National Novel Writing Month

Once again, this November, I have won National Novel Writing Month for the fourth time running. It surprises me every year how different I feel on completion, and validating - to see the words ‘congratulations novelist, you’ve won’. Feeling have ranged from relief at the end long hard slog, ecstasy at completing something so hard.

This year, I have quiet satisfaction at a job well done. I don’t think this is just about my novel though. As ML I’ve been witness to the countless struggles of the writers under my care, and even those that aren’t. I am so very proud of all my wrimo’s, and their efforts. I would like to think I have been a positive influence on them and somehow my being here has helped them out.

And I’m so pumped about doing it again next year

Since starting my nano novel this month I’ve changed my mind a couple of times what I’m writing, but even so I’m please I’ve got stuff down for those other ideas. at the moment however I’m finishing off the MOW files. as such, I’ve spent a great deal of time procrastinating researching topics as diverse as poker rules and ‘the tree of life’.

I’ve also created two book covers for The MOW Files. I think I like the second one better but I thought I’d just stick these up for people to have a look at. All images are courtesy of Getty Images.

The MOW Files, cover 1
The MOW Files, cover 2

Let me know what you think

I’m really stuggling atm with my Nano project. As I’ve mentioned I changed my plans and was trying to write a non-fiction book: housework for enginers. Well it’s going slowly, so very slowly. In two days it’s gotten to 2200 words. The main thing I think is it’s just boring. Technical documents are supposed to be detailed instructions [read boring], then I’m writing about housework [something I personally don’t like at all] and it add up to something I’m really not interested in writing. Listening to everyone talk about their novels, I feel like the kid who’s being kept in during lunch to finish homework while the other kids go out and play.

So I swapped back to my fiction idea, about the LLP and Cloud Dragons. But… I don’t know what exactly it is, I’m just not really feeling it. I don’t have a clear picture in my mind of the people and things and places I’m trying to write about. all I can see is words on a screen. I don’t know if this is an effect of the non-fic [where I have to be about the words rather than the images]. everything that comes out is just so dry and I feel literately constipated.

The Hat doesn’t help either.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but I’m the official Municipal Liaison for Dorset. To this end I’ve organised… stuff, but the best part? I got interviewed today by my local paper It went really well, and I surprised myself by how much I talked about nanoing, everything I do, and myself generally. I also got in a couple of plugs for protagonize.com and the G3 Show. She seemed really impressed by how young I am compared with how much I’ve written and organised. She was also really friendly, which was good because I was so nervous to start with She said hopefully this’ll be in the paper the first week of November, as she’ll get the photographer to meet me at Borders before the kick-off party.

And so to the new idea. Well, not quite such a new idea, but something I’ve been toying with for a while, that both Andy and the interviewer said I should do over the fiction idea. It’s for a non-fiction book called ‘housework for the engineer’, and is going to be a technical style manual for people like Andy who need very detailed instructions on how to do IRL stuff. This does make me a Nano Rebel technically, but Nano has always been for me the time when I sit down to do what I wouldn’t otherwise, and this is a prime example

We’ll see how it goes I guess. And if I can’t stretch it into 50k words, well I’ll just move on to the other one

Well, I just wasn’t feeling the previous idea, so for the past week I had been bouncing between ah shit, and oh hell with it. But I think I have an idea now. I wanted to write about the lesbian land pirates again, cuz they were cool, and I sorta had this idea for a couple of characters and dragons made from cloud, but I couldn’t find a way to string them together. But from a discussion with andy, plotting machine that he is found a way to weave them together, into a sort of fantasy/ steam punky way.

Unfortunately it’s a lot like ‘the last exile’ and one of the final fantasy games… So I’m not sure how I feel about that. But I guess we’ll see.

I had no plot, I had no inspiration, both my muses are on holiday. I was worried I would have nothing to write about come November. But then someone in the nano forums pointed me towards this generator and I’m saved!

My title will be The Aeromancers. The synopsis: In a coal powered Victorian Britain a young milquetoast office drone stumbles across a exiled angel which spurs him into conflict with a megalomaniac dictator, with the help of a cherubic girl with pigtails and spunk and her welding gear, culminating in a philosophical discussion punctuated by violence.

What could be simpler!