Midnight Musings Forum October 2013 Daily Totals

WOW... and Congratulations!  Notice I didn't shorten it to just Congrats?  That is because you deserve the whole word!!!

95,500... that is a lot of words and how exciting to be finished with a whole month before NaNo. :)  Proud, proud, proud of you!

So... do you start editing now?  Or do you set it aside and purge it from your brain for a while and then with fresh eyes/ears go back for the editing at a later date?

I'm going to try to finish the story I started during Camp NaNo and also finish the short Christmas story I have in mind for the threads I'm on.  If I finish both of those I have two other ideas that I will try to give a bit more outline (something I'm not good at making or following) before November hits so I could move on to them. :)

Yes, I suspect Sha will join us for NaNo.  I know that she hasn't written really in the last month or so.  She did make a great new Doctor Who video though.  Not sure if you watch Doctor Who at all, but here is a link just in case you want to see it.  She did an excellent job on it. :)

Been itching to write lately, but still unpacking.  Finished up all the boxes in the basement and the sorting.  I think we have about one more weekend to go and then just some minor tweaking after that.  At least those are my goals at the moment. :)

One thing I'm interested in is whether you get to make up new/extra back story for your characters, or do you have to stay within what is known about characters from original series?

Finishing the first draft of that story has really given me the impetus to work hard this month - planning like crazy.  I'm also following a Writing Dialogue course this month, through the Romance Writers of American Romantic Suspense Chapter again - no gems yet, but I'll keep you posted if there are.

By the way - I loved Shaviva's video.  I used to watch Dr Who when I was little (practically compulsory viewing in the 70s here in England) but haven't caught up with the reboot.  Having said that, one of the writing threads I follow (arghink.com) does a weekly analysis of a Dr Who episode from a writer's point of view, so I know quite a lot about the stories!  Must get round to watching it some day... maybe when the new Doctor starts.

There are so many different ways to write fanfiction.  There are some writers who take the characters and place them in a completely different universe... like taking this show, which is a scifi show and placing just the characters in a different setting, like as college students or all working for a hospital... etc.  The hard part is keeping them in character while in completely different circumstances.

Some writers add their own characters to the mix.  A romantic interest for one of the characters maybe, or a friend that wasn't in the show... etc.  Some will even take two different shows and have the characters from both interact in a plausible way... maybe solve a mystery together for some reason.

I typically write in the show's universe, I try to stay with the facts of the show, but will sometimes change an aspect or add to the story.  Maybe have a story that would fit without changing the main story line too much.  (There was a potential pairing in the show that I liked, but the show ended up pairing the gal with a different guy in the end... I typically write it without this part because I really wanted to see the gal with the guy I wanted her with.) I also typically write with the characters that were in the show.  The nice thing is that I know, and the reader will know, what the person looks like, their idiosyncrasies, and have a general idea how that character might respond to something.  It is good practice for working on keeping your character... "in character".

When I first started writing I saw a college syllabus for a writing class that had a section of the course that was fan fiction.  The professor thought it was a good way for writers to practice keeping the characters true... if your audience already knows the character, then they can point out when you as the writer get a little off in portraying them.  He thought that creating and maintaining characters in an original story can be a lot of work and by starting with known characters the students could get a taste of how to write and keep the subjects in character and the fellow students could point out the things that were off.  Everything from facial expressions you describe, to moral issues could be judged by those around you.

Later in the course you then established your own original character for your own original story, but you'd have a better understanding of what it takes to keep them in character as well.

I would have loved to have taken the course.  I love hearing about you taking different classes.  It is something I don't even think about usually, but when I see you mentioning one I get to thinking that I should give that a go sometime.  I bet I'd learn a lot.  English and Literature were not subjects I liked when I was in school.  I think they'd have a much different impact on me now.

WOW!! Long winded... sorry about that. :)  I saw that we can sign up for NaNo... haven't done it yet, but plan to this week.  Kind of getting excited about it.  

So it seems that you have more freedom to do whatever you want with fan fiction - I really like the sound of it and it must be great, being part of a ready made community.  I think that part of what I am doing by following these classes is trying to find some people to link up with.... though so far it hasn't really worked like that.  The one I'm doing at the moment (the dialogue one) isn't that great and I haven't really bothered to do the homework.  Doing the classes is just a bit like buying writing books, but in a more structured way.

I can see how the classes would be interesting, but I don't think I'd like doing the homework either. 

I actually did some writing tonight... 444 words.  Hopefully it is a start that will motivate me to try to do more in the near future. :)

Sharon has signed up for NaNo too.  Looking forward to sharing NaNo in November again with you both. :)

Well done for getting some words done - are you going to try to do more before 1 Nov, or are you concentrating on planning/getting ready?  I am still planning out next story and am, remarkably, on target to start writing at the start of next month.

I did see that you can look at your progress and put in word counts, but it does say it is not open yet.

Sha will be helpful I'm sure as we get started, but it makes me wish this was a Camp instead and we could be in Cabins again.

I haven't really done a lot of prep work for NaNo because I plan to finish two started stories.  I don't do well when it comes to planning anyway.  I think if they were original stories I'd have to do a lot more prep work though.

How is your prep work coming along?  Are you feeling good about it all?

How exciting to have so much planning done... I bet you are just chomping at the bit to get started.  Do you feel more prepared or optimistic about this NaNo than Camp... now that you have had a taste of what is to come and because of your planning?

Only one week to go. :D

I feel much better prepared, despite mega pile of proper work, so am going to go for the full 50,000.  How about you?  I think I'll record my word count both on our Nano thread and on the profile.  Can't wait...........