Fast Start for NaNoWriMo Day 18 - p**t - 4 Days until...

[ladyseishou]

I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have
a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride.

- Mark Haddon



There are four more days until the start of NaNoWriMo, Nano Writers! Yesterday we began to draw out a road map for our story beginning with the place that the story starts and someplace that our protagonist absolutely needs to get to. Today we look ahead and map out some roadblocks and detours...

Your protagonist turns the key in the ignition, the characters in the backseat start to chat excitedly again and you smooth out the map, drawing a line from where you start to...

Hmmm, the road ahead isn't as straight as you thought it might be. In fact, not too far up the road is your first roadblock...

It's annoying but it shouldn't be too difficult to drive around... but then you remember that this is something that your protagonist is afraid of/pretty much hates on sight: (what is this? why is this a problem for your protagonist?)

Your protagonist's best friend/mentor leans forward, resting his elbows on the back of the front seat, noticing too the nervous clutching of the driver's hands on the steering wheel, the furtive glances in the car's mirrors. "You can do this." A reassuring grip of the driver's shoulder comes with the advice and your protagonist nods his head in turn.

"Yes, I can."

You mark the obstacle on your map as your protagonist drives on...

This happens several more times, each one a little scarier/trickier/rougher than the last. But each time your protagonist handles the situation, maybe not as well as he could but good enough so that you're back out on the road. You draw in the particulars for a detour or two, each with its own colorful story: a roadside diner with great pie and coffee, mysterious phone calls, the hitchhiker that everyone made room for in the back but...

You notice then that the character with the scary eyes is missing. So is the scary bag...


Tomorrow we'll see what the story's antagonist is up to... until then, keep writing!

Comments

[kallistixf]

Not quite sure where to ask this so hopefully this is an okay place ...

From time to time I like to get broad feedback on something as I'm writing, for example the post I just made on who is the goddess of Design and Experience? How best to do this? On the NaNo site, it seems like the "Plot Doctoring" forum might be the closest ... here on DW, I'm tagging the entry with nanowrimo.

Does this make sense? Other suggestions?

Thanks!

[ladyseishou]

Good question! In general, any and all writing related topics may be posted to the Nano Writer community at large except during the month of November which is when I invite members to share their progress/excerpts/questions/comments/curses as a comment to the daily countdown post (example). This post should (*knocks on wood*) go up daily during NaNoWriMo.

As there are a few days left before November begins, you might try posting a request for feedback (in your subject header) with either the specific text behind a cut or as you have done, as a link to your journal.

The nanowrimo tag is fine. It should also bring your post to the attention of the Dreamwidth NaNo aggregator. If it is a specific question/comment regarding plot, character, etc. (as opposed to general feedback), you could use those topic-specific tags.

And a belated welcome to the Dreamwidth community! I've found this to be a very creative and nurturing tribe of like-minded souls! Good luck with your Nano novel!

[kallistixf]

Thanks much, ladyseishou ... I'll take you up on the invitation to request feedback once I incorporate what I've heard so far. What's been interesting is that the discussion in the NaNo forum and on my Facebook wall went completely different directions. On NaNo it was mostly about Athena and various war goddesses instead of Eris for security. On Facebook it's been much more about design with some great suggestions like the Muses and the Moirae.

And thanks so much for creating the community, it seems a really great introduction both to NaNoWriMo and Dreamwidth -- looking forward to spending a lot more time here!