These Are My JOTtings...

It's Nearly Time to Get My Prose On!

In just a few days I will be beginning my first NaNoWriMo Challenge.

The thought is both exhilarating and the temptation to be terrified that I won't do it perfectly. There you see my weakness. I have tried to do everything I do...from childhood...as close to perfection as is humanly possible.

I don't suppose anyone in their right mind expects any writer to write a perfect novel in 30 days, nor in any length of time for that matter. Yet, I hope it is not just me. I hope I'm not the only human, who fights irrational thoughts, when attempting something new that for all intents and purposes is, indeed, a huge challenge.

As the old saying goes, “It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” ― Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own (Thanks, Tom! It's BIG of you to say so.)

In many ways this blog post is a test case. I want to find out how long it takes to write 1000 words, when I'm just talking "off the top of my head." (So far I'm about a fifth of the way there in ten minutes. The parenthetical statement bumped it up over 200 words.)

That's where blog post writing and novel writing diverge. As a talker I can probably speak as many as 20,000 to 30,000 words on a typical day of teaching. That's significantly above average for men and women according to one study. “We found that there was no significant gender difference whatsoever,” Dr. Mehl said. On average, women speak 16,215 words per day and men speak 15,669 words per day. However, Dr. Mehl says that the mean is not the best descriptor of this distribution—the distribution for this study was huge. One person used an estimated 795 words on average per day (an abstract in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one at night, Dr. Mehl jokes), while another used almost 47,000 words (both the least and the most talkative participant were men). However, the distributions were normal for both sexes and averaged out to have no statistical difference." https://ubrp.arizona.edu/study-finds-no-difference-in-the-amount-men-and-women-t...

The truth is what we all know. Humans are individuals. We are each unique humans in every aspect of life. Some little humans come out of the womb vocalizing like magpies, seagulls, ("Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!..." Think Finding Nemo,) and babbling brooks. However, there are other little humans, who tend to be of the quieter set to the point that they cause concern over whether or not they are deaf or autistic. When they are older and learn to talk,...finally,...years later we learn the truth. "Yes. I can hear you fine. I didn't talk because I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't have anything to say to you." (Rarely will anyone say it with that much clarity, but that is consistently the Bottom Line.)

Keeping count? 531 so far...Halfway home to 1000 words. By the way I guess I cheated a little, since I have two separate quotes in that section, but as a researcher I expect to be Googling often to check my facts as I write the NaNoWriMo novel.

Another aspect of my concern over writing this novel is my ability to use imagery. As you have seen in this post I have no trouble telling you what I think. However, I do have more than a few challenges in making you to "smell the coffee."

WOW! That IS an excellent subject! Can you tell the difference between tiny Costa Rican Peaberries, HUGE Elephant bean (Maragogipe = pronounced "Mah-rah-GO-hee-Pay",) dark roast, medium roast, light roast or Breakfast Blend?

For that matter, do you have a nose for tea? I love Twinings Orange & Cinnamon Spice, which I've affectionately dubbed, "A Cup of Christmas." Do you enjoy Chai, whether Apple Spice Chai, Pumpkin Spice Chai or Ultra Chai, (which I think means, "More of everything")?

728 words. We're on our way!

Speaking of spice,...what if we all got together to commission an updated version of the Spice Girls. (Please forgive me for being slightly un-PC on a couple of points with the intent of "good-natured" humor. I mean no unkindness.) However, here goes...

If we chose to call the original ladies to reform themselves, which one could suppose they would have to reform themselves in order to reform themselves.

This especially applies to Ginger Spice, who left the group in the first place. However, in recent developments it would appear that she has reformed herself in significant ways. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/06/geri-halliwell-apologizes-for-leaving-s...

Two decades later would they have to be called, "The Old Spice Girls"? Hopefully not, that would be too confusing, since my Dad's favorite fragrance, during my childhood was Old Spice.

Now to bring coffee, tea and The Spice Girls together in the same paragraph. Around this time of year every year I think that there needs to be another Spice Girl, named Pumpkin Spice, but who would play that part? Brunnhilde and Kate Smith are not available. Finally, the perfect choice has been located. Just call "Fat Amy" of Pitch Perfect fame. (Again, no ill intent is present in the use of the term, since that is the character's actual stage name or moniker.)

970 words, if anyone is still reading.

The point I am trying to make in this silly little "chasing of mental rabbits" is that I can probably put down the recommended 1000 to 1500 words per day by writing for about an hour, but will these words be polished or even edifying.

(At 190 pounds I have been consistently 20-30 extra pounds, since Jade Amber Jewel was born. Therefore, I have no room to talk, regarding weight. My "plays on words" were intended to make people laugh. I pray no one here on WDC has taken a lasting offense at these jokes. Besides, at 30+years of marriage and nearly six decades of life complete, I am gaining more experience with the term, "OLD," every passing day.)

1097 words of sheer verbiage,...and...still...I write.

When it comes to "fluff talk," few can beat me at this skill. I love to start conversations in the car on long trips that are little more than humorous banter on a single subject, which is in keeping with "Anybody Want a Peanut?" from The Princess Bride. Fezzig, André, the Giant's character, has this lovable but irritating ability to rhyme everything anybody else says, until Vizzini, Wallace Shawn's character, has had enough, saying, "Stop it! I mean it!" To which Fezzig responds, "Anybody want a peanut?" Followed by the hilarious, "ARGHHHH!!!" from Vizzini.

Of course, in our conversations it is usually something simple like the subject of "fish," in which everyone "tells a whale of a story," until we "reel it in," if it "doesn't flounder" somewhere at the "end of the pole."

1224 words approaching an hour and a half...

Every day for 30 days I must write between 1000 to 1500 words of my own creation.
I can't poke fun at anybody but myself, if I succeed or if I fail.
The story will be my own.
The thoughts will be telling or they will be showing.
The words will be substantial or they will be fluff.
The reader will be able to taste, to smell, to hear, to see or to touch my characters
and the world into which I place them.

Do I have what it takes to write a novel,...
a good novel,...
a great novel,...
an excellent novel...?

1355 words...Just a few more to go for the day...

Is it realistic to hope that I can be another Charles Martin one day?
Can I imitate C. S. Lewis?
Can I burrow my way into a Hobbit hole with J. R. R. Tolkien?

Is the name Jay O'Toole or Stan Haselton good enough
to make it onto the shelf of a bookstore somewhere?

I hope I'm not the only one to ever wrestle with internal questions as the attempt at greatness is pursued.

How does one become a great writer?

I would suppose...by writing...one...word...at...a...time.

1466 words... O, well, almost there. That would have been a great last line. If only...

Isn't that part of writing? The writer must know when to stop and when to press on ahead. For me,...for today,...it was simply a matter of getting to 1500 words for the purpose of seeing how much space that takes in the writing window and in the word document as well as how many minutes I must use to write 1500 words at my fastest pace. This will be a baseline for daily activities of the month upcoming.

This exercise has taken a little less than two hours of fairly consistent writing.

As a runner (and now as a walker) I have to pace myself. Five miles a day is doable, but I have to rest or it will take a toll. Keeping the mind running is even more challenging. As a writer and as a student I have often said, "Brain Tired makes you tireder than Body Tired." That might be a little dicey, grammatically, but it makes great sense,...if you get the concept...because you have to experience it to fully understand it.

WORD!!!!

1685 words
Just under two hours

by Jay O'Toole
on October 29th, 2017