NaNoWriMo

[Epimethean]

You may do it, Shell, but I did 4,000 words in two days, and kept that pace for the first two weeks before I hit a wall of, for want of a better term, incredulity: I just couldn't see my story as clearly at that pace any longer, and so I slowed down. FNM mentioned perfectionism, and, while I am not a perfectionist in many things, in writing, I tend to hate editing and rewrites, so I write best in slower fashion. I toyed around with different paces, and found that 1,000 words at a sitting was the best compromise between quantity and quality.

Brava to you! Keep the keys moving.

[The Grand Nudger]

To be fair, the last time I did this I put a little bit over 50k down, but after editing, I'd be surprised if there was a decent short story in there. Dialogue fucking kills a narrative for me. I always want to get a ton of it in though, let the characters talk. Ah well.

[Shell B]

Use inner dialogue, you weirdo. It allows for a sweeping narrative without all of the small talk.

8,000 words and counting.

[Epimethean]

I do agree with Rhythm. Stephen King is the gold standard for good dialogue. His memoir, On Writing, should be mandatory for creative writing classes. Dialogue needs to be spoken between characters to make a book live.

Zombie horror may not require this so much.

[Shell B]

Yes, you need dialogue between characters. However, whenever there is a silent scene or a scene where a character is alone, you can keep it alive by using mental dialogue to describe some of what is happening. It keeps you from doing the one thing that Stephen King ever did "wrong" (I use the term loosely), which is overdescribe everything.

[AshesEmoFae]

I thought about doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year, but then got caught up with course work and having constant writer's block for the novel I have been working on for the better part of a year. I seem to get writer's block a lot these days...

[Shell B]

You would have to start a brand new novel, so the writer's block from the last one wouldn't apply. You still have time.

[Epimethean]

I think King's descriptiveness is what lends him a kind of Steinbeck-of-horror quality. I haven't loved any of his novels for a decade or so (though Cell was decent), but the man is a true master of modern fiction. His son has been putting out some cool stuff, too.

[Shell B]

I love Stephen King. The descriptiveness turns off a lot of readers, though. My sister finds his work redundant. I don't, but I know how to skim through the unnecessary stuff, if I have to. King knows he does it too. He just can't help it.

[The Winter Saint]

Water for Elephants was written during NaNoWriMo. If writers can write, they will write good books during November. Rev, writing books is fucking hard. You'll get it at some point. Just getting it written is like ripping an eyeball out.

The rough draft was written during NaNoWriMo. But that turd was polished afterward. It's a fun challenge, but anyone who thinks that they will have a publishable novel at the end of the month is so sadly mistaken. I spent nine months on my graduate thesis, which was a full length novel, and considered "publishable" at the end, but I am still tweaking it here and there, and it's been over a year and a half since I graduated.