Carrie's Nano <3

[Avery]

Um. Sooo, not entirely sure if I'm doing Nano this year. I really, really want to, because it would be my seventh in a row, but I'm not sure if I'll have the ideas/time. See, I've had terrible writer's block lately. TERRIBLE. And so getting an idea-- let alone an idea I can sustain for 50k-- might be easier said than done. :/

Though we'll see. *crosses fingers*

[Rikku]

D: You could always write a couple of smaller ideas? Not meant to, I know, but if it gets the writing flowing ... anyway, I hope you do manage to.

[Avery]

At this point I'd settle for like, any idea. XD I'm just so hopelessly... hopeless... that it's sort of depressing. Every year to this point, I've wrangled up an idea in the first few days of October, even if it wasn't an idea I eventually used. At least it was something. This year, nada. >_>

[Rikku]

... Boy do I know that feeling. xD I mean, I have ideas, even an idea that I'd quite like to write, but there aren't any stories that are burning to be told. Normally there are by October. Normally there are by September.

So I'll cross my fingers for both of us on this one. xD

[Avery]

Still have zero ideas. :/ Absolutely zero. And way too much going on IRL to even have time to brainstorm... *sigh*

[Rikku]

D: Not even the smallest idea? You could ... could look at lots of names, to see if a character springs into life who needs their story told? You could go to 'They Fight Crime!' and write something based on that? You could set out to do something in a completely different genre from anything you've written before?

[Avery]

One would think I'd have even the slightest semblance of an idea by now. Impossible not to, right?

But no. Not at all.

Maybe I'm not meant to do Nano this year. *sighs*

[Avery]

I'm so discouraged about Nano... I want to do it badly, but my mind is pretty much dead. :/ Blah.

[Yuka]

My advice is a little unorthodox, but maybe it will help: try setting aside an hour, or half an hour, or even ten minutes. Go somewhere quiet and natural, and sit/lay down. Don't put any pressure on yourself about anything. Just imagine the stress of the day lifting away. Be happy, relax, and witness the wonder of the world around you and the bliss of awareness and living.

You don't need to actually meditate to do this, you only need to relax and let go of things slightly.

If you can do that, it gives your mind a chance to defragment and rearrange itself. If you still don't have any ideas, don't fret about it, focus on other things and maybe they'll come naturally.

If you don't have an idea by November but still want to take part, you could do kind of a 'joke' novel where you start writing 'blind' (with no clue where you're headed), and when you get stuck insert some random emergency into it. Sure it won't be the greatest thing ever written, but it will be FUN.

Good luck, Carrie!!

[Avery]

Finally have an idea-- hurrah! I hit me while I was in the shower last night.

Crappy summary below! ^_^

SPOILER: Click to show

After being shot dead attempting to rob a liquor store at the behest of her bad-influence boyfriend, Niko, 17-year-old Brendy Wall arrives in the Afterworld’s version of juvenile court. Deemed too young to be sent straight to hell but too corrupt to be sent to heaven, Brendy is sentenced to a community service program, where she is forced to become the caregiver of a recently dead ten-year-old named Leah. The young girl has also been temporarily denied admittance to heaven, but no one will tell Brendy why, and the more time Brendy spends with Leah, the more concerned she grows. Leah is aloof—distant—and does things Brendy simply can’t explain. She often denies being dead in the first place and spins fantastical tales of soul snatching and immortality. She also knows things about Brendy that no one else does, including the intimate details of what, exactly, went wrong the day Brendy died.

Then one day, Brendy wakes up and Leah is gone, no trace of her at all. When she questions the Afterworld’s authorities, they deny Leah ever existed in the first place. Then, they announce wonderful news: Brendy has been deemed moral enough to enter heaven, and she must transition within the next day or permanently lose her chance for salvation. Panicked, she retreats to the home where she and Leah lived, but what she finds there shocks her more than anything: her boyfriend, Niko, in the flesh, just as dead as she is. Except he claims that he is not dead, and neither is Brendy—and neither, for that matter, is the vanished Leah. They are all simply pawns in a corrupt and devastating plot by the leaders of the Afterworld to create rebirth—essentially, so that those deemed worthy can live once more. Unfortunately, it requires a few sacrifices in the process. Sacrifices like Brendy and Niko, and young Leah. And the Afterworld isn’t prepared to let just anyone go running around with these secrets.

... yeah.

[Rikku]

... From sort-of-half-skimming your ideas yesterday, they sounded awesome, and y'know what?

They are.

I mean, obviously anything to do with fun-afterlife-stuff is automatically win, but too often that sort of story doesn't do as much as it could. But this looks like it actually lives up to the potential as a concept! ^_^ And is interesting! And I am glad you found something.

[Yuka]

That is really awesome! :3 I can relate to your characters already. Please keep us updated on this!

[Zylaa]

0_0 I so want to read this.

[Jove]

This sounds amazing and I want to read it like a whole lot. <3

[Sq]

I like the idea vair much. :DDDDD YAY CAREY <333