New Year, New Words

Happy New Year. Sorry about the absence. Lots of issues.

The following is almost everything I’ve written for my novel in the past year.

“What is this?” He asked, sliding a digit down the pristine margin, so afraid to sully the perfection of the printed page that his fingers hovered along the sharp edge and trembled with his restraint.

“My butter and biscuits,” Vaughn whispered with a faint smile. She reached over Bennett’s lap and dared to turn for him.

I seriously don’t know what’s wrong with me.

It’s now January 2010. Last November happened to be National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. While I technically don’t participate in the actual competition (I don’t have an account at the site at all—I don’t like exposing my work to the world in quite that way), in the spirit of the endeavor I’d like to try finishing SJL in about thirty days. I thought about starting at the beginning of last month, but that ship has sailed, and now I’m about two months late. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to wait until next month, no, no such silliness. I’ll start writing now, little by little, and ease my way into the hardcore “I only have thirty days to finish this” mode next month. New year, new start, right?

NaNoWriMo requires a novel of at least 50,000 words. That generally means averaging between 3 and 4 pages a day for the next month. I’m already about pretty much the entire month behind. Honestly, I’m not that concerned about that. I can pound out a good twenty pages in a weekend if I work hard enough.

My Get Things Done schedule:

5:30 am – wake, prepare breakfast/eat, practice guitar if possible…

6:30 am – work out, shower, moisturize hair…

7:30 am – write, write, write!

*Thinks* Man, five-thirty is early.

I would tell you what my novel (codenamed “SJL”) is about, but out of superstition and self-protection, I’m a little reluctant. I generally don’t discuss my serious work in extreme detail, not like I used to. Little details will slip in later on, I’m sure. I want to finish it by the end of the month, but it’s actually not the only unfinished work I’ve got going. Remember, I also write screenplays and fanfiction, right?

“Sincerely” is a fanfic about Michael Jackson. Go ahead and laugh if you want, but writing fiction about real people doesn’t have to be as creepy as it sounds. It’s about an un-famous Michael who happens to be a disenchanted San Francisco newspaper advice columnist who is considering leaving the industry until he receives mysterious letters from a “fan”. Meanwhile, he makes friends with an exuberant young graphic artist, Andrew, who urges Michael to stick with the paper. As they grow closer, the mystery of the secret fan grows more and more complex. It took me about two and half years to write (I was very on-and-off about it for a while), but this fic is roughly 81,000 words long. By NaNoWriMo standards, that’s way over novel length. How frustrating. It’s like as soon as I label something a novel, I can’t write it.

“Looking Glass” is my latest fic about Michael. It involves Michael as a high school art teacher attempting to resurrect an ill-fated relationship with a close friend, Donovan. He does this for the sake of their much-admired mutual friend Brynne… who happens to be marrying Donovan.

I’m writing other things as well, but other than my novel, those are the things that are at the top of my list and floating about in my mind.

I’ve organized schedules, plans, and notes galore, all just like this. They haven’t worked before. There’s no harm in trying. I feel like I’ve changed a lot over the past year or so. I think I’m finally, finally getting there. Maybe this time around I can do it. After all, we’re all creatures of habit, right? I’ve just got to get the right habits going.