Well, the writing month has started off very well. I came to Chicago for the weekend for my niece’s 10th birthday. Yesterday I wrote in the airport and on the plane. This morning D. and I wrote together in the living room before brunch.
We began by reading D’s “books.” She has written one a year, kindergarten, first and second grade. Two involve journeys to and from space, and the third involves a time travel portal. They are, of course, well illustrated.
They are also increasingly complex, although all three have clear beginnings, middles and ends, and strong characters. In the second book a creature from the rainbow planet comes to earth to visit the Spaceland amusement park. The rides at Spaceland are really not as pleasant nor as good as real life on his planet. He buys a space pop and goes home, where he eats it. I was impressed by the structure: he arrives, visits three places, two of which are lacking and one of which is pretty fun, then goes home.
The final book had a handbook to introduce you to the characters (superheroes). Then the story commenced, filled with dialogue and some very postmodern moves. Filled with self-referential commentary–Is this the end? No, it’s only page 12!– it had a helpful epilogue as well, so we could follow up with the characters. (I know I’m biased, but seriously, the girl can write!)
Shuffling through her stack of characters, she decided to write about the Pirate in the City. Drawing, dialogue, and story began.
I had opened the door to a flashback yesterday, so I was also on my way. Right now, feeling like I’m covering lots of ground in a few words, but it’s mostly exploratory, mostly logistics. How did these people meet? Where did they live? Where did they hang out? How did the boy get the girl? When did it all start going wrong?
Making the moves necessary to have a novel. I’m hoping that as I get in deeper, I’ll have more moments, details, things that make me happy and surprise me. Right now I’m still new to town.