Try a Little Something New

[kaitou]

It's September now, which means I've failed my summer writing challenge to myself miserably. But a little thing like that won't stop me when it comes to challenging myself again. Because Fall also means that it's time to gear up for Nanowrimo. I'd like to try a little something new this year, and try going in with an actual honest-to-god outline. Usually I have an idea of the setup, and a vague idea where I'm going, and maybe a few scenes here or there that are important. And then there was that year with the Hong Kong story where the initial idea went entirely off the rails, and the 2nd plot wobbled horribly until it tipped over too. (I still got my 50K out of it, but good lord it was a train wreck)

So this year I want to try being a 'plotter' instead of a 'pantser.' And if I'm going to do that, I'd better figure out my plot now.

I've got a few prospective ideas I'm kicking around. Mostly thanks to flidgetjerome setting me up with a personal wiki to help me keep track of these things. I don't have a paid account anymore, so I can't do a poll, but I thought I'd see if you guys have an opinion on what I ought to attempt this year.



1. A Dog Called Milk

This would not be the title, but the idea for the dog came before anything else. Milk is a Irish Wolfhound, a giant hulking thing that thinks it's a lapdog. Our Heroine raised him herself, the poor runt of the litter, on milk. And now it won't answer to anything else. As for our Heroine, her name is Beatrice Bernadette Bredon, and is a bit of a good natured walking disaster herself. And she has to put up with a lot of 'bee' nicknames from our hero. Especially 'Bumble Bea' whenever she's gotten into another mess. How this will all turn into a story I don't know. But I do love Beatrice to pieces.

2. Firestarter

Mira is an acolyte at a temple to the Knowledge God, which preserves a bit of the eternal flame. The flame in the main temple goes out, and she's sent with a bit of the fire (possibly converted into some kind of animal avatar if this goes as YA as I think it might) to relight it. Nothing in the capital is like she expects, and she finds one of the priests there building miracle machines for other temples and other gods.

3. Magic of Hollywood

Elves walk openly among us and are just as haughty and full of themselves as you'd expect. One of them happens to be working as a historical accuracy consultant on the set of a movie dramatizing a very Final Fantasy-RPG scenario he'd witnessed hundreds of years ago. But he's a little TOO much of a stickler for accuracy and corrects the bit of the script for demon summoning. So now the party-girl actress has accidentally unleashed an ancient evil on Hollywood and the two of them have to try and seal it up again.

4. Jam Tomorrow

Phoebe is a ladies maid, and Emmet is a valet. During a Country House Party they try to get their employers to fall in love so that they too can live happily ever after together. Very Parent Trap.

5. Momotaro

Again, the 'code name' probably won't have anything to do with the actual plot. During the Jokyu Wars three children escape from an attack on the Daimyo's castle. The oldest, and second highest in rank is Kaede. Her father is a minor lord, and she was being raised at the castle as a 'hostage' to keep her father in line. The second oldest, and lowest in rank is Masahiro, the son of one of the Daimyo's loyal samurai. The youngest is Kenichiro, the Daimyo's heir. The three of them try and figure out where their loyalties ought to be and try to navigate a complicated situation where they'll all survive.

6. Kitsune

Ok, this one is meant to be deliberately awful. This is a challenge from flidgetjerome that none of us could write bad enough schlock that would be as popular as the Twilight Novels. So I bring you the incredible Mary Sue, who goes off to live in Rural Japan and runs into a handsome shapeshifting fox-spirit. And angsty hijinks ensue.


So what do you guys think? Which project should I plot out for Nano this year? (And then chuck it all at the last minute for Something Completely Different)

Comments

[bardofawen.livejournal.com]

#5 could be be very, very noteworthy. I'm talking "wins YA fiction awards" noteworthy, so if you're looking for an excuse to hobnob with John Green, I would suggest doing that.

All of the others have potential, depending on who you're trying to reach. Number six... well... there's nothing wrong with it, per se, but could you respect yourself in the morning? ;)

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

6.......well, I can't respect myself NOW in the morning, so I don't know if that will change. But no, I don't think I can actually write it. Just writing the blurb gave me hives.

5....I think it's a brilliant idea. I remember when I got it thinking 'Wow, you're filled with all kinds of geniune well-intentioned character conflict!' then going 'Good grief I have NO idea how you're going to get out of it.'

But I'd sure like to hobnob with John Green. (He's here in Ohio today, and I wanted to take a day off to go see him, but I got in trouble at work on Friday and didn't think it would be smart to ask)

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

There are several things I like here, so I don't know that this will be particularly helpful. ^_^;

2. Love the idea of miracle machines.

3. I like this idea, but it doesn't seem...you to me, for some reason. One of the things I really enjoy about your writing is your attention to detail regarding worldbuilding, history, science, etc. and I don't think this would give you the opportunity to do that much. Of course, I could be totally off base with this, so feel free to ignore it.

5. LOVE this idea. You could pull it off extremely well, I think.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

2. Is pretty much all about my love for Ancient Tech. (Heron of Alexanria built some amazing things for temples, like automatic doors, vending machines and flying statues) I want there to be a new SF genre...Bronze Punk. To go along with Steam Punk and Cyber Punk. Giant Wooden Horse Mecha, Greek Fire....it'd be awesome.

3. I kind of love the idea, and I kind of want to see twigcollins do it.

5. You'd think for y'know, MINORING in Japanese history I'd feel better equipped for it. But I feel way more confident about doing that than the Hong Kong mystery one a few years ago.

Thanks for the vote!

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

I want there to be a new SF genre...Bronze Punk. To go along with Steam Punk and Cyber Punk. Giant Wooden Horse Mecha, Greek Fire....it'd be awesome.

YES. And the Denderah light bulb, the Antikythera Mechanism...and Archimedes would be such a mathlete badass.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

And Bagdad Batteries! And Archimedes' Claw & Death Ray.

I am SUCH a fangirl for Archimedes. I want a video game where you play him defending Syracuse, having to come up with inventions to save the day. If I could draw better I'd draw cheesecake pinup photos of bishonen-archimedes in the 'eureka!' moment.

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

If I could draw better I'd draw cheesecake pinup photos of bishonen-archimedes in the 'eureka!' moment.

XD That made my day.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

I can't believe no one has done this yet! I've even found a piece of Sherlock Holmes fanart that looks like he's auditioning for My Chemical Romance. Where's the love, world?

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

Sherlock Holmes + eyeliner = love.

Oh man, you're giving me so many good ideas for art today. I'm never going to get this play written.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

If this means I could potentially get squee-worthy art out of this you bet your brass buttons I'm going to encourage it.

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

OH NOES. ^_^

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

承久の乱？ No daimyo then, I'm afraid. You had 地頭, and they didn't have so much a hostage system, but you had a lot of nephews against uncles, sons against step-mothers (there were female jito), brother against brother. The "war" itself was very short, with not much in the way of battles (I can only think of one)--the civil fighting in Kamakura probably works better for drama (I think it was the Wada family that had their last stand at Yoritomo's grave), or the 城 family rebellion in Echigo (Niigata).

In other words, if you want to do historical accuracy (or even just "historical" accuracy--most Edo-period novels are eh, so I'd suspect the same of a lot of Sengoku-period ones), you'd do better to pick Sengoku period disturbance name, for that idea. (Or make one up! That's not coincidentally the name of a real one.)

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

*Nod* I know there's a lot of details to iron out. I came up with the initial concept while I was living in Japan, and didn't have access to much in the way of references. I was initially thinking to parallel the kid's story with 'Momotaro' and wanted to use Go-Toba's exile to the Oki Islands, since I was living in Shimane.

After that I hadn't really thought about it much until just recently

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

There is a danger in picking something that requires too much research to be done if you want to be historically accurate, I think. Personally I'd recommend taking those elements that interest you and then redoing them in a "Japanese past," if you were going to do this story. (So, using something like Go-Toba's exile to the Oki Islands, but not naming him Go-Toba. You have the geography in your head, so references to that shouldn't be a problem. But then, if you had something like daimyo or hostage systems or anything else that didn't work for the actual time period, you wouldn't be flagging it so much.)

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

Oh I agree. It's still up in the air as to whether it's set in Japan, 'Japan,' or frankly if I ever get around to writing it at all. I worry too much about accuracy....though you're probably the only one who would catch me on it with this one!

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Some reviewers might also catch it, if it went that far (Plus! The friendly folks of Teh Internets, perhaps). ;)

But, like Bridge of Birds, say... he didn't really set it in a historically grounded China. (In fact, it just doesn't read like any China at all to me, which is why I look at it funny, but.) I think it gives you a lot of freedom if you just change the names a bit--and it'd be a lot easier to write than to find someone to vet it for historical points (and then find out that a major plot device was impossible). Plus! You wouldn't have to worry so much about accuracy, and just have fun with the story.

A lot of people seem to think it'd be interesting, and you know the area, so you probably could invoke an image of it pretty well. You'd have more trouble with family structures of the Kamakura Period, or the actual Jokyu Disturbance, which is why I recommend a fantasy version with a different name. (Plus, then, you wouldn't be limited by having Go-Toba being a tactical idiot, and a bit of a privileged brat. Because he was. The brat bit coming from a story or two in 古今聴聞集.)

[thorne-scratch.livejournal.com]

Firestarter intrigues me the most, so that's where I canst my vote! Like Morgan, I love the idea of the miracle machines, and I always love the behind-the-scene revelations that come with that sort of thing-- particularly with religion, and with characters raised in religion/certain societies, because then you get such lovely twisty opportunities for realization and growth and struggling with long-held beliefs and such.

Also, snarky animal avatars made of fire, awesome.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

I love that you knew the animal was snarky, even without me saying so.

[thorne-scratch.livejournal.com]

Man, is there any other kind? Hee.

[kaitou1412.livejournal.com]

Valid point.