Moving and asking the question if something is worth the effort.
Should it be carefully placed in a box? Should it be taped up and labelled? Should it be put on the list, put on the truck, moved across country? Would we want it when we get to the other side?
Or rather ask: Why the hell are we packing this?
I have a table piled with stuff, the beginning of a pack, and I know most of it I don’t even want now, never mind three months from now. But it is easier just to take a bigger box and scoop everything inside—we can always sort it out later, right?
Maybe not. What if we do not pack one single thing we do not want?
Packing would take longer. We would move less stuff. We would arrive with less stuff.
One reason why a bullet travels further than a thrown rock is because at the start of the journey a bullet is constrained in its path by a barrel. Yes, there is a whole dollop more force behind a bullet that can swing lead harder than mere muscle. I’ll give you that.
But you cannot argue that the barrel is a useful invention—if you want to go far and straight.
Think of rules and restrictions like a barrel, and think of your actions traveling down that barrel like a speeding bullet. Shooting straight you should be able to go much further than when you are just wildly flinging stones about.
My barrel for blog posts from here on forward are 144 or 441 words. Every post to be of either length. A game to make me write like I’m Superman.
Yes, as if Nanowrimo isn’t all about support. Speaking of which, is it Nanowrimo or NaNoWriMo. The second method is so laborious to type.
Online College says:
“If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo (or just taking notes for next year), read on, and we’ll point you to 50 excellent blogs to follow and get advice from as you set out on your great writing challenge.”
Get Online College’s list of 50 Best Blogs for NaNoWriMo Support here
Chucking out words during Nanowrimo at breakneck speed it might be good to have a couple of road markers to make sure you are heading somewhere sane.
Alexandra Sokoloff to the rescue with a comprehensive checklist of basic elements:
“When you start out brainstorming index cards, you can make cards for all of the elements below, even if you have no idea what those scenes might look like, because with only one or two exceptions (which I’ve noted below), these are scenes and elements that are going to appear in your story no matter what genre you’re writing in.”
Read the rest of Alexandra Sokoloff’s NaNoWriMo Prep: Story Elements Checklist here
It is better to keep busy than to be ringing your hands when you are waiting for something to happen that you cannot make happen no matter how hard you close your eyes and wish.
And no, I’m not going to say what I’m wishing for. If you know then you know and if you don’t then you’ll only know when I get to tell you. And I will only get to tell you when it happens and only when I feel that it is then right to let it hang out there.
So, in the meantime, I’ve been keeping myself busy. Working and writing stuff and trying things out in a different way that feels both natural and wrong and because of that decidedly strange.
I’m starting to write, and publish, these weak and meandering essays on writing that do not seem to have any point yet. With the aim of working on them later and upping their style and writing and letting them become something over time. Time stewed in the glare of being visible on a global scale.
There are two done now, and if I carry on as I’m carrying on now, many more to come in a kind of flood.
Try them out here:
- Write a Book, Write One, Write Two, it is so Stupendously Easy To Do
- Nanowrimo will not write a damn novel for you buddy
And then, if you want to, come back and leave a comment below. And if you do leave a comment here is a bonus offer. If you wrote something about Nanowrimo then you are most welcome to leave a link to that as well. I’ll approve all comments linking to anything Nanowrimo related.
Have fun and let rip.
In order to Nano you have to be able to write pretty damn productively, if not necessarily very fast. Seeing as you are most likely still doing a job or studying for an exam or something else at the same time.
Kevin J. Anderson to the rescue:
“Okay, I’m a prolific author. Over the next few days, I’ll be re-posting some of the tips I’ve compiled over the years. If you find yourself flagging, or looking for new ways to increase your productivity, I hope some of these help.”
Read Kevin J. Anderson’s productivity tips for Nanowrimo here
Today I wrote and published the story Tearing up Chocolate. This is number 1 in the Expeditious Fiction series. I started this piece of expeditious fiction this morning with nothing, except a title. And now it is done.
In Tearing up Chocolate Sphanez Steeche was busy dancing herself to death under a dangerous moon. But then she had to stop to save the world. She knew she would survive the ordeal. But would her 1965 Plymouth?
Read a story
As my most recent story it will be available to read for free here – until the next expeditious fiction story is written and published.
What is expeditious fiction?
I start a story from scratch, finish and publish it in one day. If I do not get to finish it in one day then I trash (archive) the story and start fresh the next day.
Tearing up Chocolate is 4,213 words, or approximately 16 pages long. It was written and published in less than 15 hours.
I edit and proof and create with wild abandon and to the best of my ability. Sometimes it will be utter rubbish. Other times it could be all gold. I can’t tell the difference and I do not care to. I will be busy writing the next story.
It is up to you, the reader, to decide if it is any good.
Buy a story
And on that note, you can also buy Tearing up Chocolate by following one of the links at the bottom of this page, and you can find a list of all my other stories here.
Comments and Questions
Lastly, this post do not allow for comments, because I do not have the time for a conversation and I think engagement is overrated. If you have a question or a comment for me on any of my stories (or anything else you think may be related), please use my contact form.