I decided after the first day to not do NaNoWriMo. I didn’t have an idea that I cared about enough for a 50,000 word novel and I realized that I hadn’t worked on any of my writing skills over the past two years. Sure, I would have learned more about writing doing it a second time, but not as much as if/when I actually take a writing course and/or practice some of the finer points via short stories.
Instead, I decided to take something that I know well and see how it feels to apply the same principles to a project that I’ve never gotten around to finishing… or even starting. So I’m doing Na-Software-WriMo instead.
The project I’m working on for the next 30 days (I’m running a bit late due to the last minute change) is related to parsers and compilers. I won’t go into too much detail until I see that the idea is going to work.
I am going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I’m running a bit behind because I was too busy over the past couple weeks to really think through a plot like I wanted to – fortunately the first day (today) is a Saturday so I have a few extra hours to work on the overall structure before starting. I’ve been reading a few books on writing, including a book specifically on plot and structure, so I’m hoping that this year I create a story that is at least well crafted.
Just three weeks until the start of NaNoWriMo. I’ve started jotting down notes and story ideas. Perhaps I’ll read last year’s novel again.
Other than Swedish classes, my schedule for November is clear. I should have my (meager) belongings moved into my new place by the first.
The nanowrimo.org site seems much nicer this year. Very Rails-esque. And they seemed to have ditched the silly Flash profile thing. Hopefully it won’t go down every night again, as everyone updates their word count at the last minute.
To all (three) of you who read this and aren’t planning on doing NaNoWriMo… check out this sweet award I won last year and try not to get too jealous:
I went to Acrobatics on Thursday and had a great time. My left arm was fine. By the end of the night, I was doing better handstands than I’ve ever done. The instructors and students are always fun to be around. The only thing I didn’t like is the 10-15 pounds of fat I’ve put on.
The clogged drain in my bathroom is fixed, which makes me very happy. It has never really drained right and I’ve been too lazy to tell the manager.
A few days ago I bought a cheap auger and tried unsuccessfully to snake it down the bathtub’s drain. Then I noticed (not sure why it took so long) that the sink was clogged too, and it was backing up into the tub if given enough time. So tonight I took off the sink trap and snaked the auger down from there. At about 6-8 feet it hit a soft spot, so I cranked and it turned for a bit and then stopped. As I pulled up and water in the tub started draining. A the end was an incredibly nasty mass of hair, dirt, and who-knows-what-else. It is now wrapped in a plastic bag in my garbage can. I hope it doesn’t crawl out and attack me in my sleep.
Made a bit more progress on my novel today but I’m going too slow. I can tell this is going to be much better than last time, though.
OK, what would you do after you bought that new car (or motorcycle), quit your job, moved into a nicer place, upgraded to non-Ikea furniture, paid off your debt, whatever? I ask because I don’t know what I would do.
This will be one of the themes of my upcoming novel. It will take place over 3-4 weeks while the main character is visiting Seattle and apartment-sitting. He reconnects with old friends and tries to figure out how to spend his time after selling a software business for a moderate amount of money.
The key to the thought experiment is figuring out what you really want in life. The hope is that it won’t really require a $20 million jackpot to achieve.
Things I’ve been addicted to lately: Flickr, RSS feeds, RSS feeds of various Flickr tags, Merlin Mann podcasts, and other podcasts in the TWIT/Pixel Corps sphere.
I’m having a difficult time getting through the middle of my first novel. It is very short on character development, setting, and plot. The only thing it has too much of is dry technical descriptions. Not good.
I bought a book on Xcode last night and had fun working through the examples until 2am. It is the first time in a while that programming has seemed really fun. Perhaps that is what I’ll be doing next.
I started reading my NaNoWriMo novel last night. I’m about halfway through it and I’ve decided that I won’t be letting anyone read it. It’s not very good.
However, I am anxious to write another novel. My plan is to make lots of notes while reading (and re-reading) my first novel and then do another novel writing month soon. The new novel will be very different from the first. No geeky technology, third person instead of first, and more character driven.
It is now six (or seven) weeks after NaNoWriMo ended. This is when I was planning on picking up my novel again and editing it into something that I might share with the world.
I haven’t thought about my novel at all in the past few weeks. Apparently that is the reason for putting it away for this long. I certainly will be looking at it with new eyes.
On Saturday we are flying to Charleston, SC for two weeks. Perhaps I’ll put a few hours into it there.
After thinking about the NaNoWriMo story again, I’m not expecting much. It was basically a month long exercise in basic fiction writing skills. I am quite anxious to write a second novel, though, and it will certainly not be about any scifi or technology topics. I fell back on that too much last November. The main character might still be a geek (it’s what I know) but the story will be primarily about his relationship with other people.
I spent some serious time today browsing Iceland photos on Flickr. I want to go there someday.
In my NaNoWriMo novel, the main characters made a bit of money and decided to buy an apartment building where they could work, live, and throw parties. The building was located in an industrial part of town (think Georgetown) and had a lot of character.
The geek hideout idea has been with me since I was about 16 years old.
I grew up in a big house on a hill in the country. It wasn’t a farm but it was well beyond the suburbs. It was a great place to grow up but by the time I started driving, I was fascinated by cities. I’d make trips down to Portland to spend hours at Powell’s Books. I’d always park by the technical bookstore, spend a couple hours there until it closed (at 9pm), and then walk to the main bookstore.
On the way to the main bookstore I’d walk by The Amory. I have no idea what the building is like inside but it looked really cool when I walked by it at night. That part of town has changed a lot in the past 5-10 years but back then the buildings were all breweries and old warehouses, so it was dark and empty at night. I loved it, though I still can’t explain why.
Over the years I romanticized that idea. When I thought about writing a novel, that was always the setting I imagined. Even though it had been years since the idea had last intrigued me, it was still what popped into my head when I started writing last month.
I think it’s good to purge these old ideas by writing a first novel. It becomes obvious how stale they’ve become. Next time I write a novel (probably a local novel writing month we do in March), I’ll be coming up with new ideas.
About the same time NaNoWriMo was beginning, Wired ran an article about six word stories.
Why not combine the two? The result: Six Word Writing Minute.
I propose that a suitable minute out of the year be set aside for would-be writers from around the world to attempt a six word story. There will be no prize for any dedicated individuals who accomplish this feat of endurance, except for the sense of accomplishment.
A web site should certainly be setup to track progress and provide tips for six word story writers.
Expect to hear more about this exciting new event!
