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NewMexicoKid
50564 words so far Winner!

Some of you may remember last year's NaNo Faces graph; others of you may have heard us talk about it at our October prep events. Well, it is time to join this year's graph (you can also use it to peruse people's avatars all on one page)!

Of course, the reason we are having one and the best way to make this a positive and effective tool for you is to share something of yourself to help us enhance our greater community. So when you post in this thread, I challenge you to:


  1. Give a 1-3 sentence synopsis of your novel

  2. If you have some thoughts on how your novel will end, share these

  3. What is your best advice for others in this region to achieve success in NaNo?



For me:

  1. Four kids find a magic ring that takes them to a world embroiled in great turmoil and conflict over efforts to find, take, and assemble a special collection of magic rings called the Sevenfold Ring.

  2. They will have some success, grow to adults, find a path back to their own world (and to their childhood), but only three will make it through. The fourth will be erased to the real world and only remembered by the other three (did I mention that In Her Majesty's Secret Service is my favorite James Bond movie? ;-) )

  3. Participate in write-ins, prep events and jabber chats so that you have the support and encouragement of your fellow writers working to help you achieve success.



Cheers,
--Tim


TRRDEDEAN
91896 words so far Winner!

1. My novel continues the Legacy Rising series. In this novel the protagonist, Jenn Englund Trumbull tires of the escalating Corporation Wars which have decimated her family. She and her husband decide to end the corporations' quasi militaristic features and consolidate their resources with the Earth Government. Jenn and her husband decided to raise their son in a remote mining colony where they hope he'll be safe from the last remnants of the losing corporations.

2. The novel will end with hints that even in the remote location the disgraced corporations can still harm the Trumbull clan.

3. The best thing I can do is write something every day and encourage someone every day during November.

Archon_Huskie
50627 words so far Winner!

1. Why wouldn't the Rebellious Princess want to be rescued from the Evil Wizard by her betrothed Knight in Shining Armor? When she secretly married the Evil Wizard as part of a plot to start a civil war and usurp her father's throne!

2. The Novel will end with the Princess leading a council of Barons as the new ruling body of the nation. There will still be pockets of resistence to her rule, but largely she will be in power.

3. block websites you normally goof off on. go to the write ins. practice quanity before quality.

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I was always kind of scared by my mother's obsession with the 'good scissors.' It implied that somewhere in the house lurked... the evil scissors.
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TypesetJez
25636 words so far

1. In a world of heroes and villains, everyone is a player, but the game's a racket and the only real winner is the media. When professional Damsel in Distress Ashton Monroe decides to overthrow the system and become an unlicensed vigilante, she creates a ripple effect. After ten years in prison, villain Rapscallion becomes a major player again by learning all he can about the new system and uses it to his advantage. New heroine Sofia Ross-King grows tired of the image her agent has created for her as The Blonde Bombshell and tries to test the envelope a little. Reporter Sam Barnes wonders if the heroes are really as good as they appear on screen and starts to do a little digging.

2. This novel is a continuation of my short story The Damsel. I previously didn't have any plans of writing more for Ashton, but the world I had created was too fun to keep me away. That said, I have no idea where this is going at the moment.

3. Go to the write-ins! Write a little everyday, even if you can't write the full 1667. Encourage others! I made it my project to keep a few others encouraged last year and in doing so kept myself fired up to write more.

Squiddish
28000 words so far

1. A serial killer on a mission from god is inciting fear in Chicago. His victims? Prostitutes. And with a recent string of rapes in the area, everyone is on edge. CPD's homicide department has one of their best on the case--a detective known more for his cold, calculating nature than his stunning people skills.

2. This novel is a bit of a study on our views of the 'good' guy vs. the 'bad' guy. By setting up the villian and the hero and then changing your views of them, it'll kinda focus on the psychology in changing our perceptions and how things aren't always what they seem... Who knows if there's actually going to be an 'ending'. Who knows if there's a plot at all.

3. I'm a competitive person, so I find that word wars are the most helpful thing ever, especially if you're participating in them while at a write-in. It's really satisfying to not only get words down in your novel, but also get a prize for doing it fast!

KatherineWriting
201228 words so far Winner!

1. Life can be chaotic, especially where there are many options to choose from as a group in Scotland performing improv discover in the twenty-four hours of 'Yes, Or?'

2. End: Ideally with the words 'Yes, Or?' being used naturally by one of the characters.

3. Best Advice: Write every day. If you're stuck, take a walk and think.

CJEGV
33590 words so far

The Blue Fox by Carol Gaus
1. Long long ago in a land far away, the people killed all the blue foxes. Our heroine inherits a cape made from the pelts of the last blue foxes that makes the wearer invisible at night to go about the countryside doing good. The local people think the Gods are against them but have really caused all their problems themselves.
2. This is supposed to be a tongue in cheek fantasy novel. The heroine eventually passes on the cape and leaves with the love of her life to pioneer in another, hopefully less idiotic country.
3. Like the cartoon of the the frog strangling the stork that is swallowing him, never, never, give up. Just keep writing.

TogetherAgain
52161 words so far Winner!

1.) I actually don't know the details, but three pre-teens go off on a dangerous quest in a magical world that exists alongside our own world. For some reason, they take a precious, mysterious, centuries-old, guard-it-with-your-life, don't-expect-it-to-work-in-battle, nobody-knows-what-it's-for glass sword on this quest. No, the world won't end if they fail, but Division 17 might be even more screwed than it already is.

2.) All I know ending-wise is that at some point the glass sword will completely shatter, only to magically mend itself AFTER it might have been useful, which REALLY freaks the main characters out. However, the next book in the series starts with one of the characters being honored in part of a big fancy ceremony for her work on this quest, but rather than graciously accepting the honor in this very formal, very public ceremony, she argues with the person giving her the honor for not even mentioning the other two people she went on the quest with. So I assume all three of them live.

3.) Find someone who writes just a LITTLE bit faster than you do, make them your writing buddy, and try to keep up. Also, go to write-ins.

Sapphire
56476 words so far Winner!

To preface, here's a bit about the nature of "spirits" in this world:
The primary religion here is based off of a trinity, of sorts--the body, the spirit, and the soul. "Protect the body from harm, foster a good, positive spirit, and the soul will go to the stars."

"Spirit" in this case does not refer to a being of any type--that is the soul. The "spirit" is created by emotions. In people, it is created by their emotions, so the saying "he was in good spirits" meaning "he was in a good mood" applies. In this world, however, it is the emotions of people that actually creates spirits in the buildings they live and work. The residual emotion held by people in the buildings determines the nature of the spirit. The spirit in a home may make the place feel warm, welcoming, and comforting. The spirit in a morgue or jail may invoke feelings of hopelessness, terror, or anger.

1. Dimitri Harris is an Artist, a skilled craftsman who is able to manipulate the spirit of a building in order to repair damage to keep buildings usable for generations. During the course of his work he and his mentor Pan run across an old building void of its spirit. A man calling himself the Spirit King is tearing spirits from their buildings and binding them to himself, and the twisted emotional energy is driving him mad and driving those around him to suicide, murder, or worse. How can Dimitri stop the Spirit King without setting the huge amount of twisted emotional energy loose on the city?

2. The Spirit King is able to bind the spirits to himself by "unmaking" the building they have taken root in. Dimitri's only choice is to "unmake" the Spirit King so that he can safely bind the spirits to a location where they will do people no harm.

3. Go to the write ins! You wouldn't think sitting in a room with others, all of you silently typing, would actually be productive, but it is. Secondly, don't give up! You're going to hit hard spots in your book. You're going to have points where you wish you were writing something else. Push past these! You can do it!

Corrupted Flame
52565 words so far Winner!

1.) Brittany is a human that all of the metahuman underworld--even her boss--thinks is a vampire. Samantha is an ordinary human who is beginning to realize that her dreams are prophetic. But when a serial killer begins taking out all the metahumans in the city, the two will have to face a deadly unnatural force to save the people they love.

2.) The serial killer is receiving supernatural help from a specific set of spirits of the deceased that are driving the killer toward their own goals. For Brittany to combat the killer in person, Samantha will have to take to the dreamscape to fight the spirits, leaving the killer without her supernatural help.

3.) As others said, GO TO WRITE-INS! The more write-ins I've gone to in the past, the more likely I was to reach 50K that year. And I can't think of any single thing that's more helpful than that.

catatone1
2104 words so far

1. Elaine did not expect music college to be easy, but she was not anticipating any problems other then grades, love, jobs post-degree, and explaining to her parents how her rent money may or may not have been spent on whiskey. When she and her friends discover the pit in the large concert hall of her school descends into a special level of hell led by Schoenberg for musicians who play scales out of tune and concert attendees who clap between movements, they have to figure out a way to prevent Schoenberg from breaking out and taking over Chicago.

2. There is an epic battle between two major concert halls on Michigan ave- one performing Beethoven 9th symphony and one performing a new opera by dead Schoenberg. The magic behind music explodes and only on performance can ring clear. Elaine and her friends learn about themselves and their place in the world.

3. Write. Schedule your time and make sure you have time to write. Shower when you have writers block.

babeRuthless
14918 words so far

A group of five teenagers' lives change forever as they face an impending World War III. In just one summer, they are forced to grow up and learn that there is much more to the world than the Houston suburb where they're spent their lives together. As you read the novel you see how the war changes the teens, their relationships and their generation as a whole.

It's about growing up, but growing up doesn't always have a happy ending, so I am planning on ending this pretty bittersweet. I have a good idea of how I'm going to end it and more than likely there'll be some death haha.

Know your limit. If you're done writing and you know you can write more, then sit back down and write! If you are getting to the point, though, where you feel like you're just spewing out rubbish, then you should call it a day.

The Peddler of Dreams
125713 words so far Winner!

1. The favored daughter of an emperor of a great kingdom must flee her land of birth to escape a plot against her life. Her only companions are her old nurse and a lone guard charged with the duty to protect her. She must find her own way in the real world, sharpening her skills with her scimitar and growing up quickly to continually stay one step ahead of the attempts against her life while dealing with the growing realization that her sole bodyguard has his own, personal reasons for protecting her.

2. Their shared struggles bring these two people of disparate backgrounds closer together, perhaps even enough to fall in love despite their differences.

3. Actively participate in the group events, or at least join in the online chats. Getting into a group of encouraging, like-minded individuals with a shared goal will help get you through.

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. ~James Michener

tomster
31024 words so far

1. My story is about atonement, acceptance and redemption. My main character is responsible for the death of his sisters fianc and putting her in a wheelchair after a one car drunk driving accident. He spends the length of the story trying to win his sisters forgiveness through acts of atonement (which dont work).


2. The ending will have something to do with internal acceptance in the face of never receiving his sisters acceptance. That and a gentle April shower of puppies and daisies if I cant get the internal acceptance to work.

3. Set daily goals. Listen to your characters and for me - I have to unplug from the normal day in, day out distractions and be selfish with my time!

Squiddish
28000 words so far

Yay for more serial killers!

pmbutler
7004 words so far

A widowed confederate soldier in post civil war tennessee is faced with rebuilding his life, his land, and is unexpectedly put in charge of his young niece that he never knew existed.

The unlikely pair head west to find the girl's mother. Not sure if they will succeed yet.

Reach your 1,667 words/day no matter how hard it is. Some days will be easier than others. Dont' worry if you don't know where your story is going, and don't worry if the story takes you away from your "plan". Some of the best things happen when you go in unexpected directions.

mochomito
59452 words so far Winner!

wow - your novel sounds really interesting... i'm really into serial killers myself right now.

Corrupted Flame
52565 words so far Winner!

Oh, you and your serial killers~

...crap, I never sent you that priest thing that I wrote from your writing prompt, did I? I'll write myself a note to Nanomail it to you as soon as I get home today. (Even though it's not that great. =P)

Squiddish
28000 words so far

Haha, awesome! They're like my obsession.

Squiddish
28000 words so far

Oh. Oh oh oh ohhhhh.
That's true. I want. Gimme.

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