So today I had a nice post planned; it was going to be creative, it was going to be fun.
After reading a few hundred odd NaNoWriMo Day Nineteen posts, I snapped. I lost it. Why you ask? Because people are using words as filler.
Now, I know what you’re thinking… a book is filled with words, what’s the big deal? The big deal is I was always taught conciseness. People are going out of their way to avoid using contractions and being super descriptive… and for what?! To reach some silly goal?
First thing I’ll say from my milk crate with my megaphone is if you’re doing that, for the love of the writing gods and your muse, please stop. You’re not doing yourself any favours, and you’re not winning. I can write fifty thousand words of rubbish too, anyone can. I understand it is a goal to work towards, but the person who “fails” NaNoWriMo at forty thousand words with a finely written story has in my mind achieved more than writing an additional ten thousand words of rubbish.
Bleh!
Sorry for the rant, but my brain imploded and my inner writer exploded like Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk. It was uncontrollable, and I apologise.
So I’ve ranted and raved and yelled from my milk crate… but what can we do to add to a story and not have it be meaningless? Okay, let’s talk about productive filler, shall we?
The first thing I love to do is add in a character. More characters add depth to the story if done correctly and also add emotional fodder. I mean this wholeheartedly. In a story where you may have finished with thirteen thousand words from the target fifty thousand, adding in a character earlier (around ten thousand words in) can offer you a chance at some side stories as well as protagonist interaction. This can drive depth of your protagonist as well as help the story progress. Also this offers a fun opportunity later if you decide you want to challenge your protagonist. Death is virtually mainstream now in movies and literature (Thanks George R. R. Martin for killing off every character I’ve loved) but the things that make those stories successful is that it progresses past that point. A character dies, how does your protagonist react? Were they responsible? Will there be underlying guilt? Adding in a character puts the muse hard at work at weaving them into the story and makes it much more rewarding than lengthening every don’t and it’s to do not and it is.
Another fun thing to do is play with foreshadowing… this is another of the tools in my belt and I love it because it makes a story feel real. Also it is fun as hell that the hobo in scene two is secretly a man who is a fantastic swordsman who the characters have to return to later, and when they were already so close to him. Having things like these happen gives your readers those “Oh wow!” moments that keep them not only turning pages forward, but backward as well! I love trying to surprise the reader with things that make sense, but also it keeps the story interesting as it’s not just the main conflict that is driving the story. Sometimes it’s the tiny moments that push the characters that are most rewarding! If that isn’t clear enough email me or comment and I’ll try to explain it better with some examples!
So I suppose in short, please find more creative ways to fill those fifty thousand words. I beg of you not only as a fellow writer, but as a reader. NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge, but I think instead of just writing fifty thousand words they should celebrate quality over quantity as we are enforcing terrible habits into potentially good writers. I think if you complete a story arc, and it is over twenty five thousand words, that is something to be extremely proud of. Forcing some arbitrary number upon you and making you feel as though you’ve failed isn’t the writing celebration I’d be hoping for. But hell, I’m just glad they’re celebrating writing at all so I’ll take it!
Okay, so now that all of that is out of the way… here is an update from me (embarrassingly). All excuses aside, I have not moved from my eighty five thousand word mark in the editing of my novel. I have written a ton more in short stories and ideas behind the scenes, because when I have a good idea I experience the creative dam shattering and flooding a poor empty screen with words. I have thirteen one line story ideas on post it notes on my Mac Desktop… and I revisit them everyday. But all of that aside… damn you editing… damn you.
I’ve announced as well that I’ve got a pair of puppies coming soon to a few people and I may have even mentioned in the blog at some point. For those of you who like dogs or cute things, I’ve got a picture you may enjoy and I’ll post it below. My puppy is a miniature dachshund and he will be my first pet ever! This is exciting for me because I’ve always wanted a dog and well… when I was looking at the pups this one snuggled right in and made himself at home. Yes, my face melted. I am considering the name Thor and it hurts me that everyone I tell assumes I’m basing the name off the movies. Norse Mythology… it’s a thing. Look it up. That being said… I did like the new movie.
Also WordPress has deleted my entire final paragraph upon posting. No idea what’s happened there but let’s try it again! So for those of you falling behind in your NaNoWriMo efforts, would you like me to post your progress so it holds you accountable? Or is there anything I can help with? Also thanks to everyone who has emailed me or commented on the blog! Sorry if I don’t get back to you straight away as my inbox went from two emails a day to forty and I am working on getting back to any and all. The more the merrier I say! Also, if anyone takes the time to write to me, I will reply in one way or another! Anyway good luck and hope to hear from you (yes you!) soon!
JUST what I needed this morning! My NaNo count is way waaay behind, unfortunately. It’s alright, though. I’m confident I can come back in the 11th hour and kick it’s ass 😉 Also – Thor is adorable!!
Don’t stress about word count! As I said, what’s winning is writing your story in general! However getting to the fabled 50k is a fun achievement, but it takes time to understand the scope of that many words! When I got to 100k, my brain melted. I could probably write a trilogy now, but after that my brain will melt again. It takes a bit to get used to it but you know what, I’m confident you’ll make it up! I’m cheering you on and as I stated in one of my previous posts: Set aside the uninterruptible writing time! Good luck! (Also, I know he’s adorable… just looking at his photo makes me grin… I’m turning into those people I loathe, nooooo!)
Thanks! Currently sitting at 15.5k and climbing ever so slowly. Like in most things, its more about the journey than the destination. The best part of NaNo, I think, is the revelations that occur. At the end of last year’s competition I felt slightly schizophrenic and as if I’d developed a mild case of Multiple Personality Disorder – talk about melty brain! We tend to learn more about ourselves through our characters, too. I did, anyway, and continue to do so as I dig deeper on this writerly adventure. Woooo! NaNo! 🙂
It’s very true, your characters can definitely reflect on yourself, your experiences and the people around you. You think you have multiple personality disorder? I’ve had trouble with many a dialogue scene and spoke it aloud- In character -to get it right. Nothing says crazy like a guy sitting alone in a dimly lit room talking to himself! Yay insanity!
Keep plugging away, 15.5k is still significant, do not judge yourself by where other people are. They may be using those filler methods. Read their quality before comparing!
Lol!
I’m trying my best! At the end of the month I’ll do an official “How NaNo Went” post. We’ll square up then with our disorders 🙂 Take care!
I’ll be curious to see how you go! Let me know when that post is up so I can see how you thought it went!
I remember failing and thinking to myself… did I really fail? I finished a sweet story and had one hell of a time doing it! But I also learned from that whole experience! I guess it’s what you take away for next time!
Personally, I’ve never taken the 50k word limit seriously. I’m just here to write whatever my characters show me!
However, I’m always wondering if I’m starting to use too many words. I’m not using words because there’s a little counter at the bottom of the WordPress editor.. I’m just using words because I’m trying to find the best way to describe something. I generally try not to linger on scene description though, after finding myself wanting to skip whole PAGES from some rather famous novels because they were describing sere plains when “sere plains” would have just done fine.
Maybe you could skim through my story sometime and be the judge of that though!
Thanks for the reminder not to use words for the sake of a counter — I’m sure some people out there needed it.
If only you could have read some of the posts… people are butchering the english language for the sake of making 50k. The poor editors.
I too have trouble with descriptions, I find that sometimes those details slow down the story I’m trying to tell or I add detail where it is unneeded because I want to show more. This is where I am torn because I can describe everything down to the lines in the cobblestone streets… but if my character is engrossed in a conversation, he’s not examining that.
I’d love to skim your story! If you have sent me a link, then it’s already bookmarked for reading… if not, swing me the link and it’ll get added into the queue! How long is it if you don’t mind my asking?
HAH! Good question. Let me go look… (After a quick browse through all my posts and some mental math, I’m around 9k words).
The link is here, for the story I’m currently working on: http://exdevlin.wordpress.com/tag/shards-of-alesya/
I’m basically just writing a scene a day, so it’s generally paced in such a way that you read a new mini-chapter each day or something like that.
My thanks in advance for showing interest, and for your eventual skim!
9k is a great effort! I like the scene a day idea… it’s actually what my title contains! I dubbed it “Episodic Fiction” as I wrote it once or twice a week!
My post at http://timothyjohnedwards.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/without-looking-back-how-can-we-go-forward/ is entirely about the different stories and posts in the past! So in short, I totally understand what you mean!
I skimmed the Coffee Date and the writing is pretty good! I suppose the only thing I’d consider is the order in which things are told… Start off with that last line and build the scene from there- her getting fidgety, her finding the page but her mind being dragged back to the fact she’s not there… it would create an urgency that would keep the reader reading on. Not that they wouldn’t but I felt the beginning was almost too relaxing 😛 that could say a lot about me as a person (My life get’s busier by the moment) but I’ve always been told to start the fuze or present an issue in the first line.
Anyway I will skim the others as I progress through the week! Keep on writing and good luck with the NaNoWriMo target!
Here’s hoping that my words are not just filler! Last night’s endeavor was all about my MMC recollecting on cleaning up after the massacre (yes, it finally happened after days of teasing it) that cost him his grandmother and mother and my FMC both her parents. Ugh what a mess, and yes, he did get a little satisfaction tossing all the dead guys on a pyre. 🙂
I’m also proud to say that I thought of mythology first and movie second when you shared your puppy’s potential name. I’ve been a fan of Greek, Norse and Celtic mythology for years, so it’s easy. My car, he’s named Finnegan aka Finn, after a Celtic hero and NOT the character from Glee, TYVM.
So you understand my pain in the naming game 😛 Good to hear I’m not alone! My car was named Chewbacca before it died… mostly because of the sound it made while idling. Probably should have taken it in sooner…
Also, story sounds interesting (I revel in death and destruction!) Hopefully you got some pivotal characters in there too to make people go “Oh noes!” Although towards the end of my story I had a character I had built for people to hate and I couldn’t take it any more and killed him off because I too wanted to see him dead… and I had the power.
Oh I argued with myself back and forth about killing off both of my FMC’s parents. I really didn’t want to say goodbye to her mom (and we had barely met her in the previous chapter) but I really needed to up the stakes for her later on. So, not only did I kill her off, but it was not a nice death. FMC will now be headed for vengeance to find out who did this to her family.
Actually, the only people left alive were the FMC, the MMC and his little sister. Cousins, parents, grands, all gone. I said massacre and I wasn’t kidding. Ah mayhem!
I’ve been wondering if all new stories will feature death as a prominent figure! I love it as a plot device, even better when they’re assassinated. In my novel, one girl is mid sentence and is stabbed by a possessed groundkeeper. It was a fantastic moment!
I’ve been considering writing a story like Frodo and Sam’s from Lord of the Rings and killing Sam off at the 75% mark, just so everyone can watch how Frodo would try and continue on. Bromance over!
My other WIP is definintely chick lit, so no deaths there. This one is a fantasy of sorts, and I needed a good way to get my heroine to make her quest. Enter death, destruction and mayhem! 🙂 I also have plans to kill off a major character at the 75% mark, as that’s what triggers my FMC’s destiny.
It was interesting for me to write. Without knowing exactly how the scene is to go, surprising elements appeared. Let’s just say that it gave a new meaning to “death throes” – ewww! *evil writer laugh*
Hahaha, nice! I do enjoy death in stories because it challenges the protagonist to feel more than they have previous. I enjoy writing the challenge as well, especially in my story where one girl sacrifices herself to save another, only to have her father return for her… and to no happy ending for him. Good times! *Shares in evil writer laugh*
Also, just wanted to give you a heads up I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award which literally passes itself around like chain mail, but it’s nicer!
I just saw that and had a completely girly “omigod omigod!” moment. 🙂 Now to find time to do that post in between catching up from not writing yesterday (I planned for it and reaching today’s goal is totally doable) and pesky work. 🙂
Oh I do hope you meet your targets! You don’t have to do the questions if you don’t want… although I was torn between all writing prompt questions or more serious ones. I really wanted to write, “You find a singing and dancing squid hanging from its tentacles in a tree… write two sentences about what you’ll do next!”
Well I missed writing yesterday due to those pesky unforseen circumstances that happen from time to time, but with vacation coming up my friend M is assuring me I can make it up. 🙂 And I may just have to steal your prompt idea when I write my reciprical post. I promise to give you credit for the idea – questions are HARD to think of!
Go nuts! The questions were the hardest part! But I’m glad you can see making up for lost writing! Sometimes things just get in the way (or in my case this week, technology failed me miserably).
But good luck!
I never understood the whole filler thing either, especially with things like purposefully not using contractions, or redundant sentences. The aim of NaNo is to dump your ideas onto the page– not words, but ideas. Lots of ideas that may not be organized in any discernible way, but they still should serve some purpose, I think.
Anyway, good luck with your editing! I took a day to go back and edit my first chapter from this year’s NaNo , and it’s much more challenging than I thought. Good preview for the future, there.
The edit is the damning part because I really want to ensure the book is concise and well written… but I also have a certain affinity for that six digit word count. I’m torn but I can definitely just add in more descriptions for areas to fill those words… after all I’m light on setting the scene and heavy on dialogue and character development!
Good luck to you and thanks for stopping by again! 😀
The 50 k word limit that seemed so far away is now so close. But my story is nowhere near finishing-I can never write short stories. If I do end it somewhere around 50 k, there will definitely need to be a second part.
I prefer trilogies but it seems that my pacing is too quick for that right now. Today’s section contained parts where the mc found out some secrets about magicians and her family past. Still not revealing the juiciest parts (oh how to resist spilling it and when you do, how to expose something in the proper manner?) since that comes much much later.
I want a puppy…but then I would never get anything done…
Hey, they didn’t say you had to finish in 50k! That’s still winning! n fact, being able to write more is like winning and setting a new world record 😛
As for preferring trilogies, my mind shudders at the thought of editing a trilogy and the chance of plot holes and mistakes. I would definitely need to plan a while lot more. Although I know what you mean… My Circle of Vengeance story I was hinting at things through the entire story and then when the twist comes it’s like oh man! There were many things that alluded to that! But they’re subtle and fun!
Yeah, I have my concerns about the puppy absorbing all of my free time (what little I have).
Thank you! I thought I was the only one in the back of the class thinking against the majority rule. I hate fillers. I’ve met a few people who do lengthy chapter titles just to add to their word count. My hopes is that in the end, they’ll go back and make those titles matter.
Adorable puppy and such a great name. He looks like the name will fit perfectly.
OH NO. Lengthy chapter titles?! REALLY?! Egads! Walk up to those people and revoke their writing card. Do it. I’ll wait here.
Did you do it? No? I didn’t think you could… me either. But I didn’t even think about chapter titles… wow. That is a new low though.
The puppy is too cute to be named Thor, but I’m hoping he’ll be brave as he gets older and grows into the name. I do however think Squeegee and Waffles are great puppy names!
I agree with you — to a degree. While I think it’s important to not purposely write rubbish just to make it to 50k and “win,” I also think it’s okay to write a little filler here and there to help you reach your goal. NaNoWriMo is not meant to produce a 50k quality, final product. It is meant to produce a first draft, which can be edited and fixed up after the mad rush of November is over. 🙂 If writing lots of filler is the first step in helping you complete your novel, then by all means, do it. (Just realize that you’ll have a lot more editing to do.) 🙂
P.S. Your new puppy is absolutely adorable! 😀 I would definitely go with Thor.
Ok to write… filler?! *GASP* I understand what you mean when you say it’s not meant to produce quality or a final product. Oh, trust me… I get it. But I guess what I’m more worried about is that people will develop horrible habits and that will keep them from getting published.
I will liken it to a retail environment. We track average transaction value and number of items per transaction. If I push the average value of sales, customer service goes down but average dollar goes up. If I push items customer service improves and so does average dollar. However if I push closure rate, both improve.
In the above example, AVG$ would be word count, customer service would be quality, items would be efficiency and closure rate would be more writing. My big problem with filler is it doesn’t make you a better writer. It may make you a masterful editor, but I suppose I beg the question- What is the point of having 50k words if you could have axed half the word count? I’ve been force fed Elements of Style by Strunk & White and as a writer it is one of the single most important reads.
Wow, that got too serious! I don’t know what I’ll end up going with for my pup… I want to call him something cute like Cuddlepie because he’s too damn cute. Thor will do though, as I am a man and not a ten year old girl.
I see your point. 🙂 Writing filler all the time = bad writing habits. And that’s probably true. I just think that with the time constraints of 30 days and the big goal of 50k (and also for the people writing a novel for the first time), it can be hard to focus on writing good stuff while trying to finish the novel.
Cuddlepie is definitely a cute name for such an adorable little puppy. But I still cast my vote for Thor. 😀
Yeah, and that’s why I think that NaNoWriMo is setting the wrong target, I suppose they have to do something and it has to be a struggle but I wish that they would celebrate the writing instead of the word count… but oh well, what can you do?
Hmm… No filler words for Me. Im actually writing the full novel and I must admit its going well… I know for a fact that its going to exceed the 50,000 words for the NaNoWriMo challenge so now Im more focused on the completion of the novel than the completion of the challenge…
It’s a great thing reducing the filler (And welcome to my corner of the interwebz) I love the fact so many people are going above 50k! It’s an incredible challenge and takes a bit of a leap of faith, but it’s very rewarding!
I think NaNoWriMo should push completion of a story and offer various badges for different levels of success. Like a badge for ten pages or less, or “Achieved The End” those kinds of things. Writing 50k words is just pushing many to think they’re failing when the act of writing should be a celebration!
What an adorable puppy! 😀
Thanks! He is the cutest… December 7th can’t get here soon enough!
I agree with you 100%! There are a few folk in my region who have already hit the 50K mark and are sitting at aroudn 85K or higher. But when I’ve read the excerpt they posted…. it all sounds like drivel. Wtf is the point of doing Nano if you can’t salvage 75% of what you wrote. I’m not saying my stuff is amazing but I am keeping track of stuff I need to flesh out or parts I need to work on. Sometimes my language suffers when I’m trying to bang out an idea but at least my whole novel ain’t like that. Then again i’m sitting at 26K….. eek
It makes no sense to me… it’s a bad habit to just use filler like lengthy, wordy descriptions and not using conjunctions to hit a count. If handed into an editor, they’d eat it for breakfast. I mean, writing that many words is still impressive… but writing meaningful sentences makes you a better writer.
Sometimes my story lacks punch because I forced myself through a block, but then I return back to fix it later. And 26k isn’t that far behind, one good session and you’d be back on top of things!
You are so right. I would feel as if I was cheating if I had to resort to filler. My NaNo novel ended up being only 45,000 or so. Rather than fill, just to have to edit it out later, I wrote a Christmas short featuring my characters about the aftermath of what happened in the novel. A book ends when it ends. Whether the author recognizes that is another thing. 😀
A Christmas short, good idea! If TV shows can do it, why can’t you do it with a story? My favourite thing to do is add a random character in who reappears throughout the book for a laugh or to arouse suspicion. I agree that a story ends when it does, there’s not much more you can do unless you actually just broaden the cast!
THANK YOU.
Just. This. NaNoWriMo does not make you a writer if all you’re doing is padding your document with synonyms.
It drives me crazy… even worse? I found many suggestive posts on how to add filler directing people to do these things. As a writer, I died a little inside. I have my moments where I miss a wordy sentence, but to use purposefully? My english professors would cringe at the thought!