Writing and Reading

[J.]

Here's where we can sit back, have a cup of coffee and some chocolate, and talk about writing, favorite books, must-reads, most-loathed, and whatever else relating to books that you can think of.

[Literally]

I've gotten down and serious about NaNoWriMo. The funny thing is that I'm writing something that I don't believe in nearly as much as the other stuff I've started, yet I feel like this is the one I should really pursue. Whether it will amount to anything remains to be seen. I feel it's too simplistic, and when my friend James basically spewed out exactly how events would unfold, I began to wonder if that was a weakness. It's almost too "happy" of a book, if that makes sense? Sure, there's pain and anguish and sadness and all that messy drama, but everything is going to turn out perfect in the end.

[J.]

Isn't it funny how stories do that to us sometimes? I even felt that to some degree with DaLR -- not that I didn't believe in it, but I felt like I needed to pursue it rather than the story that's closest to my heart.

You know, simple stories don't have to be bad stories! You could always eventually throw in some twists, unexpected revelations, reversals, etc. Maybe as you're writing one will suddenly just pop out, and then your friend will be left scratching his head and wondering what happened! I always find that having at least one little tragedy at the ending -- something not happening exactly right for the protagonist or the world or something like that -- makes all the difference between a satisfying ending and an annoyingly happy one. ;) I mean, even something as small as: Yes, Bob and Linda get together and live happily ever after, but Linda is forced to move away from Colorado and the mountains she loves...... Or something along those lines!

Care to share a synopsis of your mysterious NaNovel?