I think that I'm dedicating this post to Sir Ken Robinson. I don't think that I intentionally call upon the genius of great minds when I write, but since there are so many who can string together words far more eloquently than I, it makes sense that I'd think of them at some point.
So what does this have to do with NaNoWriMo Day 12? Well if you read Day 11, you know that I was getting frustrated with how things have been coming along. Not the whole thing, just the recent things. My attempts were feeling more forced than flowing. I also, midway through blogging, had a thought that might just save things. Not save what I had written, that was clearly just putting me into a corner with little hope of escape. No, my hope of escape is to demolish what was and run over it with the new plans. Except that this is NaNoWriMo so the delete button must be used sparingly. Highlighting text is the best solution, and can be really a life saver during the revision stage!
Now, I have no idea if those two days of writing essentially nothing lead me to this or not, but either way I have no regrets about making those attempts. For all I know, it is trying on the things that don't work that help get me on the right path.
This is why my post today is dedicated to Sir Ken Robinson. In one of his talks about education and creativity, he mentions that children are amazingly natural creative thinkers because they aren't concerned about "right". It's not that they don't want to be "right", it's just that the fear of being "wrong" isn't scripted in yet. So if they don't know what is "right", they'll just try whatever feels like will fit at the time. Unlike us adults who get all self-conscious and would rather sit out the dance than risk being seen not performing the right steps. Children will YMCA to anything if that's the dance that moves them... Okay, I've already ventured away from Sir Ken Robinson and am on a tangent of my own invention now, but the ideas are essentially the same. The point is that I feel like that's what I've been doing with this year's NaNoWriMo. I feel like I've allowed myself to just "have a go" and see what happens, hang the consequence, because, let's face it, if it's a stupid idea, no one needs to know about it because it's the freaking first draft!!! And I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been writing things that will all end up on the cutting room floor - the metaphorical one that is pretty much just the delete button. I have made my poor Detective fall unconscious at least five times now only to restart the scene from the top in my next writing session. I can't help but picture Stranger Than Fiction when I write, so while it's kind of a funny picture to imagine that somewhere is a Lewis Hatfield being drugged over and over again never to actually get anywhere, another part of me has to wonder what the consequence would be if I went through the same process with killing a character. Would they just get up again or would a new being just catch up with us?
And I'm on another tangent... This happens. But, guess what? My inner four year-old doesn't give a damn! It feels like the right direction so let's have a go of it! If it crashes and burns, it's only words on a page. It's only a little moment of minor ridicule, and if I own it like champ, well, it really can't hurt me at all, can it? So I would like to imagine that writing this year's NaNoWriMo is like clothes shopping. I'm writing a new style that I've never fit into before, so I'm still not entirely sure which racks to choose from. Rather than duck out of the store altogether or just stick to the familiar, I'm trying it all on. Looks hideous on display? Well so did my prom dress, but I rocked that thing like a freaking princess! So that's what I'm doing, I'm trying on new scenes, and when it doesn't work, I try on the next one. Having this much variety in my characters has given me the advantage of being able to find flow rather than force it. I've re-started so many scenes by just putting a new character at the helm. Future me is going to go insane come revision day, but that's like future me looking at the credit card bill after the shopping spree. For now, I'm just going in with the idea of having fun and discovering something new. I'll try it all on, I'll have a go, because when it comes to writing, something on the page is already a million times better than walking away empty handed!
Happy Writing!
So what does this have to do with NaNoWriMo Day 12? Well if you read Day 11, you know that I was getting frustrated with how things have been coming along. Not the whole thing, just the recent things. My attempts were feeling more forced than flowing. I also, midway through blogging, had a thought that might just save things. Not save what I had written, that was clearly just putting me into a corner with little hope of escape. No, my hope of escape is to demolish what was and run over it with the new plans. Except that this is NaNoWriMo so the delete button must be used sparingly. Highlighting text is the best solution, and can be really a life saver during the revision stage!
Now, I have no idea if those two days of writing essentially nothing lead me to this or not, but either way I have no regrets about making those attempts. For all I know, it is trying on the things that don't work that help get me on the right path.
This is why my post today is dedicated to Sir Ken Robinson. In one of his talks about education and creativity, he mentions that children are amazingly natural creative thinkers because they aren't concerned about "right". It's not that they don't want to be "right", it's just that the fear of being "wrong" isn't scripted in yet. So if they don't know what is "right", they'll just try whatever feels like will fit at the time. Unlike us adults who get all self-conscious and would rather sit out the dance than risk being seen not performing the right steps. Children will YMCA to anything if that's the dance that moves them... Okay, I've already ventured away from Sir Ken Robinson and am on a tangent of my own invention now, but the ideas are essentially the same. The point is that I feel like that's what I've been doing with this year's NaNoWriMo. I feel like I've allowed myself to just "have a go" and see what happens, hang the consequence, because, let's face it, if it's a stupid idea, no one needs to know about it because it's the freaking first draft!!! And I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been writing things that will all end up on the cutting room floor - the metaphorical one that is pretty much just the delete button. I have made my poor Detective fall unconscious at least five times now only to restart the scene from the top in my next writing session. I can't help but picture Stranger Than Fiction when I write, so while it's kind of a funny picture to imagine that somewhere is a Lewis Hatfield being drugged over and over again never to actually get anywhere, another part of me has to wonder what the consequence would be if I went through the same process with killing a character. Would they just get up again or would a new being just catch up with us?
And I'm on another tangent... This happens. But, guess what? My inner four year-old doesn't give a damn! It feels like the right direction so let's have a go of it! If it crashes and burns, it's only words on a page. It's only a little moment of minor ridicule, and if I own it like champ, well, it really can't hurt me at all, can it? So I would like to imagine that writing this year's NaNoWriMo is like clothes shopping. I'm writing a new style that I've never fit into before, so I'm still not entirely sure which racks to choose from. Rather than duck out of the store altogether or just stick to the familiar, I'm trying it all on. Looks hideous on display? Well so did my prom dress, but I rocked that thing like a freaking princess! So that's what I'm doing, I'm trying on new scenes, and when it doesn't work, I try on the next one. Having this much variety in my characters has given me the advantage of being able to find flow rather than force it. I've re-started so many scenes by just putting a new character at the helm. Future me is going to go insane come revision day, but that's like future me looking at the credit card bill after the shopping spree. For now, I'm just going in with the idea of having fun and discovering something new. I'll try it all on, I'll have a go, because when it comes to writing, something on the page is already a million times better than walking away empty handed!
Happy Writing!
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