So will I participating in NaNoWriMo next year? I'm not going to pretend that I believe writing 50,000 words in one month is a small achievement; it was huge. I thought it was a daunting task and it was. I think I managed to amaze myself the most. I'm so proud of my little winners' image at the top.
The title of the novel was A Biography of Utopia. The novel is 51,505 words long or about 166 double-spaced 8 1/2 by 11 pages (give or take). The story was set in utopia; the paradisiacal world Earth Mark II. As the story unfolded it showed even in a perfect world, humans will still face the tragedy and absurdism of life. I felt I really liked my story, even if things did completely unravel in the end. I think the idea was original, creatively executed, and could probaly be rewritten in some other form one day.
What have I learned about myself? Well... first thing... is that I hate writing dialogue with a passion. I thought mine always came off as corny and contrived. I think this is a manifestation of my preference for non-fiction writing. So, when my plot really started to become unhinged, I didn't give up, I started writing about architecture. About 25,000 words are just these really long, detailed and rambling descriptions of allsorts of interesting, and sometimes understated, buildings that come up in the story. So I guessed I learned that I really do like writing about architecture - but then - I kind of already new that (according to the name of my blog). I never really felt burdened to have to sit and write; though toward the second half of the month things started to get difficult, and sometimes the right words didn't flow so easily.
So will I be doing this craziness next year? Right now I'm leaning toward no - it's mentally draining and a massive time commitment - but there's no use rushing a decision that is far off. Shout out to Pat, Drew, and Sean.
Need proof? Search for wower.
My NaNoWriMo month by the numbers:
# of pots of tea consumed while writing: 34
# of beers: 19
# of weird looks from people I told I was writing a novel: everyone
# of things blown off: surprisingly few
# of days I didn't write: 4+finishing 3 days early
# of Canadian Chocolates consumed: all of them (that were in the house)
# of new grammatical structures invented: 12
# of new words invented: 3
# of people killed in the story: about 300+1
# of dysfunctional characters: exactly 8
# of quantum computers: 2
# of flashbacks: 2
# of crazy monkeys: 6
# of houses trashed by crazy monkeys: 1
# of pop cultural references: 9
# of outright copyright infringements: 1
# of plot twists (depending on how one counts): either none or one big one
# of goats wearing skirts: 0
# of talking animals: 0
# of incidents triggered by hot tubs at retirement complexes: 1
# of disconnects with reality: 2
# of my disconnects with reality: 0
Grand total of publishing offers thus far: 0
Itunes says that Chad Van Gaalen's Day-Ja-Voo X2, Van Morrison's Gloria, and Keziah Jones's All Along the Watch Tower were the most popular tracks for the month of November. Also, two internet live streams that kept me going were RadioDarvish.com (Persian Traditional Music) and the excellent KEXP live feed out of Seattle.
P.S. And while I don't hate Pat; I strongly dislike him and his 63,350 words. I mean, he passed 50,000 words with demon like speed on Nov. 13th. That's unbelievable.
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