Its all about putting the time in and pounding out words. Refinement is for second drafts, make your word count. I wish I could do it as I actually have something in mind this time but there is no way I can make the time to churn out a few thousand words a day right now.

There's a metatalk thread about this very subject. That said I think I am in. I'm user cjorgensen. I'm not sure if what I have planned can be considered fiction, but there you go.

Spreadsheet! List your characters both down the left column and across the top row. Then in each corresponding cell, enter their relationship. Do the easy ones first, as they form the core of your story. Next, the medium difficulty, these heighten the drama. Finally, those that are left are the last act surprises (or left blank cuz, like, not everybody knows everybody).

Do this and you will be writing the next Magnolia.

Oh, and don't forget the in-laws and half-siblings.

God, I wish that I could write even a short story. I'm lucky if I can type a comment without a major grammatical error. Have fun all you articulate people.

I don't know. I have waved off every creative idea I've come up with in the last year (as well as almost everything that wasn't a 'professional' writing assignment for years).

Several years ago, after I had rebounded physically from my CHF but not emotionally, I checked myself into a mental hospital where I was officially diagnosed with Depression. When my '3-day-hold' was dragged out to 11 days, and the Valium had just begun to kick in, I used a pen and a legal pad to finally write out the short sci-fi story that had been in the back of my mind for - omigosh - 20 years. (A variation on the well-worn theme of the "Time Travel Agent" from the POV of the field agent in the present who had to deal with tourists from the future and his attempt to recruit someone to replace him) Never submitted it anywhere, or even typed it out; it was just good enough to know I had moved it from my head to paper.

I also wrote up most of a pitch for a 30-years-later sequel to the '60's comedy "The President's Analyst", but the original's star, James Coburn died before I got to show it to anybody, so it landed in my 'waved off' pile. But that's another story.

After that, I began mentally brainstorming another sci-fi idea (that began with a very punny title and grew into a half-dozen inter-related concepts of varying layers of seriousness) and in '05 I signed up for NaNoWriMo, but I had also decided to move to San Luis Obispo the month before but couldn't start the move until November, totally derailing that effort and it became another 'wave off'. But I didn't forget it; the story was set in a 'near future' and every time something in real life diverged from the future I was planning for it, it came back to mind and I mentally re-outlined it. But I lost the text file I had originally been trying to write it in, and I couldn't find the log-in I'd used for NaNo. So, should I take that idea and run with it or would all the semi-preparation I already have packed into the still-functioning portions of my head be considered cheating?

I do have a regularly scheduled medical check-up scheduled on the 15th that, if my current complaints turn out to represent more trouble than usual (and I haven't felt as worn out as I do now for a long time), it may either totally derail my efforts or put me in a situation where I have nothing else to do (but with a laptop compy instead of a legal pad). And while I'm feeling crappy leading up to the appointment, who knows how much I'll write by then?

Thanks for allowing me to overshare here. About 500 words. I'd need to do this 100 times with characters other than myself to finish the novel. But right now, I'd rather not write about myself. I'd rather write about the Hope-and-Crosby-esque entertainers on a interplanetary UFO tour to entertain the workers at space outposts and help to justify the SyFy Channel's purchase of NASA. Oops, spoilers.

It's all about the word count. Don't worry that much about characters or consistency or even logic. Or even if it seems to fit in with what you've already written.

I....


... might.


Not an impressive word count, is it?

Thanks so much to everyone - this has made me feel much better about my lack of preparedness. 1666.7 words/day is about 3 pages of text. I can do that (well - until I run out of ideas, anyway).

Especial thanks to Ardiril for the spreadsheet suggestion - great idea! I tend to over-complicate everything -- I downloaded Scrivener in the hope that it would "organize" me, then realized it would take weeks to learn how to use it. This is *much* simpler ... :-)

The very best of luck to everyone else who participates. If I actually get this off the ground, I will look for other MetaChatizens to buddy up with ...