Nov 1st is here!

Nov 1^st is here!

After months of prep and outlining, midnight marked the beginning of NaNoWriMo. Hundreds of thousands of people started their personal quests to write a first draft of their novel. It’s a very fun and yet scary moment as you look at your blank computer screen. The cursor blinks at you in that way that makes you feel like it is mocking you. “Come on you pansy, can’t you come up with a good opening line? It’s just going to set the tone for your whole story!”

Damn that cursor and its smart mouth!

Yet… a first line did happen. Was it good? Was it even ok? I don’t know, nor do I care right now. (I am trying to murder my inner editor. At least for the month of November.) At the stroke of midnight I began my journey. Trying not to over think everything I type is crazy. It’s doesn’t even feel like writing… it feels like really extensive outlining. I guess that is what it is in the end. What comes out of NaNo will be the very bare, probably deformed, skeleton of my first full length novel.  I just need to keep typing. It will all come together in the end. “Fix it in post” is now written on the monitor of my computer… let’s hope I can take that to heart.

I can do this… WE can do this! NaNo will not beat us!

Now if you will all please excuse me… I need to find the lead pipe to kill my inner editor… AGAIN!

Do I know you?

Do I know you? (Character interviews)

In NaNo prep this week, a friend of mine came across this great list of interview questions. It kind of reminded me of doing MySpace quizzes when I was younger. That being said, it did surprise me. I had some characters in my head for a few months now. I thought they were pretty well fleshed out and I knew how they would respond to things. So I figured I would give it a shot and do my 3 character with the biggest part in my book, just to see what would happen...

After about an hour of using the questions as a “entertainment weekly” like interview, I was shocked by how some of my characters responded. I have heard writers talk about “The character just did it on their own.” I never understood this. It always seemed like “You created them from your own god damn mind. How the hell are they not doing what you want them to do?!” As with most things writing... I have come to realize, I know nothing. I found if I tried to force my character to answer a question a different way, it felt like he was lying. I don’t know what this means about the mind of a writer(Skitsofrantic maybe?) but it really wasn't something I was expecting.

I would like to meet the people that live in my head, so I’m looking forward to interviewing the rest of my characters! Now, I’m not saying that the questions I found are the most amazing writing tools ever. Your mileage may vary. Personally I only used about half of the questions, but I’ll post them below so you can pick and choose the ones you like and maybe inspire you to add more. I have the feeling my list is going to be a living document as I come up with new questions that will draw out my imaginary friends... err... I mean characters. 

Hope you enjoy!



Interview Questions

PART 1

What is your name/nickname?

What is your hair/eye color?

Any disinguishing facial features?

Where do you go when you get angry?

Do you have a secret?

What makes you laugh out loud?

Have you ever been in love/Broken heart?

Any birthmarks/scars? How and where?

Where were you born? Where have you lived since then? Where do you call home?

What is your biggest fear? Who have you told? Who would you never tell? Why?

Who do you surround yourself with? Who are you closest to? Who do you wish you were close to?

Who are your friends and family?

PART 2

What is in your refrigerator right now? On the bedroom floor? On your nightstand? In your garbage?

When you think of your childhood, what smells do you asociate with it?  Why are those smells so resonant?

You're doing an intense spring cleaning; what is easy to throw out and what is difficult to part with? Why?

What one strong memory has stuck with you from childhood?  What is it that makes it so powerful and lasting?

PART 3

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

What do your regard as the lowest depth of misery?

What is the quality you like most in a man? A woman?

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

If you were to die and come back  as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

What is your current state of mind?

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

What is your favorite journey?

What is your most marked characteristic?

When and where were you the happiest?

What is it that you most dislike?

What is your greatest fear?

What is your greatest extravagance?

Which living person do you most despise?

What is your greatest regret?

Which talent would you most like to have?

Where would you like to live?

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

What do you value most in your friends?

Who are your heroes?

Which living person do you most admire?

On what occasions do you lie?

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

What are your favorite names?

What is your motto?

NaNoWriMo Prep

NaNoWriMo prep is going well. Sorta...

When I heard of NaNoWriMo it was in Jan 2012. I was just starting to think about writing a novel then. I was bummed I had just missed something that seemed so cool. I thought it would have been fun to just jump in and see how I did. Writing from the hip, so to speak. I am very happy that didn’t happen however. NaNo looked like a fun thing to do back then. Something like a easy 5k run that people do dressed up like superheroes. Something that was just kinda fluffy. I can honestly say I was wrong. I have been doing more and more research into NaNo and the people involved in it. I have learned instead of a fluffy 5k stroll... its the freaking NY Marathon. You practice, you prepare, and you get yourself into writing shape.

NaNoWriMo is NOT this!

Over the past 8 months or so... I have worked on writing short stories. World building. Listening to writing podcasts and reading writing blogs. The more I prepped... the more I felt like I couldn’t do it. Its like starting to train for a marathon only to realized you’re a 80 year old cripple with heart trouble!

I kept going though... mostly out of habit at this point. Researching and plotting, researching and plotting. Then I started to spend some time on the NaNo Forums and I found hundreds of people that felt the same way as me! Yet... they were still trying. Some said they had tried for years and years and had never got past the 5,000 word mark. They all felt like 80 year old’s trying to run the NY Marathon. It was the breath of fresh air that I needed. Although I am going to TRY for the highly unrealistic(for me) goal of 50k words... I’m going to be very happy if I break 10k. If I break 20 I’m going to throw a party... If I by some miracle finish this crazy thing... I’m going to lose my mind, and then throw a party!

It seems to me, that NaNo is what you make of it. There is no guy with a whip forcing you to finish. There is no slave drummer telling you how fast to type. Its just that one thing that every writer (or wannabe writer) needs... Motivation! NaNo has forced me to get my story into a outlined form. It has forced me to do research that I never thought I would. Its made me create a blog, a writing group and a fictional universes to play in. Those are all because of something that hasn’t even happened yet.

NaNo is not this either! (Although this may be a form of motivation as well.)

No matter what happens... NaNo is getting me writing and thinking about writing. That is a win in my book! (See what I did there?)

Review:
Helsreach (A Warhammer 40k Novel)
By Aaron Dembski-Bowden

First off, I would like to point out that Warhammer 40k books are much like Star Wars books. A deep, full lore that is, in and of itself, interesting. However it also means that most of them are not well written.

That being said... Aaron Dembski-Bowden does NOT fall into this category. Far from it. Helsreach could compete on the same levels as any other book in the sci-fi genre. Aaron's character development of the space marines was very refreshing. Showing a more "Human" side of a super human being was very interesting. His view of the helplessness of a siege was also very moving.

The book had a lot of action, maybe a little too much, but I don't let this color my view of the book. The IP he is writing under, I'm sure gives him a lot of pressure to add more and more action to his books.The action is however, very intense and dramatic. The rise and fall he achieves in the war makes you feel along with people in the book.

If you are a fan of 40k, this book is a no brainer. The views he has of the Black Templar are fantastic! He gives a very real emotion and feeling behind this well know event.

If however, you are not a fan of Warhammer 40,000... I would still suggest this book. This book could be a great jumping on point for this universe. Give it a read and see what you think.

Final thoughts...
If you enjoy action packed sci-fi, in a dark Gothic far future, you need to read this book. Its well written and some great twists and turns that will make even a seasoned reader not feel let down.

Writing Group Meetings...

After my "call to arms" I put out to my friends on Facebook, I have a small writing group! There are only about 6 of us, but we all seem to want to write. This is what I need. To be around people that want to write, and who are going to force me to do the same... and on time!

The meeting have been pretty lively and fun. We are all brand new writers, so a lot of our conversation goes... "I don't know why I feel this way about what you wrote". Its nice to get feedback though.

Our first weeks meeting was all of us talking about our plots to our short stories. This meeting went SUPER long. I feel like it was needed though, as it forced us all to put our thoughts into words and cement our concepts and flights of fancy.

Our next meeting was 2 weeks later. The goal was to have a good first sentence and first paragraph. I can honestly say I was very proud of us all. Everyone seemed to have really thought about it. It was also nice hearing people's thoughts on word choice. I was told "That word is so violent!" I can honestly say I had never heard that before. Gave me a lot to think about.

So our next meeting is in 2 weeks... We need to have at least 2 pages submitted by this Wednesday though. I am so looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with!

The beginning...

Pretty much all my life I have loved to read. After my first Hardy Boys book, I became completely hooked. But I always wanted more. I wanted to write the stories. I wanted to capture peoples minds like mine had been.

After trying on and off as a child I gave up. I was too young and just didn't understand what writing meant. I hung onto the dream for years though. Then, much later a group of friends started a game of sending around a story. Each person in turn was too write a chapter. Soon it became a game of "How much can I screw the other person and see if he can get out of it." It was a lot of fun and got my creative juices flowing again. However, like most things in a large group, it started to fade away.

I didn't touch writing again for another few years. Then when setting up a gaming campaign, I ended up writing some 1 page teasers to the next mission. I was surprised by how many people liked them, and said they were well written. This was the small spark of confidence I needed.

So for the last 2 months I have been reading up on writing, listing to podcasts on writing (Thank you Writing Excuses) and over all getting my head in the game. During this process I heard of something called "NaNoWriMo". AKA: National Novels Writers Month. http://www.nanowrimo.org/ The idea? Write 50k word novel in Nov. This idea is amazing to me! I want to do it... but holy hell... 50k words... in a month? That is the literary equivalent to climbing Everest to me right now.

So here is my idea... I need to get into training. Like Rambo-ish training! I created a writing group. We are going to write 3 short stories in the next 6 months. This should get me used to writing on a time frame. At least that is the plan...

 Lets see what happens.