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Post by Chao on Oct 17, 2013 15:35:54 GMT -5
If you work well with prompts, Celestial, I would be all up for you to write a story about a time-travelling dragon. Or the owner of a shop that sells all kinds of marshmallows and only marshmallows. Or about a sewing needle that is passed down in a family and happens to witness history (and the history of that family in particular) by what the needle sews. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 16:55:57 GMT -5
Don't give up, Celestial! At the very least, just sit down and start writing about whatever, and who knows, a story may suddenly emerge. If you want inspiration and/or motivation, might I suggest taking a look at the prompts in my Prompt-of-the-Week Club thread? The prompts themselves might be able to give you ideas, as well as participants' interpretations of them. |
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Post by M is for Morphine on Oct 17, 2013 18:42:09 GMT -5
So I quite literally have no ideas for what I could write. Not even just no plot, no characters but no ideas. Unless I get some kind of idea by November 1st, I'll probably drop out. I'd rather not (and I'd feel awful if I did) but that is how it is. So...concepts? Inspiration? Motivation? Angrys shouts of 'give up'? Anything is welcome at this point. <3 Prompts can be good, for sure, but I feel like for a really long work you're going to need a little more. Something that can engage you for the entire month so you can maintain the momentum needed to finish. I mean, it's possible for a prompt to do that but it seems like a numbers game. So what I think is that we need to tailor this process a little more to you. You still have plenty of time before nano starts so don't stress out yet. What I want to know is: What interests you? Broadly. And why? What concepts appeal to you, even if you don't see any story potential at all in them? What are your favorite books, and what about them makes you most excited? Inspiration can come from anywhere, it really can. I've got a collection of topics I've picked up, and I bet if I wove them together I'd have something really crazy. If you want to write fantasy, read a lot of nonfiction and think about the topics you find that you've never seen addressed. Like, I was reading "The Killer of Little Shepherds" by Douglas Starr and I realized I have never, ever seen a forensic procedural in a fantasy setting. What would a day's work be like for a medical examiner that not only had to have a working knowledge of poison and wound analysis, but also magic? Does a chemical burn look different from a burn caused by foxfire? If someone commits a crime while under a spell, are they legally liable? That sort of thing is fun to think about, and maybe something will come of it. There is this book by Vladmir Nabokov called Pnin, about a man who had to flee Russia and ended up becoming a school teacher. Some of the people who left Russia were landed and very well off. A displaced nobleman forced to do something he would have considered beneath him in his previous life is an interesting dynamic, isn't it? And it would work in so many settings. The two above ideas are slowly, slowly becoming parts of the same book. Though if you like something I say, take it! I have no doubts that even with the same idea our results would be very different. What about theophagy, honoring a god by killing and eating it like in ancient Japanese whale cults. What a strange concept! But Christians eat their God as well! Isn't it interesting what is normal, but in just a bit of a different context is so strange? So, what interests you? |
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Post by Celestial on Oct 18, 2013 8:27:51 GMT -5
Thank you for all your adivce, help and prompts, M is for Morphine, @surfersquid, Chao. Honestly, your ideas sound far better than what I'm going to go for. I'm pretty interested in history, I do love wandering and I currently live in a very beautiful city. So I'm probably going to write a story of a traveller who gets lost in a city whose name I won't say but will very clearly be St. Petersburg and meeting all sorts of ghosts and spirits of the city. Already have an idea for the character of the anthropomorphic personification of the ship here, the cruiser Aurora, who I may or may not make the guide too (since I need to research the Aurora anyway for my project). Basically, I'm going to write what I know. Lazy? Yes. Fun? I hope so. |
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Post by M is for Morphine on Oct 18, 2013 8:43:46 GMT -5
Thank you for all your adivce, help and prompts, M is for Morphine, @surfersquid, Chao. Honestly, your ideas sound far better than what I'm going to go for. I'm pretty interested in history, I do love wandering and I currently live in a very beautiful city. So I'm probably going to write a story of a traveller who gets lost in a city whose name I won't say but will very clearly be St. Petersburg and meeting all sorts of ghosts and spirits of the city. Already have an idea for the character of the anthropomorphic personification of the ship here, the cruiser Aurora, who I may or may not make the guide too (since I need to research the Aurora anyway for my project). Basically, I'm going to write what I know. Lazy? Yes. Fun? I hope so. I really, really like the sound of the personification of a ship. What do you think their personality is like? I also think that getting lost in a city is an idea with a legs- even if you haven't been lost in a strange city you can imagine how scary and interesting it might be. I'm sure that your love of history will come through and make it a solid story. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2013 10:09:13 GMT -5
Celestial - Sounds awesome! Best of luck to you, I hope you have fun with it!
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Post by Chao on Oct 18, 2013 13:35:46 GMT -5
Sounds like you only needed a bit of outside momentum to clear away the cobwebs from the idea that was lurking inside your mind all the time, Celestial.  And the idea sounds really good. |
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Post by The Wanderer on Oct 21, 2013 19:25:59 GMT -5
For the first time ever, I will be taking up my mighty pen...
... and throwing it aside because I'm instead taking up my mighty laptop and typing out 50,000 words worth of euphoria. So, after 9 years of not participating(something else I can thank WoW for), I shall enter and just get the writer's experience. It is quite likely I will not finish. Especially if the story sucks. But for now, I have a few ideas, on what I want to do, and where I want to go with it. Best of luck to us all for this event.
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Post by Yoyti on Oct 21, 2013 21:32:09 GMT -5
New news! My sister is planning on buckling down and doing it this year. (She gave up after a couple of weeks last year because of external factors, and I felt kind of silly after that since she's the one who introduced me to NaNoWriMo) Hopefully, the direct competition should keep me motivated.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2013 21:35:26 GMT -5
I'm really excited! My co-author and I discussed it a bit earlier. Apparently he's going to be doing most of the actual writing, while I'll be in charge of proofreading and looking over the writing to make sure it's solid.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2013 17:53:16 GMT -5
That moment when you realize that there are four days left between you and the start of NaNo and you've made exactly the same amount of progress toward planning out your novel that you'd made at this time on October 1st...
Gah. This year is going to be...interesting.
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Post by Yoyti on Oct 28, 2013 21:37:05 GMT -5
Because of stuff happening, I will not be able to write (at least, not extensively) for the first three days of the month.
Last year I was one day behind and barely made it. This year I'm starting out three days behind.
Well, at least I'm prepared this time around.
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Post by PFA on Oct 28, 2013 22:35:27 GMT -5
Every time NaNo rolls around, my brain starts bubbling with stories that aren't my NaNo, and this year is no exception. >_> <_<
BUT I WILL MAKE A VALIANT EFFORT *fistpump*
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Post by Chao on Oct 29, 2013 11:03:54 GMT -5
Every time NaNo rolls around, my brain starts bubbling with stories that aren't my NaNo, and this year is no exception. >_> <_< BUT I WILL MAKE A VALIANT EFFORT *fistpump* Note down the concepts of these other stories and save them for later. It works fine for me currently (though I somehow doubt I'll ever get to write all the ideas my muse comes up with currently that are not NaNo-related).  |
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Post by Birdy on Oct 31, 2013 22:52:14 GMT -5
*screams loudly because there's like, less than ten minutes 'til the start for her*
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And the idea sounds really good. 
