NaNoWriMo (2015) Update #4

Well here we are once again at the end of another unsuccessful attempt at the NaNoWriMo challenge, though this year I probably should not have made said attempt, with all the real life things going on along with a perpetually wandering mind,  and new episodes of  Doctor Who (more about this week’s episode “Heaven Sent” later).

Anyway, while the ideas surrounding the many novels currently percolating in my head are quasi-formulated, mostly outlined and semi-coherent, the actual distance from the head to the page is growing farther as the days go by. The Land of Exposition is undergoing a major overhaul, with the Real Life  Brigade making last-minute changes and adding much (unnecessary yet pertinent) paperwork to be reviewed, processed and executed before the (quasi) Grand merger is to be officially official.

For those at home (and away) following the rambling shenanigans throughout this journey thus far, I’m sure this all seems as if I’ve been stuck in a perpetual time loop, never really moving forward or backwards, but more like I’ve been moving in place. I’ll confess perhaps that’s the truth I’ve kept quasi-buried in the (proverbial) sand – that I’m purposely stalling because I’m scared of what will be when the multitude of stories finally make it out into the open. I’m scared of the reaction they will receive, scared of maybe all the stories I’ve concocted are not really any good or plausible. Maybe I’ve wasted my energy thinking up these characters and scenarios, when it’s already been written “better” by others.

Maybe I’m repeating myself with these doubts. Again.

Or maybe I shouldn’t over think it all, and just go with the flow wherever it may lead.

Maybe I’ve let each new episode of Doctor Who influence my way of thinking, in terms of storytelling and building character and narrative arcs. I’ve always enjoyed the way Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat writes, and how the story arcs he develops are very  inside the box (of course, as the [blue] box is bigger on the inside). “Heaven Sent” was expertly structured and had quite the twist at the end (though subconsciously,  I should have seen that coming). Next week’s episode is surely going to be mind-imploding.

So, it is here that I will quasi-officially declare the end of my participation in all things NaNoWriMo, and get back to the task of plotting, pondering and actually!writing – at my own pace.

Eventually I’ll reach the end goal of completing a novel, and I (highly) suspect I’ll get there the long way ’round.

NaNoWriMo (2015) Update #3

So. This might turn out to be a rather short update, as there’s not really much to update – at least in the whole NaNoWriMo front – word count remains at zero, as a confluence of circumstances have left the plot bunnies and Muses scrambling about quasi-aimlessly to keep things moving whilst the Real Life Brigade ponder their purpose and get all their chicks (and ducks and geese) in a row.

[Yes, I’m quasi-aware the above is a run-on sentence… or is it?]

Anyway, I think it’s time to face the raven music and throw in the (metaphoric) towel with regards to the whole NaNoWriMo thing (which is probably quasi-ironic, as I’ve recently learned how to spell the acronym correctly). In the three years I’ve participated, I have yet to “win” or even get anywhere close to completing the task, despite the various plot twists, narrative arcs and story ideas floating about in my head. Then again, with the exception of term papers and other time-sensitive assignments (for which there are serious consequences when  left incomplete), the yen to write ebbs and flows, sometimes I actually!write something – plot outlines, character exposition or *gasp* actual narrative, while other times I just plot and ponder internally.  Some (far-fetched) ideas get filed away in the Vault, other ideas gestate and mutate into Something Completely Different. Genre models are inserted, removed, re-inserted and re-removed; character and/or narrative arcs move about in the wibbly-wobbly space/time continuum that is the Epic Series Saga that is (still!) known as the MASC Chronicles.

It’s still a Grand Adventure, even though much of it is (still) shrouded in a quasi-thick haze of smoke and mirrors, and writing about the quasi-journey, with all its digressions and distractions, is a learning experience. Keeping apace with the self-assigned weekly blog update (whether or not there’s anything worth sharing) is a testament of consistency and a rare (?) gift of being able to write quasi-factual, quasi-fictional musings with (minimal) editing. What goes into this blog (for the most part) is made up as I go along, so the odds are very high that I’ve contradicted (and repeated) myself many times – which means that I’m either running out of quasi-random things to write, or that I’m lock in some sort of time loop… which may or may not serve as an interesting plot device in the aforementioned series saga – as if I need another complication to make things “interesting” or “different”.

Anyway.

As November is rapidly coming to a close and there’s one more Saturday in the month (for which there should be a final NaNoWriMo update, even though I’ve already waved the proverbial white flag on the challenge),  to keep with the consistency, I’ll most likely keep that theme going – perhaps the final update will be a farewell to the pursuit of that challenge.

I’ll face the raven like the Impossible Girl (*spoiler alert*) and bravely walk towards the inevitable. I will admit to tearing up near the end of  this week’s episode of Doctor Who, “Face the Raven” – of all the ways for Clara to exit the series, that was not the way I would have thought she’d leave (hopefully for good – as her habitual reappearances grew tiresome). It was a heartbreaking farewell, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Doctor will cope (and where he was sent via that portable transporter – I just hope Me does not commandeer the TARDIS…). I have a (bad) feeling it’ll be quite the dramatic episode next week.

And potentially (inevitably) inspiration for the Epic Saga, as most everything I encounter becomes – anything and (almost) everything is fodder for the book(s).

So long for now, and may the plot bunnies and Muses find a way out of the perpetual time loop.

Huh – I guess this entry wasn’t as short as I thought it would be.

Oh well…

NaNoWriMo (2015) Update #2

So, I’ve been spelling NaNoWriMo wrong since I first delved into this challenge.

Three years ago.

Oops.

In my mind, adding the “t” to the “Wri” section of the quasi-acronym made some sense, as “Writ” would be more of an intuitive abbreviation of “Writing” than “Wri” but perhaps that only made sense to me. Then again, the quasi-symmetrical logic of shortening “National Novel Writing Month” to two letters (a consonant and a vowel) makes sense and since there are two consonants before the first vowel in writing, “wri” keeps with that abbreviation.

Anyway.

I thought of going back and fixing this misspelling, but I thought against it (though I quasi-started to fix the spelling in the last few entries). Since this blog is supposed to be a snapshot of my mindset and musings at the time the entry was written, I might as well keep the misspelling and spell the acronym correctly going forward.

So, onward we go.

It’s just about the midway point of the NaNoWriMo challenge, and the word count for my quasi-meta story has remained the same: zero. While I’ve pondered and formulated tentative narrative arcs and contemplated potential characters (some of whom might be plucked from the sprawling, quasi-formed epic saga that is the MASC Chronicles), no actual!writing has actually happened. Or rather, no actual words have escaped the confines of the Land of Exposition and arrived (quasi) safely onto the Document of Word. It seems the Real Life Brigade and its seemingly endless planning and proclamations have created more instability and uncertainty, While there have been promises of order and (relative) stability within the Land of Exposition, a new set of negotiations and such will be needed – the ducks, swans and pigeons will also be in attendance (though they’re really just there to keep the peace, or at least make a valiant attempt at maintaining some semblance of order).

So thus we return to (relative) reality. [The quasi-absurd, spontaneously created subplot of the Land of Exposition follies will remain, quasi-absurd and spontaneously created.]

Even though I quasi-officially announced a (new) satiric (?) novel project for this year’s NaNoWriMo, the plot bunnies and Muses return to plotting and pondering the nuances of the MASC Chronicles – (the relatively underdeveloped) Series Three in particular, though stray ponderings have been afforded to Series One and Two, though those musings have a tentative connection to Series Three. I’d offer some details, but…

Spoilers.

As it’s been expounded across (most of) the blog entries thus far, (just about) everything (fictional) I’ve written at any given point in time (and space) is connected to the MASC Chronicles. Whether that’s a brilliant concept or a bumbling mistake remains to be seen; adding dimensions (alternate or otherwise) and shuffling characters from one series to the next (and back) could potentially create a rift in the space/time continuum. Then again, it might end up being a super awesome albeit sprawling epic that will garner countless fan fiction stories (most of which I’ll end up writing myself) and (hopefully) be properly adapted into a film or TV series, and adapted as a stage production.

Of course, for any of that to actually!happen, I’ll need to actually!write them first.

After I recover from the narrative twists and turns from this week’s episode of Doctor Who, which may (or may not) serve as a source of inspiration for the perpetual plot bunnies.

Sleep No More indeed: something (or someone) wicked this way comes.

…And thus the Bard returns to the subplot fold – if only on a temporary basis.

NaNoWriMo (2015) Update #1

So, it’s that time of year (again) – NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) – the time when thousands (millions?) of writers of all ages, genres and techniques (along with all the myriad of other categories/types out there in the universe) attempt to write a (50,000 word) novel within 30 days.

It isn’t easy.

Well, at least not for me.

I have far too many ideas bouncing around the Mind Palace in my head and rarely ever settle into finishing anything substantial (even though I’m quasi-disciplined enough to extract a blog entry here every week). But I’ve mentioned that (many times) already in this blog (and I’m still mentioning it here and now) so I’ll (attempt) to move along and get to the point.

So I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo several times and every time I’ve “failed”. And yet, every year I keep making attempts to actually(!)write something during the specific time frame. I’ve plotted, I’ve pondered, I’ve plotted and pondered, and I’ve even (attempted to) pantsed. Sometimes I wonder why I keep making these attempts, when I seem to never get anywhere.

Maybe I’ve expounded on this in an earlier blog; maybe I haven’t, thought the odds are (“never tell me the odds!”) I probably have.

Several times, most likely at great length.

Moving along. (*waving hands* “Move along, move along”)

[Yeah, I’m in a quasi-Star Wars state of mind, keeping an open mind (or at least attempting to) about Episode VII; but so long as there’s a John Williams score, and someone uttering the line “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” at some point in the film, I’ll be all right with it, even though the all of the (existing) Expanded Universe stories (and the characters created within) are no longer Canon.]

But I digress.

Then again, in a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey sort of way, I’ve probably been writing my next (?) novel, via this very blog (another example of the meta-ness of my writing style/process/whatever you want to call it) and will attempt (after finishing this entry) to apply that logic/mindset/whatever to Meta for Metaphor [the 2015 NaNoWriMo entry/attempt].

In watching last week’s and this week’s episode of Doctor Who sequentially (which was a good way to do so, since it was another two parter), and experiencing yet another minor mind implosion with regards to the plot twists and the epic, impassioned speech about keeping the peace, the plot bunnies are inspired and (almost) ready to get going.

Or maybe it’s the 16 oz. can of Red Bull I drank earlier today. (Yes, I’m aware that it’s not “good for me”, drinking these energy drinks, but it’s not a common occurrence so I should be all right.)

Either way, it’s going to be an interesting evening.

So this entry is not so much an update, but an expository exploration of the intricate insight in the plotting and pondering process. Or lack thereof.

Hopefully, I’ll have a more substantial update next week (with a definitive word count).

For anyone interested, last week’s nocturnal outing (seeing Drunk Shakespeare  and Aladdin) was fun, with entries written about each experience on my other blog, a blog for which I occasionally write, usually whenever I attend a theatrical experience – and ’twas a rare occasion where I wrote two successive blog entries in one day.

An achievement worth mentioning, methinks (or should I not be so boastful?)

Who knows?

Anyway.

Things in the Land of Exposition are still hectic, with the representatives from the Real Life Brigade instituting last minute changes, resulting in late night meetings to coordinate the plan of attack (so to speak) in time for the changes to be effective for all who reside in the Land of Exposition. A confluence of concurrent events within the Land of Exposition has resulted in a quasi-perfect storm where Murphy’s Law might become highly relevant.

How it will all turn out is anyone’s guess.

The same goes for this year’s attempt at NaNoWriMo.

Onward and upwards (and maybe sideways too)

And as for the Mets: well, there’s always next year.