Control: NaNoWriMo Progress Bar…
I, Daniel Trump, aka Dalton Lewis, am writing a NaNoWriMo book. (That stands for National Novel Writing Month.) It’s a gothic little horror story with supernatural elements in a contemporary setting. I want to tell a story about ideas and not merely violence and killing.
I’m planning each scene but not outlining the entire story. It’s called “pantsing” it when one doesn’t plan out the entire story. That’s what I’m doing. I don’t know where the story is going. I don’t know where the ending will occur. I don’t know which characters will survive the story. I already was surprised at my own decisions about which characters to kill and which characters to save.
I’m focusing on better description and character work on this one. I need to show the audience the world around me. Description is something that doesn’t come naturally to a schizophrenic like me. It’s hard to pay attention to the world around me. I need to do better.
Is this novel better than the last few? Have I really gotten better as a writer?
I have to struggle with this question. I have to think that I am getting better. I have to think that I am learning how to write more effectively. I am developing characters who have differing viewpoints of the world and reality. One of my characters is very cynical and believes in the worst in everyone and everything. He anticipates that everything will just go bad. Another character has been through terrible situations and believes in God and religion because he feels that he desperately wants God to be real. If God is not real and there is no answer then the world is too unfair for him to comprehend. Then I have a girl who is a liberal young woman — I have seen many such women in reality and wanted to show one such young woman in a story. We will see if I show her effectively, with the good facets and bad facets of said liberalism.
This novel allows me to try to have the characters talk about their opinions about reality. I wanted to include more descriptions and more discourse about reality and the nature of reality. Also I wanted some questions about cynicism vs. liberalism vs. conservativism. These discussions — made by football players — allow me to deepen the story and create something based more on ideas and less based on plot.
That’s what I want, right? Something less based on fighting bad guys? Something less based on mindless action? I want a story based on characters that people love and problems that reflect what’s wrong with society. By doing those things I can create a story that will resonate with the audience. My NaNoWriMo book is halfway done with its first draft. I don’t want the ending to have much to do with fighting bad guys. I want it to have to do with developing ideas.
Thanks, and take care, friends.
