But there is absolutely no way I'm giving up on my NaNo novel. I simply got stuck for the last two days without meeting my daily word counts. I have been stuck on every, single sentence! I've been question dialogue options and "brick building" with my descriptions. I'm been so afraid of my bad techniques that it's seriously put a stop on my writing.
For example (and please don't laugh), I just found out the difference between third-person limited and third-person omniscient. Now I knew that I was writing in third-person...and for some reason, I was limiting myself to only ONE CHARACTER'S viewpoint for my whole story so far. I thought that was how you stayed out of omniscient. Perhaps I had heard on a youtube writing advice video that "head-hopping" was bad and should be avoided. And yet I've read plenty of stories that switch between characters.
Today I found a great blog post that talked about the differences between the two viewpoints AND gave some nice examples to get me on track: http://www.aliventures.com/head-hopping/
Now I know the real definition of third-person limited: it's no sticking to ONLY one character, but sticking with one character at a time.
Ah hah! Lightbulbs are blinking in my brain!
I've already gotten over the fact that my first draft of this book will not be perfect: there are strikeout paragraphs, missing scenes, and highlighted brackets were I need to think of inspiring book excerpts that characters can read from. What harm will it be if I all of a sudden start switching characters in the middle of the story? What can I lose right?
The last two days I've used a technique with bullet points per chapter, to get me on track and motivated to write my scenes instead of flapping around my computer like a fish out of water. (So proud of my pantster writing buddy for making bullets for HER WHOLE STORY!!!!)
Today I began Chapter 10 with a twelve bullet point synopsis. Then inspiration from my buddy hit me to try a new technique: continue to expand my bullet points within my document. So before I tried this, I got through 500 words in like 2 hours.
Ouch.
Using my expanding bullet point technique within my chapter, I got 500 words in 30 minutes.
Eureka! I think I've discovered a new way to write! Not only does this jump-start my imagination, I feel "freedom" to type stuff that isn't perfect because it's in a bulleted list. And this freedom continues my motivation to write more, and add another layer of detail, and then another. Then add some dialogue!
Finally I removed the bullet point icons and was left with a whole page :D
Freaking awesome!
Hopefully that will help me write 2,496 words in one day so I can catch up to the NaNo par. Usually that takes me like, 8 hours in the day to do.
...
Take this trivia and eat it! I finally met par with a word count of 33,424 words!!!!
I wrote a LOT between my breaks at work and I was freakishly AMAZED at my progress today. I am so thrilled to be back on track and hopefully continue to write into the evening.
EXCERPT
Since I missed a couple days, and I did actually do some writing, there's a lot I could use. But let's skip some of the dialogue and hit the next big bullet point in the story: introducing a new mysterious character! Basically my three main characters have ran away from their hometown and are now stuck out in the woods. Things are about to get a little strange...
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“Dammit!” Jason yelled. His
bandaged arm slammed into the tree behind him, and the shock made him actually
cry. The three of them stood in the gray, misty woods at a loss for words.
After a moment, Isaac attempted to help Jason out of his backpack. “Well I
don’t need an automatic navigation system to show me how to get to Doctor
what-sists lab. Lemme take that pad of yours and I’ll lead you straight there.”
Shiri
eased the pack’s heavy straps over his hurt arm without touching it. “Yeah
that’s a good a plan as any, under the circumstances. It will give us some
shelter and time to plan our next move.”
Jason didn’t protest. Instead all
he could think about was that Isaac, the guy who wasn’t supposed to be here,
was the one taking charge. He was the one helping Shiri. Not Jason.
Soon Isaac was appointed the
official trip navigator and Jason dully explained how to use the Digipad. Isaac
took a couple seconds to study the holographic maps and pointed to the left.
Shiri gave Jason a nervous smile, but he couldn’t even look at her. Then she
started to punch him in the arm. Repeatedly.
Jason gasped in pain. “Don’t touch me in the painful spots.
Please stop hitting me!”
“I swear I
just saw something moving over there,” she pointed at the trees in front of
them. Isaac unstrapped his gun from his belt and took a defensive stance. With
a flick of his head, he motioned for the others to get behind him. Being
protected by his cousin gave Jason mixed emotions of feeling completely useless
and immensely grateful.
A familiar flash of gold shined
between the trees, but it was too faint to make out. Unfortunately it was
headed in the same direction of Harrington’s lab. Isaac figured moving forward
was better than waiting for another sinkhole to pop up. Slowly he led them
toward the golden light.
The research institute sat at
the top of a sloping hill. Tree roots cracked through the little brick walkway
that led up to a large double staircase. Lush green plants reclaimed the arched
entrance way and thick vines had broken through the second story windows.
And pacing at the top of stairs
was a woman in full battle armor made of gold. Plates of carved metal wrapped
themselves around her legs, waist and arms, covering her torso to the neck. Shafts
of afternoon sunlight in just the right places made her body seem to glow. Her
hair flowed down her shoulders in waves, and seemed to move as if under water.
Her clear caramel eyes tracked the group with great precision. She was the most
beautiful woman that Jason had ever seen. He also felt she could kill him in
fifty different ways.
When Isaac abruptly stopped
walking, Jason kept going right into Shiri’s shoulder. They collided with each
other like a path of dominos. Shiri bumped into Isaac, who it turn let out a
nervous yelp and a stray shot erupted from his gun. The energy beam missed the golden
warrior; or rather, disintegrated before it touched her.
“Geez Isaac, watch where you point that thing!”
Jason scolded his cousin. He called up to the woman to apologize. “Hey, sorry
about that. It’s our first time out here and we might be, uh, a little jumpy. We
didn’t expect to meet anyone else. Are there more people inside?”
The woman abruptly looked
behind her and then back at the group. She reached for her sword, a brilliant weapon
with silver and gold designs etched into its long blade. Her alert eyes melted
into dark brown as she took a single step onto the stairway.
“Can you…see me?” She questioned in a melodic voice.
Jason took a step back, thoroughly
confused. “Uh…” he started and looked toward his companions for visual confirmation.
They both looked a little freaked out and deliberately nodded their heads in
slow motion. Jason turned back to the woman and shrugged. “Yeah, we can all see
you. Standing there. Alone, at the top of a stairway.”
She took the rest of the stairs
down to meet them, each step taken with great poise and tension. Her hand never
left the hilt of her sword. Now she stood in front of Jason, so close their
noses almost touched. She had no scent and it was weird how she didn’t blink.
“So then,” she addressed the group. “You are…humans?”
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