Guest Blogger for NaNo - Alex Cole

I've been working hard to find some other viewpoints that I can share with my readers for the upcoming National Novel Writing Month challenge that begins November 1. I have found some guest bloggers who have agreed to share their NaNo prep and NaNo writing adventures. 

Earlier this month when I released my compilation of short stories I heard from my Number 1 Fan, Alex Cole (my cousin). Alex has always been curious about writing and has in the past asked about my writing process. I convinced him to try NaNo out and to share his experience with me in blog posts. Here's the first!

This first sample he's sent me belies his capabilities and experience. Having graduated from West Point and served as an officer in the armored cavalry,  . . . not to mention being a new father, . . . he certainly has more than 50,000 words worth of stories in him. I look forward to his next post and seeing what he produces!

Well, I guess this is happening. I am gearing up for my first National Novel Writing Month, which means I have no idea what I am getting myself into. I don’t think I wrote 50,000 words in four years of college. But I couldn’t say no because Dick was so enthusiastic about it. His optimism and motivation are infectious, but I hope he knows that he has to keep me motivated and accountable as the month rolls on. 

 

This type of endeavor is not typical for me. I am a very private person, so the idea of being vulnerable and putting a creation out into the world is terrifying. This will be a growth experience, and I’m already starting to broaden my horizons. 

As I start to brainstorm ideas, I am learning that the things I want to write about are the things that normally excite me. I am an avid military history student and find myself looking to the past for inspiration. However, I’ve surprised myself as well by considering other genres and finding story ideas in mundane things around me that are not my normal passions. 

I have also started thinking about my writing skills, finding my writing voice, coming up with an ideal story structure, character development, etc. I’ve even been asking myself questions like, “Can I realistically and convincingly write from the perspective of a young woman when I need to? Can I write about something I don’t know about? How do I learn to do that? How can I relate and connect to readers that are very different from me?”

I’m certain I am not the first NaNo participant to ask these questions of themselves, so I am in good company. So far, this journey has also brought me some joy and a new hobby to pass the day, which I am thankful for. More to follow.  

Emotional Intelligence 2.0

So, I haven't written much about first lines lately, because as I've said, I'm not reading for fun as much, and who really wants to hear a bunch of first lines from books on the theory of adult learning. But, first lines are still quite important, and I always look for them. 

The warm California sun greeted Butch Conner as he stepped out of his truck and onto the sands of Salmon Creek Beach. It was the first day of a long holiday weekend, and a perfect morning to grab his board and head out for a surf. Most of the other local surfers had the same idea that morning, and after 30 minutes or so, Butch decided to leave the crowd behind. He penetrated the water's surface with long, deep strokes that propelled him away from the pack and over to a stretch of beach where he could catch a few waves away from the crowd. 

Once Butch had paddled a good 40 yards away from the other surfers, he sat up on his board and bobbed up and down in the rolling swells while he waited for a wave that caught his fancy. A beautiful teal wave began to crest as it approached the shoreline, and as Butch lay down on his board to catch the wave, a loud splash behind him stole his attention. Butch glanced over his right shoulder and froze in horror at the sight of a 14-inch, gray dorsal fin cutting through the water toward him. Butch's muscles locked up, and he lay there in panic, gasping for air. He became hyper-focused on his surroundings; he could hear him his heart pounding as he watched the sun glistening on the fin's moist surface. 

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 - Travis Bradbery & Jean Greaves

So, for an adult learning and leadership book, non-fiction, it's not a bad start. And it only gets more exciting when the shark starts toying with him and trying to eat him. Emotional Intelligence is an area that I'm really looking forward to digging into. I read about it years ago, and I'm looking forward to finding out much more. 

NaNo Prep

 So, I freaked out the other night when I started planning some more for NaNo. Why? Cause I was supposed to find some time this week to write a bit. Did I? No. Why not? No idea. Why's this bad? Cause it's about to get worse.

The past few weeks I've been between classes. I had a week or so off and I wanted to take advantage of that. I failed. That transition time has come to an end, and now I'm looking at the amount of work I have during November and I'm FREAKING OUT!

Additionally, I thought this class ended the first week in January. The professor told us that nope, we would get it all done by the first week in November!!!

Work too is busy. Tons of projects all being run at once with no sight of letting up. Then there's the daily hoi polloi of school for kiddos, soccer for one, clubs for the other, family chores galore, and did I mention I'm doing a running challenge? Thank goodness that's almost over. But the only time I could find for running yesterday was 5:30 in the morning! Guess who was up at 5:30 running in the rain. 

November is a perfect storm of busy. 

I'll get through it. I have a plan. I spend two or three days (sometimes four) driving to work. Each drive to work is one hour there, one hour back. That's a lot of time to listen to music, listen to podcasts, call people, etc. Guess what else that time is perfect for? 

Right! Dictating novels for NaNo. 

I've done my first test. I'm completing the transcription tomorrow. I will say this, there is nothing quite so dorky as composing and writing a novel out loud as you drive. Dork or not, it will get done!!!

First Lines of Brookfields The Skillful Teacher

 As a continuation of my posts on the importance of and my reading of first lines (see here), I offer this from a recent book I read, Stephen Brookfield's, The Skillful Teacher. 

Passion, hope, doubt, fear, exhilaration, weariness, colleagueship, loneliness, glorious defeats, hollow victories, and, above all, the certainties of surprise and ambiguity; how on earth can a single word or phrase begin to capture the multilayered complexity of what it feels like to teach? Today's college classrooms are more diverse than ever before, and the explosion of online learning and social media has thrown traditional conceptions of college teaching out of the window. The truth is teaching is a gloriously messy pursuit in which shock, contradiction, and risk are endemic. Our lives as teachers often boil down to our best attempts to muddle through the complex contexts and configurations that our classrooms represent.

Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. Jossey-Bass Publishers.

So, just how does one begin a book on becoming a better, more skillful, college professor? I guess the above is as good as any, but the truth is, I just don't think it's that inspiring. Sadly, I didn't find the book itself much better than the first line.

First Line for Three Days

Lately I've been doing a lot of reading for work, a TON of reading for school, and just a little bit of reading for reviews, absolutely none (well, one) for fun. 

That being said I do get to review a couple of fiction books every now and then and I got to read this one. It took me a second or two to get into it, but when I did I enjoyed it enough to want to keep reading. I am never a fan of the dual perspective or dual POV style, but it was good enough to remark about. 

This is the first line. 

“Damn it,” I said under my breath when I realized I wasn’t going to have the comfort of a companionless flight. I was very much looking forward to reading my book. I did not want to engage in small talk with a stranger. But to my dismay, seconds before the plane door closed, a frenzied passenger rushed in and found his seat—right next to mine. 

I intentionally paid him little attention. I needed to send a clear message right from the start: I am a nontalking flight companion. Sometimes it’s just easier to be unfriendly than to find the energy to converse with others. 

Besides, not being able to get my book read, and therefore not finding out who is responsible for the murder of Janie, a seemingly innocent suburban wife and mother, who may or may not have been having an affair with her best friend’s husband—well, that was unacceptable. 

So, I kept my nose in my book and tried my damnedest to not acknowledge the man invading my space. I did notice, however, his scent. It wasn’t wholly unpleasant. This, unfortunately, was a little distracting, despite my resolve to not let him disturb me. At least he didn’t stink. Yes, that would be worse. I smiled coyly and continued ignoring him.

Wojciechowski, Michael. Three Days (p. 7). Black Rose Writing. Kindle Edition. 

Is it the best first line? Hardly. 

Was it the best book ever? Not even close.

Was it worth reading and taking the time. Eventually, yep.

Gillian and Routines

 So, Gillian and I would NOT get along. 

As a part of my prepping for NaNo I'm reading more about other writers and how they work. I read about Gillian Flynn in the WSJ today. She wrote Gone Girl and is writing Utopia now. So, she's super talented, but it's sad to see that she and I would never, ever get along. 

How do you kick off your workweek? Do you zip down to your office?

I’m not a “zipper” of any sort. My husband and I are very well matched in that he is a morning person, so he gets up with the kiddos, who come barreling into our bedroom. I put my head under my pillow, because some of the best writing I ever do is usually from 11 o’clock at night till about 2. I sleep until about 10, then I amble downstairs; I pretend to be a little sheepish for my husband’s sake—like, “Oh, my gosh. Did I sleep in again?”— then some athletes carbo-load; I definitely caffeine-load. First, I have my bowl of cereal, which is Lucky Charms. That’s my ritualistic cereal. I eat all the marshmallows and good stuff. Then, the sweet milk is left, so I pour it into my coffee mug. It’s the most colorful coffee you’ll ever have. And then, I’m embarrassed to say, my second drink of the day is a Cherry Coke Zero. By about 10, 10:30, my Cherry Coke Zero bandwagon begins.

That's the first question and answer in the series and it only get's worse from there. I don't know how anyone could function like this. I just don't get it. 

My best writing? My best writing comes from a long early morning run or walk with Sadie, followed by a cup of coffee and a computer, with quiet in the house before anyone wakes up. usually this occurs on weekends. Everyone else sleeps in and I get to work on the fun writing. Sometimes it happens on weekdays since Covid started. Lately too, I've been working on weekend afternoons and evenings.

I'm gonna need to up my game some for NaNo. I doubt that just weekends will do it through November, but we shall see. 

If you'd like to see the rest of the article, you can find it here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-gillian-flynn-gets-her-best-writing-done-after-midnight-11600691875 or for you that do not have a subscription, feel free to write me and I'll send you a copy. 

Prepping for NaNo

I'm getting ready for my fifth or sixth NaNo (see here). I actually wrote several of my novels by starting them on NaNo. I'm working on my next novel, a thriller because I wrote it two years ago on NaNo. Who knew I had 60K words in a novel sitting there? 

So, I'm prepping for November in several ways. 

First, in the past I've been a (seat of the) "pantser" not a "planner." These are the two types of NaNo writers, Planners and Pantsers. This year I'm going to be more of a Planner. As such I've started my outline. Here it is so far. 

I've been writing it rather than typing it because I'm still in the brainstorming phase. I've also color-coded it and really fleshed it out far more than I have in the past. Helps to start to generate some momentum. 

Secondly, I'm already getting NaNo Writing Buddies. Two are in the same genre, and about a dozen are locals who I can hook up for writing workshops. I've even gotten my cousin in Washington D.C. Involved so I'll have that bit of impetus as well. 

Finally, I've started promoting this blog on NaNo so I can stay accountable to a crowd. Already I'm seeing almost a hundred more views per day which makes me feel that the marketing and publicity is working. And as you've heard me mention, I'm working on getting some guest bloggers to come in. 

Lately, this blog started to waver off piste so to speak. Lots more Adult Learning and Leadership (see here) which I don't intend to stop, but don't you worry, if you're a writer, there will be plenty on writing coming up in the coming weeks. 

Another Great One

 Recently I got another wonderful review. A few weeks back I wrote about a review I got from a former policeman. He was not someone who wanted to give me a good review, but he grudgingly did (see here). I think I like these reviews from people who don't like my work. 

Thank you KCat. I don't mind at all being compared to Joseph Heller and Earnest Hemingway. I'm happy to hear that. I remember reading lots of Hemingway in high school, in Belgium as a foreign exchange student, and in college. His style never appealed to me either KCat, but Joseph Heller? That's a whole nother issue. 

I love Heller. Catch 22 is one of my faves. Sure there is an ebb and flow that can be tedious, but the writing and the plot, the characters and humor all are superb. I'll gladly let you compare me to Heller.  

It's a tad nerve wracking these reviews. I'm glad I get so many positive ones, but these reviews from folks who don't really like me, they're the best!

No Fan of the Victorian Era, However . . .

 I am no fan of the Victorian Era, however I have started receiving letters from a little group that sends them out that transport me to that time with some Letters from Sherlock Holmes. 

The group that does this is called "Dear Holmes," (see here) and really it's quite fun. For a long while, I participated in Letter Joy, which sent out representations of famous historical letters once every two weeks. It was really interesting but there was no theme to it all. One week would come a letter about a problem installing cabling in the Chesapeake Bay (turned out to be the first telegraph line or something) the next week a riot in Philadelphia, (a voting rights riot), all quite intriguing but no common thread to link it all together. In fact, in each envelope, there were two letters, and in many cases, there weren't commonalities between the two letters! After about a year I gave up on the historical letters through Letter Joy. 

Dear Holmes at leas provides a little, silly, mystery to solve. The one I'm reading through right now is about a museum curator who is writing to Holmes because of break-ins. I'm on my third letter in this case. I predict the next will be the solution. Then it will all start again. 

It's fun to get something through the mail like this. It arrives, I see it on the kitchen counter, I have to take my time, stop life for a moment, to sit down and think and read. It helps me take a step out of the regular hoi-polloi of life. 

I wish there were serial novellas of the same type. Now that I think about it, I betcha there is. Usually, if I've thought of something, some other enterprising entrepreneur has already done it (see here). A serial novella might have that same consistency of theme throughout that I like from the Dear Holmes letters. I'll let ya know!

Storytelling

We have a series of leadership training classes at the training center where I work. One of these, Speaking as a Leader, is designed to help leaders express themselves to their managers, their teams, and to their clients. What is the point of knowing tools and techniques for effective leadership if you can't effectively communicate to those you may lead? One of the modules within "Speaking as a Leader" is effective storytelling. 

I am a huge fan of storytelling to set the mood, the setting, the tone and to provide an analogy or a handrail that an audience can follow for the rest of the presentation. My former boss was a master at setting a stage in even very dry, formal, meetings around finances and the state of the company with a story that made the audience want to pay attention, listen, and find out more about the rest of the presentation. Since working with him, I've always wanted to master the technique he used so effectively. 

I have however had moments when my stories bombed. It's never a good feeling and usually, the presentation is doomed as soon as the story fails. It's as if with a good story that does the right job the presentation has a chance to be born and grow and mature, but with a bad story the entire presentation is undermined, the foundations cracking and crumbling, and everything comes tumbling down. 

What have I learned about stories? One major rule I've learned is to keep it succinct. I've learned from several failed attempts that if you try to draw out a story, add too much exposition, provide too much detail that doesn't pertain directly to the point, or if you are too tangential, then you run the risk of losing the audiences attention and when you try to transition to the point of the presentation you will have already lost them.

I believe the point of the story should be the introduction, not the first act. A prologue, not a full scene. It should be pithy and pointed and be obvious. The last thing you want is to waste time telling a story that half the folks in the audience get bored with and the other half who listened don't understand how it relates to the point of the presentation. 

I think there is no better way to engage an audience or to create a connection with those you are speaking to than telling a relevant and worthwhile story to catch their interest and allow them to see that what you are about to say may have real-world consequences.