November gives me 30 days of turning off the inner editor and just writing. Of course, starting about 12:01 am on December first, I wish that I would have let the editor at least peek in once and a while.
Thus far, I've managed to win the best of seven series with four "novels" coming out of seven attempts. It seems that I can only recall two of the failed attempts, however. That third one must have really been a stinker. Considering that I keep all of my attempts, I should be able to find it, but I see nothing in the correct folder... Could it be that I've only attempted NaNoWriMo 6 times, but its so much work as to seem like 7? Well, I'll be damned! I just went to the NaNo site, and I've only done this for six years. But, last year I wrote 97k words, so it's almost like two years in one. :) 4 out of 6 is a lot better than 4 out of 7, so I'll take those stats. And if I can make it 5 out of 7, I'll even have a passing grade.
In past years, I've started looking for ideas beginning around this time, but not this year. All summer I've been collecting things that are interesting enough to write a book on. I've got five good ideas with at least a half-page description of my story idea, and in 4 of the 5 cases, a lot of bookmarked web pages for research.
Based on my past experience, I have a decent idea of how I work, and without an outline is a sure recipe for disaster, so today I am officially starting the weeding process to get down to one idea, and I'm at least a full month ahead of schedule. I can measure out the pros and cons of each idea and still have a good six or seven weeks to construct an outline and start my research.
Research? You betcha. I don't just want to say, "Bob stepped through the arch." I want to know that the arch is the Roman cantilevered style, which is prevalent in this region of the country, and when it came into prevalence and why. If I write, "Suzi fires up the plasma torch." I need to know the theory behind it so I can explain why she wouldn't use a plasma torch to light her cigarette. I guess I don't really need to know all of this stuff, I can just make it up as I go, but that is so much harder to keep consistent, and more importantly to keep interesting. If I know how plasma torches work, at least a theory put forth, I can explain the intricacies of the device, who first came up with the idea, who first implemented the idea, etc. etc.
I'm going to come right out and say it - I am setting a personal goal of 100,000 words for the month of November. I reserve the right to lower this if I am to go somewhere for Thanksgiving, though. :) I mean, it is only fair.
My five ideas roughly break down into 3 sci-fi and 2 fantasy ideas. What no horror option this year? One of the sci-fi has horror elements, while another is near-future and very dark, while one of the fantasy ideas is intended to be a little on the humorous side and will make fun of the horror genre a bit, particularly vampires. :D
I like all five ideas, and have put a bit of time into flushing them out already, as what else am I going to do on my hour walk each morning and my two 15 minute walks in the afternoon, pay attention to traffic? P-shaw. ;)
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