NaNoWriMo

This is the year. I'm going to (finally) write my first novel this year. I'm going to use the NaNoWriMo program to help me do it.

I'm choosing NaNoWriMo because... well I'm already able to write a novel. I may not be a great fiction writer, but that comes from practice. What I have a tendancy to do is get bogged down in details. I'm like a fractal generator when it comes to details... Every layer of detail has another layer that I want to capture. Not just the room, the chair, not just the chair, the wood. Not just the wood, the construction.

By imposing a 30-day limit to get from start to finish on a story that's at least 50,000 words long, I think I'll have an incentive to skim some of the detail.

I've also decided that it's okay to follow the "first novel" cliche... I'm planning to write a book based on a largely autobiographical story that happened around my first year in college. It actually covered more than two school years, but I'm going to compress it into one.

There are four women who form the substance of the story, and maybe the reason I'm ready to write the story now is "Sex in the City". I feel much more comfortable handling stories and points of view for four women than I did before that series came along. I also have a better sense of how unique voices work.

So, that's the news. A novel -- or the rough draft of one -- in November. I'll keep you posted.