Going rouge, in a nerdy kind of way

April is here, the treacherous first day in the rear view mirror, and the time is right for Script Frenzy, brought to you by the good people over at NaNoWriMo.  And let's face it, you don't want to one day end up in New York or LA without a script to had whoever lets it drop that they are a producer. 

If you don't have a plot for a script, no worries.  They have a random plot generator right on the home page.  The following plot was just suggested for my use:  "While undergoing an existential crisis, an over-caffeinated kangaroo breeder discovers a shocking use for spray cheese".  Sure, this plot is good, but is it "Springtime For Hitler" good? 

In a word: I'm not sure.

So I've decided to try a little something different.  I mentioned earlier about the idea of a Twitter novel; I've decided to try it as a - I'm not sure, I guess you could call it a Twitter event?  Stay tuned for further explanation of important details, such as how I figure out how the hell I'm going to pull this off, or if any Script Frenzy goon come after me and take my thumbs.

Well...

...I can see by the fact that the NaNoWriMo badge over there on the right is not functioning correctly anymore that it must be about time for NANoWriMo2010.



What is today? Or I suppose what I want to know is when is Nov. 1? Monday?!? Yikes...I'm still not done editing from last year's project, but good news: I think I'm almost to the point where editing becomes counterproductive. I mean, anything more than 7 edits and you probably were starting out with crap in the first place, right?

This year my book will be about a goalkeeper. I know, I can probably stop right there, you're already sold, can't wait to get a peek. Patience, weirdos. Follow my progress here.



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Listening to: Rachid Taha - Rock el Casbah
via FoxyTunes

If life has taught me one lesson repeatedly, it's to know when I'm beat...

Seriously? It can't be! Has it really been a month since my last post? Urg...blogging is hard! Well, I suppose I ought to do a quick update:

First of all, FAWM has been, for me, an abject failure. Sure I could place the blame for this failure on external factors...in fact, yeah, that's what I'll do. Pretty much the entire month of February was dedicated to finishing my rough draft of my novel from NaNoWriMo (tentative title: Grave Accent. Or, maybe, Imp. Haven't decided yet.)

But it's finally done! At least, as much as you can call the first draft of writing "done". Now begins the work of editing. Ugg. If writing were basketball, the task of editing would be analogous to wiping up the sweat from the floorboards. I'll also start to deconstruct my writing methods, to try to make future NaNoWriMos a little more smooth and manageable. Kinda like ScarJo's hair.

You're welcome.

Despite not having the time to finish FAWM, I was somehow able to squeeze in a few movies this weekend, all of which I'd recommend heartily:

Zombieland: Not the best zombie movie ever (Shaun of the Dead takes the honors there), but definitely makes the short list. You know any movie where the sentence "The worst part was the bit with Bill Murray" has to be pretty awesome.

Moon: Trippy, heady movie with great atmosphere (Ha! Get it?!?).

A Serious Man: Man oh man, I love the Cohen Bros. This is not their best movie ever; in fact, I thought it was a little weak after I saw it. But the more I think about it, the more I realize what a great job they did with the theme of "The Uncertainty of Life". Very meta.

The Invention of Lying: Ricky Gervais has an amazing talent for combining comedy with a genuinely touching story. On a whole other level than almost all other RomComs.


Oh, and one more recommendation: Check out this cover of Britney Spear's Toxic, by alt-country band "Or, the Whale" (no idea what the story is with the name...). Seriously. Better than the original (don't get me started on my love/hate Britney sentiments; maybe some other time). Free download here.

That is all.


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Listening to: The Pixies - (In Heaven) Lady In The Radiator Song
via FoxyTunes

FAMW! RAWR!!!

February Album Writing Month is in the offing!

14 songs in 28 days - sounds hard, right? Due to time constraints associated with the ongoing edit of my entry for the last NaNoWriMo, I've decided to do an instrumental album; sort of a concept deal.

The rough concept I have in mind right now is that it will be a soundtrack that follows an alien spaceship marooned on a strange planet. Sounds weird and/or stupid, I know, but I think I can make it work - I've already got three or four songs outlined in my head.

I'll be (trying) to upload them to the player in my sidebar on a (semi-) regular basis. Wish me luck!



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Listening to: Beach House - Norway
via FoxyTunes

If this blog were a dog, it'd be dead...

Long time, no write, bloggosphere.

Well, that's not entirely true - I've been writing like an MFer for weeks and weeks now, desperately trying to get my novel finished and edited to the point that I'd feel OK sending it off to get printed (one of the prizes for winning NaNoWriMo is a certificate for a single printing of your novel. Only one catch: must be redeemed by June!).

I've taken a brief break from the novel to do - guess what - more writing! I've just put the finishing touches on an entry for the latest Clarity of Night writing contest. He be the fruits of me labor:


Get Ready For The Weirdness
By Kurt Hendricks


"Get ready for the weirdness," I said, turning the knob.

We were blinded as the huge picture window was revealed; it was a brilliant, clear day outside. As our eyes were adjusting to the sudden brightness, Lisa gasped and took a step back. I thought she was startled by the rather large disco ball hanging from the ceiling, but even as the thought was forming, a solid 'thwack' reverberated through the room.

I expected some reaction from Mayme, but she didn't stir from her seat by the window. I walked over, repeating her name, louder and more urgent each time. An apprehensive hand reached out to touch hers, which was clutching the joystick controller for her electric wheelchair. It felt like defrosted poultry.

"Another one," I told Lisa. This was her first time delivering, and I wanted to instill in her an expectation of this sort of thing. She just looked right through me with a thousand mile stare. I turned to Mayme and sighed.

I never thought I'd end up a drug dealer again. Ever since legalization, the glamour - not to mention the money - had left the profession. The clientele had changed, too; now mostly senior citizens looking for pain relief or a way out. Coltrane played on softly in the background.

“That crow…,” Lisa whispered, “it flew right into the window.” She was still obviously a little shaken. “It must’ve been attracted to the shiny thing.”

“Yeah,” I said, “you’ll get a lot of that.”


Thanks for all the fishes!


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Listening to: Monty Python - Always Look On the Bright Side of Life
via FoxyTunes

Two things

OK, two things:

#1: I got my NaNo badge! Woohoo!!
I'm still working on my novel, and probably have at least another 30,000 words to get to the end. Then, I've got to get it edited into some semblance of non-suck in order to get my free proof copy, another goodies for making it to 50,000. I mean, I could get the free proof copy of my unedited rough draft, but why?



#2: Heard this song on the radio two days ago, then went home later that day and found a free download of it. Now, can't get it out of my head. Enjoy!

Long Overdue NaNoWriMo update

Wow. It's been a while, blogosphere. I've just been too busy with NaNoWriMo to post anything, but as you can tell from the widget in the sidebar, as of today I am three-fifths done. On the down side, the month of November is more than three-quarters done.

But this is OK! No need to panic! I have all along planned for a sustained push over the long Thanksgiving weekend. I figure that I should get at least 15,000 words over that period, and added to my current total (approx. 30,000), that leaves me only 5,000 to get between tomorrow and Wednesday. Totally doable! That weird Viking helmet blog badge is so mine!!!

As far as my novel is going, it's not as great as I had hoped, but not as bad as I had feared. I'm sure it'll need the recommended two revisions before it's ready for another person's eyes. There have been some really pleasant surprises, little stories within the stories that just sort of popped into my head as I was writing, and the overall generalized outline I had made while prepping for NaNoWriMo has held up quite well, with only a few minor adjustments along the way.

One of my greatest fears going in turned out to be baseless: I have plenty of story to get to 50,000. In fact, just getting my two main characters to meet each other so that the story could begin in earnest took nearly 12,000 words. And now I'm sitting at around 30,000 words, and not halfway through the story. This is a little worrying, and I'm sure some of the first part will have to be cut to keep readers from falling asleep, but all in all, I'm very happy with the way things have gone thus far. We'll see, I guess, if this attitude still holds around November 28th. I'm guessing, probably not.


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Listening to: Björk - One Day
via FoxyTunes

Another update

Still prepping for NaNoWriMo...working on character development/back stories for the most part. I'm a bit frustrated that all the puzzle pieces aren't quite fitting right, but I'm pretty confident tha solutions will present themselves if I just keep at it.

For lack of content, I'll just share a song I just downloaded because I can't get it out of my head. I have this theory, you see, that earworms can only be vanquished by feeding them until they die.



I think once I have committed "The comfort of the knowledge of a rise above the sky but could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the here and now" to memory, I'll be over it.


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Listening to: OutKast - Hey Ya!
via FoxyTunes

Mid-October Update

Preppin' like mad for NANoWriMo. This time, it will happen!!!

I've hated outlines ever since middle school, but I'm trying hard to make one work.


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Listening to: Radiohead - No Surprises
via FoxyTunes

Write why now?

I am not a great writer. So why do I write? This thought haunts me sometimes; usually when I'm having trouble figuring things out, connecting the dots, or even just committing anything to paper. These doubts tend to mount for a while, smothering my thought process until I just feel like walking away and giving up. (Ok, actually I feel like slamming my laptop to the floor, but I've managed to resist the temptation so far.)

Then it happens. A flash of insight, usually when I have finally stopped thinking about all my frustrations with the writing process. This happened to me just this last Friday night, as I was lying in bed.

One of the most encouraging feelings a writer can experience is the sudden realization of growth and maturation as a writer. If you've been writing for any length of time, you have likely experienced this. So awesome. Jump around squealing like a girl awesome.

Where was I? Ah yes, this past Friday. A story I had been working on had hit a dead end about a week previous and stayed stuck there. I began to obsess about it. I tried to go directly at it, to kind of force my way through it and hope that it would all work out in the end (which sometimes does happen, and is another thrilling moment in writing). Nothing worked out this time though, and I ended up just writing and deleting, writing and deleting. That and watching a lot of US Open tennis.

I then decided to try to go at it from the periphery, which sometimes works out very well. I usually try to write a short story or two, maybe the back story of a character, or maybe a random scene from the big story. In the middle of one of these short stories, I was running into the same wall that I had hit in the larger story. Double frustration. At a loss for what else to do, I went to bed. Drifting off, I began imagining how one of my characters might have arrived at the location of my story, something that wasn't in my original outline. And that's where it hit me.

I needed a character to be duplicitous (or to seem to be duplicitous, to be more precise), but I hadn't really worked through what her motivation might have been. That's the answer that came to be as I drifted off to sleep on Friday. I was so excited I got up, re-did my entire outline (as well as spent more time on my character's back stories), and wrote for nearly 3 hours straight. I got a fresh burst of inspiration, confidence, and a better developed, more three-dimensional character to boot.

I think I'm going to get all my notes together on this one and use it for NaNoWriMo!


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Listening to: Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
via FoxyTunes