Q: Aasa, you've decided to attempt NaNoWriMo while backpacking around Europe. Do you think you'll write in internet cafes or try to write long-hand? What do you think the benefits of noveling while traveling might be?
A: I'm lucky enough to have a netbook with me, so I'll be able to write whereever I go. I imagine my writing locations of choice will be cafes, trains, and dingy hostel rooms. I usually carry a notebook around with me for NaNo, so I'm sure I'll still do that as well and transcribe when I get a chance.
One benefit of noveling while traveling will definitely be that I'll have some amazing settings! I'm sure I'll end up writing about what's around me, and I'm seeing new things every day. My novel will most likely be about a girl who's traveling around the Balkan countries alone, but she'll be much cooler, braver, and more adventurous than I (because isn't that what we novice novelists usually end up writing about? Basically ourselves, but better versions? I think so).
I'm also trying to soak up as much new history and culture as possible, and I'm meeting very interesting people - so that'll get tied in. I rarely plan plots in advance, and when I've tried it has failed miserably, so this'll be a seat-of-my-pants sort of novel, much like this trip.
Over the course of November I'll probably be in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, and then Germany and Ireland. If I can come up with a plot that ties those places together, it'll be interesting. And a miracle.
Aasa was a reporter for a weekly newspaper in Saskatchewan, Canada, before moving to Scotland to be a bartender for a while. Now she's homeless, unemployed, and meandering around random European countries. She exists on a diet of kebabs, beer, and instant noodles, and will probably have to find a home, and a job, soon.
