System 13

Today was the first day of NaNoWriMo. I didn’t get done as much as I’d hoped to on the first day: just around 1000 words. I was really hoping to hit 2000 – 2500 today to get a decent jumpstart. However, even with just 1000 words on the first day, I’ve accomplished more on this “novel” than I’ve ever done on previous writing attempts. How so, you ask? I started writing – actually writing! Not brainstorming, or thinking, or, ahem, planning. Writing! It’s only 1000 words, but it’s 1000 more words than I’d ever really gotten on any novel writing attempts before (and there have been a fair share of attempts, I assure you). In the past, my “gotta’ over-analyze it all” brain took over, and that was the end of the creative process. I never got to the actual writing bit because I felt that I had to get the background setting perfect; the names of characters perfect; everything perfect, before I wrote even as little as a single page. So, even if I don’t hit the 50,000 word mark by the end of the month, I’ll be happy for giving it a whirl, because it actually got my ass in gear and got me to write something.

I’ve found that by jumping in and starting to write, ideas come naturally – certainly easier and more naturally than when I’d sit down with a blank piece of paper and tell myself to “come up with a plot, and a background setting, and a cast of characters, and the life histories of all of the characters, and…” Instead of doing that, this time I just opened up Word (well, technically, Google Docs), thought of a simple scene, and went from there. Doing that for 1000 words, I’ve come up with a general plotline that I’d like to follow, as well as a few characters that will be major players in the story.

I decided against the weird concept of fantasy / sci-fi / comedy. While I’m sure it’s doable, I wanted to go with something a bit more mainstream, as well as something I’m comfortable with. So, the novel will be joining the vast (vast, vast….) ranks of the medieval fantasy genre. The major difference that I’m going to try and put in my novel is a heavy dosage of medieval grittiness. That’s probably one of my major gripes with most fantasy novels I’ve read in the past: they’re too clean. In a bizarre way, they’re too modern. The swords and sorcery are there, but the medieval edginess isn’t. The whole vibe that life was extremely rough during the medieval period and before often seems to be erased with perfect, shiny suits of armor and gem-encrusted swords. I think that in a way, the novel may end up being more historical-based fiction with light elements of fantasy, rather than an all-out fantasy. As regular readers can probably guess, quite a few characters (actually, a whole kingdom, really) is modelled on the Norse people. They’re certainly not copies with a different name (they aren’t highly capable seamen, for example), but I am going to try and get the Norse feel going with them.

More on this tomorrow most likely, after I’ve written (hopefully) a few more thousand words. If you’re taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, best of luck to you!