Nanowrimo 2012 Midway

NANOWRIMO 2012 - MIDWAY

I have just finished my story: Drew of the Stars (working title). I have come to learn the joy to actually finish a story, instead of an assignment. This is something that I thought I would never be able to do. So, at the moment, I am filled with joys.

Yet, the work is not done. I need to have 50,000 words written, and I only have less than half. I have been thinking of fleshing out the story, but as the author of the story (Wow. "author". I'm an author!) I am too biased to make good decision as to where to expand the story. I also noticed that my style is dialog heavy, with only a smidgen exposition here and there. I suppose that is my style.

I am not in the habit of loosening tight script. I like things moving along rather quickly, and if I end up with a short story, instead of a long one, then so be it. There is nothing bad about a collection of short stories. I'd rather the readers to be wishing that the story doesn't end, or to read another story of mine, instead of saying that my story dragged on and that they never finished it.

I have been practicing writing fiction by reading fictional novels. I read a few Star Trek novels, written by William Shatner, of all people. I noticed an evolution. The beginning stories are rather tight, sparse, and fast-paced. The later ones are bigger, longer, and more deliberate. I think that I am at the phase of the early one. The later novel, I feel, dragged on more than it should. There was a trick there that one of the novels used, and that is telling two stories by means of flashbacks. Captain Kirk was telling Captain Picard his past experiences, and that can fill a whole new book! So, by combining two stories, the book got longer. I'm not sure I like that.

Still, that was better, compared to the later one. There was one where the story was filled with exposition. It seems that there are 5 exposition lines to 1 dialog ones. I find that reading such a work cumbersome. Then again, the style was over dramatic. I was reminded when I was reading Timothy Zahn's novel. The prose was EXTREMELY dramatic. I was overwhelmed in reading the prose. Needless to say, I didn't bother reading more than a couple pages.

There was a joke, "If I am what I eat, then I'm Cheap, Fast, and Easy!" I would like to say that "If I am what I read, then I am non-fiction." I read a lot, and I write a lot. But I don't read fiction. I read non-fiction. Looking back as to what I wrote, they are sample cases of conflict resolution. "If that's not how it is, how is it?" "WHY do you think that?" and so on.

It is my hope that not only my readers be entertained by the story, but also that they are able to pick out false logic, and respond appropriately. There are too many people in the world that would hurt other people by being unreasonable, and they're not all named Danny.

In short, be vigilant, be happy, and I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I do.

For me? On to the next 25000 words. It has only been one week, and if I can spend another week finishing it, then I'll be in the top 2 percent of writers out there. That's Mensa level! Yeah, I'd like that.

Time 15 minutes.
Words: 607