Much Ado About NaNoWriMo

This weekend is World Fantasy in Austin. I’ve never been to the city and, chances are, after WFC I still won’t have been to Austin. The conference is at the arboretum on the north side, well out of the city proper. I’ll probably skirt Austin coming and going. I’ll be getting in very late on Thursday night because I have Citizens’ Police Academy first (can’t miss the shoot/don’t shoot simulator!) and thus will have to head out for the three-hour drive starting at 9:30 or so.

We went to see Much Ado About Nothing at the Alley Theater in Houston yesterday. At first, I was a little alarmed that they had modernized the crap out of it—the protagonists showed up dressed like NASCAR drivers and crawled out of a hot air balloon, but after a bit they settled into a mostly traditional rendering of this comedy. The musical accompaniments were occasionally hilarious—I swear it was a riff on the theme from Shaft they played every time the “cops” showed up. There were lots of great sight gags, too, but I won’t belabor the point by trying to describe them. They’re sight gags, after all. Had to be there. The production design used balloons as a recurring theme, and I’m damned if I can figure out if it was a metaphor or just a conceit. Nonetheless, it was an excellent production, and Shakespeare has never been so funny, bawdy and delightful.

Wednesday begins NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is “simple.” Write a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of the month. I did it last year, with great success—80,000 words. This year is a little different, though. For one thing, I have about nine days when I’m sure I won’t be able to write at all—or very little if at all. Also, last year I’d done a lot of prep work in advance, so I knew the story, where it was headed and where it had to get by the end of 80-100K words. I do have a book in progress that could benefit from a jolt of time-constrained motivation, but I’m not entirely sure I know enough about where I’m supposed to be going. Afraid I’ll spend too much time ruminating. I’m considering signing up, though, just to see what I can get done. I don’t like not meeting goals, so the simple act of enlisting will be a kick in the pants. 50,000 words would get me very close to the end of the book if I could pull it off.

I’m fairly close to finishing revisions to the story in progress, so my plate is clear for November except for the usual essays and reviews and the like. I think I’m talking myself into it.