November is National Novel Writing Month. Although I've never participated in the NaNoRiMo, I think about it every year, and it spurs on my writing in some way. NaNoRiMo, (short for National Novel Writing Month) flies in the face that it takes years to write in a novel. Instead, they believe a novel can be written in the thirty days of November. Valuing "enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline," NaNoRiMo isn't necessarily about quality writing, but about getting the deed done. Nowhere on the website does it say your novel has to be good, it just needs to get written. And really, sometimes when I'm working on a first draft, I'm just trying to get something, (anything!) down on paper.
Although I won't be participated in NaNoRiMo this year-it sounds like a great way to develop carpal tunnel syndrome- I will be attempting to plunge deep into a novel I've been hovering around for all too long. (And perhaps I will be indulge in a little NaNoRiMo pep-talk reading. Who can resist a topic like, Five Steps to Building a Propulsive Story Cannon?) I think I've finally narrowed in on what the book is going to be about. Prior to this, the novel stretched out over 110 years in the life of one person. Really, you say, isn’t that impossible? Why, yes it is. I wanted the book to include Victorian factories, women travelers, rural childhoods, sister rivalry, fifty years of Indian history, World War 1 and 2, Indian Independence and separation, and British people staying on in India- just to name a few. When I envisioned the book, I saw not just stories, but lives scrolling ahead of me. I had so much rich research in my head (and computer), that I wanted to put it all in. Not only would this make a very big book, it would also be very thinly spread. I’m sure there are other writers who could write a rich book with such a great breadth, but I when I thought about it closely, I realized what I really knew about was Victorian women travelers and governesses.
Knowing deeply about one small part of the book was a very good thing. This helped me find what I call the Narrow Point. This is a small or pointed wedge that finally dives into the novel. Instead of traveling wide and thin, I now had a narrow groove to go deeply into my characters and their lives, and write a book that will be character driven, as opposed to a rollicking and-then-this-happened kind of book. (Those kids of books are great too, it’s just not what I wanted my book to be.)
Getting to this narrow point isn’t always easy, and sometimes I’m not sure how to get there. Mostly a great deal of thinking and mulling over occurs and just when I’m about to give up, I find I know how to start. Usually I find walking (or sometimes swimming or biking) helps too The past couple of summers I’ve found my narrow point by walking behind my cottage. Throughout the school year I sit at my desk and write on a morning schedule. During that time I don’t look at email or answer the phone, I just write. When summer comes my schedule falls apart. I travel, play with my kids and visit family in July. In August there are guests to hang out with and canoes, bicycles, swimming and yoga to distract me. I don't have a desk to work at, so I spend a lot of time walking up and down the hills behind my cottage and thinking about intractable writing-related problems. I talk to myself a lot on the old hill, running through all the novel's possible options. Should I start at the beginning of my character’s life? Should it begin with the death of the character’s protector? Is the book going to focus on her marriage, or what about the end of her marriage? Should I just start at the beginning and work my way through? What is the beginning story for this character? I re-read the hundreds of pages of notes I have and look through my research notes. Nothing is clear at first. Sometimes it takes days, other times months. And then I see where the story has to start, what the confines of the plot have to be, and a great sense of relief comes over me. Working within set limits and narrow areas of plot makes the writing come easier. Then I can can come up with a list of scenes to write, the kind of writing that works well on a set time frame at a desk during the winter months of writing concentration.
