Aspire to the Stars

Spellcliff

I know I haven't said much about NaNo here this year, but it was sort of a busy time, being ML for the St. Louis region and all. For year eight, I wrote another fantasy (of course). Here's the one-sentence summary:

When a librarian finds a murdered historian in the undocumented vaults of the library, she discovers that magic, unusable for centuries, is returning to the world, and those who once wielded it are returning to take back their homeland.

It kind of ended up being like that, so I guess I stuck to the synopsis better than I have in previous years. Yes, I did manage to actually have a dead body show up in the first chapter right when it was supposed to, as opposed to last year, when I didn't kill the person I was planning on until the very last section. Planning, it is your friend when writing.

There's still more to go. I'll see how many words I can put down tomorrow night, but I've got that purple bar of win, and it makes me smile.

Here's to those of you who took this jaunt into literary abandon with me, and those who are still chugging along. Keep writing, my friends!

Make NaNoWriMo Great

This year marks my eighth year participating in NaNoWriMo and my fifth year as a Municipal Liaison for the St. Louis region of said program. That means that I've written at least 350,000 words in the last seven years, and I plan to add another 50k onto that this year. Maybe more, if I can cudgel a few more ideas out of this brain of mine. So I think I have a pretty good idea of what makes for a good time while you're on your crazy experience with literary abandon.

First, make sure you plan a little bit. You don't have to make a full outline with Roman numerals detailing every movement of your (triply-named) character--that can get boring, fast, since you already know what's going to happen, so why write it?--but you should at least figure out a few details about your world, its magic system (yes, I write fantasy, what of it?), a few names that fit in this world (there are tons of generators out there), and a few plot points you'd like to work into the story. This will give you something other than a blank screen to stare at when midnight rolls around on November 1st, and you'll be glad to get that first 1667 words out of the way. Planning also could span preparing your writing software. Some people are fine with a plain Word document, others (like me) use a program like Scrivener, which is designed for authors. There are lots of features and there is a learning curve, but you don't have to use everything baked into the software. Use only what you need, and try to get used to it before you start plonking out words.

Second, get your butt in a chair (or beanbag, or coffeehouse booth, etc) and write. The words won't show up on their own. Hopefully you've been planning, so you have ideas ready for you when you start writing. If you've run off your outline or your mind map, but still need words for the day, try freewriting (write whatever comes into your head, even if it has nothing to do with your story--keep your fingers moving on that keyboard, no matter what) or look up some writing prompts or even search for inspirational pictures related to your story. Anything to keep the words flowing. Make them up. It doesn't matter if they further your plot for NaNo--quantity over quality here. Quality is for revision time. You can try the virtual writer's dice here if you are absolutely stuck.

Third, and utterly contradicting #2, is to not write all the time. If you force yourself to do something, it will probably make you unhappy. If you force yourself to do something at the expense of something else (like meeting a friend for dinner or seeing that movie you've been waiting for) you will start to dislike the thing you're forcing yourself to do, and it won't be fun anymore. Don't get to that point. Remember, NaNo is not your life. Take breaks. Don't forget to eat or pet the cat. Remind your significant other that you exist outside your writing room. Call your mom. Then get back to writing when you're refreshed.

Fourth: the combination of 2 and 3. Be social with your writing. Come to a write-in or three during November. You might surprise yourself with how much you like them. I know they're not for all people, and that's fine--but it's a very nice thing to realize you need a plot point, and you can just ask the room at large, and one will be found for you. If you don't want to go out, try browsing the NaNo forums (particularly your regional lounge, where there is lots of important information from your MLs! Just sayin') and pose your plot problems there. I've met a bunch of interesting people through NaNoWriMo, and you can too. St. Louis is having a writing marathon on the 20th...

Last, and perhaps most important: do what works for you. Some people can write several thousand words a day without thinking about it. I quite often have trouble just reaching my word count goal, but I've managed to write 50k every year, even when I was faced with a major biochem paper due on November 29. Don't be afraid of the large number. Don't be afraid of failure--just by writing something you have already surpassed the majority of your peers who have only ever talked about writing a novel. You're not crazy; hundreds of thousands of people are doing the same thing you are. Write the best you can; write as much as you can, and call that a win.

See you in November!

Romantic

Image via Wikipedia

From the oneword prompt "romantic."

There was a bottle of wine and a candle on the table when I got home. Next to the candle was a matchbox and a note:

"Light the candle and drink the wine, and think of me. I can't be with you but know that I'm doing the same thing, wherever I am. Love you."

I started to cry.

Yesterday

Yesterday was like any other day. It was Sunday, so I could sleep in. I met up with some friends for an early lunch, read a book or two, did some laundry, worked out, did my part to stimulate the American economy, watched a couple of movies. Aside from the hopefully not stray cat* it was a pretty normal day.

But it seemed weird that it was normal. It was September 11th, and it seemed like there should have been something that stood out to mark the tenth anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers. But Mike and I rather studiously avoided any network tv, not wanting to see the memorials, we didn't talk about it, and nothing else felt different. Of course 9/11 was at the back of my mind the entire time. But it was just another day.

I know that for some people, 9/11 will never be an okay day. For me, though, as much as I abhor the ideals that made the terrorists even envisage this plan, it's not part of my life. I didn't know anyone in New York that day. I wasn't awake when the planes hit the towers; I missed the first barrage of news and didn't find out about it until my mom called me, panicked that universities might be targeted next. I went to my late morning class anyway, just because I didn't know what else to do. There wasn't much information yet, but eventually all classes were cancelled (which rarely happens at WU), and I spent the afternoon in the green space by the chapel and prayed for all those unknown people.

Today I saw some pictures from 9/11, shocking and scary. There were a few of the people who fell or jumped from the tower, and that took my breath. But still, I'm removed from it. On the one hand I feel callous and uncaring, but on the other I still thank God that I wasn't there. That my family wasn't there. That no one I know was in those Towers, or had their name read out during a memorial overlooking the largest man-made waterfalls that mark the place where they once stood.

Aside from hassles at the airport (brief--I've only flown a handful of times since that day) and increased security at events, I haven't been affected much by the tragedy. I'm so grateful for that. It means that I can have just another day.

Bless those who can't.

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*during our walk last night, Mike spotted a cat sitting near a car wheel, and said cat noticed us and came right up to me and started purring and rubbing. We weren't sure what to do; the cat was obviously healthy, but we hoped he wasn't a lost cat. Long story short, emergency vehicles drove past with sirens on, and the cat ran away, hopefully to the house he calls home. A man who happened to be outside with his tiny dog said that his neighbors had a similar cat that sometimes goes outside. Hopefully that's the same cat, and he's okay. We'll probably never know.

Growing up

I know I must be an adult now, because I can no longer go to the library, check out 14 books due in 14 days, and read them all without renewing. This makes me sad.

The library was this wondrous place when I was growing up. I could check out all the books I wanted and just read. But now there are things like work and sleep that conspire to keep me from reading all that I want to. Don't get me wrong. I've read 90 books this year (yes, some of them are short, or graphic novels, but they're still books) and I'll try to read many more before December 31, but I could be reading so much more. I once estimated that I read 600 books in five years. I'm below that estimate now, but this year I seem to be reading faster, so go fig.

Of course, part of the problem is that I also do other things with my free time, like, say, eat, or play softball, or, you know, write...and obviously I can't do all of them at the same time. I can read and have dinner all at once, and I've even been known to read while knitting, though that's rare.

What's the point of all this? Well, I restrained myself and only checked out two books at the library on Tuesday. See, I'm growing up.

Uncharted

This song has been earworming around my head all day and now it has inspired a story snippet. Don't know where it will go, and of course it's fantasy. Just recording it here for motivation.

We were in uncharted territory now. The tales and fishwives said the witch could be found beyond the borders of the world, and we had passed the last marker of the great King's odyssey leagues ago. The fishwives also told us we were courting insanity by leaving what we knew, but finding a hypothetical witch was better than dying, so we walked off the edge of the map.

Something to think about

Everybody must know by now, that the name that has haunted America for a decade is gone and good riddance to him. I love that there were celebrations at Ground Zero and I hope that the survivors and relatives of lost ones can feel some closure. But there's a lot of sadness that such celebration happens. I'm relieved he's dead, and no one can dispute that he did horrible things that no one, American or not, deserved, but then I think, "someone died." Quite a few someones, really. That's not usually something to be happy about.

I'm conflicted, I suppose. Happy he's gone, but not liking that I'm happy. Maybe this will make life a little safer. Maybe some of the restrictions on travel will be eased. Maybe the troops will be able to come home sooner.

But maybe nothing will change. There are still crazy people out there, and there are plenty of other agitators in other places, and that also depresses me. But you can't live your life waiting for the sky to fall. So I'll rejoice that a bad man no longer can inspire hatred in his followers, and I'll hope for good things in the future.

9 times

I've renewed the domain for etoiline.com 9 times as of yesterday. That's scary close to 10, which means I'll have been blogging intermittently for a decade next year. Wow. Guess I should update more often, eh? And my parents have been married for 35 years, which is spectacular and sweet. I love you both.

Hope you all had a happy Easter. Things are crazy around here, what with the tornado hitting the airport and friends and family on their way to weddings. Next weekend is the St.Charles Artwalk (see both my parents' work!), as well as the STL Bookfair, so you've got plenty to keep you busy.

What you should do

Buy this here. First seen here.

A whisper of a dream

Would you kill to save a life? Would you kill to prove you're right?

A glimmer of an idea teases my muse and I marvel at its source--a 30 Seconds to Mars song. I don't know if there's a story behind it or it's just an idle fragment of bought that could be built upon. I put it here so I'd be held accountable for it. Violent? Maybe. But there's a hint of truth there, a longing for justice, propelling someone headlong into something they could not possibly understand. I don't know why any of these things would be happening, but that's part of the magic of creation, isn't it?

THE END in 2010

I managed to finagle a way to write THE END at the conclusion of NaNoWriMo 2010. It's sort of kludgy and there are lots of things that don't make a lot of sense and plenty of wrong turns and dangling plot points, but I did end the story. It's only a smidge over 50,000 words, but I don't mind. It's a story, by golly!

I could probably cut it down quite a bit and make it a decent short story, but I'm (not quite as equally) sure I could pad it out and figure out where some of those dangling plotlines actually end up. I wrote myself into a corner and wrote myself back out, and also managed to use some of the conveniently placed plot points that I somehow put in early in the story, but I also strayed VERY VERY far from my synopsis, which makes me sad. I think it would have been a better story if I'd figured out how to stick to what I originally planned. I don't know if that's a (not really) rousing endorsement to continue my pantsing ways, or to get tough with my muse and start planning the damn things out before 11:30 pm on October 31.

What's it about? Well, it was supposed to be about a Writer (in my world, Writers write plays where the actors truly become their characters for the length of the play) whose mentor is killed, and all signs point to the Writer as doing it, only she didn't! So she has to clear her name and figure out who put the bad mojo on her. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to the murder until the end of the story (yes, I did the bad and all the action is in the last 10,000 words), so the mystery part of my murder mystery never materialized. However, I did end up with an angry, ambitious ghost-in-the-play who possesses one of the actors and wreaks all sorts of havoc. He's one-sided, sure, but he was pretty good at being bad. There was also more blood and gore than I've ever tried to write, and I was reminded again at how squeamish I can be. I wanted to be a doctor? (sigh)

Anyway, the book has an ending. This is only the second book in seven years to which that has happened, so I really have to work on that. Maybe next year I'll try to up the goal. But I have plenty of trouble just writing 1667 words a day that I don't know if I could try to double it...but maybe 2k a day would be doable. We'll see next year, won't we?

TGIO party tomorrow, yay!

For those of you who think NaNo is a waste of time, read this:

30

Well, I'm 30 now. I've started a new decade of life. Honestly, I don't feel any different than I did at 29--still working the same job, doing the same things. Sure, there have been changes, and ones that can be measured in years instead of days--I bought a car and a house, my boyfriend lives with me--but I don't feel all that much different than when I graduated. I guess that's a good thing, right? Feeling--well, not young, exactly, but certainly not like I'm going to have a mid-life crisis. I don't mind, in the main. I don't really like big changes. They make me nervous. I do wish I was more spontaneous sometimes, though.

I'm happy with my life as it is. I wish I had more time to do the things I want to do, but everybody wants that. I've got a place of my own, family and friends that love me, a good job, and now, thanks to my parents, a stockpot so I can cook real chicken and dumplings. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) There isn't a lot I need. The house needs some work, but nothing urgent: the garden could use a loving hand; the basement wants for a few new outlets; the bathroom needs a fan; and the attic needs new insulation. There is a lot of stuff I want, but don't need. I keep telling myself that. I've got what I need.

Unfortunately I still haven't finished writing a whole book; that is one thing I regret. I don't know why I procrastinate so much, but there are just so many things I could also be doing: knitting, crocheting, gardening, playing with the cat, fiddling with the iPod...yeah. Maybe this year.

I don't really like being 30--not the age, but the connotation of the number. I don't feel like it fits me. Maybe in a year or two I'll resign myself to the fourth decade, but I still think of myself as younger. But I don't know how much younger; certainly not the low 20s, when you're just out of school and aimless (unless you were a pre-med and then you knew exactly what you were doing for the next seven years of your life), not the mid 20s when quite a few of my friends were getting together with the person they would marry...I guess there is something about staying 29. Although I'd pick 27, just because. I don't feel old, unless I see a bunch of kids doing something crazy, but I'm reasonably up on tech stuff, so I'm not lost in an electronics store. I can still pull off shopping at trendy stores (if I ever shop there) and I still get carded. But I can remember the days before the Internet and I don't have a smartphone, so I suppose I'd be regarded as a fuddy by the younger set. But I don't mind. See, I'm getting older and smarter.

We'll see what the coming year brings. Maybe I'll finish a book. Maybe I'll finish the afghan that's been sitting around the house for years. Maybe the garden will actually look like a garden instead of a place where there are some flowers and more weeds. I'll try to make it a good one.

Thanks for sharing it with me.

Style

Not fashion style, as I have very little of that. I'll take comfort over fashion any day. But writing style, that's something different. I've never really been sure I have a style, other than faintly imitative of Carol Berg or Jim Butcher. I'm not good at categorization, which is sort of funny since my mom is really good at it. Anyway, there's a meme floating around about analyzing your writing and comparing it to famous writers, and here's my result, based on my last blog entry. Perhaps I should finally read some of his work...

I write like
Cory Doctorow

One of these days I'll dredge up some of my NaNo stuff and see how that pans out.

I would like all the people in my life with money issues to stop having them. And I would like my tomatoes and zucchini to fruit.

a short love story

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

Thanks to my coworker Freida who shared it on Facebook.

Looking forward

Image by Robb North via Flickr

Do you see an empty road, or a new future?

I'd like to think that it's an invitation to take a new path, one that's completely open to interpretation.

Of course, in real life I'd never take such a road, not without checking a map or pulling out the GPS I hope to afford one day...

Does that ever happen to you? Where you want to do something but the practical side of you holds you back? That's sort of how I feel about writing. I love it, I do. I love the feeling of creating a new world and populating it with characters that run away with the story, of finding new plots when you thought there were none, of writing just to see what happens, because I usually have no clue. But then I think of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in front of seeing the words I've put down show up in a book in a bookstore. Sure, there are people out there who are doing really well with the new ebook publishing model. But call me old-fashioned, I want a book with a professional cover printed by a reputable house with my name at the top. And that's tough to do.

Of course, I have to finish writing the damn thing first. I'm so close--one chapter and an epilogue, which I know some people hate, but I think it's the best way to wrap up the story--but it's not easy to sit down and do the planning I know I need to do so the last chapter is the best it can be (for the first time through, anyway ;) ) There are so many other things clamoring for my time: knitting, crocheting, the iPod apps that Mike always belittles, gardening (yes, it seems I like gardening very much), taking care of the home, working out, and lest we forget, reading. I'm ahead of last year in books but behind during this month, but again, so many things in the way. I need more time in the day, of course.

But I've just got to make time. I've got to set out on that open road, without knowing what's ahead. Sure I may have to make some U-turns along the way, and go back to what works, because no one succeeds 100% of the time. But I just have to think of what waits at the end, or even the next fork, reaching little goals along the way.