Author: DH Hanni

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Weekly Musing: 2017 NaNoWriMo Update #2

DH Hanni

Well, I am entering the home stretch of 2017 NaNoWriMo and yes, it has started to feel like a marathon. The brain is struggling a bit more. The energy is starting to wan, but I have kept going.

Below are brief highlights of how this month has gone so far:

1)     Some days have gone easier than others, but the routine I set up has gone according to plan. Having a day off has been extremely helpful in both mental and physical recovery.

2)     Speaking of plans, as is tradition, my rough outline has changed dramatically. Characters and free will always override anything a writer comes up as far as I’m concerned. I adjust the outline accordingly to help guide rewrites. It also helps in rewrites to see where some areas need something more or to cut out an idea that doesn’t make sense.

3)     I’ve been able to average over 2,000 words a day. As of when this post goes live, I will be close to the 50,000 words goal. By no means I am close to being done with the rough draft by the end of November. I don’t know when I will be; hopefully by the end of December or early January. I also never know what the total word count will. Since what I’m writing is historical fiction, it’ll be long.

4)     I have entered the phase in a rough draft in which I am noticing repeated phrases and overused words. Brain starting to become a little bit fried and the words are leaving me.

5)     More caffeine, less sugar consumption. Good/bad? I’m getting the work done so…

6)     Working outside the home occasionally is great. Gets me around people without actually having to talk to anyone, keeps me less distracted, and makes me write faster. It seems to kick start some of the road blocks I run into.

7)     This is the first year I haven’t set up rewards for reaching milestones. While those have been great motivators, I realized I don’t really cash in many of them.

I’m feeling pretty good about my progress. I’m hopeful I’ll keep up the pace beyond November. Here’s to everyone who stuck it out for the month of November. It doesn’t matter if you “win” or not. You’re writing and should be proud of yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back. You’re doing something a lot of people wish they could do, but for whatever reason are terrified to try.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: First 2017 NaNoWriMo Update

DH Hanni

Well, we are 11 days into this year’s NaNoWriMo. And so far, this year has been different from previous years which I find fascinating. I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo since 2013, winning each year I participated. In 2013, my first year, I was nervous, terrified. I had one very specific idea I was going to tackle. Within the first few days it became apparent that I wasn’t ready for the original idea, so I switched to writing a novel completely without thought. The following year, I used it to finally complete a rough draft of the novel I’d tried to write the year before. By this time I was far more comfortable both as a writer and with the story. By then I’d learned the novel doesn’t have to be complete in order to win. 2015 saw me once again draft another new idea. 2016 has been the only year I didn’t participate as I was working on a re-write not realizing people used NaNoWriMo for re-writes.

For this year’s NaNoWriMo, I find myself using it for a slightly different purpose than one of its main purposes. During the summer I’d started a novel. Unfortunately, life changes happened to knock me out of my rhythm. Now that things have settled down, what better time and way to hop back on board then November? So, 2017’s effort is being used to re-focus and get back into a schedule.

In order to find my place again in the story, I re-read it without editing or critiquing the chapters done. How I was able to turn off the very aggressive editor part of my brain I’ll never know. I’m surprised I’m even capable of such a thing. To further aid me, I glanced at my incomplete outline to see what my original thoughts were. Oddly enough, I didn’t even attempt to finish it. By now I know it’ll change and I’ll figure out an ending.

Now that I had my bearings, I began. The first day was rough; only approximately 1,460 words written. Below the NaNoWriMo target goal of 1,667 words a day. Reflecting upon my prior experiences, it seems the first day is the most challenging. It’s the added pressure of logging it on the website making someone accountable. If a writer is part of a region, like I am, then everyone in your region can see what you’ve written especially if you post anything on the forums. Though it’s okay however many words people are at, still seeing that tracker is intimidating.

Since I didn’t meet either the NaNoWriMo goal or my personal goal of 2,000 words a day the first day, I pushed myself the next couple of days. The reason why my personal goal is 2,000 words a day is because unlike years past, I have decided to take one day off per week. That’s another difference from prior years. I have finally learned I am not the type of writer who can write seven days a week. I enjoy having a life outside of work and not being cranky every day. This month I’m only a grump six days a week. I’m also sticking hard to writing during a set time while recognizing if I get a later start, that’s okay. I’m still getting the words in.

I view NaNoWriMo as both a sprint and a marathon. What I mean by this is one of the attractive philosophies of NaNoWriMo is its emphasis on writing without stopping to edit. There is a sense of urgency with each word written toward the daily goal. But it is also a marathon with the ultimate goal of 50,000 words in 30 days. As the month goes on, your energy slows down. Primarily because we hit the middle part of our novel and start to experience middle book sag so somehow we need to find the energy to make it to the finish line. Once we reach it, our minds and bodies are exhausted and we’re glad when we finish.

At this point I’m confident I can “win” again. As of when this extra-caffeine-and-unhealthy-amounts-of-sugar-fueled post is published, I should be close to 20,000 words written. I’ll probably do another update toward the end of the month. We’ll see if I’m struggling to get to the finish line or if I buck the trend and have energy. I want to end by saying to everyone out there participating, keep up the awesome work! Keep going even when November is done. Your story is important and so is your voice.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Back to the Future

DH Hanni

Note: Sorry for not posting lately. Life has been quite busy the past several weeks. I’ll be getting back to a regular posting schedule. Good thing for NaNoWriMo to help kick start my writing!

 

Decades Into the Future

Dear DH Hanni,

Congratulations! You’re still writing! Awesome. It’s not been easy, but you’ve stuck with it through ups and downs. I’d love to tell you your insecurity and self-doubt went away, but it didn’t. That’s okay and normal even though you’ve had more success. Yes, you read that right. You get more success. 😊

It was a good decision to take a few years off from writing short stories to concentrate on novel writing. After the chaos of 2017 and major life changes, you got down to business and threw yourself into novels. You also finally got the confidence to believe in yourself. This allowed you to relax and let the words flow. Doesn’t mean writing became easy, but it became easier than before.

You’ve written novels in a few genres. Never did settle on just one genre and that’s okay. The publishing industry got less pissy about one genre per author. Helps you turned into a hybrid author both self-publishing and publishing via the traditional route.

Speaking of publishers, good call going the small to medium size route. You did take chances and submitted work to big publishers, but ultimately small to medium publishers was a way better fit for you. They gave you the ability to have a say in the process and they listened to how you wanted to approach marketing. You got over appearing before people in public, though there are times when your anxiety flares up over being the center of attention.

You’re still amazed anyone reads your novels let alone like them. Good call ignoring reviews and all that stuff. Unfortunately, people on the internet still lack civility and brains. Constructive criticism still isn’t a thing. All of that is noise anyway. This isn’t to say you’ve completely isolated yourself from fans or anything. I know. It’s probably weird reading you have fans, but it’s true. You interact with them at appearances and a handful of events you feel comfortable attending. You also interact a little bit online, but you value your privacy and dedication to writing so you practice moderation.

Speaking of writing, once you learned to relax and not allow insecurity to get in the way, you began believing in the quality of your prose. You stopped being afraid of exploring uncomfortable emotions. Another good decision was not paying attention to when people complain about “ugliness” in novels. Other people’s comfort level doesn’t stop you. Be true to the story is what you always say. Yeah, you come up with a catch phrase. Makes it easy in interviews when you get asked repeatedly what your biggest piece of advice is for writers.

You may be wondering about this success I mentioned above. What do I mean by this? Well, it means you will have several novels published. Each one you release sells better and better. Do you make the best seller list? I’ll never tell. 😊 Do you accomplish one of your dreams of having a book adapted into a mini-series? I’ll never tell. I can’t spoil everything for you, now can I?

To you, present me, reading this, keep going. It’s worth it and for fuck’s sake, let go of your guilt. You know what I’m talking about. Writing is how you express yourself. There’s nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of regardless of whatever you’ve written is good or bad. You deserve to write. Writing is important. What you have to say is important. The sooner you can believe in yourself, the sooner you’ll have the kind of success you want. It’ll still be a slow process as you still won’t be the fastest writer, but you’ll be able to get the kind of success you dream about. That’s another thing. Dream and dream big! Don’t tell yourself it makes you arrogant or delusional. Dreams are what keep you going.

Now, you better listen to the advice given in this letter. In the future, I know a thing or two.

Love,

Future DH Hanni