Things I have learned from the first 10k of Moving Water
Submitted by anna on Mon, 09/11/2009 - 17:44
1) I've got a much healthier attitude to targets than I did a year ago. I'm behind at the moment. I can't say I'm happy about that, in fact I'm a little frustrated, but it doesn't feel like the end of the world. I'm quietly confident I'll catch up. If not, well I've got a decent chunk of writing done.
2) Google Docs is really, really useful - I just wish they had more paragraph spacing options.
3) I don't actually miss the NaNoWriMo forums that much - I've been sticking to the NZ forum, and that seems to be satisfying my need for community.
4) Writing about violence against women is hard. Not in the emotionally difficult sense, though it is unpleasant, but it is easier to criticise when other people get it wrong than it is to do it right yourself. It's a small part of the story, but one I'm agonising over. Which isn't really the point of NaNo, now, is it?
5) Themes of moving place and time to find acceptance are very prominent in my writing - a central plot point in Invented Wings, a significant part of the backstory in Moving Water, and popping up all over the place in short stories. This is autobiographical, of course.
6) Write or Die is made of awesome!
7) Giving up caffeine may not have been as good an idea as I thought at the time :D
What have you learned from writing your WIP and/or this year's NaNoWriMo?
