NaNoWriMo Preparation Oct 31

It was the Night Before NaNoWriMo... (5 more hours!)

General Statistics:
Barebones Outline: Complete
Detailed Outline with Scene Notes: 1/4 Complete
Ideas that don't go with the Story: 2

Basic Information:
Working Title: Outbreak
Genre: Science Fiction
Short Summary: Zombie Plague outbreak in a Space Colony.

Random Thoughts:

• It's fun how writing/preparing to write generates more ideas.
• I'm incorporating/inspired by a dare from last year.
• Trying to plot and deal with Trick-or-Treaters (and the dog) is slow going.

NaNoWriMo Preparation Sept 25

I have a full, though very basic outline that takes me from the beginning to the end of the story with a couple of options for the epilogue.  It turns out that there will be four viewpoint characters despite my assumption and expectation of five.  I wanted five but right now everything seems to flow pretty smoothly so I’ll leave it as it is for now.  Even though I have the events set out, some of them are only tenuously connected to the viewpoint character at that point so I will have to figure out where the pieces fit together.

Current Brainstorming Progress:

• Outline goes through the basics from Beginning to Ending
• Identified Two Possible Outlines
• Have identified and named 4/4 Viewpoint Characters
• The Viewpoint Characters have clear motivations (but not much else)
• Done some basic World-building
• Settlement Structure
• Institutionalized Hierarchy
• Basic Outbreak Procedures

I feel better about my ability to churn out at least 50,000 words on this project and can look forward to spending the next few weeks getting to know my characters.

NaNoWriMo Prep Week 1

I was reminded last week that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is sneaking up on me again.  Every year that I do NaNoWriMo I get a little better prepared.  Last year I went in with an idea and about half a story's worth of an outline and I scraped out a win.  It was difficult and had it's fair share of word padding but I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days.  This year I hope to be even better prepared with a complete outline and a decent feel for my characters.  I've learned a lot about writing both through my participation last November and in the months following and I'm looking forward to giving it another go.

Current Brainstorming Progress:

• Dusted off and combined a few plot bunnies
• Figured out the Beginning and the Ending
• Decided on 2/? viewpoint characters, still unnamed
• I know that the "?" corresponds to the number of Acts there will be
• I know the fate and motivations of Viewpoint Character #1
• And I know, roughly, the Chain of Events he sets in motion

I think it's a good thing that I have a month and a half to keep brainstorming...