NaNoWriMo begins in just a few days, and I've spent all of October preparing for it. I started by scouring through a storage tub filled with things I've already written, some as old as 30 years, in search of inspiration.
I started a list of What if?'s.
What if that girl back in high school and that boy she thought she loved were given a second chance? How might their story go?
What if that girl who was raped didn't call the police, but chose to get revenge? How might she do it? How might that story go?
What if that girl who shot herself had found a will to live? What might it be? How might her story go?
What if these were all the same girl?
I turned to the experts for help. I started with "Give 'Em What They Want" by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook. Chapter 1 is titled "Creating a Salable Product." On page 6, Kate Duffy, editorial director with Kensington Publishing Corporation, is quoted as saying, "The writing I look for should be relentlessly commercial."
Well, I'm not looking to create the Great American Novel here; it's a race to get 50,000 words pounded out in 30 days. I'm okay with relentlessly commercial as a genre.
The text goes on to give me direction: I need a planned plot; I must hook the reader; I must write at a pace that doesn't bore the reader; I must provide enough suspense to make you turn the page... hmm, turn the page? I guess that doesn't really apply here... how about enough tension to keep you scrolling down the screen and characters who grow and develop just like real people do.
By page 24, I've got a whole list of do this - don't do that. I didn't read any more of this book because the rest focuses on pitching and selling the book after it is finished. I'm not opposed to getting published and paid and all that, but this little project is more personal for now; it's just a story from me to you.
Next, I turned to "How to Write and Sell Your First Novel" by Oscar Collier and Frances Spatz Leighton. Again, I skipped the chapters on sales and focused on the writing tips. I actually did write a novel for last year's NaNoWriMo, but I didn't sell or try to market it, so this is my first novel for public consumption.
These authors tell me to get to know my characters, so I've made a lengthy list of all the things I'd like to know about them. Before I begin to write about the things they say and do, I have to figure out who they are. I've been working on developing biographical information for them.
I also need to know what my story is really about. The text suggests summing up this idea in one short paragraph. So, I've been thinking on that too. The reason to create this sort of purpose statement before beginning to write the story is to help keep the writing focused. It's easy to go off tangents, especially when I'll be writing live, here, every day, without editing.
Lastly, I just finished reading "Writing Romance Fiction, For Love and Money" by Helene S. Barnhart. I learned in a college media class that nearly every story is a romance. As an audience, we love to see 2 people struggle together through real life and in the end, find love and happiness, or at least hope.
By page 12, a much repeated theme appears bluntly stated, "you can't write a romance novel unless you read them." I'm going to attempt to stretch the meaning of that phrase to "you can't write a romance novel unless you've been in love," because to be honest, whenever I try to read the formula romance books - I often get bored. The characters don't seem real to me and I find I don't care what happens to them. But, Barnhart makes writing them sound like such a fun and exciting adventure - even within the formula of love and loss and love renewed only to be lost again and eventually found in a happily ever after ending. And, while a happy ending is oh-so predictable, we'd be disappointed if it happened any other way.
So, throughout the month of October, I've been trying to figure out how to tell you a love story that isn't boring - one filled with people you can love and hate and sympathize with. I've begun to imagine a hero and a heroine; who they are, how they'll meet, what they love and hate about each other, what stops them from just being happy and together from the start, and how they'll manage to find happiness in the end.
I don't know all the answers yet, but I'm excited to find out. I hope you'll join me in this journey.
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