Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Totally Random Tuesdays: NaNoWriMo!



Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org)
For those who are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month.  The idea is simple: you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. If you meet the goal, then you win! You can check out all the details at http://nanowrimo.org. If you are so inclined, you can still sign up before November 1st to get in on the novel-writing action!

While my sister-in-law and one of my friends have participated in NaNoWriMo, this is my first year.  I’m going to be writing a novel which is the third part of a potential series.  It’s actually kind of funny; when I started this novel, Charybda, in 2011, I planned for it to be a standalone novel.  Now, it’s looking like it’s going to be two or three books.  I really don’t want to split it, but it’s getting to be so long that I don’t think it will work as a single book.  So, I’ve decided (for now) to split it in three; however, I won’t know for sure whether it will be two or three books until I have it all written out.

Since I have approximately two-thirds of the full story arc written, but I only have the final one-third of it in outline format, I’ve decided to make the that last third of the story arc its own novel, entitled Nivin. Of course, Nivin is just a working title for it.

This is the novel I will be writing during NaNoWriMo.  Nivin, a blind young woman from a different world, must use questionable powers that she does not understand to save the nation of Libertas from destruction.

Here’s the teaser I imagine might be written on the back cover:

The nation of Libertas has just discovered its history is a lie.  The defenders of Council City have defeated Scyllorin’s preliminary attack, but the evil king’s resources are nearly limitless.  All of Libertas has only one hope going forward: the stranger Nivin, a blind young woman whose powers won them their victory at Council City.  Nivin insists that her powers, which she does not fully understand, are evil and should not be used again.  Nevertheless, the Council insists she leave on a quest to destroy Scyllorin and Scylla, his dragon bride.  Reluctantly, she sets out with three companions: Brand, a young, optimistic champion of the Freemen; former champion Ordnance, a man plagued by his past choices; and the giant Anek, Nivin’s friend who dates back to their days as fugitives together.  When Nivin learns the dark secret behind her abilities, she must face the age-old dilemma: do the ends truly justify the means?

I am really excited to finally finish the last bit of this story arc!  I hope that I can fit all of my plot points into 50,000 words!  As you can imagine, writing 1,700 words per day will be a huge demand on my time! That equates to about 6 or 7 pages (double spaced) per day.

As a result…well, blogging might be a bit tough for me during the month of November.  I’ll still try to get up my four posts a week, but they might be significantly shorter than usual. On the plus side, I’ll keep you all posted on how my NaNoWriMo progress is going! (That’s a plus side, right?) I also hope that if I miss a day, you’ll find it in your hearts to forgive me. 

Write on!

Do you think you’ll participate in NaNoWriMo? Do you know anyone who is? Share any thoughts in the comments.


Want to keep up with my progress during NaNoWriMo? Use the form in the sidebar to subscribe!

4 comments:

  1. My dad's been doing NaNoWriMo as far back as I can remember. Every November, he holes up in the basement or takes his laptop to Starbucks for hours upon hours almost every day. My friend G and her sister love writing, too, and they love NaNoWriMo. This is the first year that I want to seriously join them. 50,000 words, huh? Have at thee! Heh. My struggles are going to be a) balancing school with writing and b) finding a plot to go with the vague characterization ideas that I've been developing... Yeesh. Devising a plot with proper conflicts and villains has always been a difficulty for me.

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    1. Also...
      Oh my gosh, your novel sounds AMAZING!!!!! I already want to read it!!!

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    2. Aw, shucks. Well, my goal is to have part 1 published by the end of 2017, so unfortunately, you'll have to hold your horses. :(

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  2. Horses held. Raring at the bit, but held. :)

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