Write Wednesday

Today's Write Wednesday will consist of an update on my writing and also some insight gained from the Camp NaNoWriMo experience last month -- and I will also tell you a little about what I have planned for a coming-up Write Wednesday.

First: An Update (skip if you start yawning)

A friend and I are considering writing a piece together, sort of an RPG-type take on a classic story.  We'd be writing back and forth in an attempt to construct a cohesive plot with several characters.  So that might take wing in the next few weeks.

I'm also considering ideas for my November NaNoWriMo project.  So far I have:

a sci-fi novella about individuality and conformity -- includes robotic skin suits, narrow escapes and mechanics
a drama fantasy about inter-dimensional travel, as well as grief and loss -- includes a talking animal, a possible ghost and a mysterious door
a comic fantasy about a highschool and all the types/stereotypes therein -- includes a rock band, mass hysteria and a conspiracy

Any of those sound remotely interesting?

I've been combing through some old stuff and I'm getting the hankering to mess around with some of the past few NaNoWriMo novels...are my editing chops finally growing in??  I've got three solid novels to work on plus a bunch of short stories and poems and even a series...so I might be editing early next year.  How exciting!  (And thank goodness I got a bunch of free writing books on Kindle -- they'll come in handy!)

Second: Lessons Learned

This NaNo is the first one that made me feel like a real writer.  I spent several weeks on an outline (that I stuck to all the way through, even keeping the pacing), scribbled ideas down like mad and even took notes on some books on writing.  There were even moments in the writing process where I was completely immersed with what was going on and after writing it felt like I had to come up for air.

Even after the novel was finished (for NaNo, anyway), I am still taking big gasps of air.  All the other ideas fell out of my head as I was consumed by this story.  So now I'm looking back at my ideas and deciding which ones I could have the same experience with.

Lesson No. 1: Keep Being Interested

If I could throw a situation at my characters and keep them involved (and myself interested), I had a great night.  I pulled at least three 4k days because it was easy to keep my attention.  Note to self:  Plan in the outline for awesome stuff.

Lesson No. 2: Be Willing To Be Surprised/Just Go With It

The general idea I had for the novel was funny (to me) but I didn't have the tiny details worked out.  During the process, I started putting the pieces together and soon had several layers to my otherwise general, straight forward plot.  Instead of wrangling the plot this way and that, I rolled with the punches, jotting down memos to myself as I went so I could go back and make the beginning of the book stronger without having to worry about writing AND editing.

Lesson No. 3: Allow Your Influences To...Influence

I have two main characters in the story, and I felt bad when I realized just how close they were to characters on a TV series I'd been devouring almost daily (I have to catch up!  The new season premiers in October!).  But the further I got into the story, the more the characters developed into their own beings.  But the influence/inspiration of the characters helped me pace the storyline, write the dialogue and keep the tone I wanted, and even gave me some ideas about the twists and turns in the story.  Without that inspiration, my story just wouldn't be as strong.

Third (and last): I have another interview coming up!  We'll be talking to a playwright/author about her influences, story ideas and more in a few weeks.  Also -- more stuff on Hufflepuff coming up as well as a review (or two).

Keep reading!