Happy Holidays, Watson
It’s the holiday season again. It’s a strange and, for many, a lonely one. Help those you can without putting yourself at risk.
I finished the Holmesian novel I started during NaNoWriMo. I hit my 50K mark during the event, but I planned on taking the story out to 100K. Well, I didn’t hit 100K. I hit 84K.
I finished the Holmesian novel I started during NaNoWriMo. I hit my 50K mark during the event, but I planned on taking the story out to 100K. Well, I didn’t hit 100K. I hit 84K.
It’s the holiday season again. It’s a strange and, for many, a lonely one. Help those you can without putting yourself at risk.
I finished the Holmesian novel I started during NaNoWriMo. I hit my 50K mark during the event, but I planned on taking the story out to 100K. Well, I didn’t hit 100K. I hit 84K.
The story was telling itself, as sometimes happens, and I didn’t want to force it or extend it just to hit an arbitrary word count. A story is the story. A story should be as long as it takes to tell. That doesn’t mean it’s a great story or even told well. It just means I have a completely self-contained story. Making it better is editing (which I hate and wish I didn’t have to do.) ,
I’m really pleased with my Holmesian story. I call it Holmesian because it really isn’t about Sherlock Holmes, but he features in it. It would be better to call this a Watsonian story, but few would get the reference.
I first pitched the idea of the story to myself as “Sherlock Holmes v. Macbeth v. The Wild Wild West”. Happily, that’s what it turned out to be. The first half is about setting up the mystery and conflict, the second is a “rollicking good time”, as one might say.
I have some plot holes to fill (mostly through foreshadowing), but not as many as I thought I would have. I have to add a few scenes to round out some characters. I have my usual problem with maintaining a consistent tense. And in this story, I have drifted in and out of Watson’s “voice” that I will have to address.
But I surprised myself. It’s the best story I’ve come up with. For me, that’s an arduous process. I get lots of story ideas I have to develop into a story, but few full-blown stories. This is probably the best of the lot.
On a more technical note, I wrote this novel using writing sprints. It’s the first time I’ve done that. I proved to myself I could churn out around 400 words 20 minutes at a time and easily hit 2K words a day. I could do more if I wanted to. That surprised me. Just writing, I struggle to hit 1K. I think it’s not the sprints so much as having dedicated chunks of time away from distractions (well, more so than not) that did it. I’ll be writing in 20-minute intervals from now on.
That’s it for 2020. See you all on the other side.
Happy holidays and Happy New Year.
Word up!
I finished the Holmesian novel I started during NaNoWriMo. I hit my 50K mark during the event, but I planned on taking the story out to 100K. Well, I didn’t hit 100K. I hit 84K.
The story was telling itself, as sometimes happens, and I didn’t want to force it or extend it just to hit an arbitrary word count. A story is the story. A story should be as long as it takes to tell. That doesn’t mean it’s a great story or even told well. It just means I have a completely self-contained story. Making it better is editing (which I hate and wish I didn’t have to do.) ,
I’m really pleased with my Holmesian story. I call it Holmesian because it really isn’t about Sherlock Holmes, but he features in it. It would be better to call this a Watsonian story, but few would get the reference.
I first pitched the idea of the story to myself as “Sherlock Holmes v. Macbeth v. The Wild Wild West”. Happily, that’s what it turned out to be. The first half is about setting up the mystery and conflict, the second is a “rollicking good time”, as one might say.
I have some plot holes to fill (mostly through foreshadowing), but not as many as I thought I would have. I have to add a few scenes to round out some characters. I have my usual problem with maintaining a consistent tense. And in this story, I have drifted in and out of Watson’s “voice” that I will have to address.
But I surprised myself. It’s the best story I’ve come up with. For me, that’s an arduous process. I get lots of story ideas I have to develop into a story, but few full-blown stories. This is probably the best of the lot.
On a more technical note, I wrote this novel using writing sprints. It’s the first time I’ve done that. I proved to myself I could churn out around 400 words 20 minutes at a time and easily hit 2K words a day. I could do more if I wanted to. That surprised me. Just writing, I struggle to hit 1K. I think it’s not the sprints so much as having dedicated chunks of time away from distractions (well, more so than not) that did it. I’ll be writing in 20-minute intervals from now on.
That’s it for 2020. See you all on the other side.
Happy holidays and Happy New Year.
Word up!