I double dipped with my NaNoWriMo project, Necessary Fiction, and used the first scene in the first chapter as an assignment in my Creative Writing class. This was really a good call because I got a lot of really useful feedback from my classmates and my instructor. I definitely need to work on building tension, as well as solidifying Chelsea's voice as a narrator (although the novel is told from Third Person Omniscient). Something that struck me about the feedback was this:
"What I especially liked about this draft was how totally bizarre it seems to have taped so many TV shows!!!!??? So I am hoping for more bizarre behavior from parents."
My instructor is right, it IS a bizarre behavior, one ripped right from my real parents. Although Roger, the father (not seen in this first scene) is nothing at all like my real father, the FMC's (female main character's) mother is not unlike my own mother, who is also working her way through thousands of VHS to convert them to DVDs. I agree that it is totally bizarre, but also, totally realistic. I tried not to base my characters on real people, but Samantha, the mother, Beth and Charlie, the sister and brother-in-law, were all based on my own mother, sister, and brother-in-law. The people in my life are all true life characters, and I think, as I continue writing, they will all appear in one novel or another. I just wanted to include them because of their super awesome support for my NaNoWriMo project and putting up with all my "I need to write" bullshit.
Beginning the revision process has been hard, I am feeling a bit burned out on writing. I think I'm going to give myself a break for a few weeks and work on other projects. Something Fiction-related I'd like to work on is the Emily Chase story that Chelsea is writing. Maybe I'll have better luck, she came up with a really good plot :o).
