I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks.
This is not because TVTropes has ruined my life, but because because NaNoWriMo owns my soul.
I’ve written an average of 2,000 words a day, every day, since the first of November.
Two. Thousand. What?
Actually, it’s not quite like that. Some days I write three to six thousand, some days I write three hundred to a thousand. Yesterday I wrote nothing for the first time in this whole months because I had a headache.
It’s pretty good practice, both at getting me working every day and at improving my writing technique which is… technically proficient, but stylistically clunky (which is not the same thing as stylistic suck. What do you mean TVTropes has ruined my vocabulary?).
So, what’s the novel about, I hear you cry? Well, to explain that properly I really need to explain the genesis of the idea.
I was sitting in the university, desperately trying to work out what to write for Nano on the first day. My mind went, as it often does, to Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces . I’ve never read it, but I’ve heard elements of it down the years, and it always seemed to me that if you think about it the right way, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings have a lot in common.
It’s the story of a boy who has no parents, and is being raised by his nearest living relatives. He discovers that he has power, and is given a magical macguffin. He has to go on a quest, and learn how to use his power along the way. He makes friends, and they become a loyal band. There is a small resolution, and by the end of the first section of his story, he has gained some knowledge, a minor victory, and the first step on the way to his ultimate goal.
So I decided to write the Lord of the Star Potters.
Then I decided that was silly, but had the idea to write a book, but write it from the a perspective you wouldn’t expect. Like, for example Neville’s, Chewbacca’s, or Boromir’s. (Although knowing the Star wars EU that novel probably exists, and the other two are almost definitely existant in fanfic).
So, I made the story of a magical girl, whose mother is wrongly accused of murder. Her mother’s former work partner seeks out her estranged daughter, tells her she’s magical, and together they solve the case. (With a twist. I love twists). Except, this story is about her best friend, who is not magical. She’s just a single mother.
It’s really a very good plot. I with it were in the hands of a better writer, but I’ll make of it what I can.
And my head hurts, so that’s all I have for tonight.
