Get Set…
Oh, man, it starts tomorrow already. NaNoWriMo! I can imagine some of you setting your clock to 11:55 tonight so you can start writing as soon as the starter pistol goes off at midnight. That’s how I did it.
Do you know what you are going to write? Or are you taking the blind plunge into a new world? Either way, it’s a heady experience.
I just saw a great article recently about plotting by the seat of your pants. Worth checking out. And here’s another one about scheduling yourself during NaNoWriMo.
It makes me wonder…The Boy will have me up late at night regularly. What’s to prevent me from a half hour of writing every night after getting him back to sleep? Hmmm…
On Your Mark…
Sunday begins NaNoWriMo. I’m with you all in spirit. If you read this blog and are participating this year, by all means please comment below & let me know you’re out there.
A friend commented recently saying she likes the idea but can’t imagine having the time to do it, what with all that is on her plate. Not to sound hypocritical, but why not? 50K words breaks down to 1667 words per day for 30 days. If you write without regard to the actual quality of the story or plot, then a moderate typist can crank that out in about an hour, which can be broken up into chunks through the day. Think of it as a longer version of free writing. Give it some consideration! Remember, the book written by Chris Baty–who started NaNoWriMo–is called No Plot? No Problem! That gives us complete freedom to write anything that even somewhat resembles a story, no matter how disjointed and unreadable it is.
Just talking about it gives me the bug…
Will you NoWri this November?
We are fast approaching the most exciting month of the year. November! Now, some (here in the US, at any rate) get excited because they are looking forward to their next supersaturation of L-tryptophan, but not this humble wordsmith. No, November 1st at 12 o’clock a.m. begins the hallowed National Novel Writing Month. 
NaNoWriMo — as it is known to those who love it — is the wonderful month-long foray into sleep deprivation and overclocking of the plot crank, yes, that caffeine-driven deluge of words on page without rhyme, reason, or regard to personal safety. If you’ve done it right, on November 30th at 11:59:59 p.m. you will have several things: 1) 50,000 words of a previously unrealized novel, 2) friends and family who complain they don’t see you enough, 3) a mean coffee monkey, and 4) serious bragging rights. What you will also have is an obligation to finish what you so hastily started: a novel!
Alas, I will not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year (heavy sigh). There is quite enough to do in the Wade household with The Boy now starting his third month of benevolent dictatorship. But I did want to weigh in with my full support to anyone who is curious about it or is planning to give it a go. Do it! It will be worth it. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up. Just having access to the forums is worth the price of admission. Well, it’s free to sign up, but…you know what I mean.
There are also many bloggers out there who are posting NaNoWriMo content this month and the next, posts about how they are doing it and giving excellent tips on how to make it through this next great month of November. I’ll have another post, soon I hope, with links to some of those. In the meantime, all of you my faithful and teeming trove of readers are welcome to post comments here about their NaNoWriMo experiences and tips as well.
TTFN and keep cranking!
First Clean Reads Book Review
Yesterday my first guest post was posted at Clean Reads, a review of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation. Essentially it’s a reposting of the review I wrote for this site, with a brief intro to science fiction and speculative fiction added for the unitiated.
This was my first guest blog anywhere, and I admit I was a little intimidated at the thought. It’s like sending your manuscript to an editor and waiting for their form-letter rejection notice. Just because it’s someone else’s blog (instead of a magazine or publisher) doesn’t mean your article will be automatically accepted. Laura, hopefully you used the same editorial selectivity when posting my review! 
Thanks to Laura Fabiani for inviting me to be a guest poster! I appreciated being able to add my review to her website, because I believe that reading a good book or an important book does not automatically mean that the reader has to read a lot of profanity, violence, or spiritism.
Incidentally, Laura would like me to mention that she is hosting a book giveaway at her site. Go check it out & you may come away with one or two good reads.
Marseguro: a Reader’s Review
What would you do if genetic sculpting (genesculpting) became possible? Marseguro, by Edward Willett, explores a future where genetics assumes epic proportions. 
Marseguro is the name of a planet secretly colonized by a group of fugitives fleeing from an intolerant theocracy. The Selkies, a race of genetically modified humans, suffered under the hand of the Body Purified, who believe in the sanctity of the human genome and viciously persecute any who disagree or who have been modified. When the Body comes into earthwide political power, the Selkies are forced to flee with their creator, Victor Hansen.
The story begins fifty years after their exodus. The Selkies thrive on the water world Marseguro, free even to explore aesthetic pursuits such as art and theater in a uniquely Maseguroite manner. However, human Chris Keating begins the story by plotting to betray his fellow colonists to the Body Purefied.
Marseguo is a richly realized story, blending together older SF tropes such as interstellar travel and colonizing planets with newer ideas like genetics and string theory. (If you’re wondering where string theory comes into the story, here’s a hint: Willett did not misspell ‘brane’.)
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and have already ripped into the sequel Terra Insegura, which is similarly enjoyable. Marseguro has a strong plot, well developed society and believable technology. What I feel lacking, in my opinion, is characterization. The main characters Emily Wood the Selkie, Richard Hansen (grandson of geneticist Victor Hansen and pawn of the Body Purified), Archbishop Cheveldoff, and Chris Keating of course all behave in a believable manner, but lack a depth to their character that would have added far more drama. Ultimately there is nothing wrong with this. Stories are either character driven or plot driven. Edward Willett has crafted an excellent plot driven story that was easy and enjoyable to read. I would certainly recommend Marseguro to anyone who enjoys SF.
This is my first review of Marseguro, aimed particularly at readers. Soon I’ll post a review that focuses on this book from a writer’s perspective.
Clarkesworld
A little contest from Clarkesworld to win a free book. Clarkesworld is a very nice online SF magazine, one that seems worth tracking.
Anyways, back to the contest. I just have to post this link on my blog:http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_36/
The Guy
Cranking Plot by Guy Thomas Wade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.crankingplot.wordpress.com.
