11/18/13

The Deep End

Just three more weeks of classes! Just four more weeks of school, and then I'm freeeeeeeee!

First off, did you catch J. Grace Pennington's superb guest post last week? You should go check it out now, it's much more interesting than this post, which is going to be a bit of a ramble.

I'm still NaNo-ing. If you can call it that. As of this moment, I'm nearly 11K words behind. Never in my life have I faced catch-up like this. Yesterday I considered quitting. I had good reason to do it; I'm behind, I have tests, I can't find Anne's voice no matter how hard I try {you don't want to know how many points of view are splattered across this manuscript}.

this is not the cover of the book I read,
but I like this cover the best

And then I read Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein. Oh my goodness, if you have not read this book...go read it. Go. Now. Stop reading this blog post and order Code Name Verity or put it on reserve, for goodness' sake, READ IT. I've read a lot of books in my lifetime, and I can count on one hand the number of books/authors that have been/written a perfect book. Very rare, those perfect books are. Very, very rare.

And Code Name Verity is a perfect book. Flawless. Meticulously plotted. Gorgeous. Heart-wrenching. Beautiful. Just...perfect. Read it.

Anyway, among other unique things, the points-of-view and tenses in Code Name Verity jump around a lot. It flows with excellence, but the style of writing gave me some idea and inspiration.

So I jumped back into my NaNo novel with renewed purpose and vision.

On the upside, I think I can make 50,000 words happen this November. On the downside, it probably won't look like a manuscript. Or, if it does, it won't be a finished one. But that's okay. The goal was to get me back in the deep end of writing again, and, even if I'm treading water at an increasingly frantic pace...I'm back.

1 comment:

Shelley Sly said...

Wow, I'll definitely have to check out that book! I've been looking for something deep to really immerse myself in (since I've mostly been reading lighter children's fiction for research.)

Good luck with your NaNo novel! Don't sweat it if your POV needs work -- it's a draft. :)