Sunday, March 20, 2016

Camp NaNoWriMo Is Coming!


. . . And I have spent the last few days with a parody of a Christmas song stuck in my head. And it's a parody I made up, which is almost worse.


Anyway! There's only about ten days left before Camp NaNo begins, which means I really need to figure stuff out. I've decided I definitely am doing it, though possibly with a somewhat-lower-than-50K goal (I'm thinking the 30-40K range, depending what I end up writing). After all, there is other life stuff that I need to take care of too. That just leaves the question of what I'm writing (and, of course, figuring out a cabin . . . anyone else doing this and want to get together with me?). Unlike back in November, I do have several ideas. The issue is simply figuring out which one to do- which is why I'm writing this blog posts, both to help me sort out my thoughts and to share my ideas with the rest of you.
  • Mechanical Heart
    Genre:
    Steampunk fairy tale retelling
    Projected length: 20K
    What it's about: Inspired by "Shatter Me" by Lindsey Stirling, Mechanical Heart reimagines the story of Rapunzel in a dark steampunk world: a world where a new lease on life carries a dear price, where mechanical innovations have created a new form of slavery, and where a girl waits in a clockwork tower, wondering if she's truly alive anymore . . . and if there's any way she could be again.
    Pros: I know the basic storyline already. Steampunk is really fun to write, and I've had this story simmering in my head for a few years.
    Cons: I was originally planning to save this story for July's Camp. I do want to try for more than just 20K in April, so I'd have to switch stories midway through and April is not Rebel Month.
  • Unnamed Fantasy-Mystery
    Genre:
    Fantasy-mystery, similar to The King of Attolia.
    Projected length: 40-50K
    What it's about: This story would be set in Aveomar (same as Binding Destiny) or another connected world. It concerns the death of a duke, a young nobleman who suspects foul play, and the duke's unexpected heir: a young woman with a secret. War approaches and tensions are high, even without a murderer on the loose. Will the truth be discovered and justice be done? Or will a killer lead a nation into ruin?
    Pros: Again, I've had the storyline simmering in my head for a year or two. It's something different than I usually write. It would be a challenge, but hopefully a fun one.
    Cons: I've never written a mystery or a heavily politic-based story before- not with any success, anyway. It would take a lot more planning than I usually do, and possibly a bit more research as well. On the long side.
  • Editing
    Genre:
    Fantasy.
    Projected length: 30-40K
    What it's about: Instead of writing an entirely new story, I could pick one of my already-written stories and try to get a lot of it edited over the month of April.
    Pros: I really do need to keep editing things; the stories just keep piling up. And it would be interesting to see how much I could do with the challenge of Camp NaNo to keep me going.
    Cons: April still isn't Rebel Month. Also, half the point of Camp NaNo is actually writing something. (The other half, for the record, is the community and challenge.)
  • A Short Story (Or Poem) a Day
    Genre:
    Various
    Projected length: 30K
    What it's about: I get a lot of short story and poetry prompts (some of which would possibly come from you all?). Each day, I pick one (probably at random) and write something based off of it.
    Pros: Variety is fun! And I do want to write more short fiction and poetry. Also, it would be less of a "write X words per day" challenge and more of a "write something new every day" challenge, which could be interesting. It would also give me some new content to post on here.
    Cons: A single ongoing plot is a lot easier to manage than coming up with a new plot every day or even every few days. Working ahead in this challenge would be rather difficult. And- say it with me!- April isn't Rebel Month.
  • Untitled Portal-Contemporary Fantasy
    Genre:
    Contemporary/portal fantay
    Projected length: 50K
    What it's about: The direct sequel to Between Two Worlds, this story focuses on Ella, Kate's little sister. Ever since Katelyn had her adventure, Ella feels as if she's been left out of her sister's world- and not just in the figurative sense. She's sick of secrets, of being left behind, and of her depressingly normal life. So when not one but two mysterious strangers show up at her summer camp, she figures it's her turn at an adventure . . . but she doesn't realize that in her desperation to not be left behind again, she might end up looking in all the wrong places.
    Pros: Like Between Two Worlds, this is based on a favorite daydream of mine, so I know pretty much the whole plot already. Ella is fun to write, and I always love visiting the BTW multiverse.
    Cons: It might be a bit longer than I want to write at the moment. It's also one of the darker stories on this list in certain respects, so I'm not positive that I'm ready to write it.
Which of these stories sounds most interesting to you, out of curiosity? Also, what are your plans for Camp NaNo (if you have any)? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

10 comments:

  1. The steampunk one sounds really cool! It sounds the most interesting to me, personally, even though I don't like fairy tale retellings that much.

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad you think it's cool. (And could that be considered a higher compliment than it otherwise would be, since you like it in spite of not usually being into fairy tale retellings?)

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  2. I think one of the first two... They all sound intriguing, though! I'm considering doing CampNaNo... but I don't know if I'd be joining the site or not.

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    1. Thank you! And you should do it and you should join the site and we can be in the same cabin and it'll be awesome. :D

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  3. Whoa, that retelling sounds amazing. They all do, actually. XD
    The first two are definitely the ones that grab my attention the most, though. :)

    I'm doing Camp. :D But I'm already part of a full cabin... :P

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! At this point, I'm leaning towards either Mechanical Heart or the short-story a day thing, mostly because, while I really want to write the second one, it might require more research/planning than I really have time for right now. :P But it kind of depends how things work out with other summer plans.

      Best of luck to you!

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  4. Like many other people who have commented, the first two ideas look most compelling to me.

    I would have liked to do Camp. At this point it's looking like April will be a planning/research/development month for me, though. Maybe July, though.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!

      Aw, too bad. Still, if that's what you need to do, I wish you well. Hope you can join in come July!

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  5. The steampunk/Rapunzel one sounds really neat, and I like the last idea, too.
    Just wondering, how many times have you participated in Camp NaNo before?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      I've participated eight times- six on the official site, twice on my own. And I'm rather pleased to say that I've won every time. :)

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I'd love to hear your thoughts! But remember: it pays to be polite to dragons.