NaNoWriMo 2015: The End

Went to The Winter's Tale (excellent!), came home, wrote a few more words, earned my update-every-day badge shortly before midnight.

Quote of the day: “You’re amazing, Sybs, if only for how thickheaded you are.”

Today's word count: 860

Total word count: 51,111

*frantic applause as a rather huge cast of characters takes a badly-spelled and plot-holed bow*

NaNoWriMo 2015, Day 29: I Win!

I tried to write an emotional scene today. It didn't go so well in terms of emotion, moving the story along, or actual good writing, but it did get me across the finish line. I'll still write a bit tomorrow, just to get the "update every day" badge.

Quote of the day: So much for carpe diem—she was about to have cry all diem.

Today's word count: 2210

Total word count: 50,251

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 28

So, so close. Barring any insane circumstances, I'll reach 50K tomorrow. Likely with Sybil and Greg mired in some angst, because the two of them seem to live there.

(Incidentally, I've been binge-watching House while writing, and earlier today said "Angsty Chase is my favourite kind of Chase." So apparently I like everyone's writing to be heavy on the angst, not just my own.)

Quote of the day: “Greg, I swear to you, that was an honest question and you are losing your mind.”

Today's word count: 4310

Total word count: 48,041

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 27

Thank goodness for a long weekend with no homework in it. If I'd had to do NaNo and school at the same time this year, I don't think I would be able to finish. As it is, I'm catching up and hope to cross the finish line Sunday, because on Monday evening I'm going to see A Winter's Tale and will not have time for writing. (Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh are both in it, but as usual I'm more excited about Hadley Fraser being in it. Sure hope I recognize him right away instead of the second or third time he's on screen, which is what happened when I saw the most recent Les Misérables movie, thanks to his facial hair of unusual size.)

Quote of the day: “And while that is a small concern, it’s not my problem,” Sybil retorted. “We’re talkng about my best friend, here, and I’m a lot more concrned about his feelings than yours.”

Today's word count: 3063

Total word count: 43,731

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 26

My lovely lovely characters are not giving thanks today, because they're busy thinking about lots of other stuff and also because it's not Thanksgiving Day yet in their world.

Back to the boring participant badge.
Hoping to replace this with a winner
badge soon.

Favourite snippet of the day (well, favourite that doesn't require a bunch of context): “Run along, big brother.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” he asked.
“Did it stop being true?”

Today's word count: 2802

Total word count: 40,668

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 25

Obviously the first sentence/last sentence thing is done for this NaNoWriMo, unless something crazy happens. So instead you're getting a sentence that I like. Which for today, is:

I saw this at the Museum of Modern
Art. It has nothing to do with this
post. 

“So you’re a good guy with a decent conscience,” Sybil said. “The horror.”

Today's word count: 2063

Total word count: 37,866

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 24

Gosh, I love these characters. I keep forgetting Sybil and Greg aren't actual people. It's possible they will never be published, not for the obvious reason that no one will be interested in reading it, but because I'm not sure I can bring myself to reveal my friends' private lives in this way.

Yes. I need some help. On the upside, today I need help because I'm obsessed with the characters I wrote, not because I've been making terrible Les Mis jokes. (That's only because I've been making terrible House jokes instead.)

I looked for an angsty photo, didn't
find one, but I haven't won yet,
so this is close enough.

Anyway, here's a fun little line from today: For Greg, it was all raw hurt and he felt every word.

(Did I say fun? I may have been exaggerating. Keeping my characters in emotional limbo is a thing I do, it seems.)

Today's word count: 3795

Total word count: 35,803

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 23

Yep, skipped another day. Why? Because Project #2 is providing my brain with ever-so-much fodder, and I haven't written anything on my original 2015 project since a couple of pages on Saturday. Yep, I'm working on the same set of characters that have proven to be NaNo gold, both in terms of getting the right number of words written and in making serious progress in the story. (It's a school story. She gets four years. Right now I'm halfway through year #2.)

This photo has nothing
whatsoever to do with
this post. I was just tired
of the other photo.

So, sorry Kathleen, but I'll come back to you if something interesting happens. In the meantime, I tend to write Sybil entirely in cliches from teen angst TV shows, so I hope it gets better in the editing phase, once I get there.

Like this, for instance: "I just didn’t know how to tell you how I felt.”
“So you thought acting like a jerk was the right way to do that?”

Yesterday's word count: 5585

Today's word count: 1822

Total word count: 32,008

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 21

A few days ago, my NaNo novel came up in the course of bikeschool (a Twitter chat) because I said I was headed off to write or something like that. In the conversation that followed, one thing led to another and suddenly a Twitter friend was demanding to be killed off in my novel. I finally got around to introducing him today: in honor of @Seannybucket, Mr. Parker the cranky neighbor has been introduced. Horrible death still to come.

Who am I? Wrimo 24601.
 Yes, I wore this
shirt on purpose knowing
this would happen today.

In unrelated news, I finally reached 24601 words. So my word counts below are actually low, because once I get to 24601 I like to stop and bask. The rest of the words I wrote today will be reflected in tomorrow's word count. (Yes, there is something wrong with me.)

First sentence: She still wouldn’t let him take her home, but did let him drop her off at a different bus stop that was closer to her house.

Last sentence: Jellylorum was probably devious enough to outsmart anything she tried.

Today's word count: 2111

Total word count: 24,601

On the Sport Involving Feet

This post is brought to you by recurring guest blogger Bill Hill: friend, former classmate, Twitter user extraordinaire (@MrBillHill), and all-around good guy. He was looking for a spot to empty his brain and I was looking for someone to write things for Cheekyness while I'm NaNoWriMo-ing. Bill occasionally blogs at Bill's Universe II.

Part of me feels annoyed when I look at this cartoon. It assumes that every American is bored by the game of soccer/football, which is obviously untrue. As much as ESPN may be hawking and exaggerating the overall effect, it is true that soccer/football is gaining popularity here in the States. If there’s anything I like about this cartoon, though, it’s the idea that the sociopolitical element is completely subverted in favor of a value judgment. The soccer/football player frames the sport as primarily a cultural or linguistic product, and the American’s response unveils the needless artificiality therein. It’s that idea I’ll be discussing today – the idea that soccer/football is first and foremost a sport, and that all its geopolitical entanglements only limit our ability to evaluate the game.

There are plenty of angles to start with, of course, but the best place to begin is the name.

1. The name of the sport should be used to relay information, and not to communicate any sort of social, cultural, ideological, or geopolitical viewpoint.

I think everyone understands by now that soccer is virtually a term used only in America.  When we were in second grade, this was almost like a trivia item – ‘Did you know that soccer is called football in England?’ In 2015, though, this is pretty common knowledge. And of course, it doesn’t only apply to England.

What’s really odd, though, is how the Difference-of-Name has actually begun to bother some people. I recall one macro image, for example, in which an indignant soccer ball cried out to an American football, ‘Find your own name!’ Moreover, the term soccer is sometimes treated with contempt and mockery. Certain English commentators, if I’m not mistaken, treat the word as if it’s some kind of cultural handicap: ‘Ha! You Americans use the term soccer! What’s wrong with you people?’

Guess what? When it comes to the terms soccer and football, both are useful terms.

Football is useful because:
a. this term is a decidedly accurate description of the general game-play
b. this term (or some linguistic variation) is used in the majority of global nations

Soccer is useful because:
a. it is a long-standing British term which originally referred to Association Football
b. it prevents unwanted confusion (particularly in the U.S.) between soccer-football and American football

The term soccer does not exist as a symbol of geopolitical defiance, nor are those who use the term typically ignorant of the alternate name. 

On one hand, the term soccer still existed in England for the better part of the twentieth century – therefore the idea that soccer is an American invention is nothing short of an old wives’ tale. On the other hand, anyone who thinks that this is a ‘stubborn America’ issue – that America should ‘adapt’ by phasing out the term soccer – needs to remember that there would be needless confusion with regard to American football. It would be like saying, ‘The nation of Mexico must adapt, and start using the English word see instead of ver!’ Besides how utterly presumptuous that would be, it would also be inconsiderate toward the potential confusion between see and sí. Therefore it is not stubbornness or ignorance which lets the term soccer survive in America – again, most people know by now that the term football is much more common – rather, it is practicality.

When someone calls the sport soccer, then, try and remember this: It is needlessly close-minded and combative to argue over what term they should be using instead. Think of it like this: A French-speaker approaches an English-speaker and says to them, ‘Bonjour!’ It would be incredibly unnecessary for the English-speaker to reply, ‘You are the only country in the world that has developed the term Bonjour! How dare you use such an unconventional phrase!’ With soccer/football, it is the same; the name of the game should summon the concept of the sport without inviting any sort of cultural/geopolitical criticism.

But I’m sad to say that the issue extends far beyond the name of the sport:

2. Any judgment concerning the game of soccer/football applies merely to the sport itself; it is not a comment on any sort of cultural or geopolitical issue.

Unfortunately, our society seems to have bought into this tiresome philosophy: ‘If you decide you aren’t interested in the game of soccer/football, it means you are xenophobic – too stubborn and close-minded to enjoy something culturally different.’ Maybe if there were someone who refused to watch a single minute of soccer/football on television (simply because it was unfamiliar), then this philosophy might apply. If we’re being intelligent and realistic, however, we know that isn’t what people mean when they say they don’t enjoy soccer/football. They’re making a judgment about the game, and saying (in so many words), ‘The game of soccer/football is a relatively uninteresting procedure.’

If this were a doctoral dissertation, I would probably conduct a statewide survey to illustrate the idea. Since this is a blog post, though, I’ll give you my own personal analysis of the sport:

I believe that the game of soccer/football is relatively uninteresting. The top-tier players clearly exhibit impressive athleticism, but essentially, the game itself provides a lackluster showcase for their skill-set. The most ‘exciting’ plays are often those where the athletes maneuver the ball past their opponents; unfortunately, the vast majority of these plays do not culminate in a direct scoring attempt (and most often, are eventually followed by a change of possession). The result is that even the athletes’ more impressive motions are usually without significant consequence. While successful goals are often entertaining (and sometimes spectacular), these goals do not occur commonly enough to enrich the suspense of the overall game-play. Essentially, the extended periods of inconsequential activity (as well as the fluid alteration of ball-possession) limit the game’s ability to demand attention and/or engagement. I watch the World Cup every four years to follow the interesting playoff narrative, but as for the sport itself, it provides little in the way of entertainment. 

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to convince you that soccer/football is uninteresting. I have plenty of friends who truly enjoy soccer/football, and I respect their individual tastes. I’ve only written that paragraph to illustrate the nature of sports-related judgments – judgments apply only to the game. Did I mention anywhere that soccer/football is uninteresting because it is popular in Europe? – Did I ever say that soccer/football was unwelcome in America? – Was there any comparison between soccer/football and more ‘Americanized’ sports? No, no, and no. The judgments relate to the game, and everyone should be free to make those judgments. Picture it this way: Someone says they don’t want any rice with their dinner, because they aren’t very fond of rice. Imagine how ridiculous it would be if someone replied, ‘Aha! So you disapprove of Eastern culture, eh?’ Not only would that be absurd, but you would also probably be suspicious about the cultural attitude of the person who said it.

I already know how some people would respond, though: ‘You may think that your judgment is based on the sport, but your judgment is actually a result of American indoctrination. Without being surrounded by a xenophobic American culture, you would have no notion that soccer/football is any less interesting than other sports.’

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Now once again, if I were submitting this post as an article for an academic journal, I would conduct some sort of sociological research. But for the purpose of this blog post, I can look to myself for the counterargument; essentially, I am Walking Disproof of the ‘You’re-Bored-Because-It’s-Foreign’ argument.

How? Well, I look to the game of Rugby. Growing up, I had never even heard of Rugby. It wasn’t like soccer, which was part of every school’s athletic program; it was a totally foreign product. I think I first saw a game of Rugby when I was a High School Freshman – before then, it was nothing more than a rarely-heard encyclopedia term. But when I saw it, I sort of fell in love with it.

Rugby is fast, tense, and exciting. Not every possession results in a score, but even the less eventful possessions are marked by fast pace, hard hits, and desperate scrambles. The players tend to converge on the ball, giving the sport a highly contingent narrative centered around the game-play’s nucleus. If a player can get a solid run headed into the open field, there’s enough risk and variability that the game-play is suspenseful as a result.

At least in my case, then – and I imagine in others’ – the ‘Foreign = Boring’ rule holds no water. I don’t find soccer/football uninteresting because of its cultural context; I find it uninteresting because of what happens on the field. The judgment of sports, then, should be entirely separate from the geopolitical landscape – and we shouldn’t resent people’s feelings on soccer/football any more than we should resent what someone’s favorite color is.

What’s really funny is this: Xenophobia toward American football seems to be encouraged and celebrated here in the States. ‘Pah! American football,’ people will say. ‘Just a stubborn little American habit – nothing interesting about it at all.’ These are the same people who like to remind us (and flaunt before us) that ‘Soccer is the world’s most popular sport!’ Interestingly, their own logic suggests that they’re the xenophobic ones. If American football is so different – so quaint and unusual when weighed against other global hobbies – then doesn’t an aversion to American football suggest sticking within the global comfort zone? – that is, refusing to enjoy something only because it is culturally unfamiliar? It’s almost like going to the obscure village of North Ninsasprinsapo, and eating some food you have never heard of before: roast baganakwan. You taste it, dislike it, and then say ‘How close-minded the people of this village are! They eat this peculiar food, and don’t eat what the rest of the world eats!’ What you’re really doing is proving how close-minded you are. If you’re desperate to prove how sensible ‘the rest of the world’ is, you’ve obviously got a problem accepting your own surroundings. This is ultimately why we should refrain from entangling our sports-related judgments with the sociopolitical climate – an inability to distinguish these concepts is a kind of stubbornness in itself.

That’s probably a good stopping point, even though there are plenty of other things to say. If I had another blog post to write, I might explore why people treat soccer/football as such a competitive force with other sports, when really we are free to love any number of games without needing a competitive hierarchy. I think that is a blog post for another day, though. And for now, I leave you with the immortal words of Sigmund Freud, who reminds: ‘Sometimes a soccer ball is just a soccer ball.’

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 20

So, funny story about today's first sentence, and since Chadwick is no longer here to defend himself--this sentence together with the next one are a personal reference to Chad not remembering the actual first time we met. Our mutual friend Phill had to introduce us twice, once at Lubbock Christian campus where Chad was in summer session and where we met the first time, then again the next day at his (Phill's) house. Chad never remembered meeting me on campus that day. I remember it very well.

First sentence: “I had an appointment wth a swarm of bees on the day we met, remember?”

Last sentence: “For normal humans, perhaps, but I think I’ll pass. Thanks for checking,” Kathleen said.

Today's word count: 1882

Total word count: 22,490

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 19

Today's short writing segment in Kathleen's story is inspired by Glasgow's excellent Museum of Transport, which I love. And which has apparently changed its name and its venue since I was last there. Sigh. (Not that you get to see much of today's writing segment.) Project #2 is rolling right along and provided me with the bulk of today's words.

First sentence: “It’s been on my list for ages, it’s just never happened,” she said.

Last sentence: “If I’d known it was that easy to get your face to light up like that, I’d ahve taken you on a whirlwind tour of every museum in town the day we met.”

Today's word count: 2191

Total word count: 20,608

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 18

So today is the day I go rogue. I'm going to give Kathleen at least a couple of pages every day, just to see if something exciting happens, and it's her first and last sentences (ish-- or entire lines) that I'll keep bringing to you. But I also have another project that I'll be continuing at the same time, since I have ideas for that one and may make some real progress in the final two weeks of November.

First sentence: She had a text from Dom when she got home asking if she wanted to go out for coffee.

Last sentence: “What? Theatrical blasphemy! We have to fix that immediately,” he said.

Today's word count: 1182

Total word count: 18,417

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 17

Today I managed one paragraph (well, a paragraph plus one sentence), and I only did that because I didn't want to ruin my update-every-day streak I have going with my word count. So, you get the paragraph in its entirety, because why not?

Naomi summoned the team before the end of the day, as promised, and announced that Brad was moivng to another department. Kathleen was impressed that though her team did not manage to hide their happiness, they did at least keep themselves from outright cheering. If she hadn’t had warning that this was going to happen, she wasn’t sure she could have kept herself from being visibly delighted. However, Naomi did not give them any otehr details, so Kathleen had to go home that evening not knowing who her next supervisor would be.

She was prepared to live with the suspense.

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 16

I'm on the verge of going NaNo-rebel and working on two things at once. And yet, for now we continue with the adventures of the plotless Kathleen.

First sentence: “I’m not sure that’s necessary,” Brad said.

Last sentence: Although she suspected tha this coffee-making skills were also atrocious.

Today's word count: 659

Total word count: 17,135

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 15

First sentence: Kathleen nodded to save her breath, and found it was a bit harder to keep going during the second half of the run.

Last sentence: Maybe she could get someone her team could feel comfortable with this time.

Today's word count: 2256 (That's more like it!)

Total word count: 16,476 (... but I'm still over 8000 words behind.)

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 14

First sentence: “Waiting for a bus that I’m not going to take is my favourite thing,” Dom said.

Last sentence: “I won’t try to speed up or anyting, we’ll just hold this pace all the way to the end if we can.”

Today's word count: 1794

Total word count: 14,220

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 13

Oh, Paris. I definitely prefer the fanfiction where everyone is happy and in love to this reality that has been committed within that beautiful city. All my thoughts are with you, even as I'm trying to NaNo.

First sentence: “Really? Can I see it?” he asked.

Last sentence: “Waiting alone sucks.”

Today's word count: 230

Total word count: 12,426

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 12

Took longer than usual
to get to Les Mis. I must
be losing what was left
of my mind.

First sentence: She stopped walking.

Last sentence: “Ten years of my lfie carefully documented, now downloaded onto a thumb drive that’s tucked in the back of a drawer never to see the light of day again.”

Bonus round: Managed to work in a Les Misérables reference today.

Today's word count: 1752: First on-par day I've managed since the first weekend.

Total word count: 12,196

NaNoWriMo 2015: Day 11

Today's words were entirely bus written, because this evening I went to see the Kinky Boots tour, which is fabulous and you should definitely go see it.

First sentence: She had a small cooler filled with snacks, sodas, and an ice pack, since her arm was still swollen past its usual size.

Last sentence: "It's Titus Andronicus," he said.

Today's word count: 402

Total word count: 10,444