Bad Habits- NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 4

Okay so I thought I'd write a post about writing habits,  bad writing habits in particular. A lot of my worst writing habits come out when I do things like NaNoWriMo and when I've done essays in the past. I sometimes wonder whether these habits are just mine or whether all writers do them, so I compiled a list below.

1. DISTRACTION - My most common problem when it comes to writing in large volumes is getting distracted. I will watch a man walk slowly down the entire length of the street that I can see from the window before I will write even a word. I will put on more jumpers. I will drink my weight in water. I will water all of the plants in the flat. Now, I'm very aware that this is not a problem that's singular to me. Procrastination is rife, especially when you throw the internet in the mix. You can find billions of pictures of adorable kittens on the internet. You can find a picture of a chicken in a jumper.

That's some fierce posing.

My brain is constantly asking me, why would you want to write a book when you can stare at this hypnotically majestic chicken modelling knitwear? And sadly, I too often agree with it. The only way to get past this is DETERMINATION and WILL POWER. Either that or completely disconnecting the internet. But that's a stupid suggestion, we all know that.

2. Word count- Now, this isn't always a problem when I'm writing. This is one of those habits that comes out during NaNo or when writing essays. I open up the word count toolbar (I'm not going to tell you how to do that if you don't know, I will not feed anybody elses obsessions!) and basically what happens is that I compulsively check how many words I'm up to. And I mean compulsively, sometimes I will write a sentence and then check it. That's at most about 11 or 12 words, WHY DO I NEED TO CHECK THAT? NaNo is particularly the worst for this because I have a specific word count to meet EVERY. DAY. That's like word count mania. I start to realise I update my word count about 10 times more than any of my writing buddies. This habit feels like an addiction, one I'm not sure how to kick.

3. Useless and/or ridiculous words- To bump my word count or just because my brain is having a bit of a moment and stops thinking properly, I often tend to add words that make no sense in the context, are completely ridiculous (Examples: Thusly, partake, whomsoever) or just really don't need to be there (the amount of times I use therefore in an essay is embarrassing.) This has become less of a problem with my NaNo this year because I have to write all Victorian-like and it's super easy to just stick in a load of random 'heretofore's and 'as such's.  

4. Total grammar meltdown - This is my worst faux pas when it comes to writing under pressure. I have a habit of completely forgetting all of the rules of grammar and sliding into utter literary chaos. I before e except after c is the least of my troubles. I start forgetting entirely how to use the comma and the apostrophe (the apostrophe is the worst of my crimes because I remember spending a whole week on the apostrophe in secondary school because we were all so terrible with it.) I completely forget all of the rules of capitalisation and start subconciously capitalising words like Doctor when I'm not even writing a Dr Who fanfiction. Terrible, I know. I feel like this is the one that most people don't always want to admit because I am all too aware of how many Grammar Nazis there are on the internet, and how we all like to feel like we're very smart with the words and such.

"Something's gone terribly wrong, I can sense it."

And that's four. That's definitely enough to be getting on with, though it probably (and by probably, I mean definitely) doesn't cover all of them. I should probably have some lunch or something. Cheerio!

Of Ashbourne Blood- NaNoWriMo 2011- Day 1

Hello there my dears. Yes, it's November, and we all know what that means. It's NaNoWriMo season. The season where I most likely to be found desperately typing nonsense to bump up my word count.

"And now my Main Character's going to recite the entirety of Edgar Allen Poe's  The Raven..."

So far I'm 869 words and counting. I think I've given myself a little more of a challenge than I bargained for this year- I'm writing a 'Period Drama' novel. With some supernatural elements. And a mystery. Oh dear.

But before I really get nattering about all that I should probably mention that I eventually sent something off to the paper for their A Piece of Your Life writing competition. It was a very short, atmospheric kind of piece about my grandparents' old house. I tried more to get a sense of place in it than any sort of action. I'm not sure I'm going to even be a runner-up but I'm happy that I sent something off to my first writing competition. Considering seeing if I can find more competitions to enter- but probably not at the same time that I do NaNo. NaNo is a challenge all on its own.

So you can find my over at NaNoWriMo.org under the alias of ninjapirategirl. My novel this year is called Of Ashbourne Blood and is narrated by Phoebe Ashbourne and tells the story of her and her two sisters.

It's 1892 and Lady Phoebe Ashbourne's sister, Emmeline, is getting married.

This seems like just another regular occurance in Victorian England, even in the county of Derbyshire. But when the girls approach their grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Gastgern, with their younger sister Delphine they find out that there's something much more sinister and demanding in store for Ashbourne women who hope to marry. A curse stalks the Ashbourne line and the girls must solve three ancient riddles to save Emmeline from the same fate as their young mother.

But even darker secrets are waiting to come to light as the Ashbourne sisters go cross-country in their search for the answer to the Gastgern Hall riddles.

It's very different from anything I've written before but that's what I always try to do with NaNo, challenge myself with something completely new. I've planned this one out a lot more than last year, probably because I feel I have to with the riddles and all the mystery. With things like that if I don't know what's going on or how it's going to end then it just becomes a big jumbled mess.

Then again, it could still become a big mess. I forsee myself struggling to keep within the language of the time period whilst still telling an engaging story.

Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling and get on with writing.

Challenge the first: October is Life Story Competition Month!

So I told you this wasn't going to be consistent. Life has been busy and I've not been feeling well so yes, I finally got round to identifying my first writing challenge. It's not an exercise, it's a writing competition. I've always thought about entering creative writing competitions but never actually have, never having the guts or perhaps just being lazy (probably laziness, as those of you who know me would already have worked out.) But this time, I'm actually determined to do it.

This particular writing competition is called 'A Piece of Your Life' and is being held by the local paper (the South Manchester Reporter, if you wanted to know) and all pieces must be under 1500 words and in prose. Now, it's starting small, I know, but there's a saying about running and walking and that applies to pretty much everything. And should probably be said to me more often. ("Play the bass in our band? Of course! Let me just buy one...and then learn to play it")

Compared to NaNoWriMo (which is 50,000 words. You know, in case you were unaware. Look at me, providing you with all the informations!) this short short story feels like it's going to be a walk in the proverbial park but I will bet you any amount of money that I'll feel differently only a few hours in. Minutes in. Probably about three characters in.

Don't try to run before you can walk- as it applies to chickens.

I've not actually chosen what part of my life to document yet. This is probably because my life feels pretty uneventful when I have to sit down and think about a really interesting part of it. Thankfully, I have poetic licencing on my side and am free to...embellish on any of my anecdotes to make an actually good story. Or at least something that I'm willing to enter into a competition. Or at least something that's makes sense. Or something that is words.

This challenge is going to be month long because the entry date is 31st October (but maybe I'll finish it before then! Who knows?! Oh what a spontaneously thrilling life I lead! Ah, if only the interrobang had caught on...) I will update you on the (probably stilted and frustrated) progress of said short story whilst trying to write it instead of a new story I've started which is period drama and far too much fun to write when I have so many unfinished things lying around.

If any of you in the general area (or any of you, GO MAD) feel like joining me in my clearly wild and crazy endeavor, feel free! We could compete!


...wait.

(Ohohoho*)


*I can hear your faked laughter even from here. Unless there was no fake laughter. In which case, how very rude of you. You could at least pretend to laugh at my terrible attempts to make jokes. 


I get the feeling I'm no longer making any sense.

Searching for Inspiration in the Arctic of My Mind

So recently, I've been finding it hard to fuel my writing.

I don't know whether it's because I have less time to myself or just less classes on creative writing and thus a drop in the creative temperature.



Bernadette is left out in the proverbial creative cold

 So, basically, I decided that I would start a blog to help me with my writer's block and hopefully amuse/help some of my other writerly friends who could be in similar situations. (I'm looking at you, NaNoWriMo-ers.)
You could say the idea came to me in a dream. You would more acurately say that the idea came to me whilst lying in bed thinking about how I had just spent the entire day at a museum staring at elephant skeletons and mummies.

The premise of this blog, then, is that every week (or so, I'm definitely not going to promise any consistancy here. I'm not exactly known for it) I'll take up a new writing task, whether that be a particular story/style or, probably more commonly, a writing exercise/experiment to try and coach my brain into the creative zone that it seems to be avoiding.

So there we go. As first posts go, it's not the most entertaining nor the longest but I just wanted to say hi and this is what I will be doing.

Yes, there are/will be chickens.

No, I'm not going to explain.