Slog Slog Slog Slog (ugh)

I know I'm probably splitting hairs here. But since I just spent the better part of the afternoon setting up new scenes and doing character work, (Lots of Words!) I'm curious about where that stuff goes in terms of word count.
For now, I'm not counting it, but hey...I did write today!!!

The only time I've possibly defamed someone so far has been when I said there was a VERY small photo of the White Sox team in her room (as compared to the other teams). I think that's joking, though, not defamatory. It could be taken many ways.

I've read some writing books that suggest using brand names and real details can add a sense of realism to your fictional work. As long as you're not using the reference to defame the brand or team or city, you should be ok.

See: Miss Snark, AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler and AdvancedFictionWriting mentions of this.

--Tim

Thanks, Tim!

I just went forward with what I thought was best for my character. She is somebody I've already used in a previous story and I just didn't like the feel of the way things were going for her, so instead I just added on a new story like it was another chapter in the book. I can always cut out that first part later! :) Or I can add some of it too. Either way works. :)

I have another question while I'm able to pick your brain: Can you use real companies/organizations/people's names in your book if you are referring to them in a good way. For example, my character likes a lot of different professional baseball teams--eg, the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves and also likes some of the players on those teams. I just described her room, which has posters of these teams/individuals up. Could I get into big trouble for any of that? Should I switch back to using fake names (I was doing this before)?

Shanna,
What I usually do in that situation is to write some meta text (which still counts!) to do a synopsis of what the *real* storyline should be. It serves as a placeholder and a guideline for later editing and then you can go on from there with your new plot.

And no wordcount lost! :-)

--Tim

Shannan, of course you can. It's your novel. The main thing is that you just keep going.

I think that because it's my first year I'm judging myself a lot more than I should. I work at a slower pace than most anyway, but I always finish strong, so I shouldn't be too worried I guess.

One question though: Can I start my novel out (for the contest) with one character having two main problems--one to do with her mom and one to do with her best friend --and then cut it down to one problem without explaining because I'm going to edit later? The problems are very big--involving things like hospitalization and war. I wanted to make it a little more lighthearted because I'm kind of feeling down about the plot, so trading to just one major one would be awesome. I just don't want to rewrite the whole beginning right now.

Thanks,
Shanna

I think that's a good idea, Tim. My novel started off one way and then kind of went a different direction (both good, but not so great together in my opinion), so maybe I will write that extra layout, leave the first part as is for now, then go back and revise after the contest is over. :) There are too many conflicts, so I might just take one of them out. It won't make sense right now, but whatever. I've got the word count still.

Well, I'm not super speedy by the standards set by some in this region but I thought it might be worth pointing out that I'm the type of writer who hits the ground running but starts slogging in the middle. Even if I seem to start out "easy" it's because I know I need that cushion for the leaner days to come. I remember last year around Thanksgiving, I had a stretch where I averaged 300 words a day. So I think we all have our slog days, it's just that for some of us slogging is eking out 200 words where as for others, 2K is a "bad" day.

NaNoWriMo is certainly a marathon, not a sprint. We're all going to have our highs and slows throughout the month and it's great to see such a net of support and encouragement whenever the rougher days hit.

Meredith, you were one of the writers who was here in this region the very year I started, and I watched your progress with admiration. I had made it my goal to "chase" you (a tinygreyhound race) and you always inspired me to keep going.

So I guess all I can say to you this year is, if you just keep going, I'll just keep going. If you ever start feeling bad about your progress, just take a look at my word count, because I'm always just barely there. If you hang in there on the days that feel bad, you'll keep yourself in the hunt and make way for the days that will feel great.

tinygreyhound-- tomster and I are hosting a Write-In November 13 10Am to 4PM right in your town at the Schaumburg central library on Roselle Road. There is a posting on NaperForum. Hope you will consider coming. It'll be fun. Steve

Hi, Meredith,
I think it may be a matter of novel planning, to try to skip over the first three chapters that are likely to get cut and start in the meat of the story. Depending on how you like to do things, you may benefit from talking over your plot with someone (feel free to come out to the jabber chat!).

I had a really good first day (went to the Eola Road write-in, which was very productive for me and then finished with word wars in the jabber chat); and I'm still writing in a relatively safe/known part of the novel--I have this section fairly well thought out and, despite a bit of rustiness (now Katherine's advice to write, write, write is coming home to roost with feelings of regret that I didn't follow it this past year :-/), I am currently able to slip into the moment and just have the story unfold in front of me.

Nothing like a few word wars to stir the pot...

--Tim