When Fiction And Narrative Non-Fiction Collide
I took a break from writing tonight to live the novel that is my own life.
I mentioned last Monday the awful thing that happened (well, not awful, so much as not what I expected or hoped for) and how it played out like a novel. This is so true with so many events surrounding the woman with me in the car ride. Our whole dynamic has been serialized and chapterized in a way that I couldn't even plan.
Stages in our friendship have actually been marked, though never intentionally, by the sharing of the "Up" series movies. I have to say that I was sort of planned in this at the start. I saw that she had watched "7 Up" on Netflix and I watched it on view it now. I had seen "28 Up" and "35 Up" back in a sociology class in college so I was already a fan of the series (and actually saw "42 Up" in the theater with the woman who would become the basis for Tabitha in this year's novel a ton of years ago).
We've taken turns renting the movies since then. And we've reached the end now.
Tonight I watched "49 Up" which is the latest film in the series ("56 Up" is in the planning stages right now). I don't think it will mark a huge change in not-Kate and my dynamic but I almost didn't want to watch it. It's oddly enough, been one of the things that has brought us to the point where we are now.
Which is a place where not-Kate is someone who I don't want to lose from my life for a long time. And it's not because she's actually an interesting enough "character" to base a novel around but because she generally amazes me.
A lot of people think I'm some sort of secret admirer to her. And while I don't admire her in that Valentine's Day sort of way, I do admire this woman a ton.
There's a line in the new Kanye West single "Big Brother" where he just breaks down and sings in the direction of Jay-Z (who he wrote the song about):
"If you admire somebody you should go ahead and tell um...people never get the flowers while they could smell um."
So in the mood of thanking everyone on Team Chicago who never gave up even when I did yesterday and kept pushing, I'm also in writing thanking not-Kate.
From not-Hoodie to not-Kate, you have been my inspiration and my muse this November (but not in the creepy sort of way) and I hope you continue on that way for years to come!
I won't say in this forum all of the events that shaped the non-fiction narrative that could have been just as good (if not a better) story than my fiction. But I almost wish I had written that story instead of the one I did. Though that still would have been fictionalized because it would have been far more interesting in reality if certain people fit into certain emotional roles which in reality they don't.
Maybe next year once the psychic space is great enough, I'll actually write what went on but in a fictionalized form. Though who knows where those four characters (only three of which actually made my novel) will be at that time. Life may still continue to get more interesting than fiction ever could.
If we keep having these serialized experiences (especially in the case of summer turning into fall turning into winter) I may have no choice but to write them.
---
This November is quickly winding down (though I don't know if it can happen too soon).
I'm already working with the ML to choose my successor as Word War Captain once I step down on December 2 (after presenting the awards).
And for the members of Team Chicago, they can't have a better Word War leader next year if I get my choice. We're even in preliminary discussions with who we might war next year. I'm not naming names, but it's good that we have a couple of people who speak European languages not English.
---
This month still might not be lost on the Toronto front. Chicago has been closing the gap all day and hopefully we can finally overtake them tonight.
I was quite upset at the end of the work day, however, as a Toronto writer who has been causing some issues wrote more words. But this person complied with all requested documentation (after a bunch of rigamarole) so everything is alright.
I think the whole thing has sort of strained my dynamic with Toronto's captain. This is sort of sad because she's the closest thing I have to a non-Chicago NaNo person who I might call "friend" (there's one in Seattle but she hasn't done NaNo in two years).
Which brings me to a bit of sad news. My only two real life friends (that is ones I talk to the other 11 months of the year) who I met through NaNo have both thrown in the towel for this year. Both Kim and Mary (aka the fastest girlz in Chicago) got their 50k so they did their part for the team.
But, more than that, I'm going to miss actually seeing them in November. It's just not the same NaNoWriMo without them. Oh well, I'll see Mary the next time a really good Brit rock band is in town. And hopefully at least one of them will make the TGIO party.
I mentioned last Monday the awful thing that happened (well, not awful, so much as not what I expected or hoped for) and how it played out like a novel. This is so true with so many events surrounding the woman with me in the car ride. Our whole dynamic has been serialized and chapterized in a way that I couldn't even plan.
Stages in our friendship have actually been marked, though never intentionally, by the sharing of the "Up" series movies. I have to say that I was sort of planned in this at the start. I saw that she had watched "7 Up" on Netflix and I watched it on view it now. I had seen "28 Up" and "35 Up" back in a sociology class in college so I was already a fan of the series (and actually saw "42 Up" in the theater with the woman who would become the basis for Tabitha in this year's novel a ton of years ago).
We've taken turns renting the movies since then. And we've reached the end now.
Tonight I watched "49 Up" which is the latest film in the series ("56 Up" is in the planning stages right now). I don't think it will mark a huge change in not-Kate and my dynamic but I almost didn't want to watch it. It's oddly enough, been one of the things that has brought us to the point where we are now.
Which is a place where not-Kate is someone who I don't want to lose from my life for a long time. And it's not because she's actually an interesting enough "character" to base a novel around but because she generally amazes me.
A lot of people think I'm some sort of secret admirer to her. And while I don't admire her in that Valentine's Day sort of way, I do admire this woman a ton.
There's a line in the new Kanye West single "Big Brother" where he just breaks down and sings in the direction of Jay-Z (who he wrote the song about):
"If you admire somebody you should go ahead and tell um...people never get the flowers while they could smell um."
So in the mood of thanking everyone on Team Chicago who never gave up even when I did yesterday and kept pushing, I'm also in writing thanking not-Kate.
From not-Hoodie to not-Kate, you have been my inspiration and my muse this November (but not in the creepy sort of way) and I hope you continue on that way for years to come!
I won't say in this forum all of the events that shaped the non-fiction narrative that could have been just as good (if not a better) story than my fiction. But I almost wish I had written that story instead of the one I did. Though that still would have been fictionalized because it would have been far more interesting in reality if certain people fit into certain emotional roles which in reality they don't.
Maybe next year once the psychic space is great enough, I'll actually write what went on but in a fictionalized form. Though who knows where those four characters (only three of which actually made my novel) will be at that time. Life may still continue to get more interesting than fiction ever could.
If we keep having these serialized experiences (especially in the case of summer turning into fall turning into winter) I may have no choice but to write them.
---
This November is quickly winding down (though I don't know if it can happen too soon).
I'm already working with the ML to choose my successor as Word War Captain once I step down on December 2 (after presenting the awards).
And for the members of Team Chicago, they can't have a better Word War leader next year if I get my choice. We're even in preliminary discussions with who we might war next year. I'm not naming names, but it's good that we have a couple of people who speak European languages not English.
---
This month still might not be lost on the Toronto front. Chicago has been closing the gap all day and hopefully we can finally overtake them tonight.
I was quite upset at the end of the work day, however, as a Toronto writer who has been causing some issues wrote more words. But this person complied with all requested documentation (after a bunch of rigamarole) so everything is alright.
I think the whole thing has sort of strained my dynamic with Toronto's captain. This is sort of sad because she's the closest thing I have to a non-Chicago NaNo person who I might call "friend" (there's one in Seattle but she hasn't done NaNo in two years).
Which brings me to a bit of sad news. My only two real life friends (that is ones I talk to the other 11 months of the year) who I met through NaNo have both thrown in the towel for this year. Both Kim and Mary (aka the fastest girlz in Chicago) got their 50k so they did their part for the team.
But, more than that, I'm going to miss actually seeing them in November. It's just not the same NaNoWriMo without them. Oh well, I'll see Mary the next time a really good Brit rock band is in town. And hopefully at least one of them will make the TGIO party.
posted by incendiarymind at 9:34 PM
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