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Friday, November 07, 2003
The Onion A.V. Club | Ira Glass
"It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The natural state of all writing is mediocrity. It's all tending toward mediocrity in the same way that all atoms are sort of dissipating out toward the expanse of the universe. Everything wants to be mediocre, so what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such a fucking act of will. Anyone who makes something for a living, or even not for a living, if they're really excited about it... You just have to exert so much will into something for it to be good."
For some reason, that makes me feel better.
"It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The natural state of all writing is mediocrity. It's all tending toward mediocrity in the same way that all atoms are sort of dissipating out toward the expanse of the universe. Everything wants to be mediocre, so what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such a fucking act of will. Anyone who makes something for a living, or even not for a living, if they're really excited about it... You just have to exert so much will into something for it to be good."
For some reason, that makes me feel better.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 6191 | |
| Daily Word Count: | 0 | |
| % Complete: | 12.38% | |
| +/-: | -2.36 days | |
Despair has gripped your Beloved Novel-Writing Hero. Writing a lot is no problem for me. I can spit out words with the best of them - provided, of course, that I know what I'm spitting about. In previous years I knew where my characters were going most of the time, so all I had to do was point myself in a direction, wind myself up (using one of those giant sliver skate keys that you always see in cartoons), and let go.
The problem was that the directions I came up with were usually lame and arbitrary. Sometimes the writing was OK, but a lot of times it was rather pointless. This year my plan was to concentrate less on plot and more on character. I would, I declared, create some interesting characters and let them decide what would happen. "Let your characters surprise you," the writing books say, so that's what I'm doing.
So far, the biggest surprise is how boring they are. I've done a good job of following my plan - I have two characters, I have a framework for a plot, but without restrictions - but the characters aren't clicking. They're just sort of sitting there blinking at me and waiting for something to happen. The problem is that I don't know what to tell them. My motivation to write is at a low ebb, because my mind is a blank every time I sit down at the computer. It's a new and frustrating experience to be behind. I'll catch up, don't get me wrong. I just wish I knew when.
I've also been really busy, which doesn't help. I've had something going on every day this week. Yesterday's activity was seeing the first show of The Matrix Revolutions at 6 AM. It was fun. I liked the movie, but I'm not going to say any more about so that I won't give anything away.
Getting up at 2 AM to wait in line really took it out of me, though. I got a little writing done in the evening, but not much. Tonight I had a grand total of two social engagements, so I didn't write at all today. All told, I'm almost two and a half days behind. I need to make some serious progress this weekend.
The problem was that the directions I came up with were usually lame and arbitrary. Sometimes the writing was OK, but a lot of times it was rather pointless. This year my plan was to concentrate less on plot and more on character. I would, I declared, create some interesting characters and let them decide what would happen. "Let your characters surprise you," the writing books say, so that's what I'm doing.
So far, the biggest surprise is how boring they are. I've done a good job of following my plan - I have two characters, I have a framework for a plot, but without restrictions - but the characters aren't clicking. They're just sort of sitting there blinking at me and waiting for something to happen. The problem is that I don't know what to tell them. My motivation to write is at a low ebb, because my mind is a blank every time I sit down at the computer. It's a new and frustrating experience to be behind. I'll catch up, don't get me wrong. I just wish I knew when.
I've also been really busy, which doesn't help. I've had something going on every day this week. Yesterday's activity was seeing the first show of The Matrix Revolutions at 6 AM. It was fun. I liked the movie, but I'm not going to say any more about so that I won't give anything away.
Getting up at 2 AM to wait in line really took it out of me, though. I got a little writing done in the evening, but not much. Tonight I had a grand total of two social engagements, so I didn't write at all today. All told, I'm almost two and a half days behind. I need to make some serious progress this weekend.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 6191 | |
| Daily Word Count: | 0 | |
| % Complete: | 12.38% | |
| +/-: | -2.36 days | |
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Well, the first weekend of NaNoWriMo is in the books. Final Score - Crappy Novel: 1, Scott: 0.
Let me first begin with a description NaNoWriMo for any new readers out there. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It's a contest in which entrants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. (Yes, really.) There are no prizes, and you don't have to show your novel to anyone. (In case anyone is wondering, NaNoWriMo was part of the inspiration for Stockstock.)
50,000 words in a month works out to about 1700 words a day (or 69 words per hour, if you prefer.) Either way, that's a lot. The point of the contest is that when you're writing that much, you have to abandon that nagging editor inside your head and just write. It's a fun way to write without being self-conscious about the dreck that you're churning out. I've done NaNoWriMo the last two years, and...OK, well I've churned out a lot of dreck, but it has persuaded me to write more, which I hope is a good thing.
Saturday was the first day of this year's contest, and I began in grand style with a serious bout of procrastinating. When you have a novel to write, any other activity looks appealing. (In past years I've actually done housework in order to avoid writing.) Here are some of the things I did on Saturday:
1) Exchanged iPod remote for a new one, on account of a wire was coming loose.
2) Purchased book about writing fiction (still unread).
3) Read article in Entertainment Weekly about The Daily Show.
4) Watched auto race on TV
5) Watched college football on TV
6) Configured new laptop for wireless network
7) Used said wireless network to research dragonflies for the purposes of naming my computers.
8) Watched two Simpsons Halloween episodes
9) Backed up laptop
10) Went clothes shopping for someone else
11) Shopped for a laptop bag
By about 7 PM I'd run out of excuses (there are only so many things you can do to a new laptop, apparently), so I sat down and started writing. That's where the trouble started.
The last two years I had a solid idea of what was going to happen in the beginning of my novel. I wrote very quickly during that period (which I will call the Salad Days), because I knew exactly where I was going. The Salad Days gave me a nice solid base of words that got me ahead of schedule to stay.
I'm pleased to report that the Salad Days are back this year. I am displeased to report that they lasted exactly one day.
Less than that, actually; it was more like three hours. I had an idea of what the first bit of the novel was going to be, and I wrote that. On Saturday. It lasted for about 2300 words. Now I'm at sea. I have a general idea of what is supposed to happen, but I have no idea how I'm going to get there. Every word I write now is pure pain. I'm also slowly realizing that, as usual, my concept is torturously complicated. I'm once again threatening to switch to writing in first person, which I do every year. This time I'm really thinking of doing it, even though it would be completely out of character for this story, except that it might work, and maybe it would be cool, but dear God what a time to make that kind of decision.
So, in short, this year's novel is shaping up to be much like last year's novel, only worse. Whee!
I'm thinking about posting an excerpt, like I did last year. I might end up posting those first 2300 words, since that will probably end up being the best part of the whole book. Then again, I might also decide to bury it in a deep hole somewhere. Say, burying stuff in holes would be a nice diversion. I'm putting that on tomorrow's procrastination list.
Let me first begin with a description NaNoWriMo for any new readers out there. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It's a contest in which entrants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. (Yes, really.) There are no prizes, and you don't have to show your novel to anyone. (In case anyone is wondering, NaNoWriMo was part of the inspiration for Stockstock.)
50,000 words in a month works out to about 1700 words a day (or 69 words per hour, if you prefer.) Either way, that's a lot. The point of the contest is that when you're writing that much, you have to abandon that nagging editor inside your head and just write. It's a fun way to write without being self-conscious about the dreck that you're churning out. I've done NaNoWriMo the last two years, and...OK, well I've churned out a lot of dreck, but it has persuaded me to write more, which I hope is a good thing.
Saturday was the first day of this year's contest, and I began in grand style with a serious bout of procrastinating. When you have a novel to write, any other activity looks appealing. (In past years I've actually done housework in order to avoid writing.) Here are some of the things I did on Saturday:
1) Exchanged iPod remote for a new one, on account of a wire was coming loose.
2) Purchased book about writing fiction (still unread).
3) Read article in Entertainment Weekly about The Daily Show.
4) Watched auto race on TV
5) Watched college football on TV
6) Configured new laptop for wireless network
7) Used said wireless network to research dragonflies for the purposes of naming my computers.
8) Watched two Simpsons Halloween episodes
9) Backed up laptop
10) Went clothes shopping for someone else
11) Shopped for a laptop bag
By about 7 PM I'd run out of excuses (there are only so many things you can do to a new laptop, apparently), so I sat down and started writing. That's where the trouble started.
The last two years I had a solid idea of what was going to happen in the beginning of my novel. I wrote very quickly during that period (which I will call the Salad Days), because I knew exactly where I was going. The Salad Days gave me a nice solid base of words that got me ahead of schedule to stay.
I'm pleased to report that the Salad Days are back this year. I am displeased to report that they lasted exactly one day.
Less than that, actually; it was more like three hours. I had an idea of what the first bit of the novel was going to be, and I wrote that. On Saturday. It lasted for about 2300 words. Now I'm at sea. I have a general idea of what is supposed to happen, but I have no idea how I'm going to get there. Every word I write now is pure pain. I'm also slowly realizing that, as usual, my concept is torturously complicated. I'm once again threatening to switch to writing in first person, which I do every year. This time I'm really thinking of doing it, even though it would be completely out of character for this story, except that it might work, and maybe it would be cool, but dear God what a time to make that kind of decision.
So, in short, this year's novel is shaping up to be much like last year's novel, only worse. Whee!
I'm thinking about posting an excerpt, like I did last year. I might end up posting those first 2300 words, since that will probably end up being the best part of the whole book. Then again, I might also decide to bury it in a deep hole somewhere. Say, burying stuff in holes would be a nice diversion. I'm putting that on tomorrow's procrastination list.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 3023 | |
| Daily Word Count: | 1455 | |
| % Complete: | 6.05% | |