The Last Day Before The Insanity Begins

Well, today is January 31, which means today is my last day of sanity, at least for the next 28 days. At midnight tonight, the starter gun will pop for FebNoWriMo, or February Novel Writing Month. Fifty-thousand words in 28 days. Whew. That's enough to spin your head.

January, of course, was NaNoReMo, or National Novel Researching Month. Sadly, I did not win the challenge of completing 50 hours of research in 31 days. Happily, however, I completed 30 hours of research, and compiled a substantial body of knowledge for my first mafia novel. I'm proud of myself for getting that much done, and look forward to continuing that titanic effort a little bit later.

For right now, I'm bracing myself for the February onslaught. Needless to say, I will not be writing my mob book, as I have not even finished my research. So I guess Plan B it is...the story of a burnt-out personal success coach reinvigorated by an unexpected and controversial client.

I have done a little bit of thinking and planning on that story, but not nearly enough. When I wrote Asteroid Burn in November, there were some excruciating times, for my lack of pre-planning. I promised I would never again write a book with so little forethought. And yet here I am again...with nothing more than a simple plot idea, a couple character sketches, a couple of specific scenes in mind. So here I go again, leaping like Neo across a terrifying and impossible chasm...with nothing but faith and pure determination to carry me...which I saw in November is more than sufficient.

I've always puzzled over what feels so scary about writing a novel. I mean, really, what is there to be afraid of? No one's going to get hurt or die (at least, not a real person; characters do not enjoy that same guarantee). I'm not going to lose my money, my house, my friends, my limbs, or my family. It's ridiculous, really; these fears are complete abstractions, paper tigers in the mind. Completely artificial creations for the sake of personal drama. So, what are these fears anyway?

1) That I won't finish (Well, that's not awful. If I don't finish the novel in 28 days, all it means is that I didn't finish a novel in 28 days. Shit, who does?)

2) That what I write will be awful and ridiculous. (Well, duh! If you're going to write 50,000 words in 28 days, you'd better expect crap.)

3) I won't know what to write...it'll just be this staring contest between me and a blinking cursor. (Ok...so what? Just write drivel. I can consult my "Magna Carta" lists for inspiration. Chris Baty suggests a number of tricks too, like introducing a character who habitually quotes long passages from Shakespeare. Or I could cut to a special session of Congress, where a filibuster is going on with an obnoxious little senator reading from the phone book. Point is, I've got ways to deal with the blinking cursor. It won't be pretty, but all I care about is word-count anyway. And who is that damn cursor to blink at me anyway! Die, blinking cursor!!!! #)$(*#)&@) stab-stab-stab!

4) Then there's this vague but big hairy fear: that the writing process will just be plain painful. Before, this fear was mere speculation. Now I can point to the carpet burns I got in November to prove it. But what good does that do? To prove to myself that it's hard? Nonsense. It's as hard as I make it. I truly think that the degree to which I enjoy writing is the degree to which I can let go of my rigidity of "getting it right" and to just falling into the creative process, with no worries of quality or originality weighing me down. (That comes later, in the editing process.)

5) Boredom. This is probably the worst of all, and probably the fundamental source of my anxiety. The thought of having to sit down and spend countless hours with a story I can't stand to write. That's probably what hurt so bad in November, not the lack of planning. I blamed it on the lack of planning because I thought that if I planned it out first, then I wouldn't wander and stumble around on the lame and uninspiring roads I did. But a fully planned story can also be boring; if it's all planned out, where's the adventure? Once again, the novel-writing challenge gives me the opportunity to be wild and daring, to leap out of my carefully constructed worldview and let something wonderful and strange and bizarre happen instead. It's one more opportunity to stretch myself, to experience feelings and to take risks that I wouldn't otherwise.

Still, I have to ask myself, what about the whole "exposing my inner self" thing? Writers talk about how "personal" writing is. Am I afraid of that? I don't think I'm afraid of revealing my inner demons or the closet skeletons, because I know I'm not going to write anything I'm not comfortable with sharing. I am afraid of being laughed at, I guess. That someone will read my work and say, this is crap and you're an idiot for writing it. (In which case, please refer to Fear #2, and please remember that the respect and admiration anyone gets for writing a novel in 28 days far outweighs the criticisms one gets for poorly telling a preposterous story.)

I don't know. Maybe it's just the damn relentlessness of the clock -- and the never-ending demands of my life competing with this one goal -- that seem so scary. The thought of dragging myself to the computer after an exhausting day of work and family and household chores to mint another two grand on the ol' word processor. The fact that I'm not enough in control of my own life to easily and leisurely compose 1,785 words a day. But then again, who is? Chris Baty says it doesn't even work that way, and having been in business for myself, I believe him.

So it's off to the wild blue yonder we go. Crazy? Yes. Frightening. Totally.

But perhaps I will keep my published copy of "Asteroid Burn" in my right hand throughout the month of February, as a constant reminder that if I just stay focused on this one goal, for a ridiculously short amount of time, I can (once again) achieve the impossible. The flush of triumph that coursed through my body at the end of November was short-lived. But it was something special. I'd like to have that again.

Bon voyage, my friends. Wish me luck! In 28 days, I hope to return to you with great tales of wealth, adventure and romance...in fact, I hope you'll sit down and read them.

Write on!

Writing Exercise 25: "Quirks & Habits"

Description: Think of a quirk or unique habit, then write a scene where that quirk or habit would be especially funny, embarrassing, annoying, or even dangerous.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 24: "Viewer Discretion Advised"

Description: Describe an erotic sexual encounter. Include the feelings of the participants. (After all, how creative do you have to be to write hard porn?)

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 23: "Edison’s Day Off"

Description: Design a new invention. Think of a problem you always have and create a product to solve it, but it could also be a new toy, tool, or accessory. Describe the product in detail: its physical appearance, its components, and how it works.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 22: "The Devil Made Him Do It"

Description: Summarize the charges and circumstances of someone on trial for a heinous or bizarre crime. Then write a winning closing statement as his or her defense attorney.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 21: "Suka Bizex Norf"

Description: Design a foreign or alien language. Explain structure and syntax. Compare it with English, and any other language you might know. Make the piece appear written by an expert, or have a native-speaking child describe it to an adult student.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 20: "E.T. II"

Description: Describe an alien race we haven’t seen before. Include what they look like and where they came from, some history and politics of their world, and their impression of humans. How does the makeup of their bodies and environment dictate their social structure and institutions?

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 19: "Screenplay"

Description: Take any of the stories/pieces you’ve already written and put it in screenplay form. Include setting, description, props, and camera direction.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 18: "God Talk"

Description: Invent and describe a new theology or religious philosophy. For bonus points, kill a character over it.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 17: "Campfire"

Description: Write an entertaining campfire story. It doesn’t have to be scary, but do your best to make it interesting.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 16: "Trapped!"

Description: Trap a person or persons somewhere and get them out of it. The person could be shipwrecked on a desert island, stranded on a swaying ski lift, aboard a sinking ship, or drifting helplessly in space after her tether was snipped.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 15: "What Might Have Happened"

Description: Rewrite a historical circumstance and then describe the consequently different future.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 14: "Culture Clash"

Description: Put two radically different people together and watch the outcome. Then analyze your own bias, and rewrite, switching roles.

[About these exercises]

Update from the Writer's Desk

Well, we're 12 days into National Novel Researching Month (NaNoReMo), and I've completed 22 hours of research (44%), the goal being 50 hours of research in January. My handy goal tracker tells me I'll finish on January 24th, a week early. Which is a good thing, because I need some planning time before I dive into February Novel Writing Month (FebNoWriMo), when I'll write another novel in February. February is a short month -- only 28 days -- but I completed the November challenge in 21 days, so I'm confident that I can do it.

All this month, I've been contemplating what I want to write in February. I'm spending January researching my first Mafia novel, but I don't know if I'll have enough research done to satisfy me when February hits. There is just so much information to grok, even for the period of 1900-1910 which seems sparsely documented to me, compared with other decades. The book is going to be a real piece of craft, by threading seamlessly together the rising and falling stars of the mob, evolving business practices, competition and intrigue among the various gangs, and all set within the context and language of the times. It's a very exciting project, and every day that I gather more information, I feel more hopeful that I can actually pull it off. I've been studying not only Mob history and personalities, but the larger American culture, politics, economy, lifestyles, controversies, and social trends occurring at the turn of the century. Again, I doubt 50 hours of research will be enough to even "wing it" when February comes, much less write the first draft well. On the balance, I've been building a lot of momentum on this subject this month, and there's something to be said for riding it through February. If I write a different book for February, then edit something else again in March for National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo), it won't be until April that I come back to this project, and I'll have significant ramp-up time again.

Well, I'll just have to finish out January and see how I feel.

My fallback writing plan for February is a story idea called "The Double Yellow Line," a soul-searching drama about a rich but burnt-out personal-success coach who is "brought back to life" by an unexpected (and socially unfavorable) client. Hmm, might make a better movie than a book...sounds like a good indie film. Oh, well. First things first. Hollywood's up-and-comers can call me after I draft something.

Write on!

Writing Exercise 13: "Cheesy Romance"

Description: Synopsize a romantic encounter and tumult.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 12: "The Editorial Page"

Description: Write a compelling essay advocating some position or protesting some wrong. All the better if you take the opposite side of your true feelings.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 11: "Timewalk"

Description: Describe a historical period or incident from someone’s point of view in that time.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 10: "Tennyson's Day Off"

Description: Write a poem (or song, even).

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 9: "Speechwriter"

Description: Write an important speech for someone, real or imagined.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 8: "Face To Face"

Description: Describe or write the transcript of a debate between two, three, (or more!) people.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 7: "Mozart's Mystery"

Description: Describe with words a musical piece you’re listening to. Bonus: Create a video or movie scene for the music. Another way to do it is to write a short story, dream, or other fictional piece that expresses the contours of the music, the way the stories in operas and musicals are told through music.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 6: "Follow Me"

Description: Write instructions on how to do something, from assembling a bookshelf to talking down a novice pilot in disaster.

[About these exercises]

Writing Exercise 5: "Mix 'N Match"

This is one of my favorites, because it does double duty. Not just a great exercise, but a great repertoire-builder for the writer. When you're done, you have a whole toolbox of personalities and professions to play with in creating characters and populating stories. It's also a fun exercise; a fun, relaxing time-passer for relaxed or rainy days.

Description: This is a three-part exercise; you can treat each component as a full exercise in itself.

• First, write on 20 index cards an uncommon job or profession. Stretch those imagination muscles! Come up with jobs you never think of, or didn’t realize existed until you thought about it.
  
• Write on another 20 index cards a very basic, but unique statistical profile of someone—build, sex, hair and eye color, age, country of origin, and quirks or habits. Don’t worry about names or biographical information—just statistics. Again, use your imagination and dig for uncommon elements.
  
• Shuffle each pack, keeping them separate. Now you have a character development exercise that will last you a long time. Whenever exercising, take a profession at random, and a profile at random, and flesh out that person. Write a creative bio based on these elements. If the match seems unlikely, all the better!

[About these exercises]

Apologies

Hi, everyone.

Well, I promised to post a writing exercise every day for the month of December. It only takes a few brain cells to notice that I only posted four.

Ummm....well, the holidays really got the best of me. I was pretty much off the grid, enjoying my family, my new Xbox, and all the extra time off. The other reason is a bit more embarrassing...I misplaced the paper with the Exercises written on them! The consequence of too much stuff going on in this modern age of ours, I guess. (Yeah, that's right, it's society's fault, not mine. ;-)

In any case, I've found the list of exercises, and will resume posting them.

In addition, January is National Novel Researching Month, where we attempt to conduct 50 hours of research in 31 days. As noted in previous blog entries, I'm researching the period of 1900-1910, in anticipation of writing my first novel of a planned 10-book fictionalized series on the history of the Mob in America. I'm on track so far, having put in 5.3 hours of research in the first 3 days of the month. Learning a lot of real interesting stuff. If you're interested in joining us, hit the link above, click on "Usergroups", select NaNoReMo and "Join."

Write on, and Happy New Year!