nano_writers: NaNoWriMo 2011

ladyseishou (

nano_writers,
@ 2011-11-10 12:00 am UTC

Current mood:	accomplished
Entry tags:	countdown, nnwm11

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 10

Day 10 - 20 days remaining

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but
it's the only way you can do anything really good.

— William Faulkner

What is sometimes called the world’s first modern novel, The Tale of the Genji was written by a woman known only as Murasaki Shikibu sometime during the 11th century. Basically a love story, the work consists of 1,100 pages and 54 chapters, completed chapter by chapter, as the author, a lady-in-waiting serving the Heian aristocracy, shared each new installment with her readers, the women of the ancient Japanese court.

So go ahead. Tell your story. Write something everyday. Ignore anything and anyone that tells you’re wasting your time, that your story’s no good. Do it anyway. Get it down. Take chances. Because you’ll never know…

The word count today: 16,670! That’s about 67 pages (more or less) and about a third of the way to the finish line! Questions? Comments? A classic read to recommend? It’s all good! So keep writing!

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	no subject moonplanet 2011-11-10 02:38 pm UTC (link)
	I am reading in The Tale of Genji - I recognized the picture before I read your text :D I haven't written a lot the past few days because of studying, but I got a buffer so it wasn't that much of a problem. This evening is my last exam, so after that I'll write more again! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-11 06:44 am UTC (link)
	^__^ And yeah! for buffers! Hope that your exam went well! And happy to hear that writing is back on your agenda! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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otter_nanowrimo
2011-11-10 05:03 pm UTC (link)

Whoops, forgot to comment yesterday... At 2126 words, yesterday was my slowest day so far (not counting the weekend, during which I didn't write). That's okay with me; I decided I was done for the day before I needed to. I'm not worried; I was finished through Sunday by the end of Tuesday this week. I haven't touched it yet today, and I might not. *guilty* I think I might leave it alone over the weekend and see if my enthusiasm comes back.

It's interesting to me how Japanese of that era found it rude to refer to each other by name. My understanding is that these days, it's quite rude to call someone "you," as in the sentence "Are you going home now?", and that they much prefer if you use names almost all the time: "Is Seishou-san going home now?" To the point where sometimes you use your name even when taking about yourself: "Yes, Seishou is going home."

Now let's see how much high-school Japanese I can remember. Ima, Seishou-san wa ue ni iite imasu ka? Or is it better to say Seishou-san wa ima ue ni iite imasu ka... or is it better to leave 'ima' out entirely, since the "te-imasu" verb construction already states that you are--er, sorry, Seishou-san is--doing it now.

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ladyseishou
2011-11-11 06:43 am UTC (link)

You've got a great buffer so it's safe to let things lie a bit but it might be better if you could poke it every now and then to keep the story fresh and brewing in your subconscious. But whatever you need to keep your enthusiasm up is a good thing!

My Japanese studies are more home brewed ;-) And perhaps just a little bit ahead (assuming my translation is any good :-)

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	no subject platypusrampant 2011-11-10 06:20 pm UTC (link)
	I'm at 10555 words. That's all for today, before my goldfish-like attention span gets overloaded and sends me into I HATE THIS STUPID THING mode. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-11 06:29 am UTC (link)
	Cheers for crossing the 10K mark! It's a worthy accomplishment. Nothing to hate about that! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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darkicedragon
2011-11-10 07:18 pm UTC (link)

Haaaaahahaha, OMG, yesterday I started coming down with something, so today has been prodding gently at my NaNo while also having lots of rest. XD;;; Lots of stuff happening to me during this NaNo! I feel better now, and I've hit the daily minimum to boot! \o/ (This is really amusing me, because my MC is getting constantly laid low because the magic casting is that draining - I think she's reaching past the document as revenge)

My MC is really starting to realise that all her assumptions about her new life are wrong and she'd better start asking questions to make sure she doesn't act in the wrong way at the wrong time, and end up getting herself or her partner killed.

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	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-11 06:27 am UTC (link)
	Heh, I have noticed often when I'm tired or hungry my characters are often the same but I'm sorry to hear that you had to deal with some kind of bug. Rest is a good thing as is the proper nutrition. Cheers for a healthy word count! It sounds like your story is on a roll! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject twistingthetale 2011-11-10 11:01 pm UTC (link)
	I didn't comment yesterday but my grand total is now at 22797 with the close of Day 10! Keep up the good work everyone, and hope you're feeling even better now darkicedragon :) (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-11 06:22 am UTC (link)
	A beautiful, beautiful word count! And I wish you the same: keep up the good work! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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down
2011-11-11 12:55 am UTC (link)

I'm now up to 22015, and have publicly admitted to my region that I'm aiming at 60k, which means I'm kinda committed now. Whoops. *rueful expression of rue*

I'm writing in something close to linear order. It's confusing me! I never do this!I also keep using the same damn words over and over! Blinked, glanced, rueful, wryly. All my characters seem to do is look at each other and think 'oh, heck!' when I'm not paying attention. (Except when I'm really not paying attention they say 'oh, hell,' which Umi might get away with, being from Japan, but Cephiro has no concept of hell as such - so I decided, anyway, when I was extrapolating a kind-of-religion for it - so no one else can!)

Genji Monogatari! I have the Royall Tyler translation on my to-be-reread shelf, it's been a few years. One day I will take a look at the original, but for now I still struggle to read Saiunkoku Monogatari and the like. ^^ Language acquisition via light fantasy, yay! But I was reading King Horn yesterday, and that's about as far back as I can parse 'english' without needing it heavily glossed, so I don't feel too bad at not yet being able to read Genji -it's several centuries older AND in a language not my own. (King Horn in a nutshell: blood! Death! Mostly of pagans! ^^;;;)

(Embarrassingly, I am better at middle french than modern french. Especially if it's actually Anglo-Norman. Despite five years basic french at school. Alas, romance languages: if they are not Latin, I am not gifted with understanding.) (Though give me a film in old icelandic, and I can follow it, apparently, where I can't modern Icelandic, despite the change being far less than any other, so who knows WHAT my brain is doing. XD)

(I am officially procrastinating by writing so much here now. XD)

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ladyseishou
2011-11-11 06:21 am UTC (link)

60K is a good goal and after doing a quick calculation (2K/day), I see your current word count is a beautiful beautiful thing!

And the name of the game this month is to just get the rough draft written which means don't sweat things like word repetition (for myself I know that there has been a criminal amount of autopsy detail but hey! that's what the rewrite's for, right?)

I love the Royall Tyler translation! As for the original text - I'm afraid that's beyond my reach. And I'm in awe of your ability to read Saiunkoku Monogatari (the novels, right?). One day, I might manage the manga but I adored the anime (yes I admit it, I watch anime - it's very pretty ;-).

And now back to writing...

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down
2011-11-12 02:10 am UTC (link)

I'm trying not to notice, I am. I'm just bad at it once it's caught my attention. ^^;

Saiunkoku - yep, I'm reading the novels, but I entirely picked them because of the anime - any time I get TOO stuck, I go watch it until I work out what's going on. XD They aren't exactly the same, but are closer than most adaptations, and I usually get stuck on bits of important terminology which have to be in the anime too, so it works most of the time. ^^ (This is a good excuse for watching it when I should be studying XD)

I have to say, thank you for taking the time to run this Comm and reply to everyone so encouragingly - getting your reply as I wake up and face a new day's wordcount is incredibly cheering!

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	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-12 05:20 am UTC (link)
	You are very welcome! ^___^ (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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fiones
2011-11-11 01:14 am UTC (link)

I randomly decided to help myself by starting a completely new project, in addition to my main novel (because I need to take a break from it since it's given me issues). I was planning to do a short story anthology, and somehow it turned out that one of the stories has taken over my brain and very likely may take over as my main novel. Opps. :T I'm just struggling with deciding on a name for my protagonist, lol. Because nothing is ever easy.

Right now I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo and omg it's so good. Dumas's writing style is flaw free and I love the story so far. Definitely a classic imo.

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ladyseishou
2011-11-11 05:42 am UTC (link)

I had planned on doing a series of short stories for the July Camp NNWM all set in my story world but the first story absolutely demanded novel treatment and I ended up putting all the rest of the stories back into the idea folder and running with that one story. My advice: go with it, you probably won't regret it!

Good luck with naming your protagonist! Maybe something inspired by Dumas?

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	no subject lassarina 2011-11-11 02:30 am UTC (link)
	25K! Halfway there! (by the numbers. The plot is not halfway there.) (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject ladyseishou 2011-11-11 05:35 am UTC (link)
	Woo-whoo! Congrats on hitting the half-way mark! Beautiful! And I know what you mean about the story's midpoint being a ways off still, not unusual at all. I think my story will be finishing closer to 60K or so. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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