nanowrimo_lj | Ugh... It's a mess...

Ugh... It's a mess...

Well, it's day three and I think I desperately feel the need to just start over fresh. What I've been writing is just not working for me at all. I'm expanding an obscure Grimm Fairy Tale called "The Six Swans" into a novelization and what I have is just not working for what I've decided I want to do with it.

How "against the rules" is it to just start over, but not throw out what I've written so far? It's original. I wrote it in November. And every novel has scenes that get lost in the revision process, things that don't work... It happens. But is it that wrong to use them in my word count?

What I'm thinking of doing is just write a heading saying "End of Prologue: Chapter 1" and making a fresh start and pretending the "prologue" doesn't exist.

So, is that acceptable or is that cheating:

Discuss.

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Here's the thing:

If you toss what you have, keep it in a discards file - the words still count. You wrote them. And then start over.

If you're lucky, you won't need that beginning you did. If not, well, you have the words, and they count.

That's all I really needed to know, is about counting the words. The thing is I wrote a couple of scenes that are really cute, they just don't fit with what my vision for the book turned out to be. I could very well transplant them into another project. But, as long as I can count the words I'm satisfied. You're right, they're my words. I wrote them. *GG*

Thank you.

Oooh, I really liked that one. That's the one with the girl and her brothers and the sweaters and the evil stepmother of malicious intent?

>> I would like to read one off of that.

But in other opinion, it's completely understandable if something isn't working out. I would go for it, and if it bothers you, make up the same amount of words as this 'prologue' after 50k. That way you can still make the word count if you fall short, but if you make it you can feel like you wrote a consistent 50k of usable stuff.

Did that make sense? oO

To make a long story short: I say keep it. :3

Cute Icon!

And thank you for the advice.

Oh and yes, it's a fun story. I plan to play up some of the darker elements and to a truly Grimm (grim) version. The image that stuck with me the most is that the shirts were not finished at the time of the release from the spell and the youngest brother was left with a swan wing for an arm, because his shirt had one sleeve.

Should be fun. *GG*

Pretty much anything is acceptable if you say it is. After all, they don't do anything with the file you submit but count how many words it is. On the other hand, if you end up with more than 50k words, you could drop it and just count the words in your new story. Like I said to someone else who wrote 800 words they aren't keeping, use them if you need them and throw 'em out if you don't.

I think that's a good idea. Maybe I'll just keep them if I need them.

Well, the only person enforcing the "rules" is you. But if you go by what the spirit of NaNoWriMo is, it's about writing a 50,000 word novel. That's a single story, not a series of scenes, not a series of short stories. The point is to push yourself past the 'bits and bobs' writing that so many beginning writers do (and I include myself in that category). If you don't like what you wrote, it's close enough to November 1st for you to be able to start over entirely. But for me, in how I view National Novel Writing Month, to take those words and still count them even though they won't be a part of your novel is, in the end, cheating.

Again though, the only person doing the enforcing is you.

Good luck with your writing!

I see your point and respect your opinion. Call me a cheater if you want, but I think I've decided to use them, and my logic is this: Whether they end up in a final draft of the completed novel or not, they were still written for this novel during the month of November. When I went and re-edited last year's nano, I threw tones of scenes out. I don't think that means I didn't really make it last year. *GG*

But, I do appreciate your viewpoint, and thank you.

Just to clarify my point - I'm not calling anyone anything. I was just responding to your initial query to 'discuss' your original question.

And of course editing a draft later doesn't invalidate a "win" for NaNo. :-) But editing a draft is not quite the same as stringing together various parts of various stories. For me, the defining point is whether words 0 - 4355 connect or relate to words 4356+. If they are two completely different stories, plots, characters, etc, then they are not part of that novel and thus not part of the NaNo wordcount.

I wish I did feel okay with putting together various parts - I could start a new novel every night of the month! ;-)

And allow me to clarify. I wasn't posting the discussion subject simply looking for validation and was challenging anyone who didn't tell me what I wanted to hear. I legitimately decided after I posted. :-)

If it helps at all, allow me to make it clear that I am not really starting a new novel. It is still a novelization of the same fairy tale. It still has the same characters. I just realized that the way I started and the scenes I started with were not going to work. They do connect and relate, they just will not work in the final product, and I require a different starting point rather the one I began with.

Ahh! Then that does make a different point altogether, at least in my head. ;-) Ain't it grand how we can debate something that we entirely make up?

On a tangential note - how do you go about adapting a fairy tale for a novel-length project? How much research do you find yourself doing? There are a couple of stories I've been looking at for a while, and even a few songs that I have ideas for. I just haven't decided the best way to approach them yet.

Yes, and I think if I changed my mind and wanted to go with another topic/plot altogether, I would probably feel different about counting the words. I like to think of it more as the "Alternate opening sequence" that got scrapped for a movie but might end up on the DVD. ;-)

I find that the great things about fairy tales is that they exist in some nebulous "long ago and far away" universe and little is needed in the way of research outside of fishing around for the different versions of the story. Basically, it's all about fleshing out the events and the motives and reasons behind them, attempting to add realistic characters with real-life responses and character development in the face of those events, and again giving reasons why the things in the story happen rather than "this one was evil" or "that one was jealous" or "That one was pure of heart."

I tend to like to keep nanowrimo pretty research-light, for obvious reasons.

I just posted about this yesterday, actually - or something similar. I wrote 800 words that I knew afterwards I wouldn't use, and wasn't sure if I should count them or not. The general consensus seemed to be to count them, since I wrote them. (I'm not, incidentally, but that's because I am majorly verbose and already have a word count that's causing folks to grind their teeth.)

Personally, I say you keep them. Definitely don't delete them - and I'm sure you wouldn't. Start a new file, call it "3 November", and start again. Write write write. And on 30 November, if you need the words...count 'em. If not, don't. You never know - you might end up turning around again in another week and discovering that you do need what you've written, if only to steal phrases and dialog or whatever!

That's a good idea. Thank you. :-)

You're very welcome. Good luck with the new twist - I think your story idea sounds very interesting. :)

For what it's worth, I think it counts. I don't follow the rules to the letter and do edit as I go, chopping out bits that didn't work, restarting a chapter that skewed in the wrong direction. I count those words at the end because I wrote them in November and I am a big fat cheater! LOL.

No srsly, the only rules are the ones that matter to you. People finish already started stories and count them, people write memoirs and count them, people write BLOGS and count them. It's about what makes you feel like you're breaking the spirit of the challange. If it doesn't bother you, then go for it!

PS. That is one of my favorite faerie tales, too. I always thought there was some rather blatant and dark incesty undertones to that one.

I believe it is completely legitimate. In the recent dicussion about the 800 words azriona wrote there was even a quote by Baty about how legitimate it was!

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