Na-No and Wodehouse
Hi all in LJ-land and more especially in LJ-cross-nanowrimo land! Just checking in with the news that I am already 3 days behind word count, but still feel confident (or something.) The novel is going well, I guess. Difficult at times, especially since I can't seem to get started before 10 pm, and I still have a job. Will I make up for lost time when I don't? We'll see. Last year I got stuck because I just couldn't figure out what my plot should be. This year, however, I am more easy-going, and am not trying to plan ahead. I just see what happens. This is helpful. If I have an idea about what should happen later, I write that down too, but I am not stressing. I'm also not stressing about the quality. After seeing the rewrites that go into textbooks, I should know not to worry about that, but as someone responsible for rewrites, it can be hard.
Oh, Wodehouse. Yes, I've been reading a couple of early Wodehouses reissued in pretty hardback editions. I picked them up for cheap at Pegasus Books, even though I'm trying to be better about not buying things, especially books, given the ridiculous state of my room and the 30-odd unread must-read books on the desk. But Wodehouse is an exception. It's part of my Mission Statement to own all Wodehouses.
Sam the Sudden and The Girl on the Boat confused me by both containing heros named Sam who are nevertheless not the same person. To the extent that all Wodehouse heros are not the same person because they really all are. Fun times, both books, and interesting to see his early workings of his stock plot devices. (Speaking both as a Wodehouse scholar and as a newbie novelist.) People marooned on roofs by animals - the pink bathingsuit added charm, but done better later with the swan and then the Scottie. People burglarizing houses with the best of intentions, same. I think mainly the plots, while action-packed and funny, don't have the perfection of later years. And right now I find that encouraging. I know he slaved over them at all times. So mine can be weird and a bit lacking, and that's ok.
Oh, Wodehouse. Yes, I've been reading a couple of early Wodehouses reissued in pretty hardback editions. I picked them up for cheap at Pegasus Books, even though I'm trying to be better about not buying things, especially books, given the ridiculous state of my room and the 30-odd unread must-read books on the desk. But Wodehouse is an exception. It's part of my Mission Statement to own all Wodehouses.
Sam the Sudden and The Girl on the Boat confused me by both containing heros named Sam who are nevertheless not the same person. To the extent that all Wodehouse heros are not the same person because they really all are. Fun times, both books, and interesting to see his early workings of his stock plot devices. (Speaking both as a Wodehouse scholar and as a newbie novelist.) People marooned on roofs by animals - the pink bathingsuit added charm, but done better later with the swan and then the Scottie. People burglarizing houses with the best of intentions, same. I think mainly the plots, while action-packed and funny, don't have the perfection of later years. And right now I find that encouraging. I know he slaved over them at all times. So mine can be weird and a bit lacking, and that's ok.