One Sure Way To Get NANO Ready Is To Spend Money
Each year before NANOWRIMO starts, I try to watch a really, really bad movie. A movie that's so bad that I figure that no matter how terrible a novel I rough draft out to completion during November (and NANOFIMO in December), it's still better than the piece of crap that somehow got produced.
This year, I think I saw the perfect movie in the form of "The Worst Horror Movie Ever Made."
Just as the name says, it's an absolutely terrible (and to boot not at all frightening) horror movie. The reason that it's perfect for NANOWRIMO is that it was written and produced in 30 days on a dare in 2004. And it's got all the characteristics of the typical NaNo. The plot jumps around everywhere, incorporating various sidetracks to buff it up to 71 minutes. The characters are only definable by one word such as "bitch." And, in the end the plot ends up making no sense and really having no purpose except for the two protagonists running into as many monsters as they can (even if they make no sense in the context).
The only way that it resembles a movie is that there is some foreshadowing at the beginning and some of the characters are mapped out as to when they'll reappear.
In short, it looks like the writer did a little bit of pre-planning but not as much as would be required to make a real movie.
And, in the end, that's alright. Because it was produced in 30 days.
That's the attitude that every participant in NaNoWriMo needs to keep in mind. If you go into the experience trying to write the great American (or if you're not American insert your country here) novel, it's a surefire recipe for failure.
It comes down to one nearly universal fact - your Nano is going to suck regardless. Some will suck less than others and others, miraculously, will be almost publishable at completion. But there will be all sorts of mistakes in pacing, character choices, foreshadowing, and even (and this is really true for mine) spelling.
The very nature of trying to squeeze the entire creative process into 30 days isn't conducive to producing a very polished product. There are some amazing individuals (one on my LJ friends list) who can kick out amazing speed novels on a regular basis. But they're the exception rather than the rule.
So, first timers, don't get scared when your plot goes awry. Bring it back in, mark down that you really need to delete what you just wrote at some time in the near future, and move on (being sure to count the words you wrote down the rabbit hole).
Just don't make a movie out of it. Unless you really want to. Just don't ask me to watch it. :)
---
That being said, I actually did do some serious prep work today for my little rain drops into the large word puddle (filled with stuff you don't even want to know about).
The first thing that I did, that I recommend to everybody is I bought my writer's tools. Walgreens (or as I like to call it the writer's best friend) had everything I needed in the school supplies section. I bought:
A notebook: this is crucial (for me at least). For this years collection "bin" I chose the Mead Five Star Advance (9.5" x 6"). It's the right size in that it's portable and it's got a nice built-in spine that will handle being dragged everywhere. It also contains detachable note cards in the front (you know, for those who actually create the character note cards the writing manuals say you're supposed to - I myself just devote a notebook page or two to each). The pages are just large enough to cut and paste various maps, web pages, and the like. I have a photocopier at work that I can (sort of) use in limited quantities but I highly advise others to use that amazing tool to fill up a notebook with useful facts and inspirations.
A set of pens: the kind isn't important (I always use Bic) but buying a new set of pens is always inspirational to me. Not that I use them to longhand a novel but they're the sign of starting something new (I use them to write down things in the notebook and nothing else until the project is done).
A set of mechanical pencils: much the same as the pens but for things that I need to change on the fly. The people who map out everything in pen are the same who do crossword puzzles in ink. I don't trust 'em. They're too smart. :)
Highlighters: I will probably never open them but, in theory, they should be used to separate out really important novel writing ideas from the chaff of the rest of the stuff in the notebook.
Vodka: Well, alright, so Walgreens doesn't sell vodka and I don't write drunk but it's just an idea. :)
---
I have filled up a couple of pages in the notebook already. The first page is actually a list of the top 20 male and female names in Great Britain.
For my novel this is crucial since being from the United States, I'm bombarded every day with names influenced by Italian, German, Irish, Polish, etc., etc. heritages. However, in my alternate history, the country wouldn't have really had the same kind of immigrants (would the Irish really have flocked to a British controlled United States?) so I'm going with the popular names from the United Kingdom circa now. Not a lot of Anthonies or Michaels in my novel.
Though I'm thinking the main female character is going to be named Hannah. I really like her name to match Liam's. #1, by the way on the other side of the pond is Emily but I already used that for the protagonist of last year's novel. #2, not surprisingly, is Elizabeth (wonder why).
I also plotted out some of the rising action key points. I'm still deciding how much to put up here since I feel like I want to give the reader some surprises. I've only mapped out the first three chapters or so but it could go further at some point.
As it stands, that should last me about six days into November so my stress levels are down. Back to excited to begin. Not that I didn't already know what was going to happen early on but it felt good to get it in writing with one of the new pencils.
This year, I think I saw the perfect movie in the form of "The Worst Horror Movie Ever Made."
Just as the name says, it's an absolutely terrible (and to boot not at all frightening) horror movie. The reason that it's perfect for NANOWRIMO is that it was written and produced in 30 days on a dare in 2004. And it's got all the characteristics of the typical NaNo. The plot jumps around everywhere, incorporating various sidetracks to buff it up to 71 minutes. The characters are only definable by one word such as "bitch." And, in the end the plot ends up making no sense and really having no purpose except for the two protagonists running into as many monsters as they can (even if they make no sense in the context).
The only way that it resembles a movie is that there is some foreshadowing at the beginning and some of the characters are mapped out as to when they'll reappear.
In short, it looks like the writer did a little bit of pre-planning but not as much as would be required to make a real movie.
And, in the end, that's alright. Because it was produced in 30 days.
That's the attitude that every participant in NaNoWriMo needs to keep in mind. If you go into the experience trying to write the great American (or if you're not American insert your country here) novel, it's a surefire recipe for failure.
It comes down to one nearly universal fact - your Nano is going to suck regardless. Some will suck less than others and others, miraculously, will be almost publishable at completion. But there will be all sorts of mistakes in pacing, character choices, foreshadowing, and even (and this is really true for mine) spelling.
The very nature of trying to squeeze the entire creative process into 30 days isn't conducive to producing a very polished product. There are some amazing individuals (one on my LJ friends list) who can kick out amazing speed novels on a regular basis. But they're the exception rather than the rule.
So, first timers, don't get scared when your plot goes awry. Bring it back in, mark down that you really need to delete what you just wrote at some time in the near future, and move on (being sure to count the words you wrote down the rabbit hole).
Just don't make a movie out of it. Unless you really want to. Just don't ask me to watch it. :)
---
That being said, I actually did do some serious prep work today for my little rain drops into the large word puddle (filled with stuff you don't even want to know about).
The first thing that I did, that I recommend to everybody is I bought my writer's tools. Walgreens (or as I like to call it the writer's best friend) had everything I needed in the school supplies section. I bought:
---
I have filled up a couple of pages in the notebook already. The first page is actually a list of the top 20 male and female names in Great Britain.
For my novel this is crucial since being from the United States, I'm bombarded every day with names influenced by Italian, German, Irish, Polish, etc., etc. heritages. However, in my alternate history, the country wouldn't have really had the same kind of immigrants (would the Irish really have flocked to a British controlled United States?) so I'm going with the popular names from the United Kingdom circa now. Not a lot of Anthonies or Michaels in my novel.
Though I'm thinking the main female character is going to be named Hannah. I really like her name to match Liam's. #1, by the way on the other side of the pond is Emily but I already used that for the protagonist of last year's novel. #2, not surprisingly, is Elizabeth (wonder why).
I also plotted out some of the rising action key points. I'm still deciding how much to put up here since I feel like I want to give the reader some surprises. I've only mapped out the first three chapters or so but it could go further at some point.
As it stands, that should last me about six days into November so my stress levels are down. Back to excited to begin. Not that I didn't already know what was going to happen early on but it felt good to get it in writing with one of the new pencils.
posted by incendiarymind at 8:01 PM
2 Comments:
Yay! Notebooks! And I've used Mead Five Stars for years--absolute best at scribbling things down.
I disagree with using mechanical pencils/any type of pencils, though. It's just jotting ideas down and writing rough drafts--if I make a mistake in pen, that's okay. I still have a record of the mistake and it might even spark another idea at a later date. Pencil tends to smear over time (my old journals in pencil are near unreadable now) and I hate erasing. Too much eraser crud.
Fair enough. But with pens, the mistakes start to pile up and eventually you can't read through all the ink.
We'll just have to agree to disagree. :) And, of course, let everyone decide for themselves.
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