Let drunkenness abound

Ok, so for those of you that are curious, no, the current word tally for Nanowrimo is not out of date, it is accurate. I'm hopelessly behind, and as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to have a solid week where I'm not within striking distance of a computer the third week of November, so things are not looking good. Seems I just enjoy doing other things more than working on my novel.

But I'm not giving up yet. I'm too stubborn. I'll probably have abotu ten thousand words going into the homestretch and then make one last gasp effort. We'll see how it pans out.

But that's not the point of this post. some of you may know and some of you may not know about NaDruWriNi, and adjunct event to NaNoWriMo: National Drunk Writing Night. Basically a chance for those in NaNoWriMo to relax and write something random for a change, or those not in NaNoWriMo to pretend they're in the competition for one night while drunk and just pound at their keyboards.

I did not participate in this event, otherwise you'd probably have seen my post on Liberality get a whole lot more interesting. But Phil Kahn, Eric Burns, and Wednesday White did, and all three of them wrote excellent essays. They say that being drunk brings out who you really are, with no shackles, so perhaps these writings give us a little insight into these three talented writers.

Wednesday's post was surprisingly insightful, incisive, and downright thought-provoking. It seems Wednesday is a scholar in the Greek sense of the word, a deep thinker who pulls apart any situation and analyzes every gooey little bit until the deeper meanings of it are understood and brought to light. The sort of person you want arguing on your side and dread to debate when you're taking the opposite opinion. She doesn't pull any punches in her post, so we've gotten a good look at her character there.

Eric's post was downright heartwarming. The main thing he accomplished is to show us just how much of a big softy he really is. This is a man who cares deeply about relationships, and, through his unique literary skills, has the ability to truly have deep and meaningful relationships even in a medium such as the internet which is a shallow place by design. He's a man who values his friendships and doesn't take things for granted, and has a way of communicating that which makes it seem all the more real. Reading this post, I've gained a lot more insight into the motivations which drive Eric Burns and that will forever color anything I read by him in a softer light.

Phil's post was simply pure hilarity. This is the guy you really want to hang out with when you're getting drunk. A guy who talks about how much he loves Mike & Ikes and how Dots are just pure evil. A guy who begins to randomly complain about experimental films and high art. One of those individuals who's fun to hang out with not because he's always trying to be "on", but because he has a natural humor in his soul which comes out whenever he talks about anything, be it art or candy. This post had me laughing a lot more than I've laughed at something I've read online in a long, long time. This is the guy you want to hunt down at a con and go out for beers with.

I've been reading these three characters posts on webcomics for quite some time, and I respect them as excellent writers and critiquers of the form. They're insightful. They're witty. They're just plain interesting to read. But now, thanks to NaDruWriNi, I've been able to see a little bit into their souls, even across the ether of this great big internet. Even though I've never so much as had a conversation or an online chat, I can feel like I know them, just a little bit, thanks to this night.

Maybe providing a window to your soul is not the point of NaDruWriNi, but it's been the result. And that's an awesome thing. Next time, I'm going to have to be sure to participate.

However, I do fear what I would have said concerning Liberality if I'd written that post while drunk. That would have been perhaps a VERY interesting little piece.