My #NaNoWriMo Plan

Ok, NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow.  This will be my first attempt at it.  I’m a mix of confident and uncertain about it.  My confidence comes from knowing that back in July, during my 30,000 word challenge, I cranked out over 29,000 words in ten days.  So I know for a fact that I can get 50,000 words in a month if I focus and am not distracted.

The problem is distraction.

I’m pretty psyched about my story concept.  I call it Glimmer Vale.  Think of it as Seven Samurai in a fantasy setting.  Two soldiers are on their way back from the front and they take the short way through a seldom-used pass in the mountains instead of going a couple hundred extra leagues out of their way through the more heavily travelled southern pass.  As they emerge from Garret’s Gorge into the Glimmer Vale, a valley in the middle of the mountain range, they are accosted by bandits but are able to fight their way through.  Soon they reach Lydelton, a town perched on the shores of Lake Glimmermere and the Vale’s chief settlement.  Lydelton was once a major trading hub, but as the kingdom expanded south and began to make use of the easier southern pass, trade dwindled.  Now only the occasional merchant caravan comes through.  All the same, after the guys get settled into the Inn for the night and relate their experience with the bandits, the local constable tells them that an entire company of thugs has taken up residence in the pass and has been harassing the town and whatever few caravans happen to come through.  He brings them to speak with the mayor, who entreats them to help drive the bandits away.  Though reluctant to get involved, they realize they are caught in the trap along with the townsfolk, and they may not make it out of the Vale alive unless they do what the mayor asks.  So they decide to help the town, and calamity ensues.

Sounds fun, doesn’t it?  That’s the point.  Masters is fairly dark.  So is The Pericles Conspiracy.  And don’t even get me started on The Penitent (not that I’ve told anyone but my better half what it’s about yet.  But trust me. Dark.).  I’m not really a dark guy.  I’m actually more than a little cheerful and optimistic.  Some of my short stories, like Damsel and Measuring Up, are more lighthearted and fun.  And set in a fantasy setting.  I decided I wanted to write a longer work that was just fun, quick, adventurous, upbeat, and in the fantasy genre.  Hence: Glimmer Vale.  It’s going to be fun.

So what’s my plan to make it work? At the risk of being too simplistic: write every chance I get.  Get up early and write before the kids wake up (and my little man is ALWAYS up between 5:30 and 6 every morning.  Which is fine, I do that a lot for my job.  But seriously dude?  Getting up that early on the weekends?  Ugh).  Write at lunchtime and during free moments at work.  Write every night.  Go to NaNo write-ins in my local area whenever I can.

Dunno if it will work, but it’ll be fun to try.  🙂

Ok, I’m off to put some last words down on Volume One of The Pericles Conspiracy now, before I start Glimmer Vale at midnight.  I didn’t get as much done on Pericles as I hoped, so it’s still a few thousand words from being complete.  But that’s ok.  I’ll work in some time in November to finish it up too.  Or in December.  Of course, I told my editor I’d get it done by the middle of November, so the earlier the better, right?  🙂

Anyway, I’ll be posting updates on my NaNoWriMo progress here daily, if I can manage it.  Let’s rock!