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Nov. 23rd, 2010 10:49 amToday's 11/23, which must surely be called Fibonacci Day. I've been thinking a lot about the sequence lately because I'm using it as the numbering sequence of the chapters in my NaNoWriMo story. I'm up to Chapter 55, which is I suppose the tenth chapter I've written. Both of my Chapter 1s began with the same sentence.
At first, it was just being silly. I was planning to make the chapter numbering be a typographical joke, but otherwise go sequentially. But with a self-aware narrator like my Galen, I couldn't help but take the chapter numbering seriously. There are greater and greater narrative jumps as the story goes on, to the point that by now, each chapter is a narrative island of sorts. It's linked to previous chapters by shared characters and themes, as well as by permanent changes that may or may not be detailed in the chapters the reader sees, but plot is a series of disconnected motifs.
Needless to say, this is leading to greater and greater disorientation on the part of the narrator. I have to resist the urge to open every chapter with her wondering where all the time went, because it becomes tedious and I need to do some in media res openings, but her confusion is to some extent also mine. I am losing what little control I ever had over this story's direction, surrendering it to the novel's structure. Slightly over 35,000 words, I'm a tad behind, but tomorrow's Write-in, combined with Thanksgiving Morning and Black Friday, should be key pushes toward the finish line. If things go as I hope, I should be at 50K by Sunday.
At first, it was just being silly. I was planning to make the chapter numbering be a typographical joke, but otherwise go sequentially. But with a self-aware narrator like my Galen, I couldn't help but take the chapter numbering seriously. There are greater and greater narrative jumps as the story goes on, to the point that by now, each chapter is a narrative island of sorts. It's linked to previous chapters by shared characters and themes, as well as by permanent changes that may or may not be detailed in the chapters the reader sees, but plot is a series of disconnected motifs.
Needless to say, this is leading to greater and greater disorientation on the part of the narrator. I have to resist the urge to open every chapter with her wondering where all the time went, because it becomes tedious and I need to do some in media res openings, but her confusion is to some extent also mine. I am losing what little control I ever had over this story's direction, surrendering it to the novel's structure. Slightly over 35,000 words, I'm a tad behind, but tomorrow's Write-in, combined with Thanksgiving Morning and Black Friday, should be key pushes toward the finish line. If things go as I hope, I should be at 50K by Sunday.