What's NaNoWriMo?

The beginning of the week brings little to no inspiration when it comes to blogging. I've sat here in front of the computer, in a blank word document, thinking, willing my fingers to type out something witty and entertaining, but they have failed me. It appears that the only thing I've been able to write recently is my book. 

It's a book I started in November, for this thing called NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that you set out to write 50,000 words in the month of November, which will eventually and hopefully be turned into a novel. Now, I never reached the 50,000 words in November, but as the record stands I am at 86,291. To give you a little perspective on the true length via word count, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone contains 76,944 words, and the first Twilight book contains 115,362 words. 


As you can see I am currently somewhere in between, which is exactly where you want to be if you have any hopes in getting your first book published.

Now, for the shortest summary of my book that my brain can squeeze out:

A 20-something named Fay lives in dual realities; one in the waking world, and one in her subconscious, created by her ability to lucid dream, where she must traverse the slippery slope of a new found romance while uncovering her own secrets which have manifested itself in her dream world as a dark entity bent on complete domination and destruction of her mind.

Finishing this book is my current focus, and shouldn't take long, as I probably only have ten more pages to write. 

This is a very exciting time for me. I've fallen in love with the story and my characters from day one, and can't wait to see everything wrap up! I'll keep you posted!

Eryk

A Reintroduction

I woke up this morning and immediately the first thing I thought about was what to blog. Should I talk about my dreams? No. Or the fact that I woke up with an extremely full bladder? Probably not. So then what? The topic escaped me. It wasn't until my arms felt like they were going to be ripped from their sockets while at the gym that I nearly screamed out, "A reintroduction!"

Yes, it was perfect. My first introduction was kind of...lacking. I was probably in a hurry and just exhilarated that I had finally decided to make a blog that I really didn't put much thought into what my first post should be. So before I bring you home to meet the parents, why don't I tell you a bit about myself?

My name's Eryk. Yes, I know it's spelled with a Y. I think it's pretty cool, and I think my parents are pretty awesome for spelling it that way.

This is me.

These are the people responsible for my existence.

I have a brother too, I just don't have any pictures of him.

This is my dog Elsie, and behind her is my dog Odin.

They live in Kona, Hawaii with my parents and my brother. I miss all of them.

As I stated in my first post, I live in California, about 45 minutes outside of Hollywood. I have lived here for about three years now. It's treated me well so far, but I go back and forth on whether I truly enjoy living here. As one of my friends told me once, Los Angeles is a city best seen at 35 miles per hour. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love the city and the night life, the glamour and the celebrities and all that jazz. But I feel like there's something missing - a key piece of the puzzle that would make Los Angeles an amazing place.  It could be because whenever I thought of Hollywood when I was younger, images of night-long parties and flashing lights and movie stars filled my imagination. I always considered it to be like Vegas, just less trashy. But in reality all the bars close at 2 am, I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity, and Vegas is cleaner.

Anyway, I moved out here after high school in Hawaii, which I won't talk about now, but I'm sure you will hear about it at some point. I was born in Chicago and spent 13 wonderful years there. I don't care what anyone says, I love snow. Now I live with my Grandma. 

That's her. We do Reiki and a bunch of other stuff you'll hear about.

I'm an avid fan of the movies, especially thrillers, horror, mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy. I love reading books of the same genres. Every since I was a child I've been fascinated with the paranormal, the supernatural, and anything beyond the normal confines of our reality. My two favorite authors are Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. And, as you now know, I dream of being a writer. 

I turned 21 in May and I feel like my life has just begun.

So, there you have it. That is my reintroduction. 

I guess you could say I'm your average 21 year old, or maybe not. I like to think it's all about perspective. So I'll let you decide. 

Check back tomorrow! I'm feeling a movie review coming up, or maybe a stream of consciousness piece. Until then!

Eryk 

Well, I completely forgot I had this blog. I'd ask if any of you missed me, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say no, none of you did. But that's okay. Hopefully in the future our mostly one-sided relationship will form a stronger bond.

Now, for the reason I have returned to this hallowed place - which I so rudely neglected over the past several months. I have a new mission. My mission is to get my voice out there. No, not the kind of 'out there' that ufologists talk about. I'm talking about literary mediums; magazines, websites, books, movies, you name it. But in order for me to get my voice out there, I need to find my voice first.

I was brainstorming with a friend the other day, and he had a wonderful idea to create a blog. Now, at first, blogging doesn't seem like my thing. "But wait!" I told myself, "A blog can be much more than the mundane rantings of some random person. A blog can be an entirely different entity. It can be a living, breathing piece of art, that feeds on its very own creativity, exponentially growing into different branches of life and thoughts and feelings that stem from reality to the maddening depths of a writer's subconscious."

In essence, a blog could be the best writing exercise ever to be created - ever.

I understand this is arguable, but that's my conclusion and I'm sticking to it.

Back on topic! Voices. It took me a really long time to figure out exactly what a voice was. It all started as I was gathering intel on how to get a literary agent and querying to publishing houses for my book, I kept coming across this thing called a voice. According to nearly everyone it was the missing link between being a writer and being a successful writer.

But what is a voice? Where do they come from? How do they manifest themselves? These were some grueling questions that I slaved over for months on end. And then one day, when I was talking to my friend about her art project, it hit me like a giant knowledge filled water balloon. The epiphany cascaded over my mind as I explained to Taryn - the friend - that she had to find her own unique art style. I explained that it was this style that rang out through the dark murkiness of mediocrity, and helped to make you memorable.

"Think of Tim Burton," I told her. "You can see any drawing by Tim Burton and know it's him. Or take The Oatmeal. You see one of his comics online and automatically you know."

It was through this explanation that I had my Aha! moment. This voice that everyone talks about exists outside of writing too! It's in music, and art, and anything creative. Your voice is like your trademark, it's your style.

So that brings me back to my starting point, the blog and my voice.

Climb aboard and you will be treated to everything from the rantings of a Starbucks barista, to movie reviews, prose, musings on life and existence, short stories, long stories, jokes, ramblings, and anything else that wiggles its way out of my mind. It'll be exactly like falling down the rabbit hole, yet vastly different.

Hopefully through this exercise I can find more out about myself and my voice. And, if we're lucky, it'll prove to be an entertaining ride. So sit back, relax, and make sure you visit often, cause I'm just getting started.

Eryk