where wildly different is perfectly normal
Write on
Write on

Write on

So I’ve committed to doing NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo this year. Committed is right; I really need to be committed for considering this. A 50,000 word novel in a month, plus a daily blog post. Starting in less than a week, in a month that my husband starts up a metric crapton of travel, in a month that has my very favorite holiday of all time (and no, it’s not Black Friday…couldn’t pay me enough to shop that day), in a month when I suddenly realize that Holy Crap on a Cracker with Cheese Christmas is coming and perhaps I should prepare for it.

I’m not worried about the daily blog post. I’ve done NaBloPoMo the last two years, and last year actually continued the streak through December and part of January. Finding something for this little piece of the interwebz is no problem.

But…fiction?

I haven’t written a piece of fiction in…whew…nearly 30 years. I was clearing out old files this weekend and found some things that I had written then. One was a screenplay; I was eight. Before I started the flute when I was nine, I wrote stories for fun. Long, involved stories (and, may I say, I was impressed by the spelling. Then again, maybe I’m just raising craptastic spellers) with dialogue and actual plots. I took writing classes in the summer, and read books about becoming a writer and setting up a writing studio. That is what I was going to be when I grew up. Then I got into music, went further into music, got married, had kids, the muse gasped for air…

November is going to be a month of stretching for me. I have no idea yet what I’m going to write for NaNoWriMo. Less than a week to go, you’d think maybe I’d have a slight idea. But nooo… They say (and digression here: who is the elusive THEY? Is it some sort of cabal in the mountains of Utah, sending out missives on all things cultural? Who made them boss? Can they be replaced? Please?) to write what you know. Sadly, what I know these days is not terribly interesting and is centered around parenting. And wine.

So I’m open to ideas. Throw me your best thoughts. My brain is currently running on 1/4 tank because of a month of non-stop GO GO GO and last night’s wind storm that got lost on the way to Chicago. Otherwise I’m trolling the internet today and searching for nuggets on which I can expand. Some news story or little commentary and go from there.

Stories. Fiction. So different from what I write here. I’m excited and scared and looking forward to it. Just hope I can do it all justice.

12 Comments

    1. Jen

      Or perhaps I’ll write on how a certain college roommate once made Koolaid with four cups of sugar and how everyone in the room saw through tiiiimmmmeeeee…. LOL!

      Parenting and wine? Hm…

  1. Benoit

    What about a story of poison in wine ?

    Or the story of a GT, not knowing about his GT, who lived all his life thinking that he’s weird, even an alien. He was about throwing out his life when he met a beautiful girl in a bookstore. She was looking for a book on being gifted in cooking and he was searching for a book for being gitfed in dating. He just took a book without looking (something else that the girl), and, at home, read this strange book about being gitfted. The revelation….

    Good luck, Jen !

    1. Jen

      Poison in wine? The horror! Never! 😉 Who woulddare spoil a delectable vintage? 😉

      And…was this how you met your wife? And why are you not doing NaNo with this plot? 🙂

  2. Sherri

    Wow — can’t wait to hear how this goes. I’ve been trying to write since I quit working, and let’s just say that TJ wrote more during one of his sick days than I’ve done in 4 years.

  3. I’m so inspired by you Jen! I love the focus you’re putting on this. As I’ve said before, it’s your destiny to write!

    Regarding ideas, I think you’ll cleverly create memorable characters who we’ll all resonate with…the old adage – “write what you know” – comes to mind. I think you’ll find the ideal setting and a complex conflict and then the questions and clarity will unfold for the reader; you’ll undoubtedly mix it up wildly with humor like no one else can. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

    Best wishes!
    Deborah

    1. Jen

      Man, Deborah, I’m so glad we as close as we do, or I’d want to stick you in my pocket for dark days. 😉 LOL

      I will come up with something, of that I’m sure. I’m clearing my desk, clearing my mind, clearing my calendar. There will be great progress made this weekend, and great support from all around. While I agree with “write what you know,” I’m not so sure readers would appreciate the whole “for the love of all things holy, put the basketball and broom back in the garage and go back to bed! aspect of my current life. LOL

  4. Do you read any kind of genre fiction– romance, mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy? These all have rules and structures that might make writing quickly easier to do, even if what you’re doing is purposefully breaking the rules. Good luck!

    1. Jen

      I read everything. Sadly these days it’s mostly non-fiction. I love in-depth, make-you-think novels…which would be awesome to write, but won’t happen this NaNo.
      And it’s funny you mention breaking the rules. I remember in music school all of us asking why in God’s name we had to keep memorizing and respecting the music rules if composers kept breaking them (musicians: parallel thirds. I rest my case). The answer always that you had to know and respect them before you could break them. Ah. I get it now.

Whaddya think?

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