tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89422902011-08-01T18:22:56.600-04:00A 2008 National Novel Writing Month WeblogWes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.comBlogger501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-63341710907923102942009-11-01T11:51:00.002-05:002009-11-01T12:05:13.251-05:00

Seven of us made it to Col's Place in Madison Heights, gabbed up until midnight, then wrote! I got my opening scene out of the way.Davis Nucci owes $36,000 to the Philadelphia mob. But the enforcer sent to make him pay instead dies by accident. Now Davis hits the road west, but pretending to be Nicholas White, cold-blooded collector of bad loans and sweet protection money.Well, sort of. I did my

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-73045034813099648722009-10-31T21:03:00.004-04:002009-10-31T21:10:03.104-04:00

Hmm, no posts since August... October has been a busy month. Detroit Co-ML Owen and I have figured out how to work together, and gotten our preparations made - we hope! - decently well for noveling month. This year we have more members but perhaps will wind up with one third fewer write-ins than last year's 14 regular dates.Today was the kickoff party. Surprise! 50 people showed up, 40 of them

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-49283498083439370822009-08-09T14:39:00.002-04:002009-08-09T15:24:05.610-04:00

"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."- Red Smith, Philadelphia and New York sportswriter Well, that's one way of looking at writing. I think I first heard that on the old TV show Thirtysomething. We're here to look at the peculiar demands of NaNoWriMo, though. 50,000 words in one month! These rules have served me well, and ignoring them has

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-38429406732889396012009-08-09T14:34:00.003-04:002009-08-09T14:38:59.852-04:00

Here is the very first posting in Free Range Novelist, updated for 2009.This is the National Novel Writing Month weblog of Wes the Bricoleur. Or, for short, NaNoWriMo and Brico. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's it! 1,667 words a day, every day, quality not even a consideration. Free Range Novelist chronicles my experiences during November,

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-55660302798295638332009-08-09T14:16:00.002-04:002009-08-09T14:27:35.421-04:00

Goodness, where did eight months go? It is now 83 days to the start of NaNoWriMo 2009, and things are different this year. Your humble blogger has agreed to be co-Municipal Leader for the Detroit region, along with Owen B.So, first, let's drop the Yours Truly. This was a small conceit so I wouldn't be writing "I" in every other sentence. But I expect to see at least a few more readers drop by

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-73441067495101035922008-12-07T09:37:00.002-05:002008-12-07T09:56:04.097-05:00

So, another November has come and gone with YT falling short of the mark. Trouble is, Sebastian Lock and Liz Macaulay started sniffing around the problem of cars stalling in the rush hour, always in the middle of the block, but they never took off. Couldn't figure out how to get them on the trail, and they didn't hit it off into some kind of recognizable partner relationship.So, your Bricoleur

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-73361028450331447782008-11-20T20:34:00.001-05:002008-11-20T20:37:04.463-05:00

YT has truly lost momentum. There were a stretch of days where he did nothing except nurse his ear infection (not much of an excuse). Last night, though, nearly 3,000 words flowed in just a few hours. Trouble is, YT will need many more nights like that to hit the target.And the main character is only just now at the point of meeting his sidekick...Word count after 19 days: 12,227

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-78649442213051500672008-11-04T23:22:00.003-05:002008-11-05T00:06:49.446-05:00

Well, as if there were much doubt these last few days... As this is being written, Sen. McCain is giving a very gracious concession speech. American politics has turned a corner, moved forward to a new generation, the generation beyond mine. Our politics has turned away from the tired, old themes of the wrestling match of the last 16 years.Oh, finally Republicans are winding up owning their

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-56567120176492276982008-11-03T01:37:00.002-05:002008-11-03T01:48:00.396-05:00

Here is the very first posting in Free Range Novelist, updated for 2008.This is the National Novel Writing Month weblog of Wes the Bricoleur. Or, for short, NaNoWriMo and YT (yours truly). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's it! 1,667 words a day, every day, quality not even a consideration. Free Range Novelist chronicles my experiences during

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-21168446608696815402008-11-01T21:25:00.005-04:002008-11-01T21:38:55.186-04:00

Off to a slow start, YT spent some time today to get organized. Decamping to the write-in at the Troy Public Library helped. YT is still not sure how to really get this novel off the ground, but he has a few scenes sketched out. Maybe that will be enough.NOVEL TITLE: Twenty Three SlowSYNOPSIS: Many city dwellers have given up owning private cars. They hire electric vehicles by the hour. When

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-63185714909046319612008-10-27T23:01:00.003-04:002008-10-27T23:20:16.532-04:00

Now it can be revealed... 2008 is YT's lucky year. Lost a job last Christmas, but with a decent severance, got a better job by the end of January. Not bad, but by May had an even better job, and they called YT. So now YT is off determining the future of the driving public.Well, maybe not so grand a role in automotive culture, but YT is delighted to find there are decent employers in the auto

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-34194297717353942222008-10-27T22:54:00.002-04:002008-10-27T23:00:00.096-04:00

Well, sixteen people showed up for the Detroit kickoff party yesterday. The scary thing is, YT remembers most of them from previous years. So this year it was the hard core partying, a full six days before the start of NaNoWriMo 2008.Lots of enthusiasm comes through on the forum, and certainly came through in person. The timing is odd this year, with the kickoff so early. Good news, though,

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-80134931386889778492008-07-30T22:11:00.002-04:002008-07-30T22:36:21.889-04:00

With a full season to go before NaNoWriMo, YT has been thinking of ideas for this year's novel. A good idea, expressed in a couple of sentences, can become the kernel of a good plot. Here are six of them that didn't make the cut, most in the science fiction genre. Faithful Readers, fellow WriMos, use 'em or laugh at 'em, your choice.1. Because the code of public manners has become so strict, some

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-10101728913933197352008-07-30T20:49:00.002-04:002008-07-30T21:01:32.858-04:00

Hmm, it's a long way from December, yet YT has written nothing new in his blog. Funny thing, writing month starts with a bang, finishes in a rush, and three days later, everyone puts away their wild inner novelist for about 10.5 months. Same here.So: how did it all end, Brico?Well, friends and faithful readers, YT skipped several inner chapters, you know, the relationship stuff, and got right to

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-2992889993584894252007-12-01T01:42:00.000-05:002007-12-01T01:47:19.440-05:00

With much encouragement (ouch! that whip stings!) from the redoubtable Tiffany, welcome distractions from fellow WriMos G, M and K, plus a good bit of Irish coffee, YT has finished his novel for the second time in four years. Long live NaNoWriMo! More excerpts after this novelist, emptied for a while of words, catches up on his sleep.Word count after 30 days: 50,735

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-81813408000125925262007-11-28T00:24:00.000-05:002007-11-28T00:36:56.274-05:00

Writing still goes in fits and starts. YT will have a 500 word day followed by a 4,000 word rush. It turns out to be no problem at all writing a thousand-word scene when in the flow. YT gave 12,000 words to the tumultuous weekend when Ron and Tamara go too far, too fast. Yes, your humble author has followed his own rule and written a sex scene when blissfully not on deadline. Well, there's a

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-19896767213835880452007-11-17T23:16:00.001-05:002007-11-17T23:37:44.023-05:00

Excerpt from Grand Theft Cambridge, Chapter 5. Ron Russo's employer sends everyone home on the first really nice Friday afternoon in April. Ron is sitting at an outdoor cafe table off Kenmore Square, enjoying the day, when a lithe, attractive woman walks up. With a little reminder, he realizes she is Martha Soares, a stripper from the Pussycat Club. The club doubles as venture capital meeting

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-70051540345491226972007-11-17T23:06:00.000-05:002007-11-17T23:11:02.107-05:00

So, this year is turning out to have a very uneven pace. Yesterday and today were both 4,000 word days, following a drought. How'd that happen. YT's sleep patterns are still screwed up is one reason. ML Tiff and the amazing duo of M and G dragging this author into word wars accounts for some. Finally getting to write the job seeking advice scene accounts for a lot! Even so, there's still a good

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-60649082437909917532007-11-09T23:28:00.000-05:002007-11-09T23:34:42.141-05:00

Well, TV and the hard slog of work, trying to figure out tests for software that has no specification. Man, YT had a great first four days, and then nothing, just staring off at the idiot box, or sleeping.Made up for it tonight somewhat, despite hilarious distractions at the Friday write-in. Solid sessions this weekend, that's the plan. Shake the wood out of those characters, author!Word count

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-31785599657524012832007-11-03T12:55:00.000-04:002007-11-03T13:12:48.731-04:00

From Grand Theft Cambridge, Chapter 2. The new company is staffing up through networking and word-of-mouth. Tamara takes the opposite tack. She seeks out a startup company she can go to work for under false pretenses. On her first attempt, she sells herself for a job that doesn't exist yet.The plan came together like clockwork. It all came down to framing the story. Tamara knew there were plenty

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-68082225273270349632007-11-03T10:48:00.000-04:002008-11-13T09:12:55.810-05:00

This year there seems to be a grassroots flavor to NaNoWriMo. Browsing around, YT found the usual spate of newspaper articles on the contest, but the top Google hits were from smaller newspapers. The Worcester Telegram ran a nice article, which will no doubt disappear into paid archives a week or two after this blog entry is written. No matter: here's the key piece of information.NaNoWriMo is

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-88823688773429719872007-11-03T10:20:00.000-04:002007-11-03T10:47:38.238-04:00

Two days, 8,701 words. As they say on the day of the Michigan-Michigan State game, holy cow! Where did that geyser come from? YT must really have been ready to let it all hang out this year.Some of the reason must be the planning. YT made about 8 pages of notes over the course of several lunch hours and evenings, full of ideas about the characters and some of the scenes. There was even a kind of

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-75881099991083982372007-11-01T00:26:00.000-04:002007-11-01T00:30:13.487-04:00

First sentence: "Isosceles triangle, elongated rectangle: Ron wondered why, moments before his first venture consulting gig began, he was reduced to guessing the size of the dancer's G-string."

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-67259265611408851222007-10-31T00:38:00.000-04:002007-10-31T00:44:56.761-04:00

Just under 24 hours to the start of NaNoWriMo. Today, YT had to remind himself just to make notes, and save the real writing for November 1. Fleshed out a couple of characters today, figured out some relationship scenes... Time to climb back up on the high wire: GCT might just work out okay!

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-15515895236949204832007-10-28T23:58:00.000-04:002007-10-29T00:09:16.160-04:00

Well. YT has a semi-generic story outline and a list of 40 scenes. PlotMo turned out to be a lunchtime's worth of brainstorming, leading to short descriptions like:Silvio begins to suspect company will succeed.Russo gets interested in writerRusso gives career advice to stripperThis turned out to be a useful exercise: a new character needs to be added to set the company on the right track, leading

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-70263732787324257022007-10-26T14:17:00.000-04:002007-10-26T14:29:49.595-04:00

This year YT will be trying out some new tools and techniques to stay organized and on track. One tool that looks like a sure thing is yWriter3, novel writing software created by a real novelist. It's free, oriented toward scenes and characters, and reasonably compatible with other word processors. It has several nice features that look like they were inspired by NaNoWriMo: progress toward daily

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-72260491282892893812007-10-26T14:04:00.001-04:002007-10-31T22:13:32.918-04:00

Since this has been posted on the NaNoWriMo Michigan regional forum, why not here? Here are the vague mumblings of the previous post, crafted into a polished elevator pitch. GTC is starting to take shape.GENRE: Satire WORKING TITLE: Grand Theft Cambridge BLURB: During the dot-com boom of the 1990s, new companies using the Internet to get big fast were followed by companies that did just enough to

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-28072892864951336832007-10-07T15:09:00.000-04:002007-10-07T15:34:44.791-04:00

I am persuaded that most writers, like most shoemakers,are about as good one day as the next, hangovers apart. - John Kenneth GalbraithSo, dear readers, all three of you... Yours Truly is foolish enough to try NaNoWriMo yet again, and this blog will serve yet again as a collection bin for asides, random thoughts, off topic rants and general musings about the fine art of creative writing.Read

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-24381721561160825152007-06-24T01:17:00.000-04:002007-06-24T01:41:07.136-04:00

Well, that was a bust... YT got to 3,200 words in a few, futile sessions. Excuses? Stress at work, attempts to relieve stress by satirizing work in the novel, Responsibility Junkie not caged with Inner Editor for the month of November, instead sucking away all spare time that should have been spent on the novel. The list goes on much farther than YT's readers -- all three of you! -- would really

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1159245814615138482006-09-26T00:35:00.000-04:002006-09-26T00:43:34.650-04:00

Kicking off Year Three of the blog... Here's the very first posting, updated for 2006.This is the National Novel Writing Month weblog of Wes the Bricoleur. Or, for short, NaNoWriMo and YT (yours truly). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's it! 1,667 words a day, every day, quality not even a consideration. Free Range Novelist chronicles my

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1159132793983522452006-09-24T16:59:00.000-04:002006-09-24T17:19:53.993-04:00

But a handful of pine-seed will cover mountains with the green majesty of forest. I too will set my face to the wind and throw my handful of seed on high. ~ Fiona Macleod (a.k.a. William Sharp)So, November 1 is now 5½ weeks away, and it's time to think again of all things NaNo. First, the quote. YT watched Almost Famous last night, which qualifies by his rules as related to writing. The

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1159131359369756912006-09-24T16:35:00.000-04:002006-09-24T16:55:59.376-04:00

Wow, it's been a long time since the last comment. Drunkard's Leap made it to 30,169 words, and not very far through the storyline. How come? YT claims, first of all, to have horrible amounts of work piled on him, leaving too little creative "juice" to squeeze out at the end of the day. Really.In the ten months since, the work situation hasn't gotten any easier. Stress is a part of the corporate

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1132705131281259252005-11-22T19:14:00.000-05:002005-11-22T19:18:51.290-05:00

Your humble author has now lived through the dreaded sophomore slump, not only in word count, but in pace. The writing is going too slowly and the story is moving too slowly. Arrgh! We'll see if 50K is still do-able. At minimum it's quite a stretch now.Word count after 21 days: 21,887

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1131601632227264032005-11-10T00:27:00.000-05:002005-11-10T00:47:12.280-05:00

From Drunkard's Leap, Chapter 2. Lena has had an unsettling encounter in a bar that took the pleasure out of last night. Today, she has to go to work. This time of year, on the mornings when I woke alone at 6:30, the light was crisp, inviting me into the unfolding day. Not today. I felt roughed up, dirty in yesterday’s clothes, hung over, befuddled, cranky and unsatisfied. A hot shower improved

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1131599203504339962005-11-09T23:51:00.000-05:002005-11-10T00:08:08.263-05:00

Your Brico has sinned. He has broken at least two of his own commandments: don't edit if it's scrolled off the screen; and don't tweak until December.Namely, at a key point in Chapter 4, the main character, Lena, accomplishes something important to her future. Her examiner, so to speak, rushes over to hug her for being so quick to catch on, and Lena feels aroused by the other woman. Except Lena

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1131079825039451942005-11-03T23:33:00.000-05:002005-11-03T23:50:25.086-05:00

Sunday, October 30, was the kickoff party for Detroit area NaNo novelists. We walked in - we being Tiffany, Gary, Kim and your Brico - to Woody's here in Royal Oak not knowing what to expect. Well, noveling must be a big deal this year because there were 32, count 'em, 32 people sitting at a long table talking, gesticulating, laughing, and most of all, enthusiastically anticipating. That's at

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1130976235214879262005-11-02T18:59:00.000-05:002005-11-02T19:03:55.226-05:00

Well, YT stayed up late and wrote his first sentence, the one he'd been itching to set down for at least two weeks. "Two guys walked into a bar." Or something like that.One thing led to another, so a few more sentences got written, until your Brico's eyelids were drooping. So, off to bed, off to work, and after supper, back to the novel. By the end of the evening, the Brico lids were rather

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1130263770453030712005-10-25T13:25:00.000-04:002005-10-25T14:09:30.500-04:00

So. In the week since his last pre-novel posting, YT has written several pages of notes fleshing out the SF novel he intends to write. Your friendly Brico would much rather be writing the novel itself. New this year, a vague outline of a plot with some ideas about pacing. Wow, take that, reader C.! A plot! There are also various notes about characters, world-building, motivation and clever

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1129679118880757482005-10-18T19:45:00.000-04:002005-10-18T19:47:05.120-04:00

Since returning to the blogosphere after a break of many months, one surprise was "comment spam," anonymous comments tacked onto a post that advertise some get-rich-quick blog. The careful reader will notice some energetic policing going on here in Free Range Novelist. Getting totally unrelated comments, then taking the time to remove them, is annoying... Ugh.Your Brico has no intention of

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1129602883770125632005-10-17T22:24:00.000-04:002005-10-17T22:34:43.776-04:00

This year's novel will be called Drunkard's Leap. As mentioned a couple of entries back, it is a science fiction adventure.In slightly more detail, the main character learns a trick, as do the people around her, that lets mankind take a shortcut from the Moon to settling Mars and a handful of asteroids. With the power she learns comes... well, actually, limitations and reaction, and finally a few

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1129602221285637902005-10-17T21:58:00.000-04:002005-10-17T22:23:44.523-04:00

Since there's no election this year, YT supposes it can't be a political rant. Looks like the "values" crowd has overreached, so any digs at them in the novel might soon be passe. Looks like a lot of the crowd in power has overreached, and have been caught up short by a couple of the reasons Americans traditionally prefer clean, competent government.Now the triangle trade of corporate cash for

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1129174352950671182005-10-12T22:49:00.000-04:002005-10-12T23:32:32.986-04:00

This year your sophomore novelista has decided to get somewhat more organized. So, no more deciding what we're gonna write today just as the laptop is booting up. No, this year There Will Be Preparation. So far it's paid off.To wit, the first idea to take root in YT's active imagination was a travel novel: five California techies go on a wild holiday trip. Okay, each of the five men was taking

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1128651336050864712005-10-06T21:55:00.000-04:002005-10-06T22:15:36.093-04:00

Here are a few plot ideas that won't get used for NaNoWriMo, at least not by YT.Everything's a romance novel these days. The latest twist: time travel romances! These plots came to mind. A man can travel through time, but only if he is naked. When he arrives at a new when and where, he must find his pack full of supplies that travels separately. A man meets a woman who he makes happy. He

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1128646888514833052005-10-06T20:56:00.000-04:002005-10-06T22:28:17.273-04:00

Here is what YT wrote on December 1, the day after the end of NaNoWriMo.Oy. Writing partners like Ms. Tiff plug away at a steady pace and finish early. YT lets the old, bad habits back out and goes for the sprint at the end. Here are some thoughts not quite 24 hours after passing the magic 50,000 word threshold.Immediate conclusions: Write every day. Seriously. The steady pace of the first two

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1128645065263648562005-10-06T19:10:00.000-04:002005-10-17T22:42:19.690-04:00

Let's back up to mid-summer 2004. YT found out about National Novel Writing Month while surfing the 'Net for something else entirely. In his advancing old age, the Bricoleur was less and less concerned about what other people thought, and eager to play outside his comfort zone. Thus was born a grand experiment: to see whether he could write a story at novel length.Well... Perhaps it wasn't so

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1128569776986246612005-10-05T23:30:00.000-04:002005-10-11T18:51:02.643-04:00

Since this blog is intended to chronicle a NaNoWriMo novel in progress, YT has decided to purge the 2004 postings by the time November 1, 2005, rolls around. Last year's novel excerpts don't fit the mood of this year's novel. YT is sure his readers, all three of them, aren't interested in rereading his gripes about elections and employment. Some of the key 2004 entries will be updated for the new

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1128569086260613542005-10-05T23:19:00.000-04:002005-10-05T23:24:46.266-04:00

Kicking off Year Two of the blog... Here's the very first posting, updated for 2005.This is the National Novel Writing Month weblog of Wes the Bricoleur. Or, for short, NaNoWriMo and YT (yours truly). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. That's it! 1,667 words a day, every day, quality not even a consideration. Free Range Novelist chronicles my

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1123815463137833352005-08-11T22:30:00.000-04:002005-08-11T23:01:48.283-04:00

That was December (last post). This is August. So what has happened to the novel since? Well, let's go back through the steps.1. Go to the TGIO party Sunday night.Did that. Sigh, only three of us showed, but had a good chat nevertheless.2. Loan the manuscript copy out to friends who've asked to read it. This will get YT into the recommended getting-some-distance period.Did that, too. Loaned the

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1102141492277635062004-12-04T01:59:00.000-05:002004-12-04T01:24:52.276-05:00

From Too Lucky This Week, chapter 17. On most Fridays, Cass joins a group of college friends for "Drive Time," where the women drink and talk about men for an hour before starting their weekends. (Author's note: I'm posting this long piece because I had fun with it, and it shows what happens when the words really start to flow.) Most of the time, Cass arrived late for Drive Time. Today she could

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8942290.post-1101951972584725182004-12-01T20:33:00.000-05:002004-12-01T20:46:12.586-05:00

From Too Lucky This Week, chapter 11. On Saturday night, the new couple and their friends go to a party at the science fiction convention. The open door framed a picture of many people crowded into a small space. A sign hung on the door: CONSOLIDATED TERRAFORMING – GROUNDSIDE PARTY. The four friends edged past a knot of people and promptly got stuck as another group tried to leave. Cass got

Wes The Brico- leurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157813347362635201noreply@blogger.com0