The 2007 Three-Day Novel Contest has come and gone. I participated, but I did not complete the book I attempted to write in three days, Taxi Adventure. In this post, I’ll look at what went right, what went wrong, how it compares to 2005 when I succeeded in the challenge, and how I might approach the contest in the future to succeed again.
What Went Right
Without winning or placing, the best result one can hope for is to walk away from the contest with the beginnings of a good book. The contest will only be a total failure if the characters fall apart, the plot falls apart, and the writing doesn’t get done. By the end of the contest, my characters were solid (though different from when I started), my plot was solid (and significantly different from the start), and a big chunk of writing got done. The book is not too far away from being the complete first draft of a good book, and that’s pretty good.
One major success, and one thing the contest highlights that always amazes me is that so much creativity is available on demand. Normally, when there is a problem (writing or otherwise) that requires a creative solution, a person may decide that the solution can’t be devised today, and put it off. Indeed, people come to believe that it is sometimes true that a solution can not be created from nothing right now, and it must wait for a good idea that will come in time. In the scope of the three-day contest, however, delay is not an option. In the contest, if a solution needs to be created from thin air (such as the “funny passengers” I needed for Taxi Adventure), there is no “later”. The contest requires spontaneous creation, on demand. And it gets it. When a creative solution is required right now, no matter how difficult or impossible it seems, when delay is not an option, the solution appears out of thin air. That floors me. And just the affirmation of that phenomenon alone may justify the contest entry fee.
Here is a partial list of things I had to spontaneously create over the course of the contest: Clayton’s funny apartment and neighbors; Eugene’s funny apartment and neighbors; Race’s funny fares, including the homeless guy, the “drunk”, the racist woman, the comedian (and all his jokes), the porn star, and the stripper; Race’s history and expressions of love; the story of Tiara’s birth; the mystery man, the henchman, and the bad guy; the contents of the briefcase and how it relates to the bad guys, and all their related history. Ordinarily, any or all of these might have been delayed as “too hard for right now”. Thanks to the three-day contest, I got all of them this weekend, and I’m happy with how they turned out.
Another thing that turned out well was my decision to set the story in Phoenix rather than in San Diego. In doing so, I was able to come up with locales and routes and things easily and credibly, and I don’t know how I would have done the same with my limited and superficial knowledge of San Diego.
One final thing that I thought really went well for Taxi Adventure: its movie potential. The story has strong primary characters, a compelling storyline, an interesting company setting that could be moved to any other city, a flexible situation that allows the addition or subtraction of supporting characters without messing up the story, and plenty of opportunities for cameos by celebrities. This is, I think, the strongest yet of my stories as far as movie potential. Will I try to maximize that? You betcha.
What Went Wrong
The primary problem, as I see it, was one of scope. Two years ago I wrote Winter Kills for the contest. I had a good time, and I finished the first draft of the book. In the end, however, I thought Winter Kills was too short and small, and I wanted Taxi Adventure to be bigger. It seems now, thought, that Taxi Adventure was too big.
The most significant difference is in characters. Taxi Adventure has about twice as many characters as Winter Kills. Where Winter Kills had one primary character (Victor), two other significant characters (Samantha and Lou), and a dozen or so minor characters, Taxi Adventure has two primary characters (Race and Tiara), at least six other significant characters (Lucius, Clayton, Eugene, Coralee, the mystery man, and the bad man), and probably two dozen minor characters (passengers, neighbors, and so on). Ugh, wow, that’s a lot of characters to reel off.
Taxi Adventure is also significantly larger as measured by scenes: In its final form, Winter Kills has about forty-five scenes. Taxi Adventure, by contrast, has about seventy, and they are bigger.
As a final comparison, at the end of the contest, Taxi Adventure had about the same number of words as Winter Kills did at the end of its contest (approaching 25,000), but Taxi Adventure is probably only about half done.
What Didn’t Matter
Much of the work I did on the characters beforehand did not matter, as they decided to go their own directions in the middle of the text (Eugene even decided to change his race). Even the meager amount of work I did on the plot went out the window once things got rolling.
The ficlets, too, didn’t seem to help at all. I thought they might help me get more familiar with the characters, and I guess they did a little with Lucius and Coralee. In the end, though, ficlets and novels are two completely different animals. Ficlets, for instance, max out at about 200 words. The writing I did for the contest was at least 110 times bigger. Stacking up four, or ten, or twenty ficlets against a novel-sized work–it’s just a whole different game.
The Plan For Next Time
For next time, and there will be a next time, I think I have a better understanding of how to approach the contest to win. I already have a story in mind, or part of one, anyway.
I will have two characters, thrown together on the road by fate, either pursuing or being pursued, or both. Supporting these two star-crossed lovers will be no more than four significant secondary characters–perhaps a bad guy or two, maybe an advisor or two. Completing the ensemble will be a dozen or so minor characters–a sassy waitress, a gruff truck driver, people like that. There will be funny bits, and sex, and maybe a MacGuffin (like the briefcase in Taxi Adventure), but the main tension of the story will be their crackling relationship. I won’t have to work out all the plot ahead of time, but I will have the starting point, the ending point, and the general gist of the trip. In fact, I will probably make it a three-day trip, and try to write one day per day. If I work out the characters and course and problem and resolution ahead of time, I think I can hit at least 30,000 words, and maybe 35,000, and that will be a solid story. And the title? I suppose I can tell you. If you are one of the handful of people who read my ramblings, and you have read this far, you deserve to know. The planned title is: The Time Of My Life.
It’s going to be great, and I think it has a good chance of being shortlisted, and it is not unthinkable that it might win. I can hardly wait.
