I'm currently trying to decide whether or not I feel ready for NaNo. I have a whole slew of scene cards done, and four of them are plotted and, for all I know, ready to go. I still have this feeling of not having done adequate research . . . and yet when I think of the invasion of Sicily, I have this concrete image in my mind of battle-scarred beaches, rocky pathways, and can almost inhale the strong smell of smoke and burning oil. I suppose I'm ready, then.
This story is turning out so different than I imagined, and yet I haven't even started writing yet! Research and plotting certainly changes an idea. It's like the process of baking a cake. The end result--a frosted, decorated cake--looks almost nothing like the lump of batter that it was at one time, though little has been added. It's just been shaped and molded into something different, but at the same time isn't much more than it ever was. Starting tomorrow, writing is going to be like eating the cake, savoring it piece by piece and learning if it really tastes as good as it looks. Hopefully, it will be better. (This may sound like a really lame simile, but I'm proud of myself for coming up with it so quickly.)
I probably won't get to start writing until tomorrow night. Strangely, I'm not all that excited yet. I'm wishing, instead, that I had more time to prepare. But I think it's time to write. I need to get these ideas out. What's it going to feel like, I wonder? I've never plotted out a story before writing it. This is sort of an experiment, but I've loved it so far. I'll be reaching a new door in this long journey tomorrow, and stepping through it into a wild place where imagination takes precedence over everything else. Will I survive? I have before, but only time will tell.
Unlike my previous posts, this one has become a rambling of jumbled thoughts and feelings rather than anything even remotely educational. Sorry about that. Tomorrow I hope to say much more--and in fewer words, perhaps. I'll be writing to you from Bizerte, Tunisia. Mail going back to the States is slow, but I have something that the military personnel don't have--the internet!
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3 comments:
Thanks for the comment, Eowyn! =D
Wow, what a thought provoking post. I really enjoyed reading it. And the time period you picked I think rocks B) I am really interested in reading your NaNo now!
Wait, you are not in the states? Since when did I miss this? o.O well, I hope you are having fun.
Best wishes to you and your NaNo!
Eowyn -- you have made me excited to read what you write. GOOD LUCK!!
Telpe:
You like WWII? Cool! And yes, I'm in the States. LOL I meant that I'd be in Tunisia in a figurative sense--since my characters would be there, I would be there . . . in a manner of speaking.
Dad:
I don't think I want ANYONE reading the crud I am writing right now, but maybe someday. Hopefully someday. December will be editing month for me, and probably January as well, since I likely won't finish the entire novel this month--I hope to write at least 75,000 words, though.
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