"Light Up the Mic Like a Silmaril"

As you may be able to judge from the lack of posts on here, I haven't been working on my novel for a bit. I've been busy doing other things, like sitting around my dorm and doing nothing. That counts, right?

I actually feel like I can't do much else for the novel that isn't writing it. That last bit of work I did on it was fleshing out the outline, but that turned too much into actually writing the story. I stopped that right away, and decided to wait until November. However, it might not be a bad thing to go and make up some more random tribes, or think about some random backstory information that has nothing to do with the plot.

For example, I could come up with a more concrete backstory for the characters, and even for the society. Also, the gimmick that originally inspired this novel (spirit guides for the members of the main society that helped them in war and "lived" inside their necklaces) hasn't been explained. Hell, it's not even mentioned in the plot outline. Perhaps I should work on that.

OR, I could go with my other plan, which would only happen if the main plot falls short of 50k. I would write backstories for the characters and societies. They would read something like a history book, like The Silmarillion for The Lord of the Rings. Admitedly, I haven't read it, only heard about it. But from what I understand it's more of a history book for Middle-Earth, rather than a single coherent story. I would like to do that, perhaps even if I decided to stick with this project after November/50k.

In other news, Halloween is just around the corner, which I'm excited for. I got some makeup and fangs, because I saw them in a trip to the Halloween store I made. I didn't go for myself, though. A friend was looking for components for a Green Lantern costume, and I must say it's looking pretty good. I just saw the fangs and makeup and though that they'd be cool to have. The only downside is that the fangs don't allow me to chew properly, so if I decide to wear them on Halloween night, I won't be eating any candy, which might actually be a good thing...

Development Development Revolution

So I'm fleshing out the details to the novel. I came up with names for the main characters, and a list of auxiliary names that I can use whenever without having to think too hard (or use name generators). I've also worked on several different societies that the hero will travel to. In addition, I've actually drawn some pictures on how some of the people will dress. I didn't like the original idea I had for the main group of people , and it was hard to come up with something else, cause the description of them I had in my head lent itself so well to them. It took a while to get over it, but it finally worked.

If you're looking for even more details, you're gonna have to wait. I don't want to divulge too much of the story I have so far, since I'll probably end up changing it later. And putting the story in a public forum feels like I'm making a promise to you guys, and I don't want to do that just yet.

I also like surprising people :)

So what I have left to do before November 1st:

• Develop a few more tribes, whether they'll be used or not
• Flesh out details of the plot
• Divy up the plot into words. This'll be 1) evenly among plot points, and 2) weighted twoard more important plot points. This'll help me out in figuring out how many words I should dedicate to each part.
• Gear up and get to writing!

I can't help but think there was something else on that list, but I can't remember. Well, we'll figure it out eventually :-P

That's it for now. I'm off to listen to an argument about the Matrix movies.

And it begins...

Well, not yet. I'm officially not supposed to start until the 1st. I'm just getting prepared. Getting this blog set up, checking out the forums and getting ideas, and stocking up on energy drinks.

I'm currently working off a short .txt file that has a bunch of notes about my story, and I think I made a bunch of progress today. After reading a few entries on http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com (the LiveJournal for the author of the Dresden Files), I made a big effort today and developed a pretty big plot. It should keep me busy for the month, and perhaps more.

Interesting tidbit, my first ideas for the plot accidentally resembled that of Batman Begins, cause I'm a sucker for good guy turned bad (Henri Ducard -> R'as Al Ghul, also, Liam Neeson's freakin' awesome). So, after attempting to tweak the story a bit, It ended up being a mixture of Batman Begins, God of War, and the Odyssey. At least the plot has elements from each of those stories (and I'm thinking of setting it in a Final Fantasy like setting...)

But, there one thing I learned in the last few months (although I was applying it to music for my Humanities and Arts Project): There is almost nothing that is new. If my goal was to create something novel (oh haha, a pun), I'd go insane, because it's nearly impossible (especially for someone with my limited writing experience). Instead, I hope to add my voice and my twist on things to stories and ideas already presented to the public.

And, if you've happened to not have experienced Batman Begins, the Odyssey, God of War, or Final Fantasy, well that'll make the journey all the more new.