NaNoWriMo 2003

Kicker

A story about a fraternal triplet to a pair of identical twin sisters, his loss of self when he no longer is needed as their proctector, and his attempt to find a new role in life.

Here I go again...

I'm attempting my third NaNo novel in as many years. I have to admit that I'm beginning to appreciate this writing without rear-view mirrors, with writing something until it's finished instead of fixing problems and editing as I go. I've learned a little from my earlier efforts, mostly that the rest of my life can be spent fixing the work, but that I need to finish to have something to fix.

I can't get it right if I don't get it written, and that's what NaNo is all about.

This year's story is about a triplet, a fraternal boy to a pair of identical twin sisters. According to the Internet, that can happen. He happens to be the middle child, and was born later enough to have split the triplet's birthdays over two consecutive days. I would imagine his sisters would hold that against him.According to my theory of writing, you need to write a story using the following sentence:

This is the story of a <insert character> who <insert goal or defining moment>.

I've tried using just the first part of the phrase, and it just doesn't work for me. It's the “who...” that makes the story, not the character, and it's my job as the author to throw obstacles in the path of the characters, so I can see how they deal with them.

While I think it's possible to write a decent story just using that sentence, I think a better one can be crafted by taking it the next step. I could write about an elf lord who finds the sword of Narok, about a pregnant girl who chooses an abortion, but I think it gets real interesting to use that “typical” stuff as the starting point of the novel, not as its end.

October 3

Here's what I have, what I'm thinking about, so far...

Identical twin sisters Charlene and Charlotte (Lotty). The boy's name is Chester (the parents couldn't think of Charlie and regret it).

Chester spends his school years “saving” his sisters, acting as their defender. They're attractive and garner lots of attention and he doesn't resemble them. He's the only person who can always, infallibly, tell them apart.

He loses his identity when they get married / fall in love / move away and he no longer has them to protect.

One of the girls works as a ring girl, model at trade shows.

The eldest, Charlene, was born on Christmas Eve, about ten minutes before midnight. Chester was next, some fifteen minutes later, and he and Lotty have a Christmas Day birthday. There's some sort of gift-giving ritual that the kids develop apart from the family's celebration.

One of the girls needs help, and Chester remembers the ritual and tries to rekindle or recreate it. When he is successful, it either brings the world back into line or doesn't.

Oh, yeah, I can make a novel out of that.

October 4

Decided not to start the book with the penis line, as I'd been planning for the last few months. I like it, but I don't want to begin this damn thing in the hospital with the triplets being born. That would be a horrible place to start.

The book, now, is going to start at Charlene's wedding reception. I can bring in backstory later. Maybe I'll have Lotty miss the wedding entirely and show up at the reception drunk. Chester can smooth things over or work on that incident, maybe the last time he gets to be their savior, or the first time he fails. Then we can move on to parts unknown.

October 7

What I'm hoping to get done before November is to have a few scenes set out as stepping stones leading to the end, which I don't have yet. I was thinking last night about a final scene when Chester gets a new phone and, for the first time, doesn't put his sisters' phone numbers in right at the top. It sounds pretty lame, and I'm not sure he's going to succeed in casting off his old life, but I'm going to need some sort of defining moment. For some reason, I keep thinking of Kicker as being a much more serious book than I originally wanted to write. Last year I wrote a serious book (sort of), but I think I do better with a lighter voice.

I'm still uncertain if I'll be using more than one POV. I guess it will depend on how much of the story I can tell from just his. I'm not as excited about writing this one as I have been in years past, but, then again, I'm not very excited about much of anything right now.

Ran across a passage in Yates' Young Hearts Crying where a sibling's PRIDE is mentioned, and I'm going to try to find it again since it looks like something I could steal. Also, I should try to end with the scene that inspired this, with the triplets “sitting on a bed (in NJ).”

I'm also re-considering the ritual. “Gift giving” seems almost as lame as the phone number thing.

October 8

Last night I considered using pets as a sub-plot. Don't know what Chester (LaFrance? Ackerman?) will get involved with, will choose, as he attempts to adapt to his new life, but I might want to make use of the pet history (having a series of puppies who all die). Bigger problems are coming to light, things I really need to have worked out.

Those bigger things include the scope of the novel, at least as far as time goes. Will this be a yearlong quest? That would make the most sense, might be the more realistic, but I keep thinking about a weekend, too. And, for some reason, a weekend camping trip. I can't see his sisters going on a camping trip, but that may work to my advantage.

I still have plenty of time to develop the story. I may end up having Chester and his sisters go to the Stonehedge Weekend party and make use of that idea. I'll try to remember to use the word perverse, which I like and don't think I've used in anything. How come I keep forgetting these words that are pretty cool?

October 11

...still working on the second half of my sentence (the “who”... part).

Although I hate pigeon-holing people based on their jobs (human “doings” versus human beings), Chester must have a job or some sort of interest or life. It's funny how the ring girl sister (and I don't know yet which that is) seems more interesting. If I focus the novel on her and her life, I'll need a new title since she isn't the “Kicker.”

But I digress.

If Chester takes the job of working in a kennel, that might tie in well with the pet history thing. Maybe he can be using pets as a way of handling his loss of proctectorship? I've also considered making him a freelance, unlicensed Private Investigator, because he thinks that would be cool. Already I'm figuring that he'll be dismissive of the licensing (and my needing to do much research). He may figure that he won't need a license if he doesn't get caught at doing bad things, and why would he need a license to chase down unfaithful spouses, anyway? Anyone can own a camera and take pictures...

October 17

You would have thought I'd made more progress in the last week.

I guess it isn't much of a surprise that I've been thinking more about the twins than Chester. I still haven't figured out if I'll do any chapters or sections from their POV, but they are the more interesting. They're also one of the things that scare me. I've been successful in the past about writing from a female POV (some girls have said that, anyway), but ... two? I've yet to decide which is which, but that doesn't bother me. I'm just coming up with characters at the moment, and haven't even decided who will get which ones.

I get the feeling that one of them – the more lovable one? – will be the daytime receptionist and evening / weekend ring girl, car show model, and we may get her being pushed into or dabbling with modeling. I don't know anything about that world, though. She may be the one who's into the occult as well, perhaps feng shui and other New Age stuff, too. I can see her chasing that in an attempt to become “whole.” The other, the one whose marriage looks to be the starting place of the novel, may be the more straight-laced, at least on the outside. She may work for an ad agency (modeling connection?) and it might be fun to steal Rob's popsicle story for her.

Also ... where in the novel will the “triplets sitting on the bed” thing come in? I'm using it now as a potential final scene, something to work toward. It may be part of, or related to the ritual, whatever that turns out to be.

I'm still wondering about this whole “being saved by the ritual” idea, which I think is a good one, but don't have any idea about what the ritual will save who from.

October 19

Less than two weeks to go and some big things still need resolution. The biggest, of course, is that I don't yet know I plan to write. I'm not too worried about that, still trusting on instinct and innate writing ability to see me through, but I'm uneasy because I don't even have basic things such as scope down yet. I have some large, sweeping ideas, things that would make the story take place over ten years or so, but that feels like too much to handle in one month. I remember last year's story (The Single Spire) and don't want to make that mistake again. Also, most of my late night thoughts seem to be pretty, er, bold. I'm not sure I want to write some multi-layered, serious work, and may have troubles enough just trying to keep POV straight.

I thought I had the tone settled on, another light “romantic comedy” type thing with absurdist overtones, but many of my thoughts are serious. I guess what I should do, come November, is to write and don't worry about what comes out.

I'm thinking of having Chester celebrate a “Stonehendge Weekend,” but have no idea when it the novel it would occur. Also, my latest idea for the ritual would involve the triplets sitting on the side of the tub, soaking their feet together. I'd considered having them huddle under a blanket or something, acting like castaways removed from the world, but then I'd need reasons for them to want to get away from the world, and I can't think of any cute reason for them to do so. I sure as hell don't want them having to hide from arguing parents, but that's what that thread is bringing up.

Right. The triplets having to hide from drug abusing parents. Add to that Chester's need to reclaim his soul, Lotty's downward spiral, Charlene's failed marriage and increasing involvement with the occult and I think I've lost the happy story I thought I was going to write.

October 23

Hmmmm. About a week left and still little idea about the plot.

I had a breakthrough about the married twin but, naturally, forgot to write it down and can't recall it. I'm hoping it, too, is stuck somewhere in my unconscious and will sally forth when I need it most.

I'm not as worried about Kicker's tone as I used to be. I will write it however feels most natural and will worry about it in December. I think a problem with my writing may be my shifting tone, but maybe I'm just making that up.

Just finished Falkner's As I Lay Dying and can see how multiple POVs can work, but I'm still not sure that I can carry it off. It's got to be obvious from the voice who's talking and that can be tricky. I think the easiest way is to use some sort of gimmick, but I don't think that's a good idea. I was a little disappointed in the book because I was also hoping to find sneaky ways to describe the narrator or, at least, slip his or her name in. Well, he didn't do that, so I can't pick much up there.

Dammit. What's the story going to be?

October 25

I may be on to something, but I'm not sure it isn't really lame. Yesterday I was thinking about something that would put Chester in a position to need something of his own, something that would put him on the receiving end of the supplying that he'd been giving his sisters. The whole “reversal of roles” thing.

At first I was thinking about hospitals and things like that, but then (thanks to Amis junior's Money) I stumbled on a toothache.

I don't know how great a part it plays in his novel, or if it's too slender a reed on which I can build a story, but “It's about a fraternal triplet who has a toothache.”

I'm still not clear how to tie that in with ritual, or how to make it a life-defining moment for Chester, but it's a working idea, and I hope it's enough of one to get me going.

So, I have the opening scene (the wedding reception) and that will bring up something about Lotty's problem. That should be enough to get started.

Chester, either after helping Lotty or being excluded from that (by her manager or agent?) can develop a toothache that makes him feel all helpless and that puts him in the position of receiving care instead of giving it.

That has “Novel of the Year” written all over it.

October 27

Forget that toothache nonsense. I'll leave it to someone else to recount that tale.

I think I've got it: Conspiracy Theories. Whoever it is who gets married will do so to a guy who's all over these CTs. I was going to make him a professional dowser, and still might, but he'll be a conspiracy theorist and will sucker the others in. I guess the big climax may come when Chester has to agree to his some one of his theories or else turn his back on his sisters. That could be a big moment for him and right now I don't know how he'll decide. Maybe he'll tell me that when I get to that point of the story.

October 28

I'm a bit more excited now that I have an idea about what I'll be writing.

Here's my current rough outline of how I think the story will go. Starts with one of the girl's wedding and her sister's showing up late or drunk or in some kind of trouble. Chester makes an effort or offer to help, but she refuses. Maybe she has someone else – an agent? -- that she'll use or maybe she'll refuse or try to get out of whatever it is herself.

Chester will either go through a succession of pets or women to reclaim his provider status, but it won't work. Either the husband or boyfriend will be a conspiracy theorist and will rope the other sister into that way of thinking. Chester will have to join with them or go his separate way.

Depending on what all I put into it, I may have more than fifty thousand words here.