Spontaneous Knotting

You know how you reach into your purse, your backpack, your pocket and pull out your earbuds for you iPhone or iPod or whatever iDevice you have. You reach in and pull them and and somehow, in the dark all by themselves, they've pulled a Houdini and tied themselves into knots. There's a phrase for this: spontaneous knotting.

My plot lines are beginning to do a similar trick. Overlapping, intertwining, confusing me to no end. While I'm busy visiting with one character, others are over in the corner introducing themselves and forming alliances. They've eyed each other from across the room, bought each other drinks, and made small talk. Now when I try and write my parallel plots lines, things are all tangled up. So much for linearity. And so much for my ability to keep track.

I'm just going to have to stick the darn things in my ears just like they are, all funky and weird and tangled. With just 6 days, 0 hours, and 36 minutes to go, there's no time to waste. So here's to spontaneous knotting in plot lines! This ought to be good. :)

Plot arc?

I'm scared. Do I have a plot that will stretch all the way to 50K? Or will it sputter out somewhere in the mid-30s, only to leave me prostrate and shy of the mark?

So far, I've just been winging it, trusting my memory and instincts and characters to guide the plot forward. But today I actually sat and detailed some of the possible actions that could be included. The NaNoWriMo folks talk about having a story arc pretty clear at this point. I'm concerned that my "arc" is but a plane, flat and dull, like documentary footage without dramatic impulse. Perhaps some of you experimental film buffs might enjoy that, but I'm hoping to entertain here. Writing with no clear plot arc feels kind of like walking a tightrope: exhilarating, but not exactly pleasant.

Oh, and I employed another tool today: the Onerosity Coupon. I pledged to hit 35K by Friday or I would have to undertake a particularly onerous task for a friend. So if you have some heinous task you need doing, by all means track down your NaNoWriMo friends. Either you'll get credit for being a super-supportive pal or you'll get your stuff done. Win-Win, atleast for you.