'08 Pre-Production

I've only decided that my NaNo is going to most likely fit somewhere under the broad umbrella of fantasy, but other than that, I haven't done anything to prep for mine either. It's been a bit of fan fiction, a bit of editing, and a bit of writing exercises on the writing front for me lately. I have been starting to wonder, in the broadest and most general terms, what I would like to write about - hopefully it will come to mind sometime around October and then I can be all set to go come November. Much earlier than that and I'd be tempted to start too early!

I know the basic idea of what I'm going to do. I decided that my next nano will be a retelling of some Greek Myths which may be a single volume separated in to three parts or a trilogy (I would rather it be the former because I have ideas for future nanos). I have done some world building which I will get back to after Script Frenzy. I will leave outlining for October.

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Script Frenzy '08
Working Title: Nate and Dick
Script Type: Stage Play
Genre: Dark Musical Comedy
Page Count: 35

I've got my general plot outlined in my head, and a bunch of character names and backstories, but nothing on paper. I'm mostly a pantser any way. I can't wait to get started!

:) Jen

Haven't started a thing yet. I'm not even letting myself THINK about it until Oct. :P

Okay, so admittedly I do have a couple vague ideas (sequels to already finished novels). All I know for sure is that I'm only officially doing one novel and want to finish it completely. ;)

~Merc

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SCRIPT FRENZY '08: Hero's Choice (stage play)
SCRIPT FRENZY '08: Honorless (graphic novel)

The Toasted Scimitar

I probably won't think seriously about it until October, otherwise, I'll want to write it, and I have other things to write first.

However, I already have a couple of ideas, but there's no guarantee I'll use them come November.

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Nous sommes tous fous, il n'y a que les fous qui le savent.

2006 : Les ailes brisées du phoenix
2007 : Apocalypse

I actually did quite a bit of prep stuff while on vacation this last week. I've got: character sketches of all the principles. Detailed back-story of one of the principles. Lists of names for minor characters. Lists of key events in the story (order undetermined as of yet). How the book begins. How it'll probably end. How I'm going to set up/reveal the BIG PLOT TWIST. (It's gonna be cool.)

I had the title - "Daughters of Magadan" - halfway through last year's nano when it became clear who the characters of the sequel would be.

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2007: One Night in Magadan

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“Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until your forehead bleeds” - Douglas Adams

I have some ideas floating around, but nothing definite. I'm going to college next year, though, and this particular school isn't going to leave me much free time. I don't know if I'll have time for NaNo, but I doubt it. :( Still, hope springs eternal.

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2005: The Ships of Arcadia (won)
2006: Perdition City (won)
2007: Blood Gods (won)

Newbie's first post. Yay?

I am doing character files, and I'm trying to do an outline, but plot and I don't get along very well, which makes me determined to tie down the elusive little squibber and make it work, even though I've read so many posts that advise against extensive plotting. I am in love with my characters, however, and their children, and their grand-children, and their great-grand-children. This is normal, right?

This story is one I've done bits on for a long time, but never sat down to really pump out the epic like I wanted to, and NaNoWriMo seemed like the perfect way to get it out of my system.

Other than knowing that I'll be doing fantasy, since that's what I generally write, I haven't decided yet. I generally don't think about NaNo until September or October. Right now, I'm firmly in the mindset of ScriptFrenzy; then I'll be doing Gaia's Summer Writing Months (at least unofficially, possibly officially) again. That ends in August, so it'll rap up at about the time I'm ready to start my pre-writing for NaNo.

That said, I've got ideas for what i want to write for both WriMos and NaNo. I just haven't decided which one will be for what or if I'll definitely use them for those things yet. A lot could happen between now and November.

Currently, it looks like the summer will be a re-write of a series of short stories I wrote into three novels, chronicling the life of one of my oldest characters - from the time he learned of his magic until he become the sovereign prince of Shynia. >_< Ambitious of me, but Keenan wants me to write about him and he usually gets what he wants.

Then, for November, I'll write about a bunch of kids (fifth graders) who are actually spies, because they have special gifts. I'd like to finish sewing the school uniforms before then, so my dolls can wear them in the month of November.

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NaNo 2006: Steel Bars - 59,233 words
Screnzy 2007: The Enchanted Forest - won
NaNo 2007: Turning Beetles into Buttons - 51,949 words
Screnzy 2008: Simple Gifts - 43 pages total & Butterfly - 9 episodes

In the attempts for my insane(r) November this year, I'm on and off planning for my quintet that I'll be writing. I've got the first of the five outlined, and plan to get the rest done fairly soon so I can flesh everything out so that (the goal is) come November, I already know all the words before writing them down. Writing a million words in a month seems to more or less require that (LOL)

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2005: won!
2006: won!
2007: won!

http://kateness.wordpress.com

I've got an outline of the plot, my major characters' names and backstories, and I've done the basic worldbuilding. It's actually mostly a political thriller, but since I couldn't find a convenient workable real setting for it, I had to come up with my own world -- so I'm just calling it a magic-less fantasy. :) The idea for the story just suddenly popped into my head one day and I'm very excited because it's the first time that's ever happened to me before. :D It's been less than a month and I already have all the details firmly worked out (which I think is very cool, considering that my other fantasy has been in the works for about four years now and I'm still a little hazy on it in places). I can't wait to get started on this one.

Pre-production? In April or May? How can I start planning a story this far in advance to November and then not start working on it? It'll probably be another one of my fantasy stories, but I've got a ton of ideas floating around. I haven't picked one for November; I'm not planning on deciding until around October. Lots in the work, but if I get an idea going, I'm not going to wait to start writing it.

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"Be nice to the imaginary people. Don't kill too many." -- e-mail from my youngest sister, June 23, 2008

Well, I've finally started work on my character backgrounds, plots, and important event timelines. It feels dang good to have 'em too, so that I'm not running around during the beginning of November trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to do. I dunno, but I think that this time, I won't get bored with my plot as I did last year.

To larelmian, I chose to create this topic now instead of later because it's always best to start thinking about what you're going to do months before you do it. You just have to really hope that you have the fortitude not to start the actual storywriting. I know... I'm having that very problem as I'm typing this. Heh.

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NaNoWriMo: 2007 - The Life Everlasting, 5.9k (Failed)
NaNoWriMo: 2008 - Shades of Change (Working Title), waiting to begin!

Sweet topic. I've been thinking on and off about my next NaNo (seriously thinking anyway, not just mindless daydreaming) since about two months ago or so when a (shock) good idea popped into my head, or at least something I feel I can really have fun on. Since then, I haven't really done much of anything, but have tried to think about the main characters, and how the story begins so that maybe that will lead me further. I don't even have names yet, but once I start giving out names the character personalities usually flow out of me like a damn broke; trouble is, it usually takes me a while to get names down that I really like; I've been able to do this three times already with stories that could have turned out much longer had I continued writing them, although I still think the characters from that first piece were the best and I have yet to top them. I'm thinking of just taking them and putting them into a new story because they're the best characters I've ever created; I love them so much, I even gave them a cameo in my '06 NaNo just for the hell of it, and might do it again for my '08 NaNo.

Just earlier tonight though I was pondering on an opening scene, and I think it'll start during a lunar eclipse, or right before one is about to begin which I feel will set the mood for things to come. Now to get working on my characters...

Right now I'm working on a personal wiki writing articles of my characters (and their background stories/part in the plot), races, and locations. I'm hoping to have all the planning done by November so I can just mindlessly flesh it out for 25 days (yep...208 is going to be a short one for me). Victory is going to be completely dependent on how much I prep. I'm not going to have any time to think of new ideas on the fly like I have in previous years.

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Municipal Liasion for Central New Jersey
All Ages Coffehouse Moderator

'04 - "The Blue Notebook" - Win
'05 - "Windsong" - Win
'06 - "An Incomplete Circle" - Win
'07 - "Untitled" - ???

I haven't even started thinking about November yet - I'm still editing from 2007! And I'm moving in a few months, so that's taking up a lot of energy, too. But now that you've got me thinking... I'll probably do a sequel to my '07 Nano because I liked the characters so much.

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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Check out my blog Book 'N' a Mug

Okay, for the past two days I've been doing some heavy thinking on the story I'm developing and I've already got the beginning scene and set up of the first chapter roughly outlined (so rough in fact, none of the characters even have names yet!). But I keep on thinking myself into a corner; this has already happened like 5 times where I'm riding on a thought train and suddenly I hit a brick wall and I can't get around it which takes time for me to think how to move around it.

Such as at first I gave my MMC a pseudo-stalker who he was hiding from during a town festival, but now I think I have to change the stalker's character completely and make her more normal, but then I have to think up why the MMC was hiding from her if it wasn't because she was stalking him. Another is that I had to alter my MMC's living situation to where he's now living alone, but I need him to be in a house, though I have no idea why he would be living by himself in a house he probably can't even pay for as he's in his late teens but has no job, and then I have to decide why he's living alone anyway, as in where are his parents. Should I just kill them them off years ago and have him inherit the house which was already paid (or he got the money from his dead parents which enabled him to pay off the house?). I feel kind of bad about doing that though since I killed off the parents of my MMC from NaNo '06 too. But it would make some other things make sense, like I need one of his female friends to worry about him and show up at his house at odd times, though I still have to decide if this particular girl is the same ex-stalker from draft #1 or a completely new girl; either way, she now has to be sort of a tomboy as well. And all this from just what I was thinking of today too.

So good time, then?

Yeah, I kinda did the same thing last year with my plot; I got all the way to the third chapter and came to a dead halt because I couldn't think on how to continue. The scene was my MCs (there were two, plus two auxilliary) trying to get away from a militia, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it. My plot was originally to have the big guy (not literal) chasing them actually turn around and begin helping them. I dunno, I guess it was also losing interest in my plot. I hate when that happens.

As of my last post, I really haven't done much of anything except add and edit a few of my important plot points/twists. I doubt I won't finish this year.

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NaNoWriMo: 2007 - The Life Everlasting, 5.9k (Failed)
NaNoWriMo: 2008 - Shades of Change (Working Title), waiting to begin!

For as many people that are against extensive plotting, there are people for the dreaded o word (outline)

The biggest thing, and something I hadn't been able to put into words until Terry Brooks did it for all the pro-outliners out there, is to forget the format you learned in grade school. An outline is simply a method of organizing all those wonderful ideas you have in your head into something that somewhat resembles a plot. This lets you get the high level logic of the flow of the story out of the way so you can focus on the details.

The other big thing to keep in mind is: if you create an outline it is not set in stone. Hell, it barely rates as a solid. Again, it is an organizational tool for you to use how you see fit. You can be as exacting as the Snowflake method, or you can have a really big whiteboard with a timeline and an idea web on it in six different dry erase colors.

I love to outline the only problem is I write about 20 different outlines as I write the story because I change my mind on what should happen. I have 11 completely different outlines for last years nano. Outlining just gets my head clear and I have an idea of where I want the story to go and how its going to get there. If I don't outline I end up skipping things and I have to do more rewrites later than if I have a plan going into it. Plus I like to foreshadow a lot and I can't do that if I don't know what's happening next. I don't know maybe its just me but I cannot start a novel with just a broad idea and no road work laid down first.

As for '08 I have a lot of different novels outlined but I don't know which one i'm going to use for nano. Probably the sequel to For the Love of Guinevere. Or maybe I'll dust off Heaven's Next Door. I guess it really depends on what my mood this november is I'll probably have something completely new by then.

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"Inspiration doesn't care whether or not it's convenient for the artist."
"There are times when hope itself is an act of heroism. So here's to hope, and everyday heroes. "
-Jacqueline Carey

Visit www.mrsrigginspresents.blogspot.com for novel excerpts

Yes, yes, yes! This is truth! I remember learning to structure the formal outline, and hated every moment of it: the meticulous placing of Roman numerals, the necessity of indentation, the order in which ideas had to be placed. My imagination died while I was drawing up my formal outline; I used to hate the idea of them. I had to give them up, and outline in the way that came most naturally to me. I now outline more than I actually write, ;_; It's a testament to writing what feels best, rather than what's called proper.

I dropped by these forums several days ago, and now I can't drive the thought of NaNoWriMo from my mind, 8D

I'm planning a novel quartet, this year. I've yet to decide on the running theme, outside that of a vengeful fairy that stalks four generations of a single family. Book One chronicles those circumstances that cause a spirit of revenge to seize said fairy: a young woman (M.) tricks him and escapes with her life, and the fairy dedicates itself to destroying her and those she loves. Books Two and Three are at the moment but mirror images of one another: the daughters (G. and R.) of M. learn the murderous legacy their mother has given them and try to escape it in Book Two, and in Book Three, R's daughter, A., attempts to escape this fairy and live in peace with her lover. But the fairy dogs them all, growing stronger and more cruel with the passing years. In Book Four, A's son (effectively breaking the pattern of mother-daughter with his birth, and damned for it) must put an end to this supernatural threat if he is to live.

But the really fun thing about this story will be the fairy tales, mythology, and ballads around which I'm building my scenes: Snow White and Rose Red, Tam Lin, Scarborough Fair, Donkeyskin - this, but to name a few. I am determined to have fun with my writing this year- last year was an exercise in belaboured, "this must be ready for publishing, end of first draft" prose. It was quite an interesting experience, one I am not going to repeat, xD This year, I'm using dares and writing for myself (for as with outlines, I have to discover what works best: writing with an audience or no one but myself in mind? I concentrated, last year, upon my probable audience; I'm concentrating, this year, on writing something I will like). And Myself happens to adore fairy tales - so fairies and goblins and magical tales it is.

Half of this probably belongs in a 2008 NaNoWriMo Resolutions thread, xD

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~ Do not seek to be. Be.

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'03 A princess weaves her long-reaching vengeance against the brother who exiled her. Lost.

'05 A farmboy sets out to find his fortune and is crushed by gods he meant to outwit. Lost.

'06 A madwoman tries to kill her younger self. But a fairy and a

Ach, I've just started planning for this, my 2nd NaNo (1st was 2006) and am already desperate to throw all plans aside and start writing. It's not a good sign... I have characters and am looking at them first - who the heck are they?!? Then it's the lore of the world, then plot... Might last me to October, when I'll be pulling it together...

Here's to resisting the urge to write!!!

I don't think necessarily resisting the urge to write is the way to go - you've got to resist the urge to write those bits of your story that are going to be in your Nano. If you're creating an entire fantasy world with a backstory and such, you've probably got centuries worth of history that you can write about in the meantime, never mind the backstories of your characters. Besides, not writing for the next how many months is it is going to shrivel your writing muscles :D

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2005: won!
2006: won!
2007: won!

http://kateness.wordpress.com

Let me see... I haven't even been thinking about what to do for '08, but my fiance will probably participate this year and he'll want us both to do something related to our long-term project. I'm not complaining about that, I'm actually all for it, but we're going to have to think of two seperate plotlines to work on that we haven't already started.

BUT if I don't end up doing something related to that long-term project, I have an urban fantasy idea that's been ebbing away at my mind and I think I might want to do something with it. Basically, it's not a romance. It's my counter to all of the different urban pieces of crap that are floating around that are basically plotless but for the love story.

I'm going to be writing the sequal to my '07 novel. It's gonna be a trilogy in all (not that I'll ever finish), called The Shards of a Shattered Mind. '07 is Stainless Steel, '08 is Cold Iron, and '09 is tenatively Tarnished Gold. I'm not even done with Stainless Steel, but I don't really care- I'll just pick up where it ended or start in a totally random place. I have some basic idea of where I want to go with it- slightly more politically oriented than Stainless Steel, but barring that, anything goes. It's gonna be a crazy November!

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"Four walls scare me, especially when they are white."

I am very far into the pre-production. This Nano is going to be the hard work of almost three years' time. XD I have a lot planned out, plain and simple. But having things planned and having things written are two polar opposites...

Originally, I was going to write the sequel to my '07 NaNo this year, but I've gotten so many ideas about that since then that I've decided to do that as my summer writing project instead. So I have no freaking clue what I'm doing for NaNo now, unless I somehow manage to finish the summer project and then make this a trilogy. o_O

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NaNo '06: Blue Moon (Winner!) --Freaky haunted reality show.
NaNo '07: Deafening Silence (Winner!)--Some sort of epic fantasy/alternate dimension...thing.
Screnzy '08: ...I'll get back to you on that one.

Generally over the course of the year I'll come up with 2 or 3 very basic ideas for novels. I'll work on it a bit, just get down what I've come up with on paper and then leave it alone for the most part until October when I look back at them and see which one still looks like it will make a good novel.

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NaNo '06 - "Nyxian Exile" - Winner!
NaNo '07 - "Live Wire" - Winner!

I like this kind of planning, though I rarely employ it. It's just taking a step back for awhile; and then when you decide to take another look, you start to formulate plans for each of the prompts (not to mention find and fix errors), and see which you like the best. It's basically like a rough draft of your story's plot.

As for me, I've spread out my plot points into scenes resembling that of a movie storyboard. I can't remember the exact number, but it's filled a wide-rule piece of notebook paper front and back. I dunno, it's probably in the area of thirty or so 'scenes'. And from what I have, it's only served to excite me more over this project. Thank the deities for fanfiction; otherwise, I probably would've started on the NaNo already.

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NaNoWriMo: 2007 - The Life Everlasting, 5.9k (Failed)
NaNoWriMo: 2008 - Shades of Change (Working Title), waiting to begin!

Since the moment I stopped writing my NaNo from 2007, I've been plotting my 2008 NaNo. It is to be a sequel of my 2007 NaNo "Camp Strange", entitled "Blue Rose." The novel has four returning characters including my MC, her older brother, her best friend, and her love interest. New characters introduced include a sorcerer, and the MC's sister-in-law and nephew (who play a larger role in the sequel I plan on writing to "Blue Rose" for the 2009 NaNo).

The plot takes places two years after the events of "Camp Strange" on the eve before the MC's birthday. The MC is concerned over the fact that her love interest still has not returned from attempting to expunge the vampire blood from his veins. After celebrating her birthday, the MC has discovered ( in the form of a note the is telekinetically sent to her) that her love interest is in trouble and that she must send one of the roses he sent her back to him. Rather than sending it in the mail, she and her brother travel out to help him get rid of the vampire blood. While there, they meet back up with the MC's best friend who aids them in expunging the love interest's vampire blood. Unfortunately, the only obstacle in their way is a socerer who wishes to gain immortality. The MC and those she loves must then destroy the sorcerer before she is able to return to her life amid her brother and love interest by her side.

Now, although I've come up with everything: the characters, the plot, and the setting, I have not written a single word, no matter how much I was tempted to do so. I'll probably be tempted to do so even more as NaNoWriMo 2008 draws even closer. In fact, I've thought of this story and its sequel nonstop for the past six months, wanting to write it out so I won't forget how I planned it.

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2007: Camp Strange-50,006/50,000
2008: Blue Rose

' width=100 height=100 border=0 alt='Official NaNoWriMo 2007 Winner'>