NaNoWriMo Prep
I am getting stoked for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Less than 36 hours from now, it'll be time to get those first 2,000 words a-going. I am so thrilled to be doing this, and the anticipation is driving me crazy, although the 7 Milky Ways I've downed may be part of that, too. Halloween is for kids? No way, it's for us, too! Anyway, between the web site, a web ring I joined, and a mailing list of area people, I am really looking forward to this. By November 7, when I'm XXX words behind my quota, I may not be so stoked, but . . . . . for now, I'm getting into it. I missed the local kickoff party last night, but have hooked up with the attendees via a mailing list. Nice work to all who went -- it sounded like a great time. I have told my wife about my plans to write this month, so she'll probably understand when I attend the end-of-month celebration -- or is it commiseration -- or is it whine and cry -- get together. Oh well, call it whatever you like, I am getting psyched to start the writing process.
I have another day to work on the outline, and have already fixed a few things in it. My novel is pretty structured, alternative POVs, so I needed to think through a few things to get the right scenes told from the right character's perspective. That required a little rejiggering of the events, as well as a little bit of minor modifications. I decided to kill off one of the minor characters in a less gruesome way than I originally thought. My thinking about the entire outlining things is twofold: 1) This novel already was outlined. I admit, that helped the decision process along quite a bit. 2) This month is for writing, not about thinking about writing. So, outlining is thinking about writing and not writing so I can't do it (much of it) in November. November requires knowing what the next few scenes will be, and being able to move quickly to them, and we hope through them.
I also am looking forward to (though I hope this is not going to take away from my own writing) reading some of the other novel's in process, via Journalers, a National Novel Writing Month web ring. I am listed there (Professor Blog) as are a number of other WriMos. I saw this term on some related site and like it. Wrimos. Sounds like Rhinos. Charging boldly ahead, unstoppable, yeah right. The web ring allows people to communicate, and lists the sites that participants' works in process are being posted. This site will include my works in process. Only one more day of writing about National Novel Writing Month, or writing in general, and then this site can begin to actually contain writing.
On a completely unrelated subject, I have to put in a plug for last night's episode of 24, which may have had one the best 10 scenes in TV history. Keifer Sutherland has been recruited back into the Counter Terrorism Unit, and they have gained custody of a federal witness, who is somehow involved in the terrorist plot that Keifer has to save us from this season, or in 24 parlance, today. So he is talking to this guy, who is a complete waste of skin, a child abuser, child pornographer, whatever, the lowest of the low. Now this guy is to testify against the terrorist, so Keifer has to get some info from this guy to lead him to the terrorist. now Keifer has worked undercover before with the terrorist, which is why he is brought back at all. Anyway, this guy crows to Keifer about how after he testifies he will be back on the street, even though we all realize that he is a major league low life. So instead of talking to him, like you expect, in 3 seconds Keifer has pulled out his gun and shot this low life dead, right in front of Keifer's boss at the Counter Terrorism Unit. This is shocking enough a turn of events, but it really gets interesting when Keifer turns to his boss and says, "We need to get a hacksaw." The episode ended shortly thereafter, so those words will be running around my brain for the next week. "We need to get a hacksaw." This expression almost never means anything good.
Anyway, back to writing, and thanks for letting me detour into a little bit of pop culture. One of the motivators for me this upcoming month is that I do not want to still be getting my 2,000 words out in the evening, because I watch a lot (I mean a LOT) of TV in the evenings. Almost a show per night, although the end of the World Series helps put a damper on a bit of that. So my incentive to myself is that I can't watch 24 (or Alias, or whatever the night's show is) if I am not caught up on my National Novel Writing Month obligations. Again, I have talked to the missus about this and she seemed to dig the premise and "get" the attitude from some pages off the web that I printed for her, so I hope she will let me do my "work" without too much trouble. It's a pretty healthy commitment, but it's only one month. Anyway, that is my motivation. It is also why God made VCRs. I am so behind the times, I don't have a Tivo yet, which would make this whole TV watching process so much easier. But I am rambling. Rambling will be good next month, but is not so good now. Focus, focus, focus.
Okay, so with one more day to trade emails with fellow Wrimos, which I believe will tail off once we begin writing, and one more day to outline and prepare to write, I am ready. Good nights sleep, plenty of caffeine, sharp pencils, pads of paper everywhere, and a willingness to write a bunch of crap. Maybe some good stuff, too, you never know. But the gleeful acceptance of writing crap.
I am getting stoked for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Less than 36 hours from now, it'll be time to get those first 2,000 words a-going. I am so thrilled to be doing this, and the anticipation is driving me crazy, although the 7 Milky Ways I've downed may be part of that, too. Halloween is for kids? No way, it's for us, too! Anyway, between the web site, a web ring I joined, and a mailing list of area people, I am really looking forward to this. By November 7, when I'm XXX words behind my quota, I may not be so stoked, but . . . . . for now, I'm getting into it. I missed the local kickoff party last night, but have hooked up with the attendees via a mailing list. Nice work to all who went -- it sounded like a great time. I have told my wife about my plans to write this month, so she'll probably understand when I attend the end-of-month celebration -- or is it commiseration -- or is it whine and cry -- get together. Oh well, call it whatever you like, I am getting psyched to start the writing process.
I have another day to work on the outline, and have already fixed a few things in it. My novel is pretty structured, alternative POVs, so I needed to think through a few things to get the right scenes told from the right character's perspective. That required a little rejiggering of the events, as well as a little bit of minor modifications. I decided to kill off one of the minor characters in a less gruesome way than I originally thought. My thinking about the entire outlining things is twofold: 1) This novel already was outlined. I admit, that helped the decision process along quite a bit. 2) This month is for writing, not about thinking about writing. So, outlining is thinking about writing and not writing so I can't do it (much of it) in November. November requires knowing what the next few scenes will be, and being able to move quickly to them, and we hope through them.
I also am looking forward to (though I hope this is not going to take away from my own writing) reading some of the other novel's in process, via Journalers, a National Novel Writing Month web ring. I am listed there (Professor Blog) as are a number of other WriMos. I saw this term on some related site and like it. Wrimos. Sounds like Rhinos. Charging boldly ahead, unstoppable, yeah right. The web ring allows people to communicate, and lists the sites that participants' works in process are being posted. This site will include my works in process. Only one more day of writing about National Novel Writing Month, or writing in general, and then this site can begin to actually contain writing.
On a completely unrelated subject, I have to put in a plug for last night's episode of 24, which may have had one the best 10 scenes in TV history. Keifer Sutherland has been recruited back into the Counter Terrorism Unit, and they have gained custody of a federal witness, who is somehow involved in the terrorist plot that Keifer has to save us from this season, or in 24 parlance, today. So he is talking to this guy, who is a complete waste of skin, a child abuser, child pornographer, whatever, the lowest of the low. Now this guy is to testify against the terrorist, so Keifer has to get some info from this guy to lead him to the terrorist. now Keifer has worked undercover before with the terrorist, which is why he is brought back at all. Anyway, this guy crows to Keifer about how after he testifies he will be back on the street, even though we all realize that he is a major league low life. So instead of talking to him, like you expect, in 3 seconds Keifer has pulled out his gun and shot this low life dead, right in front of Keifer's boss at the Counter Terrorism Unit. This is shocking enough a turn of events, but it really gets interesting when Keifer turns to his boss and says, "We need to get a hacksaw." The episode ended shortly thereafter, so those words will be running around my brain for the next week. "We need to get a hacksaw." This expression almost never means anything good.
Anyway, back to writing, and thanks for letting me detour into a little bit of pop culture. One of the motivators for me this upcoming month is that I do not want to still be getting my 2,000 words out in the evening, because I watch a lot (I mean a LOT) of TV in the evenings. Almost a show per night, although the end of the World Series helps put a damper on a bit of that. So my incentive to myself is that I can't watch 24 (or Alias, or whatever the night's show is) if I am not caught up on my National Novel Writing Month obligations. Again, I have talked to the missus about this and she seemed to dig the premise and "get" the attitude from some pages off the web that I printed for her, so I hope she will let me do my "work" without too much trouble. It's a pretty healthy commitment, but it's only one month. Anyway, that is my motivation. It is also why God made VCRs. I am so behind the times, I don't have a Tivo yet, which would make this whole TV watching process so much easier. But I am rambling. Rambling will be good next month, but is not so good now. Focus, focus, focus.
Okay, so with one more day to trade emails with fellow Wrimos, which I believe will tail off once we begin writing, and one more day to outline and prepare to write, I am ready. Good nights sleep, plenty of caffeine, sharp pencils, pads of paper everywhere, and a willingness to write a bunch of crap. Maybe some good stuff, too, you never know. But the gleeful acceptance of writing crap.
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