NaNoWriMo Again
Word count: 100
So it’s that time of year again, and I have exactly a week to figure out what I’m writing for NaNoWriMo. Unless the muse strikes me, this year’s novel will be the long-delayed Right Novel, for which I suffered the writer’s block that led me to write 20,000 words of the Wrong Novel, an unknown amount of the Wrong Prequel in a notebook, and 50,000 words of another Wrong Prequel for last year’s NaNoWriMo.
The Right Novel is set about 8,000 years in the future, meaning I can make up a lot more science and background than is possible with near-future sci-fi. That, in turn, means no research. Another novel I’d considered writing, the Mars Novel, would have required research, and the need for scientific accuracy is incompatible with the need for speed. (I’d really love to write a Stargate novel for NaNoWriMo, but fanfic doesn’t pay.)
Last year’s novel never went anywhere after NaNoWriMo because the conclusion was slapped together in the last week of November and never really sat right. This year I must think of a climax before I start writing, so I have something to aim for. A plot outline wouldn’t hurt, either. Then again, most of Colony wasn’t in the outline - I meant for the crew to settle down in the Delta Quadrant and instead they stole the moon.
You never can tell with characters…