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NaNoWriMo: WEEK ONE – Plant a Seed Scene

NaNoWriMo

WEEK ONE: Planning

1. Plant a Seed Scene

These are my personal tips for NaNoWriMo. You know the drill. Take what works, shove the rest off the table, roll up your sleeves and get to work.

A seed scene refers to that flash of inspiration you get when suddenly you see a place or an image or a person, and you know there’s a story ready to grow out of it. You have no idea how, but it’s all folded up inside, if you can just nourish it.

Maybe some people go into NaNoWriMo with absolutely no idea what to write, but I’m guessing a lot more people go in with some idea for a novel or twenty ideas for a novel. Having the seeds of twenty different novels and not knowing which to plant can be just as paralyzing as having no idea.

I’ve looked back over different stories I’ve written, and realized that often the spark that starts the story in my mind, which kindles my interest in the novel, is a single scene. Sometimes I have no idea who the characters are, or where, or why they are doing the things they are doing, but I have a strong, single scene.

I wasn’t sure I had a scene like that this time…and then I realized I did. I hadn’t written an outline yet, my characters didn’t even have names, but I had a cool scene!

I jotted it down. As soon as I finished it, I knew it wasn’t going to work as it was, but I don’t see it as wasted work. On the other hand, I don’t need to struggle to keep it going either, until I finally get so stuck that pulling myself out of the plot hole is like fighting quicksand. (A mistake I used to make all the time when trying to “pants” it.) Instead, I used that scene to get a feel for what I liked about this idea, what I wanted to pursue.

Find Me On NaNoWriMo

If you’re doing NaNoWriMo this year and want to buddy me, I’m taramaya88.

I’m working on a Young Adult holiday novel. This might be a stand-alone or part of an episodic series. That is to say that unlike The Unfinished Song, which is all one connected story, this book has a resolution at the end (a happy ending, of course). If there are other books in the series, they will also stand alone, although they may have some of the same characters and would be set in the same world. Each one would be about a different holiday.

The problem with holiday novels is that I’m only in a mood to write them at certain times of the year. I wonder why that is, hmmm….  Anyway, I decided to give it a try, and if it works, maybe I’ll have this out in time for the holiday in question next year.

Here’s the cover (for now). Guess the holiday:

Here’s the blurb:

Knights of the Year

Thousands of dimensions overlap our own–sharing the same physical but divergent psychic space. Some of these dimensions are closer to the Light than the human plane. Some are closer to the Void. Individuals with special sight can see across dimensions, but besides dying or being born, the only one way for an ordinary person to travel between dimensions is to use the magic of the Gates–what we call holidays. The Gates are guarded, on the earthly side, by the Knights of the Year. At least they were–until one Knight slaughtered all the rest and scattered their Keys.

October Knight

Brandon Kickabut attends a high school with teachers from hell, evades the cruel pranks of his stepbrothers and endures the abuse of his stepfather. You know, just your average high school sophomore goblin. Except for one thing: he knows humans and other creatures of legend are real. He can see across dimensions, and he’s been spying on the human plane, searching for his mother and father who disappeared when he was young.

Instead, he encounters Pam Stryker, a gorgeous human girl. Brandon convinces his friends to help him open the Gate to the human plane in time for Homecoming, even though the dance is held in early October, and goblins are not allowed to travel to the human plane any day except Halloween. And as long as he’s breaking the rules, why not use a little magic to ensure that he’s Homecoming King and Pam is his Queen? He knows it can’t last–she’s WAY out of his league–all he wants is one perfect night with his dream girl.

And it IS perfect…until his ogre stepbrothers steal his Gate to unleash an army of teen goblins onto the earth. Worse yet, Pam is not just Homecoming Queen, she’s a Ghulstryker, and her job is to rid the earth of monsters from other dimensions. Including Brandon. But he can’t leave yet. Not only does he have to help Pam fight off the other goblins, whether she wants it or not, but Pam is the only one who can tell him what happened to his parents. Brandon already knows he’s not going to like the news. For his father was the October Knight, and was either slaughtered along with all the other Knights or…as Pam believes… was the killer.

Wing Blog Tour

To celebrate the release of Wing, novel excerpts, guest posts, character sketches, and reviews will be popping up across the Internet. Feel free to follow along. There’s still several dates available and I’d love to have you join! Email my assistant (katie @ misquepress.com) and she’ll get you penciled in.

November 1      Once Upon a Time excerpt
November 2 Anna Kashina excerpt
November 3 E-Reading and Ray Tracing      excerpt
November 4 MeReader excerpt
November 6 The Innocent Flower excerpt
November 8 Library Girl Reads and Reviews      character sketch
November 14 Mervi’s Book Reviews review
November 26 E-Reading and Ray Tracing guest post
November 27 MeReader Initiate review
November 29 Her Ladyship’s Request post from Tara
December 19 Books and Things review
December 20 The Mod Podge Bookshelf post from Tara