It’s never too early to begin plotting for NaNoWriMo. (I know. This priceless gem from me, the pantser.)
It all starts with a blank piece of paper, or in my case, a page from my Hobonichi. (See above.)
Now that I’ve relocated and am semi-settled (just have the tail ends of remodeling to weather through), I’m beginning to sort out where my creative pursuits will fit in to my new retired life. I haven’t completely figured out my bead room (the hardwood floors need to be refinished before I can make final plans) but I have located my notebooks. (YAY! Me!)
While on my morning walk/run yesterday, an idea came to me out of the blue. I figured out what to write for the yearly NaNo project! I know, I can barely believe it myself. My novel will be based on the short story, Runners, which was published in Medium a couple of years ago, and is featured in my Shorts chap book. (Check either one out. Or email me and I’ll sign a copy and send it to you.)
I even have a title. (I’m trying to refrain from the overuse of exclamation marks, but I’m so excited.) It will be called Running To, as opposed to running away. Like the short story, it will take place here, in the foothills of the Front Range.
That’s about all I got to yesterday on my walk, because about halfway up the mountain, I ran into this:
Yes, that’s exactly what it looks like. It’s a bear. I was momentarily knocked off balance, which is why this picture looks so crummy. It took a few seconds to regain my composure and whip my phone out. By that time, Yogi Bear had high-tailed it (amazingly quickly too) across the road and onto a driveway and I wasn’t going to follow him for a better shot. Dude. I’m not that crazy.
So today I will take that blank page and fill it with ideas regarding a beginning, a middle, and an end. I’ll try to figure out why my protagonist ran away, and what and why she is running to.
I speak from experience when I say NaNoWriMo is so much easier if you have a plan. It doesn’t have to be a full outline. You don’t even need an entire cast of characters. You just need a beginning, a middle, and an end, and one person’s struggle.
Here we go!
