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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

The Typewriter Plot (a Guy Fawkes NaNoWriMo Parody)

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

It's the day before NaNoWriMo and all through the house, a typewriter plot emerges to terrify my spouse! Hee hee! via @chautonahavig

It tiptoes back into the realm of possibilities.  A whisper.  “Will you do it?  Please?  It’s been so long…”

I don’t know the answer I should give, but I do know the answer I want to give.  A resounding, “YES!!” sings in my heart even as I look at the screen… wondering.  Can I do it?  Should I?

Frankly, probably not.  To both questions.  Am I going to…?

Well, this is my “annual” NaNoWriMo parody, so…

SQUEEE!!! YES!

typewriter plot

For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo (naa-noe-wry-moe is how I pronounce it. I’m big on making the WRI part sound like writing in particular) is a challenge to write fifty-thousand words (most of a novel) in a month. For me, 50K is barely novel status for mysteries and still novella status for about everything else. But it’s a lot of fun, and I like to challenge myself with it.

I’ve always done this–issued a challenge to myself for NaNoWriMo.  The first time it was to “write a sermon as a novel without preaching.”  I did a decent job with that and got Argosy Junction out of it!  Another time I went for “use an outline” and Thirty Days Hath… was the result.  One year it was sci-fi (Volition) and so on.

This year, I’ve decided to dictate the novel.  I’ll use my Ottr app on my phone and it’ll transcribe the novel as I speak the words.  It’ll be fun.  Maybe.

Look, I’m going to be as realistic as I can right now. Whatever I end up writing (did I mention I haven’t decided what it’ll be yet? What’s the problem? I’ve got seven hours!!!), will probably be garbage.  I don’t expect to be able to use it.  Dictation doesn’t come naturally to me. I need to feel the keys and see the words form. I expect a laundry list of a story that no one (not even my mother) can love.  BUT…

Once upon a time…

A budding author wrote a sixty-thousand-word book.  It was awful. It definitely read like a laundry list.  But the author thought there was “something there” and began rewriting.  Those sixty-thousand words fleshed out into two and a half novels–each of which were 120k words each (except for the other half of that last novel… only about 100k.  That series?  Aggie’s Inheritance.  Yep, Aggie was a laundry list once upon a time.  So… maybe as garbagey as this book is likely to be (whatever this book is)…

Maybe it’ll be decent once I get my hands on it and am able to edit some life into it.

Here’s the deal. I just think that dictation is something I need to learn. It is WAY faster than typing out a novel. So if I can learn it, then I want to.

And it wouldn’t be a NaNoWriMo kick-off night without a parody to go with it.  This time… I decided to go with Guy Fawkes and “The Gunpowder Plot” poem.  Here you go.  Laugh at my pathetic parody abilities.  I know I am!

The Typewriter Plot (a Guy Fawkes NaNoWriMo Parody)

Remember, remember!
The first of November
NaNoWriMo sparks a new plot.
And with loss of reason
Throughout this writing season
We’ll find the words we once sought.

Authors and their companions
Do the scheme contrive,
With ideas, dreams, and prosaic words
Tales they derive.

50K words they must find
To move their stories from the mind.
By God’s providence, first words they’ll write
On this the opening NaNo night.
A pen and a page
For lit’rature’s sake!

If you can’t write just one,
Then write two,
The worse for me,
The better for you!

A plot, a plot, to drive the tale.
Some cheese and crackers to fuel her
A cup of tea to wash it down,
And a jolly good story to write, sir!

Write the words! Write the words! Make the plot sing!
Write the words! Write the words! The midnight chime rings!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

…

Oh, help… this typewriter plot may be the death of me… or just a verbose explosion of literary carnage.

For previous years’ parodies… here you go:

  • The Raven
  • The Night before Nano
  • If You Give an Author a Character
  • Tease (Trees)
  • Till November
  • Winkin’ Blinkin’ and Nodd(ing)
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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 429: A Chat with J. A. Webb
byChautona Havig

Christian dystopian thrillers are too few and far between, but author J. A. Webb has a great one for us. Listen in while we chat about his Seekers Series and the second book, Inheritance.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Mix a corrupt secret society along with a priest on the run, and you’ve got a great mix. This series promises to be full of amazing twists and turns. 

  Inheritance by J. A. Webb

 A Dystopian Thriller of Deception, Faith, and the Fight for Truth

The Order has been betrayed. The hunters have been loosed.

Father Curtis has forsaken his vows. He has left the Order and joined the Seekers, a hidden rebellion dedicated to uncovering the truth long buried by the global church. But walking away from the Order does not mean escaping its reach.

When word spreads that a copy of the True Text — the original thirty-nine books of the Creator — has surfaced on the far side of the world, Curtis, Professor Reuel, and Phillip embark on a desperate mission. If they can retrieve the artifact, it could change everything. If they fail, the truth will be lost forever.

But the Eye of the Eternal, the secret police of the Order, has already mobilized. Their assassins are relentless. Their power is absolute. And they will stop at nothing to silence the truth.

Outnumbered and hunted, Curtis and his allies must risk everything to defy an empire built on deception. But against such overwhelming darkness, is faith enough? Or will their inheritance — humanity’s true past — be erased from history once and for all?

The war for truth has begun. And the Order will not suffer heretics to live.

A Gripping Tale of Power, Deception, and the Courage to Seek Truth

🔥 Perfect for fans of dystopian thrillers like 1984, Brave New World, and The Da Vinci Code—but with a Christian twist!

⚡ A suspense-filled journey into a world where illusion is law and questioning it means death.

📖 If you love stories of faith, defiance, and the battle against unseen tyranny, this is the book for you.

The Order has ruled from the shadows long enough. Are you ready to see the truth?

Learn more about J. A. Webb on his WEBSITE and follow him on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 429:  A Chat with J. A. Webb
Episode 429: A Chat with J. A. Webb
May 12, 2025
Chautona Havig
Episode 428: A Chat with Janelle Leonard
May 10, 2025
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Episode 427: A Chat with Donna Wichelman
May 5, 2025
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Episode 426: A Chat with Dell Vans
May 3, 2025
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Episode 425: A Chat with Bethany Klassen
April 28, 2025
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Episode 424: A chat with Demi Griffin
April 26, 2025
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Episode 423: A Chat with Hope Toler Dougherty
April 21, 2025
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Episode 422: A Chat with Becca Wierwille
April 19, 2025
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Episode 421: A chat with Chawna Schroeder
April 14, 2025
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Episode 420: A Chat with Jeremiah Friedli
April 12, 2025
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