NaNo... -__-;;

[askerian]

NaNoWriMo starts on Monday and I still don't know what story I want to poke at, or even if I really want to do it this year.

Anyway I don't have a new Ofic to prod, so it would either be more Mermaids in Space (... sorry, Mermaids... IN SPACE!!) or more Black Ops Werewolves.

Or maybe Teamwork. I dunno, it's all asleepy right now. *prods it with a stick*

I'm not feeling it. T__T The werewolves are love but I don't have a real plot. The mermaids have a plot but I don't have the love. Well, yes, i love them but. The werewolves don't have any interesting characters on other teams and local werepeople to interact with! The mermaids don't have any shiny mermaid and two-tail people to interact with! There's plot hooks enough, but for me who loves nothing more than character interaction, that makes things FLAAAT. It's like, okay, yay, my car has a motor, now it can roll forward without needing a slope and gravity to gang up on it. Neat. Now could I have some seats and a radio please? Also a wheel, a wheel would be nice. Cause otherwise I'm taking the bus.

*ponders Tyr/Liadan crossover interaction*

Also there's Real Life things coming up this month and I'm not sure how much I'll feel like writing. (it's nothing bad, job search stuff. I suppose everyone must go through that at some point. I'm just horrible at dealing with that kind of stress.) Or perhaps having something I must write would be a great distraction! No friggin clue.

As for Teamwork, I seriously doubt that it'll take me 50,000 words to get to the end of TW3. Though I suppose it would help if I could decide if the marriage is part of TW3 or its separate sequelthing! though at this point the sequels are all such an interconnected mess I suspect it's all mostly academic. Okay, no, TW 3 was the tournament, tournament'll be over by then, therefore since TW 4 is something else! that means Teamwork:Marriage is an interlude instead! A hugeass interlude. In several parts. Plus outsider POV sidefics. ahaha o self wat. Okay, not an interlude. TW3.5? I mean, i've got the Suna trip down as TW2.5 already. ...Someone put me out of my misery. DX

Comments

[ticktocktober.livejournal.com]

Well, the creators of NaNo originally started it as a way to strong-arm creativity/inspiration out into the open. It might be good for you to try and force yourself to start writing and exploring an aspect of the story just to see if you stumble across anything that can be used as a plot. I mean hell, plot is mostly conflicts between characters anyway. It may start out totally character driven, and explode into something else completely when you least expect it to. :D

NaNo is just a really long, really terrifying leap of faith; you're not gonna get anywhere if you don't jump.

[askerian]

This is very good advice. .__. I just don't know if my commitment would be strong enough and I wouldn't end up only disappointing myself again. Therefore I whine over the internet, because that's so much more productive!

... oh hey, I forgot the whine tag on this post. *goes to add*


The problem with the werewolves is that there is no external conflict or even hook, as I have no real characters outside of them apart from a few quick sketches, and they're not interesting enough that I want to bother having them interact with my cast, there'd be no spark. I can't manage not to fall into the same old cliche roles for a werewolf pack, asshole leader and all that jazz, and when I try to reverse it I come up with ineffectual villains or villains who aren't villains at all, so how the hell am I gonna get my characters in the pack if they don't need to take it over after all! my plot ;__; Mergh. meeergh.

[/whine] Um. Sorry. XD; I just like to complain.

... Would you, or anyone, happen to have character concepts that'd fit this story? (urban fantasy, cast can be human normal, witches (not v. powerful), not!elves, or werecritters, natural or military-induced variant. ... or Bigfoot!) Or even tropes to throw at me, see how they bounce? >______>

[ticktocktober.livejournal.com]

I know that feeling; I've lost track of how many times I've said "NaNo! I'm really gonna do it this year guys! :DDD" and wrote absolutely *zip*.

As for the wolves, maybe you could split the cast? Like, take a couple characters who's backstory could be substituted with domestic abuse, homelessness, gang-type stuff, etc.-- stuff that would be about as likely to introduce PTSD as a military career? (If I'm remembering correctly, they're all currently ex-black ops, right?) That way you could have some characters you're interested in on 'the other team' so to speak.

And if you don't want a typical "asshole leader", what about a charismatic but paranoid schizophrenic? Or hell, a plain ol' charismatic sociopath. The former I could see ruling the pack with fear, possibly using government conspiracies (that might actually not be too far from the truth) to spook his followers into believing only he really knows how to keep them safe. The latter would probably have gathered the pack to basically do his bidding-- they could be involved in different kinds of trafficking and white collar crimes.

Also, they don't have to take over the whole pack; there might be a few who would like to get out but have been playing along for the benefits, and others who have completely bought into it. I could see that becoming a HUGE conflict depending on who's in charge and how big a threat they believe deserters would pose. In ancient China during a land shortage, landless peasants formed bandit gangs that would occasionally go to war with one another over territory and other things, and when a victor emerged they would just absorb what was left of the losers and take the spoils.