So, the majority of my readers and/or followers (if such people still exist out in this cyber-world) are writers, and being writers, are familiar with the concept of NaNo WriMo. But, for the benefit of my non-writer viewers, and for the purpose of making this blog post seem longer, I will explain.
November is National Novel Writing Month. You write an entire novel in a month.
Wow. That was a long explanation.
So a bunch of people here at BYU are getting together to do this. And when I say "getting together," I mean posting on a communal wall in Facebook. But it sounds fun, and while I write pretty fast, I've never actually participated in NaNo. So I think I'll give it a shot.
Here's the kicker—I don't really have anything to write about.
That's why I need you! Yes, you. Leave a comment. Tweet me. Do whatever it is people do on Google+ (aside: is anyone else as completely confused by that site as I am?). Give me an idea of a story. I haven't decided what medium I'll do for the story—I'm not sure I'll actually do a real novel. I might do short stories, or a script. Or a sculpture. Not really. That was just the only other art medium I could think of that started with an "s". Regardless, leave me your ideas.
But not just any ideas. I don't want you to comment and say, "Write a book about a deranged girl and her vampire lover." (Yes, I just made a Twilight joke. Shoot me.) I want you to leave a comment (or some other form of cyber communication) with no more than the first five sentences. You can leave less, if you want, but I don't want a synopsis or a pitch or anything detailed. I just want a start.
Now, to be blunt, I will probably disregard ALL of your ideas. In fact, I might laugh at most of them (but I will not publicly mock them—promise. That should count for something.) But I need a jumpstart for my creative side, and it wouldn't hurt to get a little bit of reader participation on this blog, just so I know y'all are still out there. I'll try to keep everyone updated over the course of the month. That way, NaNo might hold me accountable to both writing and blogging. Wouldn't that be something?
Seriously, has anyone been paying attention to how many times I post about some new strategy to keep myself blogging? I must have done it at least 100 times by now. But who knows? Maybe this one will stick.
Leave your comments. I'll tell you what I decide next week, and we can get the ball rolling on November 1st.
In other news, it's snowing at BYU. The day after my birthday. WHAT IS THIS?
That is all.
Hey Alex! (remember me? I posted a comment on your blog once, and you posted a comment on mine once, long long ago)
ReplyDeleteI'll be ultra-impressed if you manage to complete NaNo and blog about it at the same time. You should.
As for five sentences, I happen to have a few strange ones that were just lying around from when I wrote down an impression of emotion at some point. Dunno if they even have enough substance to expand into anything, but there may be a grain of inspiration in there. Here you go:
I tapped my fingers on the small white table in front of me and looked outside again. It was the last window left, and I'd opened it, letting the cold wind turn the thin grey curtains into rippling balloons over and over again. The earth was grey already, every tree's crooked outline crisp and black against the muted sky. No color remained except for one patch of dead brown grass, shrinking steadily as the grey crept forward. I turned my eyes back to my long fingers lying on the table, mentally tracing every contour, over and over, to keep my mind away from the darkness advancing from the corners of the room.
Wishing you all the best in your writing adventures!
-Davina