Do Not Let the Distractions Win!

It's that time of NaNoWriMo again where we're down to the crunch and some of us are running out of things to write, and/or unsure of what to write next.

For me, this year, I had planned my novel almost to months in advance while battling through Math 30 - which I was upgrading my math with (thank goodness I'm done with that). I thought I was ready to go and that I could handle a 40/50 year old protagonist who is also a captain and has family troubles concerning his daughter.

When I began to write, I quickly realized how unprepared I was for the story that was The Infinity Machine. I've struggled through the novel all month while juggling driving my brother to school - it's his first year in the private school since he was in Grade 1, and Mom's on painkillers for her knee so she isn't supposed to be driving - and helping around the house. I also promised myself that I would spend more time with my family, which means sitting down in the living room while writing (which is nigh impossible since the TV is almost constantly on with the news blaring about terrorist attacks and terrorist sightings. Do you know how distracting that is?), playing video games with my mother and brother (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze with Mom, Disney Infinity 3.0 with my brother), helping out with meals, and watching Dancing With the Stars (yayy! Bindi Irwin won!!!)

And it doesn't help that I've gotten hooked on BBC's Sherlock! Woe is me!

But I managed to write a total of 3,517 words, which, most of it, I did in the evening. I hope I can do so again tonight.

If anyone doing NaNoWriMo is reading this, I wish you Godspeed. Because if anyone is lagging like me, we need it. Time is obviously not on our side.

Will I Ever Stop Running?

It's halfway through the month of November and I'm still desperately rushing to keep up the wordcount-you-should-have. I've just been so busy, life hasn't been easy. And my inspiration for the novel I decided to write this month has all but dried up.

What can I do? Well, I've decided to star rewriting By Diadem's Light between when I write bits for The Infinity Machine. I'm not going to let that Years Won/Done dot for this year stay blue this year. I want it to be purple! lol

Wait...Seduction?

That's one thing that makes me crinkle my nose in disgust more often than not - the fact that if a mystery show has a female detective on the hunt in the case, she has to use her feminine wiles in order to get by something one couldn't get by if they tried to just talk through it.

This came to mind when I was watching an episode of Remington Steele - "Steele Away With Me" I think - (warning: spoilers if you haven't watched the show yet!) where the female protagonist show took on the role of a rich, snobby party girl in order to get to a drug dealer/smuggler (can't remember which) in order to get the information she needed. She goes, in one scene, from wearing a dress that only goes to mid-thigh, to wearing a super-skin-tight bathing suit that bears all (!) basically in the next scene! I mean, the bathing suit had a high-collar, but it was see-through and it showed every curve.

This show is old, not really old, but not something you'd see a re-run of. Which brings up the question in my mind, "How will the world view my Private Investigator if she doesn't sleuth with sex and seduction in her repertoire???" I want to provide a clean mystery where my protagonist, Estelle Evans (no longer De Sauveterre), doesn't have to be immoral in order to get the information she wants. I want her to be the Nancy Drew for adults and older teenagers. But how?

Well, unfortunately, this is where I'll just have to test the waters, see where interests lie. Because I'm pretty sure that people will read a good story if its interesting enough. Not everything has to be a part of today's sex-culture.