Tales from a Work in Progress
By J M Tuckerman
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Tales from a Work in ProgressDec 20, 2022
Robot Santa Reads Twas the Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
NaNoWriMo Prep #5: A Little Non-Noveling Preparation
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NaNoWriMo Prep #4: Moody Settings
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NaNoWriMo Prep #3: Plotting
Today we're featuring a few ways to plot out your novel. Try whatever you can find online and whichever method pops out to you from today's episode. One method does not fit all writers.
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NaNoWriMo Prep #2 - Characters
Today we're answering a lot of questions to build out our characters.
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Questions for your MC:
- So, write down their name, age, hair/eye/skin color, height/weight, ethnicity/cultural background
- what are they good at?
- what special skills/abilities do they have?
- what do they love to do?
- Describe their family, how does everyone get along?
- where do they live? what it's like there?
- describe their house, their bedroom, and their favorite place to be alone
- what are they hiding?
- what do they keep in their pockets/purse/backpack/bag?
- what's their favorite music? favorite book? favorite food? favorite tv show? favorite movie? favorite game?
- what makes them happy?
- what upsets them?
- what makes them anxious?
- what's a secret they don't want anyone to know?
- what are they most proud of?
- what do they want out of life?
- what is their overall goal of the story and what would they consider second place and losing?
Secondary Character Questions:
- How do they know the MC(main character)?
- What do they LOVE about the MC?
- What do they disagree with?
- What similarities do they have with the MC?
- What differences do they have with the MC?
- And what holes do they fill for the MC?
Antagonist Questions:
- Why is the antagonist getting in the MC's way?
- How do they feel about the MC and why?
- Does your antagonist have any likable qualities?
- What are their weaknesses?
Abstract Antagonist Questions:
- how does it get in the way?
- where did it come from?
- what limits does it impose on the supporting characters' ability to support the MC?
- is there any way to stop it?
NaNoWriMo Prep #1: Let's Make Some Weird Ideas
Yeah, I know it's only September and I recorded this in August, but the more you prepare the easier NaNoWriMo is! Today we're making ideas.
If you're listening on Spotify you can add the songs from today's episode into your library (how cool is that?)
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Now let's get to some real work. NaNoWriMo is just a few months away. I've already given out a few heart attacks in The Writers' Society by mentioning I've scheduled all my NaNo posts for my socials, but NOW is the time to get started on your prep work.
Even if you've already got a novel started, it's never a bad idea to revisit why you're writing that story.
Let's assume you've got absolutely nothing or you just haven't adopted the right plot bunny yet.
Make a list of places and things that make you feel excited, inspired, or curious. I've recently stumbled upon the concept of spaghettification, which is what happens to you when you enter a black hole, so that'll be at the top of my list. You might find you're currently obsessed with a period in history or elephants or true crime-put them all on your list. I'm only going to give you one song this time, try to come up with at least 10 items.
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Hopefully, you've got at least ten things on that list. If not, write down a few more things you're passionate about to fill it out.
Your list is made up of things you'd probably enjoy writing about. Now make a 3x3 table and choose nine things from your list (or go completely random and fill the table in by writing your ideas on scraps of paper and pulling them out of a hat).
Now you have a list of at least 3 novel ideas. You might have 1920s aesthetics, spaghettification, and reality tv as one of them. Now it's time to let your imagination run wild. Pick one of the three ideas and get ready to free write.
While you're freewriting, use sentences like "I wonder..." and "What if..." and "Wouldn't it be cool or weird or interesting if..." Keep asking yourself questions about your new, possibly incredibly weird, idea.
If you get bored, pick a new idea. If none of those ideas are working for you go back to step one and make a new list of passions or rearrange the list you've already made.
You'll get 5 songs to get this done. Don't overwrite. Put your pen down when you hear the bell.
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That's it! Pens down! The great thing about writing exercises is that you can do them as many times as you want or need to. So if this didn't help you generate an idea, don't worry. It'll come to you.
Trailer
Welcome to the show! We're going to talk about writing and sit down to do it.
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