Tag Archives: fiction

NaNoWriMo ’09 Journal: T-minus 13 Days

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Final search for the lost manuscript and warm-up exercises.

Back in 2007, I realized that I’d lost the manuscript for a novel work-in-progress. The working copy was lost in a hard disk crash. I thought I had backups, but it turns out the backups had not been created. I detail the steps that led up to this disaster and my thoughts about it at the time here.

When I realized that the manuscript had been lost, I spent a lot of time trying to recover it. I still have all the “recovery” files. I put “recovery” in quotes because although the file had contained 97 pages of text, I only recovered about two pages. Not much of a recovery.

Gathering the Remains

Yesterday, I went through those files again, trying hard to extract some more text from them. No matter how I tried, the only thing I could get was the same two pages: about a half page from somewhere in the middle of the work followed almost immediately by the text at the very beginning. Just the fact that the text does not appear in order should tell me something. The hard disk that crashed was almost full. Chances are, the recovered “files” are not whole files but bits and pieces of other files mixed in with my manuscript text. In other words, what I recovered was all I’ll ever recover because the rest is gone forever, written over by other text.

This is the book I’ll be working on for NaNoWriMo this year.

I extracted the usable text from one of the recovery files and put it in a brand new document. Then I tracked down the other files I’d been keeping with the manuscript as I worked on it: a FileMaker Pro file that neatly recorded the details about eight of the main characters and an outline that broke down the plot into chapters with lots of notes. Although I had this outline in Scrivener as well as Microsoft Word — I likely created it in Microsoft Word and then imported it into Scrivener with the idea of writing there — I won’t be using Scrivener to write. I’ll stick to Word.

I also tracked down some index cards I’d been using to keep track of the plot and characters and make detailed notes such as maps. The book is a mystery and the murder takes place outdoors, so maps are an important part of my preparation process. I’d done quite a bit of preparation when I began the project back in 2005 (I think) and just about all of that material was still available. It’s just the manuscript itself that I lost because of my own stupidity and carelessness.

Warming Up

And this brings up the point for today’s journal entry: in the weeks leading up to NanoWriMo, participants should be preparing for the task of writing. Create your characters and build your plot now, before crunch time. Take detailed notes on index cards or in a computer-based outline, or with some other tool. Visit the world of your characters and story in your mind and take detailed notes about what you see and hear and feel.

This should be an excellent warm-up for NaNoWriMo’s writing process.

Here are a few other suggestions for those who are participating:

  • Decide now what kind of schedule you’re going to keep for NaNoWriMo. Will you write first thing in the morning, while you’re still fresh? Will you write after work? After you get the kids off to school? Before you pick them up? Or are you lucky/unlucky enough to not have anything to prevent you from writing all day? No matter what your time is like, decide now when you’ll write and be prepared to stick to it.
  • In the days leading up to NaNoWriMo’s start, spend your scheduled writing time preparing to write. Organize your workspace. Get out your notebooks or index cards or computer-based outliner. Do whatever research you need to do. Make notes about your characters and plot. Draw maps and diagrams. Spend at least 50% of the scheduled time doing this every day you plan to write.
  • Think about the things distracting you during this warm-up period. Are Twitter and Facebook and your e-mail client calling out to you? Turn off your router or WiFi card. Are you getting phone calls from friends wanting to chat? Shut off the ringer or take the phone off the hook. Is your family making too much noise or interrupting you? Close the door or explain that you need to work during this scheduled time every day. Learn about these distractions and how to handle them now, before the month begins.
  • Get your need to participate in NaNoWriMo writer’s forums (or other writer’s forums and blogs) out of your system. Some folks claim that the forums give them support and ideas. If you’re one of these people, now is the time to check in and participate. Use the other 50% of your scheduled time to do this. But get it out of your system now, before crunch time. Online forums are a procrastination tool. Every minute you spend online, is a minute you’re not writing. You know this is true. Don’t make excuses to waste time.

This is what I’ll be doing (and writing about here) in the days leading up to NaNoWriMo’s start.

Any comments? Use the comments link or form for this post to share them.

NaNoWriMo ’09

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Is this the year for me?

As I finish up a crazed month and a half that included of two 6-day helicopter excursions and a week-long trip to Ventura, CA to record a new video training course for Lynda.com, I find myself with an almost empty schedule — right before the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

The idea behind NaNoWriMo is to write a novel in a month. The quality or marketabilty of the novel doesn’t seem to matter. Apparently, it’s more important to get the words out, preferably to complete a story, than to write something that might one day be published.

Whatever.

I commented extensively on NaNoWriMo back in 2005. I didn’t have much to say about it that was nice. I expanded on my thoughts in a post a few days later. You might want to read those two posts before you continue. My opinions haven’t changed.

In fact, my opinions were confirmed just today. I happened to be in a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Flagstaff, AZ. On a little table near the coffee shop area was an arrangement of books for and about NaNoWriMo. Despite the fact that November is still two weeks off, publishers and bookstores are cashing in on the needs of wannabe writers, offering them guidance for writing a novel in a month. I counted eight titles, from a small paperback to a shrinkwrapped “kit.”

I didn’t buy any of those books. I’ll never pay for anything branded as NaNoWriMo merchandise or in support of NaNoWriMo or even designed to help writers succeed in their NaNoWriMo efforts. I detest the very idea that organizations and individuals are trying to cash in on NaNoWriMo.

I’ve never participated in NaNoWriMo. My excuse is that I’ve just been too busy. When you spend all day writing about computers or something equally dull, you don’t want to spend your evenings writing.

I don’t have to prove I can write a book in a month — I’ve already done it. More than once. And my books have been published. And I’ve even made money on them.

But this year, I’m thinking I might use the ticking clock of NaNoWriMo to write the novel I started and lost. Maybe NaNoWriMo can motivate me to finish it.

So this week, I’ll pull out my notes and look them over. I’ll track down my outline and blow the digital dust off it. I’ll remember all the loose ends and how I planned to tie them up. And maybe — just maybe — I’ll be a NaNoWriMo author this year.

Anyone else out there thinking about giving it a try?

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

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Big is an understatement. It’s huge.

I’m a big fan of pulp fiction — the hard-boiled detective kind. I’ve read just about everything I can get my hands on by the big names of the genre — Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain — and lots by the lesser known names that, frankly, I can’t even remember. There’s something about the language used in these stories from the 20s, 30s, and 40s that I find pleasing. It’s the slang, mostly, and the quick sentences and sharp dialog. The rough characters who are described by their actions, rather than a bunch of author-injected descriptive prose. The stories that suck you in in true page-turner style. The morals, which are somehow questionable and right at the same time.

I thought I was relatively alone in my taste for this kind of writing until the other day, when a Twitter friend, @MikeTRose, sent a few photos to TwitPic of a friend’s pulp fiction collection. This made me feel that liking pulp fiction wasn’t something to be ashamed (for lack of a better word) about. I could come out of the closet and greet other pulp fiction lovers who might drop by and visit my blog.

Black Lizard Big Book of PulpsA while back, I treated myself to The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, edited by Otto Penzler. This huge, 1,168-page volume has dozens of classic pulp fiction stories. It’s sitting on my bedside table and each night, before I go to sleep, I treat myself to some murder and mayhem where the good guys might spill a little blood, but always do the right thing.

Each story begins with a half-page introduction that tells you more about the story’s author and how he — and yes, they’re just about all men — got his start as a writer. A remarkable number of these authors had their books and short stories made into movies — I guess the movie industry could really churn them out in the days when plot, dialog, and acting was more important than special effects.

The mix of authors is amazing. One author might have good, tight prose and dynamic, slang-filled dialog. Another author might be long and rambling, as if he knew he were being paid by the word and wanted to stretch it out. The stories range from basic get-the-bad-guy plots where you know what the bad guy has done and follow along as the good guy gets him to plots that are true mysteries, right up to the end.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in pulp fiction who wants a compendium of stories that cover the entire range of the mystery/detective part of the genre. Although it’s not the kind of book you’d want to lug around on vacation or bring to the beach, it makes a good addition to your bedside table or reading chair.

Anyone else out there enjoy pulp fiction? Use the comments link or form to share your favorite authors, stories, or compilations.