Literaria

[slipjig3]

In other matters, it seems y'all believe I should be getting off my duff and writing the dag-blasted book now. So, looks like I'm writing a novel. *confetti* I like nonethewiser's suggestion, though, of doing the prep work now, and the actual writing for NaNoWriMo in November. I think the plan is to prepare until I'm sick of preparing, then write, which may very well take me to NaNo anyway. As far as planning is concerned, I'm trying something different this time out: in addition to my usual index cards (because if I had no index cards in my life, I would CURL UP AND DIE WHIMPERING LIKE A WOUNDED PUPPY), I've designated a notebook to be this novel's grimoire, where I hammer out all the brainstorming, niggling details, character sketches and so on, without forcing myself to be too organized. We'll see how this works. So far, I've been dragging ideas out of my lizard-brain that I've been toting around for 15 years or more, so this had better be good.

I'm starting to piece together what the book is actually about, which I'm not going to share until it starts to gel quite a bit more. I will say, though, that although I'm aware that this will have to be a fantasy novel, I've realized that maybe I'm not the ideal person to be writing straight fantasy. I discovered this when I sat down with grimoire in hand, asked myself what I was going to name the world I was about to build, and immediately felt my eyes begin to cross. So much for world-building. I'm almost certain I'll be setting this thing in the real world, then, probably not far from here—and once again, I have to start poking myself with reminders not to turn this into a second-rate John Crowley ripoff. Hi, I'm Adam. Here are my influences, printed here on my sleeve for your convenience.

There is a 57% chance that the first word will be "The."

Comments

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

You don't need a title right away. I've found that if I try to figure out a title (unless one just comes to me), it makes the story that much harder to pen.

Don't force it or try to repress anything -- let it flow. Don't say "that doesn't go here now." Write it down now, put it together later. Don't think. Don't filter. Jot down pieces as they come to you -- keep a notebook where you can hold everything from sentence fragments to entire chapters.

And if you ever need a proofreader (grammar and consistency-wise), lemme know. I'll offer my services up for free. :) Proofreading, that is!!