I promised and I shall deliver: A review of today's
Novel in a Day event.
Well, it isn't really over, yet, of course. Some people still have about two hours of work ahead of them and a lot of stitching and piecing together to do.
But the other writers and I delivered our chapters and can sit back and relax now.
So, here is how it worked: At midnight (Greenwich time) all participants received an email with a briefing pack. This consisted of some general rules and guidelines, such as the writers' deadline: 8pm Greenich time. Most importantly, we received some basic and background information about the novel: genre, main characters, items, places and so on. The really exciting piece of information was, of course, the rough outline of the assigned chapter: The starting point within the novel, the main events that had to happen within the chapter, and the end point. And then: Ready - Set - Write.
This year's novel was set in the wild west. For me, it was an amazing experience: I am not a big fan of western - neither in movies nor in literature. Yet, as soon as I had read my assignment, I was literally overwhelmed by a multitude of vivid pictures before my inner eye. It was just so easy to imagine the ficticious town, the people, the events.
The beauty of today's task was the defined time frame on the one hand. I love deadlines! Not only because of the whooshing noise they make as they go by, as Douglas Adams said, but because they motivate me immensely. If I have too much time for a task, I get lazy and easily distracted by other things.
On the other hand, it was the new experience of working with somebody else's general idea and adding your own personal style. It was like one big and detailled writing prompt.
And last but not least, it was the possibility to get pushed into the cold water of a genre that you had never touched before - and maybe never would have touched.
Retrospectively, I have to say: I had a blast! When I couldn't sit in front of my laptop and write because my children wanted to play or eat or needed new nappies or if I had some other everyday task to do, I was constantly thinking about the project, imagining dialogues, character traits and actions.
When I finally finished writing at 20 minutes to 8 (that is, 20 minutes till deadline), I felt extremely satisfied. I have to confess, with two children finishing a project, which has got nothing to do with family, in one go becomes a rarity. Thus, today's writing event was a real blessing.
Can hardly wait until next year's NiaD!
