A challenge to my readers ...
My last attempt at NaNoWriMo started well but got into trouble quite quickly. Last years attempt was a romance, a genre I never read and don't really enjoy but, hey, I thought I'd give it a try :o)
We will hopefully be moving in November (more on that later) but I'd quite like to give NaNoWriMo authoring a try again. The question is, what to write?
In terms of favourite authors, I enjoy Terry Pratchett (of Discworld fame), Neil Gaiman (check out his blog), Douglas Adams (creator, as if you didn't know, of HHG2H), Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat amongst others), Laurell K Hamilton (very cool vampire novels), JK Rowling (I don't think she needs an introduction), David Eddings (sword and sorcery quest-based) and, of course, Tolkien (well .. durr).
So, now you know that ... what shall I write? Feel free to make the ideas as wacky or as weird as you want!
posted by Rhea at 10/12/2006 11:25:00 pm
5 Comments:
This will be my third year for NaNo.
I start with everything in my head. I have a character. I start picturing the character. I decide on something unique about the character.
I sit down at midnight on November 1 and I start writing.
My rule is that I have no plans to show anyone a word that I write. No editors. No expectations. Just writing for the pure joy of writing.
Good luck this November and I hope you enjoy it as much as I know I will.
Aloha from Maui, Hawaii.
Darilyn
(Speedbump on the NaNo forums)
Well, my goodness, as if anyone could tell someone else what to write!! But I can offer a couple of suggestions that might be helpful. First, you evidently love fantasy, so you might be happier writing that than anything else. (Didn't you have a go a while back? Would it be worth dusting that down and seeing what's there that you might want to recycle?) Second, I think the point tropical screamer makes, about starting in your head, is a really good one. Your starting point for writing isn't the first sentence of chapter 1, it's a tiny seed that takes hold in your imagination - a feeling, an encounter, a wish - and grows, and grows, and grows. And it needs to be something that motivates you to write, something you're really interested in, because if you get bored with it before you're finished then your readers will for sure. Be prepared to write MUCH more than you use in the final version - sometimes you will realise that you've gone down a blind alley and need to backtrack and lose a whole chunk of work, other times you might be unsure about a particular scene and need to write part of it several times before you have a version you're happy with. And have fun!
Well, hello and welcome Tropical Screamer. Thank you for commenting. I like the idea of being character driven instead of plot based. I bet that takes you in some interesting directions.
Hi Zin, well I thought it might produce some interesting comments! ;o)
Ah, I'm still working on the fantasy novel. I guess I could use NaNoWriMo to move that along but I just fancied a break. Instead of reading a book or listening to my ipod on the morning commute, I'm trying to let my mind wander in it's half awake state and see if anything good sprouts!
Really glad you're still working on the fantasy novel, 'cos I want to read it! But, given that, do you really want to start a different one? A number of writers have suggested to me that, when writing on a novel and wanting a change, having a go at short stories can be very helpful. So here's an idea: write a short story a day through November. It can be really short, 250 words minimum. It could be based on a character, as tropical screamer suggests; a seed-idea, as in my previous comment; or it could be a short story about one of your novel characters, at a point in their life which is outside the scope of the novel. You could play with different styles of writing as well as different types of story. Ooh this sounds like so much fun I might have to do it myself one day!
Now you see that's why I posted this. I knew it would generate good ideas ... and what a cool idea that is. Thank you! I'm going to give that a try.
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