NaNoWriMo 2015 - Story Ideas

It's September and I'm starting to think about Nanowrimo 2015, that exciting and crazy month in November, where every year I attempt to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel.  I think September is the earliest I've thought of my Nanowrimo novel, normally it's some time in October I start to think of it.  But I'd really like to give myself a good go of it this year.  Perhaps this year will be the first one I actually win Nanowrimo?

Beckie / Flickr Creative Commons License

Feeling inspired by my Art Challenge earlier this year, where I created a fantasy image based on an idea of a British secret service covertly fighting alien threats in the Victorian era.  How would Victorian technology fare against alien technology?  Aliens, alien abduction, experimentation on humans, shapeshifting aliens, alien robots and monsters attacking Earth and it's inhabitants would all seem very alien and very strange to 19th century humans.  

My Artwork: 'Ancient vs Futuristic' - Colour Pencil on A5 Sketchbook paper

Although they could use Victorian guns, probably flintlock pistols and rifles, and gunpowder (most enemies don't fare too well against large explosions), I think they would still struggle against alien enemies.  Perhaps they could make use of the occult knowledge that was so popular in Victorian times.  Consulting psychics to determine when and where any alien encounters or threats had or would happen.  They could also seek out witches and mages to do battle against alien enemies, summoning spirits and werewolves to do their bidding.  This may make the battleground a more even one.

Lemurian Grove / Flickr Creative Commons License

Their communication abilities would be very archaic compared to today, before telephones of any kind were invented, not even radio communication existed.  Letters would have been posted, and if something could not wait 24 hours for first class post, messengers could be sent, like errand boys (or grown men if they could not trust them) to deliver paper messages that were urgent.  Members of the secret service could turn up at an agent's house, or meet them at a pre-arranged time, such as at a park.  They could pass paper messages that would need burning after reading.  Or they could have some sort of code.  Perhaps Braille? They could have secretly invented before it was released to the public to be used by the blind, it could have been used as a discreet code around the edge of postcards or greeting cards to be sent through the post to secret service agents.

lokarta / Flickr Creative Commons License

Steampunk technology could have been invented in a similar way, to look like Edwardian technology, that was secretly invented earlier than was released to the general public.  What kind of Steampunk technology could they have had?  Electricity hadn't been invented, so it would have to be something running from a steam engine, or cogs like a wind-up clock mechanism, which could be very small like a pocket watch, or something very large like Big Ben.

Calsidyrose / Flickr Creative Commons license

Perhaps I can spend these 2 months leading up to Nanowrimo researching Victorian technology and what occult and superstitious beliefs they had, to give me plenty of ideas to go through in November.  I find I struggle when I don't know what is going to happen next in my novel, I've tried winging it with absolutely no prep at all, and I've tried with lots of ideas seemingly carefully planned, and then run out of steam.  

This year I hope to be more prepared with ideas I can pick at random, and make use of the Mythic Game Master Emulator, originally designed to emulate the Game Master (or Dungeon Master, if playing Dungeons & Dragons), and allow a group of friends to roleplay without a GM (or DM), or to play a roleplaying game solo, without any other players (which is what I originally bought it for).  But when you read into the Mythic Game Master Emulator ebook, you learn that it can actually be used for writing a novel, ideal if you up against a deadline (such as Nanowrimo), and don't know what to throw at your characters next.  I'm hoping it will help me keep pressing on with my novel, when I'm stuck and feel I don't know where to go next.  It should also help it feel like a game too, making it more fun!  I might even try having a list of ideas or events, up to 100, that I can then throw a 100 sided dice (1d100 or 2d10's), to pick something at random to put my characters through.  I love challenging my characters, and seeing what they can survive through!

Anyone else thinking of their Nanowrimo 2015 novel?  I'd love to hear what you're working on and any tips you have for ploughing on through 50,000 words in 30 days!

Planning a novel - Urban Fantasy in Space

I have a new idea for a novel that I'm thinking of planning out for the CampNanowrimo August novel writing month challenge.  It's basically an urban fantasy set in space.  So more of a Sci-fi Fantasy hybrid genre.  I wanted to write an urban fantasy novel, but figured there are literally tons of urban fantasy novels out there, how can I make mine unique?  That's when I thought of setting it in space. 

I now have my main characters, a Witch, a Merman, an Incubus, a Werewolf Girl, an Elf Girl, a Gargoyle, a Wolfman, and possibly a female Satyr / Drow-Elf Hybrid.  I've also planned that they'll all be living on a space station, orbiting the Earth alongside the Moon (this could have interesting effects on a Werewolf's transformations - possibly every night?).  The Earth would be post-apocalyptic, Demonic Forces could have caused the destruction of the Earth, leaving a deserted radioactive planet, awash with dangerous mutated creatures, and (possibly mutated) crazed human survivors.  And of course the humans have to visit the planet to scavenge resources, whilst trying not to get killed.

The most difficult part of planning my story at the moment seems to be planning when my novel should begin?  Just before or long after the apocalyptic event on planet earth?  I also have the problem of how do I get all my supernatural creatures up on board the space station, and spend so long in cryosleep without anyone noticing the fact they're not all normal human beings.  For example, the Merman would be rather conspicuous in a liquid filled cryotank.  And my Satyr/Drow Elf Hybrid has large curled horns, she can hide them under a cloak hood, but not whilst unconscious floating in liquid.  I won't have the same problem with my Incubus (whose similar to a Vampire), as he will be left on the planet, and able to survive.  Even though his regular food source (humans) will be few and far between. 

I'd love to hear any other ideas and suggestions, and whether you think this is a good idea I'm working with!  I will be planning my novel over the next couple of months following through the Nanowrimo book: Ready, Set, Novel! I love to plan out my novels, but have never tried a full workbook like this - my novel planning is usually pretty haphazard!  So maybe this time I will plan a full novel, and actually complete it!

You Have To Take One Idea To The Finish Line...

"I realize how hard it is after putting in a full day of work to come home and do more work on your personal projects. But you have to do it. It is that simple. And you have to take one idea to the finish line. Listen, almost every artist I know has a personal project brewing, a kids book, a novel, a movie script idea… But very few ever take it to a point that they can show it to publishers, because it is always easier to start a new idea than to finish an old one."

~ Scott Fischer, being interviewed on The ArtOrder Blog.

As an Artist and a Writer, I can totally agree with this, it is easier to start a new idea than to finish an old one. And probably the main reason why I have never finished a writing project. Last year I started writing a novel I posted on this blog, Ghosts of Time. I started writing with lots of enthusiasm, and got good feedback on the first two posts I made. Then I started reading a blog post (apologies I can't remember which blog it was on now), but it said that once you had published your novel on your blog, you couldn't sell it to a publisher. Something about you having already used your first publishing rights on your blog. This made me panic and stop writing my novel. I loved the idea so much, I thought it would make a great and unusual novel, and one day I'd like to get it published.

This is still true, but why did I stop writing it altogether? I could have continued writing it, just not publishing it until I try to get it professionally published. The thing was, I loved the feedback, and the excitement at having posted it to be read online. To be able to get some feedback as to how my writing was coming along, that people were excited and wanted to read more. I also felt I was held accountable and had to produce a new chapter as people were waiting to read more. I loved that.

I started reading my Ghosts Of Time posts again recently, to post on a Goodreads.com group, Ambitious Writers. And I surprised myself with how good they were. Sure, I know I'm not a published author, and I am in no way perfect with my writing. But it still amazes me that I feel the same excitement reading my writing, as I did writing my writing. I loved it, and I wanted to read more. And in order to read more of it, I must write more of it.

But I want to be able to publish it? Therefore, I must not post it on here as I write it. But I do miss the excitement of posting on here and feeling excited about updating it. Then I remembered another writer's blog I read often. The Writeaholic's Blog. Aheila, who writes The Writeaholic's Blog, writes web series on her blog, which you can find from the links across the top of her blog (see Killing Time OST and Other Stories links on her blog). But she also writes stories (novels I believe), which she doesn't post on her blog, but lets us know how she's doing with them in her posts. Such as when she's writing for the Nanowrimo challenge. Perhaps I could find a story to write as a web series (a fun story I'm happy to share and hopefully increase people's awareness of my writing, as well as improve my writing skills), and keep my precious original story I want to write as a novel to be published offline, and then I can publish it without any troubles. That sounds like a plan! :)

Researching A Novel...

I am currently researching my novel, (hence my apologies for not posting as much on here). The novel I am planning and putting together at the moment has a working title of: "Ghosts Of Time" - it's a science-fiction fantasy story about various people from different eras of time brought together to save the world from a hidden threat travelling through time. As there is a lot of travelling to different eras in time, and my characters all coming from different eras in time, I am finding this novel needs the most research. I am currently researching the Victorian era, an era I love also as I love dolls house miniatures, I find myself more familiar than I would normally be with the fixtures and fittings in a Victorian home.

Funnily enough, the more research I do, the more questions I seem to find I want answers to. Although I am finding out more about my characters, and there personal backgrounds, I also wonder what else I can do with them, and what other skills I can give them. I know the Victorians were very interested in the Occult and did seances and things, and I wonder if I can make my Victorian Lady character a witch? I know that prior to the Victorian period witches were hunted and burned at the stake, but that Queen Victoria got rid of the laws on witchcraft, so that they were no longer hunted and burned at the stake. Does this mean that witches were more accepted and more open? Or did they still feel the need to be in hiding? How open were Victorians about witchcraft, and did they consider seances to be a part of witchcraft, or just an interest in the occult and the afterlife?

Research does fascinate me and you can learn more to add to your stories, and more questions always seem to arise out of more research. For me, research is exciting and fun. I love discovering new things and picturing my world and my characters more clearly, and finding exciting new things I can add and adapt to my story!

But how much Research should you do? And at what point should you stop researching and concentrate on your story? I can easily get lost in research and planning and never start writing my story! Still, I'm having fun at the moment! Off to research some more now...

I've chosen my characters!

Just a quick note to say I have my characters names and basic appearances chosen, I've used actors and models images to represent them and you can see them all lined up at the top of this blog! I am so proud of them!

I really struggle choosing names for my characters, I have two baby names books that I pir through agonising over which name to use and whether the meaning of the name matches them or not. And with the challenge of only having this week to choose nine characters names, that's quite a lot of pressure! In the end I found sitting in front of my word processing screen and picking names at random seemed the best solution! I went for the first thing that popped into my head when thinking of their characters, and what sounded right for them! The sound of the name is often more important than the meaning, as the general public puts connotations to the sound of the name rather than the meaning. How many names do you actually know the meanings of without looking them up? You certainly don't think of that when you're reading a book or watching a movie! And it makes it a lot easier to pick their names - the pressures off!

Nanowrimo Ideas - Shrinking People

I've started planning my Nanowrimo novel with a vengeance, I've decided to write about shrinking people! I have always been fond of various TV series about "the little people" - two of my favourites being: Land of the Giants and The Borrowers. Here's what I've come up with so far:

My Nanowrimo Idea
I've got the basic idea of a top secret government experiment to shrink people to approximately six inches tall. They pick their test subjects randomly from the British public, anyone they deem to be not important, or a pain in the side of the British Government or society in general. Something goes wrong after they've shrunk their test subjects - an explosion destroys the building the lab is in and the equipment there. Miraculously, a number of miniature test subjects survive and escape into the wild. They are a group of odd random people, struggling to survive in a giant world. Consisting of (possibly) an MI5 agent, a Professor of Ecology (like a college lecturer), a Cafe Worker (a Waitress), an immigrant from another country (maybe polish, or some part of Europe), a young college student girl, a rich business woman, and maybe a criminal of some sort).

_________

I have been making brainstorming diagrams with pen and paper (something I've not done before when planning a novel), and I like the sinplicity of it, and how easy it is to throw various ideas to a question you have about your novel. A very good piece of advice I found when planning a novel is to keep every idea and let it tell you why it deserves to be in your novel. Then later you can cut what you don't like, but at least you have plenty of ideas to play around with and then you're not staring at a blank page with no fresh ideas to play with.

Good Luck to everyone else embarking on their Nanowrimo adventure this year - Hope to see you on the forums and reaching 50,000 words by the end of November!