You heard me! Before you go putting the cart before the horse and getting all geared up for gatherings and parties, you have one simple question to think over: What's your novel about?
For my part, I haven't a clue! Hopefully divine inspiration will strike before November 1st, but if it doesn't I'll probably just hit up TheyFightCrime.org and run with it.
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50,030 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 21 32
I think I've finally decided on a plot. It came to me quite randomly, which makes it even more exciting. (If any of you are familiar with the nerdfighters or the Green Brothers, I was inspired by something from one of their videos)
Anyway, the idea is this: It's in the future, probably about the 25th century. Time travel has been invented, but isn't widely used. A handful of activists have gotten together with the idea of using the time machine to get back into the past and capture the world's dictators/evil people (Hitler, Mussolini, even back to Napoleon and more recent like Bin Laden.) They've decided that if they can capture these people as babies, they can be rehabitated to a remote island far from the public eye and brought up as normal citizens but without the ability to wreak havoc on the world. (I'm thinking that another group is going to try and combat them to try and channel the evil genius of these people and more, like the ones that built the atomic bomb, to rule the world.)
I'm really into history and I think that it'll be fun and exciting for me. It's just a general idea right now, but i'm trying to come up with a few names to start with, then just write.
For those that don't have topics, I've been thinking on this for weeks and just figured it out, like, yesterday. So don't fret.
----------Begin challenging your assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off once in a while or the light won't get through. -Alan Alda
3,789 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 21 44
I have an idea. At first I wanted to write something literary and serious and well-structured. But since this will be my first time trying to write something a lot longer than a short story I've decided to go with something a little "lighter" and easier. Something I can sort of go auto-pilot on at times and won't feel too bad about. It's light post-apocalyptic fiction, to sum it up bluntly. But the mood I'm aiming for is a bit different than the label implies. It's going to be less heart-thumping action or desolate depressive loss and more like numbing and societal navel-gazing. I only have vague outlines of who the characters are and what the story will be like, and the outlines are only in my mind, but I think if I work out the details during October I might write something in November I could be sort of proud of.
8,787 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 05 37
Ummm, no idea. I have three characters that I like with lots of antagonist / drama potential but not much of a plot. I have two other plot ideas and am vassilating on what I want to do.
How much do you guys map out your story prior to writing?
Is it a free thinking thing or is it structured?
50,030 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 06 12
For me, it's definitely not structured. I've never been able to write from strict outlines, so my plot is basically a bunch of ideas swirling around in my head. Usually I keep a notebook with an idea page (or two) in there to write down the ideas I have for my stories so I don't forget them. Then, when they fit in the story, or if the plot's slowing down and needs a pick-me-up, I plug in one of those ideas.
I also have a friend in the Young Writer's Program and there's a challenge box on the main page that says things like 'dare you to have one of your characters lose their memory' or 'have one character have a long lost brother who's a circus clown.' It's random and even if you don't use it, it gets your brain going.
----------Begin challenging your assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off once in a while or the light won't get through. -Alan Alda
12,106 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 06 15
Dragons.
My default answer for this book. It's kind of complex. XD You can get a bit more detail (but not much) on my novel page.
----------_______
Nano '03: Tsarina the Just won
Nano '04: Black Cirrus and the Witless Wizards of Atlantis won
Nano '05: Untitled
Nano '06: Untitled Fantasy
3,694 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 07 35
First off, I had never heard of theyfightcrime.org. Some of those ideas are cracking me up!
As for my novel, I started off with a totally vague, plotless inspiration from a song by Tori Amos. Then I cruised through the Adopt-a-Plot thread here on the forums and found an idea that I really love. Here's hoping I can do something with it.
and I said not a chance
--"Marianne", Tori Amos
The world is not how it should be. Major historical events never happened - ie, the Holocaust, WWI, Joan of Arc, etc.
Marianne has reached her breaking point, and thus decides to commit suicide. One night, she throws herself off of a bridge which is heavily cloaked in fog. When she 'lands' she finds herself in the middle of a major historical event. She starts to talk to key people that created this event, and later finds out that they are the only ones who can see her.
After manipulating the event, she is sent further back in time to manipulate another event, with the same results.
Will she ever be able to make it back to her own time? Or is she doomed to continue this pattern?
Meanwhile, her best friend Ellen is the only one who thinks Marianne is still alive when authorities don't find her body. Ellen looks for evidence into Marianne's disappearance, starting at the same bridge from which she jumped. Upon leaving the bridge, however, Ellen starts noticing as the world changes, and she seems to be the only one.
As far as planning goes, I'll probably have to do some advance research because I'm really not horribly knowledgeable about history. Also, during my most successful year doing NaNo (about 20% to goal) I did do some character mapping ahead of time. Not much mapping with the plot, but my main characters were pretty well formed ahead of time.
53,691 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 14 19
[/quote] As far as planning goes, I'll probably have to do some advance research because I'm really not horribly knowledgeable about history. Also, during my most successful year doing NaNo (about 20% to goal) I did do some character mapping ahead of time. Not much mapping with the plot, but my main characters were pretty well formed ahead of time.[/quote]
I make the suggestion that you get to know marchergirl3 who is a poltical science major- and also Lauren_McAllister who is a research hound. She might not know anything about the subject matter- but she is a WIZ! at compiling a fact list.
CHV
A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-----------Sidney Sheldon
A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon
52,791 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 14 39
Second that one!
----------You're never done.
Not as long as you've got a good story, and someone to tell it to.
97,022 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 18 12
I have no idea about ANYTHING having to do with my novel. -_-. Usually, when I write, I write about whatever I'm currently inspired by at the time. I have a handful of characters, all of whom are not in any way related, that I can pick and choose from, but not even the slightest idea of what I want to write.
I thought about doing the whole post-apocolyptic thing, but that seems widely overdone lately. (I.e- I Am Legend, 28 Weeks Later, etc. etc.) Then I thought about doing vampires, but that's also been blown so far out of proportion (Twilight, Underworld) that that too seems overdone.
So now, I'm sitting here contemplating ideas and HAVING NONE!!!! Ahhh I really hope I can find me some fellow So. IL NaNo'ers with my same problem....and can help me brainstorm up some fabulous ideas.
How about you guys...? Do you agree with my claims of stuff being overdone or too popular...? Or am I just being too analytical for my own good? ^_^
52,791 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 18 30
A number of things do seem overblown or dried up in the market these days. However...
I was at a writers workshop in Louisville last year, and a panel of agents and publishers were telling us that vampires were dead, and had been for awhile. Then Stephanie Meyers Twilight series went nuts in bookstores across the country.
Probably the only piece of advice that has rung true from workshops, conferences, and pitch sessions is this:
Don't write for the market. Write what you know. Write what you love to read.
That said... I have only the vaguest idea what I'm writing now.
:)
----------You're never done.
Not as long as you've got a good story, and someone to tell it to.
50,030 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 19 13
Allison, your plot sounds awesome! It reminds me vaguely of a tv show called Sliders, but yours is cooler because it sounds like it would be more historical (I think theirs was some kind of dimensional shifting... but I digress) If you need some help with some history, I'm minoring (or maybe double majoring, I don't know) in it and I know about mostly american history, but some western civ kind of stuff too, particularly about World War II. Anyway, I can't wait to see what you come up with. I'm writing a vaguely historical book too, so it'll be even cooler.
----------Begin challenging your assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off once in a while or the light won't get through. -Alan Alda
53,691 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 22 16
Mal-
I'll tell you what, vampire and the whole "Underworld" genre IS getting a little- shall we say- chic lit. I was always a fan of Anne Rice's Vampire Cronicles because they spoke on such a broader level and the idea of the vampire was a concept that was not the center but more of a periphery element. The stories were about LIFE.
I SWORE I would never write vampire lit- never wanted to be bother with being type-written as one of "those writers". So, last year I did a vampire 50k- and it kind of became an entirely different look at how society treats the sick and dying in American culture. The vampire stayed on the outside and I was fully able to examine a social element I never really intended on writing.
If you feel like a concept is being too popularized- take it. Run with it. Make it different and rediscover the REAL reason why "those writer" are writing those stories!
----------A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon
3,694 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2008 - 09 59
Mal-
I do think post-apocalyptic has been done to death, but I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's The Stand, so I tend to hold that as the standard and shy away from other post-apocalyptic fiction. I think vampires are still viable (I'm not reading Twilight, but it seems to be booming judging from what I see people saying on LiveJournnal) as long as you can put a new spin on it somehow. My favorite vampire novel I've read so far is by Christopher Golden (it's the first in a series) called Of Saints and Shadows. He had a main vampire named Shadow, who figured out that some of the major vampire mythos -- not being able to go in sunlight, aversion to Christian symbols like crucifixes and holy water -- was not fact but actually the result of centuries of brainwashing perpetrated by a secret dark society of the Vatican. He also painted vampires as not actually needing to kill humans, but that they could live off of -- and not be disgusted by -- animal blood. In the end the vampires fought the secret Vatican order in broad daylight and "outed" themselves to the world via a supportive reporter that makes friends with Shadow. The series then continues with vampires trying to find their place in the world amongst humans. I thought it was a really interesting and original spin on vampire fiction.
So if you can come up with something like that, I think it would be awesome.
marchergirl-
I was kind of thinking Sliders-esque when I snatched that plot out of adopt-a-plot. And thanks for the offer of help. I may make use of you. :) I have a friend who was a history undergrad and is just starting grad school in whatever specialization she chose (I'm not sure). So I'm hoping to be able to rely on her, too. I haven't entirely decided how many historical events I want to tamper with. I might just pick one huge one or a few medium ones. I'm still pondering that.
50,189 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2008 - 11 56
A lot of books out there teach writers how to be better marketers. But I've got a degree in marketing, so that's no good for me.
Instead, I'm going to write a book about a marketing professor 100 years in the future... a time where people are incredibly dependent on technology and the companies that provide it. A time when the 20th century is looked upon as the "Dark Ages" and when people are more concerned about the future than they are the past. A time when most of the countries we consider "third world" today have reached the level of comfort we enjoy today... and when those in the most prosperous countries have reached a point where they have a difficult time distinguishing between reality that is natural and that is man-made.
My marketing professor splits his time between lecturing on the history of marketing (an unenviable job in a culture that doesn't think it can learn anything from history), consulting for clients, and searching for a mysterious character called "the Rook," a man who was once the greatest marketing mind in the world... but who vanished mysteriously only to pop up here and there on the fringes of society, using his skill to help those in need.
And while this might sound like a dull exercise to some, it's actually the second part of a trilogy of novels designed to show the end of human evolution... and the rise of a brand new type of life that is has only just awakened!
8,603 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2008 - 14 00
Sean, your plot sounds hilarious. Like a marketing version of an XKCD comic strip. A marketing professor on a quest! A mysterious marketing hero on the run! Woah, what if the mysterious hero is really evil, but he marketed himself to appear really brilliant and just and good? Wacky!
As for post-apocalyptic stories, those who have down NaNo with me in the past know I love few things as much as I love post-apocalyptica (and zombies! preferably together!). I have resently been turning my (critcal-studies-addled) brain to sort-of the American zeitgeist, which includes wish-fulfillment via post-apocalyptic culture. It is horrifying and fascinating.
And Twilight is awful, by the by. Apologies if any of you like it, but I truly cannot stand it!
55,123 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2008 - 10 47
For my part, I haven't a clue! Hopefully divine inspiration will strike before November 1st, but if it doesn't I'll probably just hit up TheyFightCrime.org and run with it.
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I'm doing something a little different this year. This is my third year for NaNo and I've won both of my previous attempts. Sadly though, neither of those books have been edited into something readable and the thought of adding yet another book to edit was not somewhere I wanted to go, lol. So I'm going to use this year's NaNo to take the opportunity to explore some genres that I've never before attempted to write.
The premise is this: I'm taking two main characters and setting them up at the beginning of a hallway. There is only one door (the one behind them through which they entered has disappeared) so they must go through the new door to get out. The door leads them into a story/scene from one of the genres listed on the NaNo forums. Once they get through the first genre, they find themselves back in the hallway with only one door--though this door will be different than the last and lead to a different genre. This pattern will keep repeating until I run out ideas/genres, at which point the last door will lead them back to their 'real' lives. I think. LOL!
--kat :)
53,691 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2008 - 12 46
Kat- I think my brain melted and you scared my inner muse. That's a bold idea- and sounds.... difficult to say the least. Good luck.
----------A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon
55,123 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2008 - 13 30
Wuh-oh! Sorry for scaring the muse and melting your brain. *g*
I'm really looking forward to the challenge of exploring some new genres, but who knows if it will lead to anything beyond NaNo or not. Maybe I'll add a new genre or two to my writing interest-list and maybe not. But really, even if it's a total flop and nothing comes of it, as long as I meet the word count goals and don't have yet another book to edit, I'll be happy.
Thanks muchly for the good wishes and see you at the kick-off/write-ins!
kat :)
50,110 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2008 - 18 05
Hey all!
The types of genres I normally read are Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and General Fiction (but not as much as the other three). I've always had a hard time coming up with what sounded to me like a good plot line/idea. I thought about doing a Fantasy type of story since that is really what I know best, however I really don't want to have to create, establish and bind a whole new world for this writing experience. I want a LOT more time for that.
I was planning on the Fantasy story since my idea juices hadn't ever really flowed when all of a sudden TWO, count 'em - two, general fiction ideas came to mind. (At least, I think they're considered General Fiction.)
The one I'll probably end up going with is set around a female Main Character. As a young child she was abducted from her parents by a pedophile and kept with him for a year or two. Through a series of events, someone recognizes her from a picture they'd seen on the news and call the police. The man is arrested but when they ask the MC to testify against him, she refuses. They do not need her testimony, however, and he is convicted. She is returned to her parents, and life seemingly goes on.
Years and years later, one of the MC's parents let it slip that the man who abducted her as a child has been released from prison after serving his time. Driven by an inner need for closure, or so the MC believes, she tracks him down. She locates him, and proceeds to watch him....stalk him. She becomes obsessed, but in accordance with his parole instructions the man shies away from the MC when she finally confronts him.
This story is about a woman with Stockholm Syndrome, and what it does to her.
53,691 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2008 - 18 16
I am so glad that you decided to go with this idea!!
HA HA HA HAHAHAHA HA HA HA HA!!! (points and laughs!) I look forward to watching you get thru this book!!
All my love!
----------A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon
3,807 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2008 - 09 01
I am brand new to NaNo. I have an idea but I'm not sure how good it is.
Almost everything I've written to date has been journalistic in nature, so I kind of want to see if I even have any creative bones in my body. My literary hero is Hunter S. Thompson; I've really enjoyed everything from Rum Diary to his blogs on espn.com. Right before I started reading him, though, I went on a trip with five of my best friends. It basically personified "sex, drugs, and rock & roll." We really had no profound reason for going, but we certainly returned with some insane stories. Frankly, I'm surprised all six of us came back in one piece. So I was thinking of using that for a "based on true events" story in which I used that trip as a template and filled in some fictional dialogue and events. While I believe my HST influences could help, I want to avoid writing an updated "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." I want this to be my own.
Otherwise, I have to come up with something completely original and made up, which I've never done before and wouldn't have the first idea how to start.
Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated!
Chris
53,691 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2008 - 10 28
Chris-
This sounds like a great idea. Because it is so personal, and something you experienced it should give you at least a outline of event to follow. (No need to drop the ninjas out of the ceiling or anything)
But remember- its not about what we think or anyone thinks for that matter. It's about getting words on the page, so use the idea that you feel like is going to be the best for YOU to write.
You are the first person I have ever met that calls HST his "hero". That's great.
----------A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to be God.
-Sidney Sheldon
50,110 / 50,000
Oct 16, 2008 - 14 58
HA HA HA HAHAHAHA HA HA HA HA!!! (points and laughs!) I look forward to watching you get thru this book!!
All my love!
XD You and me both. Even when I'm not writing with you, you'll be a constant, nagging voice inside my head. :p
50,224 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2008 - 10 47
This sounds like a book I'd enjoy reading - fantasy/futuristic elements, adventure, mystery, and an opportunity to learn something through another's critique on the human condition. You've definitely piqued my interest.
50,224 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2008 - 10 48
Your idea sounds very promising. Not having something to edit does sound appealing, but exploring different genres and stretching the writing muscles sounds even more so. Best wishes!
55,123 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2008 - 20 36
Thanks, my friend--I have a feeling I'll need all the good wishes I can get by the time Dec arrives, lol. But I still think it will be fun to do and after all, that *is* the whole point behind this, yes? :)
7,028 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2008 - 20 07
Thinking of an original topic is one of the hardest things to do. Personally, I think that fantasy is done to death, and yet here I am, preparing to do a fantasy novel. I don't like the genre too much. I just think that I should try my hand at it, since I have an interest in fantasy movies (Willow ftw!).
What's great about nanowrimo is that you don't have to write on a "fresh" topic, and you don't have to write particularly well.
Just so long as you write.
101,277 / 50,000
Oct 25, 2008 - 20 23
Last year I had a lot of fun writing a South Carolina "low country" series romance novel.
This year I'm going to take another run at fictionalizing my doctoral dissertation and what I've been teaching online this past year and produce a fictional scenario where people experience the latest trends in third world church planting movements. I'm probably one of the few people in the St Louis area that has ever heard of this material.
The model here is Eliyahu Goldratt's novel "The Goal" which explains very complex business manufacturing systems known as the Theory of Constraints by having the principles take place in a novel. If it works, I can use it in consulting and for a variety of other thrilling uses - thrilling to me, at least.
First major decision: first person or third person? I've never written anything in first person and there are some benefits to leaving the omniscient third person viewpoint with this topic - it will keep me focused.
----------8,787 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2008 - 08 00
Woo Hoo! Had a really productive weekend that resulted in a plot outline and several roughed out characters. Now I am really excited and ready to start!
3,694 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2008 - 20 27
Congrats! Progress and preparation are nice things. :) I, on the other hand, have changed my mind about my plot and have decided to retry my hand at the one I attempted in 2006. The good news is that I have about 1,300 words I can read through to get my mind back into the plot. The bad news is that I will have to delete those 1,300 words by November 1. :p
An original sci-fi adventure for the whole family. Skeetch Lauderhalf was an outcast on his home planet because of his amazingly short height for a humanoid male. Rejected by even his family, who didn't want to be seen with such a 'shrimpy boy' as they called him, they pushed him out of their lives and ridiculed him. Determined to find a place for himself, he scraped together enough money to buy the best space ship he could afford, which wasn't much, and headed off into space. When his space ship fails him after only two light years of travel, he sets down on a planet inhabited by a race of beings called Shackereths, all of whom were a bit shorter than him. Empowered by his height over them. Skeetch recruits a crew of Shackereths to fix his ship and decides that he and his crew would take it upon themselves to police the universe, dispensing with justice however Captain Skeetch sees fit.
The plot I had first thought of doing this year just seemed too complex and dependent on research as I don't even have enough knowledge of world history to fake my way through what I would need to in order to get anywhere with it. I know this is about quantity and not quality, but the historical nature of the Marianne plot would've left me staring at my blinking cursor, dumbfounded. With the Captain Skeetch plot, though, it's all in my hands. World building, species building, universe building. Pretty much no research required.