The Bechdel, Crichton and Silverlake tests

NaNoWriMo update!
Let me just state the following: writing stuff that isn't present day non-jargony literature has its difficulties. For one, I have this book set in 1890s Paris. Which requires me to have a working knowledge of turn of the century science. As in I actually have to think "did they have phones at this time? What about radio?" I know television was ages away and cars existed albeit barely, but I can't exactly say 'The hero climbed aboard his horse because cars hadn't been invented yet, dummy.'
The other downside is that I set this in Paris, a city I have never been to, have absolutely no idea the geographical layout of, and is a place I have often referred to as "another bullshit town". Then again, this is a novel that exists just to be written as a VERY rough draft. If I wanted to actually publish it, I'd have to do all kinds of rewrites and research. The boring stuff.

But I am trying to make it count for something. The Bechdel test is a measure of female presence in movies (which can apply to other creative works too). It's three questions:
1. Are there two named female characters?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something that isn't a man?

And this seems like it's not that hard a thing to do. Which it totally isn't. (Did you hear that, screenplay writers?) It's the sort of thing that makes me realize that when I do all this writing, that the characters should do more than say snarky things at each other. Actually scripting motivations and dramatic interactions that address character arcs is nice. Still working on the whole 'have a unique voice/point of view for each character' thing, but that's for another month.

Then we get to the reason I'm doing so much research: the Crichton test. While not an official test per se, the idea is the creation of a false scientific research or conclusion which is sufficiently complex and accurate enough to fool someone not well-versed in the field. This is another thing I'm glossing over in the first draft, only inserting enough detail to convince myself that what I'm writing isn't totally full of crap.

Lastly, the Silverlake test. This is a test of mustache fortitude and it's about Movember instead of NaNoWriMo. 12 days is not enough to grow a 'stache sufficient to pass this test, but one could to it in a month. It will be interesting to see where it goes. In the process, I'm learning that I really cannot pull off a mustache. I might try and craft it into the Zappa, which is a far riskier variant of the goatee, and cousin of the soul patch.