Saturday 3 November 2007

1, 2, 3 laugh

Okay - I'm supposed to tell you all that I'm writing a novel. That way, apparently, the fear of humiliation, should I collapse in a heap of failure, will keep the muse singing.
I have in fact enrolled in NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month (though it is international). The idea is that you banish all preciousness, rid yourself of any compunction over lack of finesse, and write like crazy all month, finally submitting 50,000 words by November 30.
That's 1666.66 recurring words every day, on average.
It will be crap, of course, and I am struggling against the very thing the organisers warn you not to do - go back and fiddle. The point is that you may end up with 50,000 words of arrant nonsense, or, if the stars are aligned properly and the muse isn't a con-man, the draft of something that could be tweaked into shape.
Either way, the goal is to write like the clappers, not to expect to produce a best seller, and have fun.
I managed almost 1000 words today. And yes - they are pretty bad! But, I must say I absolutely loved the discipline of it - a fresh page on Word, a comfy font, double-spacing ... and away I went.
More tomorrow ...

:: Speaking of finesse ... I bought a copy of Georgette Heyer's An Infamous Army (Sue M. recommended her books, and this was the only one on B&N) and get a load of the back cover blurb (you may need to double-click on the image to see it properly):


Miss Heyer would not be amused ...

2 comments:

Karen said...

Good ole Napolean. Up there with Attiller, Genghass, and Alexandar ...
You go, Les, on that novel! Can't wait to read it.

Victoria said...

Well, I think that is awesome and I wonder what you will discover in your writing? It sounds exciting, although a bit daunting. Let us know how the process treats you.