Be Excellent To Each Other

I believe it is a Stephen King short story, I remember him talking about it in an interview. I haven't read it and don't know the name, but I remember reading him talking about how each photograph he takes, no matter what he shoots, shows a snarling dog running closer and closer to the camera. It sounded pretty cool.

Crumbs, I hope I think of something genuinely fully original before it starts, or at least something very funny.

And Saphire and Steel rules.

Yes, that's it. I have read a fair bit of Stephen King

Malc

Forum's up and running now, Nanowrimo is gearing up for action-action-action.

http://www.nanowrimo.org

Still can't think of what I want to write though. This is the Europe: Wales forum - http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/110 - I'll be stooging around that. I certainly swear that this year I won't be cramming 8,000 words into the last day, for example. Ho ho ho!

Thought of a plot, and it combines elements stated earlier!

Not sure if I should tell anyone, though I really likes it and am itching to say!

The Sun Dog. It's in the compilation "Four Past Midnight".

Ah yes, thanks. I re-read that about a year ago I think.

Malc

Can't resist, here's the set-up - has it been done before? Warning, will be deleted in a couple of days time in interests of security - so get yer comments in now. Please keep under hats. Let me know if I'm an idiot for sharing this, I've had a few beers.

For want of anything better to do, I've decided to give this a go this year. No idea how far I'll get, or even what I'll write about, but I need a challenge now and again. And it gives me a reason to invest in a good bottle of port, to help me on the way.

Well, this is into it's second day and thanks to head-cold I'm only 1,443 words in. The first bit doesn't seem quite right and has a very flimsy opening justification for the initial stage of the main character's journey - but fortunately I've just thought of a better and this time completely logical way, so a little rewriting tonight and that'll be feexed.

Current novel location - Huddersfield train station, 1937.

Anyone else making good on foolish promises and steaming ahead?

Got up early on Sunday and bashed out over a thousand words. Had an hour to kill in the afternoon, which turned into a three hour stint and got up to 5,000. Then realised I had to leave the house pretty quickly or be late for something. Probably 4,999 words of turgid, unoriginal, poorly-conceived drivel, but it's fun. So far.

Broke the 10,000 word mark last night. A friend desperatly wants me to write him into it: I might have him walk on then be mauled by bears if I need to increase the wordcount.

I'm a bit confused about this - does it have to be a good story, or can it be 50,000 words of rubbish?
Does it get judged (or even read) or anything?

The aim is to write 50,000 words in a month, no matter how bad. Editing can be saved for later months.

I've never written anything like this quanitty in one sitting before (when I write, it tends to be short sketches). I'm rather enjoying the self-indulgence.

Good work there, Kern. You're storming ahead of me!

I've been finding mine very difficult. I've got the plot, I just can't think of a decent way into it and I'm really not liking my main character. I reckon I've just got to face up to the fact that Nano isn't about getting it right first time and just barge ahead. I only wish my main dude was more effectual, I think it was a bit of bad idea for me to write a Richard Mayhew* clerk character for the main guy. I feel maybe I should have written more of an impulsive Fry** type instead.

Supporting cast seem okay though. 1930's Huddersfield proving remarkably to tricky to paint, however. BETEO! Fling plot developing words at me, and mayhap I can steal one and get some propulsion into this thing!

*Neverwhere, fact fans.
** Futurama, not Stephen.

In that case - why? What's the aim?

Because it's fun.

Because it gets you writing.

Because some people like writing, and it's more fun doing it as a big communal effort. It's a cheevo you set for yourself. I know life must be pretty confusing when giant square icons don't appear with pithy names when you've achieved a modest personal goal, but hey.

I'm finding that with one of my characters. I'm starting to wonder if he's the type who really would betray his best mate (my main character, and all round awesome bloke) and sleep with his wife. Still, I've just introduced him (in flashback - he's currently AWOL and main character has been pining for him as well as his wife) so I might just see how he behaves. The bears will be lurking in the woods, just in case.

I'm sure you'll find a way out of your problems. Perhaps refocus the narrative angle onto someone else for a bit?

So there's absolutely* no point whatsoever, save the enjoyment of writing?
That's fine, I get that - it's just like playing a video game. I just figured there would be something at the end of it, what with it being an organised event, even if it was only getting others to comment on your story.
I mean, if you want to write 50k words in a set time, you can do it any time you like.

*First time I typed that as 'abosultey'. WTF?

Fire.

A glut of jam.

On a steam powered submarine.

Every year in August Monroe Fieldbinder took a vacation and took his family deep into the woods to a lake in the Adirondacks. On this particular day Monroe Fieldbinder stood alone at the edge of the clear clean cold Adirondack lake, his fishing line limp in the clear water, and stared across the lake at a vacation house burning in the woods above the opposite shore. Fieldbinder listened to the distant crackle and watched the black plume of smoke spiral up into the crisp blue sky. He saw shrouds of twirling sparks and the tiny figures of the house’s occupants running around yelling and throwing buckets of water onto the edge of the inferno. Fieldbinder pulled his white fishing hat over his eyes and grinned wryly at the chaotic scene.
and grinned wryly at the scene.


In googling this I discover David Foster Wallace is dead. Last year, suicide. For fuck's sake

I actually read the 50,000 word novel Pete wrote last year for this thing. And jolly good it was too, even if the start was a bit clunky. A fantastically brutal Evil Dead style middle bit and a terrific, brave ending made it well worth a read.

I volunteered to edit for him and help sort out the first four or so chapters, but inevitably, I couldn't be arsed.

That's pretty much what I said when I first read this thread on the first go-around. There's no harm in it though I s'pose.

Yeah, but you're a cunt.

Who was this guy anyway?

You seem to have calmed down a bit since your first stint here.

I still want you de-modded you know.

How about we just de-bag him instead?

De-bagging... I discovered the other day that I really should not have written the obligatory sex scene. Still, under 7,000 words left! The end is in sight!

51401 words. I'm really rather proud of this:

Great work!

Unfortunately I failed in mine. Complete mental block a third of the way through and active dislike for my characters. And I just couldn't continue writing not like them one jot. I still like the plot though, if I can make it more immediate, mayhap I'll try again.

So... yours is a romance, then?

Well done, Kern.

That's a bit of a bugger. Still, there's always next year.



Yeah, kind of worked out like that. I spent a lot of the time on the back story, detailing the interaction between the two main characters and the love interest, and setting things up to screw my main character over. In a way the close bond between the two lead male characters could be taken as part of the romance, but their relationship is just deeply platonic.

I think if I were to revise it, the final chapters could be extended (the 'plot' is dealt with a bit too quickly), and the structure really needs sorting out, but at the moment I don't care.

Things that I have learnt:

- I really should not have attempted a sex scene
- Or, for that matter, a battle scene. I got bored with it pretty quickly. There's only so many ways I could think of saying that someone gets hit and dies.
- I don't care about historical, military, or geographical accuracy. At least not in the first draft.
- There are few passages I'm secretly proud of.
- I hate paragraphing
- Going into tedious detail about how to load and fire a musket is very, very good for the word count.

And almost exactly twelve months on, I once again breathe life into this thread...

To ask - who is gonna do this?

I am almost certain to try it myself this time, and have already started making notes on this and that.

I don't, for a single moment, expect to approach anywhere near the 50k word count, but I've written quite a few short stories and daft things in the past, and so will just be happy to complete another one, and won't get too bogged down with the amount of words.

This is tempting...

How's the play going? And the quiz?

Play is on hold, due to director now thinking about a career change.

Quiz will be done fine and dandy.

I'm mostly worried about the speech I need to write tonight.

When I was trying to dream up ideas for me not to write about for the BeexBook, I did come up with one idea that I was really rather fond of. I'm going to have to give it a go. Now I've got a job where I pretty much make my own schedule and am actually meant to spend the day typing stuff into Word, it'd be rude not to.

The one thing is, my idea takes characters from one very popular, yet out-of-copyright source and places them in a contemporary fictional event from another out-of-copyright source. I don't want to spoil it too much on the off chance that I do write something eventually, but do you think my blatant lack of imagination would be too much of an issue?

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the False Prophet?

Heh! You're alarmingly close.

I'd like a short story to illustrate please, something to send out to publishers as a means to get illustration/cover work or maybe get lucky and get the whole thing sold as is. The more fantastical the better really, probably aimed at kids and/or geeks.

Anyone interested?

Or... if I write something can someone hammer it into shape for me?

Already done that. In ink. On your Mums bingo wings.

She's not paying you for it, you know.

Runs in the family.

Pete has kindly agreed to help out.

Next stop: RICHES BEYOND OUR WILDEST IMAGINATIONS!!!!!11111

Fucking brilliant that bit.

Kern, was this from your love scene?

*Fast talking Simpsons-advert voice: "Riches may not exceed imaginations..."

Also - got an idea.

You can't just leave it there! Give us a bit of info...