Tag: NaNoWriMo

The Aztec Gold, Diamond Dogs, and Political Witchcraft Surrounding Watergate: are conspiracy theories symptoms or causes of fractious times? Arguably both, but forty-five years on this tale connecting Watergate, David Bowie, hidden treasure and (of course) JFK seems more a snapshot of the various mental gymnastics people employed to make sense of the year immediately before Nixon’s impeachment than anything that has (much) basis in fact. Plus cheezy 1970s print ads, including an early incarnation of The Gap.

Play about Elizabeth Bathory at Minnesota Fringe Fest: my Google alerts find me the oddest goodies. Also of relevance to readers of this blog, the article also summarizes shows built around “NaNoWriMo naughty bits” and “spells cast through dance and storytelling.”

More theater: Back to the Tudors as six wives and Queen Liz rock Edinburgh: this time from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Tudor period is well-trod territory for drama but these are contemporary musical designed “to challenge the US smash hit Hamilton.” Think they can take on Lin-Manuel Miranda?

Detectorist thought Elizabethan gold ring ‘was ring-pull’: my grandfather used to take his metal detector every year to the beach, but he never found anything like this! The signet ring is expected to sell for £7,500 to £10,000.

weathered brass ring with engraved eagle on the oval face
Brass, not gold, this is Elizabethan poet/playwright William Strachey’s ring, found at Historic Jamestowne. Via, and more source/credit information at the link.

NaNowriMo?

It’s impossible to write without considering National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I’m new enough to serious writing that I’ve never participated before and I’m getting encouragement from all quarters to give it a try. It DOES sound like a good way to get words down, but I have to ask – does it really count if I’m just doing prep/background?

Don’t misunderstand me: I will still be writing key scenes for the novel and doing exercises to improve in general but I’m in no way ready to force a multi-thousand word first draft.

Part of this is because I’ve not completed my timeline of the historical events on which I’m basing my story. These cover 6 years and several countries, and while I already know I’m going to have to deviate from the reality to make a ripping yarn, I want to have this complete before I start the main writing so I know exactly how and where I’m breaking off from fact.

Figuring out a compelling story arc is the other problem. History seldom unfolds in a tidy seven-point story structure or the like, so once I have the fact down I have to hammer it into a readable fiction.

As such I’m going to end up doing more of a NaNoOutlineMo/NaNoResearchMo in order to get everything lined up. I suppose this is illustrative of how much writing doesn’t have much to do with actual writing, at least when I’m not done with my research.