NaNo Day Two

A Smattering of Things. I discovered to my surprise and tremendous relief yesterday that November 1st was not, in fact, the deadline for most of the colleges we are applying to for The Tall One. After that revelation my afternoon went a whole lot better. Didn't get much done in the way of work-work, but after yesterday's encouraging NaNo beginning of 1933 words (and my apologies for the funky-fied way the word meter is coming up, I'll have to look into that) and last night's productive BMWs meeting, I feel rejuvenated.

Conversations in the Kitchen. Somewhere around the time Big Brother Brett began his blog (say that five times fast), he wrote an absolutely brilliant post about having conversations with his protagonist, Jonathan Quinn. Quinn began popping up in odd places, and Brett took the opportunity to dive into Quinn's background, ask questions, and get to know him. What a terrific way to get to know your character - something I have mentioned here as being very important for us writers.

Well, I've had a similar experience. I was in the kitchen Tuesday, chopping vegetables for the soup, and I turned around to find Vitrelli standing against my kitchen counter. He just wanted to talk about things. I immediately, of course, told JT and Brett about this, and we launched into a brief discussion of, among Quinn, Vitrelli and Taylor, who could kick whose ... well, you get the idea. (By the way, Taylor wins, hands down.)

The rest of the BMWs were a little less enthusiastic about Vitrelli's visit. As, most likely, are some of the rest of you who might not quite understand how my mind (or any other writer's, for that matter) works.

The good thing about having Vitrelli show up in my kitchen is that he provided me with some insight into this book and the direction in which I need to take it. So, here we are at dawn on NaNo Day Two, the coffee is on, the kids are on their way to school, the WGH is slumbering peacefully downstairs, and I'm stretching my fingers, getting ready to hit the Play button on the CD-boom box.

And we're off ...

I'll be back later this afternoon with another new word count. In the meantime, enjoy what promises to be a glorious autumn day here in the South. Read a book.

=) JB

P.S. - Here's another shot from the Leaf Cam, this one from the Lafayette Municipal Golf Course in Lafayette, Indiana.