Went to the AuNoWriMo kickoff.  I was impressed by the number of folks there.  Lots of information kind of thrown at you.  Not bad, just not as useful as it could have been.  Of course, my inability to find a parking place and showing up 30 minutes late didn’t help.

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So as usual, I am having trouble with beginning.  The process I am going through now is to use the book Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schmidt to help me get started.  I have read throught it once, and found it quite helpful in understanding how to plot out a story.  Unfortunately, it won’t make my choices for me.  Too bad.

She poses a number of questions that should be asked.

1. What dramatic throughline should I use?
2. What type of conflict works for my story?
3. What genre should I select?
4. What structure model works best?
5. How many situations will I use?
6. How much research should I conduct?

I’m going to try most of these questions over the next week.  I’d like to have some sort of plot before I start writing.

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Well, I’m getting everything set up for my possibly foolish but exciting attempt at writing a novel. NaNoWriMo is a month long world wide exercise in creative no holds barred writing.
I’ve set this blog up to be a place to let off steam, record my thoughts, and provide a way to record my progress both for myself and for those who care about me. I expect that I may be a bit thrashed as I go through this, and I’m betting I won’t remember how I feel as I go if I don’t record it

I’ll probably record other things as I go. Thoughts on systems administration, on leadership, on religion, on politics, and on anything else that interests me. Hopefully, it will keep me sane through November.

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