October is nearly gone, and National Novel Writing Month, affectionately and sometimes despairingly called NaNoWriMo by those who flock to the siren call of 50,000 words in 30 days, all shiny-faced and scrubbed clean at the beginning, and hardly fit for civil company or a barn by the end. Yes, I’ve decided to NaNo a book I’ve been working on since last year. Though why, with grad school also on my plate, as well as seeking another part-time job, eludes me.
So 1667 words per day for 30 days. It’s steep, I’ll grant you. People lose their damn minds in November. The writing advice that I’m loving right now is the one-inch window Anne Lamott describes in Bird by Bird. She says to look at your story through a mental viewfinder, describing on the inch you see there. For instance, if I was working on my weird adventure historical erotica story, which is my chosen torturer for November, I’d start by trying to picture a person, or an object, or even use a line of observation or dialogue to look through the lens, then go, “well, what do I see? Okay, candelabra sitting on a damask tea towel in the middle of a brothel window. Well what do the walls look like? Is it dim? What time of day is it? Who’s around?” And before you know it I have naughty English noblemen getting spanked upstairs by a bitter French prostitute as her illegitimate child hides under the stairs. Or, equally, a beautiful young English professor on a treasure hunt following one of the greatest playwrights of Georgian England who never existed all while her mentor lays dying in a hospice. And all through a one-inch window.
So crack those knuckles, rock out on a pot of coffee, and in a candy-fueled sugar coma/frenzy, let NaNoWriMo begin Monday!
From: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6nNumrmhqfrsiL034GlCttUuKfO6sDB-EJH7dVUG5B51MaKw&t=1&usg=__Wfflc_ABfnvkIHZfNL7KvEeDD8g=
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