It's only the 8th of September, and I've already picked out the idea I'm going with in this years NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This is either going to be the best attempt yet, or I will burn out before November even gets here. :)
I had 5 good ideas to choose from this time around, but there was only one that I wanted to write out or die trying. Interestingly enough, that is not the one I chose. I had done a little bit of research (at least) on all of the ideas and the one I really want to write about isn't a story at this time, it's a world that I've created. That tends to be the way that I write the vast majority of my fiction - I create a world or environment which completely and totally intrigues and in some cases captivates me. Story be damned. Okay, not really, but I often feel like I'm forcing it. And if there is one thing that a writer should know, it's that if something is obvious to you, it will likely be obvious to the reader.
Eliminating ideas without any story sparks took out three of my ideas for NaNoWriMo. Of the two that remained, one was a sci-fi setting (lots of world building, but weak story) and a fantasy story that would be equal parts historical fantasy and humorous (hopefully) commentary on popular culture - very little world building on this one, mostly story and character development ideas. You would think that I would choose the latter. But, of course, I chose the former. Why? The more I think about the fantasy, the more I think about it in terms of a movie. So, I'm not disposing of the idea, I'm saving it for next April and "Script Frenzy" - NaNoWriMo, only it's in April and you write a screenplay.
Now, I'm down to just one idea that had a weak story idea and it was only Saturday the 4th. The library was closed for the big Labor Day weekend, so I couldn't do any more research on my setting, instead I actually worked on themes and trying to strengthen the story idea. By last night, the old story, which was vaguely about vampires in outer space is a sub-plot at best, and the main storyline is about consumerism and class warfare.
I'm looking forward to starting the outline on this idea this afternoon and adding some characters. One part of writing fiction that I thoroughly enjoy is coming up with names for characters. I spend a lot of time making sure the names are either generic or specific enough depending on the use, that they don't match up with anyone I know and that they are not the same name as a similar character in another story or movie. I try to give fun names to fun characters, serious names to serious characters, etc. etc. I look at what other authors have done for motivation, both on what I can try and what I should avoid. I really enjoy the names that Salmon Rushdie gives his characters for example, and I really dislike the way the vast majority of pop fantasy novels name theirs - usually a mix of Tolkein, alternate spellings for normal names with a bunch of punctuation, especially apostrophes, thrown in.
Time to quit writing about working on this, and start working on it. I can't wait until I get some kind of title so I can stop referring to it, both in this blog and in my head, as "this" and "it". :)
2 comments:
Wow, Eric! Sounds great! I'm getting ready too. I have an idea but must decide whether to pursue it in traditional NaNo style or use November's push as my last big push on draft #3 of '08's NaNo project.
Anyway, congrats on the decision, and I can't wait to write with you this November!
It's funny how such a "small" thing has such a huge impact on life for months to come. :)
The initial ideas happen so quickly, and then an hour or two research or fleshing out to each, and then BAM, I decide on one and it's going to control much of my waking life until 2011.
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