We are just two days away from the start of National Novel Writing Month, where all around the world people will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel (or the first draft of one) in a mere 30 days.
I’ve spent the last three weeks scrambling to make myself sort-of, kind-of, semi-prepared for it, and . . . I have failed. I am the Queen of Unprepared this year. (At least, it feels that way to me, though I’m sure there are people who will claim they better qualify for this title.)
I will be participating, though. Because I really, really love NaNo and it would make me sad to sit it out.
My November Plan
I won’t be doing any crazy masochistic word-count challenges this year (sorry to anyone who was looking forward to that!), mostly because my NaNo Project is only one of four writing projects I’ll be working on simultaneously this month: 1. Winter revisions, 2. Historical Anthology revisions, 3. Outlining the Secret Project, 4. NaNo!
I’ll be more-or-less aiming for the standard 50,000 words . . . or whatever it takes to wrap up a first draft, which tends to be closer to 70,000 words for me, but . . . we’ll see. I’m trying not to over-think it just yet.
And what will I be first-drafting . . . ?
My first superhero book!!!
Introducing The Gatlon Trilogy
Important Note: EVERYTHING in this description is subject to change, including the title!
Working Title: The Gatlon School for Vigilantes (Book One)
Pitch: A series about Superheroes, Supervillains, and the Gray Areas in Between
Quick Summary:
There are two rival schools in Gatlon City: the respected and exclusive Morris Academy that has turned many an evolved youth into celebrity superheroes, and the Gatlon School for the Gifted, which has a slightly less impressive reputation. Students of Gatlon tend to be relegated to minions, placeholders, or—at best—sidekicks.
Clara has no interest in being a hero, but she does need answers. Her invisible, mischievous pet Thunderbird, Tondra, is dying, and she refuses to let him go without a fight. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot more happening in Gatlon than just a sickly mythical bird. Crime is on the rise, the police have gone complacent, and a new team of vigilantes are causing more problems than they’re fixing. When Clara and her peers find themselves swept up in the chaos and no longer able to tell the good guys from the bad, no one is sure which side of hero vs. villain they’ll fall on.
How (Un)Prepared am I?
Well, I have a very, very, very rough outline that I was working on during this last Fierce Reads tour. And about half of my characters have something along the lines of character profiles.
Oh, and I’ve started a Pinterest board—woot! Mostly it’s just inspiration photos right now… and an excuse to pin pictures of Sendhil Ramamurthy. *dreamy sigh*
You can see it here: http://www.pinterest.com/marissameyer22/the-gatlon-trilogy (Again, keep in mind that I’m still getting to know my world and characters and everything might change.)
And . . . that’s about it right now. This is not my usual MO, as you might recall from my Writing Process series, but I didn’t want to miss out on NaNo, and who knows? Maybe it will be good for me to go off-roading a bit this year. It’s been a while since I wrote something without a very structured outline guiding the way.
You can make me a NaNo Buddy and follow my progress here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/aliblade22
Good luck, everyone, and happy writing!