Chapter 1 - The Preparation for my Preparation
So. in my previous post I talked about how I'm embarking on a quest. This Saturday will be the first day of Camp Nanowrimo and mark the beginning of my new novel. Now, like everything else with the Camp, there are no hard and fast rules. But it is designed that you are not to begin until midnight Friday. Not everyone listens. But if you do, it does prompt you to be busy during these few days leading up to it. The prep going into a novel can go one of two ways. Hopefully it gives you the structure and support to make your plot clear, your characters cohesive and get you across the awkward middle hump between introducing your characters and their 'final battle'. OR, it can bog you down in uncertainty and minutiae from which you will never escape. I have experienced both. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the first.
So, while the first chapter might be the first steps we take come Saturday, this period is very much like a meta-first chapter. We are going to lay down some ground work and position ourselves for a good leaping off point into our chapters about writing. So I figure that setting these posts up like those meta chapters, will be my way to chart my progress alongside my actual writing. So, like a good, prepared little writer, I'm going to set goals for today.
Today's goal: Prepare to Prepare.
Journal: While I wouldn't trade my laptop for anything to do my writing on, I like to plot with a pen and notebook. I don't mind the chaos of random notes scribbled into margins and one page to the next being totally unrelated. It is my own stream of consciousness and I love it. However, I have no notebook that will suffice. Luckily, one of my jobs is working in a local bookstore and we sell, what what?, journals. So, I will be going in early tonight and picking up the perfect journal for my plotting. I don't know what I'm looking for. But, like a soul mate, I'm sure I'll know it when I see it. ((Note: My notion of soul mates isn't exactly what you might be imagining. I feel that just like you can get along with most anyone well enough to perhaps work in the same office, there is a smaller group that you would like well enough to hang out with. A then smaller group that you would consider true friends. Smaller beyond that of the ones that you might actually be compatible enough with to date a few times. Shrinking further with ones you could have a committed relationship with. Now, through that net across the whole world and there are probably hundreds of people out there (more or less depending on how particular you are....definitely less for me) that could be your 'soul mate'. I feel that way about notebooks too. They might not all be for me, but some of them and I are destined to write together).
Teacup: I feel as though I need a tea cup. A very particular tea cup that will be used only during my writing sessions. Given the nature of my novel, I want it to feel someone rustic, but comforting. I don't know about you, but rituals do help me. If I put on a certain kind of music, make a specific herbal tea, in a special cup and wrap up in just that perfect cardigan, that is my writing groove. When you write, just like trying to focus on most any task, there are tons of distractions. But if you can channel your thoughts to streamline out the noise and just focus on the task of writing, it helps you make it through your word goal, instead of trying to stamp out a word or two in between changing the wash or taking phone calls. So yes, I need a teacup.
Read about writing: I am a big believer in consulting experts. It comes from my mother. I was raised on a horse farm where we trained and competed hunter/jumpers. My education in riding was regimented and not merely confined to what I learned in the saddle. I have bookshelves full of books on horse care, riding theory, braiding techniques and on and on. My mother always told me to read multiple books on every subject, even if I disagreed with the writers perspective. "If you learn one thing from a book, it is worth every penny." I have always found great truth in that and take that to every part of my life. In writing, it is hard because writers have vastly different processes and techniques. So, reading about how someone else succeeded does not mean that you are going to find success by following the same steps. Still, I keep my mind open for new perspectives. Just today I read something which I knew the spirit of, but hearing it described as the author did, gave the point new clarity in my mind. It was about writing through the awkward middle of the book and the author of the article described how a subplot could function to elevate the action and excitement of a story while the main plot was in a lull. Well aware of the importance of subplot, I suddenly clearly saw my story as architectural skyline and how as one part dipped down, a line of subplot rose up behind it. To that end, I have had a book on writing in the trunk of my car for two months. How is that for a metaphor. But there it sits, still in the bag. My goal for it tonight, its coming in the house.
Cleaning. As much as I love chaos in my notebook, chaos in my environment disturbs me. My desk currently has two boot boxes of my son's old riding shoes that I'm giving away stacked on it along with a thin layer of dust. I am going to get my desk ready to be used so that I can feel fresh and comfortable in my writing area.
And that is it. Those are the goals for the day: a notebook, a cup, a book and a feather duster. It doesn't sound like much, but those four things are going to be the foundation of my new novel. But why wait? I'm going to go get that book out of my car right now.
So, while the first chapter might be the first steps we take come Saturday, this period is very much like a meta-first chapter. We are going to lay down some ground work and position ourselves for a good leaping off point into our chapters about writing. So I figure that setting these posts up like those meta chapters, will be my way to chart my progress alongside my actual writing. So, like a good, prepared little writer, I'm going to set goals for today.
Today's goal: Prepare to Prepare.
Journal: While I wouldn't trade my laptop for anything to do my writing on, I like to plot with a pen and notebook. I don't mind the chaos of random notes scribbled into margins and one page to the next being totally unrelated. It is my own stream of consciousness and I love it. However, I have no notebook that will suffice. Luckily, one of my jobs is working in a local bookstore and we sell, what what?, journals. So, I will be going in early tonight and picking up the perfect journal for my plotting. I don't know what I'm looking for. But, like a soul mate, I'm sure I'll know it when I see it. ((Note: My notion of soul mates isn't exactly what you might be imagining. I feel that just like you can get along with most anyone well enough to perhaps work in the same office, there is a smaller group that you would like well enough to hang out with. A then smaller group that you would consider true friends. Smaller beyond that of the ones that you might actually be compatible enough with to date a few times. Shrinking further with ones you could have a committed relationship with. Now, through that net across the whole world and there are probably hundreds of people out there (more or less depending on how particular you are....definitely less for me) that could be your 'soul mate'. I feel that way about notebooks too. They might not all be for me, but some of them and I are destined to write together).
Teacup: I feel as though I need a tea cup. A very particular tea cup that will be used only during my writing sessions. Given the nature of my novel, I want it to feel someone rustic, but comforting. I don't know about you, but rituals do help me. If I put on a certain kind of music, make a specific herbal tea, in a special cup and wrap up in just that perfect cardigan, that is my writing groove. When you write, just like trying to focus on most any task, there are tons of distractions. But if you can channel your thoughts to streamline out the noise and just focus on the task of writing, it helps you make it through your word goal, instead of trying to stamp out a word or two in between changing the wash or taking phone calls. So yes, I need a teacup.
Read about writing: I am a big believer in consulting experts. It comes from my mother. I was raised on a horse farm where we trained and competed hunter/jumpers. My education in riding was regimented and not merely confined to what I learned in the saddle. I have bookshelves full of books on horse care, riding theory, braiding techniques and on and on. My mother always told me to read multiple books on every subject, even if I disagreed with the writers perspective. "If you learn one thing from a book, it is worth every penny." I have always found great truth in that and take that to every part of my life. In writing, it is hard because writers have vastly different processes and techniques. So, reading about how someone else succeeded does not mean that you are going to find success by following the same steps. Still, I keep my mind open for new perspectives. Just today I read something which I knew the spirit of, but hearing it described as the author did, gave the point new clarity in my mind. It was about writing through the awkward middle of the book and the author of the article described how a subplot could function to elevate the action and excitement of a story while the main plot was in a lull. Well aware of the importance of subplot, I suddenly clearly saw my story as architectural skyline and how as one part dipped down, a line of subplot rose up behind it. To that end, I have had a book on writing in the trunk of my car for two months. How is that for a metaphor. But there it sits, still in the bag. My goal for it tonight, its coming in the house.
Cleaning. As much as I love chaos in my notebook, chaos in my environment disturbs me. My desk currently has two boot boxes of my son's old riding shoes that I'm giving away stacked on it along with a thin layer of dust. I am going to get my desk ready to be used so that I can feel fresh and comfortable in my writing area.
And that is it. Those are the goals for the day: a notebook, a cup, a book and a feather duster. It doesn't sound like much, but those four things are going to be the foundation of my new novel. But why wait? I'm going to go get that book out of my car right now.
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