The Fun Starts Tomorrow!

Alright, everyone, this is the moment I've been preparing for all month ... this is why I have a fifty page outline right now! Tomorrow is November 1st, the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. You can check out my profile here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/261768
Also, check my word count status at the right-hand of the screen!

Seriously, 50 pages in my outline. That's over 15,000 words! My question now is: will this next month be a glorious win (an easy 50,000)? or epic fail because I've already said everything in my outline?

Outline

About 8 days left until Novemeber, and I'm already off to a great start. My outline is over 10,000 words long, and I've got to say, I'm rather proud of it. I surprised myself with a few plot turns that I think will work really nicely in the end.

Coming Soon ....

Coming soon ...
Watch the word count widget the right to find out if I make my 50,000 word goal this November!

November Approaching

November's gonna be busy. I'll be starting Medical Assistant classes, and if I still have a job then, I'll be struggling just to finish my homework and have time to eat and sleep. Unfortunately, November's nanowrimo.org challenge that I've been looking forward since January might have to wait until next year. But if I have no job, it'll be a piece of cake (not that I would jeopardize a job opportunity!).

So school! I finally decided to go back and pursue something I never before gave thought to: nursing. Why? you ask. Because I needed a different avenue. Art hasn't worked for me since I was 16 and started working ... odds are pretty good that it won't turn around anytime soon. Yeah, I might sell a book, but how many years is that going to take? How successful will it be if it happens? But I won't give it up. I need something to dive into when work and the brain aneurysm-inducing news gets to me (sometimes ignorance IS bliss...). As Steven King wrote, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" ... since I don't go out drinking or whatever, (and the amount of comments on this blog proves that I don't have the patience to maintain too many friendships) this is my play.

On the plus side, I already know what I'll write about in November if I'm able: like the project I undertook in January, I'll once again revamp one of my old stories. This one is something I really enjoyed, but it never gelled propperly ... I'm hoping that with a few new twists and a little life experience I'll be able to salvage it.

And when will Awake be fit to read? Who knows.

Editing again

I may have written the complete text in a month, but it'll take me the rest of the year to edit it into something palatable for another human being to digest. But that's the point of the first draft: just get it onto the page and worry about it later.

What started out as a little over fifty-thousand words has dwindled down to just under forty-thousand. Where did my ten-thousand words go?? Apparently, some fluff got into my text, but I'm sure those ten-thousand will be back as I'm fleshing out stuff like "They all looked afraid" into something a bit more literary. I really can't wait to have some people read it, but it'll probably be a while before it's dressed enough to go out in public.

As I work on my project and do other things, it's so easy for me to liken novel writing to normal every-day things. Like cooking, for example. When I want to make something, I get out the recipe (the outline), drag all the ingredients out of the fridge (the initial scenes). Then, I get rid of the stuff I don't need (plastic bags, inedible greens -- editing). I measure, mix, arrange (polish), and cook. When the finished food product comes out of the oven, it looks nothing like the scattered ingredients on my counter, but those bags and bottles and smatterings of flour were necessary for the finished product.

Wanna read?

If you want to read some more stuff I've written, please check out my articles at Helium.com:
http://www.helium.com/users/371957

Pet Peeve #2

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

Well, it's pet peeve time again. I was really hoping I'd love this book -- after all, nothing makes me happier than reading about a place that isn't America. Any place. The first 2 chapters exceeded my expectations (with a subject like abortion, no less). I thought, "Fantastic! I've found a new favorite author!" No.

Problem #1: Limitless flashbacks

I enjoy a good flashback like the next person (my favorite show is Lost, for Heaven's sake -- and it's half flashback, half actual story), but when it takes away from the main story and is boring, I end up skipping paragraphs - nay, whole chapters at a time.
In addition to the flashbacks, every single character gets their own scenes/chapters, which sometimes is really good, but sometimes leaves me wondering when I'm gonna get back to the heroine. With a heavy sigh, I skip some more pages.

Problem #2: Needless wordiness

This author likes to refer to each character by his/her whole name almost every time she referrs to the character. It raised my suspicion that she was trying to reach a target word/letter count when in one paragraph, the name "Barsam Tchakhmakhchian" appeared like 10 times.
Aside from names, she likes to describe things and "remember" things, and describe the way so and so really liked a certain food, tries to get us emotionally involved in that food, and then in a glorious climax, prints the entire recipe in the text.

Problem #3: Head-hopping

In my effort to write a really good novel, I've done some research on various "rules" to keep my composition from sucking. One of these rules is that in a single scene, the writer should stick with one character's point of view so that the reader doen't get confused about who's doing what or who's thinking what. This writer looooooves to break that rule. At one moment, we're following one character, following her moves, her thoughts, and all of a sudden, we're in someone else's head. Someone else is moving and thinking. For a look at "the rules", click here: http://writing-world.com/fiction/headhop.shtml

Pet Peeve #4: The violating twist (spoilers ahead)

I'm all for a good WTF twist at the end, but utter reader (and character) violation is too much. The author did not set up for it in any way, leaving me to have to re-read the offending scene (oh yes, it was incest! DETAILED INCEST!) 1. because there had been too much wordy description/flashbacks and I had been skimming, and 2. because I was hoping my evening hadn't been ruined by what I thought I just read ... but it was. I was so frustrated that I wanted to open my high-rise window and let the stinking thing fly ... but littering also irritates me, so I shoved it violently back on the shelf. It will take a ride with me on my next trip to the used bookstore.