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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

After National Novel Writing Month

I have done National Novel Writing Month for seven years now. Every year it seems to be a different experience. I think this happens for two reasons. The first is that doing it once a year is not enough so you really have a predictable experience. You are not doing it often enough to learn efficiencies that make it that much easier.

I also think it happens because I am a different person every year. For example this is the first year I am doing NaNoWriMo as a married man. Yes being married makes it different then last year being engaged. This is the first year Kate did it with me. Yes she did complete 50,000 words also.

I made a tweet this year when I wrote "For me nanowrimo Kinda like a rowing machine gets you in shape but does not actually take you anywhere." I still feel that it was true for me this year. I know the idea of NaNoWriMo is to finish and have a first draft of a novel. That was not my case this year. I realized this about two weeks into NaNoWriMo, but I still finished. I have not written any fiction since NaNoWriMo last year and any fiction writing I can do Is helpful. Some times you just need to write.

Over the last week of so I thought about what I learned this year. I came up with a couple thinks I think I need to work on, after being on the rowing machine for a month.

I Need to Write More Fiction. In the past year I have not taken much time to write. It seems like there is always something more important to do. I need to find the right way to carve out time to write. When I find that time I need to write and not spend my time messing around on the internet. It is just too easy to waste time.

I Need to Write More Blog Entries. I have been lazy like lots of bloggers and let Twitter say everything for me. I know that writing blog entries really makes me think about my ideas and how to construct them on the page. I find that even helps when I am working on fiction.

I Need to Read More Novels. I know I do not read enough. Lately I have not read much at all. Some of the problems I am having writing comes because I spend all my time reading websites. I know that I can get better at expressing my story ideas if I read more. I just need to make myself do it

I Need to Read More Short Fiction. There is some short fiction, but I have to put a lot more effort into finding it. To become a better writer I think I need to work on writing shorter fiction. If I want to write it, I need to read it. It is a simple idea.

I Need to Watch Lets TV. I love Television, but it is easy to let it suck away too much time. It is easy to watch television mindlessly. I need to turn off the TV if I want to spend time writing. I cannot write and keep the TV on. It just does not work.

I Need to Manage My Internet Time Better. The internet is the greatest distraction in the world. I can sit down to write and find myself watching YouTube two hours later. This is a really easy thing to do. I know this is where a lot of my time goes.

I Need to Set Creative Goals. I know the only way to measure myself is to set goals. Setting Goals includes thinking of creative projects, being clear about what I want to do, and setting aside to accomplishing the goal.

Labels: goal, nanowrimo, self, writing

- Rich, 9:22 PM

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Another year, another "Novel" and I do mean "Novel"

This is the sixth year I have completed the challenge that is National Novel Writing Month. I have a hard time saying what I wrote is a novel. I am not sure there is enough conflict or dynamic characters for this to be a novel. I know that I did not finish the story. I wrote 50,000 words, but I would not inflict it on another human being. I know that Kate wants to read it, but I am not sure I want to be that mean to her.



I love doing National Novel Writing Month. In the past six year I have written some interesting scenes, but nothing that could really be the foundation of a novel. From writing I can see how far away from actually being able to write a novel. To become a better writer I would need to read more and to write on a more consistent basis. Both of those things end up being low on my priority list.

Writing a novel becomes something different for me. My goal is not to write something other people can read, but to explore my own imagination. As an adult is is hard to run around the play yard pretending you are a superhero. It is much more socially acceptable to write about having super power.

I am going to keep doing NaNoWriMo as long as I can. This time next year I will be married. Who knows if I will have time to do NaNoWriMo or not. I do want to do it. Some where in my head I tell myself I am going to pre-plan my novel and write something good. That is less likely.

Labels: nanowrimo, self, writing

- Rich, 5:06 PM

Monday, August 18, 2008

Story and Truth

Fling93 posted this article about WALL-E: Economic Ignorance and the War on Modernity. The day after reading the article I heard
Andrew Stanton on Fresh Air.

The Mises Institute article has two main points as I see it. The first is the Buy N Large Corporation would never exist. If there was a single company that did everything, it would become the government. The second point is about the end of the movie. The credit show the world starting over again from the beginning, including going back to farming. The ship has an food system that has not failed in 700 years. It would be more dangerous go back to farming and not use the food system on the ship.

Here is the text of the article.

The humans' return to Earth and attempt to "rebuild" their lives is ludicrous from any sound economic perspective. After having had a sustainable automatic food production system aboard the Axiom — which had apparently worked without fail for seven centuries — humans all of a sudden decide to resort to traditional agriculture. The one thing they have machine capital to do for them, they decide to do manually instead. Rather than devoting the precious time bought by the ready availability of food to, say, create art, repair all those broken skyscrapers, or design even better robots, the humans decide to manually dig holes in the ground and grow their food through backbreaking toil that led millions throughout history to die premature deaths. Oh, by the way, the film left that part out. Virtually no one today who romanticizes the "good old days" of traditional agriculture recognizes how nasty, brutish, and short life under such conditions had been for millennia. Once the first industrial factories opened — with their long hours, dangerous equipment, and meager pay — people flocked to them in droves, because the factory conditions (including the sanitation provided and wages paid) were greatly preferable to those of toiling virtually all day on the traditional farm.

Two days after reading this article I hear Andrew Stanton on Fresh Air. He started with the idea of telling the story of the last robot on earth. He wanted this robot to be trash compactor and the world to be a dump. He took these ideas and created a story that serve them. He created Buy N Large as a way to quickly tell the story of how the world came to be this way. He comes up with this by stretching his own life out to the extremes. He basically thought about the world he saw around him.

Thinking about this idea, how important is the truth when it comes to fiction. Is it important that Wall*e got the economics wrong building the world? Writers will tell you that their only duty is the story. They need to make a story work even if breaks the rules of the real world. The average person believes that this world would work. That is only thing that is needed for a good story.

The problem is that stories do have an affect on the real world. Seeing this movie might effect how people see corporations, the environment, and the future. Fiction often changes the way the way people see the world. Everything from To Kill A Mockingbird to 1984, Atlas Shrugged to The Jungle are works of Fiction that changed the way people saw the world.

Science Fiction is often about exaggeration. Often Science Fiction goes past what is possible to tell stories. No one worries if the Road Warrior is truly possible or not. Soylent Green is a good movie, if the world could get to that point or not. I am not sure you can fault these movies for not getting the science or economics wrong.

In his twitter fling93 said: WALL*E was great, and spoke to me in more ways than I could have imagined. But it got the econ all wrong: http://mises.org/story/3037. My guess is that Andrew Stanton did not take a moment to worry if the economics in this movie would really work. He just built a company that would serve his purposes for the story.

In the end I am not sure what Wall*e is trying to tell the world. There are messages about environmentalism, consumerism, connection to the land, taking time to look at the stars, and love. There is a very good chance that kids that see this movie will have their view of the world shaped. I just hope when they go to take action they have more facts than just the movie. If people act only knowing this movie, that is a problem.

Don't worry, People on the left are giving Wall*e a hard time for its message also.

Labels: economy, story, writing

- Rich, 6:20 PM

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Nano Tips

Before November
Originally uploaded by earthdog.

Doing Nano

For the fifth year in a row I have done National Novel Writing Month. That is the challenge where people write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. For all five years I have completed the challenge. That means that in all five years I have written 50,000 words. If I had to testify in court, I would not say that every year my 50,000 words would add up to a novel. Only one year has the story come to a nice neat conclusion in close to 50,000. Most years the novel is no where near being complete. It is usually a mess of text that would take major work before it could be as a novel.

Every year I track to see how long it takes me to write. I track to see how many hours the novel takes me and how many words per hour I write. This year it took me 57.75 hours to write a total of 50200 words. That means I averaged over 850 words an hour. Some of those hours were total clunkers that I wrote a total of 77 hours. I also know that I rounded down some of the time. For Argument sake, lets say it took me 60 hours to write 50000 words or 830 words an hour.

When I go to a write in I try to write 1000 words an hour. I can do this with minimal distraction. Back in college I was told that 1000 words an hour is what the average person can compose and write. That is a good 50 minute hour of writing. I have noticed that I can usually keep this pace up for about 4 hours at most. More things creep in that really pull me away from writing. Simple things like eating and using the bathroom can really put me away from working on my novel.

I think that if it takes someone more than 80 hours to write the novel they will never do it. That means you need to write for 3.2 hours a day. I will admit that I have never written from 30 days in month. I have never written for more than 25 days in a month. Between work and having to interact with other human beings, writing 25 days in a month is really hard. At writing 15 days, that is writing 3.2 hours a day. That is where it starts to get hard. If you set the goal of 2000 words a day, that give you five days free during the month.

I have always found write-ins key to getting nano done. It is hard to explain why this is. Most people see writing as a solitary experience that you have to do for yourself. Somehow write-ins change that expense. I find that there is something special about writing around other people. It inspires me to get past blocks. If I need help with something other people are right around me. It gets me past all the the distractions of life.

In some ways write-ins help me compete with people. I am not really interested things like word wars and the kind of on line things people have come up with. Being around people who are either in front or behind me helps me. I want to catch the people in front of me and I look down my nose at people who are behind me.

One of the keys it to use your time well. It can take me 10-20 minutes to get to a write in. I have been asked in the past if it would be better for me to stay home and have that extra 20-40 minutes of round trip minutes to write. For me I have to say no. There are ways t use that time well. If I am leaving from work to go to a write in, that time is useful for me to switch from a work context to a writing context. If I bring all the ideas from work to writing I will be distracted.

If I do not have to come down from work, I can use this time to think about my novel. The key to writing quickly is to have already thought about where you want to go. Have some ideas in your mind. be ready to hit the keys once you are in front of your computer. I do not totally know what is going to happen until I sit down to write, but it is good to think about what might happen.

*Be careful of days where you get nothing done. If you are writing very slowly, it might server you better to close up for the day and put things aside.

*Keep your per hour average writing high. It does not work to write a lot of hours and get little done. If you are not getting things done, stop, and plan for the next time you can write.

*Set up what you are going to write before getting to write ins. If I have a little time watching TV before or after a write in, I plan for the next write in. I jut down some notes setting up what I will write next.

*Have more than one plot line going at the same time. This structure makes it easier to get the writing done. I find when I hit a block with one plot line, I can switch to the other plotline. I will admit that sometimes I have to write something to make the story work, but I am not interested in writing it. This is when having another storyline comes in helpful.

*Don't be afraid where the story might take you. I know that everyone might think they know where they want the story to go, but it is good to go with it sometimes.

Labels: 2007, flickrpost, list, nanowrimo, tip, writing

- Rich, 8:17 PM

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Writing Away

Writing Away
Originally uploaded by earthdog.

National Novel Writing Month is coming. It is only a few weeks away. I know I will be very busy this November, but I am still excited to try it again this year. It is always a challenge, but a different challenge from the year before. I do not think I will finish this year, but it will still be worth it.

If you enjoy writing at all you should try National Novel Writing Month. It is something you will never forget.

Labels: challange, nanowrimo, writing

- Rich, 9:09 PM

Friday, January 26, 2007

Writing Slowly

I see things happen in the news and it takes me a few days to write about it. I wonder if the moment is already past by the time I get around to writing about it. It is really hard to know. I know that blogs are at the type of instant communication, but it takes me a while to come up with ideas. If I was not working full time I might be able to sit around and blog all the time.

I think there can be too much instant opinion in this day and age. I need a day or two to think about my arguments. I need time to write those arguments out. I need to time to think about events and what those events mean.

The problem is that the writing can stretch out why past the point where the event I am writing about is in the news. I find myself writing about things after everyone else has moved on. I wonder if anyone cares by the time I get to write about things.

I should not be too worried. I am not sure anyone cares about what I write about anyway. I should just try to say focused and write whenever I can.

Labels: blog, news, writing

- Rich, 5:12 PM

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Canned Thoughts

National Novel Writing Month is starting in November. We are only a few weeks away from the point there I will be nose down in my computer writing all the time. I am not sure I really have a novel in my this year, but that will not keep me from trying. When I do not know what I am doing I am often pleasantly surprised by the results.

I am trying to figure out what I will be doing with Sad Salvation while I am writing my novel. I am wondering if I should write some entries and not publish them yet. There are a few timeless subjects that I could write about. I could put them in the can and pull the out when I need them. I am not sure if that is what Sad Salvation should be about or not.

Labels: nanowrimo, writing

- Rich, 4:14 PM

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Another Year, another almost novel

We less than a month away from National Novel Writing Month. I am planning on doing it again this year. I always enjoy National Novel Writing Month. I enjoy the south bay community of nano writers more than anything else. I do it over and over again because it is my chance to hang out with friends I only see one month a year.

As I see it, I have no reason not to try. It is not like I have someone to spend my time with. Trying in not a really big commitment. If it gets away from me I can always stop.

This will be my fourth year. I want I know is that it will be different than the past. I know that because it has never been the same any two years. Doing it once a year means that I do not learn efficent habits. I have very little trial and error.

I also feel like a different person that I did before. I guess that I have felt like a different person every year. Some years it is more evident that others. This year it is very plain to see.

I am not really sure what I am going to be writing this year. I have a coule of ideas, but it is like waiting for a waiter to come take my order. The longer I wait the more I change my mind. I haved a few ideas, but there are always more ideas to be had. I am not sure I can make a novel out of any of them.

I am not sure if I should try to be funny or try to be dramatic. Writing any kind of comedy is very hard for me. It is much easier for me to be dark. The problem is I am not sure anything wants to read anything that I write that is dark. I am not sure what I need to do.

Labels: nanowrimo, novel, writing

- Rich, 7:06 PM

Friday, June 16, 2006

Where the rubber hits the road

I was driving the coffee house thinking about what I was going to write. It sounded so poetic in my head. It was perfect at I was driving to get here. All of those little bits of language were going to fit together like the mosaics I has seen in Rhodes.

When I got here the words went together like gold macaroni glued to construction paper. Everything I actually write seems basic and plain. I am not sure where my voice of an hour ago went. I just know I do not have it now. This is not the first time this has happened to me.

Does this happen to all writers?

Labels: writing

- Rich, 8:32 PM

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Blocked

I am blocked. I cannot find anything to write about. I know the most boring thing in the world is to read about a writer complained to be blocked. I also know that writing about being blocked has helped me in the past. I am not sure if it will help me now. I just cannot find anything worth writing about. I could just be bitching about having nothing to say.

The bad part is that I do not have nothing to say. I just cannot blog about what I have to say. It is always a bad thing when I cannot get past the things I cannot blog. I need to find my way pass those things and find things to write.

Labels: blogging, writers block, writing

- Rich, 8:00 PM

Friday, October 29, 2004

Why Do NaNoWriMo?

People might as me why I am willing to do Nation Novel Writing Month. I think I have two reasons why I think NaNoWriMo is really important. The first has to do with an idea that Jeremy put into my head. It seems that we have left almost all art up to professionals. I think that is dangerous. In the end it will make all art entertainment. I think that art is more then just entertainment.

Amateur

I know there are pros and would be pros out there doing this. I have nothing against them. I feel honored to be in a writing group with them. I want to stick up for us amateurs. For me it is the amateurs that make NaNoWriMo special. There are other reasons people do Nano then wanting to be a professional writer.

I feel that if we leave art to professionals then it becomes entertainment. I want common people to take back art. We should be encouraging amateurism. The root of amateur comes from "lover of" . It is us amateur writers who want to read the stuff pros want to get paid for.

It does not matter if it is not any good or not. I am doing this for truly selfish reasons. I am doing it because I get to meet cool people, sit around in coffee shops and write, push myself to do something I would otherwise never do.

I write so my head does not explode. I write because if I did not, I would drown in my own thoughts. I write because it makes me who I am. For these reasons and any others they can come up with, people should do Nano.

He might be right, many good writers might never be able to turn a Nano novel into a publishable novel. I do not agree that they should not do it at all. The more you write the better writer you become. Even if you write things that will never see the light of day, it still adds to your experiences writing. I do not see that as a bad thing.

Labels: Amateur, nanowrimo, self, writers, writing

- Rich, 10:10 PM

Saturday, July 20, 2002

Wanting to Write

I am not tired enough to sleep but I cannot think well enough to write. I am in an in-between state. I have spent most of my days watching TV and DVDs. I have only used my computer to check e-mail and play music. I have not even thought about sitting down and writing. It has truly been a lazy Saturday

Now I am trying to write something. I am trying to get some ideas out of my head. I have the feeling that deep down I really have something to get to. It just does not want to come to me. I have no way of really retrieving that idea. I cannot even verbalize it. It is totally escaping my ability to describe it. It is this huge balloon in my brain, but I cannot pop it.

So instead I am working on my bills in Quicken. It is something that needs less concentration, but I have been ignoring just as much. I do not see it as wasted time, but I will see it as a wasted idea. I know that I will never get it out of my mind.

Labels: self, sleep, writers block, writing

- Rich, 11:37 PM

Monday, July 08, 2002

Decision

It is 2:20 AM. I have been sitting at my computer for about two hours not writing. I am not even starting to get tired yet. I feel that I have at least another hour or two in the tank. I have ideas to write about and focus. I have a sense of the world, that is something that I have been missing a lot lately.

The problem is that it is 2:20 AM. I need to be in work in 7 hours. I need to get some sleep tonight. If I go much longer, I will not be able to get up tomorrow morning. It is sad that I need to choose work over writing. It is sad that I do not have this kind of focus earlier in the day. I will have to work on improving my focus. It is the biggest thing missing from my writing currently.

It is 2:30 right now and I think I will be going to bed.

Labels: blog, self, writers block, writing

- Rich, 2:20 AM

Wednesday, January 23, 2002

Dry

Right now my brain feels really dry. Dry in that drought, nothing to give, nothing to sustain anything, kind of way. I have not been writing a lot on Sad Salvation lately. It has been going to the wayside. There seems like there are hundred other things for me to do. There are too many ways for me to spend my time. There are too many things that cry for my attention. I seem to give my attention to the things are the lease productive.

Labels: attention, productivity, sadsalvation, self, writing

- Rich, 11:45 PM

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Superkaratemonkeyfist.com

It feels strange, but I am just about the only person posting to Superkaratemonkey.com. I might have to rethink my whole plan for the site. For now I think I can post something every other day there. If I had the time, I could post a review just about everyday there. I think that every other day will have to work for now. I would like to see more people post there. I want to get people interested. It seems like a hard thing to do.

I am finding that it takes more time to write a review. I have to have some pretty good ideas before I start writing. It is not enough for me to pick a movie or a song and let the words flow. I need to be mapped out before I start. If I don't have a good idea before hand I seem to end up not writing.

My other frustration is my writing. I am not sure that I am always getting to the ideas in my head. I have an idea that I have something worth writing about. I am not sure that I am sharing that special thing I see. I feel that my writing is falling short in places. I do not know how to make it better.

Labels: blog, blogging, dead blog, self, superkaratemonkeyfist, writing

- Rich, 10:59 PM

Tuesday, January 08, 2002

Tired and Writing

I do a lot of my writing right before I go to bed. I try to push myself at the end of the night. I feel that I have ideas in my head and I want to get them out before I go to sleep. I am tired when I write. I know that I am not my sharpest, but I seem to have an easier time concentrating.

Last night I realized that I couldn’t write on Super Karate Monkey Fist when I was that tired. I needed to be sharper to write reviews. I need to already have an idea of what I want to write. I cannot just pick a topic and go off the top of my head. I will have to give myself more time to write things for Super Karate Monkey Fist. I have to have more of a plan. I will have to remember this going forward.

Labels: self, sleep, superkaratemonkeyfist, tired, writing

- Rich, 11:10 AM

Friday, January 04, 2002

Part of my Brain

I had an idea to write about, but work got in the way. I had to use my brain for my actual job. I lost that idea I was going to write about.

Labels: self, work, writing

- Rich, 2:33 PM

Thursday, January 03, 2002

New Years Resolutions - # 7

I resolve to waste less time doing nothing.

I feel that I could sit in front of my computer 20 hours a day and that still would not be enough time for me to write everything I want to write. Right now I feel that I could just write forever. On top of that I still have to do things like work and have a social life. I have to avoid things that are meaningless wastes of time.

One of the things I will try to cut out is how much TV I watch. I watch TV just because I cannot find anything better to do. I know that I need to only watch TV when I have something good to watch.

Labels: new years, New Years Resolution, self, time, waste, writing

- Rich, 12:26 PM

Monday, December 31, 2001

New Years Resolutions - # 3

I resolve to write a letter to everyone I am in regular contact with in the next 12 months.

I used to be pretty good at writing letters to people. I was not good at writing letters to people in 2001. I fell way behind where I used to be. I do everything with e-mail and it is not the same thing. It does not have the same touch to it. There are about 24 people that I should really write letters to. My father is at the top of this list. Maybe I can re-spark correspondence with some of these people.

Labels: 2002, letter, new years, New Years Resolution, writing

- Rich, 9:12 PM

New Years Resolutions - # 2

I resolve to finish 100 pages of a novel by the end of the year.

For a while now I have been saying that I would start writing a novel when I turn 30. I turn 30 this year. That means I have to start cracking. Making it a new year's resolution puts a little more pressure on me to do it. I know what I want to write a novel about. Now I just have to write it.

Labels: 2002, list, new years, New Years Resolution, novel, writing

- Rich, 10:53 AM

Writing and the Sad Salvation

I am trying to decide what kind of things I should write about on Sad Salvation. I feel that I am bogging down on too many ideas that are personal. I am writing about things that would not interest people who do not know me. I want to write things that are more universal. I want just about anyone to come to my web site and be able to read it.

The problem is some of the best web logs I read are sprinkled with personal posts. I am just not sure where that line is. I am not sure how much I can write about myself without making this boring. I wonder how other people do this. Do other writers think about this at all.

I am trying to use Sad Salvation to improve my writing. I am not sure if I am doing that or not. I am not sure if I am taking the time to make my writing better or if I am just writing what ever comes to my mind. I have been disappointed by some of the things I have written. I just do not have the time or energy to re-write them. This is something that I will have to deal with in the new year.

Labels: blog, blogging, sadsalvation, writing

- Rich, 9:35 AM

Friday, December 21, 2001

Joy and the Sad Salvation

I was talking to my sister about Sad Salvation and writing. I told her the name and I had to explain it to her. I had to give her the disclaimer that web log is a lot more depressing then my actual life. For some reason I seem only to write about depressing things. Depressing writing seems to be what I excel at.

My sister thinks this is a bad sign. She was asking me why I cannot write about my happiness. This is a hard thing to explain. I seem to be able to deconstruct my unhappiness. I can pick it apart and look at each of the peices. I cannot do that with things that make me happy.

Labels: blog, family, sadsalvation, writing

- Rich, 10:00 PM

Wednesday, November 07, 2001

I should write something

I feel like I should write something today. Everything I can think of seems a bit lame. I have a couple ideas that I have been kicking around in my head for a few days, but none of them have really come together. I cannot focus one writing. I cannot focus on the ideas in my head.

This has always been one of my problems with writing. I cannot focus on what I should be doing. I am told that writers should write everyday. Even if they do not have anything to write, they should still write everyday. The point of Sad Salvation is that I will write everyday. I have a list of ideas to write about, but I just cannot lock onto any of them.

I think that I am filling my mind with too much garbage. I watched at least two hours of television tonight. That cannot be any good for me. I am always watching too much TV. I work for a company that makes it easier to watch TV.

I am just going to pack it in tonight. I hope I can avoid this in the future.

Labels: blog, sadsalvation, television, writers block, writing

- Rich, 10:35 PM

Sunday, October 28, 2001

Welcome To Daylight Savings Time

I guess it is the little kid in me, but I have always thought Daylight Savings Time was the coolest thing in the world. There was an episode of Pete and Pete where the younger Pete tried to go back in time on the night that the clocks get set back. I have always liked the idea of having an extra hour of sunlight during the summer and turning the clocks back in the fall.

I feel that I have to be ready to use the advantages of Daylight Savings Time. I feel that I should try to get up an hour early everyday. I should do it and take that time to write. Lately I have been getting up very late. I have not been using that time well at all. I know that a lot of writers say the morning is the best time to write. It is the Time when your brain is clearest.

I have not been finding extra time to write lately. I have had to put other things aside to write. I should be looking for chance to squeeze more time between the other things I do. That extra hour in the more would be a really big thing if I could do it. This is just another example of how I do not have any discipline in my life.

Labels: discipline, DST, Pete and Pete, self, writing

- Rich, 6:54 PM

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