Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on October 22, 2010 at 7:44am

Yay for the new discussion thread, MissCephalopod. :)

Intriguing story! World building definitely isn't easy. My story, Fallout, also involves a setting other than modern-day Earth. Here's what I have so far:

When college student Jessica Wright buys a supposedly enchanted LED hoop from a street fair vendor, she sees her shiny new circle as just another diversion from her everyday life. Classes are too easy, so short stories and role-playing adventure games with friends have become her escape from boredom.

All that changes when Jess stops for a hoop break on her way back to the dorm. One idle wish and a vertical step-through later, she wakes up in Elathe, the setting for the novel she's been writing.

Meeting her story's characters and watching the plot she created unfold, Jess realizes she has an opportunity few writers do - she can actually let the story write itself, then simply transcribe everything into her laptop. However, when a typo changes an event, the people Jess created discover she's the mind behind their current predicament, and Jess must deal with the fallout while trying to find her way home.

StudentPermalink Reply by Betherann on October 22, 2010 at 10:34am

Wow, I'm impressed! You two sound ready to GO. :)

I, on the other hand, am woefully idea-less. I "adopted" a few things off the NaNo forums, which is all I've got at this point. Here's what I took:

Synopsis:
Adopted plot: MC is given a book by his/her best friend, the story of their life from birth to death, and every word they read is stunningly close to what they know about life. Soon, they become parinoid about the book and give it to a friend, afraid to learn things they shouldn't know about themselves. Unfourtunatly, this other friend goes mentally insane reading this book, reading it more than once in a day. There are 21 chapters in this book, each chapter is a year in MC's life, and they become parinoid, even without reading the book, that their life is coming to a close.

Excerpt:
"If I had my own world, we would paint the sky together like you do in your dreams, we'd be best friends again, and I wouldn't be dying."

"Whoa," I said, reading what I'd just written, "that's really cheesy."

Yeah. I need some inspiration to strike...NOW. :)

That said, in my past 4 NaNos (all of which I've "won") any planning I did happened on October 31. So I'm not TOO worried...yet.

Still, I'll take any and all suggestions! ;)

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on October 22, 2010 at 10:41am

There's plenty of room for hooping in a plot like that; you can definitely work my dare into it somehow, if you're game. ;)

I know my synopsis sounds really put together, but that part about the typo altering an event came to me totally out of the blue as I was typing my post. All I really have are a few ideas and some characters whose names are, for the most part, simplified spellings of Irish words I looked up on Google Translate. I have no clue what the villain's villainy is about, what the event is that Jess changes, what quest her characters are on when she meets them, or whether or not she'll get back home - or even wants to. She seems a bit ambivalent about that at the moment...

I love writing on the fly. ;)

Permalink Reply by Shannon "Inertia" Sealey on October 22, 2010 at 1:13pm

I'm right there with you. I meet deadlines, which is why I decided to sign up for this thing in the first place. I am eager to write, but I just started a new business and I have a 9 month old. I think they will feed into my story though, as opposed to keep me from writing it. <3

StudentPermalink Reply by Betherann on October 23, 2010 at 9:15am

Wow, you're ambitious, Shannon!!! You're spinning lots of plates...and soon a novelicious one! Woohoo! :)

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on October 23, 2010 at 3:34pm

Wow, you are one busy woman. Sometimes the busiest ones are the most likely to succeed, though, because we make the most of the time we can steal for writing. :)

StudentPermalink Reply by Betherann on October 24, 2010 at 1:29pm

Yes, I find I work/write better within a limited span of time. If I have all day to write, I usually won't write as much or as well.

StudentPermalink Reply by Amelia on October 23, 2010 at 3:35pm

Hi-I've decided I'm going to try writing this year-I love writing but I've never had a plot thought out as far as I do now. There are still plenty of holes and things that I have no clue if they should be included or not.

Four young special agents/spies working for a group called the ILIA are carrying out a mission when they find out their handler, Rhoades, is actually a double agent working for the 'bad guys'-a group called the Agency. They don't have enough proof to go to the ILIA and accuse Rhoades, a respected agent, so they are faced with the choice of abandoning everything and trying to find enough evidence, or to forget about it. They decide to look for more proof, which brings them into a complicated battle between the ILIA and the Agency. They accept the help of a mysterious man named Purchase, whose motives aren't clear. He assists them as they travel around Europe, hunting down leads and building evidence. Rhoades soon catches on to what they are up to, and they are declared traitors. Eventually, they managed to collect enough evidence to prove Rhoades is a double agent, but they are then faced with the problem of how to prove to the ILIA that they are not traitors.


I've got lots of different ideas floating around in my head, but getting them to make sense is another story. A bunch of characters I've created I'm not sure exactly where their loyalties lie. I'm trying to figure as much out as possible.

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on October 23, 2010 at 3:42pm

Sounds intriguing, Amelia. Welcome to the group!

As for plot holes and where your characters' loyalties lie and all that, half the fun of NaNo (from what I've read) is seeing what develops as you write the story. Remember that the goal of NaNo is to write a rough draft, so plot holes, typos, and other foul-ups, bleeps and blunders are all part of it. Just start typing on November 1 and see where your characters take you. That's what I'm planning to do. I have a few characters' names and a couple of settings worked out just so I don't have to come up with those on the spur of the moment, but beyond that I'm winging it. If I hit 50,000 words by November 30, yay! If I don't, oh well, it will still be a fun way to meet new people and do something crazy together. :)

StudentPermalink Reply by Betherann on October 24, 2010 at 1:29pm

Awesome!

StudentPermalink Reply by Amelia on October 23, 2010 at 7:53pm

I just wanted to add that I found all the story ideas on here really interesting. I tend to get stuck in the same pattern of stories, and that's why I never get anywhere close to finishing them-they just seem too boring and repetitive. I love seeing other people's ideas and thoughts.
Another thought-I noticed that a couple of you have mentioned world building for your stories. I don't know if you have seen this before, but Patricia Wrede (one of my favorite authors) made a huge huge huge list of questions about world building that I have found super helpful when writing. You can find it here: http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on October 24, 2010 at 6:08am

Thanks for the tip and link, Amelia! This will come in handy for me, since my current knowledge of my alternate world where most of the story takes place is just this: its name is Elathe. I'm picturing rolling hills, meadows, quaint villages, that sort of thing, but as for the nitty-gritty stuff like government, commerce, etc., I need all the world-building help I can get.

This is my first attempt at anything like a fantasy in over 20 years, and I didn't finish my first try at it, although I do still have what little I wrote and it may end up in my Nanovel if it fits what develops.

Remember, y'all, we're in this for the fun - and of course, FOR THE PURPLE BAAAAAR!!!!!! (The WriMo war cry) :D

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