Comments on: NaNo Tip No. 10: Don’t Skip the Tricky Bits

By: writers beware « my mumblings

writers beware « my mumblings — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:17:04 +0000

[...] do in the month of november is share all sorts of advice on how to create your own writing habits, how to push through the hard scenes, how to organize your thoughts, what to do if your word count is behind schedule, or how to deal [...]

By: Twitter update | CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

Twitter update | CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:52:04 +0000

[...] The writing tips for NaNoWriMo from Justine Larbalestier. Here’s Number 10 [...]

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:53:49 +0000

I like that payoff idea. It’s always good to be able to give yourself a congratulatory pat on the back. And even if it’s a terrible first draft, it is done and out there. Tasty ice cream treats would probably work too right?

By: V

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:43:00 +0000

I’m at the point where all the scenes seem hard to write and watching TV shows that I previously wouldn’t have touched with three brooms stuck together with masking tape is starting to look like an appealing option if it means I don’t have to sit down at my desk.
Also, that last sentence should probably be three separate ones.

By: Team Toshi Banana

Team Toshi Banana — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:40:09 +0000

That is really interesting advice. I think both ideas make sense. Maybe the square brackets thing is for details you would have to decide on, like a character’s name, and the advice about just writing something would be for a scene that you are not excited about writing. I’m definitely going to use this technique while writing my NaNoWriMo novel!
I have been reading all the NaNo tips, but I didn’t think of commenting until now. Thanks for the great advice!

By: Brynne

Brynne — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:14:24 +0000

I’m a fan of the write-it-straight-through method. For this year’s NaNoWriMo novel I outlined extensively in addition to keeping meta documents (which I normally do anyway) so even if I knew a scene was going to be difficult, I knew what came next and that somehow just made it easier. There are a couple places at the end, though (I pumped out a 57,000 word first draft in six days…so the rest of WriMo is my EdMo), that I know are in desperate need of attention because of the “hard to write” factor. I think (I hope) it’ll be easier now.

This novel didn’t have a great deal of hard bits, but the last one I wrote had a scene where I knew I would have to kill off one of my absolute favorite characters. I thought I would enjoy the experience, but I ended up making myself cry and having to stop at the end of the chapter because it was so painful.

By: Eve

Eve — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:12:16 +0000

Not sure if Scott knows this, but his site is apparently “NSFW”…
I tried to check out his post, and this is the error I got:
URL: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=1899
Rating: Dangerous
Threat details: Verified fraudulent page or threat source.
This is according to “Trend Micro Incorporated.” Makes me sad, I’d like to read his tips.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:55:24 +0000

RE: “the climactic scene in Yayeko Shoji’s apartment between Micah and Yayeko and her mother and daughter”–I’ve read it at least twice, and I’m still not sure what really happens! But, I think, considering the rest of the book, that’s kinda what you’re going for?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:47:45 +0000

I’m a huge fan of at least attempting the tricky bits knowing that I’m coming back to them. At the very least it provides a springboard from which to flesh out and tighten up (can you do both at once?) those difficult scenes. Like you said, you never can tell when the tricky stuff turns into easy stuff and vice versa so you might as well get in there. Of course, that’s what works for me. I have yet to try to write a novel out of sequence.

By: Rhiannon Hart

Rhiannon Hart — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:36:40 +0000

I’m all about the bribes. I don’t skip unless it’s for research, and only then if I’m on a roll. And I’m the sorta girl who likes to research, so it’s never a pain.

Massive props to you and Scott. These are great tips, thank you!

By: wandering-dreamer

wandering-dreamer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:21:56 +0000

I know that I’m in the tricky spot now where I need to go back in and put more stuff in (this has got to be the first time in my life that I have underestimated how long a story will be) and I’ll probably have to bribe myself to get going on it. Once I get into it I know that it’ll go fine, I’m just too intimated to start!

By: PixelFish

PixelFish — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:21:26 +0000

I think mixing this rule with the prior one works. The brackets rule is for in-depth research-intensive bits that would require you to derail your current momentum onto another track. Writing the tricky bits is where you keep on bulling your way through the story, even when you don’t want to. So I don’t see them as contradictory, just situational.

(I had to skip a scene…I realised I had put in TWO shop scenes right next to each other. One was merely tying through a thread from something my character’s mother had said earlier, but was non-essential to the plot. The other was absolutely essential to the plot, which was good, because it was the more fun scene to write anyway. I kept getting stuck on scene one, and realised it was a case of Chandler’s getting people in and out of rooms but with no consequence. So I axed it.)

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:06:59 +0000

I dunno, I kind of like your bracket idea for things that would require a lot more work/research in order to be written. Which, odds are, you aren’t going to figure out exactly how a bomb works within the 15 days you have left to write during November or whatever.

Now, the sucky thing is that you’ll have to go back and add it in IF you get to the point of rewriting it, but at least you didn’t stop doing NaNo because you thought, “Crap, I have to research explosions now….”