanity these next three weeks, I quickly realized that I needed to let my MC’s freak flag fly. Within sentences, she had cast off her government-issue uniform (and with it, her insufferable inhibitions) and I had her flash-dancing to the Hair soundtrack on LP. Weird, but effective. 

That alone hasn’t completely fixed the trajectory of my novel, but it sure helped me hang in there for the next 5,000 words. 

If your novel has you down, don’t give up. Get kooky! Add an element (or an apple cart’s worth) of the unexpected and the outlandish to your characters and storyline alike. 

I know can’t really go back or give up at this point… not only because I am already behind now, but because I am also 1/5 of the way done. Although I have to admit I’m not really sure where to take it from here to get them back on track. The more I write the more they seem to stay in the way I’ve gotten comfortable writing their dynamic, seeming younger than they should. Maybe I need to put them in a more adult situation? I’d like to have some more serious topics come up between them but they’ve just met and are still getting to know each other. I also thought of trying to skip forward a little bit from where I am and write a separate scene just to see if I can go back to the way I had them in my head. I don’t know.

Do any of you have a suggestion?

(Source: progarchives.com)

I think my main character needs a cat.

I know, I know. I’ve already mentioned my problem with editing my first few chapters too often… and this means I’ll have to backtrack again. But as I went to bed last night I started thinking about it and I hardly ever write my characters to have pets. Which is weird because my pets are one of the most important parts of my life, and almost everyone else I know has them. Hell, I can’t wait to get the new Sims 3 expansion so my sims can have them!

I think the types of pets people have usually say a lot about their personalities too. The more I thought about it my character and what kind of pet she would have and the more it makes perfect sense. A cat is the ideal companion for her lifestyle, it’s independent enough that she won’t have to feel guilty about her busy work schedule but it also is always there to keep her company when she is home and stressed out.

I decided specifically that she would have a tortie, I imagine her as a grey DSH Tortie. Most of the torties I’ve met were very nervous cats, extremely lovable with their owners but sort of shy and very skittish around anything out of their extremely limited comfort zone. Which is such a great parallel to my MC’s personality. Also I don’t want to give too much away just yet… but an affinity for animals adds an important level to her character that will be very useful later, and the way that certain people in her life interact with the cat will definitely be a good foreshadowing

I really think this needs to happen, on the plus side though it will still add more words to my count! But after this edition I need to get back to chapter three and move forward! :)

Guys, I am dying trying to do NaNo without a laptop.

I’m having so much trouble focusing while tied to my desk, especially at times like these when Cj went to bed and I’m not quite tired yet but I’d love to be able to go lay down and still be able to write… buhhhh. Hopefully if my mom has power tomorrow I can use her charger at work, but I’m gonna have to get to an Apple store before the month is over, definitely!

Maybe I’ll try to sync my bluetooth keyboard to my iPhone. lol. I’ve heard it can be done with the new OS…