No plot, what do I do?????

Do what I do:

Go to your favorite spot (i.e. Barnes & Noble) and sit back with your lappy (if you have one) and have your favorite beverage (COFFEEEEEE!) and just dedicate your time to pre-writing. Brainstorm. =]

Rae =]

Newz.....

I will text you five minutes before midnight of November 1st with a message that says, "Write about pigeons."

And then you will write about pigeons. ;-)

Teresita
Louisville, KY or Cincinnati, OH. Take your pick.

what kind of pigeons? is there more than one kind of pigeon?
what do pigeons want in life?
How big can pigeons get? Will they like me????
;-)

just try it .. punk!

50,000 words or bust!

Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

There are lots of kinds of pigeons.

All they want is to eat, love, be loved, and not get kicked on city sidewalks.
Um, I don't know how big they can get, and they may or may not like you depending on whether you feed them or not.

Don't think I won't! mwahahaha

Teresita
Louisville, KY or Cincinnati, OH. Take your pick.

Write a story about a woman who desperately wants to write a novel but keeps getting interrupted in improbable ways.

Go from mundane (telephone call) to fantastic (ninja attack!).

Writing about how Ninjas destroy the laptop and then the frantic run to the police to report a ninja attack at Barnes and Noble's should kill a few thousand words easily.

Wait until we get to the alien abduction!

There is no "I" in "Team." However, there are three in "Multiple Personality Disorder."

You could just write the ENTIRE story as dream sequences. It's always worked for running behind on word count, just take it up a notch.

-G. F. Wilson

"What's life without the possibility of absolute failure?" -JD

When in doubt, use Ninjas...or werewolves. Works for me :)

Though when I'm stuck with things I like to sit around and listen to snippets of conversations in public places and fill in the blanks while I drive home, trusty voice recorder was lost in the flooding a couple months ago so I need to reinvest in that little device, but it often worked for me. Also what I liked to do is just turn on my voice recorder and narrate what I'm doing while driving, for instance "the assholes following too close", "the morons about to sideswipe me because they're in a hurry in spaghetti junction", "this tail has been on me since I took off from the waterfront, wonder if they'll keep following me across the dead president's bridge?" etc. I've worked out Louisville and turned it into my own fictional city and sometimes I'm guilty of turning my narration into some sort of a sequence by the time I'm halfway home.

It really works for me when I want to build a mystery or thriller story, since my real life is mostly as mundane as a college student's can be, I gotta make up stuff where I can to make the story interesting. Because sometimes "writing what you know" falls a bit flat :)

2007 Winner - "Vermin"
2008 Participant - "Fireteam Spectre"

Mosestm,

I do something related. Not the tape recorder, but watch for scenes in real life and try to figure out motivation. Why is that husband looking so dejected as he follows his wife through the store? That sort of thing.

If all else fails, I read a really crappy book. I mean horrible. I try to figure out what is wrong with the story and what I would have done to fix it.

Turning a really bad plot into a good one is surprisingly effective to get ideas flowing.

There is no "I" in "Team." However, there are three in "Multiple Personality Disorder."

I always have a hard time finding a plot that I can stretch out longer than an an oversized short story.

But I'm finishing this year. It's happening.

I can't wait to meet all of you at the pre-writing and writing sessions throughout Oct/Nov!

-Red

***************************************

I refused to attend his funeral. But I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it. | Mark Twain

That was the most offensive thing I've seen in 20 years of teaching — and that includes an elementary school production of Hair. | Sue Sylvester, GLee

I am using all and none of these ideas...

It should make for an interesting day

50,000 words or bust!

Follow your Louisville updates at http://twitter.com/LouisvilleNaNo

My biggest issue is actually sticking to my plot. I can get it going and then around halfway it's spun so wildly out of control that I'll either write myself into a corner or create something that I didn't intend.

2007 Winner - "Vermin"
2008 Participant - "Fireteam Spectre"

I had a plot. I had a storyline at least 30% drafted in my head.

This morning I had a flash of inspiration and another story idea popped in my head. So, now I am torn. I am not that far into plotting my current story idea so scrapping it and starting a new one isn't a huge setback. But, still, I only have 10 days to get something going.

So, decision time. Which of these stories should I write?

Current story idea:

The bogeyman is real and works in the dream world. Someone is destroying the dream world and he's giving chase.

Good points? Surreal landscapes and twisted plotlines work with this.
Down side? It's convoluted and it will be serious for most of it and I am better at humor than I am at drama. Humor I can write fast. Drama is slower and goes against my style. Unfortunately, the story unfolding in my head has several comedic elements already because I can't think of dream logic without humor.

So writing this one will be a fight.

Other story idea:

I thought today that I could write a sci-fi story in a sixties serial sort of fashion. Think Buck Rogers. Retro-futuristic with lots of campy elements. It'd be very tongue in cheek.

Good points? Well, it'd be fun and it plays to my strengths.
Down side? I'd have to work frantically the next week and a half with world building, making new characters, developing a plot wholecloth, and every thing else. Yes, I can improvise some of it in November, but I'd like to end at least some of the day's writings on cliff hangers in true serial fashion.

So, now what do I do? Dueling plot lines will be bothering me all day now.

There is no "I" in "Team." However, there are three in "Multiple Personality Disorder."

I think if you're better with the humor than drama, then go sci-fi. Yeah, you'll have to do world building, but once you get writing you can run with it... I find it always easier to write humor than dark. But then that's just me! :)

Teresita
Louisville, KY or Cincinnati, OH. Take your pick.

Thanks,

I was sort of reaching the same conclusion. I guess this is going to be a fun 10 days.

There is no "I" in "Team." However, there are three in "Multiple Personality Disorder."