Wednesday 17 August 2005

Pic of the day: OK, so perhaps I can't run fast enough to stay on top of the water, like Riiya-kun from the anime Akazukin Chacha, but I seem to have written some fairly fast-paced stories in years gone by.

Man, I'm good!

Since for some reason I have been thinking about NaNoWriMo lately, I went back and looked at last year's attempt. I failed again, as usual: This was the third year in a row that I didn't complete my 50 000 words. Then again, that was largely due to the pain in my arm and wrist. Apart from being barely half finished, I really liked the story. Not just while writing it, but also when reading it nine months later. It is just the kind of story I would like to read myself, and what more could I ask for? It's not like I do this for money, after all.

I guess it wasn't really romance after all, but some kind of New Age fantasy/humor. Actually there would be more drama in the later chapters, but I never got around to writing those. And the dark foreshadowings were pretty scarce compared to the hilarious dialogue and incessant misunderstandings. I guess light fantasy is more my specialty after all. Romance certainly isn't. But I think I achieved my goal of writing "heartwarming, family-friendly boy love". And that's not something many people can say these days!

Anyway, I really doubt I could write this well today. The story that is percolating in my head (and which I am tentatively plotting for use this November) does have some potential for comedy, and there are more serious emotions running in the background. But right now, I can't see myself writing something as entertaining as last year. Or the year before that... or the year before that again...

Man, I was really good back then. Except at completing things. But I have never been good at that.

One funny thing was when I came to the last chapter I had uploaded. I could not remember it. I recognized it when I read it, but I could not have told the last half when I read the first half, and the final punchline / cliffhanger took me completely by surprise, as it would any other reader. That is disturbing, don't you think? Whose brain is it anyway? Perhaps I am not so good after all... perhaps only the muses in my head are...