NaNoWriMo site updated for 2009!

Weird thing to be excited about, maybe, but I'm excited.  The forums are clean and ready for November.

Even though I've already finished the outline for the novel I want to write during the program, I'm filling my time answering other people's questions and (of course) coming up with a new novel idea, which is threatening to distract me way, way too much.  Maybe I'll work out some of the details of the new idea during October, write Awake during November, and tackle this new idea head-on in January?  We'll see.

Anyway -- I hope some of the people over at National Novel Writing Month meander over here and check me out.  Yes.  Good times for all.

Reading a Movie

Departing slightly from my literary slant.

Just saw the movie New York last night ... starring John Abraham as Sam, Katrina Kaif as Maya, and Philadelpha, PA as New York.  That's right.  Almost every single scene was filmed in downtown Philadelphia, which is fine because if you don't live here, you won't do what I did while watching.  Oh look! There's the Comcast Building!  Oohh, the giant clothespin!!  The Shops at Liberty Place -- I was there this morning!  And so on.  It was a bit distracting from the story, but in a nice way.

I've been looking forward to seeing this movie for almost a year because last year, I read in the paper that a Bollywood movie was going to be shot in downtown Philly, gave the time and place, and so I went to check it out.  There weren't any actors on the street because they were on the roof of one of the high rises -- BUT, there were two hellicoptors hovering between two buildings, which was quite interesting, and I shot my own video of it (remind me to find it and maybe I'll post it here -- found this photo online ... i didn't take this one, but it's very similar to what I got).  Needless to say, when that scene came up in the movie last night, I was beside myself.  I was a building's height away from one of my favorite actors.

Interesting movie -- not sure how much of it was factual and how much was sensationalized, but enough to get you thinking.  I recommend it -- Netflix has it, not sure about your local rental store, since it's foreign.

Back to work

Today was unbelievably good in terms of getting my butt in gear and getting some work done on Exchange.  If you follow me on Facebook, you've already read about the coffee shop I went to this morning and enjoyed.  I mean, the sign out front said "Gingerbread Frappe" ... how could I not go in?  I might just be off Starbucks forever now ... so delicious ...

And because I wrote the first draft of Exchange back at the beginning of this year, I was listening to different music than I listen to these days (changes with the season, sort of), I had to go back to that music to get "into character".  Lots of German synth-pop.  I forgot how much I love Peter Heppner.

1 Easy - Peter Heppner

Anyway, without any distractions, I was able to get back into my "zen" place and smooth out a few pages. 14 pages done (altogether ... I probably did 5 today)!  150 to go ...

Questionnaire about writing!

My friend Christina over at Consider the Coffee tagged me to answer a few questions about writing!  Without further adieu, here are my answers:

What word do you use too much in your writing?

your basic filler words, mostly: than, said, I, the main character's first name,



Which words do you consider overused in stuff you read?

depends on the genre and time period it was written in. ... although, most of the books i've read recently have been pretty good about word diversity. it bothers me, though, when an author uses a really good word, and then overuses that word. ruins it.


What's your favourite piece of writing (written by you)?

at the moment, my favorite piece is "Awake", even though it's only in its outline stage. but i've had the plot around me for quite a long time and i'm in love with that little world ;)


Regrets, do you have a few? Is there anything you wish you hadn't written?

there is one, and it's been published! i have a feeling it might have gotten me out of a few legitimate jobs because when you search my name in google, it's the first thing that comes up.


How has your writing made a difference?

for me, other than God and my earthly relationships, writing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it takes me out of whatever might be bothering me ... a quiet little place in my head in my own world with my own fabricated people.


Favourite words

snarky. it just sounds like exactly what it is :)


Least favourite words

i'll have to say "swear words" too ... sadly, they've got their place sometimes (a time for everything, right?), but when they're over-repeated (such as in some movies), it takes me right out of the story.
... and it's not one word, but when a "bad guy" says, "time to die!" it just smacks of cheesiness.


Do you have a writing mentor, role model or inspiration?

it keeps changing. i like Jhumpa Lahiri a lot for modern stuff. Oscar Wilde has always been my favorite "classic" writer. and as strange as it might sound, the TV show Lost has inspired a lot of my writing ... it's an incredibly crafted plot!


Writing Ambition?

I would love to be published and be able to quit my day job ;) maybe it'll work out better than my rock star ambition!

Telling ... too much telling!

::sigh::
Since I've been working on my outline for so long, I'm super used to throwing ideas out and arranging them, not in making them sound good.  Now I'm working on Exchange, and I'm having to slowly break out of that.

Lots of revisions using AutoCrit.  Love that website.

I kinda missed these characters.  Hopefully, in revisiting them, I'll get another idea for them and write something else in the spring.  I guess every writer goes through this, but I'm a little afraid of running out of ideas.

Exchange

For those of you who read and loved The Silent Treatment (pictured to the right in printed book form), I wrote another "episode" back in February, featuring the same basic characters.  This is sort of my answer to Nancy Drew.

Since I finished up with my mammoth outline for Awake (which I'll be doing the first draft for in November ... but you already knew that), I needed something to occupy my time.  Exchange has been happily sitting in my "novels" folder for quite a few months now, and I figure it's about time to get it polished up and send it out to work.

Outlines, Audiobooks, and other rambling stuff

The Outline (again)

Yes, I got my outline to 50,000 words (and worked much too hard to make the number exact). It's excessive, and I'm guessing the finished product won't be much longer than that. Although, I've got to add all the dialogue, so that could take up a few thousand more words. I think the story itself is nice and solid now. When I wrote it before, I only got up to 40,000 words, and there were way too many plot gaps for it to be considered good at all. Ask me on December 1st if the monstrous outline was worth it.

Audiobooks

In an effort to keep my brain happily occupied at work while I'm doing things that don't require much thought, I've been looking for something worthwhile to listen to. I found a very good website called LibriVox, which specializes in making public domain (i.e. classic) books available free to the public. Today, I started listening to the German version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the guy who reads it makes me love the German language more than I thought I would (very expressive ... beautiful voice).

Yes, I understand a little German. In listening to this book (got through 3 and a half chapters before I went home), I understood about half of it. It helps a lot that I'm familiar with the story already.

But the website (LibriVox) has mostly English books. I haven't listened to any of the others yet, but I'm looking forward to letting my brain occupy itself with some classics while my hands sort the mail/email at work.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I'd really forgotten how much I enjoyed this story. I've read it 2 or 3 times already, and saw a movie version of it (from 1945). I didn't like that movie because Dorian didn't show any emotions ... I don't think that's an accurate portrayal of the character because even though Dorian became evil, that doesn't necessarily mean he's got a blank face all the time.

I even got to thinking that my current project, Awake, is sci-fi/fantasy in the same way that The Picture of Dorian Gray is sci-fi/fantasy. That is, a tiny plot point is supernatural, and the rest of the story is rooted in reality. I enjoy reading things like that because I don't have to learn a completely new world or alien races, etc. (such as Lord of the Rings -- which I loved, by the way).

Awake is also a mystery in the same way that the TV show Lost is a mystery. There's no "whodunnit" to figure out, just a big "what the heck just happened??" As such, it's extremely difficult to categorize my story. Is it urban fantasy? mystery? literary ... something? Ah, you guys don't know because I'm not giving out any plot details, am I? I like that to be a secret because ... I just do.

I guess genre placement doesn't matter a whole lot, and I'm not worried about it. But when it comes to submission (It'll get to that point probably this time next year once I'm done with the tedious and numerous edits), it helps to pick out who to send it to. Anyway. Doesn't matter. Thanks for reading all this rambling!