What are you planning on writing? (fantasy, chick lit, horror, etc)

Well, to be honest, I do have a plot thought about and it is kind of general fiction. It is about a guy obsessed over a woman, and the difference between the woman he idealize and the real woman he yearns for. How would you classify some story like that?

Well, that's such a broad story-line that it could go a hundred different ways. Is the hero a wizard? Then its fantasy. Is the woman of his desire an android? Could be SF. Is the whole story a bad excuse for good smut? Its erotica/romance/chick lit (depending on your own definition). Or, it could be just general fiction (I say 'just, but read 'Choke' by Chuck Pallen..something...ible for the strangest, most disturbing, most hilarious 'love story' ever. Even 'general fiction' can be way out there.)

So, do you know anything about your characters yet, besides their problem? Do you have a rough outline of the plot (I can never get myself to make one, I envy those who can)?

Mine's probably going to be historical fiction (1920s era) about a World War I participant going to work for a bootlegger when he gets back to The States after The War. I'm toying with the idea of fantasy, though. Seems like it would be easier to write, not involve as much research, etc.

Hmm. It depends, Djimenez. Could be commercial fic. If it's written in the same tone as, say, Nicholas Sparks, I'd call it women's fiction but if it's a dark obsession, it could go a variety of ways. My advice? Just write the novel and worry about genre later after you've edited and polished it to death.

As for me, I have no idea what I'm going to write for NaNo. I'd considered writing the sequel to the book I've got making rounds with agents but I've also got a load of erotica/erotic romance novellas and short stories I need to finish and get subbed to my editor and various anthologies I'm pursuing this year. Thankfully I've got a few weeks to decide...

Goten, that's a fab idea! Seriously! There was an announcement in PubLunch a few weeks ago about a series Michele Lang just sold to Tor (Lady Something, Lazarus, maybe?) where the MC is a witch, her sister has visions, and they find themselves battling against SS werewolves, demons, and wizards to stop Hitler--who just happens to be (willingly) possessed. Super smart and high concept!

I'm thinking of finally beginning to work on the fantasy-type novel that's been bouncing around in my head for years. Though set in a semi-Feudalistic time period like many fantasies, it's not going to be heavy on magic or anything, but might have some magical undercurrents (I haven't decided yet whether or not to include them).

It's going to follow several characters, each in a different situation in a different, warring kingdoms. My main focus isn't "good vs evil", it's more... that the characters are realistic, and no matter which "side" of the war they're on, they will all have attributes that readers can admire, and some that readers may not like as much--just like any real person. So it may not be easy for a reader to choose a side and decide who they want to come out on top in the end... make sense? I got a little tired of reading books where the antagonist was evil SIMPLY for evil's sake, you know?

(Heh, I sort of got the idea when watching Troy for the first time and Hector and Achilles were battling... I liked both of them and didn't want either to die though I knew one of them would. I was happy that Achilles won, yet saddened that Hector hadn't...)

Anyway, that doesn't say much about my plot ideas, more just my thoughts on setting up characterizations. I have main plot points in mind, but need to do a lot more brainstorming...

That's a very good point. I get tired of having protagonists who can do no wrong, and antagonists who exist only to be evil with no reason.

I. Asmiov (a SF writer who published over 400 books) is really well known for presenting the ideals of both sides of a conflict, but making its difficult, even impossible for the reader to decide which should prevail, and why. Read the Foundation series for a really good example of this.

I'm writing a trilogy Sci-fi time travel series. this year is book 3. It should go quickly since i already have an outline, a plot, and characters.

I'm doing an alternate history fanfiction, of sorts. The world the story's based in ultimately is kind of steampunk, but the story itself takes place pretty much entirely in ours, back in the '20s and '30s Germany, but with a nasty twist on history. I just has no idea how to logically work this twist. I'm probably gonna just run with it and take a research-fueled red pen to it afterwards.

Last year I worked on a fantasy-epic-romance type thing...right now, I'm thinking I may continue with it (rule bending, I know :-P). If not, then probably a romantic suspense piece.

Well I recently started my novel so apparently I can't use that one for this purpose. However my circus people idea has kept popping up a lot lately so I might outline that some more and write that for this experiment. But my idea is basically that all the paranormal/odd people in this world(no idea when or where abouts it is set) are in the circus. That's how they compromise living in the open safely. Because to the "norms" its all just makeup and stage magic... right?
Recently I had a thought that maybe there's an evil circus and some sort of circus council sends some characters to infiltrate them and bring them down. Actually the infiltrate thing just came to me. All I had before was the freak show is more real than people think it is and the two ideas of a circus council and an evil circus. lol. Something along those lines I guess. Haha. The idea has developed more just since I wrote this post. :D

Oh so that's fantasy. lol. I normally write urban fantasy and historical fiction. My historical fiction are short stories though, no novel ideas going around right now. So I'm sticking to fantasy.

Hey, lolacolleen- you might want to check out the HBO series "Carnivalè". That sounds similar in premise to your idea and might help give your idea a good boost to make it through November.

Mine's fantasy. About a girl who leaves her home at 18 to be trained to be the next leader/priestess/magics lady of her people. I can't wait to start writing.

All these ideas sound fantastic. Good luck to everyone.

My main character is someone who's writing an authorized biography on a fictional character, and the novel is actually the book she wrote.

I was originally going to do two at once, but I've never done that before, and I don't want to stretch myself too thin between that and being the ML, so I ditched one of them.

Ohhh. Thanks for the suggestion! It seems like circus plots are usually dark and dreary... I don't want this one to end up macabre at all. I write comedy much better. I'm really inspired by Cirque Du Soliel.

I'm checking out that series right now. I bet it'll be helpful. Any other suggestions for research would be divine. I'm going to try and outline/get ideas by the end of this month.

Hmm... well, for fictional ideas, that's my best and only suggestion, I'm afraid. XD; Carnivalè isn't... macabre, and it's very time period specific (which might be favorable for you, considering when the heyday of the circus and the carnival was for your story to probably work the best), but it's definitely got a highly dramatic, superstitious and downright creepy element to it.

(I just like excuses to pimp that series. 8D)

I have no idea yet. At first I mulled the idea of a hard boiled detective novel. However, right now I'm trying to figure out something that would include either Forgotten Rutas (yet another lost continent) or the actual, real world submerged continent of Zealandia.

I'm in the middle of indecision, as well. I had originally thought to write an alternate-Genesis story (where Lucifer is forgiven and angels, rather than humans, are the creatures who fall from grace), but as Halloween has approached I've been thinking about a horror idea I've got based on the Lascaux caves in France. OR, I was also thinking of just starting from scratch!

ARRG!

How many days do I have left?

Hell, I have no idea what I'm writing yet. I love to write horror, and I think I do it okay, but I've been dared by a friend to write a romance novel, and part of me really wants to write the story of what happened to a character of mine in last year's nano when he went missing. Perhaps I should bribe my husband into giving me some plot seeds and see where it goes from there.

I decided oh, yesterday, that my previous topic was crap and didn't have enough plot to write itself. So I'm playing around with some other ideas... let's hope I figure it out in the next week.

Well, after some debate, I decided to be "good" this year and actually do a totally new work, the idea for which popped into my head just this week. So I will be doing a more normal romance-type story instead of my fantasy-drama-epic :)