a novel adventure

great author interviews...do you remember the first time you went to a library?

2010-06-20T18:01:00.001+09:00

hello there...

I have been traveling, reading and writing and living the best that I can since my last post!
I have had quite a few adventures that have taught myself about ME.
Sometimes friends and family have given me guidance. Sometimes books and movies have inspired me.

Most recently, the following interviews have given me hope...

">A Conversation with Ray Bradubury by Lawrence Bridges
Love what you do, do what you love.

">A Conversation with Amy Tan by Lawrence Bridges

Confusion is a great place to start a story.

FYI, other great videos can be seen at the website for The Big Read (National Endowment for the Arts) is here:
http://www.neabigread.org/

some random stuff

2009-07-27T23:04:00.001+09:00

I finally wrote a "review" about Pope Joan and posted it on The Book Book.

It is one thing to post something on your own blog...even comments make me nervous sometimes...and totally nerve racking when you are posting something on a blog that has a lot of talented folk on it.

I wonder what would happen if I ever got my book(s) published.... :-O

ANYWAY...

I am currently reading several books at once...yet again...there's actually more!

The book in the top middle is a Japanese book. It is not on my list of almost 100 Japanese authors to read but it was a natural choice for me since I am working at a library...

The book is titled (my rough translation of it anyways is) "The New Ways of Coming Up With Ideas - that the library taught me". It is written in a diary format...fiction yet non-fiction.

A girl starts working at a library. Her job is much less stressful than mine so I envy her really badly.

She decides she wants to learn more about how to respond to references and questions.
I don't know how it is in the country you live in but a lot of people come to libraries in Japan to get answers. From how to make a love potion to origins of words etc... (These are the references in the story and are not from my real experience....I am not aloud to talk about actual references outside of work.)

I haven't read the entire book yet, but the whole idea is not that far away from mind mapping.

Finding the right reference tools seems to require a lot of patience. You need to be a good listener, and find out what the questioner REALLY wants to know, when they need the information and what exactly the information is for.

I wonder if there is a book similar to this in English...I would love to read about librarians around the world...

Being a good listener seems to be my current lesson in life.
...

I am back to writing more of my book (I never really quit)... a road story in a very interesting place...
I know I was supposed to write it in 30 days. It was more like write the outline in 30 days...
Maybe I should change my blog address...
...

And finally,
an update for my list of almost 100 Japanese authors to read...

71. さくら　ももこ(Sakura Momoko)
72. 柴門ふみ(Saimon Fumi)

How could I forget to add Dazai Osamu?!

2009-06-21T23:00:00.004+09:00

Dazai Osamu is not alive to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday last Friday (July 19th).

He is one of the few authors that I have read in Japanese.

I am also currently reading a collection of short stories.

(Oh, I am also reading the book "Pope Joan" by Donna Woolfolk Cross. It is sooo hard to put down! For more info on the book please check out the author's website here. The book is going to be a movie too!)

I just wanted to update my list of 100 Japanese authors because a friend of mine noticed that I didn't have Dazai's name on my list! I was totally shocked because, well, I'm reading him right now and his birthday was on Friday... I suppose my brain is a bit on overload.

I have a training course (for librarians) to go to tomorrow so I better get some sleep! I will post more on Dazai Osamu when I have finished the book and am not so tired...

As for Pope Joan I will try to post something on the Book Book as soon as I'm finished with that too!

nighty night, don't let the bed bugs bite...

filling in my Japanese gaps with 100 authors

2009-06-04T10:26:00.015+09:00

check out the keyboard...do you see the Japanese characters?

(Last names come first in Japanese)

1.北方　謙三 Kitakata Kenzo

2.宮本輝 Miyamoto Teru

3.田辺聖子 Tanabe Seiko

4.松本清張 Matsumoto Seicho

5.山本一力　Yamamoto Ichiriki

6.宮沢賢治 Miyazawa Kenji

7.小川洋子 Ogawa Yoko

8.よしもとばなな　Yoshimoto Banana

9.三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio

10.赤川次郎 Akagawa Jiro

11.灰谷健次郎 Haitani Kenjiro

12.太宰治 Dazai Osamu

13.夏目漱石 Natsume Soseki

14.芥川龍之介Akutagawa Ryunosuke

15.遠藤周作 Endo Shusaku

16.上野千鶴子Ueno Chizuko

17.毛利嘉孝 Mouri Yoshitaka

18.谷川俊太郎　Tanikawa Shuntaro

19.中原中也　Nakahara Chuya

20.塩野七生Shiono Nanami

21. 村上春樹　Murakami Haruki

22.川端康成　Kawabata Yasunari

23.井上靖　Inoue Yasushi

24.村上龍　Murakami Ryu

25.森鴎外Mori Ogai

26.近松門左衛門Chikamatsu Monzaemon

27.大江健三郎 Oe Kenzaburo

28.中上健次 Nakagami Kenji

29.安部公房 Abe Koubo

30.有吉佐和子Ariyoshi Sawako

31.森茉莉 Mori Mari

32.中里恒子　Nagazato Tsuneko

32.宇野千代　Uno Chiyo

33.与謝野晶子 Yosano Akiko

34.樋口一葉　Higuchi Ichiyo

35.志賀直哉 Shiga Naoya

36.佐伯泰英Saeki Yasuhide

37.江戸川乱歩 Edogawa Ranpo

38.大沢在昌 Osawa Arimasa

39.落合信彦 Ochiai Nobuhiko

40.恩田陸　Onda Riku

41.桐野夏生 Kirino Natsuo

42.島崎藤村Shimazaki Toson

43.島田一男 Shimada Kazuo

44. 住井すゑ Sumii Sue

45.辻仁成 Tsuji Hitonari

46.筒井康隆 Tsutsui Yasutaka

47.鳥羽亮 Toba Ryo

48.永井荷風 Nagai Kafu

49.中島らも Nakajima Ramo

50.藤沢周平 Fujisawa Shuhei

51.五木寛之 Itsuki Hiroyuki

52.星新一 Hoshi Shinichi

53.宮部みゆきMiyabe Miyuki

54.向田邦子 Mukaida Kuniko

55.群ようこ Mure Yoko

56.山田詠美　Yamada Amy

57.山本兼一Yamamoto Kenichi

58.山本周五郎 Yamamoto Shugoro

59.夢枕獏　Yumemakura Bakku

60.柳美里　Yu Miri (Korean?)

61.夢野久作 Yumeno Kyusaku

62.吉川英治　Yoshikawa Eiji

63.渡辺淳一 Watanabe Junichi

64.渡辺温　Watanabe On

65.谷崎潤一郎 Tanizaki Junichiro

66. 梨木香歩 Nashiki Kaho

67.清水久典 Shimizu Hisanori

68.湯本香樹実 Yumoto Kazumi

69.白洲正子Shirasu Masako

70.児島のぼるKojima Noboru

I would easily go over 100 when it comes to Japanese books since there is so much I haven't read yet....

Even with my favorite authors like Natsume Soseki, Endo Shusaku and Dazai Osamu there are many I haven't yet read... or worse... I read them when I was still studying Japanese and couldn't really understand the beauty behind all the kanji!

I asked around at the office and got a few suggestions from "real Japanese people".

I also have a few books that friends have given to me over the years and ...forgive me....I still haven't read.

So, there are lots of classics as well as authors you may know, as well as authors that are really famous in Japan but haven't been translated yet AND authors that are finally getting translated into English.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

new books and my 100 list

2009-06-01T22:00:00.012+09:00

(books will be crossed off as I read them...)

On top of the books that I bought last week, there are a few new ones to add today...

The books I ordered arrived.

The one by Helen O'Neil is about Florence Broadhurst. You can find out more about her at one of my favorite blogs "a hazy moon".

✍✍✍

I finally finished making the list to "fill in my gaps"!

A few changes have been made.

I deleted Japanese authors because I plan to make...yes...another list for Japanese books and books by Japanese authors.

This is not because I think they should be separated... it is because I can't fit them all into one list. I need another 100....

1. A Parisian Affair and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant
2. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. White Noise by Don DeLillo
5. Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
6. The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
7. Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill
8. Pu-239 And Other Russian Fantasies by Ken Kalfus
9. Tristes Tropiques by Claude Levi-Strauss
10. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
11. A Changed Man by Francine Prose
12. General Theory of Magic by Marcel Mauss
13. A Woman's Life by Guy De Maupassant
14. Tales of Wonder by Mark Twain
15. Between Past and Future by Hannah Arendt, Jerome Kohn
16. Male and Female by Margaret Mead
17. Growing Up in New Guinea: A Comparative Study of Primitive Education by Margaret Mead
18. Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
19. Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner
20. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
21. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
22. 13.5 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
23. Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa by Nicholas Shrady
24. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
25. Peeling the Onion by Gunter Grass
26. Tolstoy's Short Fiction: (Norton Critical Editions) by Leo Tolstoy
27. The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende
28. Taking Pictures by Anne Enright
29. Passin' by Karen E. Quinones Miller
30. Adam, One Afternoon And OTHER STORIES by Italo Calvino
31. The Collected Short Fiction of Marianne Hauser by Marianne Hauser
32. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
33. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
34. Necronomicon by H.P. Lovecraft
35. Middlemarch by George Eliot (June 2009)
36. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
37. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
38. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
39. Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse
40. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
41. First Into Nagasaki by George Weller
42. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
43. Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong
44. The Famished Road by Ben Okri
45. Starbook by Ben Okri
46. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
47. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
48. Paradise Lost by John Milton
49. From the Shadow of Dracula by Paul Murray
50. White Gold by Giles Milton
51. The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch
52. Summer Doorways by W.S. Merwin
53. The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
54. Writing With Intent by Margaret Atwood
55. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
56. Possession by AS Byatt
57. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
58. No God But God by Reza Aslan
59. A Chance Meeting by Rachel Cohen
60. The Black Angel by John Connolly
61. Big Boned by Meg Cabot
62. Amenable Women by Mavis Cheek
63. Pope Joan by Donna Cross (July 2009)
64. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
65. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
66. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
67. Chez Moi by Agnes Desarthe
68. The Keep by Jennifer Egan
69. The Island of the Day Beefore by Umberto Eco
70. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
71. Imperial Reckoning by Carline Elkins
72. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
73. Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris
74. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
75. The World To Come by Dara Horn
76. Forever by Pete Hamill
77. The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
78. Margaret Wise Brown Awakened By the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus
79. Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clezio
80. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
81. The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
82. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
83. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
84. Magic Seeds by V.S. Naipaul
85. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
86. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
87. Divine Comedy by Dante
88. Complete Prose by Woody Allen
89. Glass Book of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist
90. We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
91. The Keep by Jennifer Egan
92. Native American in the Land of the Shogun by Frederik L. Schodt
93. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
94. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
95. The Call of the Weird by Louis Theroux
96. Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
97.~~Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham~~
98. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
99. The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

100. Florence Broadhurst - her secret and extraordinary lives by Helen O'Neil

So...the Japanese authors that were on my list before now have a new place...

1. Sputnik Sweetheart by Murakami Haruki

2. Five by Endo Shusaku

and the list making continues...

✍✍✍

Oh, MY BOOK is still being written. My pace is a little slower than before but I still have lots of chapters to write out from my notes.

Everyday at work there is something new that inspires me. I take every "episode" and kind of twist it around to fit the dark but funny world my characters inhabit.

So many interesting people in the world....

97 to 99 (filling in the gaps)

2009-05-20T21:43:00.006+09:00

The picture is actually of numbers 97, 98 and 53 because The Leopard was right there in the same are with the other two books, nd I just love the cloth cover of my everyman's library edition!

97. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

98. The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing

99. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike (because I want to read the Widows Of Eastwick!)

So, one more to go. However, new books cross my path almost everyday and it so hard to stay focused on what I think I need to read the most. I don't know how everyone else is managing to cross of those books on their lists so fast!

86 to 96 on my list of books to read

2009-05-15T21:50:00.001+09:00

Uh-oh. I haven't included the book that will, no doubt, be helpful for my current "novel adventure".

...

Dante's "Inferno". I suppose since I know the story I fell like I've read it... However, that will not do, so it goes on my list of 100 books to read. Might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone (enlightenment and research).

Ngh...

I'm a vegetarian, and I just realized I really don't like that expression...kill, bird...argh.

Ah, so here are a few more to add to my list that previous

ly stopped at number eight-five.

86. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

87. Divine Comedy by Dante

Recurring theme here?

ANYWAY,

88. Complete Prose by Woody Allen

89. Glass Book of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist

90. Five by Endo Shusaku

91. The Keep by Jennifer Egan

92. Native American in the Land of the Shogun by Frederik L. Schodt

93. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (I think I read a kiddy edition when I was little but that doesn't count so here it is!)

94. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

95. The Call of the Weird by Louis Theroux

Oh good heavens...FINALLY number 96...

96. Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson

So, four more to go.

As for my "novel adventure" it is still going pretty well. I am writing chapters out of order though.

I have a map in my head so I know where I am headed and feel rather comfortable shifting back and forth in time.

I just wish I had more time to read things like Dante so that I can learn something from the "masters".

I shouldn't even be blogging right now ... but it is very therapeutic...

Speaking of therapeutic, must go take a bath in candlelight...aahhh.

filling in the gaps..

2009-05-11T11:21:00.003+09:00

I haven't been able to choose 100 books yet...

The whole process of looking at my list of books that I own...

The stacks of books that I brought home (when the store that I worked at closed down last year) have been looming over me like a tree in a Dr Seuss picture.

For some reason I still think that this is a necessary process. So, here is the list of books that will continue to grow:

35. Middlemarch by George Eliot

36. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

37. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

38. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

39. Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse

40. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

41. First Into Nagasaki by George Weller

42. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

43. Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong

44. The Famished Road by Ben Okri

45. Starbook by Ben Okri

46. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

47. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

48. Paradise Lost by John Milton

49. From the Shadow of Dracula by Paul Murray

50. White Gold by Giles Milton

51. The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch

52. Summer Doorways by W.S. Merwin

53. The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

54. Writing With Intent by Margaret Atwood

55. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

56. Possession by AS Byatt

57. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

58. No God But God by Reza Aslan

59. A Chance Meeting by Rachel Cohen

60. The Black Angel by John Connolly

61. Big Boned by Meg Cabot

62. Amenable Women by Mavis Cheek

63. Pope Joan by Donna Cross

64. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

65. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham

66. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

67. Chez Moi by Agnes Desarthe

68. The Keep by jennifer Egan

69. The Island of the Day Beefore by Umberto Eco

70. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

71. Imperial Reckoning by Carline Elkins

72. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

73. Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris

74. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

75. The World To Come by Dara Horn

76. Forever by Pete Hamill

77. The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse

78. Margaret Wise Brown Awakened By the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus

79. Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clezio

80. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

81. The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

82. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

83. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

84. Magoc Seeds by V.S. Naipaul

85. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

This could be a miracle but I am still writing!

2009-04-27T17:34:00.004+09:00

I have been writing like a "mad woman"... most of it in notebooks since I have been working a lot and for some reason most of my ideas have been popping into my head during work or during my one hour train commute. It might have something to do with me not enjoying my 9 to 5 job ...I'm not sure.

I wanted to sit down and type today but yesterday I received a lovely birthday present and it inspired me to do something else creative.

You can find out what I did at my other blog.

As for my "book"... the MC (female) who is on a journey through a very wretched land (?) ... has come to a point in the story where she needs to go out on a limb and try to "rescue" somebody... she is one of the world's biggest procrastinators, or so she thinks... so I am not sure how she intends to do this...

This writing "process" has been very unique for me. It is as if I have almost no say in the story.

It is more like I am watching a film in my head and I am busy dictating it onto paper. I know EXACTLY what everyone looks like and all the details of the MC's apartment etc... OMG the wallpaper...!

I'm a tad bit worried about dialect though! Since their is this "odd" English "dude" who looks a lot like the current Dr Who.

I have no idea who I am going to ask to read this story first just to make sure my "English dude" doesn't sound like "a lame 38 year old American woman who has been living in Japan for over 20 years" .... any ideas?

Oh, and the "villain" of the story... "he" is turning out to be quite sneaky...Kevin Spacey/ Bobby Darin sneaky...(not the Usual Suspects sneaky).

Wish me luck!

what happens when you get sick?

2009-04-08T13:07:00.003+09:00

What happens when you get sick? I have no idea, but I am starting over.

I was totally out of it from April 3rd up to yesterday. A high temperature had me bedridden. I couldn't open my computer and turn it on, I could hardly walk near my desk!

I got delusional.. because of the fever...

I had nightmares.

Strange dreams.

And then I had the ULTIMATE strange dream.

Why do I say ULTIMATE ? Because, it is now my new book. The story came in three dreams over 3 days. Stephenie Meyer mentioned that she had a dream...it became TWILIGHT.

My dream didn't have any vampires...I think.

But this is going to be "my Twilight".

ehem

Maybe I still have a fever...but I am really excited about this story because it includes a little bit of everything that I've ever wanted to write about. For research and inspiration I have lined up the following books I have at home to read, or reread:

the Japanese ones in the middle are :

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's book of short stories

an introduction to the gods of Japan

and an introduction to Celtic history and myth

The one book missing from the picture is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...the book seems to have taken a trip along with my copy of Peter Pan...another book that could be in this picture too. Where do books walk off to?

I am SO excited.

Day 19 of writing

2009-04-01T19:10:00.000+09:00

OK...I have been writing. I just haven't posted about it. Why?

I keep starting over! (Not editing.)

I have 5 stories going now... I have had a tremendously inspiring week.

for example:

new job = new people = new characters

Sakamoto Ryuichi's concert (I write about the experience here.)

So, now I have my original "The Strangest Story Ever" (8,023 words) along with (these are all file titles not real titles, I hope...)

+"That Girl that ended up in my embryo file" (8,054),

+"The Romance of Curlicues and Dials" (roughly 3,000 this is still in notebook form so I'm not sure),

+"The Apple Book"(256 words...I think this is going to become a compilation of short stories)

+"Homage to If on a Winter's Night a Traveler" (still in notebook form so not sure about this either but it looks around 1,000)

Total word count around 12,310. It's supposed to b e 25,005. Ooooops.

I can't stop thinking of more new things to write about... The more I write, the more daydreaming, the more I see things in everyday life that seem interesting to write about etc...

I should have given my blog a different address.

...

I will think about priorities later, this is a time for me to let it all out. I will keep writing whatever strikes my fancy for the remaining 11 days. If I let my "inner editor" into the gate now it will probably drive me so crazy that I will dump all the files in the garbage can and THAT WILL NOT DO.

So, although I am failing terribly with NaNoWriMo, I think it is good that I am writing again.

Like I said before, starting a new job and a new novel around the same time is NOT a good idea.

AND I agree that if your trying to write a novel in 30 days, it IS a good idea to start on the first instead of in the middle of the month since...you forget where you are...very easily...

I will continue to write about my progress on all the above titles and whatever else pops out of my head. Then, I will edit and start another attempt at a novel in 30 days, this time starting on the first of the month.

Day 15 of writing and the dreaded 3rd week

2009-03-28T11:30:00.001+09:00

Ah, write, write, do not stop, keep going...

My advice to anyone who is starting to write...don't start when you are also starting to work at a new job...too hard. Give the new job at least a month. You need time to settle. I needed time to settle...

OK, but I think I am back on track. Word count is still at 8,000. Not good for the beginning of the third week. BUT I have had time to be with my characters at one of the most critical times in my own life and I think they are helping

me...

I am still afraid to put anything about the details of the story online. However, I can say this:

It is the story of Kyrie, a girl who has almost every nook and cranny of the cobblestone street that runs through the middle of her town, paved into her mind.
It is also a story of hope, courage, pride, love and of scary things that we can’t see.

Day 9 of writing and the book before the book

2009-03-22T21:20:00.004+09:00

Instead of editing, I am taking some NaNoWriMo advice and charging through...it'll keep my word count up ;-) According to "No Plot, No Problem" the second week is often a time when people get tired of their characters. They start to "cheat" and want to start from scrap. I fortunately do not feel that way but it is nice to be prepared...

To give me something to focus on, I decided to compile notes, pictures and sketches that will "remind" me of the book that I am writing...Since I can not write about what the book is about yet, here is a page out of my notebook:

My characters will have their own profile pages too.

I can carry this notebook around and write memos if anything "comes to me" while I'm out and about. I love pasting things to my journal so the process is something I like to do.

Kind of like a scrapbook!

word count: 7,523

Days 7 and 8 of writing and the beginning of week 2

2009-03-21T13:48:00.000+09:00

Days 5 and 6 were spent away from the keyboard but the time I spent in my mind was rather fruitful. Although it was another tiring day at "the office" I managed to come home , make dinner, blog a bit and write.

The "word for today" on day 7 was (according to the widget on my blog) grit. Besides (noun) coarse dirt or sand, or (verb) clench, it also means fortitude and determination and can mean fearlessness too.

It was a fortune cookie moment for me when I saw the word grit.

So, I grit my teeth and rearranged my thoughts and continued writing. I did not get caught up with the original count goal but my adrenaline has been pumping harder as the story outline is finally being sketched.

Chapter 6 of No Plot, No Problem (week 2) says a lot but if I get into the details here it might ruin it for some people who haven't read the book. So, I'll just say that according to Baty, it is OK that you don't have a plot by week 2...

Now, this makes me raise my eyebrows so high they hit the sky. I think the point is to get all that writing that was bottled up in you, out there, regardless of quality. I must admit it was like turning on the water at a rusty spigot and having all of the old brown water spew out. It is icky, but since I have left that Edit Monster at the gate it doesn't really bother me! After a while the water should start to clear up...I hope.

However, for me, going on any further without a plot seems outrageous. I am going to add a little bit if my own "wisdom" here and take a day to write my mind map for the story. My word count is at a little over 6,000 (not good for the end of day 8 but I still feel comfortable.)

I'll try to add a bit of my mind map and my latest word count by the end of today, day 9 of writing the "strangest book ever".

Day 5 & 6 of writing, or not writing...

2009-03-18T20:17:00.005+09:00

Like I posted on my regular blog, my new job requires a healthy mind and soul, both of which I am not so confident about any more... The first day at the new office was actually a vampire disguised as an office... sucking the energy out of me slowly as the day went by.

...

So that's my excuse for not writing anything yesterday or today. I was tempted to read the chapter for the "second week in writing" of "No Plot, No Problem", but since it is technically not the second week, I have postponed it.

However, I did read this very interesting blog by literary agent Nathan Bransford about characters. It was like the universe answered my question about the woman who popped up on my radar during Day 4. To quote myself, I ask "But this new character...what does she want?"

It turns out that was precisely the question I was supposed to ask. If she doesn't answer me, she will go into my "embryo" file. I have a suspicion that she will answer me. Like she is ready to burst out "Alien" style. I feel it in the area where my lungs are. (Have you ever had that feeling before?)

So what happens to the original main character? The little girl who wanted to live in the town with cobblestone streets and a house wrapped in vines? Let's wait and see...

"Who are you?" said the Caterpillar.

Day 4 of writing

2009-03-16T21:36:00.004+09:00

Ah, I have reached the "required" number of words for the 4th day. My count is currently at 5,052. I should be happy but I feel a little dizzy. Another character has popped up. Out of the blue. I don't know what she is doing on the pages I write now. She has nothing to do with the story I've been telling for the past 3 days, as far as I can tell. The town I wrote about the other day is working out nicely. It is a nice town. But this new character...what does she want?

I see the road ahead of me, but I have no idea where it is going to lead....

I haven't been this scared in a long time. Eeek.

Day 3 of writing

2009-03-16T11:49:00.007+09:00

Although I can't go into the details I will try to post on my progress as the adventure unfolds.

My main character (MC) did not like the little village I put her in. It was too dusty and "old".

I don't even know why I wrote "village", it just popped out but since we are not supposed to edit, I kept going. She raised her eyebrows, shook her head sideways, took my hand and gave me a tour of her "town". My MC now lives in a town.

A small town, but a town nonetheless.

She finds something on the outskirts of the town though...it looked just like a building I had found about a month ago on my excursion in Kitano, Kobe...this is what it looks like:

This is what I saw when I peeked through a wooden gate...

and this is what my MC had seen as well. I had no idea she was already traveling with me.

Yesterday was a doozy so I didn't get to write, which is a bad BAD thing to do...you should NOT break the flow. However, what is done is done. So today the journey must tread forward for about 2,500 words.

Time Finder Day 7 (Saturday) and the end of my time finder week

2009-03-15T01:08:00.005+09:00

morning: slept in, watched TV

afternoon: ate lunch, read book and slept

evening: write, wrote, wrote

night: dinner, TV, wrote some more and blogged.

It is currently past 1 am so sorry for any typos...

but the last day of time finder week has revealed to me that the best time for me to write is in the evening and night.

I work better by lamp... Research is better done in the daytime, outside and in the sun...but the actual writing and piecing together of notes is done swifter after dark.

Also, the adrenaline rush I get from commuting home seems to put me into a better working mode. Weird.

Word count for March 14th is at 3,340.

Time Finder Day 6 (Friday) and leaving my edit monster behind for the first day of writing

2009-03-13T21:55:00.012+09:00

9:00-10:00 Woke up, got ready for work, went to work.

11:20-3:20 Worked (1 hour lunch break: read "Territory")

4:00-6:00 Checked e-mails, net surfing, phone calls read books.

6:00-7:00 Cooked curry and read.

7:00-10:00 Did some writing and research.

10:00-11:00 Ate dinner, watched the news on TV.

11:00-12:00 Personal hygiene stuff and got some zzzzzzzs.

This day was Friday the 13th, and it it didn't disappoint. Work turned out to be horrible. I was totally tired out by my week and my brain decided to take an early day off. I thought I would crash when I got home, but since the whole day brought me down, I just became reeeaaaallllly ..... slow.

However, I did start writing some background on my story (I will call this my map)...it all "came to me" as I was taking the train home. My thoughts about my "failure" gave me the first line! Whether I will use it in the final draft is something I will worry about several months from now.

Because....

right now, for the first draft, we are supposed to leave our mind's "editing monster" at the gate.

By leaving your edit monster behind while you are on your novel journey means:

that you can concentrate on pumping out the words.

You are not supposed to erase anything you write no matter how bad you might think it is.

(Baty suggests changing the fonts to italic or changing the colors to white so that you don't have to see what you wanted to erase. That way you can still have everything included in your word count.)

So, with my 1,747 word map in hand, my edit monster left at the gate, I enter the world of "the strangest book ever" (the file name for my novel until I find my real title).

.....

Hey, what was that sound?

Time Finder Day 5 (Thursday)

2009-03-12T19:18:00.005+09:00

7:00-8:00 Woke up, got ready for work, left for work.

9:00-4:30 Work, work, work. Hardly got to sit down. Got so thirsty talking the whole day I felt like punching someone. Ngh.

5:00-6:30 Checked e-mail, did some house work. Chased pigeon off veranda AGAIN.

6:30-7:00 Phone calls.

7:00-7:30 More e-mails...blogging...surfing....

7:30- 9:30 Finally started reading "Territory" by Emma Bull.

9:30-10:30 Cooked dinner and ate. Way too late for dinner time again...

10:30-11:10 Personal hygiene stuff

11:10- Currently typing this while watching late night news and am about to fall asleep at the computer...good night...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

my "Magna Carta"

2009-03-12T18:56:00.003+09:00

I will not list my whole Magna Carta but here are a few things that will be on my to-do list:

1) quirky characters (Chris Baty has the same thing on his list)

2) miracles

3) an unassuming hero

4) cultural diversity or issues pertaining to it

5) sounds

Now, I know he also advises us to write "everything that bores or puts you down" when reading. (the evil sibling Magna Carta.)

It seems that this idea comes from his experience that the worst of out literature nightmares have a way of creeping into our writing. This "never do list" would be useful for a reality check.

However, I have a belief in words that advises me not to write the worst... so I am now tearing up the list that I wrote....there

....

done!

If I leave a list like that around, it will effect me more than my "to do list".

Time Finder Day 4 (Wednesday)

2009-03-11T23:08:00.002+09:00

5:00-6:00 Woke up...tried to wake up and get ready for work. Left for work.

7:00-11:00 Worked. (Had a ball by the way.)

11:00-12:00 Checked e-mail, blogged...almost fell asleep at the keyboard.

12:00-2:00 Phone calls and lunch.

2:00-5:00 DVD time! (Bones)

5:00-7:30 Research, fell asleep, wiped away the drool and sleepy eyes, checked e-mails.

7:30-8:00 Watched news, checked e-mail again...more phone calls.

8:00-9:00 Read more manuals...argh.

9:00-10:00 Made and ate dinner.

10:00-11:00 Watched TV

11:00-11:30 Personal hygiene stuff , late night news on TV and then catch some zzzzzzzs...

Time Finder Day 3 (Tuesday)

2009-03-10T18:18:00.000+09:00

7:00-8:15 Woke up and got ready for work.

8:15-5:30 Went to work - worked - went grocery shopping - came home.

5:40-6:30 Checked e-mails, web surfing.

6:30-7:30 Read books, manuals and other stuff...

7:30-8:30 Cooked and ate dinner.

8:30-9:30 Personal hygiene stuff, TV then sleep...gotta wake up early tomorrow.

Step 3 ... finish reading section 1 of the guide book

2009-03-09T19:56:00.000+09:00

In chapter 3 we are given a list of things to have on hand when writing. Different foods and beverages as well as writing tools. Also have handy things such as reference books. I think I will choose "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr.

His advice about music made me want to give someone a high-five. I am a soundtrack person, totally. Sometimes silence is a very potent sound but a good choice of music is like a vitamin.

Author Amy Tan has also commented about having a nice classical CD or movie soundtrack playing in the background when she writes. My past experience in the music business gives me a wide variety to choose from. So I am all set to go in this department.

Chapter 4, among other things is about the need to write out your "Magna Cartas".

One should be a list of what you think a novel should contain, and the other list is it's "evil twin" - what makes a novel worth flinging across the room.

Once I have made these two lists, I will be more or less ready to start my crusade. However, I am still in the middle of my Time Finding Week. Tomorrow is also the start of the biggest week I've had in at least 6 months... I think I will try to get through this Time Finding Week first....

...so please bear with me.

Time Finder Day 2 (Monday)

2009-03-09T14:07:00.000+09:00

8:30-9:00 Morning tea and TV.

9:00-10:00 Checked e-mail etc...

10:00-11:30 Chased pigeons off veranda, read manuals for work (argh).

11:30-12:30 Talked way to long on the phone with mother.

12:30-2:00 Lunch, business phone calls, web surfing/blogging.

2:00-5:30 Read manuals and books.

5:30-6:30 Web surfed while preparing dinner....

6:30-9:30 Ate dinner, personal hygiene stuff then all of a sudden....fell asleep like a baby

Time Finder Day 1 (Sunday)

2009-03-08T22:21:00.000+09:00

9:00-10:00 Woke up, made coffee, read a book.

10:00-11:00 Watched TV and got ready to go shopping.

11:00-3:00 Shopping and lunch in Osaka.

3:00-4:00 Fell asleep on sofa.

4:00-5:30 Net surfing, blogging.

5:30-8:00 Cooking etc. and ate dinner.

8:00-9:00 Watched TV.

9:00-10:00 checked e-mail, blogging.

10:00-10:45 Personal hygiene stuff.

10:45- Finishing this list and now will read till I fall asleep...good night!

step 2 ... start reading the guide book

2009-03-08T20:52:00.000+09:00

"...not giving myself a deadline" turned out to be the key to writing a book.

The introduction of "No Plot, No Problem" discusses what the author, Chris Baty, found to be necessary in order to get your book written...in one month.

It turns out I wasn't the only one who thought that I should wait another 30 years to finish "my novel". Waiting to be at an age full of wisdom and enlightenment is kind of silly...

He also reminds the reader that some of the best stuff gets done when you are really busy..."hectic pace forces you to type with a fleet-fingered desperation". When I look back at my own "writing" I realize how true that is. My best essays and reports were always done in a day or just a few hours before presentation. The adrenaline rush would force me to focus on all the data that had taken weeks, sometimes months to gather. When I take time to mull over words and expressions, I tend to get wrapped up in unnecessary details and end up with nothing worth turning in.

Then came a moment of zen. I had just finished reading a book by Ray Bradbury, and here in this guide book Baty quotes him! This has got to mean something right?

"Your intuition knows what it wants to write, so get it out of the way." I know what I want to write! I know... I know... I do?

According to chatpers 1 and 2 here are a few things I need to do before I start my "Sparta writing month".

1) Make a deadline. Preferably start at the beginning of a month so that you end with a clean cut...it adds drama and a feeling of accomplishment. Which means I am already starting on the wrong foot because today is the 8th...oops.

2) Aim for 50,000 words. Apparently, a lot of great novels are pretty short. The Great Gatsby and Brave New World are about the same length! So, I don't have to aim for Wealth of Nations or Anna Karenina. That's cool.

3)Recruit family members and friends for support...my husband is...watching TV right now. I'll tell him later. As for other family members and friends...in other words, you : consider told.

Baty also recommends bragging. It is supposed to make me too embarrassed not to finish my book.

... ... ...

My novel is going to be great! I am going to be a novelist very soon.

Bragging : check

...my stomach is starting hurt...

I have 7 more chapters to go AND I have some "homework". Baty also advises that for one week at the end of the day you should write down everything you did. This is for you to look at your week from a different perspective...sort of weed out the stuff that you don't necessarily need to do, like gawking at the TV for two hours a day or web surfing for 3 hours a day...It doesn't mean you quit this forever, it is just for the month you dedicate to reach this goal.

So, while I finish reading the book, I will also start this homework. That will be my next blog entry, hopefully before I go to bed tonight. (The author says to do this with a notebook and use highlighter pens and stuff, but I choose to embarrass myself from head to toe and do this online instead.)

step 1 ... buy the guide book

2009-03-06T21:32:00.000+09:00

OK, here goes nothing.

I have been a story teller all my life.

From the first day of kindergarten I would come home to tell my mom "what happened at school today". I would come up with some of the most outrageous stuff...I'm surprised my mom didn't slap me silly. Well, she kind of did, but not for telling stories.

I have written at least 4 chapters of 4 different books. Never getting to the end. The characters always seem to get fed up with me or I get bored...with my own stories! I keep writing random stuff down in my countless number of notebooks, they are all so pretty...I even have some stuff saved somewhere on this computer.

It might be that I "know" they will not get published. Not giving myself a deadline could be the problem too. Either that or I am just not cut out for it....or maybe a new notebook.....?

Argh.

Today, I went to my friendly neighborhood bookstore and the owner "made me" buy this:

It was published in 2004, so most people probably already know about it and the author Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month. I have been living under a rock for several years, so please do not scream at me.