Yeah, I’m one those utter loonies who has signed up to write a novel in 30 days in November. It’s called National Novel Writing Month and you agree to write 50,000 words in 30 days. 50,000 words is not a novel (seems to be more a novella, I think), but it’s a start.
Now, the completely insanity of this is I haven’t written any words of fiction at all in approximately 18 months. And I promised myself, after having written most of an entire draft of a novel that meandered and didn’t really have an ending that the next time I was going to have a rock-solid outline, by God. I was going to work out the story ahead of time, I was going to make sure that it worked, dammit, before I put one word on paper. You can take detours more easily when you already have the roadmap.
I do not have a finished outline. Hurrah.
I do have, however, 7200 words I didn’t have on October 31. And while I feel exceptionally out of shape writing-wise, it’s actually kind of fun to create again. I keep complaining to my friend Michele (the gadfly who insisted we start checking in with one another in order to keep ourselves on the straight and narrow, writing-wise) that what I’m writing for NaNoWriMo is utter shite.
But, you know: the best novel ever written is the one that’s still in someone’s mind. Putting it down on paper is the real trick.
You know, I don’t have an outline either.
I’m basing my story very roughly on a Japanese folktale, but otherwise I’m utterly plotless.
It’s kind of interesting how destinations and goals just sort of turn up for my character, regardless.
Hey you!! Why aren’t you coming to any of the South Bay NaNo Write-Ins?? There will be one on Thurs. night at Coffee Society across from DeAnza College, and the glorious “halfway through party” will be at my house just south of Prospect on Sunday. Come join the insanity of speed-writing a novel alone in the company of 20 other crazies!
Seriously, congrats on diving into NaNoWriMo — it’s truly one of the marvelous creative kick-starts left, and the shite we produce will make great fertilizer for other endeavors, written or otherwise. Right?
–AnotherDiane, 2-time previous NaNo “winner” who won’t “win” this year but will have fun anyway
Whoa! Didn’t know there was any such thing! I will definitely ask Darin for Thursday night (and considering the amount of my life I’ve spent at Coffee Society…I know where it is, trust me!). Is there a mailing list or something?
I don’t have an outline either… I am just writing different stories with some vague notion of connecting them sometime…???