Nanowrimo Update #3

7k words to winning.
5 days left.
1 goal to achieve.

The elusive 50k target — so near yet so far away…
I need to stay on track no matter what happens!

Participating in Nano has pushed me to do something which I don’t usually do — write everyday.

Some days I felt like I was forcing some words out for the sake of writing.
Some days the words were textbook flat because I wrote every idea down so that I won’t forget.
Some days I enjoyed writing a scene so much I got really excited for my characters.

There were ups and downs of writing everyday but if it weren’t for Nano I would have never experience all of this. I wouldn’t have written any story with such length, let alone a novel!

By writing I have a deeper sense of appreciation of the books I read. I marvelled at how the author crafted their story, clever use of POVs that didn’t confuse readers, intriguing dialogues. They have the skills to create a compelling story that keeps readers addicted.

Even watching movies and dramas for the past few weeks got me thinking under my writing cap. How the conflict started, love theme, unexpected twists, resolution, unanswered questions, illogical scenes. Actually it was fun because movies were no longer just entertainment for me, they were educational.

It’s gonna rain soon, a nice weather to write before dinner time.
Signing off for now, stay tune for the good news of winning and thanks for reading 😛

Nanowrimo Update #2

It’s cliched but… Time flies!

Looking up from burying your head too long into writing a novel, you realized that you’ve reached the middle mark of Nanowrimo!

I switched to writing a second novel about fantasy/romance and I’m glad I did because the words flowed and I kept having new ideas for the story. Catching up everyday I finally hit the 25,000 mark yesterday and fulfilled the daily writing goal!

What I went through for the past week:

• That exhilarating “Aha!” moment to change the role of a character to spice up the story. For that I earned a badge 😉
• I’m beginning to like my characters
• I thought I was a plotter but I realized I’m also a pantser when it comes to character dialogues and details
• At one point I saw plot holes gaping at me
• It slowed me down when I tried to fix it
• So I pushed it aside, made a note to revisit, and moved on
• Sometimes I slot in new scenes in previous chapters so that the story makes sense

These two weeks I’d been following many bloggers and writers on their Nano journey and learned a great deal.  It’s awesome knowing that we walked a different path but share the same destiny.

I would like to thank all of you who had responded on my update #1. Sharing great ideas and inspiration to write, it motivates and keeps me writing on. 😀

Book Review: In Office Hours by Lucy Kellaway

Where I Bought : Borrowed from a friend
Price : RM8
Rating : 5/5 stars

We all know how gossips in office could spice up an otherwise mundane work routine and this book is all about the juiciest news you could get — office affairs.

Stella is a 40-ish high achiever and the most senior female executive in a London high-end firm; while Bella is a 20-ish overqualified PA who has been reassigned to a new boss. Two women of opposite rungs in the corporate ladder working within a global oil company found themselves on common ground when they got into affairs with male colleagues.

Would Stella risk her influential and promising career and a family of two kids over Rhys who is a new unruly trainee?

Would Bella who has been emotionally wounded find love in James who is a boss with poker face?

Nanowrimo Update #1

It’s almost a week into Nano and gosh I’m stuck at the current romance story I’m writing.

The words seemed to flow for the first 3 days and for the last 3 there hasn’t been much progress because I felt that the story was flat.

Today’s Day 6 and the romance novel I’m writing is based on theme about food.

Actually I have 2 stories on hand which are different in genre.

1. First story’s a fantasy genre. This story came to me when I began to setup my outlining tools to participate in September. The funny thing is when the idea struck I almost got a complete novel. So what do I mean by almost a complete novel?  It means I literally have the whole outline of a story completed with plot, the setting, characters, the development, climax and plot twist. And most important thing is I already saw the ending to this story. But somehow the second novel idea emerged and I decided to stow this away.
2. Second story’s a romance genre. I got this idea after the first and I’ve decided to write it because I prefer romance novel and am passionate about food! I’ve got little ideas here and there and few original quotes written down, hoping with these could inspire a plot, story buildup but boy I was wrong! I struggled with filling in ideas just based on the snippets of writing. I’ve got like 5 or 6 different plots that could go with this theme and I started Day 1 by choosing one… which had me ended in a writer’s block now and the development is vague and the ending is not in near sight…

With the situation now, I’m going to make a tough decision.

• Should I go on with the romance story and try to find ideas/motivation everyday?
• Or should I switch (before it’s too late) to the fantasy story which has a clear outline and I just need to work on the details?

I’m inclined to choose second, maybe I could stop story #1 for today and get the words out for story #2.

How’s your journey on Nano? Or do you have any advice or suggestions? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Have a nice day!