Quantum Storytelling

A final NaNo update…

Only got to about 20K words this year, at which point I ran off into some character development and sketching of story locations which I felt were more important than trying to fudge those things.

Writing is never the hard part for me — I finished my first time last year pretty easily. The hard part is getting what I want out of that writing, and fulfilling my intentions.

To me, in any creative act I pursue, intention is the most important thing. “What is it I am trying to do?” I always ask myself. Along with other questions like, “What am I getting out of this?”

The 2006 NaNo is hardly a loss for what it allowed me to discover; I needed more characters, and not just placeholders. I needed real, well thought out characters that can achieve their potential in the story. I also need maps of my locations, because I’m working in a sci-fi universe, and without those details established, at least for me as the writer, then I don’t really know what I’m doing.

For example, if a battle takes place on the outskirts of one of my sci-fi towns, how far are the people from their homes or ‘living quarters’ as they fight? What are the distances? What is in between them and their homes? Are there any community or business sites nearby? What are the logistics? For me this brings a whole new meaning to the adage “Write what you know.” It turned out I knew a lot less than I thought I did, enough to cripple the drafting process for me.

How has NaNo played out for you? Whether you finished or not, what have you learned?

Okay. I’ll just say it. I’m stuck again. I didn’t fill out a few of my characters enough. Now I’m at a point (in NaNo) where the scenes I need to write involve characters I haven’t given enough thought or depth.

I also got a root canal last week, and dealt with a little jaw tenderness. I took the Vicodin prescribed for only a day… it fogged me out and gave me what I’m dubbing a ‘Vicodin hangover’ — I had the hardest time waking up the next morning and when I did it was with an aching brain with only one solution; More Vicodin. Rather than going down that route, I elected to just take it easy for a couple days.

This weekend I breezed through 361 by Donald Westlake. Yay for discovering old authors you’ve never read, who have a large body of work to explore. I’ll probably review 361 here if only for the fact it represents what I think is the ideal in writing: To the point, sharp, action-packed, and funny.

I also saw Casino Royale which was very compelling for a Bond film, minus a few contrived scenes added for your typical 007 cheese. I agree for the most part with the review over on This Writing Life, especially in why Jason Bourne has become a more identifiable hero for our times than the showing-his-age Bond character. That said, Daniel Craig makes a solid Bond. Better than the previous shall-remain-unnamed pretty boy.

But back to this whole storytelling fiasco. As we blaze, or fail at blazing through NaNo, let’s not forget we do it because we enjoy this grand thing called storytelling. Without that enjoyment, 30 days of beating yourself doesn’t mean anything.

And next time, I promise to be better prepared!

Therese has a Tinker-Free post up over at Writer Unboxed, talking about the painful beauty of NaNoWriMo. I’m with her 100%. I love to plot. I love to arrange my scenes. I love to think up the big ideas, and jot down notes about them. The reason NaNo is so painful is because it strips all that away. During November, there is only writing. Forget about plotting, outlining, note-taking, and daydreaming.

The true point of NaNoWriMo shows its ugly face; Just write. Ugly or not, painful or not, fun or not. Write. All the subtleties and variety of storycraft gets reduced to that simple mechanical action. Throw words at the wall and hope they stick. And even if they don’t, throw them at the wall anyway.

Just write already.