Already?
Yep, it’s nearly that time again – nanowrimo approaches! I clicked onto the site earlier today on a whim, expecting to be shooed away until nearer the time, but it’s abuzz with activity and the forums are whirring. So, I updated my age and author info and started thinking about my 50,000 words… I’m determined to be better prepared this year, so maybe October should be renamed nanoprepmo – by the end of it, I plan to have indepth character breakdowns, plot summaries, chapter outlines, folders full of inspiration that will help me forge ahead with my word count rather than looking at a pitiful 250 words and asking myself “What does my protagonists do next?”
Are you nanowrimoing? If so, please pop over and buddy me – I’m lipsty.
Total relaxation
I’ve been on holiday in the Cotswolds this week, so I don’t have much to say about writing (it’s hard to write with seven other people in an idyllic log cabin – boo hoo!) or publishing (a whole shiny week off work!) but, of course, I’ve been reading.
I read a collection of Chekov’s short stories, which were all good individually; towards the end of the collection, though, the stories started feeling slightly repetitive, so I think they’re probably best dipped in and out of. I also read Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, which is a novel about the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, the feminist writer he had an affair with. It was beautifully written, but slightly relentless. It was based on fact, and Horan says that she adhered as closely to her sources as she could, which was really interesting – the ‘women as property’ pointed was hammered home a little too much for my liking. I know, as a twenty-first century woman, I’m incredibly lucky that gender equality has come so far and I do lose patience with the issue fairly quickly; I should have more time for the cause, but I’ve never felt that it’s affected me directly (naive, I know).
On my to-read list this week are Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper and an introduction to philosophy. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Dum de dum
I don’t have a whole lot to say on the reading/writing/publishing front at the moment, but I really have to get into the habit of posting more regularly, so here’s this week’s splurgings.
Publishing: I have been ludicrously busy at work. Ludicrously. And I know that it’s not going to stop until Christmas. This makes me feel tired but not defeated. In more exciting news, I met John le Carre this week. He’s nice. He’s friends with Tom Stoppard.
Reading: Well, I tried to read the new John le Carre, but I just couldn’t get into it. I was reading an early proof, so maybe the finished novel is more compelling; I’ve got too much on my to-read list to give it any time, though. Instead, I’m reading Kafka on the Shore by Murakami. It took me a while to decide I liked it, but I do. I’ve been told that Norwegian Wood is the one that changes everybodies’ lives, so maybe I’ll pick that up next. Not that I want my life to be particularly changed, but I do need some writing inspiration; which leads me on to…
Writing: Ha. What is this writing of which you speak? It’s not going so well. I’ve got a couple of story ideas, hampered by a complete lack of drive. I do have some short story collections to read, though, so hopefully they’ll inspire me out of my funk. I’ve been knitting a lot recently, so maybe I need to dedicate some word time.
Ink & Keys 