And There They Sat.....

41,670 words later, smiling and nodding to each other. Huhn?

Oh, 'scuse me. I'm just back from a five-and-a-half-hour stint of "NaNo-ing" at Starbucks, and that's my word count. That means I'm 8,330 words from The End. Yes indeedy, ladies and gennulmens, I do believe that I am going to WIN the 2008 NaNoWriMo. I think that I AM going to have written a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. And I have to say, "novel" is going to be the word for it, as in "odd", "unique", "unusual"....crappy.

The story line (oh, is there a story line?) is thin. It if stood sideways in a strong wind, it would be invisible. Point of view? Oh, yeah, there should be one. The action should be seen through the eyes of somebody, preferably a character in the story. Or the "omniscient narrator". Can't say as there's any such thing here.

Continuity? Hmmm....credibility? Uhnnn...naw. But I think that somewhere, amidst the blathering of the various characters and general "descriptizing", there may be a beginning, a middle, and....hopefully...an end. I think there are occasional moments, periodic phrases, which might be worth salvaging with an eye to putting them in somewhere to good effect.

I like the scene where the girl (who has never had a baby) breastfeeds the infant, and the milk is so copious as to run from the corners of the wee lips. Sounds like the King had a nice wedding. Some of the scenery isn't bad. The image of the fat kitty, tucked up in meatloaf mode on the back of the sweet little ewe is endearing (at least in my mind).

Where am I right now? Well, let's see....everyone is just leaving church, having all sworn to protect and defend, not only the foundling princess but all of the children, every woman, and themselves. Interesting: when the Da and the priest laid it on them that the child they'd seen these ten years, friend of their own children, comforter of the sick, &c --was in fact a foundling who might, in fact, be the very princess they've been ordered to return to the King or folks would die.......didn't seem to phase anyone.

I now have 8,000 words in which to get her to the castle (with the priest, he has to go with her); she'll then have to find out what's wrong with each of the ladies-in-waiting, shear her instant-grow-back sheep's fleece, wash, card and spin it into mighty fine yarn........and knit it into magical garments which will heal each of the ladies. How will she diagnose them?

Well, conveniently, her cat can eavesdrop on them, and find out. Of course, he hasn't said a word up to this point; he's been a lovely animal but manifested no hint of Disneyism, by way of chatting her up. How's he going to do that, then? Good question. So glad you asked. I'll just be getting back to you on that one.

She's then going to have to knit up the precise little magical piece to cure, heal, and fix each one (I can only assume that she's making small things - quick knits).

OK, so then they're all fixed. Aaaaannnnddd??? Well, somewhere along the line, the Spell Will Be Broken. Everyone enchanted will resume his or her normal shape, all will be revealed, and everyone will Live Happily Ever After. That's what I think is going to happen. On the other hand, just read it along with me, we might both be surprised. {G}

But you know what? I WON! Already!! Because I HAVE written, if not every single day then enough on the other days to make up for it. And it's fun just spewing, and I'm going to relish checking it out afterward; I'll print it up (on scratch paper) just to see the whole thing. And when all is said and done, and NaNoWriMo 2008 is over, I will still have the experience of spending real time at the keyboard. I'll be able to tape something on the teevee instead of watching.......or forego it altogether. And this is a good thing.

Who'd a thunk it? (I wonder, does this give me the right to call myself a Novelist? Even though it's a quantity-only effort?)