You would think that fall began in late September - but it doesn't.
In my world, fall begins the moment all of my summer activities are done. (Now if only the weather agreed with me..) VBS is long over, we've taken the annual trip to 6 Flags, we've been to Camp SonRise, Camp Noah is finished, and we had a great mission trip with the youth. All that's left is one more wedding and that's this weekend.
My schedule has been cleaned out (except for play practice) and all of the teenagers are getting ready to get back to school which starts up again next week. (I know, they start school crazy early around here.)
My mind is now focused on our back to school kick-off, school sports games being put into my planner, and brainstorming themes for the next few months.
I am in fall mode.
Since I'm in fall mode - do you know what has also been crossing my mind lately?
NANOWRIMO
"But Emmy," I hear you saying. "NaNoWriMo isn't until November. You have three months until then. Chill out."
No. I will NOT chill out.
You see, some people have the opportunity to do Camp NaNoWriMo in the summer, but since I am so outrageously busy during that time, I don't do it. So some people have been able to work on their novels and create brand new ones. I have not.
Usually I don't start seriously thinking about my November novel until October. October is typically my "pre-NaNoWriMo prep month." It still will be. However... I have a dilemma.
I cannot decide what I want to write about this year.
I know, I know. I have two months until my prep. I get it.
But, I'm going to tell you my ideas anyway and hopefully you'll understand the early freak out.
My first idea is to do my re-writes for my Snow White story. Technically, the rules for NaNoWriMo is that you have to write a brand new novel - not something you've already started. However, most people don't realize how much re-writing happens before the final product of a novel. Many times, the rewrites are almost a completely different novel than the original and take just as much time and work as starting a novel from scratch. There are some MAJOR rewrites I would like to do to my Snow White story, and I feel November would be the perfect time to do so. Maybe I'll ACTUALLY finish the novel. It's usually a good idea to finish one before moving onto others.
In order for that to happen, I feel like starting now I need to be putting a lot of thought and planning into my Snow White story. Laying all of the details out that I keep saying I'm going to get to eventually but haven't yet.
My other idea is to do a Beauty and the Beast story - with a steampunk twist!
I got the idea when I came across this picture on Pinterest awhile back:
When I saw it I was all:
"What if that was the beasts FACE?"
The ideas started to swirl about in my head. I feel like it would be so cool! Also - there is nothing like starting a new story. I love getting to know new characters and storylines. I even have a general idea of how it would fit into my Snow White story. (All of my fairy tale re-tellings relate to each other in some way, shape, or form.) It would be so much fun!
The problem?
I don't know ANYTHING about steampunk. At. All. Therefore, I would need to start reading and researching that genre now so I can have a good sense of all that goes into it.
So there it is. My dilemma.
What are your thoughts?
Snow White or Beauty and the Beast?
I'd love to read a steampunk beauty and the beast! My favorite fairy tale mixed with steam punk sounds great to me!
ReplyDeleteI feel like it would be a lot of fun. I just need to learn a lot about the genre...
DeleteI Love NaNoWriMo too!
ReplyDeleteYou could always combine both stories, there is no reason not too and so many reasons to do it!
I hope I get to write this year, I'm starting a grad program so I'm not sure how much time I will have on top of work.
<3
Mei
The Beauty and the Beast story will relate to the Snow White one - but they wont be combined. Snow White has a WHOLE LOT of other stuff going on in there. (Kinda been working on the Snow White story for over 10 years now...) And you should totally go for it in November! From what I've seen, it's actually the busiest people who do the best in NaNoWriMo. If you aren't busy and all you do is write, most people tend to not get it done because they're used to just not doing anything. So I say you should go for it. So much fun!
DeleteI love Steampunk and I love Beauty & the Beast, so the two together sound awesome!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I'll be able to do NaNoWriMo this year, as it depends on what my job situation is come November. I loved it last year though, so I hope I do get the chance to do it again :)
The Steampunk & Beauty and the Beast would be so much fun. I just need recommendations for learning about the genre! And you should TOTALLY do NaNoWriMo this year! Yeah, people are busy, but I've always heard that if you want something done, ask a busy person. It just... works. I don't know. And even if you don't get through the whole thing, there's still more written than you had before. :)
DeleteMy husband has a book called 'The Steampunk Bible', which I highly recommend. It has information about all kinds of things from the history of steampunk to the fashions to TV shows and films with Steampunk elements, and so on. That may be worth checking out as a starting point :)
DeleteAnd yeah, I know even if I'm busy I should still take a shot at NaNoWriMo this year. It's more that I might be looking for a job again come November, and there is a risk that such a situation will take over most of my thoughts, leaving little room for other things, because I am the world's most annoying worrier. But NaNoWriMo will undoubtedly provide an excellent distraction to such concerns, so I should just go for it either way! :)
YES! I will for sure have to check that out. Thanks!
DeleteAnd yeah, it'll be a great distraction from your worries. GO FOR IT! YAY! :D