Nanowrimo Approacheth, 2011 Edition.

Last year I even used the very same blog title: Nanowrimo Approacheth. I think I'm predictable.

My nano book from last year has been in constant development for the last 12 months. It's now about about 60k-ish words (I took a few months to contemplate midyear) and has changed dramatically. The fairytale aspect was dumped, the lovecraftian aspects pumped, Red's name changed to Zai, and I figured out my primary theme ('The third path and the trials involved in finding said path'). I managed to keep my roomie's interest through two pages of what I considered kind of boring transitional stuff, so that's a good sign that the whole thing isn't terrible. I am splicing in scenes with backstory (foil-flashbacks, though it remains to be seen if they'll work as intended.), and there are a couple of scenes that feel really good even where the rest feels a bit doughy. Overall, not terrible.

As of now, I won't have to rewrite anything to the extent that Princess needs it, though as I am adding scenes, I am rapidly approaching a weird section. I haven't decided if I want to rip the weird bit outs and put in a couple of flashbacks or to leave it as-is. It's not really a bad section, it's just not the correct section for the book.

Apologies that it's not at the 'send out to people' stage. :) I'm still working on it, though, albeit slowly, so there's that.

AS FOR NANO (ahem). I am using Nanowrimo this year to explore conflict and complex antagonists. My story was prompted by ideas from three of the vignettes I have lurking within my sketchdump of googledocs: Imaginary wings, shapeshifting dragons hiding among humans, and time loops.

The intended goal for the piece itself is to infuse the dark urban fantasy setting with low-grade horror, throw in healthy dose of mind-bending time travel, and have the reader seriously questioning whether or not the good guys SHOULD win by the end of the book. My goal for me-as-a-writer is to attempt higher-stakes external conflict and practice designing a bad guy who I can love to hate.

My three characters (who I am going to try and tight-focus on), are Natasha, Mercury, and Roland. Roland is, of course, the antagonist, because all the most badass characters are named Roland. *grins*