Start cooking those plots. Just over a month now until the actual writing starts for
National Novel Writing Month. Don't make the mistake I made last year and wait until November to try to figure out your plot. November is for writing - not plotting!
For inspiration, here's a little writing from the old WoolleyScott.com site. This one was called "Carson the Liberator" and was originally posted on April 21, 2007. Enjoy.
CARSON THE LIBERATOR
So Carson and I are at the trial-size Sedro Woolley Library and, as usual, we stroll past the sign stating “Please do not leave your children unattended.” Yep, sure, whatever.
“OK, Carson, I’m going to go look for some books. I’ll be right back,” I say, with oddly no foreshadowing whatsoever.
After grabbing two books over in the mystery section (an Elmore Leonard that I’ve read two or three times before and a Randy Wayne White that’s new to me), I head back over to the children’s section and see the librarian chatting with Carson.
“Hi,” I say, wondering what fantastic behavior the librarian will compliment Carson on, while at the same time handing me a well-deserved back-handed compliment on my superior parenting skills.
“Hi,” the librarian says. “I was just asking your daughter where she put the Zoobooks magazines that she had liberated some pages from.”
That sounded vaguely un-complimentish. “Liberated how, exactly?” I ask.
“Well, she ripped out a few pages.”
Carson pulled up the two Zoobooks magazines to display the ripped out center “to-do” pages. “Oh, we let her rip those pages out at home,” I explain helpfully. “Obviously, I didn’t want her ripping them out here, but we don’t bother with the ‘to-do’ pages at home.”
“I see,” the librarian says, looking at me like not only does my progeny destroy public property, but she also has parents that let her look at the pictures while she throws away the “learning” part of the magazine.
“I’m really sorry,” I try.
“Not a problem,” she says, this time with a look that clearly says I’m not the first white trash parent she’s dealt with today and I probably won’t be the last.
Ah, parenting; every minute is a new reward in itself.
