Well, it’s official: I’ve “won” NaNoWriMo,” with a final word count of 51,879 words. Fewer than last year, but many more to come if I expect to finish the story itself. Still, I’m glad to be finished with this frenzied marathon, because the whole experience has, as per last year, energized my writing, and I’mContinue reading “NaNoWriMo Conclusion”
Tag Archives: fiction
A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #4
So, as promised, I’ve been tinkering a bit with the book since I returned from vacation, even adding some new scenes, but I haven’t updated the word count because most of the new text is still in my voice recorder and most of the changes have been internal, meaning that part of the word countContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #4”
A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #3
Well, it’s (un)official: Last Saturday, after two marathon writing sessions and just one day after last week’s update, I passed the 50,000-word goal. That’s seventeen days early, and two days earlier than I crossed the finish line last year. It feels epic. And it happened right on time, too, because I spent the day afterContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #3”
NaNoWriMo when you’re busy
I’ve been rolling along pretty nicely this November, having, as of last night, pulled together slightly less than 30,000 words. My writing buddies are doing similarly well: Two friends have broken 8,000 words and another four are well past 10,000 words (two of those are hovering around 15,000 words right now). Many of my friendsContinue reading “NaNoWriMo when you’re busy”
Quantity vs. Quality: the purpose of NaNoWriMo
Recently, I got an e-mail from my dad in which he asked a question about the NaNoWriMo word counts. “Didn’t want to ‘disrespect’ your writing thing,” he wrote, “but do want to know….. what’s the point of how many words? In my way of thinking the objective is to get across the point or storyContinue reading “Quantity vs. Quality: the purpose of NaNoWriMo”
A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #1
Today, I am five days into NaNoWriMo. My current official word count (not counting the writing I’ve already done today) is 13,666 words, with an average of 3,416.5 words per day. This is a pretty frenetic pace, really, and I don’t expect to keep it up throughout the month (yesterday, for example, I actually wroteContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: NaNoWriMo update #1”
Songs for NaNoWriMo
As I’ve written elsewhere, I often use music to write. Sometimes it’s about setting the mood, sometimes it’s just about filling the silence, but sometimes, especially on long works like a novel, it’s also about structuring my thoughts. For both my dissertation novel and the novel I’m writing now for NaNoWriMo, I use a full-blownContinue reading “Songs for NaNoWriMo”
Photo blog 28
“Balloon face.” Mask on red balloon in decorative reeds. Abu Dhabi, UAE, 31 October 2010. I’m a few days into NaNoWriMo by now, and I’m working on characters. So far, my favorite is probably the seductive but cold (and ultimately evil) Portia Lynn, whose stone-white face and emotional distance this mask makes me think of. Continue reading “Photo blog 28”
Some tips for new WriMos
I was browsing my Middle East Regional forum over at the NaNoWriMo website today and found a post thread that I imagine is showing up on everyone’s discussion forums: tips for first-time WriMos (a “WriMo” is someone participating in NaNoWriMo, though to be honest, I’m not a fan of the term). The first question, unsurprisingly,Continue reading “Some tips for new WriMos”
A Writer’s Notebook: Photo story
My wife turned our laptop around the other day and showed me this photo and said, “You should write about this.” So, first, the photo, and then the writing. And then, the exercise. People think I do this for money. I put out a box and I don’t object when people drop money in it. Continue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Photo story”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 