So watcha writin' this year?

I'm writing some Historical Fiction, just like I did last year! I've gotta get some other genres in... Anyway, mine's kinda dark and a lot of people die. It's about a boy who accidentally goes into a book, a book set around the middle ages. He falls in with a gang of performers and travels the country with them. The band is fairly popular, but they steal money from the people they preform for; whether it be in the form of cheating, or just plain pickpocketing. Plus, there's a rival band looking to put them out of business. I'm seriously gonna cry when I kill my charries off, but it'll add to my word count!

NaNo 2007: Discovering Destiny- WINNER! (50,200k)
NaNo 2008: Raven Band (current title)- 18,400k in!

Killing can be good. We usually have some sort of body count contest going on. You can only count characters you kill off on a sort of personal basis. In other words, the Death Star blowing up a planet doesn't count. Darth Vader strangling a few Storm Troopers does. Some of these people get some serious death counts going.

Hello! I think I have settled onto writing a YA mystery novel. But I'm going to classify it as YA instead of mystery/suspense or adventure based on uhm, well I suppose the writing style and such.

I might do what I did my first NaNo and only really settle on what I'm going to write at midnight November 1st. I've got a few different ideas floating around, but the fishing line hasn't caught any of them yet. So, we shall see, we shall see.

Title: Thomas Moore and the Immortals

Genre: YA Fantasy/Heroes Journey

I've done quite a bit of outlining and sketching in the past month or so, and wrote an exploratory draft of over 75k words to get an idea where the story is going. This really is the best idea I've had in years so I sort of want to get it right, but worse comes to worse, NaNo produces another, slightly more focused exploratory draft for me. It's a modern fantasy and traces the origins of magic and magical races on Earth.

Dave

JanNoWriMo '08- The Heir Apparent, 50,000 words on 1/28/08
"I think one step ahead... like a carpenter... that builds... stairs."
- Andy Bernard, The Office

A fantasy novel called The Gadon Stone. Three characters, two heroes and a villain, are all after the same object, for different reasons, while the world is erupting in war. I have my rough plot outlined, but in a very basic and skeletal form. NaNo is really going to help me discover where this story is going.

\m/

:blog: mreynoldo.blogspot.com
:AIM: polypatterns

I writing a novel losely based off of a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction I wrote earlier in the year (and a bit of last year, lol), so I pretty much have the plotline squared away. I just have to transition from character's I know and love to the ones I created in my mind.

It deals with vampires and past lives and finding the one you're truly meant to be with. Oh, and the main coupling is also a homosexual pair (I'm slightly nervous about that, not in the least bit out of my comfort zone or anything...I'm just worried about everyone else's) and a few sex scenes (that'll end up taking up most of November to crank out).

The title is In You and I which is a line from the opening song from Kingdom Hearts II and fits my story perfectly.

"Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It's the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors."

-Rhys Alexander, Writing Gooder

I've changed my story twice, already. :-P I'm growing my current idea and it seems the most promising of any that I've had so far, mostly because it's loosely based on my own life experiences (write what you know, right?).

I'm using a YA fantasy I've been trying to get through but have only managed to write about 3k for. I'm hoping the pressure will force me to write something! I haven't really been writing this past year, so I'm a little rusty.

It's the Steampunk Novel of Ridiculousness! I had to do something to tie it in with the Nano Novel of Doom and the Cyberpunk Novel of Joy. And let's face it, Em and I are nothing if not ridiculous. ;)

One group of idealists trying to take over the government for varying reasons, one group of machinists who are trying to get in their way, and a few unwitting Opera House players who get caught in the middle. All because my favorite spaz lost his necklace. ♥ Oh, and the rabble all around them calling for revolution, but they're not really as close to my heart. Heh.

You got no muscles to show for it (yes, the brain is a muscle, but if you show it to people it’s usually because part of your skull has been torn off and that doesn’t impress the ladies – unless the ladies are ZOMBIES! Where did this paragraph go?)
-Joss

Hi Guys.

I'm going to give Sci Fi another try this year. Haven't had much luck selling Horror / Suspense tales lately.
Time to switch gears and give into the dark side. I'm planning to write a happy little tale about the end of the world.

:) G-man

Yes, give into the dark side. Come to the dark side. We have cookies.

Tina Marie

YES! We do! And if you want to check on that, go look at my icon. I coughed up the cookies, so now you're part of the dark side. ;)

I'm probably going to write a dark fantasy book. Or else try to tackle two things at once. Since last year I finished 50K in 15 days anyway. ;)

Well, my anti-NaNo novel will be polishing up and finishing last year's book. It's called "Bite Me," an urban(?) fantasy featuring two characters that I've gotten published before with short stories and the cast of insane friends that surround them:

- A hyperactive werewolf who cross-dresses as a nun
- A vegetarian vampire with a stalker who's seen one too many episodes of Buffy
- A shapeshifter whose prefered form is a ferret because, "ferrets make everything better"
- A banshee plagued by frequent larengytis
- And a wizard whose only successful spell is making people's clothes disappear and whose sexual preferences can be defined by, "anything with a postal code" (thank you Captain Jack!), though he's currently leaning towards "heterosexually challenged"

Setting: Woodstock, NY (where else!!!!)

Can't wait to get back to work on this. As KL says, we gotta lurve stupid boys behaving stupidly.

Smiles!
Lori

I think I'm shifting back to working on a mystery. After sending my current WIP through a few crits on CC, I think I've discovered that the problem is setting up the ghost hunters. I'm not reworking that one. I've decided to rework another idea to bring some of the characters together as a ghost hunting team. With some additional ghost hunters to kill off in the process. Currently the title is "Glowing Ghost Balls" only because I think it's funny.

Tina Marie

Tina-

That is the BEST TITLE in the history of titles!!!!!!!

Smiles!
Lori

*snort* All I can think is 'And I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those glowing ghost balls!'

You got no muscles to show for it (yes, the brain is a muscle, but if you show it to people it’s usually because part of your skull has been torn off and that doesn’t impress the ladies – unless the ladies are ZOMBIES! Where did this paragraph go?)
-Joss

I'm finishing the urban fantasy I started last year, about...well, angels, in a sense of the word. Angels living in Boston, determined to terrorize other people who are sort of also angels, only less so. It's actually a rather serious story, except for the completely accidental homosexual undertones I keep slipping in between the main character and his best friend (I wrote in a sex scene between them last year as word padding, and do I ever regret it), and also the small female pug who is present entirely for comic relief. And the trampoline that is in the MC's living room in place of a coffee table, and his roommate's extensive collection of fish-shaped pillows (angelfish, no less).

does anybody live near Lake County - Mount Dora area from this Orlando group?

i was working on a childrens book about an ice age but then I started thinking I might want to try a fantasy or sci fi. I read scifi and also childrens literature. mysteries are out - so I am trying something new. maybe not so much scifi as "speculative fantasy."

I hate it when that happens. ;)

You got no muscles to show for it (yes, the brain is a muscle, but if you show it to people it’s usually because part of your skull has been torn off and that doesn’t impress the ladies – unless the ladies are ZOMBIES! Where did this paragraph go?)
-Joss

Do-gooder anthropology doctoral students saving an Indian site from flooding by greedy developers meets an ancient power even the Native American's fear. Or words to that effect. No clue on the plot, just an idea at this point. And yeah, everybody told me it's already been done.

Lin

"Will Write For Chocolate"

My blog: Land of Lin

I mentioned earlier that I was going to use NaNo to finish a fantasy novel I started a few months ago. Well, after some difficulty with my villain I am going to shift gears and write an auxiliary book (basically the prequel to the original book) about my villain and his long past...he has been alive for 1000 years cursed to suffer death but to never die. I have got some interesting ideas, thanks to some suggestions from a few friends :)

\m/

:blog: mreynoldo.blogspot.com
:AIM: polypatterns

Ah ha, I'm not alone in changing my mind. I've moved from elves to mystery (with tarot card readers and goths but no actual elves, unless Patrick dresses up for Halloween). I've actually been playing around with the fantasy novel a bit now just to limber up before diving into Nano.

Tina Marie

I've been changing my mind a few times as well. Though I originally did not know what I wanted to write, I considered writing the sequel to last year's novel earlier this week. But now I'm thinking of writing a completely different fantasy novel I wrote out summaries and character descriptions for a year and a half ago but haven't started writing. Well, there was that one scene I wrote out which isn't going to be included in the book because, despite the fact that I haven't started writing, I've thought a lot about the format and that scene just doesn't need to be in it. So, since that scene will play no part in the NaNovel, I consider it an unwritten idea with just some world building exercises written before. ;)

But, who knows, I might decide this evil mermaids book isn't what I want to write and decide on something else entirely by the time November rolls around. It really all depends what kind of mood I'm in on November 1st, midnight. Ah, how I look forward to finding out what kind of sugar rush Halloween candy will provide me when I begin writing. XD

Hey Linda! Great to see you back! :)

So what if it's been done before. You'll do it better.

Adjectives on the typewriter/He moves his words like a prize fighter/The frenzied pace of the mind inside the cell
- Cake, Shadow Stabbing

-----
Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true,
You'll see it's all a show,
Keep 'em laughing as you go,
Remember that the last laugh is on you.
Always look on the bright side of life.
--Monty Python

To tell the truth I have not written anything beyond a bunch of scribbled ideas in a mini notebook for the past year, and none of them ever seem to pop off the page or survive more than 7 pages before I rewrite everything all over again (which has happened to one of my stories over 5+ times).

I am unsure as to what category my NaNo story will fall under, or if it will be a combination of several violently mashed together to form some super beast, but at the moment I shall label it under Adventure.

I am still developing characters and planning certain events. No real outline as of yet, just plenty of notes flying across the room and getting lost, although I may need to go hunting for some of those in November. TREASURE HUNT!

I'm writing something weird.

It's a guide for guild fellowship in World of Warcraft guilds, but it's written from the perspective of my character in the game, which I guess makes it a bit of fanfic.

Blessed Be!
Nicole Palmby
npalmbyauthor@gmail.com
http://coffee-stainedwriter.blogspot.com

ScriptFrenzy 2008: Do You Remember? (winner)
NaNoWriMo 2007: Untitled (winner)
NaNoWriMo 2006: A Portrait of the Author in November (approx. 45,000 words)

I'm thinking of something fantasy-themed, with a military heroine and a mystery for her to solve. My goal is to get as far away from my usual Hollywood-influenced cliche writing as possible!

I'm doing something that I think is really weird. I'm taking the Bible, reading most of the "good" stories by those I know who have entire books memorized, and then putting them back into a story. So, it's the Bible put into the point of view of an angel, and a lot of the poetry and such thrown out.

"tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?"
"what wouldst thou have with me?"
"good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives."

I'm rewriting my historical/time-travel called Whirlwind. It goes back to colonial Newport and the depredations of the Gaspee and it's burning. Take cameos by Ben Franklin and Jon Adams (who has to accept a commission from my protagonist to sell some diamonds while he's in New Amsterdam), and Washington's spy ring, add a frisson of romance, slave-trading, and modern feminine sensibilities in a decidedly mysoginist era, you pretty much have what I'm working on.

Lara

"Live fast, take no prisoners, and never look back at the carnage."