| [ | Current Mood |
| |  giggly | ] |
Posted by yangnome (no, I don't know who that is) on one of the forums:
"A number of years ago, I was blessed when during a word war, the Traveling Shovel of Death (TSoD) visited my novel, killing a character and prompting a large increase in word count. I immediately shared this information with other wrimos in chat. The next break, one of the wrimos told me the shovel had entered his novel. The break after that, the shovel had affected another story. Recognizing the pattern of the TSoD, I decided to post a message to all participants, alerting them about The Shovel. each year, TSoD has returned to NaNoWriMo. Last year, I didn't have net access for most of the year, but found a few threads detailing the activity of the shovel. Once you hear about it, the shovel will be bound to show up in your story (yes, it isn't too late now. This isn't a dare, it is more like an infection. I haven't been able to avoid the shovel's appearance for five years now. I don't plan for the shovel this year either, but I expect it will return. The good news is, TSoD and the death of a character are a great way to make that push towards 50k. Once your story has been infected by the shovel, post it here. In the meantime, if you have plans for the shovel, let us know. If you'd like to share past experiences with the shovel, let us know. I'll see if I can pull up past instances. For those who have questions, I've included a brief FAQ regarding TSoD. Shovel FAQ What can I do with the shovel?
Use it as a murder weapon. Kill a main character, a supporting character, or even a background character. What if I don’t like violent scenes?
Have the shovel show up bloody on the ground, or maybe just a body that has been beaten. You don’t need to describe the murder to use the shovel, though I’m sure it wouldn’t stop you. Why use the shovel to murder someone?
Easy, it provides conflict. Conflict drives stories. Couldn't I just use a gun or a knife, maybe a sword?
I’m sure you could. Personally, I haven’t seen any guns knives or swords traveling around from novel to novel wreaking destruction though. The shovel is something bigger than you or I. It is bigger than our novels. It is a weapon of mass destruction if you will. What if I don’t want to use the shovel?
No one is forcing you. Don’t be surprised though if it pops into your novel. It popped into mine. Others who heard of the shovel couldn’t resist. Can you? Does it have to be used as a murder weapon?
I suppose not, but the shovel has developed a taste for blood. What do I do with the shovel when I am done?
Return it. Set it free so it can travel to another place, another land, maybe even another world. I’m still not convinced.
Well, use of the shovel will provide you with words. Anyone could easily milk a small 1,000-word scene from the shovel. Those more talented could get more. Heck, I’d bet someone could even get a whole novel out of the shovel’s exploits. Are there any rules regarding the use of the shovel?
No, but we would like to hear about its use. Post the fact that you send it here, and maybe the excerpt from its use. This sounds silly. It couldn’t possibly fit in my novel.
Maybe you are correct. I don’t know what you are writing about. The first year the shovel visited me, I wasn't writing a silly novel and it fit in mine with little problem. TSoD does not discriminate based on genre. Anything else I need to know about the shovel?
No. Well, don't turn your back on it."
And a reply from memhensel:
Oh god... I just realised that I should kill someone...
And it just goes downhill from there. I should be writing, but I can't stop giggling... | 
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sareth's Friends Page
accomplished
happy
stressed
content
helicopters
</p>
excited
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
okay
worried about other things
