Mash-ups

I'll have to thank my friend Shannon for getting me on the Glee bandwagon. They've actually done a phenomenal job introducing the world to mash-ups, something that I had discovered a couple years ago when my friend Pete who's a disc jockey gave me a copy of his mash-ups. It's the musical equivalent of being able to have fries and onion rings. This mash-up brings Singin' in the Rain together with Umbrella.

From a literary perspective, I've used the mash-up equivalent a lot in my own writing. Luscious Dumplings was a parody of the final court room drama in A Few Good Men but twisted up because I cast a celebrity chef in place of Colonel Jessup. Mash-ups are just the perfect amount of surprise and comic delight that comes from writing punch lines and sometimes it's the collision of disparate ideas that really can create some imaginative material.

Speaking of which, here's the latest daily update on my NaNoWriMo progress:

Nov 15: 5K sprints for three days in a row is a little nutty. Chapter 17 is shaping up nicely and I'm a little anxious to get to the midpoint when the story really starts to take off. (50,110 words)

Nov 16: What an emotional let down after that push to 50K. I need to stay focused on pushing along at least 3K per day for the rest of the month. Also need to find some other writers I can draft along side so I don't lose the competitive edge. Chapter 18 and 19 need a little more girth, too. (52,925 words)

Nov 17: My early morning writing produced probably the most enjoyable 750 words since the beginning of this manuscript. It's the last 750 words of Chapter 19. I'm torn between wanting to go back to the first chapter and begin rewriting with this same voice and to keep it consistent versus pushing forward with the second half, complete that, and then go back to the beginning. Even if I don't reach 80K, by the end of the month, I think I'll be better off crafting the story that doesn't make me cringe. If I produce no more than 750 words each day similar to this then I'd be a proud writer. (55,070 words)

Punchlines

Dear Abby, Lately I've been craving a glimpse of daylight. Just a brief moment once every couple of years. Is that too much to ask?

Yes. Next?