Halfway to the beast, Baby!
So, it is November and I am trying to take part in this year’s NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, so to chjange some shit up. Today’s questions are all about me and NaNoWriMo.
Onto the Questions:
1. Do you think you will actually be able to get to 50,000 words by the end of the month?
I might be able to. So far I feel pretty good about my chances, but I am only two days in. It is relatively easy to spit out 3200 words in 2 days… I think as I get into it, the difficulty of pushing words out will hit me.
2. Why are you doing it this year?
I am revisiting a concept that I put together a number of years ago. I got about a week in and Little Man had a nasty bout with asthma that had him hospitalized for a few days. So I gave up on the process that year. Then parenting and other responsibilities seemed to come into play and affect my availability to focus on doing a NaNoWriMo
3. What’s the book going to be about?
I am revisiting the same concept that I had those years ago except that 9 years has passed. I am following the struggles of a group of d-list heroes as they try to make a difference in society.
4. Is there a main antagonist?
Yes, his name is MagLite and he fights crime with MagLites. He is hoping to eventually get a sponsorship by the flashlight manufacturer, but they don’t want the liability.
5. So who are the cast of characters?
I am not sure about the bad guy just yet. I am hovering around MagLite having to deal with his nemesis, the Home Despot, but that doesn’t feel right. As far as the main characters they will be MagLite, Princess Fannish, Lightning Rod, Captain Amazing, and the Dark Shroud of Infallible Darkness. All D-list heroes. My biggest worry about these characters is that I will fall into some tropes with the Fannish character. Hopefully, being aware that those exist will be enough to keep me from falling into the trap. Some of these characters owe their existence to others who will be credited for their contributions, because their character concepts are really cool.
6. Are you going to illustrate it?
I have thought that the interludes may be set for some illustrations, but as a whole, no. I might get some of my artist friends to do some splash page illo’s though. That might be fun.
7. What will be the main character’s story arc?
I think it will be one of always looking forward to starting to live in the present.
8. Why this story and why this character?
I have seen that content creation has democratized in the recent years with the Internet, so what would happen in a super-hero world populated by demigods and legends like a Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman triumvirate was all of the sudden infused with middle class heroes. MagLite feel like he fits this bill very well. Unfortunately the MCU is exploring this more effectively with DareDevil and AKA Jessica Jones… this is the less gritty reboot.
9. Why 50,000 words?
That is set forth by NaNoWriMo. They say it equates to about a 200 page book, like a “The Great Gatsby” size novel. I think limiting the daily word count to just over 1600 a day makes it bitesize and doable. That is an amount I can comfortably get done after the kiddos go to sleep. I might be able to push some more on the weekends. At least I hope to.
10. Will the book be good?
Heck no. I might not even let my wife read it before I try and edit the hell out of it. Last night I re-read the few pages that I have pushed through in the past 2 days and I am not sure if I want to read this. Ugh….
11. Are you connected to the greater NaNoWriMo community?
Nope, this is pretty much a solo show. I am letting people know here and on the twitters that I am doing it, but that is to keep me honest and make sure I stay on task a bit more.
12. Why did NaNoWriMo get started?
I honestly do not know, or, really, care. It seems like a fun kind of task to give myself. Maybe it will be a nice kickstart to get me to write something better in the future.
13. So, will you completely re-write the book and edit it?
Possibly. If, when I am done, it has some bones to it that are salvageable, I will edit it. Most likely it will be a steaming pile of poo
14. Where can someone read an excerpt?
At the moment, no where. I might grab a piece of it and make it public later, but I do not have anything consumable at the moment.
15. Time to be specific, your hero characters have some silly names. MagLite, Princess Fannish, and Captain Amazing are all horrible comic book character names. Why are you sticking with those names instead of creating better ones?
Well, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all terrible names as well. They only work because they have been in the cultural lexicon for so long.
16. Still, the names seem silly, will the book be humorous?
I am going to try to infuse some humor into it, but that might happen more in the edits after I have the 50,000 words done.
17. What is the hardest aspect of this process?
1600 words ends up being only about 2 typical pages or so. That is a bit light for a chapter, but the way I am able to sit down and write wants me to make each evening’s efforts into bite size nuggets. It will be difficult to try and string together the storytelling from night to night in a chapter that will span for multiple nights.
18. What is your writing set up?
I write in my office at my computer using a Google doc. Super simple and super easy.
19. Seriously, do you think you can do this?
I feel good about it on day 2. I know I can crank out another 1600 tonight, so I will be on target for 3 days. One day at a time seems to move me towards being able to do this. Ask me again November 27th.
20. Do you think you will do this again?
I haven’t done it once yet. Let me do that first.
To recap:
3,379 words before writing stuff for today
Follow my progress here
It is slow progress, but so far (2 days, I am waaaay overconfident for 2 days of participation) I am above the bar
A more regular 20 Questions upcoming next week
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K
I need to be exercising more
And drinking more water
And sleeping more
Many of those things go hand in hand
I guess, I am saying that I need to be more healthy
Stupid health, getting in the way of me sitting around drinking Mt Dew
Maybe one day the NaNoWriMo novel will be a consumable piece of content
At the moment it is merely some digital nonsense of 1’s and 0’s
Have a great week everyone