rachel helene's nano blog

i'm at around 22,000 words, which is around 10,000 words behind where i need to be. still, that's 50 pages single spaced, which is more work than i've done on a single project, well, ever. still struggling with disenchantment with the story, the looming spectre of my mother, who wants to read it (this makes writing the sexy bits interesting), and a bit of writers block. but this morning i'm feeling pretty good about it. we're headed into the final week of november, and even if i can't hit 50,000, i'd like to get as close as i can.

(no subject)

[Nov. 5th, 2006|04:19 pm]

10,059 words
oh em gee.

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how not to write a novel

[Nov. 5th, 2006|12:20 pm]

Checking message boards is not writing a novel.
Posting insights on the

nanowrimo community is not writing a novel.
Talking on the phone is not writing a novel.
Writing lists of ways not to write a novel is also not the greatest way to get a novel written.

And yet.

I'm sitting in my favorite coffeeshop for writing, having drunk my caffeine for the afternoon, getting ready to write.
Current word count:
7573.
Goal for today:
10,000

I discovered something significant today about the way I write. I think the most effective technique for me in writing a longer piece is to kind of sketch it out first, write all the major scenes, and then go back and fill in the blanks. Like building a frame and then filling it out later.

Everything else aside, this has been a tremendous learning experience.

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progress report

[Nov. 2nd, 2006|09:02 pm]

And here's my angsty little progress report for today.

Today...was hard for me. I feel like a hack. I feel like I don't have the bare-bones skill to do this. There are a few places where I've turned a beautiful phrase, or come out with an inventive and precise image, but mostly there are also awkward sections, melodramatic sections, sections that feel like filler and sections where I'm self-consciously trying to make a point and it shows.

So I'm trying very hard to just keep writing without getting dejected. Come on, me! This is supposed to be fun! Lay off the angst and do some more writing already!

The good news is that I made my word count. 4,334, baby. w00t!

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today's wordcount

[Nov. 1st, 2006|10:05 pm]

WHEW! I'm too tired to post anything but a word count tonight, though I've got lots to say! I just went to my first nano meet-up, met a bunch of cool people, pounded out some text. I think I work better alone--I'm too ADD to tune out distractions--but it was fun to meet some fellow sufferers. The people I've met through nano are such a wonderful group, eclectic and interesting and enthusiastic about art!

1985 words. w00t!

Now to bed.

Time, place, and culture.

[Oct. 29th, 2006|09:26 am]

Great novels have a pervasive sense of time and place (think the Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, which could only have taken place in 1940s LA, or American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, which, above all else, is about yuppie culture in the 1980s). Time and place are very important in fiction, and they're something I've neglected to think about.

My novel is set on the east coast around '98. I'm having trouble coming up with cultural markers that will embed it in that era, make the story specific to the time and place in which it occurred.

So what made that time period meaningful to me?

There was a tremendous sense of progressive optimism on the east coast during the Clinton era. I remember going to pride marches and meetings, an increase in gay visibility and just...this sense that we were winning. What else? Well, I remember the war in the former Yugoslavia, but I don't really remember particulars. I remember Monicagate. And...that's about it. I remember getting AIM for the first time (I had just read LotR, and dubbed myself Arwen98). I remember the spice girls, and *nsinc.

(Aside: best line from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990%27s: "Major 1990s slang words/phrases: 'homie', 'phat', 'da bomb', 'tight', 'word to your mother', 'Talk to the hand [because the face ain't listening]', 'You go girl!', 'yo', 'whatever!', 'Wasssuppp!'" Also notable: "1992 (The Year of Buttafuoco Jokes)")

I have a better sense for the early 90s, the era of grunge and the beginning of mainstream hip-hop culture, but I was much younger during that era, and have kind of a middle-schooler's perspective on the whole thing.

Maybe I should just scrap all this and set it in a futuristic dystopia where Newt Gingrich won the presidency and governs with an iron fist.

Kidding. Just kidding.

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blab

[Oct. 28th, 2006|04:21 pm]

Talking about a story is always a risk. When you tell a story to another person you sorta start to see it from their perspective, and there's the risk that from their perspective it'll look stupid. Maybe you don't describe it adequately, or maybe they just don't get it, but the result is that your confidence in the story is shaken.

On the one hand, it's a good thing when weaknesses and inconsistencies are revealed. On the other hand, it's a bad thing when you start to wonder whether the flaws are fatal.

So...I dunno. It's a fine line.

I'm getting used to typing with capital letters. It's an adjustment.

Ahem

[Oct. 28th, 2006|02:40 pm]

Hello! This is my blog for National Novel Writing Month. It is different from my everyday blog because most of my posts will be about the writing process, and because I will use capital letters. I'm not exactly sure what or when I'll be posting here, but it seemed like a good thing to set up. So. That's it. Smile!