tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post660279157175911818..comments2023-10-21T06:24:44.931-07:00Comments on A Woman in Jeopardy: Why I'm Failing NaNoWriMoSusanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-66600494588039388642013-11-03T11:15:07.677-08:002013-11-03T11:15:07.677-08:00I want very much to be able to write faster, but f...I want very much to be able to write faster, but for the very reason you mention here, I never will. Research informs the depth and direction my historical novels take. Think about it. What if you spent a month whipping out 50,000 words of a novel, only to find, when you finally get deep into research, some turn the plot took in those 50k words isn't plausible, historically? I won't risk it. I'm not that brave. :) Not to mention the more subtle changes and deepening that happen along the way, that you mentioned, from digging into the research during the first draft. <br /><br />The most I've ever written in a month is 30k, and that was at the end of a manuscript, when most of the research was done and I was confident of exactly where the story was headed.Lori Bentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04714197239425827339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-72844826234747710822011-11-22T12:50:57.236-08:002011-11-22T12:50:57.236-08:00Marg, I'm not sure I could ever do 50,000 word...Marg, I'm not sure I could ever do 50,000 words in a month. I'm too poky :-)Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-80186373018861742252011-11-19T14:41:03.450-08:002011-11-19T14:41:03.450-08:00I have the utmost respect for anyone who can compl...I have the utmost respect for anyone who can complete 50000 words in a month. I am lucky to string together 20 coherently! 20 words, not 20000!Marghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13508430635744720721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-67343256784521475602011-11-14T19:56:44.602-08:002011-11-14T19:56:44.602-08:00Karen,
I'm not even going to ask what the ca...Karen, <br /><br />I'm not even going to ask what the calorie count of the Ben and Jerry's is...no need to ruin all my illusions.<br /><br />And just think of the fun that you're going to have doing research on coal mining :-)Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-87650462465674810962011-11-14T14:47:53.819-08:002011-11-14T14:47:53.819-08:00Oh, I feel so much better now.
I'm 13,000 wor...Oh, I feel so much better now.<br /><br />I'm 13,000 words behind, and why? Because my NaNo project is set in a coal mining town and there's a disaster, and I realized that I don't know anywhere near enough about coal mining to write 1/3 of the book. (I have three storylines running simultaneously but the accident is the catalyst.)<br /><br />Oops.<br /><br />I, too, fell victim to the Search window. And somehow my Search window started looking up things other than coal mining. Things like 80s music, and calorie counts of whole containers of Ben and Jerry's, and just how far the Baikonur Cosmodrome *is* from Baikonur (ohhhh, those Russians).<br /><br />So I feel better now. Pretty sure I'm going to miss my 50,000 words for the sixth year in a row (and did I mention I started a new job in a book store the day before NaNo started?). <br /><br />But that's okay. Because my favourite author feels my pain. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-79567642671631268252011-11-14T13:23:40.077-08:002011-11-14T13:23:40.077-08:00OK, Stephanie, now I feel better :-)
And I still ...OK, Stephanie, now I feel better :-)<br /><br />And I still think your advice in that post was excellent, and would work for most people who don't get distracted as easily as I do.<br /><br />And since that grave marker belongs to a key character from a previous book of mine that I know you are fond of, I figured you'd let me off the hook if I slowed down a bit...Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2051593313019795067.post-26744049581031061812011-11-14T13:16:23.257-08:002011-11-14T13:16:23.257-08:00I'm here to tell you that my alter-ego, Stepha...I'm here to tell you that my alter-ego, Stephanie Draven is kind of full-of-it. <br /><br />Frankly, she has only ever been able to perform that "research-later" trick successfully writing contemporary paranormal romance where research generally involves 'what kind of gun should my hero be brandishing?'<br /><br />Writing historical fiction is a different animal. At least for me.<br /><br />If Stephanie Draven were giving better, less general advice, she would have said that sometimes when you feel as if you need to know some important fact before you can go on, you should trust your gut.<br /><br />Probably no great symbolism could be made out of gangplanks on Roman ships--the example she uses. However, a grave marker isn't a mere decorative detail. It's wrought with importance. It stands for a PERSON! <br /><br />I would have also needed to know about that grave marker.<br /><br />Now, it could be argued that over time we will develop a better instinct for which kind of details can be researched later and which must send us to a grinding halt. <br /><br />But I suspect there is another reason that Stephanie Draven can write a HQN Nocturne novel in a month, but I write at glacial pace that makes my agent despair.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07729283374222314144noreply@blogger.com