And just like that, there are two months left in the year. November is also National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. If you didn’t already know, NaNoWriMo is a non-profit and a community-driven movement where one signs up on the website and commits to writing a 50,000-word novel by the end of the month.
I won’t be participating this year though. It was tempting because this is my first November since 2002 that I am not in full time employment. In theory, I should be able to bang out 50,000 words easy. It would have also been good exercise and a flexing of the muscles one needs as a writer.
However, after I took a long hard look at my present commitments, I realised that I wouldn’t have been able to commit the kind of time and attention NaNoWriMo requires. There is truth in the notion that I am being overly finicky about the whole thing. I am still fighting the urge to churn out perfect drafts (no such thing).
More importantly, however, is the fact that I am in the middle of drafting the first novel. The story is about to enter its final third and all the plotlines are about to be resolved. Yes, I said plotlines. I have been rather overambitious in trying to write a complex story with multiple paths and it has been tough trying to keep everything consistent.
I remember reading somewhere that most authors start with short stories. I heard Neil Gaiman say so in his Masterclass as well (I think). Unfortunately, I was already about 10,000 words into the novel when I first encountered those words and a mix of bravado and ignorance led me to where I am right now. Another part of it is that I did not fully understand why I should be writing short stories instead of my novel.
A certain realisation came to me around the 40,000-words mark. Plot holes.
The equation I had discovered was a simple one. Less words = easier to resolve plot holes. Even so, this was just a notion to me until I submitted my entry for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize this weekend past. I had written a story which was just under the limit of 5,000 words by the time I was into the third draft. I was also quite happy with the product by then.
The first draft had been a monster of more than 6,000 words. It was also riddled with plot holes and typos. Then I sent it on to some friends for comments. With their feedback, I worked on a second draft, which I further refined until it was just a little bit over 5,000 words. The third and final draft, which I edited right up to the moment of submission, was safely below the limit – but more importantly, it had resolved the many plot holes I had discovered as I edited.
If you asked me if I stood a chance at winning something with the story, I would have to say the answer is most likely no. Mostly because I have no idea what kind of quality would be up against. But also because I don’t really like to think about it. I was happy with the story, and so I submitted it.
I digress. The point is, it was fairly easy to resolve the plot holes for a short story. But a novel is a different animal. The plot holes for my draft novel seem to have mines inside them, all waiting for me to carelessly activate them. It feels me with fear and anxiety – but also excitement.
I can safely say that I am quite happy with how the story has developed so far. I would daresay that notwithstanding the delay and the multiple plot holes I find myself besieged by, I have enjoyed writing the tale of the prince who gave Singapore (my home country) its name. It is a local legend that the prince, Sang Nila Utama, had landed on what was then known as Temasek, and had been hunting when he came across an animal he had never seen before. He asked his advisor what it was, and was given the reply that it was a “Singa”, or lion. Sang Nila combined the word for lion with the word for city (Pura) and so it was that the island of Temasek became known as Singapura – The Lion City. The name has stuck till today.
I always did like that story. And I generally am partial to myths and legends. I believe that there is a lot of room for a greater story to emerge from that legend, and one night this past May, my imagination expanded into the legend I knew to birth the framework for the novel I am now burdened with.
So no, I will not be doing the NaNoWriMo. I wish all the very best to the folks who are participating in it. I am looking forward to see what wonderful stories emerge from it.
But in the meantime, if you need me, I will be writing my version of the tale of Sang Nila Utama.
Working title – “Myth”.
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