Monday, September 19, 2011

So, I Was Planning on Blogging More Frequently

Seriously. I made a LIST of blog ideas and everything. I began to get ORGANIZED.

And then... um... yeah.

So, anyway, I'm finally blogging again. And this time, it's about NaNo. For those of you who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, let me briefly describe it:

A magical time that lasts for the duration of November, in which numerous writers voluntarily sign up to torture themselves and spur on the self-inflicted torture of others by agreeing to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Now, 50,000 words makes for an awfully short novel. It's really more of a novella when you're finished. It is also, however, a short draft which you can revise and make into something more novel-ly and wonderful. Some great novels that began as NaNo experiments are: Water for Elephants and The Night Circus.

I'm pretty sure you can't sign up for this month of awesome-sauce and sleep deprivation until October, but I recently sat down and did some brainstorming the other day.

You see, I have THREE ideas for NaNo projects this year. I thought brainstorming might help me come to a decision, but I was MISTAKEN. And so, gentle readers, I turn to you. Please, help me decide what to write about by casting a vote. Which of the following ideas sounds more like something you would want to chain yourself to for 30 days?

Option #1: ROAD RAGE
Tokyo Heiress, spoiled rich girl, has a pet peeve regarding proper driving. And when someone doesn't follow the rules of the road, she rams into their car, totaling both vehicles, because her parents can totally afford to buy her a new one, so why not?
Unfortunately, her parents decide to be totally not cool, and after a recent incident, have taken away her driving privileges and hired her a driver.
Unbeknownst to her parents, her driver has worse road rage than SHE does. And he doesn't necessarily follow driving laws himself, nor expect others to - he just wants everyone to recognize that the road is his.
Shenanigans ensue.

Option #2: AS-YET UNTITLED MYSTERY STORY
Female protag. lives on Ideal Street, but ironically deals with the desperate and despondent working as the front desk receptionist of a temporary agency. She herself is seeking different work because, frankly, working at a temp agency sucks and she doesn't make enough money to deal with this shit on a daily basis.
One day, whilst perusing Craigslist and making phone calls to fill a job order, she overhears a murder.
Except that no one believes her, the police having gone to the residence and ruled it as a suicide.
So female protag. will have to investigate this circumstance, herself.
The recently deceased was one of the few workers she actually enjoyed talking to on the phone and in the office. Plus, no one calls HER a liar...

Option #3: The Jane Austen Spin-off
This one will involve research. In case you haven't heard of it, Jane Austen was a few chapters into a new novel when she passed away. Most people call it Sanditon, because that was the residence at which the majority of the novel was to take place. Austen herself, however, was going to call it The Brothers. Basically, my idea is that a young woman finds herself living a life that draws many parallels to Sanditon/The Brothers - kind of a way to resolve/finish/sequel Austen's unfinished novel without actually poorly pretending to be her.
This one could be fun, and it would give me an excuse to re-read Austen, particularly that last work, as it's been awhile since I read it, and I would want to become familiar with it once more. I know that it had to do with hypochondriacs (of which I am one) and would probably place the new novel at a health resort or spa. Obviously, this one is the least fleshed out so far. Although I DO love Austen.

So - which idea do YOU like best? Please let me know in the comments below!

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