It comes round quick, no? on Labyrinth Gardens

Echo Elms

October 12, 2008 2:28 PM

[February] NOVELLING FURY! by Echo Elms

Echo grinned, relieved that February was finally here. With some--okay, a lot--of help from the other staffers, he'd gotten through his Aronos articles and finished up his editorial durities in time to dedicate the month of February to Novelling Fury!. This year he felt confident in expecting to see his friends Brett, Elly, Saul, and Irene at the opening meeting, as well as some less well known faces--the ones from last year, hopefully Paul Tarwater, whose interest he'd been courting in classes during groupwork, some of the soccer scrimmagers, and the newspaper writers--and some new faces, too.

Only an enormous turnout could possibly put the snacks in danger of disappearing before the end of the day. The House Elves had thought of most everything. Cookies in the shape of pens (some would even write), cupcakes with books on them, and a vat of pumpkin juice already concealed the table when Echo arrived this morning in the Gardens. To these goodies, he added a plate of pepperoni designed to make Saul and other meat-lovers into very happy novellers.

Brett arrived, the blankets under his arms, just a couple minutes after he said he would. He dumped them and a couple notebooks on the ground and went for his morning run, leaving Echo to spread them out on his own.

Some new novellers arrived right on time and Echo greeted each new bunch, answering any questions about the event and how to participate. He had a couple extra notebooks and pens for those who had none.

The idea was this: Everyone always says they're going to write a book, but very few ever do. Novelling Fury! is a challenge to make writing a priority for just one month and to write 50,000 words, the length of a short book. The point is not to write a great book. The point is to write fast and to write a lot. Don't criticizing yourself, just write.

This year, Echo had no idea what he'd write, which was actually half the fun. When no one seemed to be coming, he settled down with a pen shaped cookie, took out his sweet new Never-Ending Inker (the best pen EVER, even better than a ballpoint), and started:

The colors where dimmer. People were flatter. It was as though he had hopped a spatiotemporal vortex and been plopped down in a dusty attic full of faded clothes and half remembered photographs. Or, maybe, that was exactly what had happened after all...\r\n\r\n

Subthreads:

Not novelling furiously... by Pepper Jones with Saul Pierce

It comes round quick, no? by Elly Eriksson

My first step to stardom. by Grayson Wright

21 Echo Elms [February] NOVELLING FURY! 93 Echo Elms 1 5

Pepper Jones

October 15, 2008 11:29 AM

Not novelling furiously... by Pepper Jones

Novelling Fury was one of those Sonora things that Pepper knew of but didn't really know about. As she hadn't managed to make it on to the Teppenpaw Quidditch team this year, she'd thought that, at the very least, it was worth finding a bit more out about it. Hopefully it was a sociable sort of thing - a valid excuse for trying to make friends with people. She set off with plenty of time, wended her way along to the appointed place in the gardens and showed up just before the appointed time, looked blankly at Echo and was told that the general idea was to write 50,000 words in a month.

"In a month as in 4.3 weeks or by the end of February?" she questioned, the difference being significant, given the month's particularly short, stumpy nature. Either way, the thought was somewhat overwhelming. She'd heard something about writing a book in a month, but she hadn't heard anything about an amount. Was 50,000 a lot? It sounded like a lot. She helped herself to a cupcake and a glass of juice and hesitantly settled herself on one of the rugs, watching as people around her took their places and began to scribble. She hadn't expected this. She'd thought it was going to be more of an introduction and had brought a notebook so she could jot down any important things that were said, like dates of meetings and whatnot. She now placed this on her knees, as it seemed the actual idea was just to show up and write. How exactly was one supposed to begin a novel about absolutely anything? She'd thought she might try writing a children's story, having had plenty of practice at making those up, but she didn't really think one of her bedtime tales could be the basis for 50,000 words, unless that really was a lot less than it sounded. She cupped her juice with both hands, so as to have a good reason not to be writing anything right now. She snuck glances at the other writers, as if observing the blank backs of their notebooks or pages at unreadable angles could give her some idea as to how people were doing this. Perhaps if she didn't know what to do by the time she'd finished idling over her drink, she should just try to surreptitiously slip away...

13 Pepper Jones Not novelling furiously... 74 Pepper Jones 0 5

Saul Pierce

October 15, 2008 12:25 PM

What about novelling cheerfully? by Saul Pierce

Saul did not normally have a particularly acute sense of smell, but he was still a hedge away from the meeting place when his olfactory sensors picked it up. A wide grin broke across his face, his spine straightened up, and his steps came more quickly. "Dude!" he cried out in excessively happy excitement as he broke into the clearing and zeroed in on the refreshment table, "You got me pepperoni!"

Saul grabbed a good half of the little discs of precious meaty goodness and put them on a napkin before turning around and noticing almost as quickly as he'd found the pepperoni that a particular red-haired Teppenpaw had joined them this year. "Pepper!" he greeted, his good mood - already at a record high for the new year - ratcheted even higher. "Dude! You came!"

He put his napkin of pepperoni down on the blanket next to her and went to collect one of the notebooks Echo had provided (he'd meant to bring one himself, but he'd forgotten). Plopping down across from her with the notebook and a cup of juice, he grinned. "So whatcha gonna write about? I think I'm going to novelize the exploits of Grube the Goblin and how he started the Goblin revolution over pizza discrimination."

With his history essay on the subject already coming up on a hundred and fifty feet - with another fifty still left to do - Saul had loads of material to draw from. He'd thought about just using the essay as his novel, but he thought the head start would make it unfair, especially since he thought he might have passed 50,000 words already.

1 Saul Pierce What about novelling cheerfully? 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Elly Eriksson

October 15, 2008 12:44 PM

It comes round quick, no? by Elly Eriksson

She simply couldn't believe it was already that time of year again. They had all been so busy and preoccupied all year, perhaps even more so than usual, and Elly had almost forgotten about the Fury. But here it was, February again, and the usual bunch of them started to gather in the gardens. There was some new faces, too, including Pepper (much to Saul's obvious delight).

While Echo greeted everyone and explained the Fury to newcomers, Elly put her notebook and writing materials down next to his and collected them a reaonsable pile of snacks to munch on during the initial write off. When he got straight into the writing, Elly though she would follow suit, too. Sitting next to her friend, she flicked open her notebook to the first fresh, clean page and stared blankly at it for a couple of moments. As usual, she had no idea what to write. She thought she'd try a method she'd heard the boys mention before, of just putting her pen to paper and see what happened.

The leaves crunched underfoot, unnecessarily loud in the crisp winter evening, she wrote. She re-read the sentance and was surprised; the gardens were pleasantly warm and there was a blanket underfoot - or under-bottom, was perhaps more accurate - so she wasn't sure why she was apparently writing about a cold and frosty night, but she ran with it. On a bench in the distance, a man sat hunched over, perhaps against the cold. It may have been the moonlight, eerily casting unnatural glow about the park that made Cara shiver, but she would swear it was merely the icy winds.

Elly re-read what she had written and had no idea where she was going with it. Ah well, that was part of the fun of the Fury. That didn't mean it wasn't hard work. "I'm not sure I'm getting anywhere," Elly complained to Echo, even though they were only minutes into the meeting. "Got any tips for inspiration?"

0 Elly Eriksson It comes round quick, no? 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Pepper Jones

October 16, 2008 12:46 PM

I might be able to manage cheerfully not novelling... by Pepper Jones

Pepper heard Saul before she saw him. She would have recognised him by the content of his exclamation (did anyone else in Sonora get so excited over pepperoni?) even if his voice hadn't been there to go by. And then he turned, and seemed just as excited to see her.

"Hi Saul!" she replied. It was a less original take on greeting than his, but exclaimed with no lower level of enthusiasm. "I thought it might be a good way to make a few friends," she added, as an explanation of her presence, whilst he arranged himself opposite her. She wondered briefly why her presence had been of such excitement to him before concluding that Saul was effervescent over virtually everything, as evidenced by the fact the pepperoni had warranted equal volume. There was nothing significant to conclude from it, which was just as well, given that he was with Briony.

Predictably, he then turned the topic to their novels. As ready as she was to admit that she knew far less about wizarding history than Saul, she was fairly sure he was fabricating the incidents in question. However, she decided to play along as if he was really writing about a historical event. "Oh, I didn't realise we were allowed to write factual pieces," she smiled, "the name Novelling Fury sort of implies it's meant to be a work of fiction. Although, I am new to all of this, so perhaps I'm wrong. This is what I've got so far," she added, in reply to his question, turning the blank notebook so he could see. She would have felt embarrassed admitting that to any of the other experienced novellers but Saul had a way of just putting people at ease. It was why she could joke around with him. It was why she like- why he made such a good guide for the first years.

13 Pepper Jones I might be able to manage cheerfully not novelling... 74 Pepper Jones 0 5

Grayson Wright

October 26, 2008 12:21 AM

My first step to stardom. by Grayson Wright

In his first year, Gray had heard about a club for writers, but hadn't worked up the nerve to attend. He'd been a first year, and a first year was about the lowest form of life in a school universe. He would, he was sure, have been laughed out of the Gardens and possibly the school. Now, though, he was a second year, and therefore able to participate in the Academy's extracurricular activities with only a small risk of ridicule, and a sanctioned excuse to do what he loved to do outweighed his immediate fear of public humiliation.

He felt very grown-up and important as he approached where the meeting was being held, his bag empty except for a new notebook, a borrowed quill, and a bottle of ink. The book, which had hard covers like a real one, had come from home; his mom was very happy he was being social. The apparently plain quill was really the one Anne had used to write what she considered her best paper, and he was a dead boy if he broke it this one day he was allowed to use it. It was not quite enough to make him feel like a real novelist, but it was close, and luck was enough on his side that the older boy explaining the club goal did nothing to puncture his happy bubble.

Collecting a few cookies, a cupcake, and a cup of pumpkin juice - writing, as even mere essayists knew, was tiring, and sugar could pull him through in a pinch - Gray sat on one of the blankets much less self-consciously than usual and grinned at the people nearby before opening his book. Today, they were fellow writers instead of other students and much less intimidating for it.

He lost the grin as he looked down at the first page of his notebook and ran his hand over it. There was something very thrilling about a blank notebook, just waiting to be filled up with a novel that would change the whole course of world literature. Whatever he wrote before March wouldn't be what did that, of course - a twelve-year-old wasn't the equal of writers he knew he wasn't yet smart enough to read - but he had to start somewhere.

Carefully, so he didn't do any damage to the quill he'd had to swear on his Defense final he'd return in the same shape he'd taken it in, he wrote out his title page:

The Adventures of Phil and Missy: The Novel

By:

Grayson Wright

Once that was done, he turned the page and, at the bottom of the next sheet, wrote the number 1. At the top of that same page, he wrote Chapter One. Then he stopped a moment and stared at the end of the quill he was twirling between his fingers before starting to scribble down what popped into his head.

It was dusty in Arizona. It was also hot. It was also a long way from where Phil had intended to go. He wasn't the best Apparator ever to come out of northern California. He was humming and squinting at the map when Missy sighed too loudly for him to miss.

"Great job, Phil," she said. "You've gotten lost. Again."

He looked up from the map and smiled at her, but that only made her frown more. He smiled anyway. "We're not lost. We just don't know where we are yet."

"That's lost, Phil! Am I going to have to bring my pocket dictionary into this?"

"You brought your pocket dictionary?"

16 Grayson Wright My first step to stardom. 113 Grayson Wright 0 5