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So, who's in? And what'cha plan on writing?
I'm taking a departure this year from my usual science fiction and writing a fantasy instead. Don't have all the details worked out - still have a month - but it looks like my main characters are 11 or 12 years old and get into a heap of trouble by nearly destroying the world.
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For the last two years I've started ambitious nanowrimo stories and have always felt daunted and didn't complete them.
So this year I'm going to finish the story I just started writing last week. It'll probably end up being closer to 35,000-40,000 words, if that.
I know it doesn't satisfy the technical goals of the program, but getting SOMETHING accomplished is better than trying something big and stopping before I even start. So I think it satisfies the spirit of NaNoWriMo.
My story is called Carvin Hedridge. It's about a guy who happens upon a lost village when he gets lost. Something there calls to him and he stays for awhile to explore, and soon ends up defending the village from a great threat. In the end he finds the village is a lot more than it first appeared. I don't want to give too much away in case anyone wants to read it.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Well actually, and this might sound pretty goofy but, the whole idea for the story came from two places. One of them was a dream I had, which I'll tell you all about after I finish writing the story, as the crux of the dream would ruin the ending of the story. And the other part was this:
quote:Carvin Hedridge wasn’t a normal town, but then it didn’t pretend to be. Tucked away behind a ring of low hills in New England, with jolting cobble stone streets and old gas lamps; walking into town felt like taking the New out of New England. It wasn’t easy to find, a veil of mist ringed the hills. There was only one road into town, and it passed over a small creek that marked the borders of the town, by means of a covered bridge. Curiously, not everyone saw the bridge. Driving along the old gravel, tree lined road, some saw only rough rocks and boulders cast about an impassable river. But a lucky few saw the bridge, and being of a different breed of man entirely, they passed over.
A stranger entering town would immediately notice that there were doors everywhere. Every store seemed to have five entrances, all leading into the same building. And the main street only had six stores. The only building with a single door was the bar, adorned with a bright wooden sign that read “a friend in mead is a friend indeed.” And despite the covered bridge and the gravel roads, there didn’t seem to be any cars in town. That wasn’t a surprise to the citizens, considering cars were outlawed. Lots of things were outlawed. Odder still, though there were clearly apartments above the few buildings in town, there didn’t seem to be any homes, though a visitor might have assumed they were behind the trees and down the lanes that led out of town. It didn’t seem like much for a town of Carvin Hedridge’s size, but the people never seemed to mind. The good people of Carvin Hedridge, living in a town that was different than most towns, were different than most people.
To anyone who might have seen Carvin Hedridge on a map, it was simply weird. It was a road side attraction, or to the more cynical, a tourist trap. But anyone who really paid attention would know that tourists and cartographers never made it to Carvin Hedridge. Anyone who really paid attention would realize that six doors in one building didn’t all necessarily lead to the same store. And anyone who was really paying attention would realize that Carvin Hedridge was anything but a tourist trap.
I wrote that the day before I had the dream, having absolutely no idea what the story was about. It was like writing a movie trailer and then basing the movie entirely off the trailer. It came to me out of nowhere at something like five in the morning. I felt like I'd actually been there, and writing that little blurb was like writing a journal entry about a place I'd just seen. You'll find out why that feeling is significant if I ever finish it. When I had the dream the next night, it all came together, and I set about the task of writing it.
Now on one hand it feels daunting to write something that I had such a clear impression of to begin with, and something that very quickly has become very important to me, and on the other I'm excited to get it all out.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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That sounds very interesting, definitely something that would catch my interest in a bookstore, ya know?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Hmm. I should think about this. I'm finishing a major project this month and may be totally unemployed come November--why not try to write a novel?
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I'm going to try and do NaNoWriMo this year. I feel bad abandoning my current novel project for the month, but... I think it and me could use some time apart anyway.
Which means I should start outlining now, or November will turn out a mess of meaningless rambling word-counting, rather then a coherent novella. I'll update when I have a plot.
Posts: 57 | Registered: Jul 2007
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I'll be in. My NaNoWriMo successes have been very hit and miss, but giving up is something only losers and occasionally smart people do!
Now, what to write. I want to start something new, as the rules state, but the books I started previously and never finished have started calling to me with new ideas.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I'm in. I'm finally done with my master's program, so I have time to do frivolous stuff like writing novels.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I'm going to give it a try. And I'll register just as soon as the site will come up for me.
I stalled out on the short story I've been working on, so my novel is going to explore the backstory of a couple of the characters. The witch is having an affair with the king and his youngest son finds out about it. Meanwhile, the king's most trusted knight has vowed to avenge his son who was killed in an accident only to discover the prince was responsible.
I figure if I bring the melodrama, I'll stay interested for the whole 30 days. I get annoyed when people talk about melodrama like it's automatically a bad thing. Enough people watch soap operas that I can't be the only one who occasionally enjoys some over the top, sensational plots.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I've been working out a fantasy novel in my head that's probably chock full of cliches, but I've got to get it all out. A "wizard" sets out to foil the plot of his fellows to take over the world, but to do it must forsake some important vows he took early in his training and enlist a uniquely talented young man in a dangerous mission. That's the framework I've got so far. There's lots more details swirling around it.
Or I'll continue a story I wrote years ago about a young couple traveling to and from Duluth, MN to find their identities again. There's a big land-boat Cadillac in the story and a mechanic named Butch. Can't be that bad.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Bah, my sister dragged me in. I am now Tricia V over there. I fired my pen name this summer. Though I guess I could log in and get all my buddy names from last year.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I've yet to succeed, but that isn't stopping me. I'm in again as Vadon.
I honestly have no idea what I'll write about. Perhaps it's about a wallaby that married a koala in one night of drunken passion. Now he is caught in a dilemma, he was raised in a very religious home and divorce is not an option, lest he be bound to the flaming grasp of the devil. He knows he cannot divorce her, but is there some other solution? His solution comes by the great toad mafia Croakers. They are willing to kidnap the Koala and bring her to a zoo, where our Wallaby protagonist can claim she had taken ill and died. Unfortunately, no mere zoo can keep his koala-wife in for long, and the Croakers always demand their favor to be paid back.
...Yeah, probably not going with that one, though it would be fun.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Hey, I haven't commented in a long while, but I've been lurking about.
I'm trying Nano for the first time this year. I'm going to do a YA urban fantasy. I've been researching and trying to lay out an outline. I'm a long time writer, but have never attempted a novel. I can use all the friends I can get. I'm on there as HoodieWriter.
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Oh, well, that's not much better. I was trying to assent to your disbelief, but I'm too tired to employ any smilies.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I'm in the spreadsheet phase, deciding what needs to be said. Then I realized my first fourth was too short and I had to bring in a whole new character. Aarg!
It's ok. I can get a backstory and motivation for one character in a week and a half. I can do this.
Kali, I love your titles. Have you thought about using both?
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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This thread is evil. I saw it last night, went to the Web site and spent a whole bunch of time (didn't check) on the forums there. Stayed up way too late and am paying for it today.
And, yes, I am already signed up as CaySedai.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I wonder if I could count my thesis? I keep wanting to do this, but figure until that beast is done, I can't do something like this. My story idea is about three wizards who trained together. Magic tends to be very corrupting, so one of them is refusing to use magic at all. The other retired to a monastery and the third takes over the kingdom in a bloody coup. The two trying not to be evil get sucked in to trying to eliminate the tyrant. So, kinda cliched but it is hard in fantasy not to include some cliche.
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Technically you're not supposed to use any former writing. That said, I'm going to modify the story I was working on for ScriptFrenzy but I'm starting over with a new plotline.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I haven't done NaNoWriMo the past two years. In 2005 I contemplated it, but elected not to. Last year I didn't even contemplate it. This year, I'm contemplating it again. Except it's been so long since I've done any sort of creative writing that the idea well is pretty darn dry at the moment. If inspiration hits in the next few days I'll join in, but I'm not betting on it.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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N.B. It's not an "official" Nanowrimo deal. Just something someone thought would be a good idea. I had a look at it, but it's not really what I'm interested in. I already nanoedmoed my first book and it's still not done.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Okay. Got a new password. Invented a placeholder title. Checked out the forum and the wrimo get-to-gethers in my area. Ordered a portable laptop so that handcramps stall me not by writing in long-hand.
Now all I need is a plot, s few characters, and some lengthy ideas about descriptions of stuff.
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I used the block of 36 Dramatic Situations to pick what my characters would be doing. It helped that I already had one subplot in mind, but I like lists to get my mind moving. It's like having options to choose from is just what I need to get my brain out of neutral and back to work. Maybe it'll help.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Just wrote my annual NaNo column, and now it looks like I'll get to write a longer article for our print edition next week. I may get to interview Chris Baty (NaNO founder) for it! Anyone got any good ideas for questions?
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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What evil demon possessed him in the first place to start this shin-dig, and what must we do to free him (and by extension, ourselves) from this ungodly torture?
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NaNoWriMo is scarily compelling. Fear of abandoning the project once started. Fear of spending too much time on the project. Fear of writing something lousy. Confronting fears can be a great way to live. I'm gonna sign up!
Posts: 2 | Registered: Nov 2005
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The main page still has apologies for the site's speed, so I'm guessing they haven't gotten it turned back on yet. They assure us it will be turned back on at some point.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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What AvidReader said. It's been turned off temporarily. But, if you go to the Hatrack thread on the NaNoWriMo site, you'll find a bunch of us and can buddy us that way. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: Steve, cool title.
Thanks, I was proud of myself when I thought of it.
Lyrhawn-
quote: Vampire novel?
Actually, it's an adaptation of the following paragraph:
quote: They say that anyone can come into Christ and, therefore, be forgiven. And if we are forgiven, some religions believe that means we are guaranteed a ticket to heaven. But is it really that concrete?
This idea was tested a few years back when I first rolled into town. I was bad news for everybody. You see, my name’s Damien. And I’m actually the Anti-Christ.
It's something that I came up with and jotted down on a Wal-Mart receipt.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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