I entered into the idea of NaNoWriMo with a smile and thoughts of it being a piece of cake. I now realise that I was very delusional - this may not come as a surprise to many of you but I thought, after a year of writing essays on changing curriculum and classroom management that writing 50 000 words in 30 days was going to do fine. I admit, the word count is going okay so far. The plot, however, is more than a little shocking. There are some redeemable points, I just have to dig through the bad dialogue that is coming through.
I do have to admit that I am having a strange form of fun in testing the limits of my writing. I can look at this as a great experience, whether I finish it or not. I hope to finish it, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel that is the real aim of NaNoWriMo - well, at least not for me.
Anyway, my plot is all over the place a the moment and the character development is kinda being made up as I go along. I currently have two main characters and half a dozen minor characters. There has already been several spells cast and one case of bleeding ears. And, before you ask, it isn't fantasy - well not normal fantasy but it is urban fantasy.
Funny side note - writing this reminds me of a story I wrote to amuse myself and others while I was working a dull job inputting data and dealing with rather snobbish customers. I think the title was The Pirate's Mistress. Now, this was a comic attempt at writing and I made it to make people laugh and to show how easy it was to write a bad story. The basic plot was the pirate of the story had two mistresses, one in Tortuga (guess where that came from) and the other was the sea. And the sea was a harsh mistress. There was also the first mate who had a peg leg that had roses and other pretty things carved into it. A neurotic, depressed parrot who was down to his last few feathers and the sweetest whore in the world. Now, if that isn't bad writing I don't know what it. It was a lot of fun to write, though, and it got the desired laughs.
The reason I brought this up is because, even though the plot for my NaNoWriMo won't be winning any awards, I know that it is bad writing and it has made me re-evaluate my finished novel. So, all in all I have to thank 'WriMo for helping me appreciate my writing style and for giving me that chance to explore a different form of writing. It's helping me hone my skills and hopefully others are finding the same.
Also, I don't know about you but forcing myself to continue with this story has made me think of ways to finish other drafts. For all the supposed writer's block I feel like I've been getting, this is really helping it.
Sorry for the short post today. I've had car troubles which meant I couldn't make it to a friends engagement party. (Sorry!) And then the eftpos went down at work, meaning that everything was cash only today.
Peace, love and pancakes to you all.
JJ
Word Count: 13361
Tunes: Hey, Soul Sister - Train
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