National Novel Writing month!
November 1, 2007
Well, it’s national novel writing month, and I’ll be delivering mine to my agent in Toronto around the 21st. More about this in the coming months. This is going to be a profoundly different book. It already is a profoundly different book. It has been a strange creative journey to show this story. Satisfying too. I imagine it will continue to evolve in the coming months – it’ll grow in girth and then crash diet, and lose weight.
On the subject of novels, Mary Pinkoski is "in"! She's writing a novel this month! Good luck Mary, and to all who jump into the novel writing slough. Drink coffee, wine....whisky...bear down and push, now breathe, now push, now breathe....that's it, you're doing great!
It’s been one of those weeks where I get to Thursday night, stick my had out of the work-related quagmire, and realize I’ve got nothing for tomorrow’s sorbet mail-out! The poetic juices need a transfusion. A jolt to the heart. Something. I’m sure something will come…Hello? If you're out there floating around, little poem, I'd like to hear you....Hello? Hello?
9 Comments
1. mary had this to say: Nov 02, 2007 ~ 09:23 ~ #
if this novel goes anywhere, i say make sure to write: “thanks to thomas trofimuk for giving me permission to get the words down and for teaching me the correct spelling of whisky”
2. Mike had this to say: Nov 02, 2007 ~ 10:16 ~ #
May the buddha smile on everyone participating. Alas, I haven’t the agates to try. Shame, wash o’er me.
3. Adam Snider had this to say: Nov 02, 2007 ~ 12:25 ~ #
This novel writing month thing is insane. It’s Day 2, and I’m already discouraged. Hell, I was discouraged yesterday. I’m pretty sure this is not the why to write a novel, and yet, I press onward.
4. Thomas had this to say: Nov 02, 2007 ~ 15:04 ~ #
They say novel writing is the same as long-distance running….about pacing, about dedication, about single-mindedness, about discipline…Adam, just press through and see what comes out of you. There are stories in all of us….especially you Mr. GRAVEL. And you Ms. Mary Pinkoski. Adam, just see where you end up….it’s all about getting the words down. And being interested, intrigued, excited by your own characters, and your own stories. If you’re not intrigued, nobody else will be either.
“O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.” That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
5. mary had this to say: Nov 02, 2007 ~ 16:26 ~ #
thanks!
fyi: according to merriam-webster whisky can be spelt one of two ways: “whisky” or “whiskey” and when you get to the plural “whiskies” or “whiskeys”.
now you tell me which one looks prettier?
actually the variant is a result of the following:
Irish/American = whiskey (from the Irish: uisce beatha)
Scottish/Canadian = whisky (from the Scottish: uisge beatha)
now, being that as a teenager you probably spent saturday afternoons in your parents rumpus room sipping your father’s “Canadian Gold,” i will take whisky as a valid spelling (both me and merriam-webster).
PS please email me the name of that number integer system we were talking about…it is driving me bonkers trying to remember it!
6. thomas had this to say: Nov 03, 2007 ~ 10:06 ~ #
Mary, YES!!!! Fibonacci numbers !!! The Fibonacci numbers are named after Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci, although they had likely been described earlier in India.
One of those on-line encyclopedias says: after two starting values, each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The first Fibonacci numbers (sequence A000045 in OEIS), also denoted as Fn, for n = 0, 1, … , are:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, ...
(Not sure why the zero is there at the beginning of this string but my understanding was that the first two numbers in a Fibonacci string were the same and the the next number from this point forward would be the sum of the previous two numbers, ergo, 1,1,2,3,5,8… a gentler way of marking a progression than doubling — moving exponentially)
I love finding stuff like this…obscure and ridiculous and useful only to a small group of mathematicians or academics. Quirky as hell!
7. thomas had this to say: Nov 03, 2007 ~ 10:12 ~ #
And, thanks for your update on the spelling of whisky/whiskey. The Scots produced the best of the whiskies so I naturally chose the Scottish version of the word….and to hell with pretty.
8. Elena Ray had this to say: Nov 06, 2007 ~ 08:25 ~ #
‘muk,
i have found that dieting never really works. it’s lifestyle lifestyle lifestyle…congrats on your upcoming delivery!
e.