My "work"

Today starts the month of novel writing (nanowrimo.org). I'm going to push aside half-hearted chapters and previous drafts where the inspiration is gone and start on an idea that's been going around and around in my head for almost a year now. It started with a short story for my fiction writing class, but I'm going to change a few things around and adapt it into a novel. I've got the basics of the plot worked down, as well as a pretty intriguing back story for the main character, but it's pretty unclear as a whole right now.

Mostly I'm going to start by re-reading that story and see what pieces (ideas) I like and want for the novel. Then, I'm going to try to get an outline going. Currently, it's seeming like something to fit into the mystery genre, but I really want to add strong elements of horror. Because of this, I'm still on the fence as to whether there's something paranormal about it. In the short story, it's entirely up to interpretation (leaning more towards reality after feedback from students in my class where "fantasy" was prohibited). I guess it might be time to make a decision, because it's the first scene that is questionable and that will affect the later outcomes.

Sorry if I'm sounding vague, but generally in this tinker stage, I don't really like to talk about my work. Before I have a completed draft of writing, I never talk about details, but this situation is a little different because I'm working from a short story quite a few people have read and I'm trying to keep myself motivated for the month ahead (where I guess I'll be in a "community" of other novel writers trying to stay on track).

I have to say I enjoy this stage of writing a lot. My favorite thing in life is potential, so during the tinker/drafting stage, I have a lot of fun. That might be why I find it so weird that it's so hard for me to talk about "my work". I feel pretentious explaining the details or decisions made during my writing and I feel even more like an idiot when their completely missed by the audience. I also feel like I still haven't read enough books. There's so many classics and contemporary literature that I feel I should know everything about before I can even begin to be presumptuous enough to add my own work to the mix. Is that insecurity or insanity?

Anyways, I'm pretty excited to get started so that's what I'm going to do. Side note: I also have found another Press within the vicinity that is looking for (unpaid) interns so I'm hoping they contact me before the weekend. Also, I'm afraid Nordstrom (where I've worked on my college breaks in the past) thinks I'm only available in December so I'm still out of a reliable paying job for the moment. I'm just about at desperation stage so I might be heading to Target to apply within the next few days (which I guess is not as desperate as needing to go to Walmart ((that might be offensive)) but, oh well).

I'll keep everyone updated!