catching my breath, then going back for more pearls…

it’s late in november, that much i’m sure of. oh, and what a fantastic november she is. she’s cold, wet and howling like a banshee outside but i’ve got a roaring fire lit inside of me and we dance together like forgotten lovers.

i just wanted to take a few moments away from my nanowrimo to switch up my mind a little bit, and say a little bit about how it’s going. one thing i like about writing is it’s unpredictable nature. many, many days this month i have sat down at the beginning of my daily writing time with a fair idea of where i was going with the storyline, but by the time my few hours of tapping into it’s veins is completed, i discover new elements and directions that i previously knew nothing, or very little about beforehand.

this, to me, is quite rewarding and is part of what gives me impetus to continue writing and creating. it can be combinations of either finding new depth in my characters, or new directions in the storyline. but the best reward is when i am surprised by the transformation of the language i use. how i say things. sometimes there is evidence to me, that i’m tapping into something deeper and more powerful than just my own mind when these words flow out from inside of me out through my fingers.

yesterday for instance, i had a bit of a major stroke of genius insight, heheh. see, i think i’m really writing something that is different than much that you may find in popular literature. part of my blessing is that i don’t read much, so i am not overly influenced by the writing styles of other writers. i am just writing the way that i would sit and tell you my/the story. anyway, there are 4 primary characters in this new novel and yesterday it occurred to me that if i took the time and did it properly, it might be very interesting for the reader to hear this story retold from all four characters’ perspectives. novel length. yeah, four different novel length retellings of this life that they all touched in upon. shhhh! don’t tell anyone!

so the nanowrimo process has been good this year. the energy has been flowing consistently. the energy of the muse, & my physical energy too. i’m getting a little tired now, feel a need to break out and do something wild and crazy. yeah, even after the totally wild and crazy photo shoot i did last Thursday i still need something fun to release some pressure.

i have a ticket to the Zappa Plays Zappa concert on December 1st, which will be a very appropriate celebration for finishing nanowrimo. the novel will not be finished then. see, this is what i have to be careful of right now. i have to detach from the nanowrimo mindset and quit thinking that even though November 30th and my 50,000 word count is nigh, i don’t have to finish my story. i see this attitude in a lot of other nanowrimo-ers twitter messages. 50,000 words signifies ending the story and stepping away from the computer. i can’t do that. i have to write this story until it is finished. i’ll have my 50,000 words written in the next few days, but so what, eh?

another bit of celebratory revelry i’m looking forward to is the release of the new Natalie Portman film, Black Swan. i’ll be there opening night at CineArts in Pleasant Hill.

Photographic Sidetracking Last Week