Henry James, you are a cool dude

12 336 words into my NaNoWriMo Novel.  This quote from Henry James' essay "The Art of Fiction" was very much welcome:


"This freedom [from conditions and rigid rules] is a splendid privilege, and the first lesson of the young novelist is to learn to be worthy of it. 'Enjoy it as it deserves (I should say to him): take possession of it, explore it to its utmost extent, publish it, rejoice in it. All life belongs to you, and do not listen to those who would shut you up into corners of it and tell you that it is only here and there that art inhabits, or to those who would persuade you that this heavenly messenger wings her way outside of life altogether, breathing a superfine air, and turning away her head from the truth of things...you have only to remember that talents so dissimilar as those of Alexandre Dumas and Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Gustave Flaubert have worked in this field with equal glory.  Do not think too much about optimism and pessimism; try and catch the colour of life itself."

NaNoWriMo Approaches...

I can't wait to have an excuse to spend all my free time filling a blank screen with lovely, lovely words!


 Last year was my first attempt at the 50 000 word challenge - I made it to 10 000. This year, I want to at least double that output.  You writers out there will know how difficult it is to get so many words out while still keeping up a good plot going.  Or maybe it's just me.  I have a huge wall whenever I try to pull my guts out and smear them into sense.  So, the method I'm going to employ this go around is the age-old technique of word vomit, or stream-of-consciousness, whatever you will.  But, there will be semblance of order: every chapter will be based on a word of the day.  I need to expand my vocab most desperately.  And there will be characters! And a plot! I'm going to try not to be all post-moderny, but considering one of the characters is going to be a punk in an anarchist environment, I'm making no promises.


If you like writing, you may want to consider taking up this challenge yourself - it's definitely motivated me to write more honestly and it's a lot of fun seeing what comes out of a month full of writing! 

The Unofficial Summer Writing Adventure

It's the "The" you've been waiting for.

Unofficial, because there's no set criteria and only consists of a group page on Facebook.

Summer, because it's too busy in November to write a blasted 50 000 word NaNoWriMo novel.

Writing, because I've come to realize that writers are EVERYWHERE and often struggle with finding the motivation and time to finish a writing project.

Adventure, because who knows what will come out of these blank pages?

My good friend Elisabeth and I have decided that June is a good month to write.  And what shall be written? It's totally up to you: from the ambitious novel, to the laid back act of daily diary entries- whatever goal you set for yourself!  I'm going to take another crack at a novel, hopefully one with a plot this time.  So far, there are eight people signed up for this word ride and more are welcome. 

The USWA, tell your friends.

PS: Watched my first episode of Glee guest starring Neil Patrick Harris.  Love that Horrible man.