What I Learned From NaNoWriMo

You know what that is? That's a certificate. It's a certificate I got for winning. Which is a thing I do, you know. Winning, that is. I do winning. Often. In fact, I do winning so much, I'm starting to get pretty good at it.

In short: BAM! I did it! 50,312 by the time I finished.

I loved NaNoWriMo so much last year because I learned so much from doing it. This year's project was pretty educational, too, although it wound up being something of a remedial course (for those who didn't save their notes, you can review them here). Still, I got a few new bits of wisdom from writing Alice and Wendy.

1 - Great Characters Write Themselves

I caught this happening a couple of times last year, but, since most of what I wrote last year was dictated by a meticulously crafted outline (re: something I wrote in pencil on October 31 while watching reruns of The Office), I didn't allow my characters the freedom they needed to react how they wanted to. Ironically, I feel like writing without an outline allowed my characters to behave more naturally than they would have otherwise.

Of course, I have to stress that it's not like this plot magically fell into place as I channeled some kind of supernatural energy into my laptop monitor. The plot is going to require a lot of ironing out. Which brings me to...

2 - A Good Writer Has a Plan

As fun as it was to just write without any idea of where my novel would go in the end, I'm pretty sure the novel's weaker for my lack of preparation. The exact timeline of events I've written is pretty unclear - I'm not sure what happens in flashback and what happens in the "current day." Heck, most of the time, I didn't even keep straight which day it was in the story. If the story were laid out in chronological order, every freaking day of the week would be Friday.

When I go back to revise, I'll make sure to have a freakin' calendar sitting on my desk.

3 - Miracles Will Happen As We Speak

Yeah, I noticed this happen a lot last year - connections I never could have made myself popped up in the strangest places. These connections will take a lot of cultivation to turn into anything meaningful, but they're the things that'll make the novel worth reading when it's all done.

This year, though, the surprising thing is that I came up with an ending to the novel literally out of nowhere. If you had asked me on Monday if I thought I'd have come up with a satisfying conclusion by Wednesday, I'd have probably slapped you (but I was in a bad mood on Monday).

I was halfway into Tuesday's writing, when I suddenly realized how the novel would have to end. There's pretty much NO OTHER WAY I could have ended this thing than the ending I chose. It's a sloppy ending right now, tying up loose ends more arbitrarily than the romantic leads pairing off in a Stephenie Meyer novel. That said, now when I go back to revise, I'll know what conclusion to work towards.

4 - Writing is the Only Way to Start Writing

Now that I've got 50,000 words of plot, I feel like I can finally start working on Alice and Wendy. It's like everything I've done up to this point was just preparation - I haven't really written a novel, but a 130-page working outline. And most of it is garbage.

Still, if I hadn't done all this writing all month long, I don't think I'd be able to come up with anything NEARLY as cool as the novel I'm envisioning in my head right now. Again, it'll probably be a lot of work to get this book to the point where I'm willing to show it to other people - probably even more work than last year's novel. But it'll be SO worth it if the final product will be as cohesive as I now think I can make it.

5 - Writing Sucks

The main reason I was behind so much this month is that, when I got home from work, I decided I wanted to do something OTHER than more work. There were several days when I sat down to write, and every word I pecked out on the keyboard felt like I was straining a muscle. I skipped several days altogether simply because I didn't feel like writing at all.

It may sound like I'm ending on a bit of a downer, but the truth is that I'm sure I needed to learn this particular lesson. I ended last year with a rush of euphoria, realizing that I really enjoy the process of writing. That's still true; however, there's not a CHANCE that I'll feel that way all the time. I have to accept - as I know expect most writers do - that the cool stuff in writing comes AFTER hours and hours of painful effort, and not always during.

Anyway, the goal this year is to use NaNoWriMo as a springboard. Last year, I took December off from dedicated noveling (it can be a word if I wish hard enough), and I never really picked it up again. This year, I'm not doing that, and I'll be pounding out another 1,000 words or so tomorrow.

The trouble is going to be in deciding what I want to do next: do I revise this year's novel, get back to work on last year's, or start a completely new project? Decisions, decisions.

Thanksgiving Double Feature - The Muppets and Hugo

The roommate and I have suffered through a self-inflicted media "fast" this month. The idea was we would not indulge in any frivolous electronic stimulation for the entire month - primarily, this has meant no video games, movies, TV, or music (well, the occasional bit of classical WAS permitted). However, we allowed ourselves a bit of a loophole - any SOCIAL events centered around movies, music, etc., would be permissible.

And, wouldn't you know it, we had a WHOLE BUNCH of movie parties this past weekend.

Now, I tend to be a little bit... "discerning" in my movie selection (a better word might be "snobbish"). I didn't pick the movies that I saw lightly - if I was going to break my media fast, I was gonna make DARN sure I enjoyed it. And, boy, did I!



Thanksgiving Day I caught the new Muppet movie. I'm a long-time fan of The Muppet Show, after catching an episode guest starring Julie Andrews and a mysterious cow while on a trip to Disneyland back in eighth grade. Before that, all I knew about the Muppets came from A Muppet Christmas Carol (one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies) and Muppet Treasure Island(which was... um... Tim Curry was in it!).

I didn't really have high expectations for The Muppets, so I don't know what I wanted to see when the lights went down in the theater. Once the movie started rolling, though, I knew that what I wanted was right there on the screen in front of me. Bright colors! Smiling faces! Sincere song and dance numbers with only a HINT of irony!

Oh, and Amy Adams... Man, I like that girl.

The "plot" of the movie, as it were, really only served to bring the cast of characters back together for another great installment of The Muppet Show. From there on out, the movie played like a pretty typical Muppet movie - silly jokes, great character moments, and, of course, obligatory celebrity cameos.

(A note about the cameos: there weren't a whole lot of A-list celebrities in the movie. Maybe one or two. However, if you KNOW who the celebrities are, then just about all of them are incredibly funny. I about bruised my knee from slapping it so hard - they're that good.)

More than anything else, though, I found myself loving the music. Some classic Muppet songs mingle with new numbers written by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords. The songs are straight up hilarious - McKenzie's comic background shines through in the music he writes. There's a particular number highly reminiscent of "I'm Not Crying" that about had me falling out of my chair.

It's not a PERFECT movie, but the Muppets never really were about perfection. Their first feature film in over ten years is a perfect "welcome back." Hopefully they'll stick around - at least long enough for The Muppet Show Season 4 to come out on DVD.


And then we have Hugo, a movie I had very strong opinions about, despite the fact I didn't know it existed until about a month ago.

Hugo is based on a book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret, one of my favorite books that I've read in the past several years. The story focuses on a young orphan boy, living within the walls of the Paris train station. He fixes the clocks their for his uncle, who has disappeared, and survives on food stolen from railway vendors. Eventually, Hugo's story dovetails with the history of early cinema. The young boy finds himself drawn to these first silent pictures, which inspire him as much as they entertain him.

The book Hugo Cabret is filled about half full with pictures - finely detailed pencil drawings by author Brian Selznick. The illustrations help the book to present its story wordlessly at points - an appropriate choice for a story about silent movies. Since so much of the book relies on silence, I found myself a bit worried that the story wouldn't survive screen adaptation.

Again, it's not a PERFECT movie - there are a couple of jokes that feel out of place, and the movie feel a bit preachy at points. Also, I'm starting to get a little tired of Sacha Baron Cohen's typical pratfalls. I think he's a brilliant actor, but he's almost always brought in strictly for comic relief. In Hugo, it's kind of disappointing.

But that's not to say it's a bad movie. I loved Hugo - probably more than I loved The Muppets, to be honest. Hugo explores what it means to be an artist and a dreamer. Its morals are subtle, the mood almost dreamlike, and the actors perfectly cast all the way around - even Sacha Baron Cohen.

Hugo does everything right, but I wish at some points it would do MORE of it. It's the first movie I've ever watched in 3D where I've said, "You know, this could actually use MORE 3D effects." Since one of the central themes of the movie is film's ability to capture unreal scenarios and make them magically come to life on screen, additional 3D effects could have been used to recreate a similar effect for modern audiences who are more used to refined projected images.

Still, Hugo is ultimately a celebration of the movie as a medium and its ability to inspire while it entertains. On that level, it's a brilliant success. I only hope the eventual DVD release comes complete with some of the great Georges Méliès films references throughout the story.

Anyway, if you're interested in catching a movie this holiday season, those are MY suggestions. It's a great time of year for quality movies. Shame not to take advantage of it.

Guest Post on Autodidactic Ambitions

If you're tired of reading nothing but my NaNoWriMo updates, you might enjoy reading a guest post I wrote for my friend Torrie's blog. Torrie and I studied English literature together back in college, so I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my thoughts on writing with her blogging audience.

While you're there, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to check out some of Torrie's other posts. She's a talented writer in her own right, plus she's got some pretty neat photographs up from some photo walks she's taken.

Thanks Torrie for the guest post!

Meanwhile, I plan on returning to more or less "normal" blog writing next week once NaNoWriMo's wrapped up.

NaNoWriMo: November 22 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,679
Total Words Written: 35,007
Percent of Final Goal: 70%

Notes: I just wrote the most emotionally violent scene I think I’ve ever written. Man, I really wish I had an A.G. Bear right now…

I had planned last year’s NaNo project with a meticulously crafted, detailed, and complete outline of the whole plot. I knew how the book would end right from the beginning, and I wrote towards that ending. I added a few scenes along the way, but, for the most part, I crafted exactly the story I had set out to write from the very beginning. I also wound up running out of material just after Thanksgiving, and I pulled the last couple thousand words out of an uncomfortable part of my anatomy.

This year, without the outline to guide me, the writing’s been a bit more aimless. Ironically, I think I have a stronger story this year than I did last year, and I think that may be partly due to the free reign I gave my characters to write their own story. It’s a pretty MISERABLE story, but it’s a more compelling one. I have no clue how the story will end – I have a few key scenes I’m writing towards but no conclusion. I hope it’ll all end happily, but…

No, seriously, someone needs to hug me, and SOON.

NaNoWriMo: November 20 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,696
Total Words Written: 31479
Percent of Final Goal: 62%

Notes: New plot twists popped up as I was writing last night - totally surprised me. Apparently, my "Peter" character is... Actually, you may have to read the finished novel to get this particular twist.

I just wrote a fun section involving a Ouija board. Having never really used a Ouija board myself, I looked up a bunch of videos of kids playing with the "game" on YouTube. Most of the videos I saw purported to be people getting possessed by the spirits that communicate through Ouija. Personally, I thought it all looked fake, but in a good, kinda creepy kind of way.

I use the Ouija board to a different effect in the story I've got going. It's probably not the most ORIGINAL usage - basically, a dissociative man's submerged personality communicates through the board - but I had a lot of fun writing it.

I may not come back to Alice and Wendy right away in December, but scenes like the one I just described have pretty much ensured that I will come back at some point.

NaNoWriMo: November 16 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,673
Total Words Written: 25,951
Percent of Final Goal: 51%

Notes: There have been a couple of pretty difficult challenges to overcome as a result of the somewhat warped chronology my book’s events have gone through. Some things simply don’t make sense now – a lot of the buildup of the first few chapters is now for an event that I think has already transpired. It’ll all come out in revision, but it’ll take a while.

Alice and Wendy is now almost split into two books – one is a dark story of madness and intrigue, and the other is a pretty straightforward story of a delinquent high school student. I find it much easier to write the latter, as the “madness and intrigue” requires a LOT more specialized knowledge than I’ve got (seriously, I’m never gonna write anything based in the medical field AGAIN). However, I think I’ll be most satisfied with the story if I’m able to weave the two disparate components together.

I forgot to mention before, but I’m actually doing a “word count contest” this week with a friend from church. Whoever gets the most words written this week wins. I picked a pretty bad week for this, though, as I’m busy almost every night with other stuff. So far, I’ve met my minimum goal per day. I should be completely caught up by the end of the week (and I may even be able to get a bit ahead).

The Burden of Language: Braddy's Most Hated Words

I obsess over words a bit more than most people (goes hand-in-hand with the whole degree in English thing that I got). Now, the truth is that I really LIKE words - I think they're fun, expressive, and downright interesting. I don't read the dictionary (well, I don't read the dictionary OFTEN, that is), but I love discovering new words and how to use them.

That said, there are a LOT of words that I just can't stand. My reasons for disliking words vary from case to case, but, once I've selected a word to go in my "hate pile," it STAYS there until its had a good hard think about what it's done.

Let's look at some of my most hated words:


bureaucracy - I may just be petty, but I HATE words that I can't spell easily. Spelling should come easily to people who study English, right? Right?

Unfortunately, some words just never got the hint. For the life of me, I can't ever seem to spell "bureaucracy" right the first time (I actually tried three different spellings while compiling this list before finally looking it up). The word's got so many stupid vowels just to make a simple "ah" sound, while the "yoo" sound in the first syllable SHOULD be where all those extra vowels wind up.

If I had MY way, "bureaucracy" would be spelled "beurahcracy." And, um, I guess we'd all be from Georgia.

(As an aside, I have similar problems with the words occasion and silhouette.)


fail - The internet is hell for English majors. When a particularly terrible linguist dies, he is damned to wander the message boards of the great wide web forever, where he will spend his days hacking through the prickly undergrowth of bad grammar and his nights hiding from the ravenous, marauding "LOLs" and "STFUs," which have been known to strip a man's flesh from his bones in SECONDS.

I GET it, though - the internet generation hates words. It's okay. Most people would probably skip straight over this post because there are words with more than one syllable in it. When you post a funny picture of a man with his hand caught in a vending machine, you don't WANT to post a caption that says, "Oh, dear me, look at this silly chap and laugh at the foolish way he has chosen to acquire his tasty carbonated beverage, ho ho ho," while you adjust your monocle and take a sip from your tea cup. It's easier just to type "FAIL" and move on. That's fine.

Here's a fun fact: most of the time, "fail" is NOT a noun. If a person fails at something, their loss is not called a "fail." The correct word is "failure." It's true. We already have a word that means "an act of proving unsuccessful," and unfortunately for you, it DOES have two syllables.

Seriously, if you EVER say, "This is full of fail," I will kill you. I will unchain my rabid "ROFL" and it will destroy you.


emergency - Working for health care, this is a word I've grown to dread. The word "emergency" has a very specific connotation in health care. It means "a life-threatening situation." Emergencies are bad - very, very bad, and I always HATE hearing the word in a phone call.

Only two people ever use this word when they call in to a doctor's office. It doesn't matter HOW they choose to employ the word, my blood pressure always spikes when "emergency" is uttered. The first kind will use the word correctly, as in, "I have an emergency! My husband is on the ledge, threatening to jump." When I get this call, though, the biochemical response I undergo is appropriate - someone's life is in danger, and I get worked up so I can act more quickly.

However, the second type of person who calls will usually say something like, "I ran out of my Ritalin four days ago and forgot to call. I haven't had it in FOREVER, and it's an emergency." Unfortunately, I have to say, your situation ISN'T that severe, you WON'T die without your medications, you SHOULD have called last week, and I WILL NOT interrupt the doctor so you can get your script. Sorry.

(Strangely enough, I had more empathy BEFORE I started working for the industry whose only purpose is ostensibly to help others.)


accompanist - I think everyone has a word like this one - a word that they have to use frequently but can't ever quite say right. I encountered my personal evil word (my arch-lexemenemy, if you will) back in high school, when I was heavily involved in the choir program. I participated in several solo competitions, and every time, of course, I had to find someone to play the piano for me.

"Accompanist" is one of those words that, for some reason, I can't stop saying. Or, rather, once I start saying it, I can't stop. Picture, if you will, a teenaged Mr. Braddy (slightly lankier and, can you believe it, even MORE awkward), approaching the microphone, dressed in his choral tuxedo and a nervous grin, stringy hair parted at the side. He clears his throat and says:

"Hello. My name is Stephen. I will sing 'Vittoria, Mio Corre' by Giacomo Carissimi, and my accompianimanimanimanimanimanist is Kerry Moore."

Pronouncing "Giacomo Carissimi"? No problem. My poor little teenage self, though, couldn't muster the lingual agility to cut the word "accompanist" off.

I've gotten better, but I was an insecure adolescent at the time. That kinda thing SCARS.


moist - Actually, there's nothing wrong with this word. "Moist" even SOUNDS moist - it's the perfect combination of sound and definition. Get over it.

Have Any Extra Hours To Spare?

If you do, GIVE THEM TO ME BECAUSE YOU DO NOT DESERVE THEM!

I'm kidding, but only just a bit. Life is pretty darn busy right now. Work's still got me swamped, what with me being acting manager for probably another week. I have to finish final preparations for Jesters auditions tomorrow. And, of course, there's a little writing project I've picked up.

Basically, I'm saying that if it seems like all I've done the last couple of weeks is read and write... well, that's because that IS all I've done the last couple of weeks.

The real trouble, though, is that I feel like there's a ton more that I WANT to do, but I simply don't have the time.

• I haven't had time to dedicate to drawing for almost a month, and I have all these pretty little charcoal crayons just WAITING for me to use them.
• Speaking of art, I also have a watercolor set I've been really excited to experiment with. Trouble is, I have absolutely NO concept of watercolor technique, so that's going to be a pretty in-depth project, too.
• My church group is organizing a service auction to raise money for a sick family in Russia, and I've volunteered to put up a picture for bid... that I haven't yet completed.
• All the writing I've been doing for NaNoWriMo has got me wanting to go back and revise LAST year's project, which I haven't touched in MONTHS.
• I've got yet ANOTHER storytelling project I want to start working on NOW (a comic, perhaps?).
• I'm pretty sure that I have friends with whom I can hang out, but I may have misplaced them, as I feel like I haven't really seen them in a couple of months.
• Umm... isn't it, like, Christmas time soon or something? So, um, maybe I should do some shopping or something like that?

Well, I've gotta focus on what's right in front of me for now - which would be work, Jesters, and NaNo - and then I'll get to the other stuff later.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving. If you need me, I'll be at my desk, writing. Try your best NOT to need me, okay?

Power Panels 5

I didn't grow up reading superhero comics; I learned my love of the medium from the Sunday funnies. I grew up reading The Far Side, Bloom County, Peanuts, and, of course, Calvin and Hobbes. I often read within these cartoons the characters complaining about the shrinking space in the newspaper comics page. In fact, Bill Watterson's rebellions against the restraints put on the comics format are part of the reason I admire the man so much. Still, growing up in that age where newspaper comics had already been diminished so much, I don't think I realized what I was missing.

Then, a couple of months ago, I discovered Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland.


I'd actually heard of the character as a kid - there was a video game made to correspond with an animated flick I don't think I ever saw, so I knew that something LIKE this existed. Eventually, I learned that Little Nemo was a comic strip from the early twentieth century. Beyond that, though, I never thought to look in to the character much.

I've since read several cartoonists who cite Winsor McCay's work as an inspiration. Eventually, I decided to check a book of the comics out from the library. I feel confident in saying that there's nothing else quite like Winsor McCay that sees print today.

McCay was given a lot of space to tell a brief story, and he USED that space incredibly effectively. He painted larger-than-life pictures of strange landscapes and peculiar creatures, the likes of which are only encountered in dreams. The lettering is less than perfect, sometimes bordering on the illegible, but, in the end, I never really cared what any of the characters were saying. I only wanted to see what dreams Little Nemo had, and I was seldom disappointed.


I've read similar attempts at using broadsheet-sized pages in contemporary comic storytelling (like in DC Comics' recent attempt - which WAS actually pretty good), but none of them come close to using that much space quite as masterfully as Winsor McCay did. Little Nemo is at its most awe-inspiring when its main characters are exploring peculiar dreamscapes. As you can see in the comic above, the panels in the comic aren't simply laid out from left to right, but they fold and warp around the central fantastical image, creating a kind of warped, surreal world.

It makes me wonder what we miss out on in today's comic environment with only tiny, six-panel Sunday strips to look forward to each week.

NaNoWriMo: November 13 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,761
Total Words Written: 20,578
Percent of Final Goal: 41%

Notes: Look at me! I’m only about a day behind schedule now. Go weekends!

I’ve said it before, but the process of discovery during NaNoWriMo is far and away the best part. I’ve been exploring my main character’s school life, and, as a result, I’ve uncovered a lot of interesting little plot threads. There’s a young man at Wendy’s school who obviously has a thing for her, although he doesn’t always choose to express himself in the best way.

Now, the coolest thing to happen this weekend came from a single word. My main character has a lot of resentment towards her father, who may or may not be a complete monster. I haven’t quite decided. Anyway, the important bit is that she PERCEIVES him to be, if not evil, at least out of touch. Her poor relationship with her father has started to affect Wendy’s school life – hence, her now frequent visits with the principal. In one of the principle’s lectures, I revealed that he doesn’t talk much with Wendy’s father “anymore.”

I hadn’t intended to write the word “anymore” – it just kind of slipped out of my fingers and onto the page. Suddenly, a whole, unspoken history between Wendy’s father and her principal revealed itself to me, and that history might have some pretty profound effects on the main story.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s darned awesome!

NaNoWriMo: November 11 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,810
Total Words Written: 14,474
Percent of Final Goal: 28%

Notes: Eek. I’m almost a full 2,500 words BEHIND schedule. That’s not good.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been reading young adult fiction recently, but I kinda want to explore the new environment I created for Wendy’s school. I created three new characters for her to interact with last night – an insensitive jock, an all-business school nurse, and the school principal (you can guess what kind of day poor Wendy had at school today).

The principal probably has one of my favorite character descriptions I’ve ever written: “he carried with him the potbelly that only the abnormally thin have when they get old, married, and settled.” Sadly, I think the reason I like it so much is because that’s what I expect I’LL look like when I get old, married, and settled.

Speaking of reading (which I was two paragraphs ago), I’m finding it advantageous to read continually WHILE writing. When I read, I tend to adopt the conventions of the writer into my speech (Shakespeare and Dickens make me a bit more flowery than I’d normally be). Since I’ve been reading Jerry Spinelli recently, I’ve found it a bit easier to come up with distinctive, abnormal descriptors for my characters – something Spinelli excels at in books like Maniac Magee and Loser. I’m not nearly as GOOD at it as Spinelli is, but it’s helpful nonetheless.

Braddy Reads The Bell Jar

Okay, I’ve put this one off long enough.

I finished reading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar almost two weeks ago, and I’m STILL not quite sure what I think of it. Heck, I’m not even quite sure why I picked it up in the first place. I mean, I like Sylvia Plath’s poetry (for the most part), but I’m not exactly a Plath “fan.”

As far as the writing goes, I found Plath as ingenious and clever as ever – although she uses FAR too many metaphors for my taste. On some pages, nearly every other sentence carries some simile or metaphor. That’s not an exaggeration. I counted. There’s a LOT of metaphor.

Where the plot’s concerned, well… Actually, I’m not even sure I have the capacity to fully understand the novel. Maybe I’m coming from the wrong place to figure out what’s going on – that place being the land of the Y chromosome.

I was struck by a particular scene towards the end of the book: protagonist Esther Greenwood is nearing the end of her stay in a mental institution. She gets a visit from Buddy Willard, an old flame of hers, who asks if he’s somehow responsible for Esther’s current state of mind. Esther’s response is a bit ambiguous, but she TELLS him that he isn’t responsible.

When I read that section, I remember thinking that I had a similar question to Buddy Willard’s. As I’ve pointed out, I have kind of an odd response to women’s literature. I start to question my own motives in my interactions with women – whether I’ve been perpetrating some patriarchal crimes in my intersex relationships.

However, when Buddy asks if he has caused Esther’s illness, I get the impression that Buddy Willard has kind of missed the point. Esther Greenwood has been through a lot in her life – obvious mental illness, shattered ideologies… heck, she nearly gets raped halfway through the book. The Bell Jar is an exploration of HER trauma and her journey. For Buddy to turn it into some kind of analysis of HIS OWN behavior actually strikes me as kind of selfish. I found myself wondering why Buddy Willard would dare to make Esther’s struggled about HIM – and, at the same time, I wondered why I insisted on making Plath’s story about ME.

Or maybe I’m the one missing the point. I really can’t say for certain. Whether Buddy’s question is Plath’s way of waving off sniveling, apologetic men or condemning them isn’t really clear to me. Under different circumstances, I’d call that a mark of a bad writer. However, Plath handled it in a way that will have me thinking about The Bell Jar for days and weeks to come, not out of confusion, but out of a desire to understand. And that’s REALLY impressive.

NaNoWriMo: November 8 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,770
Total Words Written: 12,664
Percent of Final Goal: 25%

Notes: You know how long it takes to write 1,666 words? Apparently, not all that long.

I spend about an hour and a half to two hours writing a night, but a good portion of that time is actually me standing up from the computer, walking out into the common room, and telling my roommate that I wrote another hundred words before telling him the latest cool thought I had about math.

Actually, that’s not quite true. He’s the one who tells ME about math.

Still, I find that the writing goes a little easier when I take small breaks in the middle – provided I’ve put in the effort to do some quality writing in the first place. I write a couple hundred words, go read a few comic strips (I’m working my way through the complete Calvin and Hobbes again) or a chapter from my book (currently reading Jerry Spinelli’s Loser), and then come back to the writing with a mostly fresh mind.

Not planning out the plot ahead of time is providing some interesting challenges. Right now, the novel feels more like an extended outline in development than a coherent narrative, but it’s providing me with some interesting choices. I’ve got a scene on the slate now that I had never intended to write – Wendy in her classes at school. Suddenly, there’s a whole new avenue that’s just opened up for new characters, conflicts, and settings.

In revision, I’m going to have to decide between turning the story into a psychological thriller or a regular YA novel. I’m not sure which way it’ll swing in the end.

NaNoWriMo: November 7 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,491
Total Words Written: 10,894
Percent of Final Goal: 21%

Notes: I almost didn’t do any writing yesterday. I didn’t even start the writing until nearly 10:00 at night, spending most of my evening reading up on the Tarot on Wikipedia. Also, I went bowling (55 is a TERRIBLE bowling score, by the way).

I started writing with very little enthusiasm – I don’t know enough about the Tarot to write convincingly about a Tarot reading, which was the next portion of the story I wanted to write. Everything I know about Tarot cards comes from an old video game my brothers and I played growing up called The Fool’s Errand, which, incidentally, is a LOT of fun for puzzle-lovers.

My enthusiasm grew quickly, however, when I started writing the character Ruby. I had no intention of including anyone like her in my story when I first started writing it. However, I figured SOMEONE had to provide Wendy with a card reading, and I didn’t want Alice to do it (which I think was the original goal). So I created this sassy old woman, contorted with severe scoliosis, and I think I have a new favorite character.

And THAT’S why I like NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo: November 6 Update

Words Written Last Night: 2,096
Total Words Written: 8,403
Percent of Final Goal: 16%

Notes: I skipped a day over the weekend, and that’s actually put me about 1,000 words behind schedule. It’s pretty traumatic. I’ll be able to catch up in time, but… man.

This year’s NaNoWriMo project is so much more DIFFICULT than last year’s. There’s been almost no motivation to continue in the project. Again, just like last year, when I’m able to compel myself to sit down and work, I feel pretty good about the work I do (even though it’s mostly terrible writing). It’s that extra effort to sit down and WORK that I get hung up on.

One of the things that’s made this year’s project more difficult is the presence of a roommate. Last year, I lived on my own, so when I got home from work, I had no distractions at all. I just sat down, got to work, then played video games until it was time for bed. Now, I kinda wanna just chat with the roommate.

No wonder most famous authors have been depressive loners.

Braddy Reads Nursery Rhyme Comics

ATTENTION PARENTS OF SMALL CHILDREN!!! BUY THIS BOOK. BUY THIS BOOK NOW. NOW. NOW. BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

And that's it for my review.

...

What, that's not enough? Okay, I'll go on.

Nursery Rhyme Comics first showed up on my radar when it was announced that one of my favorite comic book artists, Mike Mignola, would be contributing a two-page adaptation of the nursery rhyme "Solomon Grundy." I took a look at the pages and, being something of a Mignola completionist, decided that I had to possess this book.

Now, the Mignola story is good. Very good, I'd say. But it's not even CLOSE to the best thing about this book. Nursery Rhyme Comics tells fifty stories that I've known since I was six, but puts a new spin on all of them.

They don't ALL work, but the ones that do are fantastic. Patrick McDonnell's two-panel retelling of "The Donkey" reminds me why I liked the comic Mutts in the first place, while Richard Thompson (of Cul de Sac) proves why he's one of the best contemporary newspaper cartoonists. Eleanor Davis's simplistic-looking "The Queen of Hearts" proves to be more complex the more you study it, while Stan Sakai's "Hector Protector" is just as simple - and delightful - as it seems.

I'd endorse the book almost solely on the quality of two-page depiction of "Pop Goes the Weasel," which introduced my roommate to the bizarro wonderland works of Scott C. (whose story "Igloo Head and Tree Head in Disguise" sent my roommate into hysterical fits of laughter that nearly knocked him unconscious).

Okay, I'll stop raving now. I obviously enjoyed this book WAY more than I should have, considering I'm about twenty years too old to fit in the target demographic. Still, the art's great, the stories charming and unpredictable, and the rhymes timeless. Love it!

NaNoWriMo: November 3 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,768
Total Words Written: 4,615
Percent of Final Goal: 9%

Notes: Last night, I had an “Oh, yeah” moment. As in, “Oh, yeah, THAT’S why I like NaNoWriMo.”

I’ve been writing mostly introductory elements right now – explaining first meetings between the major characters and the like. A lot of what I’ve written (re: everything I’ve written) is total crap and won’t survive the first revision; however, it’s all been valuable. I’m building characters – except that’s not quite right. I’m DISCOVERING characters.

Wendy, for example, is an artist – she likes to draw and paint. I didn’t know that about her when I started. Her father, a doctor, treats his patients like family and his family like patients. He walks hunched over with his big hands folded into his pockets. Both of these characters are starting to feel like real people to me, and that’s EXCITING.

Tomorrow I start writing about Peter (yeah, HE’S in the story, too). I’m looking forward to getting to know him.

News Newbie

I spend most of my Wednesdays out in Magna doing improv workshops with the Jesters Royale. Often, my favorite part of the workshop is a ten-minute segment we call "Pop Culture Theater," wherein we discuss a lot of current happenings and whatnot. Obviously, we usually focus on pop culture topics (big movies at the box office, popular bands, etc.). However, every now and again, someone will bring up something actually significant in the world at large.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, someone at the workshop mentioned a tear gassing incident that took place during a protest in New York. I asked him for more details - like what the protest was actually about - and he kinda shrugged and said, "I'm not sure they actually know."


He was, of course, talking about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. And I had no idea that was actually happening.

Since then, I've tried to educate myself a bit on the subject, and I find that there's a LOT that's happened recently that I didn't know about. For example:

• The country of Greece is on the verge of financial collapse.
• Michael Jackson's doctor, who treated the pop star just before he died, is apparently still on trial for manslaughter.
• There was a little riot in Egypt that makes the "Occupy Wall Street" movement look like a pickup football game
• Apparently, people start running for president more than a year before the actual election.

I kid a little - I'm not a COMPLETE ignoramus, and I'd heard bits and pieces about all the above. The point still stands that I have next to no idea WHAT is going on in the world today outside of what's reported by The Daily Planet (Hot Tip: The Daily Planet doesn't actually exist).

So I've spent the last few days actively looking up news. It's weird, and I'm not quite sure I'm understanding EVERYTHING going on. It's like I've started watching a new television show halfway through the season, and I don't know who the characters are yet.

(I'm pretty sure that's a sad and telling metaphor I've chosen to employ.)

Anyway, I'm sticking to this whole "news" thing for a while. I mean, I'm an alleged adult now (at least, that's what my driver's license tells me). Guess it's time to stay informed.

NaNoWriMo: November 2 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,101
Total Words Written: 2,847
Percent of Final Goal: 5.7%

Notes: Wednesdays were always the hard days last year. I work a full eight-hour day which I follow up with a three-hour improv workshop. Add an hour of travel time, and my day’s pretty much shot. I’m actually pleased that I was able to get any writing at all done last night, even if it was 500 words short of the daily goal.

My first day of writing could have been far more productive than it was, but I spent about an hour reading up on poker techniques on Wikipedia (it was research for the story, don’t worry). I’m coming to realize that, for my topic this year, there’s a LOT more I need to learn. I’ve decided not to worry about it now, but I’m keeping a list of things I want to read up on after the month is over so I can get a better idea of how to incorporate these subjects into my story. Already, my list includes poker, knitting, and pedophilia…

My book may be a little messed up. Just warning you all now.

Why I'm Still Single 39

Literary theory did some strange things to my poor little undergraduate mind. I stopped taking movies at face value, refused to read anything that couldn't be found on a college syllabus somewhere, and considered myself a war criminal in the battle of the sexes.

NaNoWriMo: November 1 Update

Words Written Last Night: 1,746
Total Words Written: 1,746
Percent of Final Goal: 3%

Notes: A bit of a struggle, but the first day counts as a success – I got just about as much writing done as I was supposed to.

Last year, I wrote from an outline – I hopped around to whichever part of the story I felt most like writing. This year… I’m not doing that. I decided to try letting the plot evolve more organically, writing from beginning to end. I have a couple of characters in mind, and a couple of plot points and images that I’ll be writing towards, but no real concrete scenes. Also, I have no premeditated conclusion. I have NO IDEA how this story is going to end, and that’s… kind of exciting.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I’ve added an element to the NaNoWriMo process this year that I didn’t include last year – a media fast. I’m not indulging in ANY superfluous electronic entertainment – that means no movies, TV shows, or music (I have allowed myself some classical music to write to, but that’s it) Also, no video games. My time’s a lot less abundant this year than it was last, so these sacrifices may just be necessary for me to even finish the project this year.

Time Once Again For...

That's right, I'm doing the NaNoWriMo thing again. That means I get to shut myself in my apartment and write 50,000 words of a novel - as if I didn't get enough torture last year.

Seriously, as much as I enjoyed doing NaNoWriMo LAST year, I find that I'm lacking the naive excitement that drove me to completing the project in 2010. This year, all I can think about is the sheer volume of work. Seriously, it's a LOT of work, and, from the beginning of the project, it appears to be a bit daunting.

Luckily, I've got a couple people I can keep tabs on (and who will HOPEFULLY return the favor). Last year, I had a friend who was instrumental in keeping me on task, so I'm planning on taking full advantage of that support.

Also, I'm incredibly excited for this year's novel, which I've been wanting to write since the middle of LAST NaNoWriMo...

Alice and Wendy

You might say I'm cheating a bit in picking Alice and Wendy as my NaNo project. After all, the rules say you're supposed to start a novel from scratch, and Alice and Wendy isn't exactly a brand-new concept for me. However, it's been a long poem for the last five years of its existence, so I say this is good.

So, yeah... NaNoWriMo begins NOW. Wish me luck!