More reading to prepare

I'm preparing for the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. I got this awesome book called HOOKED by Les Edgerton. It's about how to write an attention grabbing page 1. I'll need it to get folks to read the rest of my rambles. So far, its good!

My sister read my 11000 word novel I titled The Undone- still unfinished due to lack of plot progress and my fear of going into the head of the villian. She thinks it really good and gonna make some notes that could possibly help me finish the book. The Undone is my first attempt of that magnitude. I don't even know where I got 11000 words from! That's hope yet. To be a publishable novel, The Undone is 10% finished.

Talking cats

It sounds strange but I keep having this idea about a story that is narrated by the main character's cat. I had at least one cat in the house from the age of 6 to 16 and I know they see and hear things no one else can.....I'll give it a shot and draw from the dark secrets I can imagine my cat, Milly guarded closely. Meow! You never know.
Fabulous! Now, I have TWO plausible stories for my novel.
Mini mini mani mo! Decisions, decisions!

YAAAY!

I finally got a story, a simple one but I think it's a good one. After days of pulling a long face because I didn't have a story, a voice of reason said, "You are trying too hard to cook up something complicated and 'commericial'. Just tell the story you want to tell." And that's what I'm going to do. I'm wondering how many characters are too many for a 50000-word story. Hmm..currently I have 3 main characters and a few minor ones. Let's see how it goes. I may throw in some animals as well to make it a real 'Noah's Ark'! No, that is not a hint about the plot. HAHA!

looking for a plausible story

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is around the corner and I'm hunting for a plot, characters anything.....only 50,000 words so I have no excuse. I'm getting some inspiration from King Herod's daughter.....Watch this space.

Don't feel like writing...

because i'm stuck. it's not turning into the story i want to tell. Or maybe there are too many stories in my head and I'm getting them mixed up. Or, it's possible i'm a poet and not a novelist.......

i'll see how i feel in a few days.....Then, i may be ready to go into the head of my mad characters. A little scared of them at the moment.

Character Crunch

Over 4,000 words and I still keep deliberating on the plot! I dunno. Some days, I read what I wrote and it sounds good, other days, I want to hit delete on the last 10 pages. The main challenge I face here is building my characters so that they are believable. I have two characters sorted, because they are derived from people I know so it was easy. This third character is important but I don't know anyone like her. She is strong but she becomes very weak when strength needed her the most. I dunno. I've bought books by a couple of authors I admire (Khaled Hosseini, Ngozi Chiamanda, Kazuo Ishiguro) and want to emulate. Maybe I'll have a better idea after I read those books. There are also great books on writing novels and building real characters. So, I'll read those too. I may even try to picture method where I cut out photos from mags and newspapers; then try to describe the situation or person in them. There, in some mag somewhere may be this third character of mine. I hadn't banked on having to read so much in order to write......But, I know it'll be worth every word;)

Starting up my junk

I'm so excited! I finally put my first few words down for my novel! For ages, I had not idea where to start. And I didn't want to start at the beginning.

After attending a novelist workshop by Linda Gillard (amazing writer, by the way) a few weeks ago, I just had to jump in. I have set some targets for myself. I'll write at least 500 words at every laptop sitting. Although, I hope to be able to write on most days, I know my day job and life may only permit me 2 or 3 days a week. At this pace, a 100,000 word book will take a year or more. Towards the end, I know I will not sleep or eat. This is not a bad thing at all. No no. This is something to look forward to. So, my first sitting is great because I wrote over 600 words...and, they are pretty good. I have no clue what will happen on the next page but I know I was obsess about that till the next sitting. Fabulous!

How do i beat the clock?

It darned on me that time has flipped on me. There is little left to waste on obsessing so I will jump right in to my favourite obsession. I made up mind to write that novel. The obsession as haunted me for years and the voices of the characters have got louder and louder in my head. They beg me to bring them to life, to ignite their existence. So, as I take this journey, a journey that I have been assured will take up every last drop of energy in me, walk with me. It will be painful, I'll say it's too much for me and that I have no idea what I'm doing but most of all, I'll be loving every minute....

"Every once in a while I make a list of my obsessions. Some obsessions change and there are always more. Some are thankfully forgotten." Natalie Goldberg (1986)