Miss Raquel is writing "another" novel.

[formergothardite]

I don't understand how NaNoWriMo works, but I sure hope we get to read chapters of this "novel". Fathom? She really named her main character Fathom? Oh Raquel, please start reading some higher quality literature and go take a writing class. 

[Curious]

Why do I feel like we have just learned Raquel's potential kid's names?

[Hane]

I don't understand how NaNoWriMo works, but I sure hope we get to read chapters of this "novel". Fathom? She really named her main character Fathom? Oh Raquel, please start reading some higher quality literature and go take a writing class. 

Raquel Welch played a character named Fathom in a  (bad) spy movie back in the '60s. [/old interval]

Edited to fix punctuation.

[CyborgKin]

I don't understand how NaNoWriMo works, but I sure hope we get to read chapters of this "novel". Fathom? She really named her main character Fathom? Oh Raquel, please start reading some higher quality literature and go take a writing class. 

Maybe she thinks it's deep.

[nastyhobbitses]

Why do I feel like we have just learned Raquel's potential kid's names?

Xaquerie sounds like one of the names from that Key and Peele sketch about football players' names.

"And in chapter 5, we learn that Fathom's best friend Sequester Grundleplith M.D. is hiding a dark secret from her..."

[Grimalkin]

.............Xaquerie's evil twin brother Xayne turns up and locks him in a dog cage in the basement, steels his identity and all sorts of shenanagins happens!

In the last chapter Fathom wakes to find it all a horrible dream.

[Cats B4 Quivers]

@Fascinated My catvatar is slightly obsessed with yours and enjoys a good stacking every now and then. 

I bet Fathom prays for a good, character rich future headship but in true, heroine tradition finds an utterly gorgeous sinner with buckets of redemption value and money. Turns out, he isn't too full of sin and rather is emotionally delicate and a true believer. They have eleventy dozen children, all with names starting with the letter 'X'. 

[Shoobydoo]

To all the people wondering, nanoers usually do not post their work as they go. It's mostly about counting words, group brainstorming, and group support.  A lot of people doing nano either publish already or hope to do so, so posting their writing online would actually be a terrible idea. (Does Raquel know this? Large publishing houses do NOT want something you've posted publicly on the internet, as a general rule.) However, since it's Raquel we're talking about, I'm sure she won't be able to resist posting elsewhere...

Also, Fathom? Really? 

[nonymouse]

To quote Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka: "The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last."

[Granwych]

I don't see how that can be done with this one. I mean, if someone sent me a chapter and said "Edit and publish this, or I won't give the rest" my response would be to line the litter box with the pages. 

It's a real Raquel fantasy. She's an intern who is given a column that she apparently can do whatever she wants with, and she doesn't even have to write it. Someone else does that for her.

I'm amazed that the girl can write her own name.

To all the people wondering, nanoers usually do not post their work as they go. It's mostly about counting words, group brainstorming, and group support.  A lot of people doing nano either publish already or hope to do so, so posting their writing online would actually be a terrible idea. (Does Raquel know this? Large publishing houses do NOT want something you've posted publicly on the internet, as a general rule.) However, since it's Raquel we're talking about, I'm sure she won't be able to resist posting elsewhere...

Also, Fathom? Really? 

Of course it would be Fathom.  Remember the Raquel Welch movie of the same name??  oops, I should have read the previous posts...

[salex]

It strikes me she has her plot device backward.  The initial chapter should have the incentive that there is some kind of threat with it, so that the character publishes it and following chapters and in the end you have the switch-- the threatening person is caught though the character's actions, the character is put at risk, turns out it is her other personality, or her boss or her mentor or a guy she rejected in 9th grade.   But the threat or some other incentive should come first... even just stealing someone's work because otherwise she'd miss a deadline because she was hungover.... 

[Shoobydoo]

It strikes me she has her plot device backward.  The initial chapter should have the incentive that there is some kind of threat with it, so that the character publishes it and following chapters and in the end you have the switch-- the threatening person is caught though the character's actions, the character is put at risk, turns out it is her other personality, or her boss or her mentor or a guy she rejected in 9th grade.   But the threat or some other incentive should come first... even just stealing someone's work because otherwise she'd miss a deadline because she was hungover.... 

Very true. Describing the plot your way, you have the skeleton for a good mystery novel on hand. Phrased Rachel's way, you have... mediocrely plotted romance? That's supposed to be a mystery but isn't? 

[ari_belle]

This is why Raquel is my favorite to snark on...she has a cover for the book she hasn't even finished writing yet.

It's like those fucking mugs and band colors she picked out before they'd written a fucking song.

[Paperplate]

LOL. I just read Raquel's last post: Xaquerie is a guy?!?!?! Like Zachary? 

[formergothardite]

Oh my. I just read her latest post. I think Raquel is spending more time creating a cover for her unwritten book than she is thinking about the actual plot. Is Raquel's picture on the cover? I'm not surprised because Fathom is supposed to look just like Raquel. Fathom even has a pet rabbit. Xaquerie is apparently Raquel's dream man who will rush in to be a controlling, bad ass body guard. 

Raquel says that all her ideas for books were cliche and unoriginal and then someone suggested this plot to her and her brain exploded with ideas and she was at work but she still took time to start writing about it. I hate to tell her, but she still hasn't been able to come up with an original idea on her own. 

Anyway, she should just self-publish. I'll buy it and review for FJ. 

 

[AmazonGrace]

Oh but then the book is quite lifelike, isn't it? Raquel can't think of what to write so she gets somebody else's story idea about a girl who is just like Raquel, can't think of what to write and gets given somebody else's story.

 

Well, I’ve never done NaNoWriMo, so I’m not sure I am the best person to be giving advice.  BUT…here are the three foundational principles I’ve set down for myself.

 

1)  Set a timer.

I have one set for 10pm (cuz that’s when my brain chooses to be the most active ha-ha), and I have another timer set for 10:30pm.  I can stop writing when the second one goes off or when I’ve written the 1,667 words for that day.  OR I can keep writing to my heart’s content.  I’m giving myself a half hour window just to start things off slowly, but I think that, as the month continues, the set time will be extended...or completely forgotten haha

 I think that might be a tad optimistic... Good luck writing a novel spending 30 minutes per day in 30 days. 1667 words per half an hour, makes 56 words per minute, about one word per second.

My typing speed (I just tested) is 62 -70 words per minute and the site said 84-90 % of people are equal or slower than me. But that's just for repeating the words I see on the screen and no time at all spent thinking about what Xaquerie should say next and what's the next plot twist and what Fathom is wearing and whether this chapter is a good place for their first near-kiss or should they wait a while yet, how you spell the word loquacious and how many commas there should be in this sentence. 

[AmazonGrace]

 Xaquerie is apparently Raquel's dream man who will rush in to be a controlling, bad ass body guard. 

Besides being hot, this bad ass fella is described as an intimidating genius, educated, mature, left brained, condescending...

I think he'll be very annoyed by the million ways that stupider people manage to  misspell his name and would prefer to  go by his middle name,  Robert. 

[ari_belle]

I know we've discussed this before, but isn't it interesting how Raquel's fantasies (which she conjures up via her works of fiction) are essentially her secret longings for a "normal" teen (now 20-something) existence? "Fathom" (shoot me, I hate that name) has an apartment of her own at 22, seems to live by herself, has a steady job, is educated I think...and then she meets the perfect man?

Raquel spends so much time talking about "her man"/future husband and writing these middle school romance novels that you think she would put two and two together and realize that she might want to educate herself, live on her own, and amount to something, like her characters do. She is certainly modeling her strong female characters after SOMEONE, but it's not herself..it's who she wishes she could be. Not that working hard and doing something meaningful with her life/working a real job and living on her own would bring about the perfect husband, but it would surely give her the fulfillment she lacks. Of course, Miss Raquel is not one for self-reflection, so that's probably never going to happen...it's just interesting to note these semi-subconscious desires.

[clueliss]

This is why Raquel is my favorite to snark on...she has a cover for the book she hasn't even finished writing yet.

It's like those fucking mugs and band colors she picked out before they'd written a fucking song.

Oh but that's a naowirmo site thing.  Seriously I got a pop up or something that said 'if you have a cover there is X% improvement in your chance of winning or some such rot.  

[salex]

I am not going to snark on the pictures of the characters, because I do that too-- I just don't share them with others... but  it helps to have a visual foundation of the character, for me. 

However, one bit of well known and wise advice to writers that she might want to consider is "Don't talk about your book."  If you tell the story, you don't  have to write the story.... 

 

And I agree.  While It would be great to be able to push out a rough draft at 30 minutes a day for 30 days, I think that is optimistic.  I tried (and ended up stopping) the novel in a month project one year and scheduled a couple of hours a day, but work ate my lunch and I didn't have th 2 hours.  every day.  

 

She is inspiring me to work on a project of mine, however. so thank you Fathom 

 

 

 

[clueliss]

I have secret pinterest boards for characters - because I've long had a habit of 'casting' characters.  However I consider that for my reference as the author and not a reader's thing.   Mainly it is hidden so that my friends don't think I'm psycho.  

[Terrie]

As a longtime table top role player, I love creating characters. I have a city setting I've been toying with for YEARS, and I kinda love the pinterest idea. But, i also recognize that creating characters is not the same as writing a story. And I don't have any characters name "Xaqurie". (Seriously, worst kr8tiv spelling ever).

[AmazonGrace]

I think it might work for some people... Working on the cover might give them ideas, or a better picture of their characters, and increase commitment to the project. If you got some friends to help you photograph a cover and then you give up writing the book after a week after all it's going to be a little embarrassing... 

I know we've discussed this before, but isn't it interesting how Raquel's fantasies (which she conjures up via her works of fiction) are essentially her secret longings for a "normal" teen (now 20-something) existence? "Fathom" (shoot me, I hate that name) has an apartment of her own at 22, seems to live by herself, has a steady job, is educated I think...and then she meets the perfect man?

Raquel spends so much time talking about "her man"/future husband and writing these middle school romance novels that you think she would put two and two together and realize that she might want to educate herself, live on her own, and amount to something, like her characters do. She is certainly modeling her strong female characters after SOMEONE, but it's not herself..it's who she wishes she could be. Not that working hard and doing something meaningful with her life/working a real job and living on her own would bring about the perfect husband, but it would surely give her the fulfillment she lacks. Of course, Miss Raquel is not one for self-reflection, so that's probably never going to happen...it's just interesting to note these semi-subconscious desires.

So far (well at this point the book hasn't been written yet so we're not very far at all)  Fathom doesn't impress me as a very strong, independent character. Yeah she's got a place of her own but she appears to be a bit ditzy, forgetful, scatterbrained,  ("I Can't Fathom") and she's going to need a condescending male to tell her what to do and to keep her from getting herself killed.  On the cover she's looking artsy but she can't see a thing for all the windswept messy hair.  

Is it just me or does it look like Xaquerie's apartment would be more Fathom's style and he'd go for a more no-nonsense look like her apartment is? Since he's so left brained and straightforward thinking and she's so creative and all. 

[ari_belle]

Well obviously "Fathom" has similar authority/control issues to Raquel's (as well as other issues), but to me this is a subconscious yearning to get out of her parents' house and live on her own, get some kind of education, a job, and have her own life. IMO, she's too lazy to do it, and maybe too scared--probably both.

[formergothardite]

Raquel seems to be one of those people who will need a bit of a shove to get out of the rut they are in. She clearly wants a different sort of life, but she seems scared to take the first step, even a simple thing like enrolling in a writing class at a community college. I think she is scared that if she does something like that she might find out she isn't as good as she has always thought. She has always been proud of her superior education and writing/grammar skills, but if she goes to college she might find out that she really isn't superior. As long as she doesn't go she can tell herself that she would do great in college. 

It does seem like Fathom is the person Raquel wants to be. A college graduate, an apartment of her own, an internship as a journalist, and being pursued by a mysterious man all while not even having to write her own articles!  Raquel is never going to get any of that sitting at home waiting for the perfect man who matches her eleventy point list to show up and sweep her off her feet.