So here's the thread where we talk about what we'll be writing for NaNoWriMo 2009. I know some of you are still playing between several ideas, and I encourage you to post them. Maybe we can come up with an idea to meld some ideas, or help you choose one.
As for myself:
Hedged is a Supernatural/Horror novel. A lonely recluse named Boris Platov is called in by the county sheriff to help with a series of animal-like murders. With his werewolf sense, Platov is able to track the killer to a clearing where he discovers that it is killing people from his thirty-two year old wedding album. In order to keep Platov from tracking her, the killer begins planting some of Platov's personal affects at the murder scenes, causing the sheriff to shift focus from the real killer to Platov himself. Joined by Ivan Krakov, a childhood friend, and his occult-oriented daughter Bodana, Platov discovers that the killer is his missing wife.
Using Ivan as bait they try to catch Galina, but the plan backfires and she takes Bodana instead while a local mob forces Platov into a makeshift jail and conducts a rigged trial to determine his fate. Ivan manages to break Platov out of jail. They rescue Bodana and are interrupted mid-battle by the rampaging mob that ends up killing both Galina and Platov. The mob, already enraged, witnesses Bodana using her powers forcing Ivan and Bodana to flee for their lives.
I figure this can turn into a trilogy. The second part will deal with Ivan and Bodana's trials in the city. The third part will push them into a fight for acceptance with a two local groups of supernaturals fighting for control of the area... That'd be NaNo 2010 and 2011 though. ;)
So what is everyone else writing?
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Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
11,823 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 04 58
Cool!
Um, what am I writing? I have no idea yet. Might also be werewolfy, might be something else, may be pantsing it. I honestly have no idea yet. Gotta finish my current WIP before November 1st so I can start it with a clear mind. :D
54,743 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 07 41
Rintaran - that sounds very thrilling. I love the idea of using the paranormal in other genres. Like mystery. I don't read much mystery myself, not too big on having to wonder who the killer is and sleep with my light on. But I would probably read it for the sci-fi elements and then get hooked. Will have to add more of that to my reading list - like I'll ever get through it.
I think this is what I am going to go with:
A fantasy post apocalyptic kind of world. I want to use our technology and our landscape but in a land that has reverted back to tribes and with a splash of magic. There is a mating program were by a truce is called between tribes in order to reproduce those with the necessary skills to channel magic. There are a whole bunch of different systems of magic based on elements (I know a bit overdone, but I am hoping I am grasping at it in a new light). These different magic’s have different tribes and land holds. Everything is fractioned. Religion is based on prophecy. But like our own religion today there are rumors that pieces are being withheld. There are no living profits any longer to confirm or deny what is being spread as the truth. There are sword fights off of motorcycles - the wind warriors. It's going to take place across the planes of Canada and the BC mountain ranges - but the land is scourged and much darker. I drove out there this summer and they are stunning, and also the perfect landscape I had pictured for the setting. I have a couple of good characters set up. Mostly the females. A girl frozen in time and crystal worshiped as a goddess finally broken out. A female wind warrior bonded to the goddess against the warriors’ consent. A female healer kicked out of her tribe with a pack of dogs as her followers. A mate match that doesn’t work out but a contract that is irrevocable. I have a vague feeling about the love stories but every time I try and nail them down they keep squirming away. I have some really great scenes set up, but when I try to plot out the story line of it all, the characters keep stopping me. I just keep feeling like trying to force them into action that is not their own yet won't work out for me naratively (yah I think I am one of those freaks who lets the characters speak for themselves). My goal is high fantasy. Multiple view points. Third person narrative.
There are still quite a few holes I have to work through, but I think I’ll be able to get the 50 000 I need to get me started this November on the way to finishing a work.
My other ideas that I had been shooting around are as follows:
- There is a youth book about the powers of borrowing magic out of books. It would kind of have a Percy Jackson kind of fun narrative to it.
- There is a vampire love story based in China (old China) on how vampires came to be stealing from many different fictions the different traits of vampires that I like. The inspiration for this one is Stephenie Meyer’s Vampires – specifically them being stone. This one is more of a tragic love story but would need lots of research to pull off how I want it to flow. I don’t think I am ready to write this story yet.
- There is a high fantasy dragon book and fae and how fairies are the other half of dragon souls and they bond with a dragon – I think I have pretty much ditched this idea. It is way to clichéd right now for my liking and comes off in my mind like a young adult Christopher Paolini/Ann McCaffrey book which isn’t really what I am targeting right now.
- There is an advanced technology sib-org kind sci-fi world viewing books as an addiction and the need to go underground to find them. This one would be more of a novella with quick fast scenes scattered all over the place of a bunch of different characters that come together. Some teenagers. An old man. A mother addicted to tech. I really like this idea but I am not sure it will be long enough or that I have the skill to write it how I see it yet.
- Serial killers are really vampire and zombie groups living together kidnapping people drain the blood for vampires – zombies get to eat the corpses. Or Vampires and Zombies are the new morgue disposers of bodies. – They are really new and fresh idea and not a lot of brainstorming has gone into them. The first part I see as a dark horror stand alone. The second one with the morgue I see more as a short story comedy piece.
So that is my list.
----------Book Minstrel: Books and Writing Aspirations Blog.
Pisces Muse: Personal Blog.
Pisces Muse: Twitter
53,634 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 15 03
Hmm... I never thought about doing a novel about pantsing. Imagine pantsing a werewolf, or a vampire, or a cyborg... What would happen? Sounds like the basis of a novel to me.
Oh wait, you meant writing it by the seat of your pants... lol. Thankfully you're pretty brilliant Steph, I'm sure you'll come up with something.
----------Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
53,634 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 15 26
PiscesMuse, it sounds like you have a lot of good characters, a good setting, and a handful of good scenes. The one thing that you didn't mention was what your story is about? It's not hugely important, being NaNo there have been many a random ninja scenes popping into cybernetic romantic monkey stories (you get the idea). You have a really nice variety of characters, and I can see them all being pulled into some kind of a maelstrom. Could turn out very cool, or very cheese. Both are good for NaNo. I think you may want to decide on what the central conflict is, and how it gets resolved. Once you've got that, you'll have no trouble getting your characters to flow into your conflict. They'll butt heads and turn tail at times, but eventually you'll force them into your burgeoning plot.
I kind of like the books are addiction sci-fi idea. I could come up with something for that pretty easy. More of a short story type thing. It could probably get stretched to a novella with the right elements in play. It would be really hard not to play with the big goal, freeing the access to books everywhere, as the central goal. Too bad the big stuff tends to make stories uninteresting in the long run. Still fun to play with! I look forward to hearing about how things move ahead for you!
----------Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
54,743 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 06 35
I don't have a nicely plotted out book whereby this happens then this happens which leads to this. I do have some conflicts that I know will be driving the story along.
The three conflicts to tackle:
- The mating system
- The segregated land and tribes and rivalries
- The religion – prophecy being with held. - and how to overthrow prophecy.
I believe the central conflict will stem from the tribal system and the petty rivalries and the need to unite. Everything else will be drawn to that magnetically. The mating system will serve as a means of uniting those who wouldn’t normally come together. I have this world summit set up in my mind as a large culminating scene of bringing together the tribe leaders.
I know the religion of my world, and haven't yet decided on how much it will partake in the story yet. It may be a huge playing factor or it might be almost non-existent. If it does come into play though it will focus on prophecy being withheld, and the overthrowing of it: free will Vs. destiny.
I have a list of things that are open and am struggling with. But the more I write it out the different pathways I see it taking the book, so I am just going to sit on it for awhile.
I wanted to edit a post I had made but can't figure out how to do that so the following is my Edit on what I had previously written in this thread.
"From myself:
But I would probably read it for the sci-fi elements and then get hooked. Will have to add more of that to my reading list - like I'll ever get through it. "
What I really meant when I said 'like I'll ever get through it '- was : like I'll ever get through my reading list. I have tons of books I want to read and I keep adding to the list and I strongly suspect I will never get through it all. Ever. My comment was not supposed to come off as snarky in regards to the type of book written. I re-read my post and it just kept grating at me that it wasn't reading right, so I thought a clarification was in order.
----------Book Minstrel: Books and Writing Aspirations Blog.
Pisces Muse: Personal Blog.
Pisces Muse: Twitter
11,823 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 07 11
Pshaw. Clearly I haven't given you enough poop to read for the critique circle. ;)
And if we're pantsing werewolves, vampires or cyborgs, we've clearly crossed the breach into erotica territory. Or a Keri Arthur novel. One of the two. :D
20,323 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 18 36
That's a good question.
I am working on a concept that involves secret organizations (both good and bad) and alternate universes.
In a nut shell as group of dimension-hopping people have come to Earth with superior technology several centuries ago on a rescue mission to protect our world and help prepare us for the ultimate showdown with The Bad Guys. The baddies have been exploiting alternate worlds, stripping them of their resources and enslaving their people. Problem is the good guys have lost sight of their original mission and are no where near prepared for the eventual showdown. The bad guys haven't found our world yet, but they are close.
The protagonist is likely going to be someone who is connected to the secret organization, but has no idea what's going on until he discovers his true identity.
Still trying to work out the world building and some of the broad concepts of what is going on. I hope its going to be a big enough canvas to write on, and that I can still make it entertaining and accessible.
Time to get outlining.
27,659 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 07 58
I'll be working on adapting my comic book series Elsinore into a novel.
It is a supernatural thriller - with the added bonus of being a practical guide to avoiding the Apocalypse as described in the Book of Revelation!
I am really looking forward to writing the version of this story that I originally intended now that I have found a bunch of my pre-comic book series notes. It will be great to get back into the heads of my asylum patients. I am hoping to feel relatively sane by comparison - but not holding my breath on that one.
38,552 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 19 07
I have decided! (Apparently, that was a momentous announcement... lol)
I will be working on Ayana's Gift (temporary title, until I find one better suited to the novel). It is a fantasy novel, and is apparently very difficult for me to explain. I was just thinking about how to explain it in a short paragraph, and I don't know if I can right now. So, for those of you who haven't read what I've written on it so far (so you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about) there's an excerpt on my profile on here, or I could just (try to) explain it to you at the write-ins.
I'm off to continue planning the novel! (With OneNote. Seriously, best. program. EVER.)
----------(~Sylvie~)
NaNo 2007 - Quest for Caelyx (failed)
NaNo 2008 - Kirk the Jerk and Smelly Mely (won!)
NaNo 2009 - Ayana's Gift
32,451 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 02 12
I'm probably going to do a sequel to last years nano. This means more werwolves!
As such I give fair warning to all Wrimo's writing about werewolves.
FIRST CHALLENGE!!! (Duh-duh-dunnnn!)
Anyone writing about werewolves must cameo one werewolf from each other werewolf novel being written this year.
Each of us will provide the name and a few salient traits for the cameo character for the others and then there shall be a WEREWOLF JAMBOREE. (the hairballinest time ever)
*cameo does not actually need to be the form of a jamboree... but that's probably how I will handle it. yeeHa!
If there turns out to be three or more nano's (including mine) featuring werewolves I will make this an official challenge and post it to the challenge topic at the appropriate time.
----------One of the joys of travel is visiting new towns and meeting new people. -G. Khan
53,634 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 09 14
Sounds like an interesting challenge... It'd be difficult for me to work in, but I think I may know just the way to do it without interrupting the flow of the story... Just need to insert a little bit of back story at some location and I can add in a few extra werewolves.
Strange to see so many werewolves this time around. Must be their year.
----------Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
23,229 / 50,000
Oct 23, 2009 - 10 38
Oh gosh. So yeah, I'm new, Hi everyone first off!
I've been toying with a few ideas of mine. Miserably, I already started my Colors, and Fate series, so I can't really use those. >< Which sucks. I can't use the one with my character Jev either. @_@ It's frustrating. I still can't decide. XD I've got a couple of possibilities.
The first, it's Ninth Eternal, or NE. I'd guess it's a fantasy. A fantasy that's probably a bit more mature, since some characters deal with topics such as suicide, death, pregancy and other such.. hm. topics.
A mother spirit has created nine guardians, to fight against the nine false ones that the other gods have created, thus throwing the world off balance. It basically starts with the Eight one, nammed Tempus, whom sees into the spirit world. He doesn't know anything much, and it would go how he learns more, with his quest to find and destroy the Eight tail creature. [I still need to set the creatures. :/ I don't know if I wanna root around in many mythologies, or just keep to one.. *sighs*]
The second, a brain child of mine for a while, Flight of Angels, Crawling of Demons, or FACD for short. This is another fantasy, but more light hearted then NE. XD
A young man, nammed Ventus, is suddenly dragged into an adventure across the three worlds, discovering about it's past and trying to fix it for the future generation. Sort of a save the world thing. Very classic. XD
The other two options aren't as stark in my mind.
- Something with Vampires and Succubi. I love vampires.. and I figured that it would be too corny to go Vampire/Werewolves, so maybe something between vampires and Succubi. Would be quite interesting, if anything.
- Something french. Horror Style, since all I find in french are like, love stories or magic stories. Which is weird. @_@ So a french horror would be quite odd/refreshing.
- something based off a a random thingie I wrote, just to be like. Myah! The prologue is all I wrote, but I don't even like it.. maybe change it and make something sensible out of it.
- me and a friend planned a triology together. XD maybe I could write the book I was going to write?
- or I could just slap on the creepy Vocaloid music and write whatever comes to mind. XD probably with the apperance of more then a couple of my more scary characters.
What do you guys think? I need a little pushing, since I can't decide. XD [Silly libra, rofl.]
----------Angélique Nolin ~
First year participating. ~
Wanna be Author/Musician!
23,229 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 05 34
ah ah, sorry for the double post, but WOAH. I've decided.
Keep on eye out. *giggles and hides pages, grinning*
----------Angélique Nolin ~
First year participating. ~
Wanna be Author/Musician!