NOTE: Largely thanks to the IWSG, I have amazing writers leaving comments on my posts. I LOVE THAT. However, there have been a few whispers from non-writers who feel unsure about commenting, since they don't write. Well, don' worry aboudit. Seriously, this blog is for readers as well as writers. Writers read, but so do lots of other people. At least, I hope so, despite the grim gloom-and-doom research about Americans' growing lack of interest in literature. Which is just a long-winded (of course; this is me, here) way of saying that all readers' comments are more than welcome!
A while back, I mentioned that while I've been editing and polishing Cloudland, I've also been working on my second novel. Now, at the time, that may have been true. At this point (to borrow from Star Trek VI), that's either an omission, an error, or a choice... or ok FINE, Spock. It's a lie.
I didn't intend for that to be the case. The thing is, editing and getting ready to query agents are just a wee bit of a time-suck, not to mention a truly all-engrossing head-space. So, I'm going to use this blog this week to help me get back into developing this new idea. It's a group effort now. Thanks, everyone!!
This new novel a bit past the seed stage, thankfully...but not by much. It's a seed-ling. It has little shoots and maybe a couple of bitty green sprouts that are rapidly shriveling and turning brown because I keep forgetting to water them.
What is it? Well, the original seed was that I wanted to write about the intersection of fear, desire, and faith, and (because I love the genre), I wanted it to be more fully magical realism than I managed with Cloudland, which really turned out to be literary fiction with some fantastical stuff mixed in (and yes, for all non-writers, that classification in particular has always seemed snobby to me, too, but it's widely accepted in the publishing world. So I have to use it and I just hold my nose when I do.)
I decided that I wanted gods and magic in this new novel, and - because really, how better to talk about fear, desire, and faith? - I wanted to involve religion and spirituality.
Right now, because I seem to be a masochist, my idea is to have the two main characters in this book be souls with innumerable lives and experiences, instead of normal, reliable, easier-to-write people with one solid story each. I have this thought of having the book follow them from life to life, in the form of short or even flash fiction style stories, so that the plot progresses as they succeed or fail in each life.
I have the beginning character analyses for these two souls (and let me tell you, it is challenging to write a psychological analysis for a soul. I mean, do souls go to therapy??), and I have a few settings I know I want to explore, which at this point revolve around love affairs. You know, desire and fear and all that. I've got ideas for a love affair between a Greek god and a mortal in Ancient Greece, a la Mary Renault; a Hindi goddess and a modern atheist; and a Christian reverend and a secular scientist. I also have ideas for two young brothers, a recurring encounter (NOT a creepy one) between a man and a dog, and a story about a young female shaman-ish character and a hunter from a different region (occuring pre-Columbus).
And that's about it. Not really a plot yet, eh? A ton of work yet to do, eh?? (Am I Canadian now, eh?) So I have this equally masochistic thought that to get a jump start on this damn thing, maybe I should participate in NaNoWriMo this year. NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month, is, to quote their website, "a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30."
Yeah. That means I'd need to have an outline by November 1st. Or at least a rough sketch of one.
YIKES.
Is this even possible?? I have no idea. Historically, outlines take me forever. I still don't even know the damn story, yet. I mean, two souls, magic and fear and stuff, OK, all well and good, but what happens? How do they change, grow, fail, succeed?
So this is what I'm wrestling with.
Yup.
It seems like it might be a good idea, and that it might speed my rather slow process up... but it also seems CRAZY.
To NaNoWriMo, or not to NaNoWriMo? That is definitely today's question.
NaNo's not my thing, so I'm no help. But go for it if you want. Who knows what good might come of it if you turn the muse loose? :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, dang! That's a lot to tackle with one story. But I can also see the potential for some great scenes. ;)
I know. I think I might be crazy. I hope you're right!
DeleteIt does sound ambitious. If you plan it out and have an outline by the end of October, I say go for it. I wrote my second book during NaNo 2010, so if I can do it, anyone can!
ReplyDeleteYep, that's the big 'IF'! That's sort of my plan. I'm just such a slow plotter/writer, I thought it would be great to light a fire under my own butt. Thanks for the encouragement; it's good to know that it can work!
DeleteWhew! Lots in that head of yours, Liz. I see you read my post on mind mapping. I like the concept of your story...if each scenario gets developed fully, yet somewhat short, with very good connections to the past lives (so the reader understands that they're the same soul).
ReplyDeleteMind map each. Then connect them in one big map. See how that works for you.
M.L. Swift, Writer
Thanks, Mike! That's the challenge - fully developed, well-connected short sections that all somehow make cohesive sense. Why can't i just decide to write a simple love story? ;)
DeleteIt's good advice, though. I DID actually start using your mind mapping technique yesterday! I ended up off on a bunch of tangents, but it was a great starter, and I'll go back to it.
Thanks for the support as always :)
I've never done NaNo. I'm too slow and methodical when I write. Haven't learned to let go and just free write. But it works for lots of people. I think the accountability keeps them motivated to get the 50K done in a month. So maybe try it and see how you like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I had an idea to do a similar sort of novel about recurring souls that keep finding and losing each other over time. But that will have to wait until I'm done with my current trilogy.
I'm like you - slow and methodical - which is why I wonder if it wouldn't be good for me to shake things up a little.
DeleteIt would be fascinating to see how we each wrote similar concepts; I bet the books would be very, very different. Pretty cool :) Yes, please finish your trilogy so I can read it!
I'm with LG, too slow! But kudos to those who can do it.
ReplyDeleteRight? Agreed. I'm trying to add myself to the list of those who can... I might fail miserably.
DeleteI did NaNoWriMo 2012, and it was GREAT. But don't think about getting your full novel done! I did it by just trying to get 50k of that novel written during that month. Trying to cram in all the plot, all the characters, everything in just 50k words.... It would have been a nightmare. Let your novel breathe, especially in this seedling stage :)
ReplyDeleteThat is excellent advice. I've been thinking about that 50k goal and wondering who the heck manages to write an entire book in 50k words. Not me.
DeleteThanks for the reminder to let it breathe, too. It's a really good one.
I see a lot of people struggling with whether to do NaNo or not. Frankly, it's never fit into my time schedule for November--I'm always in the middle of a project by then it seems. Going to be the same this year I'm afraid, but the idea of having that community to push you through a manuscript is pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it SOUNDS like a great idea, and then you realize that your life just doesn't work that way. I still haven't decided - it'll depend on how much I get done before November. Congrats on being a ways along into your next project!! Looking forward to hearing about it :)
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