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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| Numbers In the last post, I looked at the rule of three. In this one, I am going to look at numbers that could help a writer… and look at writing numbers. Number facts! 1) If you double the dimensions of an object or animal, you quadruple the surface area (multiply by 4) and octuplet the mass (multiply by 8). This is important when looking at creating large animals… because can their bone structure support such an increase in mass? 2) There are 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46.08 seconds in a standard Earth year. We call it 365 days. So, every four years is a leap year of 366 days. However, if the year can be divided by 100, then it is NOT a leap year… unless it can also be divided by 400, in which case it IS a leap year. So, 1800 was NOT a leap year, 1900 was NOT a leap year, 2000 WAS a leap year, 2100 will NOT be a leap year. 3) The year 2000 is also the year: 5760 in the Hebrew/Jewish calendar. Their year 2000 was in 1760BC. The Lunar calendar they use dates to 3760BC, Jewish traditional beginning of the world; 4698 in the Chinese calendar. Their year 2000 was in 698BC; 1921 in the Reformed Indian calendar. Their year 2000 will be in 2079CE; 1421 in the Muslim calendar. Their year 2000 will be in 2579CE; 1378 in the Persian calendar. Their 2000 will be in 2622CE; 2543 in the Theraveda Buddhist Calendar. Their year 2000 was in 1457CE. (Dates from 544BC, the date of Buddha’s death). So, so long as you have a 365 or so day year, on Earth there are many ways you can number your years, as can be seen by those used to this day. 4) The ancient Romans had no sign for the number zero. It was left blank if not written as a word (nullus). 5) If you are reading a book from before the twenty-first century, you need to be aware that the USA and UK had different forms of the number billion and above. In the USA (which is now standard in the world) a billion is 1,000 times a million; in the UK it was a million times a million. In the USA, a trillion is 1,000 times a billion; in the UK it was a billion billions. The USA increased numbers linearly; the UK exponentially. We have gone to the USA system because, let’s be honest, it is easier and makes more sense. Writing Numbers Writing numbers in a work is… complicated. In a technical or scientific paper, all numbers are written as numerals. It is that simple. In other non-fiction works, the numbers one to ten, sometimes one to twenty, are written as words, and everything else is written as a numeral. This does often come down to the style guide of a publishing company, or even the preferences of the writer. The main thing here is that it is consistent throughout the work. In non-fiction, all ordinals are written numerically – 1st, 2nd, 100th, 10,000th, etc. Fiction is where it gets really complex. It is generally accepted that every number to twenty is written as a word; twenty-one onwards… hmmm. So… I personally write every number up to one thousand as a word, and then the even thousands, millions, etc. afterwards. So I would write nine hundred and ninety, one thousand, 1001, ten thousand, twenty-two thousand, 34,790, one million, a hundred million, 234,891,209, etc. Only one publisher has changed my numbers over a hundred to numerals. When it comes to ordinals, words to twentieth, from 21st onwards, I do tend towards numerals, but have lately been writing the full word up to hundredth, then use numerals. However, some publishers do have in their guidelines what they want done with numerals. A lot less nowadays than in the past, but some are there. If not, so long as you’re consistent in your own work, I think publishers mind a lot less than they used to. It is possibly the influence of social media for numerals, or maybe an attempt by traditional media to separate itself from social media for the written word. I have not seen any publisher guidelines regarding ordinals, but my understanding is industry standard is words to twentieth, then numerals after, as I do it (which is why I started doing it that way in the first place). So… what does a writer do when writing fiction? Standard is up to twenty is the written word. After that, I would suggest it is your call, just be consistent. As a side comment, all years are written in numerals. In dates, unless quoting a written piece, write the month as the word and it is generally accepted that the numeric part will be a numeral, but that is also not set in concrete. So April 23, 2022, or 23 April, 2022, or 23rd April, 2023, or April twenty-third, 2022, or twenty-third of April, 2022. Please note the use of the comma before and after the year. Not 23/4/2022 nor 4/23/2022 nor 4-23-2022 nor 23-4-2022 (month then day is only used in the USA, but that’s because you guys just wanted to annoy the British and it stuck). The reason for this is because the USA does it differently, and it can completely change the meaning of the date. For me, for example, 9/11 means the ninth of November. In non-fiction, never use the slash/dash date technique. But feel free to ignore all of the fiction advice and just do your own thing. In non-fiction, there will be a style guide for a publication. If not… really? In which case, do what you think best. |
| The Power Of Three There is a little “rule” in writing called “the rule of three.” This is where three things occur, or there are three main characters, or three events lead up to a major event, or three pieces of “thing” need to be found, or even the three-act structure itself. Threes are so common that many writers utilize them without even realizing it – it just feels “right.” Why? So, why does the number three stick with us like this? It has to do with that basal part of our brain. Brains like patterns and pattern recognition is one way that we understand our place in the world. It is theorised it could stem to mother, father, child in early hunter-gatherer communities. Three forms the most basic patterns, arranged evenly can form a triangle or circle, or in a different configuration, make the simplest line. People tend to be able to remember three things. While the human memory goes to 7±1 items for memory (hence the length of traditional telephone numbers, and why some people cannot remember their mobile/cell phone numbers, which can be 10 digits), three is something even children remember. Three is basic, three is simple, and three forms a definite pattern that one or two will not. Three works for a human being. Examples In literature, I guess the most obvious examples come from fairy-tales and nursery rhymes. Three Little Pigs, the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Three Blind Mice, Goldilocks And The Three Bears are well-known in this sphere. Even going into later literature – Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, the three ghosts in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the three witches in Macbeth – threes appear everywhere. And then, when it comes to story-telling, the three-act structure of beginning/ middle/ end (or whatever other terms you use) is the most common one, and the one we teach to youngsters when they write their first works of fiction. Going beyond that, for works that go beyond a single volume, the trilogy is the most common length of a series. A work rarely has just one sequel. This is not new. Lord Of The Rings by Tolkien is probably the best known; my favourite trilogy is the Eden trilogy by Harry Harrison. Even movies – Star Wars has had a trilogy of trilogies (as I type this, ignoring standalone movies). While some do now push past the trilogy format (think Rowling’s Harry Potter series), plenty still stick the original series of books to three (think that alleged writing series of 50 Shades…, or, on a better writing scale, Collins’ Hunger Games original books). Extra volumes might be added later, but those first three stand on their own in all cases. Non-literary Examples In history, there have been surprising trios. There were the two triumvirates that preceded the Roman Empire (Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, then, after Caesar’s death, Octavian (Emperor Augustus), Mark Antony and Lepidus (essentially the money-man)). There have been a few in US history, and even in early Communist history in Soviet Russia. In religion, there were the three Fates, Graces and Furies of ancient Greece, Hecate had three heads, there were the three planes of existence (Olympus, Earth/Gaia, Hades) and so on. In the Christian religion there is the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost), Peter denied Christ three times, thirty pieces of silver for Judas, and so on. In advertising, how many slogans are three words or phrases? “Snap, Crackle, Pop.” “Stop, Drop, Roll.” “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.” “Tune in, turn on, drop out.” “Slip, slop, slap.” “Faster, higher, stronger.” Three is everywhere. You can’t avoid it! What does this mean for writers? Apart from that already mentioned, there are several things that a writer needs to take into account. If writing comedy, the “rule of three” has been well-established. Think of jokes like, “A Scotsman, Englishman and Irishman walked into a bar. You’d think the last two would have ducked.” The three people being different works better than two, and doesn’t drag on like more might. And a punch-line works best as a third line. Take this example from Roseanne: Roseanne: “Can I get you something? A drink? Some food? A taxi to get the hell out of here?” So many jokes lead to this sort of punch-line. Three trials is very common, dating back to Beowulf where he fought Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the Dragon. Yes, he died at the last one, making it a tragedy, but that is not the point. The repetition three times of a phrase s a common motif. Think about the fairy-tale of Rumplestiltskin and the saying his name three times to get power over him (in one version). In the modern urban legend, saying, “Bloody Mary,” three times into a mirror sets the titular entity free. Going much more feels redundant; saying it less could be a mistake. Three is deliberate but not too much. If giving someone a motivational speech to say, the best speeches use group of three. Martín Luther King Jr did this a bit: e.g. “justice, good will and brotherhood.” Winston Churchill said that all the Brits had to give was “blood, sweat and tears.” Remember that for your own rousing speeches in the mouths of characters. And then there is the love triangle in a romance plot/ sub-plot. The love rivals conflict over the object of their desire. This even has mirrors in history – think Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Two people is just a romance, more than three is verging on an orgy or a comedy of manners, but three is just right for this to work. The number three can really help give the audience just what they want. Conclusion While this is an expectation, it is important to remember there are no “rules” in writing. Harry Potter told us from the word go that this was going to be 7 volumes (though you do have the three main protagonists in Harry, Hermione and Ron). But if you want to make readers feel comfortable, then the “rule of three” is a nice way to go. Of course, if you want to unsettle a reader, then stop before three or drag on afterwards. In comedy, it is accepted that after three it stops being funny; after seven, it starts being funny again because you have completely subverted expectations. I just thought this was interesting. |
| Antagonists This is going to be quick, following on from the discussion of antagonists and protagonists ("20241208 Protagonist and Antagonist" ).To reiterate: an antagonist is something or someone that stands in the way of the protagonist (hero, whatever). They can be a character, or a group of characters, a creature, a system, natural phenomena, a philosophy (e.g. slavery), whatever – so long as it goes against the protagonist and stops the protagonist from reaching they goal, they are the antagonist. A simple, non-proactive victim of the protagonist is not an antagonist. In general an antagonist drives the story on. Most are written as proactive, while the protagonist is reactive, responding to the situation. The protagonist needs to complete a task and the antagonist stands in their way; maybe the protagonist getting rid of the antagonist is the task. It depends on the story you are writing. The antagonist is often simply put forth as “the bad guy”. But is that fair? An antagonist that is a living creature who is just bad for the sake of being bad is unrealistic and makes for a very 2-dimensional character. Also, a very boring character. The idea is the reader wants to see the protagonist overcome the antagonist, and there needs to be reasons for that, but just because the bad guy is “bad” does not a good story make. Part of the reason is that “good” and “bad” are concepts that do not have the same ideas to all people. What one person thinks is bad another might see as good. This brings me to the idea of this: for an antagonist to be a more believable, more relatable character, and for them to be more complete as a character, they need to not see they are the bad guy. They need to think they are the good guy. In their own story, they are the hero. Okay, first, I do not believe in “good” or “evil.” Asking “why?” can often make the so-called “evil” people seem a little more human. We, as a society, have very rarely asked, “Why?” So, this is coming from that perspective. But making a character just evil for the sake of evil is boring and really hard to write well. They need to believe what they are doing is the right thing for them. A creature is easy – they are just finding food or doing what comes naturally, or defending themselves or their young. They are not just hunting humans for “reasons.” Think of the well-developed creatures – the shark in Jaws was hungry and developed a taste for human; the giant snake in Megaconda was defending its home; the bigfoot creatures in Devolution were defending their home while also terrified following a volcanic eruption. It makes the stories so much easier to get lost in, even a bad film like Megaconda. With people, there should be a reason why the person is bad. Or, again, they might not see themselves as bad. They need the same sort of motivation as the protagonist, and a motivation maybe just as strong (sometimes stronger). Exaggerated portrayals of evil are more a parody than anything else. A desire for power is fine. Why? Is it because they were told they were useless? Or is it because they honestly think they are the best thing to happen to a place? While these might not come up in the story, they do need to be there in the characterisation. About the only thing that does not do this is a demonic supernatural/spiritual entity. They can be pure evil. But I don’t believe in them in the real world, either, so they are fine and dandy. Still, they need to be summoned to this plane of existence… Anyway, that’s my brief overview of the antagonist of a story. |
| Protagonist v Antagonist A story in the Western sense needs two things to be a story – events (things that happen) and a conflict. Conflict involves characters. And, from the reader/ writer point of view, these characters can be broken down into three types – protagonists, antagonists and (a term from RPGs) NPCs (non-player characters, people on the sideline not involved in any meaningful way with the plot). Now, I was asked recently because of my Horror Writing Contest what an antagonist was, so I thought this blog would be the perfect place to explain that concept. So, that’s where this comes from – a reader request! So, first… do you need a protagonist and antagonist to make a story? Well, it depends on the conflict. If the conflict is internal, then maybe not, but people would argue that the antagonist and protagonist in this case are the same person. However, that is beyond what I really want to get at here. I am looking at them being separate entities. So, in this case, the answer is a simple, “Yes.” Protagonist A protagonist is the character around who the story revolves, the main character, the one who is the main point of view character, or who the PoV character describes as being central to the action. The actions they perform, the choices they make, the things they decide not to do are what drives the story forward. It is through the protagonist/s that the reader experiences the events and the world around them. It is said a protagonist is usually reactive – they respond to what is happening around them. Generally, the protagonist is the “good guy” or “hero” of a story. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes the protagonist can be the “villain” of the piece, but if they are the central PoV character, then they are the protagonist. Having said that, the protagonist should engender some sympathy from the reader, and writing a villain in this manner is difficult. Even a regular protagonist does not have to be perfect. In fact, being perfect is boring. There can be shades of grey, and they can have different morals, but they do always see that they themselves are in the right or doing the right thing. And the reader tends to agree. Antagonist An antagonist is, simply put, the protagonist’s main opponent. The goals of the antagonist are generally opposed to those of the protagonist, but they can also have the same goal, only different methods of achieving it. The antagonist is generally the “villain” or “bad guy” of the story. However, many of the best antagonists are not “bad” or “evil”, but just come from a different moral standpoint. It is said an antagonist is usually proactive – they create or cause the events that happen. The idea of the antagonist/s is to create the conflict with the protagonist. The antagonist is central to that idea in the story. However, you need to be careful that the antagonist is actually a genuine source of conflict and not just a victim, especially of a villainous protagonist. This is something many slasher films fail to realise – victims are not antagonists. Simply put, the protagonist is the main character of a story, and an antagonist is what or who creates the conflict with the protagonist. Protagonist Types There are only a few types of protagonist generally used in stories. The “Good Guy” Hero This is the standard hero of way too many stories. They might have to overcome insurmountable odds, but what they are doing and fighting for is something the audience can relate to. They tend to be the main heroes we see in comics, films and books. This is the person at the basis of Campbell’s hero’s journey. The Everyman This is a normal person thrown into the role of leading a story, and are usually very reluctant to get involved. This is the sort of protagonist that appears often in horror stories. They have no great power or skill, do not develop this, and are often the sort of character an audience can relate to best. They can also be a blank slate for the audience to project themselves onto. The Anti-Hero They have grey morals, do things that are not considered good, might be cowards or even do things that the bad guys do, but in the end they defeat whatever they are against and have a hero’s ending arc. A redemption arc in some cases, or just an acceptance arc. Often best for internal as well as external conflicts. It should be noted that some anti-heroes do start off as antagonists and develop over the course of the story or series of stories. The Villain Protagonist Not sure about this, but it happens, so it’s here. As mentioned before, this is when the person who is the central character is the bad guy. Difficult to write well and with sympathy, and to make an audience empathise with them, to be honest. Antagonist Types There are more of these. And, it should be pointed out, they often have the best lines and command the page (or screen) more than the protagonist. The more imposing an antagonist, the better the conflict feels. In general. The “Bad Guy” Villain This your standard “bad guy” in so many stories. They tend to be bad for bad’s sake and, because readers have become more sophisticated, that sort of black-and-white thinking feels antiquated and not realistic. Which is why it is more common now for them to think they are doing the right thing, in their own warped sense of the world. However, they are aware all along that what they are doing can be viewed as wrong by most. But this is your normal antagonist. The Deluded Person This is a person who really does think what they are doing is for the best, and any objections are just people who cannot see things their way, or are born of jealousy. This sort of antagonist can become angry or disillusioned with the way they are treated, and so go to do their actions anyway, despite ramifications they refuse to admit or do not understand. The Rival Especially in romance, this antagonist is not bad at all, but they share the same desire as the protagonist and want it just as bad. However, both cannot have it. Be that an object, a lover or recognition, they are not a bad guy at all, just a rival. This also works in sporting contexts. The Force Of Nature This could be a natural disaster, an animal, or even a landscape. These are things over which the protagonist has no control and yet must overcome in order to succeed in the central quest of the story. It might be to rescue someone after an earthquake, kill the animal that took their family, or even get across the icy tundra to reach the only place where people live. Impersonal but deadly. A System This is fighting against a government, an Empire, something so much larger than the protagonist themselves. Winning against and defeating this antagonist is not realistic, but escaping it is. Themselves This is internal conflict, and is something I struggle to get my head around when writing, but it is used. Conclusion This is not a “how to write” post because every sort of protagonist and antagonist has many different ways of writing them, depending on genre, PoV, audience or writer’s preferences. There is no “one size fits all” method of writing a protagonist or antagonist. The idea of this post was to help the writers pinpoint who or what the antagonist and protagonist of a story are As you can see, it might seem simple on the surface, but it really can run very deep. |
| Be Careful With Reality On Discord, the channel moderator of one of the channels informed us that the other mod – the one we preferred, to be honest – had stepped down. On a different channel that a few of us are also members of, we discovered it was because he had left the Internet completely. Then we discovered it was not by choice. See, he wrote espionage thrillers with a lot of army and secret service characters. Self-published, but he was making a very healthy income, as well as running seminars and other things. Doing very well for himself. Well, it turns out that writing was the second career, as many writers are. His first career was in something involving the secret service in the US. And he still had friends there. And his stories were apparently very realistic. Too realistic. He may (and this is alleged) have put some information about operational procedures and equipment not readily available into his works. That is currently being investigated, I understand. If found out, I guess he will be punished and the books may be pulped. I have no idea; this is Internet scuttlebutt, but it does seem he went too far in his fiction writing. So, I think this is a warning to everyone – make sure what you include in a story that you have garnered from experts in the field or your own experience is actually allowed to be released to the public. Being in a work of fiction is no defence. Another story that came out years ago is that Tom Clancy was questioned because some of the details and operational specs of machinery and vessels in his books cut too close to the bone, and they wanted to know where he got his information. He managed to prove that he had made guesses based on publicly available documentation, but these things are out there, and writers need to beware. There is a difference between asking a police officer how they would go about finding if a hypothetical suspect is guilty and asking James Bond how he gets into a foreign country undetected. It’s in the writer’s best interest to make sure what they include is allowed. |
| Videos! Here's two videos for writers. This details everything I hate about magic in fantasy and does it so well! If you are writing fantasy - watch this! This is about the art of writing metaphors and contains a heap of stuff I had not considered before! Both are long, but well worth it for your writering improvement. |
| Summary Of ‘How I Write’ Over the course of 32 blog posts during the course of National Novel Writing Month, I have given an idea of How I Write. Note: How I, not How To. And because that seemed to be what people were most interested in, instead of making them churn through piles of crap, here is a summary. Ideas First and foremost, I let the characters take control of the story. They decide endings, they tell me what is going to happen, they even tell me who is going to die. Stories change a lot as I write, and the characters are a big part of that. As far as I am concerned, that is what a pantser sometimes has to do. We have to let our characters tell us where the story is going and not force it. Next, I really do need to have an idea of where the story is going. Stories that I do not have an idea of where it is going I find it harder to keep on track, so the ending or a vague concept of where the story is headed is vital for me to keep a story on track and keep invested in writing it. Poems I tend to write mostly rhyming poetry with a constant meter. This is how I do that: First, I get an idea about the topic I want to write about, and then decide if I want it to be humorous or semi-serious. Or even serious, but that tends to be more if I write autobiographically. Next, I write the lines that relate to the topic of the poem, telling a sort of story or vignette as I go. How I write it dictates the rhyming scheme – AABBCCDD etc, ABCB-DEFE etc., ABAB-CDCD etc. or whatever else. This first run-through I only focus on rhymes, so I go back and make sure they are as not forced as possible as well. Next, is meter. I count the syllables of each line, and work out either an average or modal value. Then I go through and add or subtract syllables to give it a more constant rhythm, based on this average/mode. I try to be consistent, but do allow myself a ±1 if I need to. I therefore have a hopefully constant rhythm. Finally, I go through to make sure that the emphasis and breathing fits and is as consistent as I can get it. I am not a strict iambic pentameter sort of writer – I’m not that good (not good at all, really) – but it does need to sound right when I read it out loud. And that’s it – exactly the sort of poetry modern poets and poetry critics (including here on WdC) hate. Writing Technique I need to say from the outset that I am not a touch-typist. I type with two fingers and a thumb. But, according to the sprint on Discord, I am averaging between 30 and 45 wpm, with around a 95% accuracy rate, so my typing is a moderate speed. This is 300-450 words in ten minutes, or around 1800-2700 words an hour if I go non-stop. It’s probably realistically closer to 800-1000 words in an hour, with the fact I edit as I go. Yes, I edit as I go. I don’t just write a thin outline and go back later once it’s all over and flesh it out; I write it with way too much detail, adding everything I think I might need. No sketches, but a full-on piece of work. Then at the end of each section (either split by a section break or a sub-chapter numeral), I go back and edit. I check for spelling, for grammar, for punctuation and delete a lot of extraneous stuff. The amount of crap I repeat is insane, but it is me getting every single idea down as I write, then going back while it is still fresh and making the most obvious changes. I then repeat this at the end of each chapter. For this reason, I am constantly stop-starting. Sometimes I really want to just get on with the next section, but the mini-editing I do at the end of the sections means the story sits better in my memory. I’m also not struggling to remember the details because I have done that first mini-edit. At the same time, I also make a list of the characters and the events as I go along. This does two things – makes sure I keep everything in order and keep everyone in order as well. No repeated names, no name changes mid-story (boy, was I bad for that!). I have also been known to have a calendar printed off (using MS Publisher!) and I hand write everything into that as well. Hand-written notes are the best. No scrolling back for the details – a calendar with 3 months on one page, and 1 or 2 pages of hand-written notes. So much easier to navigate! Computers are not the be-all and end-all, and anyone who tells you they are is plain wrong. One last thing, I cannot write in silence because my mind wanders. I tend to write to music or even with a video going. This is because if there is something external to me going on, then that part of my brain that tends to wander and drag the rest of my brain with it can focus on that noise, and so the writering part is not drawn away by anything. Responses Now, all of this works for me. Some people told me that I “write wrong” when I said I edit as I go, and that music/video means I can’t be writing properly. Well, this works for me. I even say that there are no RULES for writing. There are things that are strongly advised for writers, and in my opinion these are threefold: (1) read, and read a lot, and across all genres and styles of writing; (2) write, and write a lot; & (3) get your writing tools (spelling, grammar, punctuation) down as good as you are going to get. That’s it. Nothing else matters to me. And I have had people here on WdC tell me that reading is useless, that you should only write if you’re going to sell it, and (lately) we don’t need to know the fundamentals because AI does it for us, and that’s what editors are for. Fine. Your call. But don’t expect me to take you seriously as a writer. I take this further and say there is no such thing as a book everyone should read. No such thing; no such book. Read what you want, take what you want from each. And people who disagree are just being gatekeepers, inflicting their tastes and views on others. There are books I would recommend, but I know of no book that everyone should read. Not one. Conclusion So, in the end, I am not telling anyone how to write. Write your way! We are writers and no two writers are the same (except if by deliberate pastiche choice). This is me explaining myself, not me telling you how to write. In the end, pantsing means there is no real prep as such, and you will have to do a rewrite a lot of the time when you’ve finished, but it is how I write and it works for me. If you have any further questions about how I write, please, let me know, and I will endeavour to answer them. |
| External Writerings XI My columns from the month of November! Review of a new Australian band. Songs about walls. No, really. A local Psychic Fair that no-one on WdC can attend without a plane ticket... Songs about windows! Yeah, really. Songs about the weekend... because, yes. Only 5, but NaNoWriMo did get in the way a smidge. Hope you found something to enjoy. |
| So, I started a new novel. A guy finds his girlfriend is a demon, and before he can be killed, he is saved by a different woman... and she is now using him, unbeknownst to him, as bait as he is about to start dating a second demon. The story is told from narrow 1st person PoV, and is from the PoV of the bait. He has no idea what's going on. Anywho... I wrote a poem today, potentially for my normal home-made Christmas card. Not sure it's any good. Especially the ending. "Christmas Here And There" But the end of NaNoWriMo, my head still wants to write because it is the only way I have of avoiding reality... |
| NaNoWriMo #31 Day 31 Okay! After killing myself mentally for 30 days, I cleared off 162,833 words of creative writing. What did I write? In order of size: ‘Christmas Lunch’ – 100 words (drabble) A discussion between two people about a Christmas feast. ‘Mental Peace’ – 167 words (poem) Written for Merit Badge Magic, a poem, about a struggle to find inner peace. ‘My Christmas’ – 234 words (poem) Parody of the Dorothea Mackellar classic ‘My Country’ about an Australian Christmas celebration. ‘News?’ – 273 words (poem) Poem about the validity of Facebook news reports… or lack thereof. ‘A Visit From My Muse’ – 407 words (poem) Parody of the CC Moore classic Christmas poem about a writer being harassed by their muse. ‘What Makes Christmas?’ – 974 words (short story) A girl sees that Christmas is about family, while her rich friend comes to the same con clusion. ‘Adrian’s Call’ – 2020 words (short story) A dead man calls women to join him in the sea, against their will. Or is it? ‘Aesima And Her Demon – 2845 words (short story) A young girl is exorcised of the demon afflicting her, then asks for the priest who did the rite for her demon back. Set in my fantasy world; the priest is the main character of the world. Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell – 18576 words (story cycle) A series of stand-alone short stories that work as one over-arching narrative about a vampire hunter who goes after a pair of vampires, who were lovers in real life. My Sidhe – 18576 words (novella) A young boy finds fairies living on the property where he stays. His aunt hooks up with a man who wants to take her for everything. With the fairies’ help, the nasty man is punished without being killed, and the boy gets older and is set up with a fairy wife. From Above – 50234 words (novella/novel) A group of amateur palaeontologists are hunted by mysterious, tree-dwelling cryptids, and are killed off one by one until only a few are left, after they are isolated by a lightning strike. The creatures are not all killed… Sequel bait? 21 Years Later – 63416 words (novel) A woman, after 21 years, is confronted by the demon/entity that her family brought into the world, and before five people close to her are killed, she has to defeat the demon and send it back t where it came from. So, I put myself down as a NaNoWriMo rebel this year, knowing I was going to be working on more than one story. The cryptid story I started months ago, but it failed, so I started again with the same monster. The fairy story has been festering in my head for a few months as well. The Bat Out Of Hell idea I had when Jeff’s activity was announced, but never started it because I thought it would go over the word count. The rest, the ideas came to me over the course of the month. Beholden asked if I counted these reports. The answer is no. At an average of 350 words a day of these blog posts, that would add 10,500 more words. Plus the 3.5k words of writing I did for my actual freelance writing work (1 extra Weekend Notes column, two press releases, and a brochure). And the reviews I did for WdC? 33 this month at say 150 words a pop for around 5k more words there. This would mean 181833 words came out of my head in November. No wonder my brain feels like mush. And that’s NaNoWriMo for 2024… and probably for good. |
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