Archives for November 2004

I have about 3000 words to go now, and about one day to do them in. If you’d asked me on October 31 what I would think of writing 3500 words in a day, I would have said, Are you nuts? but pretty much my take on it now is Piece of cake. I guess I shouldn’t get too cocky. After all, I have 3500 words to go and I still don’t have a damn killer. None of the suspects I’ve set up feel right. I’m wondering if I have to write in a whole new character, which would definitely take care of those 3500 words easy.

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I feel kind of gypped. I haven’t had any of the flow experiences other NaNo’ers report. I haven’t dreamed about my story or my characters. (I did have an amazingly cool dream one night, but using standard dream interpretation techniques it’s clear the dream was about me, not about my book.) I haven’t had any days where the story just took off by itself and I could write and write and write and the well would stay primed.

And certainly no 10,000 word days. I know the most I’ve done in a day is 3500. The first time I did 3500 I came home and told Darin, I need to sleep now. After that it was like, Hey, not a bad writing day. No big deal.

2000 is a much easier number to contemplate on a daily basis, though.

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I have realized I need writing music. I had very few albums on iTunes. Our CDs never really got unpacked after the move—no central stereo system any more, the way we’d had it set up in our living room in LA. The CDs all got stashed in the dining room closet, which does have the wiring to set up a household-wide stereo system, just not the stereo. So as I’ve been sitting here at the dining room table, typing away, I’ve been taking stacks of CDs out of the closet and ripping them. Not all of them (we have a couple of hundred). Just a range of music and moods that might help me when writing. I don’t always want to listen to the conversations at the table next to me when I’m out at a cafe somewhere.

Well, technically, 5,420 to go, plus a little slop to make sure I get verified by the NaNo verifier.

So why am I playing Spaceward Ho! instead of writing? There are only 2 days and 4 hours left! And tomorrow I am with the kids all day, so i shouldn’t be expecting to get too much done during the day.

Part of the problem is I’m not quite adjusted to the Pacific Time Zone yet. We flew to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, and I basically did two things: hung out quietly in the midst of chaos (let me tell you, when Darin’s extended family—and it extends a little more every year—gets together, there’s chaos to spare) and wrote. Twice I asked someone to take me to the local Borders for a few hours so I could write. I didn’t even look at any books. I just wrote.

I haven’t gone back to read what I’ve written (or, more exactly, I’ve read just pieces here and there, looking for new places to stick stuff in). I am sure of two things: the overwhelming majority of the 44,580 words I’ve produced so far are crap, and I’ve had a ton of fun producing them. One of the best features of NaNoWriMo is that you can’t stop to think or analyze or (worst of all) critique—there’s no damn time. Just vomit now. Think about it later.

I need 5,420 words (plus a few). Surely I can do an easy amount, like 1000 or 1500 tonight, yes?

In the comments to my last entry, Pooks asked, “What is a Moleskine?”

The quick answer is, “It’s a notebook.”

The longer answer is, “It’s a notebook with great paper and a envelope on the back cover and an oilskin cover and a sewn binding and the whole thing is kept tightly shut with an elastic band that makes a satisfying snap as you close your notebook for the day after a session of fantastic writing and it’s an object of adoration for quite a few people out there who would rather pay an outrageous sum for a beautiful, useful object like this than a dollar-ninety-seven for a cheap spiral-bound notebook at the drugstore (not that there’s anything wrong with dollar-ninety-seven cheap spiral-bound notebooks if that’s what you like).”

You can pick the style of notebook that’s best for you. First of all, there’s the large (13x21cm) and the small (9x14cm). Then you can choose whether you want blank, squared, ruled, or sketchbook paper. There are also the Moleskine diaries — week at a glance, or a page-per-day. And there are the new Moleskines: the music book and the storyboard book. There’s also something Moleskine sells that is three thin books in one package — there’s no oilskin cover, no elastic band, what’s the point?

The Moleskine notebook lies flat on the table, waiting for you to write or sketch something brilliant in it. The acid-free paper is fantastic for writing on. Cheap paper is rough, an impediment to the ballpoint. But Moleskine paper is smooth and lets your hand fly across the page. It has that pocket in back, so you can keep receipts, movie tickets, love notes on cocktail napkins, photos of loved ones. And no matter how much you jam in that pocket, that elastic band around the notebook is going to keep the whole kit-and-kaboodle together — you won’t lose anything.

Each Moleskine comes with a page of what is undoubtedly overblown (or outright made up) propaganda from the manufacturer about the great authors who have used Moleskine notebooks. Who cares? The notebook itself is all the inducement you need to keep using them.

I first read about Moleskine fanaticism on Metafilter. There is a fan site, not to mention a variety of fan groups on sites like Orkut. There are pages with tips on how to get the most out of your Moleskine. You can find them at Barnes and Noble and Borders now, or you can buy them in bulk.

I myself now prefer the large blank page edition, although if I ever start carrying my big handbag again, I may have to pick up a small notebook to tuck in there for special occasions. I am considering buying one of the new storyboard books, just to see what it’s like. I think that would be something I’d use when fleshing out a screenplay though — what’s the important visual here?

I love my Moleskine. It’s not just another notebook. It’s an inspiration.