I slept in too late today. The coffee isn't good. I accidentally oversweetened it. My church kids have Dean Martin's "Mambo Italiano" replaying through my head all hours of the day. We served spaghetti to 90 people at our fundraiser yesterday.
I guess I've already hit that "pause". I won't say "block" because that's just not true. I still have dozens of ideas swerving around Dean Martin's catchy chorus in my head, and if they keep at this pace, they may just force him over a cliff somewhere up ahead and take the lead.
I am surprised that, even without a full-time job, it's difficult to make time to write 1,667 words per day (that's what the leaders of NaNoWriMo recommend to keep you on track for your 50,000 word goal). I mean, the writing itself comes fast when you've got an idea in mind, but...otherwise...
I'm doing something I've never done before in regards to my writing. I am writing from the beginning to the end, period. They say that you can - even that you should - write your climax scenes first, or your character-building scenes, but that has never worked for me. All that happens is I end up with these gorgeous, juicy, characterization-filled pages that go nowhere. I mean it. I have loads of unfinished work that is just clever exchange between characters. Witty, informative, plot-driven, but...well...stunted. This time, I am not allowing myself to "jump ahead" and work the "fun" stuff. I am plodding along like a fat old unwieldy dinosaur, determined to get where I'm going and not skip steps along the way.
Okay, the dinosaur image was a little strange, but that's what I am picturing. A wobbly, ancient stegosaurus, great gnarled head down, whuffling along the dusty ground, single-mindedly putting one humongous foot in front of the other in the simple effort of walking forward.
I'm a dinosaur! I'm a novel-writing dinosaur! A curious and adorable, determined, novel-writing dinosaur! Like this:
Yes. Exactly. Now what was I talking about?
Earlier this week, I made it known via social media that I was participating in this year's NaNoWriMo...which means that I'm making it my goal to write a 50,000-word novel by the end of November.
'Cause what else does an unemployed, slightly loopy and extremely creative hausfrau have to do in the fall?
In order to help gather my thoughts and create an outline (which, according to the rules, is completely acceptable as long as I am not using previously-written prose), I asked my facebook friends to help me choose between two (in my humble opinon) pretty neat ideas. The first is very contemporary: a superhero-style adventure that takes place, of course, in Pittsburgh. The second is a little more epic in scope: a tale of a young woman who has to defy her king and the laws of the land in order to protect it. It's a Christian allegory.
Both ideas are precious to me. The first is fairly recent; it includes a plus-sized female role model and explores healthy relationships as much as it deals with super-powers and heroics. The second idea is born of characters that I created (but never did anything with) in college. Dear God, that was a long, long time ago. These folks have been haunting me for a decade, at least. Time to get the ghosts on paper, I guess.
Which is, ultimately, why I chose the second option. Seriously, people, it was like Sophie's choice! Yes, most of my friends chose it, too...but don't get me wrong. The other idea has grown very quickly on me, and I hope to finish that story within the year as well.
But even before I had seen all the "votes", my head had turned towards the allegorical story. I found myself, over the past few days, I was beginning to research names and other ideas. Looks like my head knew before my heart did.
Below is part of my "wall of inspiration"...character prototypes that have been collecting dust in my portfolio for years. I brushed them off, touched them up, and hung them. Really helps. Top one is Berengyr, a herald. Bottom is my main character, Arnavet. She is a court musican.
Thanks for your help!
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