Dogs?

I have no idea why, but I'm thinking about the Iditarod. It's fairly cool here, but that can't explain it.

Here's the thing. The Iditarod showcases one of my dislikes about this world. I think the history is wonderful, and my heart is warmed by thoughts of dogs dashing through the snow carrying medical supplies. The thought of a race to commerate the event is wonderful. I'm not sure the world is better for having dog races that don't involve mechanical rabbits, which I also like, but it's become another example of a strategic attitude I find sorrowful.

See, the thing is, I'm pretty naive and idealistic. Were I king, we'd have the race every year and the winner would get prizes, or maybe just a plaque. What bothers me so is that now that this is big time event those who compete in it spend the whole year practicing, training, getting sponsors and spending tons of money on what I can only assume is monofilament threads woven on the thighs of virgins to produce ropes to carry carbon fibre sleighs.

I want it to be amateur. I want it to be as pure as I believe sack races at company picnics to be. I want people to compete to see who will win, but not have them doing anything in the off season to increase their chances.

I am so immature.

(Writing in "more")




Last week I played some with my Wiki, and hope to do more this weekend. I think I'll rant on words I dislike.

I really don't know how to write a novel.

I've proven that I can write something seventy or eighty thousand words long, but I don't know if it's really a novel or not. I can't read what I've written and see how it differs from the novels I've read (well, other than in quality), so I don't have a clue if what I've written deserves the name.

I expect to spend some more time studying up on what constitutes a novel. It would be better, of course, if someone knowledgeable would read mine and tell me what novels have that mine doesn't or something like that. I know those who've read my works have never said "This ain't a novel...it's a long short story!" but maybe they've just been kind, or never looked at it that way.

I rarely have sub-plots, I don't think. Or, at least not resolved ones. Fine, Lotty gets her underwear stolen and the characters in Kicker spend a chapter or two hunting unsuccessfully for the perpetrator, but is that a sub-plot? I suppose Dina's case might be one, but I also think it (or something the same purpose) is what drives Big Train Show. Maybe that's what I need: sub-plots. They'd help to lengthen my stories, and maybe serve to show my famiarity with the format.

Maybe I need to dilly-dally long more, smelling the roses and describing all the sights, sounds, smells in my books. I rush to introduce the story and maybe don't spend long enough enjoying the journey. Still, I hate the thought of boring the reader, but what if she wants to know what Brad's car looks like?

I also seem to have some sort of inbred repulsion about clearly setting my stories in living, breathing environments. It may have something to do with the above, but I also have this notion that it's fine to leave characters and locations as generic as possible. For some reason, I think it's permissable to let the reader do the work of filling in my huge gaps, or maybe I want to avoid using any details that would keep the reader from picturing his own version of Stretch.

I just don't know. I pretend to write novels, but do I really?