Todays Meet 27/02/12.

Hi

Just a quick reminder that todays meet is still on, at the usual time and at the usual place.

 

See you all there.

 

Scribbles HQ

 

Hundred Years’ (Word) War. Sort of.

It was a grey rainy Monday. Or maybe sunny. We don’t know yet we haven’t got there. Let’s face it, it could be rainy or we could be snowed under by that point. What’s important is it was a Monday, the 20th February to be precise. That was the day the Hundred Years’ (Word) War began. Or will begin. We’re getting confused here.

It’s a day to write as much as possible, regardless of work or commitments. An excuse to set aside a couple of hours to write guilt free.

Put down that remote (Kay), Turn off that Xbox (Heather) and get off the internet (Hayley). Fire up those laptops/pens/paper (Scribbles). We’re rallying the Scribbles Army on the 20th February 2012.

Commencing at 12am Monday.
Put up your swords at 12am Tuesday.

Once the pointy things are away, update your word count.

Once more unto the breach, dear Scribblers, once more!

Scribbles HQ.

Mondays meet 13/02/12.

Hi

Just a little reminder that our meet is tomorrow from 4pm at fresh ground as usual. We have booked the upstairs room again. We have some writing exercises for our slotted writing activities, so don’t forget your pens and paper. Be ready for the writing to begin!

See you all there.

Scribbles HQ

Blogger of the month.

Writing a novel is much like climbing a mountain. You start out enthusiastically, but end up dragging yourself up the hill with burning lungs and aching legs. Then, finally, you make it to the summit and gaze down at the view below in all its splendour.

Where the metaphor breaksdown is that I’ve never climbed a mountain, stared at the view, and started kicking myself about how I could have done a much better job.

You see, writers are the greatest nit pickers in existence. Grammar geeks, plot-hole spotters, continuity pedants – inevitably, we all have our pet peeves. So when we look back at our work, we don’t see a ninety thousand word job well done. We see the weak metaphors, the awkward dialogue, the gaps in the plot logic, and that one chapter that’s five hundred words shorter than all the others. Identifying? I’m guessing so.

Half the point of NaNoWriMo – a worldwide novel writing effort which actually resulted in the formation of the Scribbles – was to learn to switch off that inner editor. We were meant to go in all guns blazing, typing out dizzying quantities of words, not caring if the protagonist’s name was spelt right on page three or if there was a dangling modifier in chapter two. Then we were meant to look back and, rather than say “Oh no, look at all the stuff that needs to be fixed”, instead declare “I wrote a novel.”

The question is: did we?

I know I didn’t. For a start, it’s not finished yet. I hit the NaNo goal of fifty thousand words less than halfway through my plot outline. But mainly I’m just looking at what I have and freaking out because there are so many issues that desperately need to be dealt with. It’s stifling my writing and turning what was once a fun diversion into a painful chore. Instead of admiring the view, I’m looking back at the puddle a hundred yards from the bottom of the path and wishing I’d never stepped in it.

We Scribblers are attempting to straighten out our NaNo efforts. While continuing our plots, or editing if that was your choice, it’s so very easy to get bogged down in the icky muddy puddles. I myself am up to the tops of my wellies in them. And that’s good, in a way – if we don’t see the problems, we’ll never be able to fix them. But don’t let yourself get so lost in all the mistakes you made that you forget to look at the big picture.

Scribblers: you wrote a novel. Even if you didn’t finish it – or even make it to the end of NaNoWriMo – you still told a substantial portion of that story that’s been burning a hole in your brain. Isn’t that an achievement?You, ma’am and/or sir, can officially call yourself a writer. So while you’re straightening out the misbehaving characters and gaping plot holes that NaNo left behind, take a second to remember what you’ve already accomplished. Chances are, you’re over halfway through your novel. You’re on the home stretch! Getting to “The End” might seem an impossible feat, but it’s no harder than what you’ve already done.

So, if you, like me, are getting bogged down: Take a deep breath. Admire the view. Remember why you’re doing this in the first place. Recapture whatever it is that propelled you forward to this point.Rescue your muse from the evil trolls that hide behind the FreshGround counter*.

Then get back to work. I want a completed first draft on my desk by Friday.

~ Elizabeth, aka Queenie