Story Matters

Okay, so I am one of those crazy writers in the middle of NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Yes, I am in the process of writing a 50,000 word novel (or more accurately a first draft of a novel) over the course of a single 30-day month. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again.

While I’m writing, I’ll be listening to great music, eating too much good food, and drinking too much coffee. I’ll be doing my share of procrastinating by cleaning house and decorating for the holidays. I’ll be doing a little exercise, emphasis on little. I’ll be waking early and staying up late.

What will all this do to my nerves? It will, of course, wreak havoc on them. And in the mess of frayed emotions and heightened senses, I’ll find inspiration to make my story real and deep.

I will tap into the frustration and anger and pour that into the conflict between my dear characters. I will steep myself in adrenalin and feel it in the fight scenes. I’ll allow the exhaustion of the day overtake me and my heroine as she discovers that all is lost. I will let the emotions flow through my fingers and onto the page.

Why will I go through all of this for an act of fiction? Because the ingredient of truth makes every novel better. It will connect the reader to characters. It will make them crave one more page…

And honestly, with the holidays I’ll be going through all of this craziness anyway. I might as well use it for good, right?

While I’m writing, I probably won’t focus too much on Toasting the Cinema, unless something just really blows me away with inspiration. Thank you for being patient with me. If you have a minute, leave me a comment about your favorite movies and how they make you feel. Tell me about how those emotions connect you to the story. 2013-ML-Facebook-Profile

For more information about NaNoWriMo, visit http://nanowrimo.org/. It’s not to late to get involved and/or donate to the cause!

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