Monday, November 29, 2010
NaNoWriMo day twenty-nine: I'm gonna make it!
Thanks to a flurry of writing activity over here, I am within sight of my goal of 50k words written on my novel in the month of November. I have just 5k words left to write, and considering I wrote 6k today and yesterday, that should be no problem tomorrow. I just have to make sure I do it in the morning and get it over with so I don't get caught writing at midnight and miss the official deadline! I drank so many cups of decaf coffee at the write-in that I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep any time soon! I'm just so relieved to be at this point...a couple days ago, and even at some points yesterday, I was't sure I was going to be able to pull it off. Now, it's a certainty! See you tomorrow.
Show vs Tell: What does it mean, and how do you do it?
"Show, don't tell" is a common mantra among editors, would-be editors, writing experts of both the genuine and self-proclaimed type (I don't claim to be either, by the way. I just like to share what I've learned and what works for me!). However, I think sometimes these people don't quite know what it really means...and I think a lot of beginning writers struggle with it. So, let's talk about it a little.
When you think of showing vs telling, think about the reader experience. Do you want them to know something because you told them straight out, or because they envisioned it through your imagery? Readers aren't stupid. If you describe Harold as weighing 10,000 pounds and having big, floppy ears and a trunk, they'll probably guess that Harold is an elephant. That's a pretty silly example, but you get the idea.
Some people mistakenly think that showing is the same thing as describing. That is not so. Nothing turns me off faster than pages (or even paragraphs) of description with no action or dialogue or anything else to keep my interest. I usually skip past it, and I know other readers who have the same view. Oh, sure, there are some master writers who can spend an entire chapter describing a tree, and you just sit there in awe of how amazing this tree is. However, most of us are not able to do that. I think I'll talk more about description in a different post, because that's a whole 'nother discussion...for now, I want to concentrate on what is showing vs. telling.
Here is telling:
Randall drove a compact car. It was too small for him. (snore)
Here is showing:
Randall shoe-horned himself behind the wheel of his car and felt the shocks sink a little. He often wondered if he looked like one of those clowns at the circus or in cartoons--the ones where they drive into the ring in a tiny car, and they get out and they're a huge clown. He reached back and pulled up the lock on the rear passenger door so Kelly could get in. He smiled as he watched her open the door and climb into her car seat. She had inherited her pride from him, and the minute she was able to fasten her own safety harness and close the door by herself, she insisted that no one help her. He feared the day her independence would get her into trouble.
Did you get that the car was small? I also got inspired and kept going (fun how writing prompts can do that for you, eh?), and how much more did you learn about Randall and Kelly? I coudl have told you the same facts in 2-3 sentences, but this way you can really see the scene and it's much more interesting. Plus, it helps pad out your word count, if you're worried about that sort of thing. :)
When you write, think about how you're telling your readers about a scene or person. Are you looking through their eyes and showing them the scene as though they were watching a movie? Or are you listing facts, like they would get in a business report?
I've put a little exercise to help you practice this concept on the Accentuate Writers Forum here: http://accentuatewriters.com/viewthread.php?tid=13654. Come on over and try your hand!
When you think of showing vs telling, think about the reader experience. Do you want them to know something because you told them straight out, or because they envisioned it through your imagery? Readers aren't stupid. If you describe Harold as weighing 10,000 pounds and having big, floppy ears and a trunk, they'll probably guess that Harold is an elephant. That's a pretty silly example, but you get the idea.
Some people mistakenly think that showing is the same thing as describing. That is not so. Nothing turns me off faster than pages (or even paragraphs) of description with no action or dialogue or anything else to keep my interest. I usually skip past it, and I know other readers who have the same view. Oh, sure, there are some master writers who can spend an entire chapter describing a tree, and you just sit there in awe of how amazing this tree is. However, most of us are not able to do that. I think I'll talk more about description in a different post, because that's a whole 'nother discussion...for now, I want to concentrate on what is showing vs. telling.
Here is telling:
Randall drove a compact car. It was too small for him. (snore)
Here is showing:
Randall shoe-horned himself behind the wheel of his car and felt the shocks sink a little. He often wondered if he looked like one of those clowns at the circus or in cartoons--the ones where they drive into the ring in a tiny car, and they get out and they're a huge clown. He reached back and pulled up the lock on the rear passenger door so Kelly could get in. He smiled as he watched her open the door and climb into her car seat. She had inherited her pride from him, and the minute she was able to fasten her own safety harness and close the door by herself, she insisted that no one help her. He feared the day her independence would get her into trouble.
Did you get that the car was small? I also got inspired and kept going (fun how writing prompts can do that for you, eh?), and how much more did you learn about Randall and Kelly? I coudl have told you the same facts in 2-3 sentences, but this way you can really see the scene and it's much more interesting. Plus, it helps pad out your word count, if you're worried about that sort of thing. :)
When you write, think about how you're telling your readers about a scene or person. Are you looking through their eyes and showing them the scene as though they were watching a movie? Or are you listing facts, like they would get in a business report?
I've put a little exercise to help you practice this concept on the Accentuate Writers Forum here: http://accentuatewriters.com/viewthread.php?tid=13654. Come on over and try your hand!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
NaNoWriMo day twenty-four: Halfway point, a little late
There are six days left, and I am halfway through my nano. I am "only" 15k words behind now, which is an improvement from being 16k behind. I have to write 4148 words per day for the next six days if I'm going to finish. There are worse things. The good thing is, the holiday weekend is her, and although my business never really stops, I can take the excuse to slow down my other projects just a tiny bit so I can do this. I can do this!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
NaNoWriMo day twenty-three: SO BEHINDER
Well, my busy schedule has continued to be ridiculously busy (making money, which is good for the whole paying rent and bills and buying food thing), which means I've had little time to write. I thought I'd get some done while travelling, but got maybe 2k done. Last night, I was going to go to the all-nighter write-in and get some done, but a migraine knocked me out for a good part of the day...and of course, I had deadlines, so work takes priority. Sooo....I'm now 16k behind. That's a lot to make up in one week! Oh well, I did it last year, I can do it again this year. I'll get a bit done tonight, and I'm caught up on a lot of stuff, so I'll try to get a bunch done tomorrow. Then, Thursday is Thanksgiving, darn it, and I am taking the day OFF from work. I will use the day to nano!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
NaNoWriMo day sixteen: SO BEHIND
I have been super busy the past week, between getting a bunch of work in and having a bunch of events that took me out of the house for hours upon hours. Therefore, I missed four or five days of writing. I went to an all-nighter write-in last night in hopes of catching up, but we had left our dog home alone for an awfully long time and decided to call it a night there at midnight. I did write some more when I got home and put in a total of 2600 and something words, but I am still at 19,311...WAY behind today's goal of 26,667. I have a lot of catching up to do, but it won't be today. I am getting caught up on some of my work, but then I got some new assignments...I should be able to do some writing tomorrow. Maybe not enough to catch up at ALL, but maybe at least my daily quota. For now, I need to get back to work.
Hang in there, wrimos...we're halfway through! I hope you're doing better than I am!
Hang in there, wrimos...we're halfway through! I hope you're doing better than I am!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
NaNoWriMo day eleven: tip of the day
I am now a whole day behind. I guess this is the rhythm for this year's nano for me...get caught up, fall behind. Get caught up, fall behind. Alas, what are you gonna do? I'll just keep pressing on. Also, have I mentioned I am just not feeling this book? It's slow and booooooring. I can't wait for something interesting to happen, but I have to slog through all this boring stuff first. That's Ok...I know it will get interesting eventually! I'll keep writing and and then when I have a decent book, I'll edit out the crap. Embrace the suck!
NaNoWriMo tip of the day: Have a word war with a friend. Word wars are a super fun way to get a bunch of words written. What you do is agree on a time frame--10 minutes is good, but it can be whatever you want. The goal is to write as much as you possibly can during that time, and whoever writes the most wins. This means you have to apply the nano principles of embracing the suck and turning off your internal editor--just write, write, write, as fast as you can!
NaNoWriMo tip of the day: Have a word war with a friend. Word wars are a super fun way to get a bunch of words written. What you do is agree on a time frame--10 minutes is good, but it can be whatever you want. The goal is to write as much as you possibly can during that time, and whoever writes the most wins. This means you have to apply the nano principles of embracing the suck and turning off your internal editor--just write, write, write, as fast as you can!
NaNoWriMo day ten: tip of the day
I didn't get much done on NaNo today...too much work, a riding lesson and dinner at Mom's...I didn't think I'd get any done, but I made myself sit down and write a few hundred words so I'm only 1000 behind...I don't know how much I'll do tomorrow, but hopefully at least 1667 so it won't be hard to catch up again.
NaNoWriMo tip for today: Embrace the suck! By this point, you're probalby thinking that your novel sucks, you can't write, you never should have started this stupid nano thing, and you should just give up. Something along those lines, anyway. I'm thinking, "oh my GAWD this is boring. There is nothing good happening in this story. No one is going to get through this." What you have to do is just get OVER it and keep writing. Let it suck..it's Ok. get the words on the paper...er, document. Just write. Don't worry about bad grammar, confusing sentence structure or coming up with just the right words to describe your character's alarmingly blue eyes. Just get it out....you can edit it during LAFFN when we dust off our manuscripts and clean them up! Keep writing, and eventually a story is going to come out that you can live with.
NaNoWriMo tip for today: Embrace the suck! By this point, you're probalby thinking that your novel sucks, you can't write, you never should have started this stupid nano thing, and you should just give up. Something along those lines, anyway. I'm thinking, "oh my GAWD this is boring. There is nothing good happening in this story. No one is going to get through this." What you have to do is just get OVER it and keep writing. Let it suck..it's Ok. get the words on the paper...er, document. Just write. Don't worry about bad grammar, confusing sentence structure or coming up with just the right words to describe your character's alarmingly blue eyes. Just get it out....you can edit it during LAFFN when we dust off our manuscripts and clean them up! Keep writing, and eventually a story is going to come out that you can live with.
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