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.