TM!O is proud to present

our animated blog!

Brett Frank, our personal cartoonist, will be adding to his virtual comic book monthly:

In addition to the book, he is going to be keeping a blog!  Full of doodles and such:)

Not many people can say they have written a novel.  Writing in such large scale is, to say the least, an arduous task that scares many potentially talented writers away from the craft before they ever commit to any one project.  In fact, most people shy away from a five page essay nowadays and complain profusely about it.  But, the funny thing is, most people somewhere deep down in their hearts wish that they could write a full length novel and do it well.  Writing a novel is a milestone that, once reached, will make any other sort of writing seem like a piece of cake.

And, thanks to the crazy people at Nanowrimo.org, (National Novel Writing Month) writers are encouraged to produce a one hundred and seventy five to two hundred paged novel in a single month.  What?!  You’re kidding me, Brett.  People actually do this?  That doesn’t make sense!

In response:  Yes.  But, whoever said creative people were normal was probably deaf, blind and mute and hyped up on antihistamines.
It all started nearly a month ago when a friend of mine named Gabe (who also happens to be my brother’s best friend) told me all about Nanowrimo.  He told me that through Nanowrimo you write a whole novel in a month and you don’t outline or have any preconceived ideas: you just write, gung-ho, kamikaze style.  I could relate to this, because as your TM! and Sentinel Newspaper comic strip artist, I complete many of my comics minutes before the deadline.

My approach is pretty much do-or-die, write like crazy, draw like crazy, photoshop like crazy, eat like crazy, and then sleep like crazy.  I’m what you’d call a Kamikaze artist without a mission.

In a piece like John Richards: Experimental Surgeon for example, I’ll sit down at my desk and write situations down that I think are funny.  For instance: Dr. Richards fixes an infected toe on a ballerina.  Come to think of it, I may use that idea in the future.  (Keep an eye out in the future issues of TM!)  I usually watch a lot of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Home Movies, Ren and Stimpy and some science fiction B movies right before I start the writing process of John Richards.  I feel sorry for my girlfriend; she definitely puts up with a lot.

Because of my habits as an artist and a human being, I figured that when I started nanowrimo, I knew a little bit about the commitment it takes to write a novel and the tears and pain involved.  I decided to give it a whirl.

I felt that if I could commit to something this monumental and do it in a month, there’s no excuse to not achieve that much more with my artwork and my comic strips.  So, I just started typing…  And typing…  And typing at the beginning of November.  The daily goal is 1,667 words, which is generally about two to three full length essays every day for a month.  I’m currently at about 32,000 words; only 18,000 words away from being completely done with my first novel ever.  I feel like gold.

But, as I continued writing and as I approach the end of the month 50,000 word deadline, I realize that writer’s block is a very serious and dangerous condition.  it demotivates you and drives you crazier by the second.  It’s hard to just free associate nearly every day, and your brain starts to feel a little fried.  It took me the other day to finally say to myself, “alright, Brett.  Just let it all go and have fun, just like you do with your comics.  Make fun of everybody, and do it with a little bit of synicism, and you’ll be alright.”  I got to writing and I haven’t been able to stop.  Last Saturday I wrote 5,300 words in one sitting, and I had to lie down and sleep after that.  It also didn’t help that as I was writing, I started catching the flu and had to take some nyquil.  I checked what I wrote the other day, and to say the least it’s extremely trippy and weird.

The website is, as I mentioned earlier, an acronym for National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place in November.  So, by the time you read this, I’ll already be finished with the novel and enjoying my Christmas break eating candy canes and getting fat by the fire.  In conclusion, I encourage you to check out their website and try it out next year.  If you do take the plunge, do not worry about what you’re writing; this isn’t about quality, but about quantity.  You’ll feel really good about yourself, and you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something magnificent even if your story turns out to be, well, utter crap.  DON’T GIVE UP!

About Brett.