Paul Schiernecker

Tag: amwriting

  • Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 24

    Day 24 of Camp NaNoWriMo 2016. 38,000 words in.
    The countdown is saying I’m going to finish on the 1st August which is technically outside of July. Once you’re into August it’s time up. That means I need to write more words than I currently am. I’ve never taken part in Camp NaNoWriMo and not won so I think my pride will get the better of me and I’ll really push this thing along before next Sunday.

    There have been some days this week when I didn’t write at all. It’s not so much that the story is stuck, simply that I’ve had other stuff on, which is fine. Then the weekend comes along and I’ve got more time to myself. I can sit and write and get on with things. I’ve written 2,400 already and I’m going to try and smash out a couple more.

    I hit a point this morning where suddenly everything that happens from here on in makes a lot of sense. I wrote a plot-point in today and it all feeds in. I get where the characters are going. It’s definitely not going to be finished at 50,000 words. If I hit 50k before the end of the month then I’ll be really pleased with myself. If I can spend evenings this week going beyond that point and getting the story finished as well then that’s fantastic. It’s probably going to be closer to 70k. That’s a lot. When you consider I’ve only written 8,000 this week I know I’m going to be hard pushed. I am a sucker for punishment though.

    I hope all of your projects are going well and that you’re looking forward to finishing and indulging yourselves a little bit.

    Peace.

  • Camp NaNoWriMo 2016 – week 1

    As ever I’ve driven myself to distraction with my writing. It’s day ten today and I’ve already hit 20,000 words. What makes this year and this Camp different is that I have not lived the experiences I am writing about.

    For the last three years I have used November to write my travel journals from the annual charity treks I do. That’s where Yallah came from and in time the Peru book and Grand Canyon book should follow. I’ve taken a different tact and decided to write a sci-fi having undertaken very little research and with little planning – it’s very much a flying by the seat of my pants job. The cool thing is that it seems to be working. My friend Lottie called me out for always writing subservient female characters so I’ve not only written two powerful female leads but also have not boasted about the size of their tits once. Now that’s progress ladies.

    I’m enjoying this project and, as ever, it is interesting to see where my mind sends me off to. There are so many different ways it can go and I don’t yet have an ending but I have an interesting arc, good characters, and shit is about to go down.

    Love you.