Ramblings of an aspiring writer

If you are in panic mode, you aren’t alone. I just made a new friend on Twitter who mentioned having a NaNoWriMo freak out. Stressing at this stage is normal, especially if you don’t have a really detailed outline ready to go. Hell’s bells, even those people probably stress and wonder if their outlines are thorough enough.

Take it from me, all the stress in the world isn’t going to help you come November. Stress just sucks life out of you that you would be better off applying elsewhere. So in order to minimize stressing, this week we are focusing on more fun aspects of novel preparation. (Some may not sound fun for you, so if you don’t say “Cool, I’m on it”, just move on to the next thing.)

Research: I’m sure a few of you groaned when you read that. Like I said, not everything will be fun for everyone, but if you think about it for a few seconds, there are probably one or two things that fall under research that you’d enjoy. Last year, I had to find a local cemetery where a lot of the major action took place. I started online, but eventually went out and visited Indian Fields and took pictures. It was good, creepy October fun. This year, since I’m writing a space western, things are a little different. It’s not our world, so I have to think about world-building and cultures. I haven’t done it yet, but as soon as the re-write is finished, I’m looking really forward to diving into information on Amazon warriors and Geishas.

            Task #1: Think of at least one thing you need to do some level of research on for your NaNo project that excites you and get to it.

Plot points: Yes, I’m pantsing, but that doesn’t mean that the characters haven’t started trolling around in my head. Ever (my MC) has been there for months, settling in for the long haul. Odds are they’ve started whispering to you. Little pieces of backstory. Images of scenes (big or small). Lines of dialogue.  Up to this point, I haven’t written much down. I wanted to wait until my boys had taken up residence too, because as we all know, you throw a guy into the mix, and it changes everything I am going to start now though. With the pantsing, I don’t want too much detail though. I want what happens to flow naturally as the characters interact. So the main thing I plan to jot down are bits of backstory. Because what happened before they met doesn’t really change what they’ll do once they are on stage.

            Task #2: Jot down a few pieces of backstory, or dialogue, or plot. I’m not going to put a number out there, because this is about your characters talking to you rather than you deciding what to do with your characters.

Soundtrack: This is one of my favorite things in the world about getting ready to start a new project, and two years ago I would have said I’d never use one. Once a friend convinced me to create a soundtrack for my stalled 2007 NaNo project (I stopped writing once December rolled around and had the hardest time finishing it), I’ve never looked back. That soundtrack (that I loved building) was a driving force behind me finishing Avalon’s Return. I’ve made a soundtrack for every novel since then. Some people can’t write with lyrics (I didn’t think I could until I tried it), but you can still do this with instrumental pieces. For the first two soundtracks, I picked songs to fit certain scenes. To this day, I can’t listen to “Devour” by Shinedown without the end of Pretty Souls going through my head. For this year’s project, I don’t have scenes though. All I have is an idea and a few characters. Therefore, I planned my soundtrack accordingly. It’s a space western, so my first thought was country music, but the energy behind most country music didn’t fit. So, I went about finding bands that bridged the gap between rock and country.  As of right now, I have eighteen songs on my playlist, with more to come (friends have pointed me to more bands). I also want to add some cultural flair, so I still need to go in search of some more ethnic tunes to add in. The point of the soundtrack is to energize you and your writing — this should be enjoyable.

            Task #3: Short and sweet — put together some music for your project. No specific numbers here either, though I will say I don’t do short playlists anymore because by the time the project is over, I get sick of listening to the same thing so many times.

Okay, we’re heading into crunch time, and I’ve given you quite a few things to do. Just remember, this week is supposed to be time to de-stress, and if you flip around the last part of that, you get de-sserts. So have fun with your prep this week, and if that doesn’t work for you, I suggest some apple pie ala mode