Move Along, Move Along....

I am getting my mind ready to write.
In November I will do my second NaNoWriMo.
What happened to that first amazing novel?
It languishes on my laptop, wishing I would both finish it and mightily edit it. The novel and I both know (as do the characters, each and every one of them) that there is a wonderful, fun, interesting story started here. We understand that some major changes are required to remove the rambling, the nonsense, the back-story, the long paragraphs that don't really drive movement, the flowing descriptions of the landscape that can wait.

It is clear that the reading now is painful - but
the bones of the story are exceptionally white, amazingly strong.
We know that there is more pain and choice and LIFE that can be added. More growth and depth.
Much more work is needed here. We need a focused editing month.

And so, as we prepare for November, instead of planning on a deep dive into that first story, I am already off, thinking about the new story. Preparing the outline. Thinking about interviews. Considering the background. Building excitement and suspense in my mind.

Why would I leave the first for the second?
Planned novel 2 has been a story idea in my mind for several years. The time has come to write it. The story will be a romance loosely based on reality - and so now is the time to talk to the folks that were involved, to make sure that the sense of reality is included - or not included - appropriately.

I am inspired.
Inspired to do the research.
And also....
concerned
about doing the research.

Why?

To do the honest research, I have to ask some very difficult questions of some loved ones. I need to put people on the spot.
Get folks to talk about things they want to forget.
Understand the real story, so I can create the fictional one
with all the underlying solidity.
At least, I think that's what I need to do.
The research.

Maybe...maybe I can just make it up.
But oh, I feel the desire...to write...and I want to write
the truth of it.


***
In Paradise there are no stories, because there are no journeys.
It’s loss and regret and misery and yearning that drive the story forward, along its twisted road.
***

– Margaret Atwood
[from The Blind Assassin]

NaNoWriMo

Lots to catch up on this week, before the big writing of next week begins. An update on the wedding and reception along with updates on the tree house and the research into Civility, all coming your way. With appropriate pictures, of course. But next week - ah, next week we begin the big writing.

As you know, Ama has been working on her first novel using the BIAM system. She should be completed by 10/31. I am quite proud of her, and before she could get too comfortable with Novel 1 and consider herself done, I brought her the idea today of participating with me in NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month provides a semi-structured community environment with the goal of completing a 50,000 word novel in the 40 days of November. So this will be a first for me, and a second for Rose (who said yes, by the way)!

I am filled with anticipation and a tinge of concern - but my commitment is in and I am going to write. Mr. Bryant has agreed to provide incredible support, to ask me about my writing, to help with the critters, and to fix dinners. He has even agreed to give me weekend time when needed, and as always to love me through what has the potential to be a few emotional moments (really?).

Now my brain is filling up with thoughts, potential stories, genres, characters. Should I write a young adult story my grandson might like? A novel about grandmothers? A novel about women of a certain age? A fantasy? A novel about memory keeping? Science Fiction? A book club? Fiber and spinners? A spinners flock? The possibilities are endless and I am working to define a manageable scope.

So here we go. A novel friends. My commitment is on the web site, and now here in public for all to see. My thanks to Mr. Bryant, dearest love, for unfailing support. And to quote a favorite author of mine, "Hold on to your hats, we could end up miles from here!"

Much more life going on than reflected here....

You might think that all is peaceful, calm, relaxed, and otherwise not noteworthy in life around here, if you read this blog. I am amazed at how little I have to say, these days.

But yes, under the quiet of the web silence, there is more...yes, oh yes, there's more. For example:
1. DD and change and learning and heartbreak
2. DP is buying a new house and moving
3. We are the proud owners of Gizmo
4. DH's momma is slipping away in a heartbreaking way
5. Work is proceeding, demanding my focus in places where it is hard – and so, it is hard. Hmpfh
6. MONEY needs my attention - and oh, how I loathe owning that responsibility
7. Crafting is demanding my time as the shop reopens in 10 days
8. We are in the middle of the 40 days to personal transformation for Yoga, and it is pulling my thinking around responsibility, focus, and drive - while making me have discipline - ug
9. Family wants attention
10. Possible land opportunity in the mountains is taking some thinking time - then see # 6
11. Diet for health is part of the big focus as well

Ok, so I'm busy. But not too busy to write. Not anymore. I owe posts on each of these, and on the felting of the pink bunny, the orange and green dragon, the trip to the mountains, the Design Your Life class, Maddie and the FISH diet (subtitled - What would you do to look like Cameron Diaz?), the challenge of finding a creative focus in the middle of everything, the just honest green envy I feel when I see people who HAVE found that focus, and The Dreadful Cold. Oh, and also The Book Thief.

So here is my commitment. Every day until I catch up. This being the first, but certainly not the last, entry. A discipline around writing. Communicating. Crafting a story. Weaving together the stories of life.

Yes, and there will be pictures too. That is a hard part of the discipline for me, just so you know. There is more work involved in taking the pictures, getting them to the computer from the camera, and then getting things loaded on the web. But hear me now - I will include them, and I will write.

So here, for your enjoyment, is the red bunny and the first bunny. Steph has promised me a picture of the pink bunny, because I already gave her to Jaya.