Friday, October 28, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011: Backstory

Today, I looked at my calendar, realized National Novel Writing Month was four days away, and nearly hyperventilated. Where has my head been? Usually I have a solid idea of what I want to write nearly a month in advance: a main character’s name and personality, a general plot, a setting, and a genre. As of this morning, I had the name “Renn” in my head, and that was all.
Jack London once said, “You can’t wait for inspiration; you have to go after it with a club.” So I sat down today and pounded out a few phrases. The next thing I knew, a story sprang to life before my eyes. It’s vague and wild and I have very little idea about the plot, but it took shape more than any of the many ideas I’ve kicked around in my head the past few weeks.
My first discovery is that Renn is a girl, the daughter of an innkeeper (hostel-keeper?) named Marianne. Halley and Bert, a young married couple, showed up soon after in my head, and then my sister insisted that I include someone named Pete who sells hot air balloons. War and possibly allegory will be involved. I have yet to discover the genre, but I believe it might be pseudo-steampunk. 
I am planning to fundraise this year again, but right now I’m so busy I’ve fallen way behind on my schedule. Expect some more blogs starting on Monday. Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2011!
~Lisa Shafter

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