NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow

I've had a cold for a week. I've been so busy I haven't thought about my next novel for awhile. I still think I am in good shape though, since I had the whole thing planned out weeks ago.

It will be interesting to see if I can read and write at the same time this year. In the past I have had trouble doing that; reading affects my writing. I have to say that I am certainly more experienced now, but don't know if that will help.

I've had the usual second thoughts about my story. Do I really want to write this? It was Steve Barry that said you shouldn't write what you know, but what you love, since you will be living with it for years. Hopefully I can tell the story in a way that it will become something I like...

Let's test the NaNoWriMo supplied progress meter:



Or maybe this one:

Rejections from Glimmer Train

I entered two short stories in the Glimmer Train very short fiction contest and they both lost - "Syzygy" and "Spiritu Sancto". Oh well. I suppose I'll send them off somewhere else.

The 'Caine' Mutiny by Herman Wouk

A very good book. Unlike most Pulitzer prize winners, it is an exiting read. Of course, I had seen the movie with Humphrey Bogart. The movie focuses on the mutiny and trial, and the book is much more than that. It is the story of Willie Keith, and his life in the war. He goes from unexperienced ensign to Captain, and grows up in the process.

Although it is very good, I don't think it is as finely crafted as other Pulitzers. For the most part it is third person, using the viewpoint of Keith. But Keith can't be everywhere, and the author uses an omniscient viewpoint for other scenes, including the trial.

Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens

It only takes a few pages to impress the reader with the fact this is an expertly crafted novel. His use of dialog is excellent, and he flows in and out of multiple viewpoints easily.

He is also in it for the long haul. There is nothing hastily written here. It is also over 200k words. The reader needs to be in the right frame of mind - settle in and relax. I had to make a little note card to keep track of the characters.

Don't let anyone tell you it is about Black flyers in World War II. It's not. There are Black flyers, but they serve only as a source of conflict and problems for the major characters, who are all white. None of the Black characters are used as viewpoint characters.

It's a World War II novel, but it is not about a great battle or even about life on the front. It is concerned with those who are left behind, those in the States who are carrying on with training, resting after being at the front, providing support and public relations. In that sense, the "Guard of Honor" is really those military who serve behind the scenes. That is what the novel is about, how these average people cope with the difficulties and hazards of leadership in the Army Air Force.

An outstanding read, I highly recommend it.

NaNoWriMo Two Week Notice

A little less that two weeks to go, and I have managed to spend some time working out the problems that my main character will face. I have not done an outline in any sense of the word, but I have spewed a version of the story.

On the NaNoWriMo site things are cooking along. I am struck this year by how young everybody seems. I even saw a post from a thirteen-year old kid, who claims to have done it twice before. OK. I'm glad he's starting young. I'd like to see an age distribution of those who participate - I bet it is heavily weighted in the twenty-somethings.

As usual, I am laying low on the forums. I look at what others are saying, but there are usually so many responses to the intriguing topics that my response would just get lost in the clutter. Still, it's interesting to see what people are saying, although at this point (my third NaNoWriMo) I have seen it all before.

As usual, November is shaping up to be busy. I hope to go hiking for a week this year, if everyone's health cooperates and there are no family crises. I will have paper and pen along, of course. I'll probably get behind, but I'll make it up when I get back.

The last two years, the MIL (mother-in-law) has had some sort of crises in November. Hopefully we can avoid that this year. Two years ago we had to move her from Chicago to Atlanta, and last year was the big move into the nursing home. She's been there a year now, and recently has had some Alzheimer's related problems (forgotten how to dial the phone), bless her heart.

Anyway, I'm confident the novel will put itself on paper regardless of what happens. It probably won't be worth reading in that first draft form, but it will be created.

GWA September Contest - First Place

I got first place in the Georgia Writer's Association September short story contest with Earl Small. THis puts me, I think, into good shape for taking the overall prize for the year. There are still two more months to go, though (there's no contest in December), so I shouldn't start rubbing my hands with glee yet.

This months theme is cacophony, which was an easy one for me - Flash Mob will be my entry.

November's theme is ambrosia, which brings to mind that silly desert that my mother always made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That and her "congealed salad" were not on the top of my list. Can I possibly make a story out of that?

Hunting Season by Nevada Barr

This is a mystery, a selection by the local book club I belong to. I don't usually read mysteries, or, to be more accurate, it's been a while since I read any. In the past I have read a lot of the Agathe Christie mysteries. In the last year or so I also read Jass by David Fulmer.

First off let me say that this was about as good as I expected it to be. It definitely fits in the mystery genre. It's not as good as Fulmer's Jass and I don't think I could compare it to the Christie novels since they are so different.

Since I am going to discuss this with the book club, I'll list the problems I had:

• The beginning borders on "lying to the reader." She starts with a wedding, and the main character is listening to the Priest, and silly me, I naturally assumed it was her own wedding. At least there was no clue that it wasn't that I could see. Several pages later we learn that it's not her wedding, but some other unlucky soul. Of course, I felt cheated, not a good way to begin the novel.


• And speaking of beginnings, the author spent quite a bit of time in that first chapter dwelling on the death of her main characters husband, and how suspicious it was. It's a mystery novel, the reader is looking for the mystery to start, the author supplies a mystery. Can you blame me for thinking that's what the book was going to be about. Well, it wasn't. It was never mentioned again. The real beginning of the novel is when she gets the call about the dead man - that's where the novel should have begun.


• Details, details. Several times things did not strike me as true-to-life. Mystery novels deal in facts like gold, they are essential to the aura of the mystery. If the reader doubts the author at any point, they are in trouble.




• Why didn't the interpretive ranger call the cops when she found the body at the start of the novel? Instead she paged her boss, and it was at least an hour later before any cops were called. Negligent. An ambulance should have been called first, then the cops, then her boss. Unbelievable.


• The good-old boys chasing the main character in the dark. As a veteran night orienteer, it was not believable. I suppose it would satisfy those who had never set foot in the woods after dark.


• You don't use a lathe to make a child's coffin. Lathes are used to turn objects like table legs, wooden bowls, staircase uprights, etc.


• You can't kill someone by squashing their car with a pickup truck. It takes a lot more force than can be delivered by a truck with tires to squash a car. There are a lot simpler ways to kill, and why use a difficult way when a simple way will do?




• Style - she uses a style that is not smooth, especially in the dialog sections. She seems intent on showing off her skills at finding alternate words and action verbs - to the point of distraction. She has overdone it.

As far as the mystery goes, there wasn't much of one. The red herrings didn't fool me. Eliminate the red herrings and the only other character with pages devoted to him was the bad guy. Not hard to figure out at all.

Characterization is OK except for the major character. I suppose that may be taken care of in earlier books in the series, but this book is supposed to stand alone. It does suffer from being one in a long running series. Many times the author alludes to things that have happened in previous books that a reader of only this book would find confusing.

One thing I did enjoy was the mildness of the crime. The death at the heart of it all turned out to be accidental. There were no blood and guts scenes. No sex scenes. Motive was simply hatred of women superiors and protection of retirement. Enough to kill for? Not really, I guess, but it was a refreshing change from some of the more gruesome genre novels around.

Will I read more from her? Probably not. Too many books, too little time.

Book Club!

Laurie dragged me to the inaugral meeting of the "Rico Cultural Center" bookclub. Looks like there are six of us. The RCC is an old elementary school, and the library consists entirely of donated books. The Librarian is retired.

It will be good for me, I know. At least it will expose me to some things I would not normally read. Instead of literary fiction, we will be focussing on mysteries and thrillers and maybe some non-fiction thrown in. The first month's selection is a Nevada Barr mystery, and it is killing me to read it. I'll have to write a book opinion when I am done.

Do I sound like a literary snob? I suppose I do. I'm entitled to my opinion, though. So much of the genre fiction is formulaic, so much of the writing is forced and copy-cat. Not to say that every lit-fic novel is great - I hate it when they ignore basic things like story and plot.

Anyway, I will stick with the book club as long as it hangs together. I hope they are not offended by my opinions of the books we read.

Creative Non-fiction workshop by Gregory Freeman

A Georgia Writer's Association sponsored workshop. This one was outstanding. Freeman obviously knows his genre. He has written two books, Sailors to the End (about the USS Forrestal), and Lay This Body Down (about a peonage plantation and the murders associated with it). I haven't read either of them, but after this workshop I am going to get them and read them.

Some tidbits from the notes I took:

• Creative non-fiction is a true story, well told.


• It uses creative styles more common to fiction


• Strong characters - characters are everything for a story like this. A lot of reasearch is needed! Difficult to write the story until the research is done.


• Tell the story in a dramatic way.


• The fact that the story is true does not change your obligation to tell it in a dramatic way.


• Use these techniques:




• dramatic opening


• abundant use of involving scenes shaped from true material


• abundant use of dialog drawn from actual dialog


• a strong finish

He also strongly feels that you are writing a true story, and should not make things up just because you need it. Don't invent characters and scenes.

He references heavily, preferring endnotes. He wants to reader to have faith in him as a writer that he is telling the truth.

So it was a very impressive workshop. Don't know if I will ever write a creative non-fiction book, since I am so involved with short stories and novels. The amount of research needed is so intimidating! I don't think I could ever write one that involved so many interviews of living characters.

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

This collection gets an 'A' for craft and technique, but it doesn't generate much interest in me, the reader. There is a good selection of lengths, ranging from short short story to short novel. Take the first story, for instance. A woman kills her husbands lover, and her husband helps her cover up the crime. It's told in such a detached manner that I had no reaction at all - no attempt is really made to examine motive or feelings of either the wife or the husband.

Another example is the short novel "Old Mortality". It seems to be an examination of how children view adults as they grow up, but it is about as boring as commuting to work. The child finally grows up at the end and commits some of the same mistakes as her elders, yet the author doesn't examine any of that.

But it is much better than the Stafford collection. Maybe you just have to be in the right mood to appreciate it.

The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford

These stories won the Pulitzer for fiction in 1970, but were written between 1948 and 1969, and they seem a little dated and old-fashioned. I'm working my way backwards through the Pulitzer winners, and this is really the first time that a winner has struck me this way. Stafford has a cold, cynical, snarky approach to her subjects. She seems to have a condescending tone as well. I don't find myself getting drawn into these stories and identifying with the characters. I also read the introductory biographical material, and she sounds cynical in real life as well - I can imagine her insulting her friends in ways they may not have even understood. The stories are worth reading, of course, but she's not one of my favorite short story writers.

Last order of used books for the Pulitzer project

Sent in my last order for used books to Powells.com this morning. I order the books in batches of at least $50 - used books of course. They are always in good shape, almost never is there any evidence that anyone else ever read them. By ordering $50 worth at a time I get free shipping - which is also slow shipping.

This order will take me back to 1947, with the exception of the second Updike "Rabbit" novel, which I don't plan to read. Please don't force me to read another of those "Rabbit" novels! Talk about torture...

Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson

Another Pulitzer winner for fiction, a collection of short stories. Some of these stories are excellent, others are wide of the mark. For instance, Problems of Art was nicely done, but the title story was almost incomprehensible. At its core was a story of an interracial marriage, but overlying that was a bizarre dialog between the author and a critic. I have to agree with the critic that the story didn't make much sense in that form.

Another problem with the stories are their tone. It's erudite and condescending, while the subject matter is usually lower class Black people. I found it detached and off-putting. It certainly did nothing to immerse the reader in the story.

It can be tough to read these short story collections, since every few pages you have to start over with a new story and new characters. It's easy to lose focus and concentration.

NaNoWriMo Update

About three weeks until the big National Novel Writing Month kicks off. I have my idea for a new novel, have been thinking about it for months, and think I have a good idea where I want to start, what direction I will go in, and how I will finish it.

Some people do no planning beforehand. I meticulously planned for NaNo 2004, and did almost no planning for NaNo 2005. This year I hope to get somewhere in-between those two extremes.

One difference this year is that I have read about sixty novels since last year. Not just any novels, either, but about forty Pulitzer prize winners. Well that help? At least I know what I like and what I don't like in a novel now.

• a good story. I'm not talking about plot, which is a different thing, but I should have a good story to tell.


• a good plot. By this I mean that I should have a plan for engaging the reader and pulling them along with me, right to the end. I don't want any readers giving up on my novel partway through.


• interesting characters that the reader can sympathize with. It's not enough to just have an interesting character, since I hate spending an entire novel getting to know a "mean" character.


• setting. almost as important as character, but in a slower, more basic manner. A strong underlying setting is important to provide a good foundation.


• symbolism. Goes hand in hand with setting. Subtle use of symbols enhances setting in providing the appropriate atmosphere.

Anyway, it should be fun. I am looking forward to it. I have no doubt that I can produce the 50k words that are the object in November. The question is, how good will they be?

Pulitzer reading project update

I added a progress bar to the sidebar so I can see at a glance how far I have come and how far I have to go. It's been a wild ride. I hope I have learned something,as well as had fun reading some great novels and short stories. Of course, I have read some things I considered unworthy of winning any prize, but that's what makes contests interesting. After NaNoWriMo is over I will prepare a wrapup page and do some best and worst rankings.

The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

The author outdoes Job with this novel. It's very well written, meticulously crafted. I normally don't like novels with a "political" agenda. This is not really political I guess. I would sum it up as "The purpose of freedom is to create it for others," which one of the characters says towards the end of the book.

Which brings up the topic of the ending. There is none. I know the arguments, of course. What happens to the prisoner is not important, what's more important is what we learn from the story. Any ending that the author writes would be disappointing. It's trite to have a happy ending. We all know what happens to the Russians in just a few years after the trial. and so forth and so on. My point though, is that the reader has invested a great deal of time and empathy in the character of the prisoner, and to end with no resolution is cheating the reader. The author owes it to the reader to end the story, regardless of whether it is good or bad. Look at the example of Hemingway - he wasn't afraid to end "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Malamud definitely shows a lack of courage in not writing an ending.

Another thing that bothers me is this novel stretches the criteria for the award. It says "For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life." No part of this novel deals with American life, or is even set in America. I assume the author is American, so I guess it fits.

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

In my opinion this novel is deliberately confusing. It jumps around in time, it moves in and out of reality and the spirit world, it changes narrator and point of view frequently. But if you are willing to hang in there and try to understand it does make sense and have some excellent moments. I'm not going to rate it highly among the Pulitzers though, because it is so needlessly confusing.