Here I go for my last NaNo hurrah. I won’t finish this one, nor will it be 25,000 words long, thank all that’s good and holy. But it will be my last shot at reaching 50k.
The story looks fun so far. I hope you enjoy the excerpt.
It’s amazing how closely the characters in Under the White mirror my NaNo struggle. Seems like we’re all slogging through the white together, just trying to keep our heads on.
My writing has certainly slowed a bit this week, with work and other interferences. But I’ll be plowing ahead again in the week to come, trying to make up some words. I think I’m only around 18k now.
Click the read more link to check out an excerpt about Thorn and Eril’s journey through the white.
NaNo is underway and I’ve started off with a blaze, writing 4K of Shilo (excerpt below). It’s a blast of a story and very, very fun. Sadly, I only have 3 shorts mostly plotted for NaNo and very little time to devote to the cause, so it’s very unlikely I can finish 50k this month.
But I’ll do what I can and slug it out. Maybe I’ll get a couple nice shorts and some better plotting skills along the way.
Click read more for the excerpt from Shilo…
This year for NaNo, I’m going to attempt a novel-in-stories. I’ve devised 10 possible plots and I’ll write as many as it takes to finish my 50k, targeting each short at 5k words.
Take a look and let me know if any of them sound exciting; feel free to add your own creativity too; please note these are all working titles…
Shilo
A cold blooded assassin, a legend at his trade, is hired to kill a girl he’s been protecting. When he finds out they are the same person, he’ll have to make a choice: his life or hers.
Joansen
A man bent on revenge devotes his life to finding a killer, only to learn that the man runs an orphanage.
Meeting Solnarra Vons
Tisho Ukaneo takes no prisoners while warring the savages who damaged his sister, Misane. The lines of justice get hazy when he is faced with executing a young girl who reminds him of Misane.
Under the White
Two refugees search for sanctuary. They are led by an Elle, who doesn’t sink in the snow while they travel, and each tries to contrive a more convincing story about why.
House of the Lost
A boy arrives on a bus full of kids, all runaways. They are delivered to a nightmarish mansion where they are forbidden to ask questions and curiosity can be deadly. The walls whisper and children disappear without warning, and the only way to survive seems to be by avoiding attention.
Nightwulf
A man has vivid nightmares where he is chased by a wolf. Occasionally he sees visions in the dreams. In one, he is bitten and he wakes with a fever and suffers what he thinks at first are hallucinations of a spirit world. He’s not so sure when he sees a man pushed off of a building by an angry ghost.
Halo Soldier’s Journal
Two video game characters, modeled on halo soldiers, pass the time by exploiting game mechanics to perform pranks on one another. One has a compulsion to stick grenades to things for fun, loves the way his partner forcefield glows when he shoots him in the back, and tells bad knock knock jokes. The other is obsessed with saving ammunition, complains about his cod piece being too tight, and inists on driving all the warthogs.
The (Un)Martyr
A man, overwhelmed by the carnage of war, is determined to die in battle, but plans keep going awry.
Starlight (rewrite)
A woman seeks her memory and finds out she didn’t really want it, but she’s a little too late.
Vodik Von Varediss (rewrite)
A librarian of no particular bravery outwits a fearesome interrogator to save the last heir of the kingdom from death.
With November Looming, I’m conflicted about the value of lighting myself on fire writing another book right now.
The thing is, I see so many flaws in my writing, so many qualities that need to be improved, I’m not sure that writing another novel is the way to go. I’m half convinced that spending some time honing those skills first would be much more useful than the time I’ll spend editing the novel later.
Worse, I’m worried that I’ll set all my current works aside as hopelessly flawed. Some of them are already feeling that way.
And maybe worse yet, I’m not sure on the best approach to hone some of the qualities I need. See, the ironical part here, is that workshops and seminars and cons all want you to bring current work to show. I already know what’s wrong with all my current works.
How many of you have encountered similar stages in your writing? How did you work through them?