The Fun Part

Shhh. Don't tell anyone, or we may jinx it.

But I'm getting to the fun part of NaNoWriMo. Of any writing, really. My characters are starting to think for themselves. They're doing things I didn't anticipate. They've ended up in situations I could not have forseen. Zack (CWCer's LEAST favorite character in the book) has turned out to have some pretty cool stuff going on.

To try to maintain this, I'm writing every single friggin' day. No matter what. And I've gone into superstition mode. "I wore this ring on the days that I logged the most words, so I will where this ring all the time now."

Okay, back to it. Just wanted to post something about my writing that wasn't total whinging.

My Wonderful Excuse

As you can see by the NaNo count on the right, I seem to be going backwards as regards my writing goals. But I have a wonderful excuse for why I didn't get more done over the weekend.

Well, I have a good excuse.

It's an excuse, you decide its merit.

I was house and dog sitting for Jonnie and Steve. So I had to give some attention to the dogs. Plus there's the extra time that normal things take to accomplish, because you're not in your usual environment. So there's that. But J&S have a new addition to the family since the last time I housesat. A big-screen HD TV. I spent a little time getting acquainted with this new addition.

And the biggest culprit in all this not writing? HBO. They decided to show a True Blood marathon. I read the book that the series is based on, Dead Until Dark. And I liked that book. A lot. As a matter of fact, I picked up the next three books in the series. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the series is about Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in Louisiana who can hear people's thoughts. The books take place in a near future just after vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak. They are able to drink a synthetic blood now and are lobbying for equal rights. Sookie meets and falls for a vampire, whose thoughts she can't hear. The main story, however, is a murder mystery. Seems other waitresses who've been involved with vamps are being killed.

The series contains all the elements of the main plot of the book. The characters from the bar and Sookie's family are there. There's the "What's up with Sam", her boss, element. The murders. Bad vamps. Ambiguous vamps. Bill the Vampire's trouble walking the line between the vampire world and the human one. And there are a lot of added storylines. A lot. Voodoo and exorcism. A wacky girlfriend for Jason, Sookie's ne'er-do-well brother, and all the comes from that. But one of main things I loved about the book is missing: the funny. Now there is humor in the series, but not the belly-shaking, tear-squeezing laughs from the book. And for all the nudity and sex, a lot of the sexiness is missing, too.

Did I like the series? Yes, I did. After all, I spent the better part of the weekend watching it. And I really want to see the final three episodes, even though I know at least part of the ending.

The Dexter television series did a similar thing with Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Main story is there. Lots of extra stuff added to make it fill up a full television season. They, however, managed to keep the funny. And maybe even add to it.

I understand the changes. You have a 300 page book that takes several hours to read. When you film it, it takes even less time to watch, because the pictures take care of setting and character description. And you need to fill 12 episodes with an average running time of about 50 minutes each. So you need more stuff. And in both cases, they have added well.

Here's the question: Do you think we as writers who all love our television (and you know we do) maybe try to put too much in our books? Do we try to fill them up with all the extra stuff that we see in our favorite shows? And if we do, is it a bad thing?

Warning: Political Content

I don't usually talk politics here. Not because I'm not interested. Not because I don't have opinions. But because, over the past decade, I've learned to keep my mouth shut. I live in a community in which I am most decidedly in the minority. I've also worked at a company (not my current one, I'm happy to say) where having it known that I was part of that minority made my life hell. So I said nothing. Especially not publicly.

Add to that the atmosphere of fear that has been built in this country over the last eight years. "You must be afraid" and "It won't work" and "No, you can't".

Well, last night I heard a man stand up and say "Yes, we can!" I watched people of all ages, races, religions, incomes and from all around the globe celebrating that man and what he stands for. I felt a glimmer of hope. That just maybe we can put aside our fear and distrust and do something good. Make a difference. Make things better.

On this cold gray November morning, I feel warm. And I'm smiling.

Oh, and check out Pat's blog today. I dare you not to cry.

NaNo Gets Short Shrift For A Bigger Issue

I'm off to a slow start this year for NaNoWriMo. But I'm looking at it like athletic training. You start slow and build. Yeah, training. So, I'm stealing time at work where I can. And I've got a weekend coming up with nothing much planned.

What about tonight?, you ask. Well, there's this thing called an election going on. And I know I'm going to be parked in front of the tube, watching Comedy Central's coverage--don't laugh, they usually have the smartest and least annoying people covering these things. Elections are important. So, I'm giving myself permission to care about something other than writing tonight. I'm hoping there's a clear outcome before I go to bed. And I'm hoping it's the one that helps me sleep better.

BTW, if you haven't voted yet, please do so. Vote your conscience.

November Goals - Is There Anything But NaNo?

It probably won't feel much like it, but there will be other writing-related things I need to complete this month. Let's see how I did in October--which seemed like a really, really long month to me.

--Rewrite 2 chapters of MMG. (6/2)
--Write 31 pages of Vesta. (7/31)
--Complete CWC critiques. (2/2)
--Read Dexter and The Graveyard Book with an eye to the "nuts and bolts." (1.5/2)
--Edit PPW NewsMag. (DONE)

Not too shabby. Especially with all the extra I Did This things I accomplished.

So, what do I need to do in November?

--Write 50,000 words, naturally. The first part of the month, at least, will be dedicated to Vesta. If I finish the novel before I hit my word count, I'll go on to another whatever.
--Complete 2 CWC critiques (thanks Jenny!)

Wow, that really is it. Reading this month is going to be hit and miss and mainly for fun. I'm dog and house sitting next weekend so that usually means the next Sandman book.

Ali's calling for a "Write For Yourself" month. I would hope I usually do that. I'll let you know at the end of the month whether it felt like work or not.

Okay, off to waste time on Facebo . . . I mean, time to go knock out a few hundred words.

I Don't Need A Hero

A couple weeks ago, I realized that I wasn't enjoying Heroes the way I had in the first season. Too many characters, too much of them acting against the way they'd been drawn. Even the acting started to bother me. It seems like many of the main characters--the ones we've known from the start--now have one expression. Peter Petrelli in particular. [say that ten times fast] And part of the problem for the show is that the one before it, Chuck, is a heck of a lot more fun to watch. Still have a guy saving the world, but he's a bumbling hero. All he wants is the girl he can't have. Besides any show with Adam Baldwin in it has a definite advantage over one that doesn't.

Then this week my Entertainment Weekly shows up with a cover story about Heroes being in trouble. The other day Courtney posted on her blog about no longer taking up DVR space with the show. I also realized that over a month into the new season and the Pirates have not discussed it once. Bad signs all around. Looks like that fascinating tipping point thing has kicked in.

For me, though, it's going a bit deeper. More shows are annoying me this year. Top of the list? I may get lynched for this, but House. This show, too, suffers from a surfeit of characters. And I don't like the new ducklings. Never did. Bring back Chase and Cameron. Those two held their own against House. And why would anyone let this man treat them? You'd better be at death's door when you show up, because he's going to put you there anyway. If he's such a diagnostic genius, let him be geniusy. Instead of one big mystery, let there be half a dozen people with different problems. I've always thought the best parts of the show were when he's working the clinic. That's almost been non-existent this year. And please let's end the requisite strong woman reaching middle age and realizing she forgot to have a baby-oh my!-subplot and let Cutty get back to being the kick-ass administrator she's supposed to be.

I guess this is a good way to feel going into NaNoWriMo month. I won't have much time for television watching anyway. Guess I'll just wait until Burn Notice and Dr. Who come back. In the meantime I can watch my DVDs of Dexter Season Two and both seasons of Torchwood. Maybe check out True Blood online. In December, of course.

Just Tell The Damn Story, Part 2

It's been a week since I saw Great Big Sea in concert. A fabulous show--as always--with great music and funny banter between the bandmates. Fifteen years of touring and recording. Not necessarily an easy life, but one that has honed their skills. Musically, of course. It seems that every year Bob adds another instrument to his repetoire. And the songs have become more nuanced. But they also get better and better at connecting with an audience. They were good at the beginning, but now . . . you feel like you've known them forever.

Most of the songs they sing are like flash fiction. They tell a story in very few words. Many are the traditional songs of Newfoundland. Stories of fishermen, loggers, hard drinkers and hard workers. Their original songs are stories as well. Many are about love and loss. About the life of a touring musician. About drinking too much and playing too hard (these took on a different feel for me after one of the guys started writing about dealing with addiction in his blog). The shows I've seen have all included some intros that explain the story behind the song--kind of an abbreviated Behind the Music. This tour was no different. Here's Alan's story of how he came to write How Did We Get From Saying I Love You.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGVfSnQOBMU


Confessional for sure. I haven't found video of Sean's intros to Hard Case or Long Lost Love, but they too prove to be very very personal. Now I would suspect that the first drafts of these songs bear little resemblance to what we heard last week. That they contained a lot more angst and anger. That they were raw. They most likely just told the damn story. Then they were reworked gradually into something a bit more generic. Throw in feedback from the bandmates and you've got a finished song. Still personal, still a bit raw in some cases, but something people everywhere can relate to.


Sound familiar?


The strange thing is that the story behind the story may be fiction as well. Doesn't matter really, I guess. Because there is still most likely a grain of truth somewhere in there. Some spark of what really set off the creative process.



So what about you? Do you like to know the story behind the story? Or do you prefer to experience books, poems, songs, whatever as standalone experiences?