On Friday, September 4, I realized that the 3-Day Novel Contest was going to start soon. As in really soon. Next day soon. The last time I seriously did this was back in 2006 with a story about the Eater of the Dead going on a cruise that ended up being hijacked by Lovecraftian beasties. Which pretty much meant, not exactly seriously at all. Although I had no intention of submitting the novel to the contest, I viewed it as a challenge for myself. In 2006, my goal was to write 30,000 words in three days. This year, I thought that would be a good goal too.
So on Friday evening, after browsing Wikipedia for inspiration, I decided on doing a fairy tale retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Tinderbox. I had a one page outline marked out in my writing notebook. It was pretty straightforward--following the original fairy tale closely. That night, I went to bed thinking that this whole 3-day novel contest thing was going to be in the can. Hell, I was ready. 10k each day, easy. Andersen practically phase outlined for me a century and a half ago.
That night, I had weird, disturbing dreams. I don't recall what they were about, but I remember that I woke unsettled. Maybe it was Andersen's ghost plaguing my subconscious for being a smug hack. I don't know. But what I do know is that I completely ignored the notes I wrote the previous night and decided to pants it. Writing the point of view of the hero is ho-hum. Now the villain...
I chose the witch as my protagonist and started with her death. And I was off. The first day wasn't great. Compared to other people doing the contest, it was downright miserable. I got sidetracked with non-writerly stuff. By the time I reached 5,000 words, I was ready to call it quits for the day. Day 2 started promising enough in the morning. Then I had to go to lab. There was a hitch in my project and temporarily I was thrown off my stride. Around 12,000 to 14,000 words, headaches and serious doubts began to set in.
Day 3 was the day of no distractions. I wrote, taking breaks only when necessary. And I managed to write a little over 16,000 words, putting the total over my 30,000 word goal. Except for my wild mood swings during the writing which wavered from, "I'm such a failure, I shouldn't have attempted this in the first place" to "If I can keep up this pace, I can totally pound this goal into submission," I found the experience of the last day intense, mad, and entirely satisfying. Other people use their holidays to indulge compulsive hobbying such as mountain biking to the point of painful injury. I indulge in my compulsive hobby too--except the only sort of injury I might endure is banging my head on the table when a stubborn idea fails to show itself.
Is Striking Sparks done? Not exactly. The real ending is yet to be written. And what is written is only a rough draft--large chunks of which will probably be cut out or savagely overhauled. But I like where it's going even though it went nowhere near how I originally envisioned it. The witch is an insecure woman out for misguided revenge. The soldier is a symbol for greed and entitlement. The princess--who actually turns out to be a cross-dressing impostor--has brainwashed the real princess's parents. As for the tinderbox--well, there is a tinderbox that summons three dog-like genies (with agendas of their own), but that's not the real tinderbox of the story. That belongs to some strange carnivorous forest creatures that look as cute as a Miyazaki creation but are as dangerous as a school of piranhas on steroids. Black and white doesn't exist, only gray.
Next year, I think I might end up forgetting about this whole thing until the last minute again. But it's a good experience. It's yet another chance to prove to myself that I can make things up at the drop of a hat without the comparably extensive prep work that I usually do for Nanowrimo.
And as for Nanowrimo, I guess I should start thinking about the plot for that story again.
Thanks for a great description of your 3 Day Novel experience. I've found it actually helps to put off doing anything about it or thinking about it till the last minute. The insane deadline does its own job of forcing decisive creativity.
I can't dither over any choices. I have to play it as it lays, use what's there, put in what's next with the first thing I think of when I'm doing one -- and that comes out well. I like your twisted rendering of the fairy tale, that's very cool.
