Nanowrimo Week Two Wrap-up

Hello, everyone!

I am still dreadfully behind on word count: I have only written about 15,000 words. I actually feel pretty good about this, however, and I am planning to have a dramatic writing frenzy one day this week to bring myself up to where I should be.

This is the stage of Nanowrimo where you usually have to stop and take stock of the material you have before moving forwards. At the start of the month, you create characters and storylines with gay abandon, throwing everything you can think of into the mix. In the middle stages, however, it is difficult to carry on with your story if you don't know where you're going. The middle can be a dreary drudgery, as you work out the logistics of your plot and sub-plots, but it can also be very satisfying. You might be surprised at how coherent your story is; unexpected connections may appear.

If you do find yourself feeling a bit jaded, this post from Laini Taylor will help you to fall back in love with your idea. One of Laini's tips is to write a list of all the reasons why your story is cool (because you tend to forget these things when you're wading through the mire). Does your story have time travel? A knee-weakeningly handsome male lead? Cats with wings? A really fantastic action scene? Anything at all. Write all these things down, and read them through. It will help to re-ignite some of that initial excitement.

Time for the round-up! Again, please do not be offended if you were not featured. I try to single out blog posts that I think will appeal to most people, but I had great fun reading through all of your blogs. For the full list of group members, and links to their blogs, go here.

• Mercurie has written a great post about Nanowrimo, pointing out that a lot of the pulp writers of the mid-20th century wrote their novels in a month.
• Vikki raised a concern that I think most of us will have faced at some point - how big an influence other writing has over our own.
• Andrea is doing some really fascinating research for her novel.
• Cyn introduces one of her characters - a receptionist.
• Ashley Louise has posted a short story on her blog. Here's part one and part two.
• Kate talks about the difficulties of writing an emotionally draining section of the novel which deals with horror and death. I struggled with this in both my last novels - The Cry of the Go-Away Bird is set during the farm invasions in 1990s Zimbabwe, and The White Shadow (working title) was set during the atrocities of Rhodesia's Bush War in the 1970s.
• Valerie provides a great list of Nanowrimo writing prompts.
• Snidder stays positive even while stuck!
• Priscilla recommends some excellent books on writing that will help provide some Nanowrimo inspiration. Bird by Bird is definitely one I read and re-read.
• Amber talks about overcoming negative self-talk, the importance of finishing, and the guilt that can come with writing something that isn't 'literary' (at least in the traditional sense).

I'd like to ask everyone in the group to share a short excerpt from any part of your novel - either in the comments here or on your own blog (if you choose to do it on your blog, please provide a link in the comments!), if you feel comfortable doing so . I know that the excerpts will be rough and unedited - that's the whole point of Nanowrimo! - but it would be so exciting to get a taste of what everyone is working on.

Here's mine:

If I can create something, can I destroy it as well?

The baby rabbit stares at me with blank eyes. Its delicate, furred ears are flat on its back, its nose is twitching and soft. It scrabbles at my hand with tiny paws. In a sense, I am its grandfather.

I will its nostrils to close. Its tiny mouth opens in a pleading triangle. I can hear the rasp of its tongue against its front teeth, and I force its mouth closed and watch in interest as it struggles for breath. It kicks against my hands and squirms with surprising strength. It takes all of my strength to hold onto it.

I can feel the softness of its fur between my hands. I stroke it as I watch it die. The urgency in its eyes becomes resignation, then a greasy film. I can feel the life leaving its body. When it has drained, I let the rabbit drop to the ground.

Now it is just an object, like a discarded glove or an old shoe. I feel mild interest, nothing more. The other rabbits are seemingly oblivious to the fact that I have just killed one of their brothers – or sisters? I don’t know. I watch them chewing the grass. In the stormy light, it is an unnatural blue-green.

I hear something, a voice, so quiet that I am sure I have imagined it.

Yes.

(I just wanted to say thanks as well to Chantele of Daisy Dayz and Reachel of Cardigan Empire for featuring me on their blogs today. It was very sweet of you both!)