So, Nanowrimo starts in a few short weeks. This year I’m writing about Melville Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. I got interested in Dewey during a conversation with Halsted, who happens to be a librarian. I don’t remember what throwaway joke led to my looking up Dewey’s Wikipedia article, bur I’m sure it was a good one. Anyhow — when I discovered that Dewey was a relentless reformer, inventor of the vertical file, AND a womanizer and anti-semite, I figured he’d be a very interesting character to write. He’s not a revered figure in American history, mostly because of those negative aspects of his.
So I bought Irrepressible Reformer, a biography of Dewey’s, which I’m making slow progress through…. But perhaps last year, I knew more about Lincoln than I should have.
I don’t know what my angle is, except that I’m attracted to the idea of order vs. chaos, would like to write something in the vein of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and after talking so much at the memorial service for my mother about how ridiculously organized she was, felt some connection to this ultimate organizer.
I have some notes, but nothing anywhere near a road map…. Just like usual.