Before I undertook the NaNoWriMo challenge, there was another challenge I had to complete:
When I was much younger, and the dreams of being a writer were equally young I read John Gardner's The Art of Fiction; it was probably the very first book on fiction writing I ever read. It went soundly over my head (I knew next to nothing about literary theory back then), and it almost put me off writing for good. In the book, Gardner (a guy I idolized after reading Grendel in a high school literature class) writes that most writing by students is complete and utter shit and that there is little hope of improvement... at least that's how I interpreted the book back then. The book defeated me, and it was unfortunate because I stopped writing because of it.
Fast-forward to October 2011; I decided to re-read Gardner's book, determined to see if I was wrong about my youthful assessment... I was. Gardner's Art of Fiction had a lot to do with me participating in NaNoWriMo, it inspired me - his message was clear: all student writing is complete and utter shit with little or no hope of improvement, unless you use his strategies and techniques to harness your voice and craft fiction as art. Fiction as art... that I could get behind, and I was determined not to prove Gardner wrong but to create the biggest, heftiest, smelliest piece of fiction shit I could write.
Cheers!
About Me
- Mr. G
- Dan Garcia resides in San Antonio, Texas, in a household ruled by a dog and a cat. These benign overlords allow Garcia, his wife, and two daughters to live with them so long as they are served unquestioningly. The dog and cat compel Garcia to write stories of imaginative fiction and fantasy; their rationale being: the potential for supplementary income from the sale of these stories means the possibility of more treats and toys for them. Thus, when not at work at the San Antonio Public Library, Garcia is permitted to craft his tales despite the fact that this activity limits his availability for scratching and petting. Hell-Kind is Garcia’s first novel which he was allowed to type because of his opposable thumbs and agile digits; the dog and cat did all of the actual heavy-lifting for the story, and are not particularly concerned with receiving credit for the book.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
NaNoWriMo Kick Off Day
NaNoWriMo kick off day was November 1, 2011, and the Central Library served as the venue for the regional slice of the event. I was nervous to attend, I don't know entirely why that was and I actually forced myself to attend even though I'd already decided that I would. Originally the kick off was slated to take place in a little meeting room on the 2nd floor of the library; board room style with not a whole lot of space to accommodate more than a few attendees... I was wondering what the coordinators would do if they got more than a handful of writers. The day before the kick off the location changed to a little meeting room on the 5th floor of the library; board room style with not a whole lot of space... well, I'm sure you get the picture. Why did this happen?
Turns out a large rental event was scheduled to take place the same night as the modest little NaNoWriMo send off, and this event had some serious clout and steam behind it. Fiesta San Antonio is a big deal around here; a really big deal, and the annual poster unveiling is one of those society events that consumes anything and everything around it like Cookie Monster in a bakery... especially a little gathering of would-be writers who rank just a little above shit on the bottom of your shoe. The Fiesta SA poster unveiling was replete with all the thing I enjoy avoiding - a catered hullabaloo, attended by SA "royalty" and politicos and hob-nobbers and elbow-rubbers with enough smiley glad-handing and artificial skin tones to make a baby weep with fear.
Fortunately someone came to his/her senses and the little NaNoWriMo thing was moved to the Story Room on the 3rd floor which has more than ample space for a fair number of unwashed, wanna-be authors to congregate in relative safety; away from the hubbub of the Fiesta SA crowd. Aside from a lack of available outlets for laptop power cords and a funky table arrangement, the kick off was a lot of fun. I lugged my archaic Dell notebook with me (which is just barely below the cut off of portable weight), and picked a place to sit next to a groovy-looking dude I would come to know (in brief acquaintance only) as J-Neg, a 2010 NaNoWriMo winner. Seated across from me, a young lady of meek countenance but fetching smile who I would come to also only briefly acquaint myself - Amaikokonut. Handsome Jim, the Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo in San Antonio gave a rousing pep talk, and a pair of local authors chimed in with some sage advice (honestly, I can't remember who they were... horrible, I know). We were joined a bit late in the presentation by my friend, Liana (MsDalloway is her WriMo handle), and her presence bolstered my spirits - I was just a little intimidated by sitting next to a previous year winner (I would later learn that Amaikokonut has not only participated in three previous NaNoWriMo events, she "won" the last two years).
I was impressed by the company I was surround by, and even though the sounds of the Fiesta SA event happening just a pair of floors below us kept invading the room (the Central Library has an atrium running up the middle of the building which acts like a huge sound cone and amplifier - sounds from below bellow up the atrium and blow out everything), when the green light went on I battered the keys of my Dell and put my shoulder to the wheel - the story wanted out, and bolstered by the sounds of Pink Floyd lilting from my earbuds, I got out of the gate with a strong start: over 3,000 words in the first sitting, and another 2,000 when I got home later... a 7,000 word lead really did me a lot of good.
So, what did I learn from attending the kick off event? 1.) I need a much better WriMo handle (my dork-dom was sealed when I introduced myself to my table mates as, "dangarciasatx"... total geek); 2.) sitting with previous year winners made me throw down my best (my pride swelled a bit as I packed up my gear, and was asked how far I got. The gasps when I reported my 3,000 word start was all I needed); and 3.) "Whatever you think you are, you are more than that." That's what the sticker I was given at the event said on it, and I took it to heart; I've since adopted it as my personal mantra.
Next: Memoirs from November: pages from the old-fashioned journal...
Turns out a large rental event was scheduled to take place the same night as the modest little NaNoWriMo send off, and this event had some serious clout and steam behind it. Fiesta San Antonio is a big deal around here; a really big deal, and the annual poster unveiling is one of those society events that consumes anything and everything around it like Cookie Monster in a bakery... especially a little gathering of would-be writers who rank just a little above shit on the bottom of your shoe. The Fiesta SA poster unveiling was replete with all the thing I enjoy avoiding - a catered hullabaloo, attended by SA "royalty" and politicos and hob-nobbers and elbow-rubbers with enough smiley glad-handing and artificial skin tones to make a baby weep with fear.
Fortunately someone came to his/her senses and the little NaNoWriMo thing was moved to the Story Room on the 3rd floor which has more than ample space for a fair number of unwashed, wanna-be authors to congregate in relative safety; away from the hubbub of the Fiesta SA crowd. Aside from a lack of available outlets for laptop power cords and a funky table arrangement, the kick off was a lot of fun. I lugged my archaic Dell notebook with me (which is just barely below the cut off of portable weight), and picked a place to sit next to a groovy-looking dude I would come to know (in brief acquaintance only) as J-Neg, a 2010 NaNoWriMo winner. Seated across from me, a young lady of meek countenance but fetching smile who I would come to also only briefly acquaint myself - Amaikokonut. Handsome Jim, the Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo in San Antonio gave a rousing pep talk, and a pair of local authors chimed in with some sage advice (honestly, I can't remember who they were... horrible, I know). We were joined a bit late in the presentation by my friend, Liana (MsDalloway is her WriMo handle), and her presence bolstered my spirits - I was just a little intimidated by sitting next to a previous year winner (I would later learn that Amaikokonut has not only participated in three previous NaNoWriMo events, she "won" the last two years).
I was impressed by the company I was surround by, and even though the sounds of the Fiesta SA event happening just a pair of floors below us kept invading the room (the Central Library has an atrium running up the middle of the building which acts like a huge sound cone and amplifier - sounds from below bellow up the atrium and blow out everything), when the green light went on I battered the keys of my Dell and put my shoulder to the wheel - the story wanted out, and bolstered by the sounds of Pink Floyd lilting from my earbuds, I got out of the gate with a strong start: over 3,000 words in the first sitting, and another 2,000 when I got home later... a 7,000 word lead really did me a lot of good.
So, what did I learn from attending the kick off event? 1.) I need a much better WriMo handle (my dork-dom was sealed when I introduced myself to my table mates as, "dangarciasatx"... total geek); 2.) sitting with previous year winners made me throw down my best (my pride swelled a bit as I packed up my gear, and was asked how far I got. The gasps when I reported my 3,000 word start was all I needed); and 3.) "Whatever you think you are, you are more than that." That's what the sticker I was given at the event said on it, and I took it to heart; I've since adopted it as my personal mantra.
Next: Memoirs from November: pages from the old-fashioned journal...
Monday, November 28, 2011
By the way...
Yesterday I said, "don't think of this blog as a documentary, think of it more like a memoir," or some shit like that... well, I wrote down a lot of my experiences (what I was planning on writing here) in my journal - that's right, the old pen and paper (I'm a dinosaur like that in some respects). Thus, I will begin transcribing some of those entries after tomorrow's regularly scheduled post, and then I'm going to go into a little bit of what I have learned about creating the fictional dream (something I planned to write about back around the 18th of November... but didn't happen).
Okay, good night! =^)
Okay, good night! =^)
In The Beginning...
It all started with a concept I had a few years ago, which came to me in a rather off hand way: I wanted to write a story about a curandero, so essentially Don Alfonso already existed. Who is Don Alfonso? You'll get to meet him once the novel I wrote during November's NaNoWriMo challenge is complete.
I had absolutely no idea that National Novel Writing Month even existed; less so that it had already had twelve previous years of November writing challenges. I spotted a poster promoting National Novel Writing Month sitting on a book truck in the work room of the library where I work, and I was intrigued. I quickly scanned the NaNoWriMo.org website and the idea found a nice seeding area in my brain... it's that same place where all the other stupid ideas I form are nurtured and grown. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was already working on a novel... but the NaNoWriMo rules said not to work on something you were already working on, and since they ran their challenge on the almighty honor system, well... I had no choice but to obey the rules.
So Don Alfonso came straight away into my mind again: this semi-discarded character whom I toyed around with back when I was thinking it was time to start writing again, but never really got around to it. I decided that I would create a loose plot around this character, and in considering the various approaches I had at my disposal, Don Alfonso found himself in the passenger seat and the focal character became a twelve year old boy named, Phillip. For better or worse I was armed for the writing challenge. I did a bit of research, but not very intensive research; I just needed some broad strokes to refresh my memory of the inner workings of the curandero, and I found a lot of interesting source material in the works of Eliseo Torres, Robert T. Trotter II & Juan Antonio Chavira, and Elizabeth De La Portilla... the rest came from childhood memories and imaginative fabrication - this is fiction, people - imagination is the name of the game.
What is a curandero? If you grew up where I did (or any number of places like it), you'd know the answer to that question. For those who do not know: a curandero is a Mexican folk healer. Curanderismo is a complex practice, and it incorporates physical, mental, and spiritual healing techniques; a curandero is healer in the traditional sense, meaning that they practice herbalism and massage and other physical healing techniques, but they are also counselors and spiritual advisers... and when the situation calls for it, they are spiritual warriors (more on that in a minute).
Curanderos heal just about anything and everything that ails you; everything from upset stomachs and sprains, to marital problems and money problems, to hexes and curses and bad luck, and ojo. If you've got a evil spirit working its mean-spirited crap on you, you can count on a good curandero to have your back - the curandero will take on the evil spirit and, often armed with only candles and an egg, will send the evil spirit packing. I can go on and on, really it's complex just like I mentioned a bit ago. If you're at all interested see the books by the authors I mentioned above - you'll learn tons.
So that was it; I was brewing my idea and it was time to wait for November 1 to roll around and for the gate to open. I was ready to start writing and stop making excuses for not writing... it was the "30 days and night of literary abandon" tagline from the NaNoWriMo site that did it. I'm such a sucker...
Next: National Novel Writing Month Kick-Off and the Party in the Background...
I had absolutely no idea that National Novel Writing Month even existed; less so that it had already had twelve previous years of November writing challenges. I spotted a poster promoting National Novel Writing Month sitting on a book truck in the work room of the library where I work, and I was intrigued. I quickly scanned the NaNoWriMo.org website and the idea found a nice seeding area in my brain... it's that same place where all the other stupid ideas I form are nurtured and grown. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was already working on a novel... but the NaNoWriMo rules said not to work on something you were already working on, and since they ran their challenge on the almighty honor system, well... I had no choice but to obey the rules.
So Don Alfonso came straight away into my mind again: this semi-discarded character whom I toyed around with back when I was thinking it was time to start writing again, but never really got around to it. I decided that I would create a loose plot around this character, and in considering the various approaches I had at my disposal, Don Alfonso found himself in the passenger seat and the focal character became a twelve year old boy named, Phillip. For better or worse I was armed for the writing challenge. I did a bit of research, but not very intensive research; I just needed some broad strokes to refresh my memory of the inner workings of the curandero, and I found a lot of interesting source material in the works of Eliseo Torres, Robert T. Trotter II & Juan Antonio Chavira, and Elizabeth De La Portilla... the rest came from childhood memories and imaginative fabrication - this is fiction, people - imagination is the name of the game.
What is a curandero? If you grew up where I did (or any number of places like it), you'd know the answer to that question. For those who do not know: a curandero is a Mexican folk healer. Curanderismo is a complex practice, and it incorporates physical, mental, and spiritual healing techniques; a curandero is healer in the traditional sense, meaning that they practice herbalism and massage and other physical healing techniques, but they are also counselors and spiritual advisers... and when the situation calls for it, they are spiritual warriors (more on that in a minute).
Curanderos heal just about anything and everything that ails you; everything from upset stomachs and sprains, to marital problems and money problems, to hexes and curses and bad luck, and ojo. If you've got a evil spirit working its mean-spirited crap on you, you can count on a good curandero to have your back - the curandero will take on the evil spirit and, often armed with only candles and an egg, will send the evil spirit packing. I can go on and on, really it's complex just like I mentioned a bit ago. If you're at all interested see the books by the authors I mentioned above - you'll learn tons.
So that was it; I was brewing my idea and it was time to wait for November 1 to roll around and for the gate to open. I was ready to start writing and stop making excuses for not writing... it was the "30 days and night of literary abandon" tagline from the NaNoWriMo site that did it. I'm such a sucker...
Next: National Novel Writing Month Kick-Off and the Party in the Background...
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Winner's Circle
One of the things that made me laugh a lot was a bit in The Tick comic book (by Ben Edlund; if you've never read it, treat yourself: http://www.newenglandcomics.com/cgi-bin/shop/loadpage.cgi?file=splash5.htm) where the writer/artist has a page on How to Draw The Tick... it's hilarious. Here's the gag: Edlund instructs you to draw a circle (the starting point of many a fine drawing), he then instructs you to draw The Tick holding the circle, the end! Isn't that great?! No instruction on how to draw The Tick... draw a circle, draw The Tick holding the circle, and you're done - brilliant!
Well, that's exactly how I feel about this blog right about now...
The funny thing about writing about writing while you're writing on a deadline with a definitive goal is that the writing about the writing suffers. Never fear: I still plan on distilling the experience... it won't be a documentary, so think about it more like a memoir.
First things first:
November was a baaaaaad month to undertake a challenge like NaNoWriMo; I think I may have expressed this already. For those of you who know (and those of you who do not), my anniversary is in November and this year my wife and I took off for three days to celebrate. Well, I didn't want to detract from the anniversary celebration by cutting away from the festivities to work on my novel... I wanted the time to be entirely hers, and for her not to feel like she was only receiving my divided attention; that would be so uncool, I would have felt like a complete heel.
Also, as we all know, November is notorious for that Thanksgiving thing that happens near the end of the month, and this year's Thanksgiving celebration for my family and me included a five day trip to El Paso, Texas. Thus, the thirty days of the NaNoWriMo challenge for me was actually more like (let me see... I've always been bad with math... 30-8=), oh yeah, 22 days! I had 22 days to finish the 50,000 word challenge, and all told (according to the NaNoWriMo ticker) I finished right on time. In actuality, when I factor in days when I was too tired to write and a few unfortunate days when I was too ill to write, I actually completed the 50,000 word challenge in something like 15 or 16 days. I kept a pace so absurd, I broke out in a case of the shingles... no shit!
So I got to celebrate my Thanksgiving with pain-killers, Caladryl, herpes medication (it's what they prescribe for shingles, I'm not kidding), and an unforeseen emergency room bill... but all told, I had a great time with my family, and I totally got to brag about writing a novel.
So what's next? Now the hard work begins: I wrote a 50,000+ word first draft which is nowhere near being a readable manuscript... I have a lot of re-writing to do, a lot of revision and editing to do before I even begin to think of this thing as done. 50,000 words gets you a novel of about 150 pages, which is not enough to truly contain the story I wanted to tell... and I knew this going in. Most people don't know that I was already working on a novel before taking the NaNoWriMo challenge, and my immediate priority is to get back to work on that. I'm going to have to work out a schedule because I want to work on both as time allows. I also have a lot of short fiction brewing and I'm thinking about a vehicle to get those out... I think I may have someone to help me out with that though. I'll post plans here, so stay tuned.
One of the things I gave thanks for this Thanksgiving was being blessed with such a fine troop of supportive family members and friends. I am so grateful for everyone who had a hand in this endeavor in one way or another (most of you all probably weren't even aware of it): my wife (for being a great sport), my kids (for fueling the fires of my imagination), my mom (for, well, for life!), my aunt (for keeping me fed and energized), my brother (for calling me a cry-baby and pushing me when I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say, "fuck it!"), my best friend (for giving me the green light, and letting me off the hook of my other novel for a month to indulge my stupid whim), and a grand cast of friends and coworkers (for simply being there and being too important to disappoint).
Creativity is an essential part of me, and I'm always looking for ways to express myself... this has led me to all kinds of activities, but writing was first and I'm very glad to be back at it. I'm also very happy I decided to participate in this challenge, and hope to make this an annual thing. Cheers! ...for now.
Well, that's exactly how I feel about this blog right about now...
The funny thing about writing about writing while you're writing on a deadline with a definitive goal is that the writing about the writing suffers. Never fear: I still plan on distilling the experience... it won't be a documentary, so think about it more like a memoir.
First things first:
November was a baaaaaad month to undertake a challenge like NaNoWriMo; I think I may have expressed this already. For those of you who know (and those of you who do not), my anniversary is in November and this year my wife and I took off for three days to celebrate. Well, I didn't want to detract from the anniversary celebration by cutting away from the festivities to work on my novel... I wanted the time to be entirely hers, and for her not to feel like she was only receiving my divided attention; that would be so uncool, I would have felt like a complete heel.
Also, as we all know, November is notorious for that Thanksgiving thing that happens near the end of the month, and this year's Thanksgiving celebration for my family and me included a five day trip to El Paso, Texas. Thus, the thirty days of the NaNoWriMo challenge for me was actually more like (let me see... I've always been bad with math... 30-8=), oh yeah, 22 days! I had 22 days to finish the 50,000 word challenge, and all told (according to the NaNoWriMo ticker) I finished right on time. In actuality, when I factor in days when I was too tired to write and a few unfortunate days when I was too ill to write, I actually completed the 50,000 word challenge in something like 15 or 16 days. I kept a pace so absurd, I broke out in a case of the shingles... no shit!
So I got to celebrate my Thanksgiving with pain-killers, Caladryl, herpes medication (it's what they prescribe for shingles, I'm not kidding), and an unforeseen emergency room bill... but all told, I had a great time with my family, and I totally got to brag about writing a novel.
So what's next? Now the hard work begins: I wrote a 50,000+ word first draft which is nowhere near being a readable manuscript... I have a lot of re-writing to do, a lot of revision and editing to do before I even begin to think of this thing as done. 50,000 words gets you a novel of about 150 pages, which is not enough to truly contain the story I wanted to tell... and I knew this going in. Most people don't know that I was already working on a novel before taking the NaNoWriMo challenge, and my immediate priority is to get back to work on that. I'm going to have to work out a schedule because I want to work on both as time allows. I also have a lot of short fiction brewing and I'm thinking about a vehicle to get those out... I think I may have someone to help me out with that though. I'll post plans here, so stay tuned.
One of the things I gave thanks for this Thanksgiving was being blessed with such a fine troop of supportive family members and friends. I am so grateful for everyone who had a hand in this endeavor in one way or another (most of you all probably weren't even aware of it): my wife (for being a great sport), my kids (for fueling the fires of my imagination), my mom (for, well, for life!), my aunt (for keeping me fed and energized), my brother (for calling me a cry-baby and pushing me when I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say, "fuck it!"), my best friend (for giving me the green light, and letting me off the hook of my other novel for a month to indulge my stupid whim), and a grand cast of friends and coworkers (for simply being there and being too important to disappoint).
Creativity is an essential part of me, and I'm always looking for ways to express myself... this has led me to all kinds of activities, but writing was first and I'm very glad to be back at it. I'm also very happy I decided to participate in this challenge, and hope to make this an annual thing. Cheers! ...for now.
Monday, November 14, 2011
From November 10th
NaNoWriMo gave out some nifty stickers during the Kick-Off Write-In. They are very nice about sending you encouragement and just generally boosting you up in those moments when you realize just how insane you are for undertaking this challenge. I had a pathetic showing last night, less than 1000 words... truly abysmal. This persistent sinusitis is just kicking my ass soundly... excuses, excuses... What a schmo...
Hey, this is an old post; what gives!?
Well, I had difficulties getting this post up on the old inter-web... technology being what it is. So why post it now? Because it's the right thing to do. There's more forthcoming.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Over 20,000!
I just posted my current word count on NaNoWriMo.org: 20,108 - I'm almost at the halfway point, and I'm feeling a bit beat... Yesterday, my sinusitis won and I failed to write a single word - which was highly disappointing because I've been averaging around 3000 words a night; 1000 more words than my personal goal of 2000 words a night, and much better than the 1667 words recommended by NaNoWriMo. I'm having a bit of a tough go pulling the story out of the backgrounding stage and into the actual meat-and-potatoes of the plot I have in mind. I'm navigating the characters a bit better now; I had a bit of trouble in the early parts of the story, and I had to walk them around a bit to get comfortable with their voices. The other thing that I'm noticing is that the layout is very episodic; which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but it makes for some rhythmically stilted prose... just one of those things I'll have to fix in the revision stage.
29,892 words to go...
29,892 words to go...
What I'm writing for NaNoWriMo...
None of your business! :)
The idea in production is a secret. Why? Because I'm a superstitious old dog. I will say that it is a paranormal story, and that it is intended to be a Juvenile Fiction story... intended, I'm not sure it's succeeding at that just yet.
I will post the same synopsis I posted on the NaNoWriMo site, but that's all I'm saying for now and I'm not posting the title because it's a working title and it will change. So, without further ado, here's the synopsis:
The idea in production is a secret. Why? Because I'm a superstitious old dog. I will say that it is a paranormal story, and that it is intended to be a Juvenile Fiction story... intended, I'm not sure it's succeeding at that just yet.
I will post the same synopsis I posted on the NaNoWriMo site, but that's all I'm saying for now and I'm not posting the title because it's a working title and it will change. So, without further ado, here's the synopsis:
On the eve of his twelfth birthday, Phillip Gómez is sent to live with his grandmother in El Paso, Texas after his mother is killed in a car accident. Accustomed to life in Chicago, Phillip experiences a great degree of culture shock as he tries to assimilate into his new surroundings. Things are made more complicated for him when he accidentally insults the spirit animal Alacran (scorpion) during a trek into the desert with his elderly neighbor, Don Alfonso. Don Alfonso, a curandero, tries to teach Phillip how to make amends with Alacran; however, when Alacran enlists the aid of Coyote in his plot for revenge, Philip finds himself in a perilous game in which the stakes are his mortal soul.
So that's it, that's all I'm willing to let out of the bag right now.
What do I intend to do with the story when it's done?
As of right now, I can tell you that I will hit the NaNoWriMo goal long before the novel is actually done. When it's done it goes into the queue for revision, which will likely alter the original in extreme ways - it will be a piece of clay sculpture that needs to get fired and glazed. I will eventually produce a few copies for review; however, that will not happen until the story is edited, revised, and refined. I would rather allow friends to have the first crack at the story, so that might be a clue as to who will receive one when the drafts are ready.
When will that be?
I'm in no hurry. It will happen when it happens. As soon as NaNoWriMo is over I will go back to the other novel I was working on and hopefully finish that one with the new chops I acquire from participating in NaNoWriMo.
Back to the grind...
The Write Experience
So the basic premise is to capture the experience of participating in National Novel Writing Month (hereafter, NaNoWriMo) for the very first time. Some of you may be aware of the fact that I have been writing for a while... since I was a wee bastard, and that my writing has, at times, acquired me a certain notoriety... I'm thinking Malo here (Malo was an independent comic book I wrote back in the early 00s, and it was a chauvinistic masterpiece of paranormal mayhem). I've written an uncountable number of short stories over the years, none of which are in any way, shape, or form suitable for publication... but then, publication was never the goal - expression was. Really, publication still isn't the goal but the desire to write stories that will someday be read by at least my friends and family has finally won out. Would I publish? Sure, if the opportunity presented itself. Can I publish? Probably not with what I have right now - my written expression is more art than craft, so it's not exactly what I would consider accessible or audience friendly.
Enter NaNoWriMo...
Like most wanna-be writers I have been kicking around the idea of writing a novel since the first time I held one; my immersion was so complete that I thought, "I have to do this." (and I owe a debt to Ray Bradbury for that) Well, the back-burner is so full of false starts and never-be's which have accumulated over the years it's embarrassing... especially since I got so spoiled writing comic book scripts (especially lean comic books scripts, since I was often dialog-ing pre-illustrated pages) the idea of long form prose really got sent way down on the priority ladder. Actually that didn't do as much damage as the self-imposed word economy I exercised while writing poetry... it was a deliberate deconstruction of the what little prose techniques I had learned up to then; an exercise in lyrical storytelling with little regard for form - this after I learned to write poetry in traditional schemes, and found it made me feel claustrophobic.
I digress (and I do that a lot)... Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. One evening, at work, I saw a poster laying on a book truck announcing National Novel Writing Month in November, and it intrigued me enough to search it in Google which brought me to the NaNoWriMo site (http://www.nanowrimo.org). I read all about the premise of the competition (which isn't a competition) and just got excited. I'm working on another novel (a paranormal novel) and I decided that I would put it aside to participate in the NaNoWriMo event (one of the rules is that you start with a fresh idea)... I mean, what the hell, right? I wanted to write a novel, and here was a chance for me to devote the month of November to do exactly that. That thing that I kept putting off for every reason under the sun... now the opportunity, the right excuse, was staring me square in the face and I had no choice but to hunker down and do it - "shit or get off the pot," so to speak. So I signed up, created an account and visited the website daily to watch the timer count down to November 1.
I didn't sit entirely idle: I picked a topic, did some research, defined a cast of characters, and wrote the loosest outline I have ever produced (considering that I rarely produce an outline in the first place, this was an indication that I was taking this seriously)... aside from that I decided that I would write by the seat of my pants... and I also decided that I would attend the kick-off event at the Central Library; and I'm really glad I did. It was chaotic - there was another event taking place that night and the NaNoWriMo Kick-off write-in got booted around a little (finally coming to rest in the Story Time Room), but I got to sit next to J-Neg (NaNoWriMo handle), a 2010 winner; and hang with my chum, Liana. I also had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Amaikokonut (NaNoWriMo handle), a swank cat named, Ben (with the grooviest iPad skin I've ever seen), and Handsome Jim (NaNoWriMo handle), the NaNoWriMo area rep. Knowing that you're not alone in the crazy shit you decide to do is the best thing that can happen when you embark on a dumb thing like writing a novel in 30 days.
So that brings me to the purpose of this blog: I wanted to capture the experience for posterity, and in the hopes that it might encourage someone else to give NaNoWriMo a shot (next year). I also wanted a repository for the stuff I learn along the way. I've read a few books here and there on writing, and for the most part I find them to be so completely full of shit it's almost unbearable. Writing is art, art is creating, and creating - the best kind of creating - is instinctual. Yes, you have to learn how to write in the mechanical sense, but I've found that trying to learn technique is futile. Things like plotting and structure and characterization and descriptive techniques can be learned, but writing is one of those miraculous little things you just feel. Hopefully someone will benefit from my journey; at the moment eight days and a little over 16,000 words old (the NaNoWriMo goal is 50,000 words by November 30). I'll see where this journey takes me, and you're invited along for the ride.
By the way: the stuff I write in here is going to be raw... there will likely be instances of triumph, and instances of abject misery; I have absolutely no intention to sugar-coat anything... fair warning.
Cheers!
Enter NaNoWriMo...
Like most wanna-be writers I have been kicking around the idea of writing a novel since the first time I held one; my immersion was so complete that I thought, "I have to do this." (and I owe a debt to Ray Bradbury for that) Well, the back-burner is so full of false starts and never-be's which have accumulated over the years it's embarrassing... especially since I got so spoiled writing comic book scripts (especially lean comic books scripts, since I was often dialog-ing pre-illustrated pages) the idea of long form prose really got sent way down on the priority ladder. Actually that didn't do as much damage as the self-imposed word economy I exercised while writing poetry... it was a deliberate deconstruction of the what little prose techniques I had learned up to then; an exercise in lyrical storytelling with little regard for form - this after I learned to write poetry in traditional schemes, and found it made me feel claustrophobic.
I digress (and I do that a lot)... Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. One evening, at work, I saw a poster laying on a book truck announcing National Novel Writing Month in November, and it intrigued me enough to search it in Google which brought me to the NaNoWriMo site (http://www.nanowrimo.org). I read all about the premise of the competition (which isn't a competition) and just got excited. I'm working on another novel (a paranormal novel) and I decided that I would put it aside to participate in the NaNoWriMo event (one of the rules is that you start with a fresh idea)... I mean, what the hell, right? I wanted to write a novel, and here was a chance for me to devote the month of November to do exactly that. That thing that I kept putting off for every reason under the sun... now the opportunity, the right excuse, was staring me square in the face and I had no choice but to hunker down and do it - "shit or get off the pot," so to speak. So I signed up, created an account and visited the website daily to watch the timer count down to November 1.
I didn't sit entirely idle: I picked a topic, did some research, defined a cast of characters, and wrote the loosest outline I have ever produced (considering that I rarely produce an outline in the first place, this was an indication that I was taking this seriously)... aside from that I decided that I would write by the seat of my pants... and I also decided that I would attend the kick-off event at the Central Library; and I'm really glad I did. It was chaotic - there was another event taking place that night and the NaNoWriMo Kick-off write-in got booted around a little (finally coming to rest in the Story Time Room), but I got to sit next to J-Neg (NaNoWriMo handle), a 2010 winner; and hang with my chum, Liana. I also had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Amaikokonut (NaNoWriMo handle), a swank cat named, Ben (with the grooviest iPad skin I've ever seen), and Handsome Jim (NaNoWriMo handle), the NaNoWriMo area rep. Knowing that you're not alone in the crazy shit you decide to do is the best thing that can happen when you embark on a dumb thing like writing a novel in 30 days.
So that brings me to the purpose of this blog: I wanted to capture the experience for posterity, and in the hopes that it might encourage someone else to give NaNoWriMo a shot (next year). I also wanted a repository for the stuff I learn along the way. I've read a few books here and there on writing, and for the most part I find them to be so completely full of shit it's almost unbearable. Writing is art, art is creating, and creating - the best kind of creating - is instinctual. Yes, you have to learn how to write in the mechanical sense, but I've found that trying to learn technique is futile. Things like plotting and structure and characterization and descriptive techniques can be learned, but writing is one of those miraculous little things you just feel. Hopefully someone will benefit from my journey; at the moment eight days and a little over 16,000 words old (the NaNoWriMo goal is 50,000 words by November 30). I'll see where this journey takes me, and you're invited along for the ride.
By the way: the stuff I write in here is going to be raw... there will likely be instances of triumph, and instances of abject misery; I have absolutely no intention to sugar-coat anything... fair warning.
Cheers!
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