So here we are at the end of another Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month. Unlike ScriptFrenzy, where I let myself get off to a bad start and not even close to an end, earlier this year, I decided I'd hit NaNoWriMo running, just like last year. I'm all about trying to keep the graph as flatlined as possible!
So for the last two years, I've used NaNoWriMo to explore the big worlds that get stuck in my head, places that are very special to me, but which aren't easily mapped out for the rest of the world. I admire and envy people like JK Rowling, who have an entire world in their heads and find the story that will get the world out on paper (though then sometimes they can't stop with the world, already, and we end up with interminably long fantasy series; thanks, JK, for stopping at 7 books, and now please don't spoil all the mysteries you left for us to ponder.)
Last year's NaNoWriMo entry wasn't particularly good, but I am still excited to write a very different second draft of that novel. In fact, I felt like the second draft would be such a different novel that I could even get away with using the same story two years in a row! But, that isn't in keeping with the adventurous spirit of NaNoWriMo.
So, a couple of months ago when I started talking with friends about getting a group to do it this year, I started figuring out which of my many ideas would make it to novel form this year. I should explain, I used to average a story idea a day (sometimes I'd get seven in a day, sometimes one in a week), but it's not like these are genius ideas; they're more like mini-concepts, usually. I get excited about those ideas like a Hollywood producer gets jazzed about a movie logline. Heck, some of these ideas aren't much more than a logline, really.
So, I picked a deeply personal novel idea I've had for a while and mixed it with a humorous idea I had, and I started to outline in my head. But even though I could see the structure I wanted the novel to have, I couldn't get the pieces to fit. I was prepared to jump into this year even less prepared than last year and just see where the story might go, but I also worried that the world I was creating was so specific to me that it would not make for very good storytelling, and might also be a bit too revealing. (Yes, this concern from a guy who blogs about his life and overshares with his students every chance he gets).
At any rate, today at lunch, I was eating a tuna sandwich while walking through the mall. Yes, I know it's not good to eat and walk a the same time, but I think best when I am moving (I've seriously considered an office treadmill!) and I was hungry! So maybe it was the combination of the brain food (if that thing about fish is true) and exercise, but suddenly THE IDEA hit me!
Specifically, and I feel this story must be shared, a piece of tuna dropped from my sandwich and on to the descending escalator. I watched it, two steps ahead of me, wondering if it would get pulled in to the magical place where escalator stairs go, or if it would just sit collected at the bottom with the other refuse. I gave it a 50/50 chance, since canned tuna seems neither entirely solid nor liquid... a strong fishy plasma, if you will? But I digress.
Anyway, the concept of the tuna disappearing in to the escalator (it didn't, by the way) reminded me of childhood fears about slipping down drains, getting sucked into the escalator cycle, riding the elevator too far down into Hell, and all kinds of other fun things. I never was afraid of the drain (well, except briefly after seeing Stephen King's IT, with the clown), but anxiety dreams about escalators gone wild plagued me for years. And elevators? I think more people probably have dreams about elevators giving way and plunging to their deaths, but no. I just always worried I'd lose my mom if she got off and I didn't manage to get off on the same floor!
So, silly childhood fears. Slipping away to other worlds. Young Adult fantasy material anyone?
On my walk home from work, I wrote 30 quick chapter titles to give the book some direction (the final probably won't have chapter titles, but it's like an outline for me). On the way to the store, I outlined some of the first chapter, and on the way to the gym, I came up with a couple more ideas. What's amazing is that even though this is a fantasy story, the more I think about these things, the more I realize it relates back to my childhood.
What is great is that just a few days ago I was thinking how I remember vividly the few bad parts of my childhood, but all the many good parts seem to fade into a general blur of happiness. And now I'm remembering all of these very specific things as I write. It's cheaper than therapy and it has me smiling a lot more, too.
Speaking of smiling, while I was a the gym tonight, I finally caught a bit of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Even with the sound off (or maybe because of it) the show is really hard not to like. Even with cloyingly sweet Clay Aiken as the celebrity contestant (or maybe because of him), it was still just so darned... NICE!... that I found myself grinning while running on the treadmill, even on the hills!
I'm trying something a bit different this year. I still am going to post my writing for all to read, but I'm going to post full chapters as I complete them. Tonight, although my goal was to do a chapter a night, I didn't quite make it. Plus, I discovered last year that I do better picking up in the middle of the action the next day, so it's not such a bad thing. So, if I stay on track, you should get a chapter up here every day, starting tomorrow. We'll see how long THAT lasts!
So NaNoWriMo must be getting really popular; the site was so slow that I worried I wasn't going to get my 1,666 words registered before midnight. And yes, I wrote EXACTLY 1/30th of the required number of words today. All about keeping that graph flat, remember? And besides, I churned out a whole freaking novel outline in a day, people! What more do you want?!
Oh yeah. You probably want to read it. Fine, you'll get to. Tomorrow!
