Is that the sound of chickens? Ba-bock!

So I finally settled on a project for NaNoWriMo. I’ve been juggling between three ideas and finally settled on a full plot rewrite of my very first manuscript.

It’s the writer’s version of cheating. You can say it. Cheating.

I think I’m chickening out. Writing an entirely new book scares me. It’s been a year since I wrote something totally new. I wrote my first book TWICE already. There’s no telling how many times I revised it.

I wrote my second book, then decided it needed to be three books, so I started over. Wrote two and a half… then quit. To revise. The muse said, You’re an idiot cuz you’re gonna change book one upteen million times and books two and three will be useless. She was right. And guess what? I just rewrote book one. After a billion revisions. New beginning, new ending. Oh, and you know what? Books two and three are useless. The muse is smart. Sarcastic, but smart.

Then came the 2010 NaNo. I’d been playing with that idea for like a year, then buckled down and finally did it. I literally used NaNo as a reason to get the damn idea out of my head. Guess who rewrote the entire thing plot and all last summer? *raises hand* (Ew, but I had some “interest” in that one, so it’s closer to perfection with each rewrite. How freakin sad is that?!)

I’m currently revising said NaNo (again), and deep in line edits for the first book of my vampire series. I’m crazy to add another book under my belt, but now I’m itching. At least it’s not an entirely new book! LOL. I’ve had a YA bouncing around my head for a year but the world building is going to be nasty. NASTY, I say. Then I recalled this seriously old story I used to write in my head pre-writer days last month. That thing is basically plotted out because I freaking wrote the entire thing in my head for God’s sake. I should write that one.

But I can’t.

The scenes for this new rewrite are slamming into me with warp speed force. I can’t say it’s totally cheating. I’m taking out half of the plot, changing up an entire main character backstory. Two main’s actually. Does it help that I have zero gmc’s for my antagonist yet? That’s right. ZERO. I never did, which was the problem to begin with.

Good Lord I need help.

So, uh, doing NaNo? Buddy me Click the link on the top right to find me! Watch my rewrite in action.

Nano Prep: World Building

There's less than a month to prepare for NaNoWriMo. Are you getting ready? Plotting away? Most of us have our ways of preparing. Plotters are surrounded by whiteboards, post-its, notecards . . . stuff. Pantsers (like me) are plotting in their heads. Sort of:) We're just going to wing it and keep our fingers crossed we come up with something fabulous.

But here's where we can all get into trouble: World Building. We spend so much time working out plot and character that we forget to build the world. And it can be somewhat realistic and similar to ours, or it can be basic and not really believable. OR you can make it REAL. Knowing every inch of your world will only help you in the long run.

Before I start, let me tell you that I am NO expert on world building by any stretch of the imagination. But I have taken a couple workshops... Putting the information I've gathered to use has yet to be put to the test, and I have to get over my procrastination hurdle to implement.

World building is no joke. This isn't simply about viewing the world from the outside. I think what makes world building the most difficult is that in most cases you're using environments that most people live in day to day. It has to be realistic--fantasy or not. And those people will criticize you to no end if you get it wrong. 

So to start, it's important to do your research. If you're writing a historical, for example, you don't want to compare someone to fine china if fine china doesn't exist yet in that period. If you use street names and describe areas, going off memory isn't necessarily the best way to go. Did you know Google Earth will take you to street level? Put in your address, drag the "figure" to the street and all the buildings will come up around you. It's brilliant. You can "walk" down any street you want. Well, almost. It's damn near close. (Also, a little creepy that technology like this exists...) Anyway, get your geology set up and straightened out to near perfection or you're going to lose readers.

Okay, so that's your first step. What else is there, you ask? Good question. Depending on how fantastical your world, you have governments to build. Spiritual beliefs. What are your people like culturally? Any taboos? What sort of clothing do they wear? Climates. Architecture. Language. Race. Are they technological? Magical? What sort of medicine do they rely on? Transportation. Commerce. And finally, plant life and animals.

The evolution of your people are very important. Some of the answers you come up with for the above questions come directly from this evolution. What part of their history led them to that point?

Out of those answers, are there any that can add to your plot? Any that will add conflict? Poisonous plants? Will any of the technology create a natural disaster? Will a prudence in culture cause a problem for your main character? So many possibilities for conflict exist in the answers you come up with.

Obviously, if you're not delving really far into a fantasy realm, you won't have a whole lot of work to do. I might be a little jealous:) But knowing your world is super important regardless of genre.