The Schedule

So as I plan this crazy idea, I know that I will need to keep a ridiculously strict writing schedule. Several people close to me have already doubted my ability to keep it up consistently. So I will clearly need a method of keeping track of how on schedule I am so that if I fall behind I now how much I need to do in order to catch up.

I feel as though I will need to plan this like a movie shooting script. I will have to know before each day, what is required of me to reach the next stage in the story.

I am going to keep a widget or gadget or something similar on top of the page to show what the current word count and where I should be based on how far into the year we are at any time.

The plan is to start with the New Year, like a resolution, only hopefully more successful.

FAQs ... or "What the Hell is Wrong with you?"

Why are you doing this?
Because I'm a mad fool with something to say, and daft enough to think I might pull this off.

Why does it need to be this long?
The length started as a mental challenge. How much would I write in a year, if I wrote every day? Then that musing prompted me to wonder if I had any idea that needed that much text to properly explain. When I found an idea I'd been struggling with for years that did require such length, and might even need more, I realized I owed it to myself to attempt the impossible.

Why the one year deadline?
Because I know myself well enough to know that if I don't set some stupid audacious goal, I won't be fired up enough to work at it. I may fail to make my deadline, but attempting will push me better than having no deadline.

This is an exercise in vanity.
It won't be art will it?
It is absolutely an exercise in bravado, and yes, probably vanity as well. Wouldn't you want to have an achievement by your name like 'wrote the world's longest novel'? And unlike an achievement such as 'spent the most time in the Amazon river on a pogo stick', this one might impress people. Does that mean it won't be art? It might, but I hope to achieve something truly artistic here. In fact, the novel itself will hopefully be a comment on the nature of story itself- but that will come done to how well I plan and how well I write.

Why release the novel into the Public Domain?
Two reasons: one noble one selfish. If the books is public domain, anyone can publish it without permission, and the Guinness Book of World Records only recognizes published (not self-published) works for inclusion. Second, since the novel I will writing is an mythopoeic exercise in story and culture, I want people to be able to play with it and build on it. In the public domain, I have literally given it to everyone, and nobody (including) myself can claim the final say on how its used or what it means. I want this novel to have a rejuvenating effect on our cultural mythology, and to be a set of building blocks and a tool chest that others can use. I can't very well do that if I horde control of the work to myself.

So is this just a first draft then?
Yes, but since I am publishing it. Then its also a published work and a finished product. Although I don't imagine that any myth is finished and I will like Stephen King and George Lucas, be rebuilding this product for quite some time. But the cool thing is, if you like this story in any version, is that it is already in the public domain and you may keep or distribute or work on or with any part of this story for any reason. You don't even have to give me credit or let me know, although both would be awesome and appreciated.

What if it sucks?
Then I tried. I will have learned a lot, improved a lot, and will do better next time.