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stargazer wrote:Perhaps this is because of a tactic I picked up on the NaNo forum during one of the November events: if you get bogged down with a certain scene but know what comes next, just insert a placeholder for that scene and press on. You can always come back later and fill in the missing details.

I used to write a lot this way, though mostly outside of NaNo instead of during it. My biggest problem was that I started skipping entire sections of the story to get to the "good parts", and then I started to realize that I didn't actually know how to get from one point to another. In smaller doses, though, I think my current NaNo actually would've benefited from something like this. Ah well; it just means that I'm going to have a lot of editing to do.

aileth wrote:My brother told me I should write a first-person story, to overcome some faults that came from third-person perspective. So a few weeks ago I sat down and turned out a short story. It ended up having two first-person narrators, and it was really helpful to keep the flow moving. If one person was stuck, the other one always had something to say, sometimes too much

Ooh, a story with two first-person narrators sounds really interesting. I'm curious--did these two characters know/interact with each other regularly, or was it a "two parallel stories" kind of thing, or...?

Hmm, I'm nearing the end of my NaNo, and... I think I may wrap it up at the point in the story where the main characters finally decide that they're going to take an active role, since thus far they've spent the whole time hiding from their enemies. Which means that I'll be ending my NaNo at what's supposed to be the end of the first "Act" of the story, so to speak. I really need to re-think how much time I'm devoting to certain things....

wild rose wrote:The writing is going smoothly now and it's all I can think about right now, which makes living with me a little difficult

aileth wrote:Transitions are tricky--I don't tend to cut to the next day or week; instead I write along, wanting to get to the next bit, but not knowing how to stop and skip the finicky details that are getting in the way. I need to practise that more.

Oh, transitions; I have a love/hate relationship with them. I've found at several points in my NaNo that I'll either cut too early and get to the next scene, and now I need to take care of things I should've done earlier... or I'll wait too long to transition, and whatever's happening drags on far past the point where it's interesting. *Sighs, and once again says* That's what editing's for, I suppose.

aileth wrote:Rya, the two-person story I wrote had them both in the same place, just seeing the events from their individual perspectives. It felt funny at times, because one person would describe what had happened and then the other would go over the same scene from a slightly different angle. Doubling up like that was weird.

That sounds like a lot of fun. It also seems like a good way to, not only keep the story going, but also to maybe give some details where it'd be awkward to explain how one of the characters knew it, but not the other. I often play fast and loose with the POV in my story (usually 3rd person, but it's guaranteed to switch characters between scenes, sometimes within the same scene ), so I have fun with that from time to time. Never done it with two 1st person POVs, though!

Meltintalle wrote:When I leave stuff in that I know I want to change later I put it in square brackets like this: [town] or [name]. And then when I figure out what goes there I do a find and search for either bracket. (There's a fairly important town in one set of stories that's been known as [River City] or gone nameless since 2010. )

I do that on occasion, as well. Incidentally, I don't know whether there's some reason why it wouldn't work, but I kind of like the name "River City".

Meltintalle wrote:Congrats on reaching a pause in your story, Rya. It sounds quite interesting so I hope you finish it eventually.

Aww, thanks! I'm planning to continue it until I at least wrap up all the plot ideas I have in mind, and I'll come back and make them coherent later. The plot makes no sense, but I really love the characters--I want to tell their story!

Ryadian wrote:That sounds like a lot of fun. It also seems like a good way to, not only keep the story going, but also to maybe give some details where it'd be awkward to explain how one of the characters knew it, but not the other. I often play fast and loose with the POV in my story (usually 3rd person, but it's guaranteed to switch characters between scenes, sometimes within the same scene ), so I have fun with that from time to time. Never done it with two 1st person POVs, though!

The plot makes no sense, but I really love the characters--I want to tell their story!

But isn't that what makes us write? You are the only person who is able to bring these particular characters to life. I'm not saying that plot isn't important, of course it is, but it is so exciting to get to know your characters and find out about them.

aileth wrote:But isn't that what makes us write? You are the only person who is able to bring these particular characters to life. I'm not saying that plot isn't important, of course it is, but it is so exciting to get to know your characters and find out about them. Though there are times when they get a little out of hand. I wrote a 2,000 word story that is called "The Day the Editor Rioted," all about that subject. My brother said that the plot was excellent. The worst of it? I didn't think it out at all, it just happened, so I can't take much credit for the plot at all.

Very, very true. I would've given up on this story ages ago if it weren't for the chance to have these characters together. And like what happened with your story, I'm discovering that the plot seems to work out the best when I let my characters figure out what's happening next, to a certain degree--rather than trying to force them into it.

Incidentally, just by the title, that story sounds amazing. If you ever end up publishing it/putting it online, you'll have to let us know--now I want to read it!

aileth wrote:Have you ever read The Story of the Treasureseekers by E. Nesbit? She does funny things with POV, and it took me a little while to catch on. There was this space where I'd be going, "Whaaat? But it was just..." Then I figured it out. I don't really care for first person, though I think that trying to do something in second person would be far worse. Oh no, now I'll have to try that, just for the experience. Why do I think up these awful ideas?

Unfortunately, I have not, but now it sounds like I may have to. As for writing a 2nd person POV... wow. I will definitely wait on that until I have a good story to write it about. To be honest, I don't think I've ever read a 2nd person POV story that pulls it off, aside from interactive stories--like Choose Your Own Adventure books, or video games. Then again, I haven't read many outside of those two categories.