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Two Thousand Words A Day

…That’s what Stephen King says you should aim for. It’s also around the pace needed to win the fifty thousand word NaNoWriMo challenge. King advises writers not to spend more than three months on their first drafts, and to write every day without fail- a thing that for me is quite a challenge at the moment.

I’m about thirteen thousand words in, and I’m finding it’s true: you do tap different parts of your imagination when you have to write at great speed. It’s quite liberating to just write… But it’s also a real test of my willpower not to dither over points, or look back over what I’ve written. But I think I’m learning a lot about letting a story breathe and grow organically. And I’m also having fun.

If you haven’t read Stephen King’s On Writing, I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Baby Signing

My baby signing book arrived this morning. When I told my other half I wanted to try baby signing, he likened me to Robert de Niro’s character in Meet The Fockers, but I think it’s potentially a great way to help a child learn to communicate early on. Babies seem to understand a great deal more than we realise, and I’m hoping that – possibly – being able to express himself through signing will help my son feel less frustrated. He’s at an age now where he often knows what he wants, but still needs me to do things for him… And communicating those needs to me is no easy thing.

Of course it’s possible that by the time we’ve learned and practiced these signs, my boy will be talking anyway. I’ve been signing “drink” to him for four weeks, but all he does is grin enthusiastically at me.

(This book cover is slightly scary, if you ask me.)

Things I’ve learned about writing #1

Writing should not be my last activity before sleep.

My brain definitely works better after dark, and I love the stillness and peacefulness of night. I find it relaxes my mind to know that most other people are asleep. I feel I have more mental space. But once I do start writing, I find it very difficult to wind down. I used to read for an hour or two before sleep, but now that I know I’ll be woken early, like clockwork, by a baby demanding all my attention, this just isn’t feasible.

I have to write at night, since it’s the only private time I have. But I think I’ll have to do yoga afterwards (rather than before) to help me switch off.

So, new routine; settle baby, write for one hour, yoga for 30 minutes, then sleep…

NaNoWriMo

I’ve just signed up for NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. I’m four days late joining, so I now have 25 days to write 50,000 words. Not impossible. That’s 2,000 words a day. 

There’s some useful advice on the site. I think the thing that convinced me to sign up – at five to midnight, when I should be sleeping – is this:

Bringing a half-finished manuscript into NaNoWriMo all but guarantees a miserable month. You’ll care about the characters and story too much to write with the gleeful, anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such a creative rush. Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you’ll tap into realms of imagination and intuition that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing manuscripts. 

One thing I’m often guilty of is procrastination… or being paralysed by indecision, depending on how you look at it. I’m going to take their advice and just write. And see what happens. Much of it is likely to be utter tripe, but there you go. Hopefully I’ll learn a thing or two along the way. 

Wish me luck…

Finch

One of my favourite authors, Jeff VanderMeer, has just released a new novel, Finch. To tie in with the release, there’s a lovely new reader page, which includes some fun downloads, including these great banner slogans…

Finch has hold of me already, and I’m only a few pages in. Ambergris is one of my favourite fantasy settings, and I love the sinister mystique and strangeness of the Gray Caps (or should I say Farseneeni…)