7Ninjasinatrenchcoat Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 So National Novel Writing Month (NANoWriMo) is coming up in just one week, and I'm wondering who else will be trying it out, and who wants to talk novel ideas and also maybe be my friend on the NaNo site? My Novel this year will be something I've never tried - something silly. I've tried fantasy and horror and drama, but now I'm going to write a silly novel that's a cheesy sci-fi story that doesn't have to make any sense. I want my heroes to be trope-laden awfulness that have stupid adventures they solve with technobabble solutions that either just never make sense or are dumb. Inspired by low-budget sci-fi movies of the 70's and 80's, I want the reader to picture cardboard sets and aliens with rubber foreheads (or just green makeup and a wig!) and weep as my heroes battle monsters by reversing the polarity or karate chopping a robot! Implausible planets, Ridiculous aliens, and Technology that works with stupid or no explanations! The idea being that I don't have to care. In previous efforts I have stalled out when my characters ended up in jams they couldn't resolve, or I lost the ability to move the plot forward because I couldn't figure out how to challenge them enough (and in one case, I finished my 30,000 word story well before I hit the 50,000 word goal). If I stall out, Blow something up or introduce a stupid plot twist. If my characters can't escape, The Alien crewmembers manifest Deus Ex Machina powers that magically resolve the dilemma (Disarmed and Captive, it turns out the alien has eye lasers!) and I can get them back on course to the next planet as they hunt for the McGuffin! Anyway, I'm hoping that having that kind of freedom really lets me finish. I have so many good ideas that I really want to write, but I get stalled. Anybody else have a strategy, plan, idea, interest at all?? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I'm kinda already halfway working on a novel over in the Bones 5 comments so maybe. I'm thinking go old-school Stephen King with it and get coked out of my gourd and write for days at a time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper_the_2nd Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 One of these years my November isn't going to be stupid busy and I'll actually try this (we are moving provinces over the next week or so, I can barely keep the logistics of how that is all going to work straight, let alone work, so not a chance this year). Your idea sounds good. I've watched enough Sci-Fi series where 10 episodes in it's like, "Well, the story is done." And then WHAM, cheesy plot twist, here's 10 more episodes. And "future tech" or "future science" can hand wave you out of most any corner. Sounds like fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 I'm either not doing it or already way behind lol. But! I did my best Hemingway impression today whilst piddling at a short story. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUncannyAK Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 I'm doing it. I find it to be a useful exercise, and a lot of fun! Two things I like to keep in mind for this event: (1) It's about quantity, not quality. Do what you need to do to reach that 50K goal. If you get stuck on a section, jump ahead to another section that you're a little more confident about, or try rewriting one of your earlier scenes in a different way to see if you learn anything new about your characters. Once November's over you'll have plenty of time to make everything look pretty. (2) If your novel is really in a jam and you just don't know what to do, or if it's no longer inspiring you, work on a different writing project. Start a short story. Write some poetry. Don't let the "novel" part of National Novel Writing Month trip you up! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Ninjasinatrenchcoat Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 I'm right on track today, but I'm so afraid that I cut today's Planet prematurely short. It really needed to consume about 10,000 of the 50,000 words, as will each of the next 2 planets our heroes visit. Tomorrow and the next 3 days, I will expand this particular planet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUncannyAK Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 I'm just sitting down to write now. Not sure how many words I'll get in, but I'm on track so far. Typically I write a lot more over the weekend because I can fit in several writing periods a day. I don't have that luxury on weekdays! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Ninjasinatrenchcoat Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 I'm at about 8,000 words now, just shy of my total target, and getting kicked in the Life right now. Hopefull I can find time after I pull two days of 14 hour shifts in a row.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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