NOVEL FAIL!

I made it to 23,000-plus words and then life got in the way (and, I think, the story gave way), but I am good with the attempt. I think I know how to achieve 50,000 words in a month (NOT November, being the first of the rules), and one of the most important realizations for me was that I must write everything--even the kitchen sink (first written as sync--oh dear); also, my story is an interesting one, though it doesn't need 50,000 words to tell it, so I need a different kind of text next year.

Good things. I am most happy.

All I have to say is

Bleeg bleeg bleeg!

That's the sound of my brain trying to develop plot and flesh out characters in a really, really big hurry.

Bad Intentions

And meanwhile, I haven't written a blessed thing in days. It's not a got stuck point, as I am fairly sure I know where I'm going (that is probably the problem, realistically), it's more of a "lost motivation" problem. And procrastination.

I need a kick in the pants to get started again.

Standing there

Staring at a doorway that she needs to walk through. I have been avoiding a particular plot point for, oh, I don't know... 3000 words or so? Building tension, right?

Actually, I'm scared to death to have to write what's on the other side of that dad-gum door, so I've been writing in circles for days. Anyone want to offer up a kick in the pants?

Speaking of music

Currently, my writing playlist includes (when it doesn't require complete silence):

• K's Choice
• Coldplay
• Annie Lennox
• Mindy Smith
• Keane (who's tune "Somewhere Only We Know" makes a cameo in the novel)
• Travis
• Blue Merle
• Johnny Cash
• Gillian Welch
• Fiona Apple
• David Gray
• Bo Deans

And, of course, Massive Attack.

Maybe this is why my work so far is a fun blend of apocalyptic fantasy and surrealism.

Feeling a Bit Daft

Probably should have read the homepage before complaining about Nanowrimo and uploading.

Somewhere around 4000+ words now; expect to be fully caught up tonight. Am discovering that I'm taking a "kitchen sink" approach to novel writing. Hey, I can always cut it down later, right?

Sort of a punk rock Faust thing going on. With dashes of opera.

*crickets chirping*

Oh yeah, no real surprise there, eh?

Watch us spin.

Go ladies, go!

Okay, my first line ended up on the cheesy side of awesome. Plus, the grammar sucks. But NO editing, right? Right?!?

"Darkness isn’t anything more than all of the colors of the invisible light spectrum taking a nap."

And I've officially written, on Day 1, 2186 words. Go me. But... I forgot (until I read kr's post) to upload to the website. Completely self-absorbed in the whole "I'm so rusty I can't remember how to spell spectrum." I did, however, find some cool snippets in my old short-story folder - a paragraph or two - with some concepts that I might steal. Fun times.

When Good Novels Go Bad

Nanowrimo is driving me insane. It will not let me update my word count, and I need that kind of gratification, damnit.

I'm at 1995 right now (oh, the jokes that could be made), since I just started today. And, glory be, this sucker is bad.

I'm loving it.

Giving it a whirl

Okay, my new favorite phrase: "exuberant imperfection." Yeah, I know, weird (and paradoxical). I haven't yet decided how to begin my novel - and I might not until I sit down in front of my trusty PowerBook and begin my 30 days of non-obsessive imperfection.

Two days. TWO DAYS. Tap, tap, tap... (thump thump)

My current goal is to not Facebook (or blog - - sorry guys) more than I actually write. Gotta avoid that whole procrastination thing, at least this month.

Call Me Solitary

I suspect we'll all begin differently, and I'll let my co-bloggers introduce themselves and announce their intentions separately, but I'm using the old-faithful novel start of the first line, in part because I am a devotee of Herman Melville and Frantz Kafka, though I expect I'll never live up to "Call me Ishmael" or "When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monsterous insect."

That's good stuff. As one of my colleagues would say, those are real "nutgrabbers."

In my own, decidedly less brilliant case, the first line, culled from my notebook of randomity, is

The end of the forgetting came before anyone thought to look for it.

We'll see where we go from here.

NanoWriMo

Like at least a bazillion other folks with more time than sense, we've decided to join NaNoWriMo and quest for 50,000 reasonably coherent words in the shape of a novel during the month of November.

In theory, while tracking down and corralling those pesky little devils, we (my co-bloggers, in whatever number we end up and I) will update here about relative success, failure, and, perhaps, the occasional plea for sanity and/or suggestions.

First up...a subject. We'll begin on Nov. 1!!