A Nice Day to Start Again
In a fit of inspired (?) madness, I have decided to call the universe's bluff and participate in the National Novel Writing Month competition, though I refuse to refer to it as NaNoWriMo because that just sounds stupid.
50,000 words in a month sounds like a lot, but... Well, I think this is going to be good for me, really. I've been coming to the realization that, for somebody who thinks he's going to be a writer for his living, I don't really write often enough. I'm going to be realistic here: there's no way that I could possibly walk out of college and into a world where I could write books for a living. If I ever get to that point, it's going to be after doing both the books and a day job for a while. Therefore, the excuse of "well, I don't have the time right now" is worthless; as far as I know, I'll never have "enough" time.
So if I have this deadline in front of me, this challenge, maybe I can twist my mind enough to make myself go the distance. And if I can do 50,000 words in a month- which is approximately 1,666 words a day, every day- then maybe I can be trained to keep that pace up. I don't know yet, we'll see.
I was stuck on what to write about for a while. At first, I tried to restart Sunrise, but then I found out while starting on it that A. starting the book before November 1 violates the rules and B. I was struggling to do 500 words a night with that. Maybe I'm just not fit for that book right now. Someday.
Then I thought of going back to Ingram, whom some of you may remember from the never-completed "Detective Story" that's in the back of this journal somewhere. (If you want to take a look at it, it's in my Memories section.) I had decided on him for a while, because I do feel like that character and that setting has some real possibilities... But I don't know if I can do them justice. Certainly I don't know if I can do a long work based on him. So that's another someday.
Now, I had a third idea last night, and I think I like it best. It's simple enough that I can make a story flow around it while writing it instead of having to write out a huge, complex plot that weaves into every crevice of the book's world. At the same time I think that it's a deep enough concept that I can make it last.
My primary source of inspiration is this painting, which I have hanging in my room...
La Belle Dame Sans Merci, by Frank Dicksee
Which I think may be able to speak for itself, really.
My immediate inspiration is Arthurian legend and The Princess Bride, which should maybe tell you about what I'm going for: I want something a little innocent, a little timeless, a little hopeful. (All things that, for instance, Ingram is not...) I want wonder, I want magic, I want the fog on the barrow-downs.
I want knights, and castles, and breathless, self-destructive passion.
Next month.
50,000 words in a month sounds like a lot, but... Well, I think this is going to be good for me, really. I've been coming to the realization that, for somebody who thinks he's going to be a writer for his living, I don't really write often enough. I'm going to be realistic here: there's no way that I could possibly walk out of college and into a world where I could write books for a living. If I ever get to that point, it's going to be after doing both the books and a day job for a while. Therefore, the excuse of "well, I don't have the time right now" is worthless; as far as I know, I'll never have "enough" time.
So if I have this deadline in front of me, this challenge, maybe I can twist my mind enough to make myself go the distance. And if I can do 50,000 words in a month- which is approximately 1,666 words a day, every day- then maybe I can be trained to keep that pace up. I don't know yet, we'll see.
I was stuck on what to write about for a while. At first, I tried to restart Sunrise, but then I found out while starting on it that A. starting the book before November 1 violates the rules and B. I was struggling to do 500 words a night with that. Maybe I'm just not fit for that book right now. Someday.
Then I thought of going back to Ingram, whom some of you may remember from the never-completed "Detective Story" that's in the back of this journal somewhere. (If you want to take a look at it, it's in my Memories section.) I had decided on him for a while, because I do feel like that character and that setting has some real possibilities... But I don't know if I can do them justice. Certainly I don't know if I can do a long work based on him. So that's another someday.
Now, I had a third idea last night, and I think I like it best. It's simple enough that I can make a story flow around it while writing it instead of having to write out a huge, complex plot that weaves into every crevice of the book's world. At the same time I think that it's a deep enough concept that I can make it last.
My primary source of inspiration is this painting, which I have hanging in my room...
La Belle Dame Sans Merci, by Frank Dicksee
Which I think may be able to speak for itself, really.
My immediate inspiration is Arthurian legend and The Princess Bride, which should maybe tell you about what I'm going for: I want something a little innocent, a little timeless, a little hopeful. (All things that, for instance, Ingram is not...) I want wonder, I want magic, I want the fog on the barrow-downs.
I want knights, and castles, and breathless, self-destructive passion.
Next month.