Well, we are two days into NaNoWriMo.
My wife is home from the hospital after a successful surgery.
My product is in open beta after a successful release.
There is zero chance that I will be writing 50,000 words in November. I should have over 3,000 already.
I have 295. Here they are:
“Rock stars aren’t supposed to be awake at 6:30 in the morning, unless they haven‘t gone to bed yet.”
It’s a misty morning in Nashville in late August of the year 2000, and Mitchy’s sounding bitchy. But really, if they’d just let her sleep in until eleven or so, she’d be looking forward to the tour. When Dave gets back from the Starbucks run, things will pick right up.
This is a Paradigm Stickshift 20 years past their prime as measured by what matters in the music biz -- 20 years after their biggest hit, and long past the days of playing stadiums. They are the original members, and they are not tired of the music, each other, or the road. They haven’t stopped writing songs, making albums or touring. Not a lot of people are aware of that. But there are enough to sustain them. Financially and emotionally.
Paradigm Stickshift is Darcy Lane Schultz - guitars, backing vocals, and rainbow vests; Dave Schultz - bass, roadie, emotional stability and driver of the Dodge Caravan; Bob Nordskog - drums, roadie, webmaster and babysitter; Ted Sanders - sound engineer, driver of the Winnebago and rememberer of the good old days; and Michelle “Mitchy” Marks Nordskog - keyboards, lead vocals, writer of the songs, keeper of the flame, and in dire need of a latté.
Oh, and Paradigm stick shift is also April and Dylan Schultz and Mickey and Donny Nordskog, ten, seven, seven and three years respectively. Homeschooled and in the way and along for the ride on a tour of the Midwest college towns that provide the most loyal of Stickshift’s fans. Four angelic faces fast asleep in the Winnebago; oblivious to the commotion going on around them as instruments and equipment are loaded in.
About Me
- capmango
- I represent approximately 1 eight-billionth of the part of creation that reflects the image of God. I am not the most interesting of us creatures, but I'm probably above average. I travel around a lot, looking for some place that feels like home. I'll let you know if I find it.
4 comments:
Not bad for a beginning! But remember, you're behind, and you should work towards making that up. Remember not to get too attached with how your story is going at any moment. If, one day, you can't think of any other place to take the story than to have your rock band abducted by aliens and have to play interplanetary gigs to earn the money to return to Earth, then that's where you should take it. If, on a later day, you decide that was a mistake, do NOT erase back past what you wrote before! Just make a little note to yourself as to the point where you're retconning back into the story. Cound the words in the note towards the total if you like.
The point is, DO NOT EDIT! Every word you write during Nanowrimo should contribute to the total! Even if you think something you did was a bad idea, it is rare that the mistaken material is entirely wasted. Nanowrimo is best tackled as an exploration of ideas.
I always found it easier to do Nanowrimo if there was an idea in the back of my head that kept nagging me. As you can probably tell, I tend to spit out verbiage unconsciously if I'm interested in something, and I try to use that to my advantage.
And while I am not trying to dissuade you from posting to this blog, remember that every word you write here is, to some extent, something you're not putting into the progress file. Remember, the novel comes first!
Good luck!
All very good advice, as usual. I'm sort of seeing this year as a warm-up, because I know I can't write 50K words this month, so it's a trial run -- training for next year's nanowrimo. Of course, I can count the blog entries in the total if I make them part of the book....
Cap,
Johnh has the right idea. Slam into it and don't look back. It dovetails perfectly with what you're planning as far as being in training.
As for me, while I had hoped to do nanowrimo with you, I'll be happy just wrapping up some of my projects. To this end, I will be completing "One Night At Goodman's Place" and "Around Eleven" by the end of the month. So, kindly hold me to that.
Take care, and good luck on your mininanowrimo.
gargh =:]
It is not necessarily so that being a few thousand words behind will greatly harm your chances. When I was doing Nanowrimo, I found if I was on the trail of an a interesting idea I could write thousands without realizing it. But then I'm kind of an obsessive personality, so your mileage may vary.
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