Hi, all,
Excited to be beginning this journey with all of you (as soon as I get done procrastinating by updating this blog)! I was wondering if anyone else would want to respond to this post and introduce themselves. I'd like an idea of who I'm connecting with over the next month, and I know some of you quite well of course, but others not as much. Maybe anyone who is willing would just write a brief blurb about themselves and what brings them to this blog, NaNo or writing in general? Anyone else insane enough to be considering doing parts of this by hand? I write better when my thoughts are slowed down by the archaic and cramping hand movements of mechanically writing. Nuts, I know.
Cheers!
Kristen
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I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kristen, and I have a long time neglected love of writing. I was Veronica's student 12 years ago, which seems like a hard number to swallow. Time flies! I'm living out in California, working as a therapist, and just recently came back to my love of writing last year when I had the opportunity to run a creative writing therapy group...found myself wanting to find a community of my own to write with, so happy to be joining this group!I'll read anything, and in terms of writing style, I look to many muses...recent admirations include Ondaatje, Franzen and Chabon. Longtime loves include Fitzgerald, Kundera, and Flaubert. Obviously I should have no trouble integrating all these into my own writing..ha....ha....ha.
ReplyDeleteGood idea! Why didn't I think of that (maybe because I figured that I would mostly be writing to myself anyway!! Haha.) I can't believe it was 12 years ago Kristen! Wow.
ReplyDeleteI am writing because I must. I have had stories blurbling (yes, I often make up words) inside of me and I have been able to push them down for years ("I'm too busy...there's this and that"), but now I just can't anymore. NaNo is a perfect excuse to go crazy--hey everyone else is doing it!
As a teacher I learned the best way to teach something is to do it alongside my kids. So students introduced me to NaNo last year and then came back and said, "Are we doing it again??" even though they didn't have me as a teacher. (They stayed after and made posters with all their names on it so they can come in all month and update their word count so everyone can see!) Love the energy I get from my kids.
An added attraction is that my husband, son (Yea Chris!!) and his girlfriend are doing it. And my 5 year-old is dying to do it too! So I can talk NaNo at school and at home. :D
Anyway...Lucky Passage for you all--great poem K!
Veronica
Good call Kristen.
ReplyDeleteI'm Chris. I recently graduated from Bennington College and am now serving on its Board of Trustees. Other than that I am out of work and feeling the brunt of this economy, so I will spend much of the time I am not writing this month applying for yet more jobs.
I am 22 years old and looking for work in DC and NY, primarily with policy think tanks but also with publishers and the like.
I helped create this blog. This is my first year with NaNo. My mother issued the challenge and I, as usual, threw myself into it without looking both ways. The novel I am attempting to write is slippery and amorphous at this point, but I am enjoying it immensely.
As for influences, I fell in love with Jonathan Lethem last year. Kurt Vonnegut is a lifelong love. For this novel most of what I am looking at is comic books and movies. I'm interested to see what effect that will have on my writing.
Take care, all.
I'm Abbi(Chris' girlfriend, for some context in other comments). I'm writing to get in the habit of giving creativity a prominent place in my day.
ReplyDeleteIn my other life, I am a substitute preschool teacher and looking for full time work. This project gives my days a focus, especially on days when I don't work.