A Foible

I've run into a problem with my writing that I foresaw earlier, but hoped it wouldn't be too much of an issue. I'm writing Summer Story in the POV of two different characters (first person present tense, which is brand new to me...I think) and although I have a rough story arc for each character, I haven't planned enough scenes in one of the MC's view. Seriously, I have about 40 scenes sketched out...and about seven or eight of them are in his POV. I need many more scenes for him, and I believe I could plan some if I weren't so pressed for time. As it is, I'm having trouble moving past the parts where I need to put a scene about him in.
I mean, I don't want to just have a couple of scenes for him. I have a lot of info for him and I want to include his voice...plus, it adds tension if I end a chapter in the POV of the other MC in a cliffhanger and then go to the problematic MC's view and write another chapter with another cliffhanger but in a different scenario, and so on.
Right now, I have three separate pages in my WIP that say, "CHAPTER #--CHARACTER NAME" and nothing else.
So...it's bothersome. I'm afraid I'll reach the end of my scenes and not have 50K. And then I won't know what to do until I'm able to plan more.  I am not good a planning under pressure.
Have you ever had a problem like this? Any advice on how to deal with it?

Why a Baby is like a Main Character

1. You created it/him/her (unless you're baby-sitting. In that case, DO NOT CLAIM THIS BABY AS YOUR OWN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A TEENAGER LIKE I AM BECAUSE THAT GIVES PEOPLE A HORRIBLE IMPRESSION. And it's pretty darn weird. And mean. And okay. Just don't plagiarize.)
2. It revels in destruction.
3. It laughs, you laugh. Unless it makes bad jokes. Babies don't usually make jokes, though. Well, I don't know, maybe they do in their own language. If you have a baby making jokes that you can understand, call a scientist. And maybe Good Morning America.

4. If you don't give it any toys to play with (for a character's sake, say, a plot or a conflict) it will become very bored and then proceed to frustrate you.
5. It doesn't always understand the meaning of danger. "No, don't bite that electrical cord." "No, don't date a hungry vampire." "A staircase and slide are two entirely different things!"
6. It can't be all by itself for an extended period of time. Give it a sidekick or a pet or an enemy.
7. It can make you gain weight. Even if you aren't pregnant, you may often find yourself reverting to chocolate as a form of stress reliever to all things MC/evil child.
8. You want some quiet time? Too bad.
9. It may not always obey your every command. It may never obey your commands. It may even do the exact opposite of what you command.
10. It likes to break things, be it your mother's favorite vase or another character's heart.

Pain, Boredom, and Rent

Just an update about what I'm doing right now, since I haven't been online in several days and it feels like a month. In reality, it was probably less than a week. Yeah, this will probably bore you.

I have tendonitis (so gross, sorry) in my right hand, which, incidentally, is my writing hand. It kind of hurts. 

I've fallen far behind on my Camp NaNoWriMo goal. This is for the same reason that I've been MIA: computers suck. 

Wow, my hand really hurts. 

Right now it's pretty early. Actually, not anymore, but I've been up for a while and that makes me happy. It's been a while since I've been able to get up this early and I'm hoping to get into the habit. I'm trying to figure out what to do today. I want to go for a run, but I've never actually gone running around my neighborhood before. Is that something people still do? I never see runners outside. 

I'm also going to write today, of course. I (briefly) considered trying another 10K day, because that's pretty much how far behind I am, but then I realized that is a terrible idea (see my rant here). NaNo says I need 2,106 words written each day to make my goal, so that's what I'll try. Who knows, maybe I'll even get 3,000.

I'm a little worried about inspiration/motivation, though. A lot of my inspiration comes from movies. I'm a movie junkie. I've been watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so far, and they're fitting in well, but they're getting kind of old. (That reminds me: I have to go buy the most recent POC. Especially because it has mermaids and that's kind of a prime component of Summer Story.) Do you guys have any ocean-y mermaid-y movies to suggest? No Aquamarine or Little Mermaid* please. Is there anything good in the theaters? I've seen MIB 3 (good) and Dark Shadows (not so good) so far. I plan on seeing the Avengers soon, so don't scold me. I wanted to see Snow White and the Huntsman, but I've heard some negative reviews on that, so I don't know if it's worth the money right now. Any suggestions?

OMG (squeal) Rent is on tv. Must go now. Talk to me about writing goals and movies and anything really below. TTFN. 

*I love the Little Mermaid. It's my favorite Disney princess movie, which is a big deal because I'm a huge fan of the Disney princess movies. Actually, I love most of the animated Disney movies besides Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Cars. I've seen the Little Mermaid, though, and I'm looking for something new.

Don't Try This at Home, Kids

Camp NaNoWriMo, Day 6
Yesterday, obviously, was Day 5
Yesterday I tried to do a 10K day to catch up. I didn't succeed, but I didn't fail miserably. I wrote a little over 7K words. The last and only other  time I tried a 10K day, I wrote about 8K words in a day.
I didn't like that day--when I wrote 8K words in less than 24 hours--and I remembered yesterday just why I didn't enjoy it.
1. It burns you out. The first time I tried it, which was during NaNoWriMo, I got writer's block for five days. I don't have writer's block now, but I'm not on top of things. My brain still feels a little bit like a slushy, so I have to take a break.
2. You write wrong. I know the whole point of NaNo is to get the words down, don't censor yourself, just put the bones down. I think there should be some excitement left, even if you know you're doing it all wrong, but there isn't for me when I try to write that much in one day. I just feel really crappy. I'm overwhelmed by my wrong words because I've written so many of them.
3. You move too fast. For me, a writer who takes three years to write her first novel, moving at such a rapid speed is terrifying. I feel like my pacing is all wrong, like my scenes are too short. Should I really be here already? Am I forgetting something? (Yes, even though I've got it all planned out, I still feel like I'm forgetting something. I probably am, because I didn't pause to contemplate it. I forgot some piece of vital information.) I don't like it.

10K days are obviously not for me. This is probably not the last time that I'll attempt one. I'll forget one day just how terrible they are to me, and try it again. I mean, hey, there are people who can write 20K words in a day. 10K shouldn't be that hard, then.

Someone please smack me if they catch me considering to put myself through this again.

There are a few good things about 10K days. Your word count goes way up. You get to those juicy scenes that you've been just dying to write. You learn discipline. On my first 10K day, I remember relying heavily on Write or Die, and ending up with a bunch of incorrect sentences or fragments full of typos. I don't know how many typos I made yesterday, but I didn't have to open Write or Die, as much of a wonderful program it is, once. That's something.

So today, campers are supposed to be at 10K. That puts 3K on my agenda for tonight. I'm not the best at math, but I think that's significantly less than 7K, so I'll probably be okay. How are you doing with your goals?

I Mean Business

I have the entire beginning of my novel planned and the entire end. There's just a few scenes in the middle that aren't written yet. So I'm thinking that I should just start writing. Sure, I'll be stumped when I get to those scenes, but I'm hoping that what I have before then will provide me with enough words to complete my NaNoWriMo goal. If not, I could skip ahead and write the ending.
-Deep breath.-
Okay. Tonight, I shall force myself into bed at the wee hour of eight o'clock. Tomorrow, I'm going to get up at dawn. I hope this works, because today I slept in for an outrageously long time. I think I dozed for fifteen hours. Crazy, huh? And it was just because I was having an interesting dream.
Back to the point: According to the NaNo progress chart, I should already be at almost 7,000 words. So, I'm going to set my goals high and write until my brain melts. A 10K day sounds plausible, yeah?

The Raven Boys

Maggie Stiefvater's next book will be released soon, as evidence of this new trailer. Watch it. It's pretty, isn't it? And the book looks so unique, unlike anything I've ever read, and very Maggie-esque. I'm pretty excited. The first couple of chapters are up somewhere, too. I haven't read them yet because the anticipation would quite literally kill me, but if you are the patient type (or impatient, either works) you should definitely check it out!

Character Troubles and Abnormal Writing Techniques

So my June word count is still zero, and my novel is still about ten to twenty scenes short. I'm hoping that maybe later tonight or early tomorrow I will finish my plot.
Anyway, I'm going to share with you a part of my process. It's weird, okay? Don't judge. When I'm trying to figure out something, be it a plot twist, a character's life, etc, I like to do it on paper. When I have a question, I don't sit and ponder it. Instead, I write it down on paper and look at it later, and then I'm usually able to have an epiphany and answer it.
My characters for my new novel have been annoying me. They grow silent when I need them the most. So I've taken to yelling at them. Here's what is looks like on paper (literally):
To my first main character, Tara.

WHAT DO YOU WANT, TARA?

EVEN THAN KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS. 

COME ON. 

SPILL. 

WHAT DRIVES YOU EVERYDAY?

IT'S NOT YOUR MOM; SHE'S DEAD, DUH.

CAN'T CRY FOR YOUR MOMMY. 

I KNOW YOU LIKE THAN.

PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE THAT PATHETIC. 

YOU HAVE TO WANT SOMETHING ELSE. 

SOMETHING LESS CONCRETE. 

SOMETHING YOU'LL NEVER GET. 

TELL ME. 

I COULD KILL YOU, YOU KNOW. 

DON'T MAKE THIS A TRAGEDY. 

TRAGEDIES ARE OVERPLAYED. 

READY TO TALK YET? NO?

OH? YOU WANT PEOPLE TO LIKE YOU FOR YOU?

UH...LET ME SEE...

THIS COULD BE WHAT DRIVES YOU TO STAY IN THE WATER...

UM. OKAY. FINE. WE'LL TRY IT. 

BUT IF IT'S NOT RIGHT, I'LL BE BACK. 

OKAY. 

BE WARNED. 

And that was me trying to figure out character motivation. And here's me trying to figure out how my other main character, Than, handles life.

THAN OWENS, TALK TO ME.
YOU WANT TO LEAVE. OKAY, I GET IT. YOU WANT TO LEAVE ON A BOAT UNDER YOUR NAME. 'KAY. HOW YOU GONNA DO THAT? OH, HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S A FISH. YOU LIKED HER BEFORE SHE WAS A FISH--WHICH YOU'LL NEVER ADMIT--AND YOU KNEW SHE WAS A FISH WHEN YOU STARTED DATING HER. HOW DOES THIS EFFECT YOU? YOU'RE A FISHERMAN, DAMMIT. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH SECRETS? WHAT IF YOU'RE FISHING AND YOU ACCIDENTALLY CATCH A MERROW? NO, NOT A MINNOW. A MERROW. AS IN, YOUR GIRLFRIEND. HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE TO COVER FOR HER BECAUSE SHE'S SUCH A BAD LIAR? HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE TO PICK HER UP LATE AT NIGHT FROM THE BEACH BECAUSE SHE COULDN'T HELP HERSELF? YOU'RE AN ENABLER, DUDE. YOU HAVE WANTS AND DREAMS, TOO. AND PROBLEMS. WHAT ABOUT YOUR HEART? YOU FATHERS HEART? THEY'RE TAKING YOUR MONEY SLOWLY BECAUSE OF THE HOSPITAL BILLS. SURE, YOU'RE HAPPY WHEN YOU'RE WITH TARA, BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE NOT WITH HER? BESIDES, SHE'S CHANGING. ALL SHE CARES ABOUT ANYMORE IS THE SEA. YOU CAN'T TALK TO HER. SO ANYWAY, THIS BOAT YOUR NEIGHBOR GAVE YOU. MAYBE, NOW IF YOU CAN FIX IT QUICKLY, YOU CAN FIX EVERYTHING ELSE. YOUR FATHER. BUT NO MONEY. WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ARE YOU WILLING TO DO FOR MONEY? YOU'RE AN HONEST MAN, SO NOTHING ILLEGAL, OF COURSE. MAYBE TAKE EXTRA SHIFTS, SELL YOUR STUFF...

Okay, so obviously, Than Owens is much harder for me to pinpoint than Tara O'Sullivan. I did figure some information out from doing this, though: a couple of scenes, some of the character's thoughts, reactions.
This probably doesn't make sense to the world completely outside of my head. I probably seem crazy. I'm not. I'm just a writer who is seriously pressed on time and can't get straight answers from her characters. Yeah, I'm kind of harsh on my MCs. Squeezing lemon juice into their wounds...torture shouldn't always be the answer, unless you're in as much of a pickle that I'm in.
NaNoWriMo has begun. Still no progress.

I, uh, forgot to pack my...

Plot. I forgot to pack my plot.
"Huh?" You ask, scratching the side of your head.
Well, today is June 1st--otherwise known as the beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo. It's like the normal NaNoWriMo, but in the summer and with cabins full of other writers.
The writers in my cabin are probably happily building their word counts and chatting with each other right now. Well, okay, they're probably in their beds, deeply asleep, dreaming about words and stories. It's nearly 3 am as I write this, and since I have an abnormal fear of the hour 3 am, I refuse to go to bed until 4. I'm thinking, though, that I'll just pull an all-nighter. It's summer.
I'm not writing though. I'm hiding out behind the dining hall at camp, biting my nails.
What's my problem?
I FORGOT TO PACK MY PLOT.

My cat, Christopher Robin, trying not to laugh at me as he lounges on all there is of my WIP. 

So. I recently finished my first manuscript, and immediately began planning my next novel because Camp was just a couple of days away. It seems it takes me slightly longer than a couple of days to plan a novel. I am definitely NOT a pantser. Not even slightly.
I must have every single scene plotted before I can write the novel, or I get terrible writer's block mixed with the anxiety that this idea might not be novel worthy. This is part of the reason why it took me three years to finish my first manuscript. I had the beginning, the climax, the end, and a bunch of scenes in between that I wanted to get to. I even made lists (especially when I had writer's block) of the sequence of events. I really didn't get very far in my novel until I realized that my problem was I had events, but I didn't have a detailed enough outline. So I wrote a summary of each day that the novel took place over, including all of the scenes.
I'm approaching my SummerStory slightly differently, but it's fundamentally the same. Right now, it's twenty scenes scribbled on twenty note cards, chronologically placed on my floor while I try to fill in the large gaps in between.
It's not quite ready to be written yet. Getting there. Just, not yet.
I never imagined planning a new novel would be so scary. How did I ever do this before?
Okay, I'm going to quite literally crack my knuckles and get back to plotting now. It's raining. Maybe that'll inspire me.

So how about you? How do you plan for a novel? Are you doing Camp NaNoWriMo? (: