The Last National Novel Writing Post of the Year
Thursday, November 30, 2006The bad thing about not posting in a long time is that your posts end up being the size of War and Peace
First, i am suffering birthday-forgetting guilt. If I have forgotten your birthday, I am sorry. If I haven't, don't worry, I will forget in the future. Do I like it when people forget mine? Not particularly, but, I think it's life. Days blur together, sometimes I look up a professor's class schedule, saying, "Well, he doesn't have office hours on Wednesday" and realize, suddenly, that the kid's looking at you funny because he could hardly care, since it's Thursday.
It doesn't mean that I don't love you. I doesn't mean that I don';t want to be a really, really good friend. It just means...that I tend to be a bit drifty.
So, I am going to apologize now, and get it over with. Of course, I'll apologize later, when I do forget your birthday. And I'll laugh it off when you forget mine, should you ever sink to my level.
I am sorry. And I do love you.
But that won't stop me from bragging that I...yes I...finished National Novel Writing month! I'm going to put the shiny banner up on my site now. I feel really great...over 52,000 words in 30 days, that should prove the point to me that yes, one can find time to write.
I feel alright about my story. it needs a lot of work, and in some places I skipped the skeleton in favor of the easier to write muscles and skin, so it's weak and floppy in places. I'll let it rest and go back to water';s edge, or start a new one. My current master plan is to write all winter, write away, then edit in the summer when I have lots more time.
And now for highlights of the posts I wrote but forgot to post!
My Thanksgiving break was rather nice, even though it reminded me of the whole "The worst thing about a vacation is that it reminds you how good it is not to have a job" thing. But I came back to work, saw that things aren't really too bad, went out for Chinese food, saw that I am, again, caught up with pretty much everything and am now drinking a ton of anything that I can find because Chinese food tends to make me extremely thirsty.
We did have a sort of Thanksgiving miracle...Saturday we tried to cut up the tree that had fallen, but the saw wouldn't start, despite being practically brand new. So my father and I tried to start it, while I kept saying to my father...who was sitting in his wheelchair...that I could totally handle this saw, pretending it wasn't half so heavy as it really is, while my mother went to find the instructions. Just as she came out to tell us she couldn't find them, and my father was giving up for the day, a truck stopped down by the road. It was one of our neighbors, a man who, when we were both children, we used to play together despite the fact there is probably about 5 years age difference (I am older.) As a young adult he was caught in the blacksmith shop, and my father confronted him in front of his father, which is about the time the two families, which had been fairly close, pretty much broke with watch other for good. Anyway, he offered to cut up the tree, and we offered him the wood from it. perfect, miraculous timing. Also, he and his friend might be willing to cut the other trees down that we're worried about. For a price, of course, but they promised it would be cheap. And since the trees are cherry, maybe we can come to an agreement, since the wood should be worth money.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways, eh? And it's kind of nice that the rift is healing a little, though I will be a bit shy until it is proven I should be otherwise.
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 6:49 PM
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And She Goes On
Wednesday, November 15, 2006So, I had to update because I said I would...not that you missed my maundering son writing, eh? *teases*
I stopped updating for many reasons. Too tired...though if you've kept an eye on the meter you've noticed it rise steadily, too depressed when i didn;'t like what i wrote but left in it, too worried that there might be a spoiler for Blue Moon, though the latter is doubtful. And Writing 2,000 words, then editing, posting, then writing about what i psoted, then editing it, then psoting that was just a little too much.
But if you really miss the adventures of Monaco Johnson, I might be willing to post them. Ego boosts go a long way. (That's not a hint, actually. I shouldn't say it, now we fall into the trap where I feel embarrassed at waht looks like an attempt to plead for praise, but is, frankly, if you want soemthing, tell me, if you don't, forget about it. it's cool.)
Part of the problem is the process of miraculous discovery. As I go I discover things, and think, "Ok, when i go back and second draft and fix what comes before this, this will be one excellenet scene." or, at least, make better sense. Right now I am learning my story, finding out what it needs. I adore this part, it is the cloest to being a reader a writer gets, the only time when we get surprised. Sometimes I hate it because it is also one of the hardest parts, trying to make all the words come out in a way that feels proper and correct. I don't mean grammar or whatever, I mean, rightness. You read soemthing and it all clicks into place, it all makes sense and feels real, no matter how fantastical it is.
The truth is, at least the way i write, I start with an idea. A strong charatcer, a vision, then I follow my path from there. I may think I know where it;s going, but I learn that i am wrong. Itmay be why I started the story ages ago then put it aside...because I wasn't ready to write it, because iw as going down a path the story did not want to go.
In anycase, I am alive. I am doing fairly well, the registration hasn't truly started yet so nothing's been too crazy.
But most importantly...I'm half way done! *points to the meter* So if this did not work out exactly as I inteneded in any fashion, at least i can say that i am learning how to make time to write.
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 6:53 PM
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Monday, November 06, 2006Well, the weekend was slow, mostly because I was coming down sick with a cold and I decided to rest between failing to fix the range (well, at least I have three burners again) and trying to organize things a bit. I got up early...still on daylight savings time?...and got dressed, and sat in front of the computer and put down some words. I also managed to wolf down my lunch and write some more. Usually writing at my desk doesn't work, because the second someone asks me to do something, it's control + s and me moving on to what needs done. Which I like...getting things done keeps my mental health.
I watched a bit of the Australian TV show Tripping Over and am not certain that I am all that impressed, but at least it has Paul McGann. Paul McGann being in something makes up for a lot of short comings.
I also finished watching To the Ends of the Earth, which left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied. And something happened that made me really unhappy at the end. Super unhappy. And it had no purpose to it, aside from being somewhat symbolic, but it was an act which took away any pleasure I could have derived from the ending.
Today we finally ended chapter one, and have entered into the domain of chapter two. Monaco Johnson gets to go to Wal Mart...um, Sam's Store, and she goes to work. Her apartment is modeled after the rehab facility my father spent so much time in, though her apartment is the first room he stayed in...the one he got to leave because his room mate and his room mate's wife decided to have sex. Loudly. Horrifying my poor father who has always shunned voyeuristic things. I was tempted to use the second room, which was much bigger, as it was meant to host four beds, but realized Monaco isn't there to make a life for herself. She also starts her first day of work and meets the second main character, Ben. Yes, I've stuck with the original idea, that Monaco guards soda trucks. :D I will have to change Coca Cola I suppose, the way I changed Wal Mart to Sam's Store, to avoid copyright infringement, but for now I'm leaving it the same.
One thing that has occurred to me as I've been writing is that Cindy of 1995-96 wrote her technology differently than Cindy of 2006. As I'm writing I am trying to reconstruct a little from the past, even though I don't have the stuff to refer to anymore, and I realize that what seemed rather clever to me then was completely passé. But I am proud of my holographic mirrors, which occurred to me today when I realized that a department store wouldn't have clothes racks anymore.
The idea that employees live in the department store came from watching the news and seeing that some Wal Marts now had Dr.'s offices in them. And I thought that Wal Mart could become the next, ultimate, Company Store. You may be familiar with this: coal companies used to have their people living on the site, working on the site, and they paid in scrip, and forced the workers to buy all their food, clothes, everything from the Company Store. it just feel like a logical next step.
The challenge in this, which will be actually more for the second draft, is to make it more. When you write fantasy, you have to make it more magical. When you write something that is SF, though this is definitely going to be an SF/F blend, you have to make it more techy. While the theme of this book is more realistic, it still has to feel futuristic. I might avoid pining myself down with a date because of that.
I mentioned theme. With every book I think you ask a question. Mysteries are a little skewered, because the question is often obscured by the main questions, "Who killed/stole/etc so and so?" With Blue Moon my question was "What is Magic?" With this book it is "What is Moral?"
It'll be interesting to see what the answer turns out to be.
The new part is up at: http://invisiblelight.blogspot.com/2006/11/in-which-we-meet-monaco-and-ben.html
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 8:47 PM
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Shake it shake it Salome! (Nanowrimo day 3)
Friday, November 03, 2006(Sorry, Salome by U2 is on, which always makes me want to dance around. So, that's where the title of this post comes from.)
Today was good to me. The words came quite a bit easier, and I wrote during my lunch.
I did want to get done with this part today, I wanted to move on to Monaco and start the main body of the story, but the Lady herself put that off. Only for a page, I think, but still. She’s also decided to help me lay the tie in to Blue Moon…what she says to Cardea during their conversation during the tug boat roof scene could have been part of my jacket blurb…and maybe it will be, it certainly isn’t a bad summation.
I feel like I’m finding everyone’s voices, which is good, and dialogue is coming fairly easily. One of my friends, Sazzle, once commented that I used “he this” and “he that” too many times in a story I wrote, so I’ve been conscious of that in my writing. Also, it could be because of a conversation with another one of my friends, Miss Alto, a few days back, but I’ve been trying to use even fewer dialogue tags than usual…we were both talking about the best way to do it, and I said I preferred not to use them if I could avoid it, so I thought, well, since I made such a big point of it, I better make sure I do it. Or not do it. *grins*
I am also pleased that I am remembering things from this world as I go, and am weaving them in. I don’t even know it at the times, sometimes. For example, I remembered, after I wrote the dehydrates scene, that Monaco in my long gone version went to a store for some, that it was the only kind of food she could buy. When you have little revelations like that, it makes it feel like things are natural to the story, like you’re following the right path.
As for the rest of my life, everything is pretty good. I’m not sure how much writing I’ll get to over the weekend, but I will tell you I am looking forward to sleeping in. I might not write Sunday, which will loose me my tiny lead, but it will be nice to have a day of rest, especially since I have a craving to play some Final Fantasy and read.
I took a peek at the forums over at Nanowrimo, and saw that some people have word counts of 20, even 30, thousand. In three days. I’m trying to decide what I think of that. That’s like, woah. How can anyone get that much done in just three days? I guess they probably stay home…they have to have been home most of the day, don’t you think? Though, if no sleep was involved, 20,000 words divided by 72 hours is about 278 words an hour, so maybe I’m just jealous. (BTW: If you are one of these miracles who’ve achieved these word counts so quickly, please don’t be insulted. I’m just boggling.)
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 7:24 PM
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DDTT: Day two nanowrimo
Thursday, November 02, 2006Today, the words were slightly harder in the end, because I sort of wrote myself into a corner. I almost took my scene ripper out and demolished it, but instead, kept drudging along.
So far the story has surprised me…this part is a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I think, or hope, at lest, that we will finally have the key scene then get the heck out of the Well scene tomorrow. I try not to hope too hard, though. The important thing is to let the book write itself. You just type, keep typing, and let the words come. The story knows what is needed, usually, and sometimes you will have to cut things, but you’ll be surprised at the things that happen that you needed to happen.
I like Daniel. I changed his name from Ardis because I thought…ugh, too many weird names. We’re still on Earth, after all, in what used to be the United States. He’s growing from a throwaway (the only way he got in is because I see scenes as pictures sometimes, and so I often describe the picture…I didn’t plan on him becoming anything more than that.) to someone I genuinely want to use more. I wonder if we’ll leave him in the well or not…
I’d write more, but CSI is on soon. :)
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 8:58 PM
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Darker Days Than These
Wednesday, November 01, 2006Words: 3,073
Darker Days Than These is the story of Monaco Johnson, a woman who would have been a music teacher, but she was forced to train as a sumsiri, warrior clans who are used for any purpose from political assassination (the best) to guarding garbage trucks. It is not an easy job…every where she goes someone, including her closest friends, fellow sumsiri Juno and Athena, want her to help find justice, a task she is finding harder and harder to live with.
And then there is another promise, to protect a man named Ben Norton, whose actions may start, or stop, a war a thousand years in the making.
Not bad (she hopes) for a prelim blurb, eh?
The first time I met Monaco Johnson I was sick with some sort of flu. For several days I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink, I couldn’t watch TV because they’d show these delicious commercials of beautiful, juicy food, cold, refreshing orange juice, and I would lick my lips and be miserable.
I rolled on my side and stared at the wall, and closed my eyes and…
There she was. A scarred, slightly plain woman with dark hair, the only remarkable thing about her were her eyes. She was laying on her side on top of her bedcovers, wearing a grey tank top and underwear, and she was thinking about things she didn’t want to, and regretting everything. Maybe it was my addled desperate for something to drink mind, but I thought, she guards Coca Cola trucks. Now what kind of world would she have to live in, where people guarded soda delivery trucks?
I made notes. I wrote bits of it, and lost it. The only thing I have is an independent short story, called “Vigilance.” She is my second oldest character, second only to Andromeda Pendragon of Balancing Act. Since it’s a sort of bitter prediction of what the future will be like, sometimes I see things on the news and think, “Boy, I was right,” or, “Oh, that belongs in DDTT.” Over the past few months I’ve spent a long time in hospitals, and it occurred to me that Monaco didn’t really live in a basement of a house, but in an apartment that used to be a hospital. I ever took pictures of one really interestingly laid out rehab center my father stayed in. Sick? Maybe a little, but it reminds me of what Neil Gaiman said, that all writers live with a little notebook running, taking notes, so even when tragedy strikes, part of you is always trying to memorize the moment to use later.
When NANOMOWRIMO came up, I realized it was time to finally, truly, tell Monaco’s story. I don’t remember the things I did in the past, but I know it’s all there, or at least the good stuff. The nice thing is that it has given me a really solid understanding of Monaco and her world, so I know it will be easier for me to create this place for you.
Now, what was I thinking today? Well, this bit we are doing is really just prologue. Like Juno and Athena, I took her name from mythology. According to Encyclopedia Mythica (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cardea.html) she is “The goddess of thresholds and especially door-pivots (cardo "door-pivot"). Just as Carna she is also a goddess of health. Cardea is the protectress of little children against the attacks of vampire-witches. She obtained the office from Janus in exchange for her personal favors.
Ovid says of Cardea, apparently quoting a religious formula: 'Her power is to open what is shut; to shut what is open.'” Since her “crime” was refusing to kill a little girl, I thought it fit, and I liked the idea of an assassin being named after a goddess of health, because I am perverse in my love of irony. This chapter is o accomplish many tasks: I want you to start envisioning this world that we are in, it’s culture, what it looks like. And of course, Cardea, and what The Lady wants her for are actively the main beam of the story from which all else hangs. I can’t decide if I want to go with the old idea, of Juno forcing Monaco to help her in her plan of revenge, one that results in becoming a blood bath that they all have to try to escape the consequences of, or if I will go with another story that will, ultimately, and very oddly, tie this in with my book Blue Moon.
I’m not worried. We have 29 more days to figure it out.
To read today's writing, go to: http://invisiblelight.blogspot.com/
Permalink Cindy scribed this at 8:07 PM
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