Louis Arata's Blog, page 16
December 27, 2014
The Top Ten Books (I've Read) of 2014
And here’s another subjective list of Best of … to round out the year. I took the GoodReads challenge and signed up to read 50 books this year. Since I love going back to certain books, there was a fair amount of rereading this year -- everything from kids’ books (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) to nonfiction (John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist). In fact, 14 of the 50 books I read were repeats. There was also a sort of mid-life crisis theme going, in that I read a lot of books about high school to see if I could tap into what it felt like to be a teenager. There were many wonderful high school books, and three of them have made my Top Ten list.
The Perks of Being a WallflowerStephen Chbosky
This book more than any other tapped into my memories. Charlie’s secret crush, his good-heartedness, his hiding his needs so that he can be there for his friends. The story is beautifully told – poignant without being cloying. Chbosky also wrote and directed the movie version. One of the best adaptations of a novel, and perfectly cast.
Stupid FastGeoff Herbach
Fast and loose. Goofy, rambling prose that sounds like a teenager’s thoughts. Felton Reinstein is undergoing a transformation, both physical and emotional. As he hits puberty like a freight train, he starts feeling like a freak. He also discovers that he’s Stupid Fast: a natural-born runner, now recruited for his high school football team. Herbach excels at capturing the insecurities and puzzlements about changes in life. Felton may not understand what’s happening to his body, but it’s all about growing up.
RumbleEllen Hopkins
I got so worked up that I wasn’t sure I was going to finish this book. I wanted to defend Matthew Turner from all the insensitive, selfish twits that surrounded him. I wanted people to try to understand why he was struggling with his brother’s suicide. All I can say is that it was worth it to make it to the end.
Another interesting aspect of the novel is its format. Instead of laying out the text like a typical novel, Hopkins uses a prose-poem style with stanzas and page headings that gives a snappiness to Matthew’s voice. If the book were formatted like other novels, it still would be powerful, but I think that Hopkins’ choice of verses is definitely an important part of the story.
Critical MassSara Paretsky
I always get caught up in V.I. Warshawski’s adventures, but this time, Paretsky has outdone herself. It was one of those pure pleasure reads that also has weight and depth. Taking an overlooked piece of history – female physicists in WWII – Paretsky weaves the thread through four generations to the present day. Her choice to cover four generations of a family is a gutsy one since it could be difficult to manage that broad of a timespan, not to mention the number of characters. But she grounds each generation in its time period, and each family member has a distinctive arc. I love how V.I. works out clues – running up blind alleys, trying on different theories, catching on that something is important even if she isn’t certain why. And another thing: Paretsky’s writing is always crisp and thoughtfully composed. And the final paragraph of the novel … I wish I’d written it.
Warm BodiesIsaac Marion
Romeo and Juliet, and zombies. ‘Nuff said.
Ender’s GameOrson Scott Card
I made the mistake of reading about the author after finishing this wonderful book, and now I have a hard time separating his views from his creative work. Still, this is one amazing novel. I can appreciate why it is a classic. Painful and real. Intensely grueling. His perspective of military justification is chillingly insightful.
The Matisse StoriesA.S. Byatt
Byatt is one of my favorite authors, somehow reminding me of George Eliot. Her care in examining human motivations within social contexts is profound. Her characters have rich internal lives, often kept highly private, and live in a world resplendent with crafted artistry. Byatt’s backgrounds are full of beads, cups, cloths, paintings, and texts that burst with colors (salmon pink, turquoise, ruby red). Artistry is abundant and vibrant, as though physical objects exude the life that her characters are too reserved to express. In other words, the world is beautiful, whether or not people notice.
Harvest HomeThomas Tryon
This was one of the first “adult” novels I read as a teenager. A New England Gothic thriller that takes apart the seemingly quaint village of Cornwall Coombe to expose the pagan rituals underneath. When I reread the novel in my twenties, I got bored with Tryon’s flowery prose. This time around, I thoroughly enjoyed his language, no longer finding it excessive. Also, I was surprised by how much I remembered the story – the characters felt familiar, like revisiting old friends. Of course, if I ever visit Cornwall Coombe, I am definitely not hanging around for the Harvest Home festival.
Charles DickensJane Smiley
A biography of one of my favorite writers by one of my other favorite writers. Dickens sounds like a tornado of energy, driving through life at full-throttle (pardon the mixed metaphor). Smiley doesn’t get bogged down in excessive particulars about his life. Rather, she takes each of his novels, along with his newspaper work and theatrical enterprises, to examine key characteristics of his personality. The book does assume the reader has a good working knowledge of Dickens’ novels.
Dombey and SonCharles Dickens
Okay, technically I haven’t finished this one yet. I’m only about halfway through, but I’ve read it before, and it remains one of my favorite Dickens novels. Dombeydoesn’t have any standout characters like Micawber, Wackford Squeers, or Miss Havisham. There’s not as much splashing around through the plot. This time, Dickens is more careful in constructing his theme, tone, and plot, and you get the feeling that he’s thought long and hard before he ever started writing. It’s also interesting to note that he wrote A Christmas Carol while he was working on Dombey and Son, and there are a few parallels. Dombey, a successful businessman, certainly has Scrooge’s wealth, but he is more of an emotional miser than a monetary one. His son Paul is a wizened version of Tiny Tim, without the treacly sentiment. The only downside to the novel is two of its comic characters, Major Bagstock (a.k.a. Joey B., Josh, Major B) and Captain Cuttle. I get the sense that I’m supposed to find these two funny, but in truth I get tired of their excessive chatter. Even so, Captain Cuttle is proving to be a sweetheart underneath all the bluster.
The Perks of Being a WallflowerStephen ChboskyThis book more than any other tapped into my memories. Charlie’s secret crush, his good-heartedness, his hiding his needs so that he can be there for his friends. The story is beautifully told – poignant without being cloying. Chbosky also wrote and directed the movie version. One of the best adaptations of a novel, and perfectly cast.
Stupid FastGeoff HerbachFast and loose. Goofy, rambling prose that sounds like a teenager’s thoughts. Felton Reinstein is undergoing a transformation, both physical and emotional. As he hits puberty like a freight train, he starts feeling like a freak. He also discovers that he’s Stupid Fast: a natural-born runner, now recruited for his high school football team. Herbach excels at capturing the insecurities and puzzlements about changes in life. Felton may not understand what’s happening to his body, but it’s all about growing up.
RumbleEllen HopkinsI got so worked up that I wasn’t sure I was going to finish this book. I wanted to defend Matthew Turner from all the insensitive, selfish twits that surrounded him. I wanted people to try to understand why he was struggling with his brother’s suicide. All I can say is that it was worth it to make it to the end.
Another interesting aspect of the novel is its format. Instead of laying out the text like a typical novel, Hopkins uses a prose-poem style with stanzas and page headings that gives a snappiness to Matthew’s voice. If the book were formatted like other novels, it still would be powerful, but I think that Hopkins’ choice of verses is definitely an important part of the story.
Critical MassSara ParetskyI always get caught up in V.I. Warshawski’s adventures, but this time, Paretsky has outdone herself. It was one of those pure pleasure reads that also has weight and depth. Taking an overlooked piece of history – female physicists in WWII – Paretsky weaves the thread through four generations to the present day. Her choice to cover four generations of a family is a gutsy one since it could be difficult to manage that broad of a timespan, not to mention the number of characters. But she grounds each generation in its time period, and each family member has a distinctive arc. I love how V.I. works out clues – running up blind alleys, trying on different theories, catching on that something is important even if she isn’t certain why. And another thing: Paretsky’s writing is always crisp and thoughtfully composed. And the final paragraph of the novel … I wish I’d written it.
Warm BodiesIsaac MarionRomeo and Juliet, and zombies. ‘Nuff said.
Ender’s GameOrson Scott CardI made the mistake of reading about the author after finishing this wonderful book, and now I have a hard time separating his views from his creative work. Still, this is one amazing novel. I can appreciate why it is a classic. Painful and real. Intensely grueling. His perspective of military justification is chillingly insightful.
The Matisse StoriesA.S. ByattByatt is one of my favorite authors, somehow reminding me of George Eliot. Her care in examining human motivations within social contexts is profound. Her characters have rich internal lives, often kept highly private, and live in a world resplendent with crafted artistry. Byatt’s backgrounds are full of beads, cups, cloths, paintings, and texts that burst with colors (salmon pink, turquoise, ruby red). Artistry is abundant and vibrant, as though physical objects exude the life that her characters are too reserved to express. In other words, the world is beautiful, whether or not people notice.
Harvest HomeThomas TryonThis was one of the first “adult” novels I read as a teenager. A New England Gothic thriller that takes apart the seemingly quaint village of Cornwall Coombe to expose the pagan rituals underneath. When I reread the novel in my twenties, I got bored with Tryon’s flowery prose. This time around, I thoroughly enjoyed his language, no longer finding it excessive. Also, I was surprised by how much I remembered the story – the characters felt familiar, like revisiting old friends. Of course, if I ever visit Cornwall Coombe, I am definitely not hanging around for the Harvest Home festival.
Charles DickensJane SmileyA biography of one of my favorite writers by one of my other favorite writers. Dickens sounds like a tornado of energy, driving through life at full-throttle (pardon the mixed metaphor). Smiley doesn’t get bogged down in excessive particulars about his life. Rather, she takes each of his novels, along with his newspaper work and theatrical enterprises, to examine key characteristics of his personality. The book does assume the reader has a good working knowledge of Dickens’ novels.
Dombey and SonCharles DickensOkay, technically I haven’t finished this one yet. I’m only about halfway through, but I’ve read it before, and it remains one of my favorite Dickens novels. Dombeydoesn’t have any standout characters like Micawber, Wackford Squeers, or Miss Havisham. There’s not as much splashing around through the plot. This time, Dickens is more careful in constructing his theme, tone, and plot, and you get the feeling that he’s thought long and hard before he ever started writing. It’s also interesting to note that he wrote A Christmas Carol while he was working on Dombey and Son, and there are a few parallels. Dombey, a successful businessman, certainly has Scrooge’s wealth, but he is more of an emotional miser than a monetary one. His son Paul is a wizened version of Tiny Tim, without the treacly sentiment. The only downside to the novel is two of its comic characters, Major Bagstock (a.k.a. Joey B., Josh, Major B) and Captain Cuttle. I get the sense that I’m supposed to find these two funny, but in truth I get tired of their excessive chatter. Even so, Captain Cuttle is proving to be a sweetheart underneath all the bluster.
December 5, 2014
Book Review: The Matisse Stories, by A.S. Byatt
I’m falling a bit behind in book reviews. Every time I’m reading something, I start composing my response, and then I finish the book and move onto the next, and out goes the review.
Working backwards, the most recent book I’ve finished is A.S. Byatt’s The Matisse Stories, a collection of three short stories that all touch on Matisse’s paintings, however peripherally.
Byatt has become one of my favorite authors, ever since reading The Children’s Book and Possession. While her style is distinctly her own, it somehow reminds me of George Eliot, another of my favorite authors. Byatt’s care in examining human motivations within social contexts is profound. Her characters have rich internal lives, often kept highly private, and live in a world resplendent with crafted artistry.
Byatt’s backgrounds are full of beads, cups, cloths, paintings, texts that burst with colors: salmon pink, turquoise, ruby red. Dishes are hand-painted with tiny curls and dots, clothing is woven with care, everything is abundant and vibrant, as though physical objects exude the life that Byatt’s characters are too reserved to express. The world is beautiful, whether or not people notice. Or if they do notice, it’s through an aesthetic lens alone rather than emotional one.
A.S. Byatt
Booker Prize-winning author The three stories in Matisseare “Medusa’s Ankles,” “Art Work,” and “The Chinese Lobster.”
“Art Work” is the centerpiece of the collection. Debbie and Robin are married with two children. Robin is an artist, long struggling to express his fascinations with the particulars of color. To help run the household, Debbie hires Mrs Brown. In bringing about order, Mrs Brown occasionally interferes with Robin’s studio by tidying up his “fetish table,” a place in which he collects examples of color that he wants to examine: cobalt-blue candlesticks, a golden-green apple made by Wedgwood, a reproduction of a sunny-yellow sauceboat designed by Monet.
Mrs Brown is a bit of a scavenger, often collecting cast-off clothes, yarn, neckties, odds and ends that she uses for private purposes. After Robin’s work is considered for presentation in a gallery and is turned down, it is Mrs Brown who proves to be the artist with her squishy, Muppet-like constructions: “huge tapestries, partly knitted, partly made like rag rugs, with shifting streams and islands of colour, which when looked at closely reveal little peering mad embroidered faces, green with blue eyes, black with red eyes, pink with silver eyes.” All her art is made from the cast-off materials she has collected.
The story addresses the question not so much of what constitutes art but rather what inspires it. Where do artists find their muse? And what is the impetus that makes people discover the ability to make change?
The other two stories in the collection are fascinating as well. Finely crafted, like Robin’s fetish table, full of rich, unexpected colors that stir the internal, private life.
Working backwards, the most recent book I’ve finished is A.S. Byatt’s The Matisse Stories, a collection of three short stories that all touch on Matisse’s paintings, however peripherally.
Byatt has become one of my favorite authors, ever since reading The Children’s Book and Possession. While her style is distinctly her own, it somehow reminds me of George Eliot, another of my favorite authors. Byatt’s care in examining human motivations within social contexts is profound. Her characters have rich internal lives, often kept highly private, and live in a world resplendent with crafted artistry.
Byatt’s backgrounds are full of beads, cups, cloths, paintings, texts that burst with colors: salmon pink, turquoise, ruby red. Dishes are hand-painted with tiny curls and dots, clothing is woven with care, everything is abundant and vibrant, as though physical objects exude the life that Byatt’s characters are too reserved to express. The world is beautiful, whether or not people notice. Or if they do notice, it’s through an aesthetic lens alone rather than emotional one.
A.S. ByattBooker Prize-winning author The three stories in Matisseare “Medusa’s Ankles,” “Art Work,” and “The Chinese Lobster.”
“Art Work” is the centerpiece of the collection. Debbie and Robin are married with two children. Robin is an artist, long struggling to express his fascinations with the particulars of color. To help run the household, Debbie hires Mrs Brown. In bringing about order, Mrs Brown occasionally interferes with Robin’s studio by tidying up his “fetish table,” a place in which he collects examples of color that he wants to examine: cobalt-blue candlesticks, a golden-green apple made by Wedgwood, a reproduction of a sunny-yellow sauceboat designed by Monet.
Mrs Brown is a bit of a scavenger, often collecting cast-off clothes, yarn, neckties, odds and ends that she uses for private purposes. After Robin’s work is considered for presentation in a gallery and is turned down, it is Mrs Brown who proves to be the artist with her squishy, Muppet-like constructions: “huge tapestries, partly knitted, partly made like rag rugs, with shifting streams and islands of colour, which when looked at closely reveal little peering mad embroidered faces, green with blue eyes, black with red eyes, pink with silver eyes.” All her art is made from the cast-off materials she has collected.
The story addresses the question not so much of what constitutes art but rather what inspires it. Where do artists find their muse? And what is the impetus that makes people discover the ability to make change?
The other two stories in the collection are fascinating as well. Finely crafted, like Robin’s fetish table, full of rich, unexpected colors that stir the internal, private life.
December 1, 2014
50,000 Words or Bust
When I started NaNoWriMo on November 1, I had this image of me pounding out 2,000 words a day on Creepy White Man. After I hit my daily word count, I’d sit back and blog about it. Let readers know what my characters were up to. Give little glimpses into the creative process. Discuss the unexpected turns in the story. Then after I blog, I’d jump onto Twitter for sound-bytes. To wind down, I’d wind log into a NaNoWriMo forum to talk with other writers. And I’d accomplish all of this in two hours a day.
Reality is very different than my fantasy world. The problem wasn’t so much hitting my daily word count but rather dealing with life’s unexpected interruptions.
Now, my life is not frantically fast-paced. And I’m good at carving out 15 or 20 minutes a day to write. But several events intervened: a hefty deadline at work, Thanksgiving prep (albeit with welcome visitors), and coming down with a cold.
Still, I managed to reach my goal. The last three days of NaNoWriMo were marathon sessions where I was throwing everything I could at the page.
Before the start of November, I plotted out the story, wrote character bios, and compiled research (a lot more prep than I usually undertake before starting a first draft). So there was no sitting around contemplating what scene to tackle each morning; I simply got down to it and wrote.
But writing a first draft is an entirely different process than writing subsequent ones. Everything sounds like crap. All the characters are walking concepts. All settings are little more than cardboard cutouts. And who I am as a storyteller needs a bit of warming up.
After about a week, the story started getting into a groove. And by the end I had a curious cast of characters who are still letting me know who they are. And I have a better feel for the neighborhood in which they live. Yesterday (the last day of NaNoWriMo), I got George and Rosa and their friends right up to the point where they’re going to break into Mr Carter’s office to find proof that he’s a Creepy White Man. Everything after this point is climax. The ball is rolling downhill and picking up speed.
It’s wild to think that thirty days ago this story was just a bunch of thoughts in my head. Thanks to NanNoWriMo by the end of December, I’ll have the whole first draft finished.
Reality is very different than my fantasy world. The problem wasn’t so much hitting my daily word count but rather dealing with life’s unexpected interruptions.
Now, my life is not frantically fast-paced. And I’m good at carving out 15 or 20 minutes a day to write. But several events intervened: a hefty deadline at work, Thanksgiving prep (albeit with welcome visitors), and coming down with a cold.
Still, I managed to reach my goal. The last three days of NaNoWriMo were marathon sessions where I was throwing everything I could at the page.
Before the start of November, I plotted out the story, wrote character bios, and compiled research (a lot more prep than I usually undertake before starting a first draft). So there was no sitting around contemplating what scene to tackle each morning; I simply got down to it and wrote.
But writing a first draft is an entirely different process than writing subsequent ones. Everything sounds like crap. All the characters are walking concepts. All settings are little more than cardboard cutouts. And who I am as a storyteller needs a bit of warming up.
After about a week, the story started getting into a groove. And by the end I had a curious cast of characters who are still letting me know who they are. And I have a better feel for the neighborhood in which they live. Yesterday (the last day of NaNoWriMo), I got George and Rosa and their friends right up to the point where they’re going to break into Mr Carter’s office to find proof that he’s a Creepy White Man. Everything after this point is climax. The ball is rolling downhill and picking up speed.
It’s wild to think that thirty days ago this story was just a bunch of thoughts in my head. Thanks to NanNoWriMo by the end of December, I’ll have the whole first draft finished.
November 30, 2014
NaNoWriMo: Day 30
Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo. And I'm happy to say I made it.
Final word count: 51,532
It's not the complete first draft of Creepy White Man, but damned near the whole thing.
Absolutely messy and in need of lots and lots of revision, but it's a first draft! It wasn't in existence 30 days ago and now it is.
Thanks, NaNoWriMo, for all the inspiration, support and encouragement. You do great work with and for writers.
Final word count: 51,532
It's not the complete first draft of Creepy White Man, but damned near the whole thing.
Absolutely messy and in need of lots and lots of revision, but it's a first draft! It wasn't in existence 30 days ago and now it is.
Thanks, NaNoWriMo, for all the inspiration, support and encouragement. You do great work with and for writers.
November 26, 2014
Shakespeare Folio
Here's an article from The New York Times about a very exciting find in a public library in St.Omer, near Calais, France.
Shakespeare Folio
A find like this makes me want to check my bookshelves.
Shakespeare Folio
A find like this makes me want to check my bookshelves.
November 21, 2014
NaNoWriMo Day 21
NaNoWriMo Day 21
"CREEPY WHITE MAN"
Life keeps intervening but I'm determined to reach the 50K word goal. Today I finally had several free hours and I pounded out nearly 5000 words.
The characters are becoming a bit more distinctive, and I'm getting a better sense of the rhythm of the piece. Several of the characters are showing their complexity by not being all one way. In particular Rosa is revealing her struggle with her individual expression at the risk of hurting her mother. She cares enough about her mother to try to fit in with the Highgate community while recognizing that it is at a cost.
George is gradually learning that life in Highgate isn't as idyllic as he's supposed. His friend Danny is proving to be just enough of a rebel that he's shaking up the status quo. Now George and Rosa are learning about how to be individuals in the face of group pressure for conformity.
Mr Carter, the guardian of Highgate's status quo, proves more and more curious as he justifies the need for conformity. In his eyes, it's not about squashing individual expression but rather as a method for keeping everyone safe and happy. If everyone abides by the rules, no one gets hurt. At least that's the way he views it.
I probably won't get back to writing until Sunday. Hopefully it will be another good session, and I can get back on track for the daily word count.
"CREEPY WHITE MAN"
Life keeps intervening but I'm determined to reach the 50K word goal. Today I finally had several free hours and I pounded out nearly 5000 words.
The characters are becoming a bit more distinctive, and I'm getting a better sense of the rhythm of the piece. Several of the characters are showing their complexity by not being all one way. In particular Rosa is revealing her struggle with her individual expression at the risk of hurting her mother. She cares enough about her mother to try to fit in with the Highgate community while recognizing that it is at a cost.
George is gradually learning that life in Highgate isn't as idyllic as he's supposed. His friend Danny is proving to be just enough of a rebel that he's shaking up the status quo. Now George and Rosa are learning about how to be individuals in the face of group pressure for conformity.
Mr Carter, the guardian of Highgate's status quo, proves more and more curious as he justifies the need for conformity. In his eyes, it's not about squashing individual expression but rather as a method for keeping everyone safe and happy. If everyone abides by the rules, no one gets hurt. At least that's the way he views it.
I probably won't get back to writing until Sunday. Hopefully it will be another good session, and I can get back on track for the daily word count.
November 15, 2014
NaNoWriMo, Day 15
NaNoWriMoDay 15
Update: Creepy White Man
It's been a sporadic week. A few busy days of writing furiously, and a few days where life intervened and I couldn't get to the computer.
Today I reached 23,625 words. I'm up to Chapter 7 out of (approximately) 16.
While the story is well in-motion, I'm still at the splattering paint stage of writing. I'm throwing everything I can against the canvas and seeing what sticks. The clean-up happens during the revisions.
The two main characters, Rosa and George, are high school students. Initially I had them be 17 year-olds but now I'm wondering if they need to be younger, maybe 15. There's a difference in maturity level between the ages, and I don't think I want them so close to legal age.
Mr Carter, the villain, is a tricky character because there has to be some degree of sympathy for him. He has very legitimate reasons for the things he does, but that doesn't make them right. He should never come across as morally superior. He is all about protecting the integrity of the Highgate community.
Halfway there!
Update: Creepy White Man
It's been a sporadic week. A few busy days of writing furiously, and a few days where life intervened and I couldn't get to the computer.
Today I reached 23,625 words. I'm up to Chapter 7 out of (approximately) 16.
While the story is well in-motion, I'm still at the splattering paint stage of writing. I'm throwing everything I can against the canvas and seeing what sticks. The clean-up happens during the revisions.
The two main characters, Rosa and George, are high school students. Initially I had them be 17 year-olds but now I'm wondering if they need to be younger, maybe 15. There's a difference in maturity level between the ages, and I don't think I want them so close to legal age.
Mr Carter, the villain, is a tricky character because there has to be some degree of sympathy for him. He has very legitimate reasons for the things he does, but that doesn't make them right. He should never come across as morally superior. He is all about protecting the integrity of the Highgate community.
Halfway there!
November 11, 2014
NaNoWriMo, Day 11
Day 11 of NaNoWriMo.
Still going strong. I hit 18,038 words today and finished Chapter 5.
Rosa is showing her spirit.
George is learning to think for himself.
And Mr Carter (that sneaky SOB) knows just how to manipulate people.
Still going strong. I hit 18,038 words today and finished Chapter 5.
Rosa is showing her spirit.
George is learning to think for himself.
And Mr Carter (that sneaky SOB) knows just how to manipulate people.
November 4, 2014
NaNoWriMo, Day 4
I'm up to 6800 words on Day Four of NaNoWriMo. Things are loosening up. It always takes me a while to discover the characters' voice and to get into the rhythm of things.
The novel is Creepy White Man, a young adult novel.
Rosa and her mother move into Highgate, an affluent gated community. Everything looks picture-perfect -- no crime, no drugs -- thanks to careful neighborhood monitoring and the ever-watchful eye of Community Coach, Mr Carter. After all, the NSA is nothing compared to Mr Carter.
Today I finished chapter 2. Rosa and her mom have just taken a tour of Highgate and have met Mr Carter and some of the other residents.
So far Rosa's voice is a little easier to tap into (cynical, sarcastic) than George's voice. George is another teenager who lives in Highgate. His is a looser, more colloquial style of talking, so it's taking more time to cultivate.
More to come.
The novel is Creepy White Man, a young adult novel.
Rosa and her mother move into Highgate, an affluent gated community. Everything looks picture-perfect -- no crime, no drugs -- thanks to careful neighborhood monitoring and the ever-watchful eye of Community Coach, Mr Carter. After all, the NSA is nothing compared to Mr Carter.
Today I finished chapter 2. Rosa and her mom have just taken a tour of Highgate and have met Mr Carter and some of the other residents.
So far Rosa's voice is a little easier to tap into (cynical, sarcastic) than George's voice. George is another teenager who lives in Highgate. His is a looser, more colloquial style of talking, so it's taking more time to cultivate.
More to come.
November 2, 2014
NaNoWriMo, Day 2
It's NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month. The object: to write a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and 30.
My project: A young adult novel called Creepy White Man.
I've spent the last several weeks hammering out the plot, figuring out the characters, and doing research.
Yesterday I started writing and ... skidded into the difficulty I always face with a first draft: how to discover the characters' voices.
Writing a first draft as opposed to revising takes a very different set of brain cells, so I have to figure out how to wake up that part of my brain.
Today I reached 1287 words. Not terribly speedy but I trust that I'll pick up speed in a few days.
My project: A young adult novel called Creepy White Man.
I've spent the last several weeks hammering out the plot, figuring out the characters, and doing research.
Yesterday I started writing and ... skidded into the difficulty I always face with a first draft: how to discover the characters' voices.
Writing a first draft as opposed to revising takes a very different set of brain cells, so I have to figure out how to wake up that part of my brain.
Today I reached 1287 words. Not terribly speedy but I trust that I'll pick up speed in a few days.
