noir (nwar)
ADJECTIVE:
- Of or relating to the film noir genre.
- Of or relating to a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings.
- Suggestive of danger or violence.
Short for film noir + Sense 2, short for French roman noir, black novel
I have to write 50 pages of fiction for the final project of a class I'm taking. It can be either two 25-page short stories or a 50-page novella. I've chosen the novella; it seems simpler to have to come up with just one story idea, rather than two. I've been procrastinating heavily. Fiction is a stretch for me, because I'm so accustomed to writing nonfiction -- feature stories, news releases and the like -- for a living. After weeks of fretting and fussing, I finally started writing tonight.
I debated long and hard whether to share the work in progress here. Inspired in part by National Novel Writing Month, I liked the thought of having an imaginary audience to spur me on, expectations to meet beyond just the looming end-of-the-semester deadline. But fiction is scary, and scarier still are the parameters within which I must write. The class I'm taking is focused on American Noir. Its subtitle, as written on my syllabus, is "Lust, Greed, Crime, Passion and Murder: Investigating the Elements of the Page-Turner." If I do a good job, my story will be dark. Creepy. Probably sexy. Not something I want people stumbling across without warning.
So although I won't be an official NaNoWriMo participant, I've decided to share the story via email with anyone interested enough to send me their email address. Updates will be posted sporadically, as I find time and inspiration, but the whole thing should be done by late December. Here are the opening lines to whet your appetite:
When It Gets Dark Outside
She wanted to touch his scars. They were wide, silvery swaths of skin on the back of his neck, one on each side where the curve of his shoulders began.
Want more? E-mail me at cowgrrrl.3376666@bloglines.com.
2 Comments:
You're probably writing more as a non-NaNoWriMo participant that I am, and I signed up for the project! I'd love to hear your story. Whenever you're ready to share, please send it my way.
Provocative start! I can't wait to read the whole thing.
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