NaNoBraSto 2012
Brainstorming for National Novel-Writing Month (also known as November). Let’s hear your ideas!
Date: October 3, 2012
Categories: Fiction, poetry, and fanfiction, Things We like
Comments RSS TrackBack 32 comments
-
1
Errata
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 10:39Thanks!
I’m currently fiddling with an idea from the adopt-a-plot thread, about a girl who was trained to be an assassin, except that since I started the whole thing evolved so the assassins were more like brainwashers and didn’t actually kill people, and it’s all getting sort of complicated.
I’m probably going to ditch it and come up with my own idea. I should go look through my ideas folder.
0
0
-
1.1
Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 11:54Hm. Did these nonlethal brainwashers run a blog devoted to (among other things) world domination and pie-throwing? Just curious.
0
0
-
2
bookgirl_me
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 14:04Yay! New thread!
So far, I’m considering two ideas:
1) The classical hero story retold from the POV of “the Obi-Wan”. I know, that sounds kind of boring when you say it like that. But when you think about it, the Obi-Wan is an amazing character abused as plot device that we never get to know. En lost everything that mattered to en, was betrayed by a close friend and forced to flee and watch over the child that- hopefully- might just save the day, careful to keep just enough distance to avoid suspicion, cut off from the last link to en’s past. Then suddenly en has to leave while training the hero, gaining en’s trust while lying through their teeth because if the hero was told what en was really facing, said hero would probably quit. Pining their hopes on this one naive young person all the time while being constantly reminded of all en’s friends who died facing the same obstacle and knowing that en will probably join that number. Always trying to toe the line between manipulating and guiding the hero. Etc…
2) Also a classical story with a twist: a young boy discovers an imaginary world in his backyard. The only minor annoyance is that it’s peppered with colorless, stone-like statues of huddled people. But the girl he meets in this world explains that they can’t really be helped and just exist. Fortunately, everything else is beautiful and he begins to spend more and more time in this world, especially since his family is growing more and more distant ever since the accident. The more time he spends in this other place, the more the “real” world seems pale and insignificant. He slowly withdraws more and more; it’s not like anyone notices anyway. Still, he’s fascinated by these statues even as the imaginary world starts to seem dull and insipid as well. So fascinated that he doesn’t even realize that he himself is slowly beginning to lose color and fade…
…Basically, the “other world” is a sort of creative mirror world of our world: all its’ beauty (lush landscapes, etc) exist around the protagonist but he can’t perceive them. The statues are the representations of the people around him who are more or less depressed and have given up on life but for plodding through their routines, which is why in the creative world, they can’t move and they can’t see or hear anything because their eyes are shut and they’re covering their ears. They’re sort of stuck in an endless loop. Eventually, the protagonist implicitly realizes this relation because he’s beginning to transform into such a statue himself and thereby manages to avoid the worst of it. Since he nearly became one of the statues, he can see that his family is among them. He’d already tried to awaken them before and he realizes that even though he can’t fix them, he can help them fix themselves in little ways.
…
Of course these would both require a) time and b) excellent writing, so I don’t really know what to do. I suppose I’ll just give it a go if I can find the time.
0
0
-
3
Agent Lightning
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 17:59I’m winging it this year! I planned so much last year and I want to wing it this year. If I do NaNo at all. I have so much stuff going on.
It Will Be A Lesson In Time Management! *charges into November armed with laptop, tea, and baritone*
0
0
-
4
POSOC
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 18:16Pros for this year:
-School doesn’t start ’til January
-I have more experience and less perfectionismCons:
-I have a job which involves producing actual quality writing
-I will probably be wrapped up in preparing for freshman yearMaybe I should wing it, but winging it has never worked properly for me in the past. Then again, planning has not served me well the past couple of years either.
0
0
-
5
Cat's Eye
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 23:07I’m doing a modernized version of Hamlet, set in 1959 America. I want to play with the idea of having most of the action set during an extended road trip/car chase across the United States, and see if I can still get the plot to work well. There may also be Hamlet/Horatio.
Terpsichore’s making a fanmix, and we’re trying to convince our friend Eurydice to draw some art, so it’ll be Hamlet Fanworks Month all October and hopefully into November.
0
0
-
5.1
KaiYves
in October 4th, 2012 @ 08:26Well, we didn’t really see any of the sea voyage to England and back in the original… and I guess instead of pirates they could run into gangsters or sOmething like that…
0
0
-
6
POSOC
in October 3rd, 2012 @ 23:16I’ve been building an idea recently, but the problem is that… well… it’s too good to waste on NaNo. I wonder if that’s an unhealthy attitude…
0
0
-
7
Mikazuki
in October 6th, 2012 @ 08:23I want to do a sort of rewrite of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass for my NaNoWriMo this year. So far, I have about 9k of planning…oops. But I’m going to be super-busy–I’m super-worried–this month, so I won’t have time to procrastinate. (Yeah, right.) The main plot is that a girl named Imogen moves to a small town (from a big city) and then proceeded to, basically, judge everyone she meets as mean/snobby/closeminded/judgemental/superficial/boring. My problem is basically that, while I have a plot and characters that I’m happy with, I’m having trouble with the rewrite part. I’m basically tiptoeing on the line between “subtle” and “Not actually a rewrite of Alice’s Adventures” and I’m not really sure how to go about making it look more like Alice.
0
0
-
8
Catwings
in October 8th, 2012 @ 23:39what’s NaNoBraSto mean?
0
0
-
8.1
POSOC
in October 9th, 2012 @ 09:47Brainstorming for National Novel-Writing Month. It’s written at the top of the thread.
0
0
-
8.1.1
Catwings
in October 9th, 2012 @ 17:23Oh… blur
i didn’t see that
sorry for stopping all coversation
0
0
-
9
Keiffer
in October 9th, 2012 @ 17:54Holy cake is NaNoWriMo this close already what I’m not prepared at all.
Well, sorta.
I have an idea for a story that seems like it would be pretty flipping awesome… but I always end up not doing what I want to. But there are going to be a couple of cliche ‘misfits’ from a local sort of ‘army camp’ (I haven’t really thought that out all that much) and they’re going to run away… Stuff is gonna go down and.. yeah. My brain is so not working right now.
0
0
-
10
Enceladus
in October 9th, 2012 @ 20:38Hmmmm… I honestly have no ideas thus far.
I’m thinking that I’ll do a modified version of The Hero’s Journey, with very obvious references to it- sort of like the main character being forced into it, rather than it happen.
Actually, that’s an idea- the “intended” major plot elements are actually the work of a perhaps nefarious organization.
Now I just need a setting and characters.
0
0
-
10.1
Enceladus
in October 9th, 2012 @ 20:59SFTDP
Because I’m terrible at names, I’m grabbing them from the name adoption threads on the NaNo website. Two I’ve determined so far because I liked the dounds
MC- Grant Fleetwood
Love interest- Maya Monserrati
0
0
-
10.2
KaiYves
in October 10th, 2012 @ 17:47“Wait, are we doing the kind of thing where I meet my Mentor before I go to the Special World or when I’m already there? I mean, do I have to wait around or can I just go?”
0
0
-
11
Errata
in October 10th, 2012 @ 10:08Scatch the last idea, maybe. New plan: don’t plan.
Last two times I did NaNo/CampNaNo, I planned ahead. I had all the names and plot events and outlines. Both times, I couldn’t stay interested in the story. Both times, I switched to something I hadn’t planned and had no idea where it was going, and I ended up with something fun to write and with good characterization and full of life. I’m hoping to skip the first step.
I do have some ideas, but I’m not developing them. We’ll see where it goes.
0
0
-
12
Cello-Playing Mathematician (AKA Kyra)
in October 14th, 2012 @ 14:22I’ve never done NaNoWriMo before, but I’m going to finally try this year! With lots of encouragement from my mom! I’ve had an idea floating around in my head for a while, and I decided I need to write it down before I decide it’s unworkable, as what normally happens with my ideas.
Inspired by xkcd 693, I’m going to try to write a story about recuperation from a fantasy adventure and adjusting back into the real world.
0
0
-
12.1
Errata
in October 14th, 2012 @ 16:17Hah, I started writing that story once. I wish you more luck than mine had!
(Mine failed after two paragraphs because I was somewhat depressed at the time and couldn’t write anything.)
0
0
-
12.1.1
Cello-Playing Mathematician (AKA Kyra)
in October 15th, 2012 @ 00:59I’m thinking of intertwining the fantasy story with the real life story and alternating chapters, perhaps even with similar themes. Who knows? I’m winging this! At least I can kind of picture how the story’s going to end.
0
0
-
13
Jadestone
in October 21st, 2012 @ 11:56IN WHICH I CONTEMPLATE TRYING NANO EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME
I just really miss writing! It would be nice to actually get some done. I might set myself a low wordcount just so it gets me writing daily again…
0
0
-
14
ZNZ
in October 21st, 2012 @ 15:25I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to do this this year – I’ll be super-busy all month, but I really want to anyway. I suppose I could do the YWP and set a lower wordcount goal than I have in the past.
Anyway, if I do, I’ll be writing my YA Magical Boarding School Novel Idea. I’ve written some of it, but only a couple thousand words or so, and I’m excited about it…
0
0
-
15
*Cskia
in October 21st, 2012 @ 17:49I hope that I will be able to find time for NaNoWriMo this year, but with all the tests and work piling up the chances are pretty dismal. Plus, I need to be drawing a lot in my free time so I can throw together some sort of portfolio.
But if I do end up writing, even if it’s only a little, I think I’ll either work on some sort of science fiction (that is very lighthearted) or fantasy (which would be more deep philosophical twisted dark morbid.) I’m already familiar with characters for both stories and would like to write them into existence on paper, so hopefully that works out!
0
0
-
16
POSOC
in October 28th, 2012 @ 01:43An idea that’s been biting lately: a medium-term future science fiction novel about drastic climate change, one that focuses on the ocean as something other than a looming city-drowning threat. Ocean acidification, depletion of fishery stocks, shifting currents, etc. as background to the story. Possible plot element: re-framing of Moby Dick, with the characters pursuing the last whale living in the wild — reasons unclear. (Gene samples for cloning?)
This year is probably going to continue my losing streak, unfortunately.
0
0
-
17
Errata
in October 29th, 2012 @ 23:56NaNoBraSto: The thread that’s most anticipated and least used.
In happier news, I convinced my dad to try NaNo! He’s only sort of doing a novel, but still! Exciting!
I also came moderately close to convincing my mother, but I don’t think she’ll bite. Alas.
0
0
-
18
Agent Lightning
in October 30th, 2012 @ 04:59I’m ready for NaNoWriMo, even though I’ve decided to completely wing my story! Luckily marching band season’s end closely coincides with the start of November, so I should be rolling in all the extra free time that I’ll suddenly find myself with.
0
0
-
19
POSOC
in October 31st, 2012 @ 13:31With slightly more than 12 hours remaining, I’ve decided to go with my first idea. It can be roughly summarized as follows:
She’s a harassed local councilwoman overseeing the human ghetto of a galactic refugee camp. He’s a cook busily reinventing cuisine for a jaded and malnourished population. They fight crime.
0
0
-
19.1
Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in October 31st, 2012 @ 14:43Good idea! If things start to slow down, you can always introduce another character from the camp.
0
0
-
19.1.1
POSOC
in October 31st, 2012 @ 14:59Thanks! The refugee camp contains a number of different species in addition to humans. Since the rotational gravity in the habitat varies depending on how close you are to its axis, the only thing they necessarily have in common is dependence on an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. I figure it’s easier and safer if the entire habitat uses the same air cycling system, so nobody ends up sucking chlorine because of faulty ventilation. So I’ve got plenty of room to invent.
0
0
-
20
Keiffer
in October 31st, 2012 @ 22:20Oh gosh! NaNoWriMo is only 50 or so minutes away for me, and I’m so very excited! I’ve completely changed my idea and I think I’ve got a really solid one this time! I don’t particularly want to go into detail about it because its going to be pretty graphic and inappropriate. I will tell that it does involve an abusive serial killer (who is around twenty-eight years old) who has, over the course of exactly three years killed 16 people. (I person every 67.5 days, at the exact same time of day for each one, but always in a different way. ANYWAY.)
It’s gonna take place in the US in southern-ish California in the year 2026, and we (as in the US, I don’t know why I’m saying we…) have elected the first lesbian president. She’s been in office for two years at the start if the story. Basically, the US is a much more LGBTQetc tolerant place.
And so… this serial killer, what he does is he stocks up in people, basically, kidnapping five or six at a time from around the area where people think he is residing. Since he waits for the 67.5th day to kill one of them, he has a lot of… spare time I guess and what he does to pass it is basically torture. And because of the traumatic experience or whatever a couple of his captives develop Stockholm Syndrome (really because I think it’s such an interesting concept…) and the killer eventually develops feelings for them because they have feelings for him and stuff happens. I’m gonna stop there because I don’t want to spoil the rest of it. I mean who knows it might not actually end up being described that graphically and I could post it on MB. WHO KNOWS.
Okay only like forty minutes left according to my clock right this second so I’m gonna hit comment and continue planning and character mapping and stuff.
0
0
-
21
POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 01:28Half an hour left in my time zone. Good luck to everyone!
0
0
-
22
*Cskia
in November 1st, 2012 @ 01:4120 minutes till NaNo! and I still haven’t finished homework welp
0
0
