What Makes a Good Novel?

photo by a trying youth

Back in November, I lost my mind and decided to participate in NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo. Now, NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month, wasn't too bad. I went a little batty trying to come up with a new blog post every day, but I did it.

NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, was a different story. The goal was to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, with quantity trumping quality. I made it to 4,626 words. Which is exactly 4,626 more than I'd written before NaNoWriMo, so I'm considering it a success.

Some interesting characters sprouted up in those nine pages, and I may go back and see what they're up to. There's Anna, an American living in London. And Ian, a Scottish guy who sells puppets in Covent Garden. I know, the puppet thing is weird. I have no idea where it came from.

To gear up for NaNoWriMo, I bought No Plot? No Problem!, written by the event's founder, Chris Baty. He suggests creating two lists to help figure out a vague plot direction. The first list is what makes a good novel, and the second is what makes a boring or depressing novel. Of course, these are completely personal and need not be based on anything more than an inkling, a whim, or a fancy.

Like the puppets, I was surprised at what appeared on my lists.

What Makes a Good Novel

• Strong plot (a page turner)
• Interesting characters
• Relationships
• Satisfying, happy endings
• The feeling that I could live in the novel’s world (and do live there while I’m reading it)
• English setting
• Good (but not extensive) descriptions
• The passage of seasons
• Believable dialogue
• Intellectual pursuits
• Intersections of multiple story lines
• A sense of mystery and intrigue
• Romance and true love
• Unexpected connections
• Drama
• Comedy

What Makes a Boring or Depressing Novel

• Long-winded passages of description of scenery and setting, especially if it involves directional attributes like north, south, east, or west
  
• Too much death
• Industrial topics
• Obviousness
• Adventure stories of man vs. nature
• Anything set in a jungle
• Plots with such a wide scope and so many characters that I need a legend to keep it all straight
• Heavy historical perspective
• Most detective mysteries
• Ghosts, demons, and monsters
• Violence
• Bad character names
• Ugliness

Reading over these lists again, I can see there are no hard and fast rules for my preferences. I've enjoyed a few historical and adventure stories in my time. And sometimes a happy, satisfying ending feels too cliché.

What would be on your lists? Where would you put the puppets?

The Payoff: NaBloPoMo Prizes!

cupcakes diptych, caroline moore, sixhours photography

Remember when I told you that there were PRIZES! for completing NaBloPoMo? Well, I am victorious! I am the big wiener! (um, that's "winner" for those of you not savvy to hot dog or dachshund humor.)

I don't know how many people actually posted every day in November to be eligible for the prizes, but I do know that there are currently 6,312 members listed. And there were roughly 74 prizes to be had. (Quick! Someone who's good with statistics or gambling do the math.) Even if only a quarter of the listed members were eligible to win, I beat the odds, baby! (In cases like this, I might say, "What are the odds?" And my dad would be bound to answer: "In this case, 100%." He makes a valid point.)

See those cute cupcake kids above? They're from Caroline Moore (website and blog). Check out her Etsy shop, Sixhours Photography. She explains her work this way:

My work focuses on the transformation of personal spaces into surreal landscapes of life. The majority of my ideas are born out of a desire to capture common themes, experiences and stories from everyday life, but with an ironic twist. I see everything I do as a picture of the human mind, magnified tenfold, so that we see all the darkest corners.

Caroline gave me my choice of prints, and I almost chose her story will never be written because I like the subject matter, plus I'm a sucker for gingham and old typewriters.

I also liked this romantic image, called vintage flora.

And this one, called straight (which seems to describe my taste).

But much of Caroline's work is more subversive. The forgotten bride series expresses a strong sense of despair in a place that always makes me sad, even when I wasn't left on my wedding day.

This photo, called the best kept secrets, manages to be lovely and slightly disquieting all at once. I think my favortie detail is the tendril of hair on the woman's neck.

Laundry day is delightfully cheeky and deliciously dark.

And I find sprouts to be simultaneously creepy and hilarious.

I almost feel guilty for choosing prints that represent such a different side of Caroline's work. But what can I say? I have this thing for cupcakes. If you like the illustrations, she has a few more that are just as sweet. She also has some flower photography if botanicals are more your speed.

So thank you, Caroline, for your generosity and for affirming my belief that someone has to win contests, and it might as well be me!

NaBloPoMo: All (Good) Things Must Come to an End

Oh the pressure.

This is the last day of the National Blog Posting Marathon Madness. (Would that be NaBloPoMaMa instead of NaBloPoMo?) I feel compelled to do something fabulous with this post, like dress it up in high heels, a little black dress, and maybe sweep its hair up into a Breakfast-at-Tiffany's-esque 'do.

Because really, aren't you all tired of hearing about my struggle to post every single day in November? I certainly am. As a reward, I'd like to write a post that astounds you, or makes you chuckle, or leaves you with a nice warm feeling in your tummy, like a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and a nice glass of milk.

But it's Friday night and I have to get ready to go to this Rave in the warehouse down the street and I still have to find my glowstick. Okay, I'm really just waiting for my husband to come home so we can make popcorn on the stove and watch a movie. I'll leave you guessing as to what kind of movie it will be. Perhaps a quiet British film like "A Room with a View." Or maybe something more American, like "Live Free or Die Hard." Whichever it is will determine how I eat my popcorn, according to Eddie Izzard. Don't know him? Check him out:

[warning: strong language in this video]

And as Eddie once said at the end of a show, he likes to leave people feeling "ehhh." And so I leave you.

Not with a bang but a whimper.

(C'mon! It's not like I won't be back. Will you be back?)

Haiku Cop-out

Up early today.
Email makes my eyes so tired.
Turn off computer!

For more haikus, head on over to Mommy Needs a Cocktail's NaBloPoMo page where it's been all haiku all month. Today's poem sums things up nicely:

Put me out of my misery Haiku

It's almost over.
NaBloPoMo killing me.
What was I thinking?

The Practice of Choosing Well

If National Blog Posting Month has taught me anything, it's something I already knew: Being intentional can be very hard work.

I've recently made changes in my life so that I can live more fully, be more aware of who I am and what I want and pursue those things diligently. The weird thing is that sometimes it's hard to do the things we want to do, not because other commitments get in the way, but because we get in our own way.

How much time can I waste mindlessly surfing the Internet or watching bad TV instead of reading quality online content or watching a really good movie? How much crappy convenience food can I eat because I didn't take the time to go shopping or plan my meals, even though I love the grocery store and like to cook? How many books can I not read because I'm too busy looking through catalogues for stuff I don't need and won't buy? A lot, that's how much.

It's easy to forget what we like to do and how we want to spend our time. And when we remember, sometimes it's still easier to do the lame, lazy thing than to be intentional and focused. It should be easy to choose the things we love, but even that takes practice.