NaNoWriMo Prep- Week 2

Two things about the story I will write for NaNoWriMo are certain so far: who my main character is and the setting of my story.

The setting of the story is set as far as where I want the story to start and where my main character will be most of the time in this world. The characters in my story will travel to a variety of settings, but I know where the majority of their time will be spent. I keep wanting to write that this place is where my main character is most comfortable, but that’s not the whole truth. The setting is a place my character feels most at home in, but is also not a safe place to be in the story. I know my main character is a girl, somewhere around nineteen or twenty. I know the danger in the story, though not how it’s going to be neutralized nor all the ways it will threaten the groups my main character will be with. I also don’t know why they’re all doing what they’re doing yet. There’s the typical way the story could go, but that’s not where I’m being pulled. My main character has my hand while my story pushes me from behind, both leading me down an unknown path. I don’t know where we’re going, but I know they will get me there.

I’m going to do some writing exercises with my main character to see how she reacts and get a better feel for who she is. I have an idea of who her friend is and the more I think of her, the more she solidifies in my mind. Thinking of the main character and her friend traveling through the setting gives me an idea of how they will interact together which makes me think of other things that will happen. I’m going to take time to do that this week- put the characters in places and see where they go and who else they introduce me to. Hopefully, that will lead me to figuring out the antagonist of the story and then I can start putting information into the story plan. For the story plan, I use notes from the writing exercises I do and from the activities in the first part of the book Fast Fiction. Again, I can’t recommend this book enough. I’m excited to get into the activities and start figuring out this story.

How’s the writing going? Anyone else figuring out the story they’ll be writing for NaNoWriMo?

Happy Writing!