Words

Somedays, words are pretty easy things to grab. Then there are the days where I cannot remember how to spell the word “the.” Today isn’t either one of those days. While the words aren’t easy for me to grab, I can at least spell the word that are coming to me. I figure this is something i just have to type through.

Typing through–working through–instance of difficult is what I’ve learned the most this month. NaNoWriMo isn’t about writing the best novel, its just about writing. It is more important that “aspiring writers” develop a routine than it is to generate 50k words in a month.

It’s kinda like practicing the Saxophone. I played one as a kid, you see, and I never developed a routine for practicing it. I used my asthma as an excuse. One of our band directors–a nice old man whose name I’ve forgotten–told me to “practice your finger positions when you can’t breath but its practice time.” I did it once, and i felt so stupid, I stopped. If I had shown any dedication to that instrument, I would have stuck with it. I played that instrument until the end of my freshman year. After I got my “Art Credit” I quit the band and went on to “cooler things,” like playing D&D with my buddy Bill.

I am still learning to write. I’ve given up on being ashamed of it. Now I’m just starting to appreciate the routine of writing, even when the words don’t come as quickly as they should.

Official Nano Update

Here is a graph representing the official Nano Progress thus far:

Now, before you roll your eyes, keep in mind that I have 30 more pages of hand written stuff that I am transcribing. While I am still woefully behind, I do a ton left to transcribe. What I have learned thus far is this:

1) I do get cranky if I do not write at least a few hundred words a day
2) I enjoy writing about my parents
3) I may never get published, and I am no where near as good as some of my friends, but I can write something.

Those three lessons are far more important than 50k words in 30 days.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to drink a delicious beer from New Glarus, Wisconsin. Here is the brass kettle where my beer was brewed:
This is where the magic happens

Nano update

I’m at about 3000/way too many words rght now. I’m cool with being behind. I have a lot of time tomorrow to catch up and the entire last full week of November.

What is amazin about this process is I can begin to remember what my parents sounded like, before they were sick. It is comforting to know that I still remember them as healthy, middle-aged and witty people.

Nano breakthrough?

For my first attemptat Nano, I’m fictionalizing my first job: working at a residential home. I’m adding cthonic monsters to the mix of staff and clients. Given that people ask me, “How can you work with those monsters! What they do is unthinkable!” I figured I should add real, “unthinkable” monsters.

The breakthrough came to me while I was walking to the Pink Line. When I asked about the theory behind the methodology at my interview all those years ago, I was told Psychodynamic–but when my interviewer explained further, the program sounded more Cognitive Behavioral. Psychodynamism falls squarely within the Cthullu mythos, and gives the treatment modality a creepy bent.

The writing will begin when I get my first cup of coffee.