What will your NaNoWriMoNo be about?

I have an idea! Which is amazing, as the last two years my ideas came to me the day before the start. And this year I have 2, which is ridiculous.

1. To write a possible prequel/alternate story to my last years nano, the Electrical Storm, based on possibly a minor characters view point of the events. The idea of doing a series seems tempting, but possibly like the easy way out...

2. To write a book called "The God of Morals", a book in which a modern day person is chosen, somehow, and is appointed to redefine human morals for the modern day. I'm currently toying with the idea of having someone really old fashioned, who makes them hugely strict, or Tim Minchin (I saw him live this evening, it inspired me), who's sense of morals is amusing. The idea of writing a book containing comedy seems appealing, especially seeing as my book got voted of having the "Best Death and Sex scene" at the N'oscars back home last year, so something a little less dark would be nice :)

I'm too organised, and it scares me.

James
The conquerer of the 3 Peaks
10 hours, 12 minutes

My plot:

A group of disaffected Scottish youths struggling to get by and to escape the banalities of modern-day existence are co-existing in a flat made for two in one of Edinburgh’s more brutal parts of town.

Little Motel follows the lives of Alex, Benji, Thomas and Effie as they strive for a purpose or direction or something - anything - to make it all seem worth it.

Dole queues, chippy sauce and wondering where the number 8 bus takes you to these days.

Life in Granton is one heck of a car crash.

I'm excited :]

Mine's not entirely settled upon. I may not use it because some days I like it, some days I hate it. XD;

It's kind of a crime novel set in Edinburgh, but the difference is, the suspects are all dead. Ghosts and phantoms. It's like a second plain of... uhm... life isn't quite right... 'society' within the city, and like any society, someone has to police it. XD;

I have about half the plot and then NOTHING. XD THe latter half on NaNo may be interesting.

I do have my mains, one's a clairvoyant looking for a serial killer (of a ghostly sort) and the other is a dead victim who decides to make sure he stays on the job.

I chose it because I live here, and heck, write about what you know... though that said I don't know how much to detail the city... I mean, Edinburgh is done to death (no pun intended), especially these days with the likes of Ian Rankin. Meh. I'll figure it out.

EDIT: LoL! Wallflower, I believe the number 8 goes where every other bus goes these days in Edinburgh. Not the way it should be and not stopping where we need it to as we grumble about those stupid trams and the fact it cost us one pound twenty. XD

NaNo '09 - Lolly Johnson and the Sweetie Butcher (working title)

http://avocado-ago-go.deviantart.com/ - I need more feedback on my ramblings!

I have two ideas...one would be to finish the novel I started two years ago at NANO. It's at 120000 at the mo' and will probably need another 50000 to finish it.

Or, my new idea would be the one on my homepage. Reboot is about a bunch of survivors of a mysterious illness that kills 99.9% of the population. A small number of survivors have been left with superpowers and charged with the task of shepherding the rebuilding of civilisation with the remaining survivors. What do you do with Godlike powers? Look after people or dominate them? The novel follows one such shepherd and his small group of sheep.

Main characters all sorted out and I'm raring to go.

B.

DalekHunter

I'd originally planned to write a steampunk western about separated twins discovering 1800s California together (with perhaps a cameo by King Kalakaua)... but then I had a plotbunny pop up that demands to be written. Except that it can't decide whether it wants to be straight-up urban fantasy or steampunkified... or whether the cyberpunk ninjas will remain cyberpunk ninjas or not. And it can't decide whether it's going to be set in Hawaii, California, Scotland, or all three. But it DEMANDS to be written. I could try and write both, but after hitting 100k last year I swore NEVER AGAIN. EVER. Sigh.

ETA: I was just playing the Seventh Sanctum anthropomorphic animal generator. Result? "The corrupt female anthropomorphic Hedgehog. Her wardrobe is fashionable." For those of you who don't know me yet -- one of my nicknames (from NaNoWriMo) is Hedge, short for Hedgehog, and.... this describes me in a disturbingly accurate manner. O_o;

Elysse in Edinburgh
ML for Edinburgh, Scotland
Eight-Year Veteran
"Adorable and Terrifying"

I like I would be tempting fate to tell anyone about the plot or the MC of my novel. Anyone else feel like this?

I have been working on an outline and character sketches, and doing some research. I think if I could start today, I wouldn't be bothered, I'd work it out as I went along. But I am holding off till 1 November so I'm doing this to keep in touch with the story and main character.

I have a title and an idea that it will all be set around the stage and theatre, but that's about it. I plan to wing it, when I get chance to write that is.

I have a title and a vague idea, and it will be about some of the same characters I wrote about 2 years ago. That's all really.
Last year I made the big mistake of choosing to write historical fantasy, conveniently forgetting the historical part would need a bit of research. Well, I won't be doing that again! (until the next time)

Sheila

2009: was 'Watching the Neighbourhood' - now 'Reunited!'
2008: (Winner!) A Place of Conflict
2007: (Winner!) Community
2006: (Winner!): Independence

I haven't got a plot line. I haven't got a title. I have many characters that are all currently campaigning to be a protagonist. This is pretty much what happened last year. Except... last year I had a really useful dream which put me in the right direction.

I think I will mooch around until such time as I have any idea what I am doing with my life and/or nanowrimo this year. Or I may write a story about a poet. This is all I have to go on. Uh oh.

Matt
This novel is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force

Not to derail my own thread, but frankly one pound twenty is a godsend compared to the two pound forty I had to pay back in Sheffield.

That's surprising similar to a novel I have on the back shelf of my project list. Both are set in a post apocalyptic setting with barely any survivors, and a small amount of the survivors having godlike powers. Where they differ however is that the main character in my story is obsessed with finding out what happened to cause the situation his people are now in, and neglects the people to chase the past. Basically the people alive wake up in this tower with only the fleeting members of their distant ancestors to define them. It's kind of high concept in that respect.

I'd be interested to see how yours turns out. I thought I'd skip the whole rebuilding out of the rubble thing (which I doubt I could write well) and focus on the whole adventure/mystery/action parts. Funny how different people come up with fairly similar ideas though...

2007 - Attack of the Robot Magi (Failed :( )
2008 - N.A.
2009 - As of yet, untitled

lol - i work in granton! (but i get the number 37 :P)

mine's not fully taken shape yet - edinburgh will probably feature as a fairly bit character in itself, but i'm going to disguise it's true identity because writing about edinburgh seems to be a bit of a cliche these days. And anyway, my edinburgh is the marginalised bit between the cracks, where all the fun stuff happens.

Only trouble is, half of my plot is still MIA (and only part of what i already have is grabbing me right now), i haven't finished sorting out why my characters are doing half of the things they do, and november is getting awfully close...eek!

I have a basic back-plot and that's it. Like, 5 pages scribbled into an A5 notebook during university free slots. I'm going to route of Sci-Fi, and sort of exploring on what would happen if we met a similarly advanced society to our own for the first time, and it wasn't a happy world of "everyone speaks English/mysteriously understands the other languages". Going to feature some fighting, some getting along, some galactic domination plans, some peaceful cooperation.

On a random note, anyone else ever get disconcerted by the little red squiggle telling you that you've made a mistake in the forum post you're writing? Sort of saying "Should you REALLY be trying to write a 50,000 word novel when you're forgetting or adding letters?"

I blame sleep deprivation.

I was fortunate enough to be born in Granton, spent the first 8 years there, moved back for a year and now I'm back AGAIN xD

But yes, the number 8 *sigh* it's like a game of russian roulette every time you get on.

It's a bit weird to think I could be sitting on it next to a fellow nanoer though :D I should write "nanoooo" on my forehead in black marker.

My NaNo is totally different from all the ones mentioned here. I read a lot of chick lit so that's what I'm writing.
I'm hoping it won't come out too dumb - but knowing me it'll sound really stupid.

Its about a newly-wed, newly-widowed young woman's struggle to recover from her grief after her husband dies on their honeymoon. Although she gets depressed the novel doesn't focus on that, but more on the positive aspects of what she does to get on with her life. Its kind of meant to be from her view point, but not in her voice, and I imagine when you're depressed you tend not to be very expressive. Its as she recovers that we start to get things from her.

My story's set in Edinburgh too, purely because I live here so I can describe it and I'm comfortable with the people who live here. Being inexperienced I want to write about what I know as much as possible, until I get more confident writing and can play around with settings and things. Edinburgh is very much the setting though, and doesn't have a huge effect on the story. I imagine that this kind of story could happen anywhere, Edinburgh is merely convenient for me.

I just talked too much.

Everyone else's stories look really interesting. Part of me is sad that NaNoWriMo doesn't really include getting to read everyone else's stories. At least, I don't think it does, does it? lol

Katie
http://hiccupwriting.blogspot.com

I think that the byproduct of the point of NaNoWriMo means that most of the novels written on here will be nigh unreadable - at least until a couple of months after, when people have had time to edit what they've written. Although I'm sure people will let you read their stories if you ask them nicely enough :D

2007 - Attack of the Robot Magi (Failed :( )
2008 - N.A.
2009 - As of yet, untitled

I'm still not quite sure what I'll do but I'm edging towards a near future detective story, based in Edinburgh and playing around with some ideas I've got floating around about the future of social networking and the internet that sort of crept into my head late last month and hasn't gone away. Has serious potential to be car-wreck awful, but if I can get together the bones of a plot before the beginning of November, I'll give it a go.

I know I could ask, I just like browsing through stuff reading bits and pieces. I read a lot of short stories online and things. I would feel weird asking someone for a copy of their manuscript though. I guess if we do meet up we can share extracts as well as writing together. That would be cool :)

Katie
http://hiccupwriting.blogspot.com

I'm doing a complete burn-to-the-ground-and-rewrite of a SF story I wrote in 2004, changing the characters and setting (but keeping the loose plot). It now involves alternate history. And Carthaginians in space. And lots of Greek stuff.

Nano is good for different people for different purposes:

1) If you haven't written much before, it's a good way to find all those extra moments in your routine when you *can* write.
2) If you're a novice writer, it's good for getting a writing discipline and confidence in the fact that you can write novel-length works.
3) More experienced writers can get their first draft done.

I'm a bit wary of the competitive element, though - there's a difference between writing and merely typing! It doesn't have to be about competing with others - it's all about YOU. Writing should be something you enjoy, and not just a chore or an obligation to keep up with someone else's pace of writing.

...and to paraphrase Mark Twain, I never start writing a book until I've finished the story.

I am also known as 'Twisted Sister'. If you're lucky, you'll find out why. If you're unlucky, you'll find out why.

I am a complete pantser.... i.e. I have absolutely NO idea what I will be writing about.

I plan to sit down on Nov 1 and let it all pour out. Am I scared? Yes. Am I worried? No. It's part of the fun!

-Don't wait for inspiration. Go and grab it by the scruff of the neck!
-Goonies never say die.

I have the first line. Which is kind of irritating as it isn't the first line of the other 2 novels I'm partway through. I figure it would be cheating to take one that's half complete and go from there (38,753 words at last count).

I went to Uni in Edinburgh, moved away in 1996. So the Edinburgh I'm writing about is a little strange. I've been back a few times and places I used to know just aren't there anymore. Mac's Models, the great gaming shop? Gone. Still, on the bright side I did find Black Lion Games last time I was there. So things aren't all bad.

Looking forward to giving this a go. My first year at this...

Well at present i have a few ideas floating about in my head which i might work on for this nano but as of yet no notes onto computer to work from.

1. Starbucks have franchises so death also has them and recruits a new sub-death in a dark city where mysterious forces are lurking hidden and poor Bob as the newly appointed death has a lot on his plate. Especially as all deaths are called Bob.

2. A series of linked stories about what would happen if someone fell through the rabbit hole into alternate futures but at the same time. The lead splits into parts and we see whether the sum of the parts is better whole or apart. Might be a mix of sci-fi, fantasy themed sections will firm this up if i go this route.

3. Somewhere in the future a showdown between the lead character and a vampire sent to kill him doesn't go the way the vampire assasin expects and truths long hidden are revealed. About the here and now, about the vampires themselves and revelations about ......

Leaning to number 3 at moment but knowing me will change my mind completely or go mad and attempt to do 2 nanos this month. I have the time, the ideas just need to put the hard shift in to write the minimum i would need daily to achieve the targets.

Ex Regional/Fife ML for Scotland

2005 - Unsucessful
2006 - Successful but still no title
2007 - tba
2008 - Disaster
2009 -

I've been working on an idea for a while, I've written a synopsis for it from start to beginning, have a few character descriptions written for the main ones, unfortunately its chick lit and I realised when I got to the end of writing the synopsis that I hadn't mentioned much at all about the love aspect of it, oops, need to go back and work out where that all fits in before I start. Its set in Edinburgh, I'm writing about what I know like so many other people here, and I'm quite excited by the whole idea.

This morning I found myself thinking about two of the main characters and it was like they were real, 'no so and so wouldn't do that, but she's far more likely to do that and if she did that then he would respond in that way blah blah' it was like they were real and I was planning their futures, scary, but I like it when I can get inside the character's heads and they become alive, as it makes the actual putting fingers to keys a lot easier, roll on 1st November

dunno. i don't have a plot, I don't have any characters and I certainly don't have any where, when or why. i have only one word. So I'm joining nikita in the pansters' group.

*waves at Lauren*

Glad you are joining me in the pantsing brigade.

-Don't wait for inspiration. Go and grab it by the scruff of the neck!
-Goonies never say die.

Hello!

Unlike you guys, I avoid the number 8. Number 30 is the best!

Anyway, here's my options:

1 - an independent Scotland that has never been part of the UK because dragons exist. Scotland is/was at war with England. During WWII a temporary truce was drawn up and all Brits fought together. The idea of a United Britain was born. Some stuff happens.

2 - my protagonist wakes up in a strangely deserted Edinburgh. Where have all the people gone? Plants are growing over everything (so it's a little way in the future from when she fell asleep). Um... not sure what happens next.

NaNo Winner: 2005 (The Way), 2006 (Cutlery in Foil), 2007 (Gan's Quest), 2008 (Ananias)
2009 title - Border Crossing
My very own personal challenge: to get in every one of the sixty-four 'items in my novel', in my novel!

Hi
I live in Canada and am older ie. 42 but am from Edinburgh. Came here about 10 years ago.
I love your plot idea, have nae mates and don't want to write anything science fiction.
Love Irwin Welsh too.
Can I be your buddy?
Cheers mate
Willow

I could do prequels and sequels, but I like Nano to be new.

Toying with the final installment to my A Commuter, One Legged Pigeon and Face Sucking Neds Trilogy, but as I said I want to do something new.

Oh hopeless me

QUB

Please visit website to see pre Nano story, daily updates as the nano happens and there's a blog.

www.seafieldbooks.com

It's not about me it's about the books.

I quite literally only had my idea a few hours ago, but have since come up with a (very) basic plot and written a little background info on the lead character. It's going to be a fantasy that really isn't a fantasy at all. No, that doesn't really make sense but it's the best way to explain it. It's the story of a fifteen year old comatose boy who discovers a strange new world, and in turn learns a lot about himself. I'm intentionally keeping it cryptic, because I'm finding it hard not to start writing it as it is (X

Inspired by Aoife getting her idea started I also put pen to paper this afternoon - well fingers to keyboard.

I have categorised mine as new age but in fact it could perhaps also appear under romantic and chick lit so I am not sure.

It is set in Edinburgh and I will be mentioning the city as a backdrop to emphasise and support the discoveries and re-discoveries that the main character Star makes on her journey. It will also include people I know as the basis for characters who will become more or less integral to the story than they perhaps played in real life.

It will be one story on the surface and another one woven underneath so you can take what you want from it - the way cartoon films have adult jokes that go right over the kids heads

Aoife and I are sharing a computer cos I broke all the other ones and this one goes in a week so there may be trouble brewing lol

Hope we get the chance to read some of the ones outlined here though as I am blown away with the range of ideas

best of luck all of you (us!!)

'Couple of months after... time to edit what they've written' - I'm not very good at abbrevations but I think ROFL is appropriate here. I have just finished an edit which I hope will be the final one but won't be, of my 2006 NaNo novel. Usually I can't even look at a NaNo novel for at least 6 months afterwards, when I would like to be surprised at how good it is (but again, won't be).

(hope this doesn't sound negative!)

Sheila

2009: was 'Watching the Neighbourhood' - now 'Reunited!'
2008: (Winner!) A Place of Conflict
2007: (Winner!) Community
2006: (Winner!): Independence