Okay, so NaNo starts (for me, at least) in about thirteen and a half hours.
The more I think about it, the less I know what I'm going to write. I mean, I seem to remember a couple weeks ago the beginnings of a clear idea, and now it's all gone. I have only the vaguest notion now of what I might write, and I wish I could just start; I worry that even that will vanish before tomorrow.
It'll be okay. I didn't know what I was writing last year, and that turned out all right (cracktastic, certainly, but all right). I'll figure it out as I go along.
It's just a bit annoying to know that I had an idea and somehow lost it. And it's not that I really forgot it (although I did a little) so much as it turned from something I would write into something I really wouldn't. Woe and sadness.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
preparation
NaNoWriMo preparation for me involves thinking about everything but my novel. Honestly, I've learned from experience that planning things out never works for me (for NaNo at least), and it's better to just start with a character or two (or a few) and perhaps a vague idea (optional).
I've been an ML for the past couple years, so preparing for that takes up some of my time (probably not as much as it should; I always put it off and then feel woefully unprepared when we start meeting).
No, my NaNo preparation mostly involves thinking about music, drinks, and food (not necessarily in that order).
Thinking about drinks involves hunting down new and delicious teas to try, pondering whether I should purchase celebratory reaching-50k champagne now and chance being tempted to use it for writing fuel at around 15k instead of any other alcoholic delights I'll have on hand, and trying to find my favorite chai recipe.
Thinking about music involves making playlists. Lots and lots of playlists that I inevitably end up not even listening to while I'm writing because I get sucked into obsessively listening to just one artist instead. One artist who is inevitably named Nick Cave.
And food is what I have been thinking about this week. I bought a few not-too-unhealthy snacks a couple days ago and will get some more at Uwajimaya and Trader Joe's before noveling commences. What I really need to do is find recipes for things I can make big batches of on the weekends and eat for a week. I've half-heartedly tried to do this in the past and then given up before the month is out which tends to lead to me just not eating while I'm doing NaNo or getting a bunch of take-out. Not ideal! So this year I'm going to stick with it. And I think I'll do better. I've gotten much better at cooking in the past year (perhaps the acquisition of this apron helped, or perhaps I'm just not so lazy). So. Recipes. I must find them.
It's hard to believe we're halfway through October already.
I've been an ML for the past couple years, so preparing for that takes up some of my time (probably not as much as it should; I always put it off and then feel woefully unprepared when we start meeting).
No, my NaNo preparation mostly involves thinking about music, drinks, and food (not necessarily in that order).
Thinking about drinks involves hunting down new and delicious teas to try, pondering whether I should purchase celebratory reaching-50k champagne now and chance being tempted to use it for writing fuel at around 15k instead of any other alcoholic delights I'll have on hand, and trying to find my favorite chai recipe.
Thinking about music involves making playlists. Lots and lots of playlists that I inevitably end up not even listening to while I'm writing because I get sucked into obsessively listening to just one artist instead. One artist who is inevitably named Nick Cave.
And food is what I have been thinking about this week. I bought a few not-too-unhealthy snacks a couple days ago and will get some more at Uwajimaya and Trader Joe's before noveling commences. What I really need to do is find recipes for things I can make big batches of on the weekends and eat for a week. I've half-heartedly tried to do this in the past and then given up before the month is out which tends to lead to me just not eating while I'm doing NaNo or getting a bunch of take-out. Not ideal! So this year I'm going to stick with it. And I think I'll do better. I've gotten much better at cooking in the past year (perhaps the acquisition of this apron helped, or perhaps I'm just not so lazy). So. Recipes. I must find them.
It's hard to believe we're halfway through October already.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
concept, characters, crap
Concept
Last year for NaNo I wrote a completely ridiculous novel about people's dreams changing the world around them. It made absolutely no sense. It constantly referenced Neil Patrick Harris and Robert Goulet. It was, to put it eloquently, utter shit.
Anyway, there was a relatively minor character named Bastian who, I believe, appeared in the novel simply because a friend of mine said something like, "I really like the name Bastian. You should have a hot character named Bastian in your novel." So I did. He seemed fun. At the time I thought that maybe I could use him in something again someday.
And I think I'm going to do so this year. Of course, October isn't even half over, and I'm pretty sure I've never actually written anything for NaNo that I thought of this far before November, so things might change completely. But I like pretending that I know what I'm up to, so for the moment that's what I'll do.
The setting will probably be the same as last year's novel (Bastian lived in Seattle), although it might not be quite the same universe in general and shouldn't really be a sequel to that book. It might have something to do with fairy tales or folklore, stereotypes, and the acceptance of oneself as a character in one's own life instead of an observer of others' lives. I imagine it'll be some sort of adventure/urban fantasy/comedy/romance. A Frankenstory, if you will. At the moment it's titled Bastian Bobertsson and the Terribly Inconvenient Adventure.
Characters
As of now, the only characters I really know are nabbed from last year's novel. There's another who is vaguely showing up in my head, but I don't know enough about him yet to have anything to say.
Bastian is 20-something, conscientious, calculating, distant, and mildly psychic. He likes numbers, green tea, and not getting involved; he also likes feeling helpful which tends to make him get involved anyway. He has an open mind. His world, by both choice and circumstance, is very small.
Bobert is Bastian's father. He has no arms, although whether he was born without or lost them at some point is, as of now, unknown. He seems friendly, but his father insists that he is quite mean. He doesn't talk much.
Shirley is Bobert's father and Bastian's grandfather. He runs an import shop in Pike Place Market that is a front for a sort of supernatural charity.
Evelyn is Shirley's twin brother. He is a librarian and fancies himself a wizard.
Crap
Seriously, this will probably be utter crap.
Last year for NaNo I wrote a completely ridiculous novel about people's dreams changing the world around them. It made absolutely no sense. It constantly referenced Neil Patrick Harris and Robert Goulet. It was, to put it eloquently, utter shit.
Anyway, there was a relatively minor character named Bastian who, I believe, appeared in the novel simply because a friend of mine said something like, "I really like the name Bastian. You should have a hot character named Bastian in your novel." So I did. He seemed fun. At the time I thought that maybe I could use him in something again someday.
And I think I'm going to do so this year. Of course, October isn't even half over, and I'm pretty sure I've never actually written anything for NaNo that I thought of this far before November, so things might change completely. But I like pretending that I know what I'm up to, so for the moment that's what I'll do.
The setting will probably be the same as last year's novel (Bastian lived in Seattle), although it might not be quite the same universe in general and shouldn't really be a sequel to that book. It might have something to do with fairy tales or folklore, stereotypes, and the acceptance of oneself as a character in one's own life instead of an observer of others' lives. I imagine it'll be some sort of adventure/urban fantasy/comedy/romance. A Frankenstory, if you will. At the moment it's titled Bastian Bobertsson and the Terribly Inconvenient Adventure.
Characters
As of now, the only characters I really know are nabbed from last year's novel. There's another who is vaguely showing up in my head, but I don't know enough about him yet to have anything to say.
Bastian is 20-something, conscientious, calculating, distant, and mildly psychic. He likes numbers, green tea, and not getting involved; he also likes feeling helpful which tends to make him get involved anyway. He has an open mind. His world, by both choice and circumstance, is very small.
Bobert is Bastian's father. He has no arms, although whether he was born without or lost them at some point is, as of now, unknown. He seems friendly, but his father insists that he is quite mean. He doesn't talk much.
Shirley is Bobert's father and Bastian's grandfather. He runs an import shop in Pike Place Market that is a front for a sort of supernatural charity.
Evelyn is Shirley's twin brother. He is a librarian and fancies himself a wizard.
Crap
Seriously, this will probably be utter crap.
on having no purpose
I don't care about being published.
There. I said it.
It's a secret I have; I don't like mentioning it to people because doing so always makes me feel odd and like I have something to apologize for. "I'm sorry that I like to write but don't care about being a published author. Yes, of course there must be something wrong with me."
I just like writing for what it is. I liked making up stories when I was six; I liked writing stories using spelling words in fifth grade; I liked writing fanfic when I was sixteen; I liked writing terrible novels for the past five Novembers. But I've never been serious about it. Is it so wrong to write with no goal beyond enjoying myself? Must we always think that things are only worth doing if we get something out of it?
This isn't just about NaNoWriMo or writing, of course. I feel like I take life in general much less seriously than a lot of people around me. Of course, I do like having purpose in my life, but I hate when I'm made to feel guilty that my life isn't filled with meaning 24 hours a day.
I like taking long baths and reading trashy romance novels and spending the evening on the internets and, yes, writing just because it can be rather fun.
So there.
There. I said it.
It's a secret I have; I don't like mentioning it to people because doing so always makes me feel odd and like I have something to apologize for. "I'm sorry that I like to write but don't care about being a published author. Yes, of course there must be something wrong with me."
I just like writing for what it is. I liked making up stories when I was six; I liked writing stories using spelling words in fifth grade; I liked writing fanfic when I was sixteen; I liked writing terrible novels for the past five Novembers. But I've never been serious about it. Is it so wrong to write with no goal beyond enjoying myself? Must we always think that things are only worth doing if we get something out of it?
This isn't just about NaNoWriMo or writing, of course. I feel like I take life in general much less seriously than a lot of people around me. Of course, I do like having purpose in my life, but I hate when I'm made to feel guilty that my life isn't filled with meaning 24 hours a day.
I like taking long baths and reading trashy romance novels and spending the evening on the internets and, yes, writing just because it can be rather fun.
So there.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
nanowrimo
So this will be where I keep track of NaNoish things this year - not where I actually post any of my novel (that, as always, is a secret location few know about), but where I generally keep track of things and talk about whether the day sucked or not, etc. And maybe I'll post a bit of actual writing now and then.
Just thought it would be nice to have somewhere more public for this sort of thing this year, just in case anyone out there cares.
Just thought it would be nice to have somewhere more public for this sort of thing this year, just in case anyone out there cares.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
