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Post by Craig on Oct 4, 2009 14:25:42 GMT -5
November is the promised land.
This is true in so many ways. First of all, I have synesthesia. For me, the months of the year are laid out visually in my brain like a game board. I can literally see November approaching, complete with its deep red hue and countless joyful events.
In November, cross country season will officially be over. That's about 3 hours a day of my life I can reclaim. My days will be much more liberated, and immeasurable stress will be lifted.
In November, I get to start coaching my old grade school's forensics team again, which is really fun.
In November, I'll have finished a lot of my college applications.
In November, I have a lot of days off of school, and there's Thanksgiving to celebrate.
In November, I will write a novel.
I have been looking forward to November for a long, long time. And now, it's almost here. I haven't made any plans for my novel yet, but I do have a lot of goals. Last year, I completed an original novel for the first time in my entire life. This year, I hope to step up and write something I can really be proud of. I want to develop my personal style, come up with a really great story and characters, and have the motivation to edit and polish the novel even after November ends.
It's not going to be easy. But it's going to be a great experience. I really can't wait.
For now, it's time to plan.
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Post by Trilly (18426 words) on Oct 4, 2009 14:48:18 GMT -5
Good luck! ^^ Can't wait to see what you come up with!
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Post by Rikku on Oct 4, 2009 18:36:51 GMT -5
... I echo Trilly. =3 It's good that you're trying to challenge yourself, too. The constant quest for improvement is such an integral part of life.
And if you're going to post excerpts up here, I, for one, will eagerly read them, because your writing style is beautiful. ^_^
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Post by Celestial on Oct 4, 2009 18:41:08 GMT -5
Best of luck to you Craig! ^^ Things which are not easy are the most satisfying once you finish them. I personally can't wait to see what you can come up with!
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Post by Shadaras on Oct 4, 2009 20:44:42 GMT -5
Can't wait to see what you're planning. It's going to be good, I know. ^_^
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Post by Craig on Oct 30, 2009 11:51:54 GMT -5
I'm finally starting to get some ideas for my novel. ^_^ First of all, I've picked my location. In the past, I've always made up cities and towns and stuff, but this year I'm aiming for a little mroe realism. So I did some Internet browsing and found the perfect place to write about: Carbondale, Colorado. I'm planning to set my story around Christmastime, and I wanted a really beautiful, snowy outdoor setting to work with, so I think this is perfect. I want to write about members of a family and their relationships with each other. I'm not quite sure what's going to drive the plot yet, but my current plan is that the "matriarch" of the family, an old woman who lives alone in Carbondale, is inviting everyone over for a week leading up to Christmas. She's got a bad heart and will probably die soon, so everyone, whether they want to or not, agrees to come. Aside from that, I don't have much thought out. >_> But my goal is to explore the complexities of communication in relationships, and how people get along. I obviously need some conflict and interesting things to happen, and I have to come up with characters, but I like where this is going so far. |
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Post by Sq on Oct 30, 2009 11:58:16 GMT -5
That sounds like a great idea! Good luck, Craig  |
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Post by Chao on Oct 30, 2009 13:10:09 GMT -5
Relationships between family members are full of mini plots. There are siblings who are not speaking with each other because of something in the past, there are the old people who always annoy the family by repeating the stories and anecdotes, no matter how funny and interesting the first tiem, over and over again, there are the ones who want harmony yet drive everyone crazy by attempting to make this family reunion the perfect Christmas. There is the 30s generation, either stuck with a job they don't like and flirting with their cousin's spouse, or trying to hide from the family that they are bankrupt. There's the highschool and college generation, worrying about the future yet at the same time simply wanting to have fun. Perhaps you throw in an unwanted pregnancy or a coming out of the closet and the shocked parents. And you have the little kids who want fun, cookies and presents, who want to explore the basement and the attic, are always in everybody's way and don't understand why the grown-ups argue.
You could tell the story by changing the point of view from chapter to chapter.
So much potential! I'm looking forward to what you write.
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Post by Craig on Oct 31, 2009 13:38:47 GMT -5
I'm starting to develop a few characters. I think I'll follow 2-4 of them over the course of the story. Here's who I have so far, cut-and-pasted from my notes:
Virginia Parker – 87 – grandmother/matriarch
* Laura Reed – ## – married woman; emotional ups and downs; probably no children
Andrew Reed – ## – Laura’s husband
Brooke – ## –
Mr. Parker – ## – Ryan’s Dad
* Ryan Parker – 20 – college sophomore
* = a perspective I plan to write from
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Oct 31, 2009 15:52:10 GMT -5
That sounds like a really interesting idea, Craig. ^_^ I think it'll give you a lot of room to explore so many emotions and personalities while writing. Good luck and have fun with it!  |
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Post by Craig on Oct 31, 2009 21:53:13 GMT -5
I think I realized what's been holding me back from NaNo brainstorming -- college essays! They've been gnawing at the back of my mind for months. I just finished up two of them this evening, and my mind feels much more liberated. Just in time for NaNo to begin tomorrow. Virginia Parker – 84 – grandmother/matriarch
Mrs. Bailey – 51 – Brooke’s Mom; controlling, talkative, oldest of Virginia’s children
Mr. Bailey – 51 – Brooke’s Dad; quiet, graying, tall, thin, boring
* Brooke Bailey – 12-13 – goes exploring in the big house; finds out a lot of things
* Laura Reed – 45 – married woman; emotional ups and downs; probably no children
Andrew Reed – 47 – Laura’s husband
Mr. Parker – ## – Ryan’s Dad
Mrs. Parker – ## – Ryan’s Mom
* Ryan Parker – 20 – college sophomore What I really need to figure out is the structure for this story. Right now, I'm kind of leaning toward a style similar to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, alternating between first-person narrators. I'm worried that this might get too confusing, though. Gah! This is something I absolutely have to figure out before I start writing. I'm frantic, but I'm loving it. ^_^ |
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Post by Sq on Oct 31, 2009 22:47:21 GMT -5
I love it when stories switch PoV's! I say go for it. =D I'm planning on doing that some in my story as well.
(And Joy Luck Club is a fantastic book.)
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Post by Craig on Nov 1, 2009 18:48:45 GMT -5
I'm really happy with how this is going so far. ^_^ I was worried that not having a main conflict would be a problem, but so far, it's not holding me back.
I've decided to have four protagonists, and I'm going to try to do four chapters for each of them. I'm shamelessly copying The Joy Luck Club in that respect, but oh well. It's the best idea I could come up with. I'm writing them sort of as short stories that combine to form a larger whole. So I need to write an average of one chapter every two days, each being around 3,334 words. I think that's manageable.
Things are looking good. I was worried, but my characters are coming to life on the page. Let's hope this keeps up.
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Post by Craig on Nov 3, 2009 18:21:10 GMT -5
I gave one of my characters synesthesia, and it added a whole new dimension to the story. ^_^ I'm glad I thought of that.
The novel is coming along pretty well. I need to do a little bit more brainstorming ahead of time, though. Coming up with ideas on the spot is not the best plan. I always do better when I've got something to work with.
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Post by Craig on Nov 7, 2009 22:56:53 GMT -5
I just got a groundbreaking idea for my NaNo. My excitement level just went off the charts. ^_^
It's shamelessly copied from The Joy Luck Club, but so is my entire format for this novel, so oh well.
My original plan was to write four parts, each with four "short story" chapters from the perspective of my four protagonists. I kind of wanted each "part" to have a theme. Now, I just decided to introduce each part with a very brief story, maybe a page or two, from the perspective of the grandmother (who kind of puts the wheels of this story into motion). These four introductions will act not only to introduce the theme of each part, but they will also reveal background details of the story and tie everything together.
This probably doesn't make a lot of sense the way I wrote it, but in my mind it's perfect. I'm so excited. This is going to be great. I really hope I keep this momentum.
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