NANOWRIMO

November has been branded National Novel Writing Month by a number of writers. The annual effort involves aiming for a minimum of 50,000 words put on paper for your novel.

Now, I was unaware of this until Nov 2nd, but truly believe the push/goal will serve as much needed motivation. So, I signed up. Turns out 50 hour work weeks don't become more seldom just because you need spare time. Still, I'm not planning to sacrifice quality for speed. I've found myself going over the first few pages of chapter one.

My philosophy is pretty simple: "there is writing, there is creative writing and there is good creative writing." My goal therefore is better quality than Brian Bendis' "hack-writing" in Uncanny X-men #600. Ideas are great. But it takes effort (as well as skill) to execute an idea. The less skill you have, the more effort it requires. "Hack writing" is exemplified by rushed low-quality work done to fulfill "quantity over quality".

Writing, the final act of putting words on paper, takes a lot of effort. There will be corrections, and expansions and edits. But, the most important precursor is the effort put into the creative ideas. Fleshing out characters, create plots, expanding plots, doing research, etc. etc.

So, I'll continue to ensure that my "creative ideas" don't suffer from "rushed low-quality writing".

So, I've extrapolated my idea into a full-fledged story concept. Of course, this novella will be a "prequel" of sorts, since most of my previous writing is set years after this.

I have named my protagonists, antagonist and story. This weekend will see a deep dive into the characters; adding depth with backstory, traits etc.

I do find myself emboldened with my naming strategy. Turns out Greg Rucka, (a writer I admire), used a similar tact with his recently published comic series. "Great minds..and all that jazz".

So, "House of Cards" is officially underway