Newbie Thread

Ok my idiotic question pertains to prompts.

More specifically for the meeting on the 23rd we are supposed to bring a prompt. You informed us to search the forums to find an example. I have found, and counted five different kinds of prompts. Plot, Character, Word, Theme, and Chapter. There probably more in existence. What prompt exactly do you want us to bring?

Now you know because it's Cori's super short show ^.^

Any of the above, all of the above! Whatever you want.

We use the prompts as challenges that will be posted on a seperate thread. If you fulfill the prompt you'll get a sticker. Or sometimes you really NEED the prompt. For example: You are stuck, stuck, stuck. There are no ideas flowing. You will never reach 50K, but instead you will begin to cry blood as you stare at your computer screen in hopelessness. That is until you go to the prompt/challenge thread. There you see the challenge: "Your main character's long lost daughter shows up at the front door." You think, "Well my main character doesn't have a daughter - or DOES she?" And off you are writing away again.

So prompts can be very simple or very elaborate. They can be of the more serious variety - or completely off the wall. Don't stress about them, just have fun! I'll have index cards at the Kick-off party, so people can write them on site too if the want.

***Courtney

Red Stick WriMos' Municipal Liaison
redstickwrimo@gmail.com

Some writing prompts from years past...

Write about what is in your character's coat pocket (looking at Kradisnotanatzi and shaking head)

What is in your character's refrigerator? (Another good one from valg)

Include duct tape in your next paragraph.

Include an exploding shower head (personal challenge from me to dstaley at a write-in)

Include the words pickled pig fetus (retailiation challenge from dstaley to me over the exploding shower head)

Check out my 2007 Nano!!!!
http://brownstreetpress.com/?page_id=16

>.<; Hilarious but almost scary. >.<;

Thanks Erica! I think the archives are already down in preparation of November, so I couldn't find any examples like I wanted.

***Courtney

Red Stick WriMos' Municipal Liaison
redstickwrimo@gmail.com

Fableoflife- I can not believe you stole your sign off from the Disney channel. No...wait...yes, yes I can :)

"I like rudeness a great deal better than flattery" ~Jane Eyre

2009- Leader---in progress

this is my frst year writing. i first heard about it about 8 years ago and shyed away from any thoughts of it.
i written two long pieces that are on ff and havent' written much except text based rpg's since then. my one friend that i beta for is writing this year so i decided i needed to do it for the therapy. (i had a surgery on my right wrist in sept and the left wrist is scheduled for oct 26).

How is everyone else jump starting their plotline and characters? I've been doodling and trying to come up with ideas but they are all a little too close to my life or someone I know's life so, not really fiction.

Any suggestions for getting your brain to create plots and characters? (However rough they may be?)

I'm desperately trying to hammer out plot myself. Something that sometimes helps me is to just go out and do some people watching. I was driving down the road yesterday and saw one of those official tall mailboxes, and a man was leaning against it, his head hidden in his arms. Seriously, how can seeing something like that NOT get the juices going? I'm dying to know the plotline, and the only way to figure it out is to make it up!

erica

Check out my 2007 Nano!!!!
http://brownstreetpress.com/?page_id=16

Hey guys, to those of you who need a bit of help with getting the plot started, here's some simple advice I've found works for me.

1. Pick subject matter that you find FUN. This might seem obvious, but you're gonna be spending a month working on this project, so it should be a project you get excited about, not one that feels like homework!

2. Remember that the single most essential building block for a plot is CONFLICT.

Conflict can show up in many shapes or forms. It can be internal or external. It can be on a grand scale or on a local one. But the basic idea is generally the same: the main character (MC) takes a certain action, and the world reacts in a way that is either unexpected or undesirable.

In other words, in your novel's world, there is something amiss! And your MC is gonna make sure proper order is restored to this world or situation.

Of course, because this is a novel and not a short story, your MC won't solve everything quite that simply. Oh no, quite the opposite! The initial discovery of conflict leads to discoveries of other, deeper conflicts... and so on until the reader wonders how the MC is gonna resolve this huge mess! But as the plot advances, your MC takes the necessary actions, develops, grows, and finally restores order (or dies trying! :D ).

Here are some basic examples of how things could get started:

MC wakes up one morning, goes out to get the paper, but the paperboy, rather than give him the news as usual, hands him a mysterious note! (so the reader wonders, what is this note? what does the paperboy know? how will this change the situation for MC?)

MC gets ready for bed. It should be just another night of unwinding and preparing for work the next day, like every other night; but, for some inexplicable reason, the only thing that consumes her mind are thoughts of her long-disappeared lover she hasn't seen in 7 years. (why now? why does this memory still haunt her? can she overcome this? is there a particular event that is bringing this about?)

MC lives in a peaceful village in a faraway planet. Every year, at this time, they harvest their crops. But this year... there are no crops at all. They appeared to be growing fine but suddenly vanished/died. (why? did some alien force steal them? is the planet gonna face some great cataclysm?)

MC shows up for coffee with his colleague as usual. But this time, rather than sit down to to coffee with him, the colleague ignores him and sits alone. MC pursues him, but colleague says "You have some nerve. How dare you. Go to hell." (why? what happened between them? is this all a big misunderstanding or did MC screw something big up unknowingly? how will MC rectify this situation?)

2005 - Under the Roses
2006 - The Freshman Fifteen
2007 - Pinwheel

2009 - Little: An Interstellar Operetta

Thanks for the advice! It gave me a few ideas to play around with, not to mention pointed out that I need some form of conflict which I totally was not thinking about...

I don't know if anyone's replied to BakerGirl's plot problem yet because I haven't looked through all of the posts, but I wanted to respond before I forgot about it. This is my first time participating in nanowrimo, but I graduated in Creative Writing and have some experience in writing. I wouldn't worry if your plot appears too close to real life events; I promise that it won't when you're done. So much will change over the next month that the end result will likely be unrecognizable from what you start with. The old cliche of "write what you know" simply means that you should do exactly what you've proposed here. If it makes you feel any better, Shakespeare wasn't very original either. He borrowed heavily from other stories for Hamlet and Twelfth Night, and Julius Caesar certainly wasn't an original work. What makes writing good is the way you get there; otherwise, books would be a lot shorter.

As far as characters go, I can only speak from personal experience. I figure out the main roles that I need, and once I figure out names for the characters, then the rest of them fall into place. Names are very important, so I spend a lot of time thinking about them and researching. The minor characters I just kind of make up on the fly.

I hope that helps. If not, then maybe it will give you an idea for a method that will work for you.

Will

Hey, I'm Tash, and this is my first year trying to do NaNo. I'm still in college, so I don't know if I'll really have enough time to devote to it, but I'm gonna try my best! \o/

Anyone got tips on how NOT to write yourself into a corner? I have a terrible habit of doing that. I'll have a scene mostly finished, and the next big plot point all fully thought out, but absolutely no idea how to transition from point A to point B.

I usually just skip the bridge part and move to the next scene :) Because I do the same thing. I have an outline of really great scenes, but very little idea of how to get from one to the other. I find it works best to write the big scenes....and come back later to figure out how you got from one to the other ;) Because really, you'll drive yourself CRAZY. I also don't write in order...I usually write the last chapter first. So I know where I'm going :)

---><---
Chicken -- it's what's for dinner in Baton Rouge. We plucked those Elsewherians. Again.

I almost hate to tell you this. I've not been out of college very long, but I can tell you, you'll probably have more time to do this while you're in college than when you get out of it.
...I mean, if you're going to college full time and swinging two or three part time jobs, I'm definitely wrong.

Nah, 15 hrs and one part time job. I would normally agree, but my teachers decided Nov. was term paper month.

TashDragon said:
"Anyone got tips on how NOT to write yourself into a corner? I have a terrible habit of doing that. I'll have a scene mostly finished, and the next big plot point all fully thought out, but absolutely no idea how to transition from point A to point B."

Tash, the best way to not write yourself into a corner is to do a lot of planning. Think out your scenes before you write them, make sure they make sense, and think about what sequence they need to go in.

Failing that (a lot of people like to write in a more organic fashion and let the story take them where it will), the most important thing is to know your characters inside and out before you start throwing things at them. Make sure you know how they will react to just about anything, and make sure their reactions will be interesting--if they won't, then don't put them in that situation. And don't give them anything that
1. they can't handle, OR
2. won't kill them or frustrate everything they were trying to accomplish.

Good luck!

I read about how Stephen King had written himself into a corner with his novel, The Stand. After thinking on it a long time, he decided that he had too many characters to deal with, but wasn't sure what to do about. So, he conveniently inserted an explosion and killed off half the characters. Problem solved. It might be considered cheating a bit, but many people say it is his best novel.

Out of difficulty, comes growth. I would say, let your imagination fly, unfettered. I have the problem of forcing my characters to behave like I would, but that is boring. So I try to think of the wildest thing I can think of to do in a situation, then try to push it a little further. What would I never do in this situation, then make my character do it and invent psychological or backstory reasons for the action.

Libby

I think it's more accurate to say it doesn't really get any easier. When you get out into the real world and work full time, there might not be any homework or exams, but you're still battling that end-of-the-day mental exhaustion and you start to have this strange desire to be responsible -- home maintenance, actually cooking, spending time with your spouse or significant other, etc.

dumb question...I've noticed that some people have a graph under the NaNo Stats tab. Do I need to set something to activate that?

julieT

I don't think it's a dumb question. Mainly because I don't know the answer either. I don't have one.

Julie,

I don't know off the top of my head, either. I'll investigate and find out. :)

***Courtney

Red Stick WriMos' Municipal Liaison
redstickwrimo@gmail.com

Your graph should just pop up once November first rolls around and you start writing. I'm not sure why some people have some early, but I don't, and I've never had to do anything special to get them. If you do not have graphs in your stats bar after the first begins/you enter some words, let me know. Then we shall consult the tech peoples.

***Courtney

Red Stick WriMos' Municipal Liaison
redstickwrimo@gmail.com