Limitless Ramblings

The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson, an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.

I started off my 11 in 2011 with Katheryn Stockett's The Help, and it was simultaneously the worst and best decision.

WHAT'S GOOD.

It's a bit more difficult to break books into categories of what's good and what's bad because they strike me as far more complex than movies, especially if you get a good one. And The Help is absolutely a good one. Mrs. Stockett does a fantastic job of ripping you out of your comfortable post millenia bubble and thrusting you into the Jackson, Mississippi of the 60's. What's more is, she writes each of the three characters so well, it feels like you're reading actual memoirs, as opposed to a work of fiction.

The book speaks to your emotions. It's frustrating to keep quiet as you read about the way Aibileen and the other ladies are treated, how Ms. Skeeter is treated once her "secret" is out. In the back of your mind, you are constantly whispering this is so, so wrong. 

The relationships between characters are also very real. Some make you so angry you could spit, others make you cry with laughter, still others make you weep at how selfless they are... and some just plain rip your heart out. Each man, woman, and child is so real that you can almost touch them... but at the end of the day, you're glad you're only reading about it. Furthermore, they are so easy to relate to, despite the fact that they were living out their lives 40 years before today; before I'm living out mine. They had flaws, fears, critical parents, snotty brothers, peer pressure, unruly children, friends, enemies, flawed marriages, broken hearts... and while it made you connect and thus emmerse yourself in the story, it also makes you realize that all the racism was ridiculous. We aren't that different at all.

I also love that, after reading all of that, you find out that Mrs. Stockett herself grew up with a maid, and that she wrote this partly because she realized she never thanked her own help as a child. It makes everything ring a little sweeter.

WHAT'S BAD.

There isn't a whole lot. Some of the situations can make you quite angry, but honestly, the "worst" thing about it is, once you read it, it's difficult to find another book to follow it with. It is just so good and well written that anything you read will be lacking, simply because it's not this.

I've found it very difficult to get into my second book for my 11 in 2011 challenge...

CONCLUSION.

I recommend The Help to anyone and everyone, regardless of whether or not you like to read. It is a quick read - you will not be able to put it down - but also engaging and thought provoking. It will open your eyes to a lot of things, and at the very least, make you thank the stars we were born today, and not back then... that we are living in a time where people who treat others like lesser beings are the ones frowned upon, not the other way around. And it is a beautiful window to a time when black women were good enough to raise your children, but not to sit and eat with you.

If you haven't read this, pick up your copy today! Also, be sure to check out the movie, due in theaters this coming August. 

No really, they are.

It is nearing the end of January now and I am still working on The 11th Hour... which is to be expected. My ETC was the end of January... problem is, I don't think I'm all that close to finishing.

And the main problem is, the story is getting stale. Not that the writing is getting bad or the idea is losing its luster, but just that I can't bring these characters to life like I could before.

It's really disheartening... but it's also giving me a kick in the pants to just finish the first draft. FINISH IT! Partly because I want to get this done, so I can edit it and move on towards getting it published, and also because I've had an idea for another story, and I would like to explore that.

But I'm also at a point in the story that is very difficult to write, and it's hard to push forward knowing that 90% of what you've written is going to get cut in the second draft. But I think it's almost done. I think I'm close to the end, and that's reassuring.

I'm not sure... I just don't think I was entirely prepared to push through the post-NaNo slump. It's definitely been a learning experience.

If you grew up when I did, or have a child that grew up when I did, you probably recognize R.L. Stine from Goosebumps fame. I loved those books! But what you may not know is that R.L. Stine had another series of books, known as the Fear Street Saga. There are many different people this Saga follows, but they're all set in the same place (not the same time, mind you), and follow the same character: an ancient evil spirit that likes to kill people. It can't kill on its own, however. It needs to possess someone who can help it do its killing.

I'm not sure how we came to own them, but when I was younger my brother and I stumbled across The Fear Street Cheerleaders Trilogy. This was before I knew what a blog was, I want to say before the internet even... when pretty much all of my free time was spent reading. There were only three of them then: The First Evil, the Second Evil, and the Third Evil. Now there are two more: The New Evil (which I may have read, now that I'm picking through it) and The Evil Lives! (which I know I haven't read).

The Cheerleaders Trilogy follows Bobby and Corky Corcoran. It starts with them trying out for the Shadyside High Cheerleading Squad, which a good number of the squad members are against (the squad was filled in the Spring and it just isn't fair, as Kimmy incessantly puts it). The girls not only earn spots on the squad, but the jealousy of a good number of the other girls (being the stereotypical, knock-out, blonde cheerleader will do that)! Then, horrible things start to happen, starting with a bus accident that leaves Cheerleading Captain Jennifer face down (and presumed dead) on Sarah Fear's grave! It's up to the Corcoran sisters to find out the source of the bad things, and make Shadyside safe again!

I know what you're thinking, and yes. It is kind of cheesy. But there is one death scene that has always stuck with me, and I needed a book to be my first purchase on my new Kindle, so I found The First Evil and downloaded it. And when I finished that, and I bought the Second Evil. And when I finished that, I hesitated... but ended up buying the Third Evil. I read them so fast, it was crazy. And they weren't all that much worse than they were when I was a kid.

The books play off of stereotypes a lot (the perfect blonde cheerleaders, the captain dating the quarterback of the football team, everyone's boyfriends are super good looking, etc. etc), but considering they were written in 1992, I'm willing to give Mr. Stine a pass. And he didn't focus solely on stereotypes. Kimmy Bass, the Cheerleader co-captain (and eventual captain) is a bigger girl, with crimped black hair and an easily reddened face, and Debra Kern is a girl with cold eyes that seldom smiles... strange for a cheerleader (something the book never fails to point out). I also don't think that a lot of attention was paid to how much time passed between books or murders (for instance, the Cheerleaders tend to have a lot of Spring tryouts... and a lot of springs!).

But for the most part, they're good reads. Quick, but attention grabbing. Unlike their Goosebump counterparts, Fear Street books have no qualms against killing characters, and you learn early on that no one is safe from the ancient evil. They're also marketed like murder mysteries, compelling the reader to try and figure out who is doing the murders, and how to stop them.

The fact that these books were just as interesting to me the second time through as they were the first means they're quite good reads (at least in my opinion), and I encourage everyone to check them out!

December 1st. 24 days till Christmas, 29 days till 2011. Winter is here at last and - for those of us that decided to be insane for a month - so is the end of NaNoWriMo!

I know I was horrible about keeping you all updated on my progress, but this year was way more hectic than last year, so I figure I'll just take this time to sort of recap the whole experience... and what an experience it was!

Week 1 (Nov 1-7): Getting started was difficult. The first day of November, for whatever reason, was trying, and I don't think I got any writing done that day. The whole first week was discouraging, to be honest. I was behind on my word count week after week because I just could not find time to write. Day 1 I should have had 2K, and I had 0. Day 2 I should have had 4K, and I think I had about 500. So on and so forth so that by Thursday, I was a whole 7 or 8K in the hole.

And when I did get the chance to write, the words just wouldn't come, and I couldn't figure out why. I knew my idea inside and out, I knew my characters, and I had a basic outline of what I wanted to do, but it just wasn't working. Astrid was talking to me easy enough, as was Colin, but Kara was giving me a bit of attitude and Caleb just was not giving me anything to work with. I hadn't even dealt with Haylie yet, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I entertained the idea of dropping out a number of times, but one thing kept me going: the opening. It's difficult for me to be impressed by my writing, but I loved my opening, and so did a few friends who read it. My writing has improved, and I felt I owed it to myself to at least see to it that this story, in its entirety, saw the light of day. That's difficult, however, when you're close to 10K behind.

Week 2 (Nov 8 - 14): I tried something different for week 2. Instead of jumping head first into my writing and forcing each word onto the paper, I stepped back and did something that has always helped clear my mind: I read. I had started Stephen King's On Writing prior to NaNo, and didn't finish it until a couple days into week 2. Not only did that help clear my mind, but it gave me a few ideas as to why my characters weren't talking to me.

For starters, I was thinking about it too much. I was focusing on following the outline I had put together so closely that I forgot the point was to tell a story. I was treating my characters like literary objects, and not as people... which is what they are. It's what they have to be, if your story is going to capture anyone. Once I accepted them and my story for what it was, the words came a little easier.

It was during this week that I found my muse, as well. Everyone's is different, and it doesn't always have to be an actual person. A lot of times, a muse is just a part of yourself that will help you to flesh out ideas, get your characters to talk, and keep the story moving along. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's an extra personality, because it isn't that. It's just the thing that answers back when you ask yourself, what do I do now? Where is this going? Why is this character acting the way they are?

My muse happens to be quite rude, and a bit sassy. But he kept the words coming.

The other thing that changed how I write was the release of the Doctor Who Season 5 soundtrack. Murray Gold is responsible for a lot of my week 2 writing getting done. It's incredibly difficult to not be creative when listening to his arrangements.

Week 3 (Nov 15 - 21): At this point, my characters have figured out who they are, and it doesn't really matter if I know anymore. They know, and my muse knows, and once that happens, you might as well buckle up because author or not, you're along for the ride just like everyone else.

This was the week my characters started doing things they weren't supposed to. Such a thing is frustrating in it's own right, but pretty amazing, too. It's like meeting a new friend and learning stuff about them.

The story itself began to take on a life of its own, as well. I knew the basic idea of what I wanted, but filling in the blanks was fun because I had no idea what to expect. The basic "he said but he's a liar" idea I had evolved into a full on conspiracy, and my characters began to interact and build off each others strengths and weaknesses. Writing became less about the daily word goal and more about finding out what happens next.

I kept up my reading as well, and tore through Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil like it was nothing. I stuck mostly to non-fiction, so as to not subconsciously rip off anything from any fiction pieces I might have read. I was about 5K ahead of the set NaNo goal by the end of the week.

I didn't notice.

Week 4 (Nov 22-30): I was within spitting distance of 50K by Thanksgiving, and actually reached the goal by Saturday.

By this point, I'm hardly even aware of the word count. I don't think to verify that I've won until a couple days later. I am that involved in the story. I begin to stress over the well being of characters I like, begin to get angry and characters I hate. It is not unlike reading.

My music has shifted from Matt Nathanson, Francesca Battisteli, Laura Marling, The Hush Sound, etc. to Ludovico Einaudi, Helen Jane Long, Murray Gold, David Nevue, Laura Sullivan, Loreena McKennit, etc.

The conspiracy has now come full circle, and everything is starting to click into place. But the story is far from over. There is still a long way to go with this... however, I have now invested a month and nearly 60,000 words in it. I am more likely than not going to finish it.

I have started three other books, bringing my "currently reading" total to 4. They are all works of fiction. I simply cannot stay away from it. But they are not similar types of fiction to the one that I'm writing, so I think I'm safe.

What's more is, writing this has ignited a bit of a fire under last year's NaNo, which has been sitting in limbo for a year now. Once the first draft of this is over, I plan on editing that. And once I'm done editing that, I should be refreshed enough to start my second draft... a process I'm really looking forward to.

But first things first, I need to finish the first draft.

Congratulations to everyone who completed their goal! I hope you recognize how amazing it is to have written 50K in just 30 days!! And thank you to everyone who kept me going, pushed me on, and told me my opening - or any bit, really - of my story was good.

Special super uber thanks to Jordan and Stephanie, without whose encouragement I would have quit.You guys are awesome, and I could never put into words how awesome, but just know. Just know. You are awesome. Also, a shout out to Jevonne, who engaged me in a word war, pushing me over 50K in no time. I am e-mailing you what came of that, I promise!!! XD

And now, for those of you that may want a taste of The 11th Hour, here is the first draft of my opening (under the cut). Enjoy! [WARNING: mild language]

It's been a while since I said anything about NaNo. In fact, it's been since November 1st... and that post was scheduled and written ahead of time so in reality, it's been longer than that. XD

Basically, it's going well. I'm having to struggle to catch up on the weekends, but hopefully this week (week 3) will go much better (not as many extra curriculars). As far as word count goes, I'm at about 30K. The 2K a word day thing is working out pretty well... except for when I fall behind and end up having to pen something like 6-8K in one day, lol.

As far as story, I'm fairly impressed. It's just a first draft, so don't expect to read it in entirety (save for like, one person), before the second draft is written. But things seem to be moving along quite well. The uncovering of the conspiracy - which is what I was most worried about when coming up with this idea - is coming along swimmingly. And my writing itself has improved.

My characters have decided to take on a life of their own. When crafting them, I had a small idea about each of them, but each has changed in interesting ways. Astrid is far more mentally unstable than I thought she would be, Colin is an introvert, Kara's slightly immature, Caleb has a stick up his butt and I absolutely detest Haylie. Even Samuel is a bit of a jerk, but he hasn't been in the spotlight as much as the others have. He may change once I get to know him better.

My "villains" have yet to really be in the spotlight, but I like the Reckoning, at least. They seem to be coming along just as solid as Team CHECK. As for Nicolae, still not sure about him. He'll probably be something that needs a lot more revision in the second draft. As of right now, he's a pretty bad dude but I don't know a lot about him. I'm hoping that will become clear later on but, I don't really know.

The most fun part about the whole thing is finding connections in the conspiracy along with the characters. There are a few things they uncovered that I didn't know they would uncover (if you're a writer, that will make sense. If not, well, just smile and nod your head lol), and I got seriously excited over some of them. One of which was the introduction of a character from my last NaNo. O_O

As stressful as it has been at times, I'm having a LOT of fun putting this all together. One thing is for certain, though... I'm more than halfway done with the 50K goal and I'm nowhere near half way through the story. The game hasn't even started yet.

I'm really excited to see how this turns out, once it's all said and done. I feel like reading On Writing right before starting this was a really good step towards getting serious about it.

If you want to check up a bit more on my progress, feel free to do so! Here is my NaNoWriMo profile. The synopsis is updated, and there's a small excerpt!! :D

The thing that really makes me dwell on an idea; that really makes me want to spend time on a seed and see if it will sprout is the presence of a solid character. This character doesn't need a face, s/he doesn't need a name or an age... but the presence needs to be there. There needs to be potential for something strong. A powerful character/cast of characters will help you build the world they live in, and are probably the key components to having a story that will hook and impress. Regardless of how long I've been working at it; whether I've been planning a story for a year or a day, the presence of a strong character makes it stick. The development of said character is the part I enjoy the most, because it is one of the purest forms of creation/discovery I've ever experienced.

Imagine you're walking down a damp street at night. You've had a bad day at work, the air is cold, and all you can think about is getting home and going to bed and disappearing from the world for at least 8 hours. As you're walking, you pass a wall covered with posters promoting some generic something or other that you couldn't care less about. But as you're about to turn the corner onto your street, you notice one of the posters is not secured down and you can see something peeking out from underneath. Your curiosity gets the best of you, and you begin picking at the poster. It begins to pull away and underneath is a half finished mural. The more you reveal, the more excited you get. You begin tearing feverishly at the posters and, once a large enough portion is revealed, you begin to add to it. This would look better if you added this, and oh look if I reveal this piece than it makes this make more sense, and if I add this it all ties together... and before long the cold is not irritating but revitalizing, and the smell of rain is on fire in your nostrils and nothing at all could ever tear you away from this mural until you've finished. That's what it feels like when you start developing a solid character. The entire story feeds off of itself, and the whole thing started from this vague blob of a presence.

For The 11th Hour, that vague blob became Astrid Miller, and Astrid was born from a memory I had from Montana. Camden had left his shoes at the bottom of the hill and made me go down and get them and on my way up he said "HURRY UP UP UP!" My response was "hey, you don't get to tell me how fast to climb up this hill, I'm down here because of you!" And that right there was Astrid. She was meant to be the main character of my Under the Tuscan Sun idea, and stuck around as I melted all three ideas into one. The 11th Hour was the vehicle, and Astrid was the driver.

The best thing about a solid character is, 9 times out of 10, they talk to you. I realize that makes me sound insane but what I mean is... characters are constructed out of a number of things, not the least of which are environment, emotion, and social interaction. Inspiration for each of these traits can come from anywhere, and what it means to have a character talk to you is... say you're just listening to music, and you come across a song that has a certain mood to it, a certain sound, and suddenly, you feel like the character is saying "hey hey this is my theme song". The lyrics of that song, the mood, those then help solidify your character. The more definitive your character gets, the easier it is to build a world that could deal with her. If your character is this strong, than your world needs to oppress her this much, etc. etc.

The most important thing to focus on is his/her voice. A character needs a voice. This is, in a way, the essence of the character. It portrays how they interact with others/the world around them. It is effected by their past and will effect their future. One of the best ways I've found to solidify a character voice is through dialogue. This also happens to be my favorite way to fish for supporting characters. Basically, you just think of scenarios and adjust how your character would react. If Person X said this, your character would respond how? Stuff like that. Once you have a pretty good idea of their voice - it is important to realize that a character's voice will probably never be complete until the novel is complete - then you can start focusing on their physical attributes.

I've found the easiest way to solidify a character physically is to jot down or sketch out an idea of what the character would look like, and then "cast" them. For instance, given the voice and idea I had for Astrid, I used actress Odette Yustman to solidify her. She fit the character perfectly, and made it so that I could visualize her while constructing her. Then, if your story calls for it, you construct the character's background.

This, to me, is also very important. It seems silly to quote a children's movie, but I'm often reminded of Mater's line from Cars: "Don't gotta know where I'm going, just gotta know where I've been." This is the simplest way I can think to explain why character backgrounds are so important to me. Usually, the novel itself will serve as the move forward. You can outline and have an ultimate idea of where the character will end up, but your character will have a difficult time figuring out where they're going if you have no idea where they've been and what they've been through. This does not have to be specific. You just need to have an idea of what they went through; in Astrid's case, it was one idea. Her parents were murdered by the current dictator, and she wanted revenge.

At this point in development, steps start overlapping. Voice helps solidify background which finds new music to help solidify voice which finds even more music which adds to the background which adds to the voice, which effects social interaction, which helps develop other characters and solidify their voice, etc. etc. It is this fashion in which the story itself begins to develop: characters help create the world which creates the circumstances that help create the characters that create events and places that help further construct the world that further solidifies characters that create circumstances, etc. etc.

Finally, when I feel a character can stand on its own two feet, I write out character bios, organizing all the ideas and creating this person that, if alive in this world, would more than likely blend right in and whose life is intricately woven one way or the other with the life/lives of someone else.

And just the feeling of finishing the last paragraph and looking at where that character started - as this vague blob of nothing - and seeing what it's become... well, it's like pure creation, and there is truly nothing like it.

**A/N: This was originally written and posted to Facebook, before LR was resurrected. I am re-posting it here for those that do not have me on Facebook.

Some of you may remember that last November I attempted to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). The goal was to write a 50K/100pg novel in a month, and I actually succeeded. It was stressful and tiring but also so much fun, and I feel I learned a lot as a writer.

As narcissistic as it may sound, I feel like I've improved as a writer over the past year and, while I am quite proud of my 2009 accomplishment, a mere 100 pages does not qualify as a novel. It's more the length of a short story, to be honest. And that's fine; it was my first year attempting NaNoWriMo, I wasn't sure of the rules, and I didn't have an idea until October. Not much time to really flesh it out.

My initial idea was to redo the story I did last year: edit it, elaborate certain areas, make it more in depth and make it an actual novel. This was mostly based on the fact that I loved my characters from last years novel. They were easily the strongest and most realistic characters I had ever created... but while I enjoyed writing the story, the idea of redoing it became less and less appealing as time came on. First of all, I'm pretty sure it's against the rules (even though plenty of people do just that every year). Second of all, part of the fun of writing is creating all new worlds, and I wasn't sure I'd have the motivation to finish if I was using a story that already had an ending. The idea to rewrite A Fine Line was quickly scrapped.

My next idea was to write something that sort of paid homage to one of my favorite books, Under the Tuscan Sun. I had never written a story completely in first person before, and the idea was very appealing. I also enjoyed the challenge of trying to paint a portrait with words. Imagery is a subtle art and I wanted to try my hand at it. But, again, as time went on, the idea of a story of someone who was spending some time at some beautiful place became frightfully dull. There was no conflict and the thought of turning it into some romance/drama seemed to be ripping far too much off of UTTS.

So I decided to try my hand at something I had only minimally attempted over the past year: a zombie story. It was clear to me - as I am sure it is to many of you - that zombies are being too overused, but I think that's because people focus too much on the monster aspect and not enough on the psychological and environmental aspects of a zombie-ridden, post-apocalyptic paradise. The p-a setting has always been of great interest to me; I feel that, if used correctly, such a desolate world can be utilized to conduct an engaging character study. When there's nothing to lose and fear/adrenaline are at their highest, people can do surprising things. Things that seem taboo in normal society - murder, looting, torture, etc - can become second nature when protecting oneself/loved ones.

And then this little gem began to blossom. The first thought was: what if I take the monster aspect out, and just deal with the psychological and environmental aspects?

This sent me back to my UTTS idea. There were a lot of aspects in that particular idea I wanted to hold onto, and possibly combine with this one. And once more thought was applied to the idea, I realized I could combine bits and pieces of each story:

• Strong, solid characters like those in A Fine Line
• First person/imagery like in the Under the Tuscan Sun idea
• Post/Pre-Apocalyptic setting/psychological and environmental stress from the zombie idea.

I became very excited about this idea. If I played my cards right, I would have the chance of writing the story I always wanted: A suspenseful character study/mystery. All I needed was some reason for the people in my story to realistically accept taboo acts as every day tasks.

It took a bit of work, but I have finally constructed an idea that I am excited about/ready to write.

The 11th Hour is set in a futuristic America in which society has declined rather than progressed. President Cain (a man that is more dictator than president) has split the citizens into two groups and convinced the poorer citizens that their predicament is of their own doing, preaching self help but not providing any real way for them to actually help themselves. He keeps the richer citizens well fed and provides a fixed game for the poorer, offering them a way out of their predicament but never intending to deliver, and thus keeping order. By convincing them to help themselves, they have forgotten the power in helping each other.

Or so he thinks.

I'm still working on certain aspects, but for the most part, I have a pretty good idea of how I want it to work, and I am simply waiting for November to get here so I can start writing. The goal is 50K words in a month, but I don't intend to stop there. I'm in this for the long haul - an actual novel. 300 pages minimum.

While I can't start writing until November, I have been able to create a few character bios, and play around with a few "viral" techniques. I'll include links to each at the end of this note.

This is in no way only a note for those that are tagged; the people tagged in this are simply the ones who let me know a while ago that they wanted to be tagged when I talked about my NaNo idea. I am open to questions/suggestions from everyone. So bring 'em on: What do you think?