October 22, 2007

• The End of the Story
  and Beginning NaNo 2007
  
  Apparently it was in the news this morning that J K Rowling has announced that Dumbledore was gay.  Cool Mary asked if that made any difference to the way I felt about the story. 

  I think that the story is over, it's a done deal, and frankly, Dumbledore wasn't gay in the book.  He was an old man, but you just knew that he had a twinkle in his eye and fond memories of more passionate times with the likes of oh say ... Minerva McGonagall.  You know?  There was a story line in the last book about his close friendship with another man in his youth, but all the implications there were that it was a platonic pairing of people drawn together by their mutual belief in their own intelligence and ability to find, hold, and control powerful wizarding artifacts.

  So the real question may be whether it makes any difference what J K Rowling says at this point about anything that's not contained within the published pages.  Rowling has to live with the same reality that all authors face.  Your books stand on their own.  The story is what it is between those beautifully designed covers.  And once you've told the story and sent it out there, it's an entity separate from you, no longer subject to your changes of mind or storyline. 

  So no, I don't think it matters a whit what Rowling says at this point.  If that was the story she'd wanted to tell, she should have told it. 

  Now, it's time to move on.

  I'm moving on to November when just like every November, I intend to write my own novel.  I'm much much later in the year with my panic over outlines and processes than usual with a mere 9 days left.  But regardless of whether I'm ready, November comes. 

  Every year I invite other NaNoWriMo participants to join me in an email circle of support.  I send sporadic encouragement and we all keep track of each other's progress.  Sometimes, someone will want to know how to make a chocolate torte or what chemical goes inside a grenade and the question gets circulated around the group.  Mostly it's about not being all alone in your pursuit of 50,000 words.

  That's the whole sum of NaNo.  You sit down and write the rough draft of that book that's been niggling at the back of your mind for years.  The one that you know you're going to write "some day".  You finally look yourself in the mirror and realize that someday is today.  And you just do it.  It doesn't have to be good, in fact, for most of us (Faith is not included in that "us") it won't be good.  But it will be a finished rough draft and that's what you have to write before you can write a polished work. 

  Thinking about it?  Want to put your fingers to the keyboard and pound out something that will be more or less complete by the end of the month?  Head over to the website and sign up ... www.nanowrimo.org ... and if you want to be part of the email ring, let me know.  Put
  "NaNo Ring" in the subject line and email me at quiltnmomi@hotmail.com.

  I have book recommendations for anyone considering the NaNo madness. 

  "First Draft in 30 Days" by Karen S Wiesner is worth the cover price in the way she teaches you to organize your thoughts to stay on track. 

  There's also "No Plot, No Problem" by Chris Baty, the founder and chief energy drink consumer of the NaNo world. 

  And I wouldn't dream of diving into NaNo without Anne Lamott to hold my hand via her classic "Bird By Bird."

  What's your story?  Isn't it about time you told it?

  • 1:06 pm
  • 11 Comments