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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Next Big Thing




I was tagged by Amanda Borenstadt over at A Fortnight of Mustard.
You should go read about her Next Big Thing. She's funnier than me. Then go to the person she sends you to, and so on. It'll be fun.
The rules of the blog hop are simple: Answer ten questions about your WIP (Work in Progress) and tag five more writers/bloggers to do the same.

What is the working title of your book?

Perception.  
For a very long time, I thought this was perfect, but I don't like it anymore. Thinking of something better. . .
 
Where did the idea come from for your book?


It was so long ago, I don't remember. I do remember that this was the idea that brought me back to writing after 15 years away from it.

What genre does your book fall under?

Science Fiction. Aliens, spaceships, all that.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I've recently discovered that when I stand in the supermarket check out line, I no longer know who anyone on the magazine covers are. So I don't feel qualified to answer this. However, since it takes place on an alien planet with lots of different types of aliens wandering around, I think a fair amount of it would need to be computer animated.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?


A team of researchers underestimate the small, blind aliens on a previously unexplored planet, and must correct their mistake and gain the alien's help if they hope to make it home again.

Wow. I never tried to get it down to one sentence before. That was hard.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have no idea. Right now, it is too much of a mess to imagine anyone reading it. It is also going to end up being way too short for a traditional novel. I haven't let myself research publishing options for novellas until I get it fixed up into a presentable shape.

How long did it take to write the first draft of your book?

That depends on what you call the first draft. I wrote a 7,000 word short story with this idea back in 2005, when I started writing again. It was awful and only resembles my WIP in the overarching idea. I also wrote this as a NaNoWriMo novel for two separate years. Neither of them worked well for different reasons. My current incarnation is the best so far, but I've lost track of where one version started and where they ended.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

In most of the Sci-Fi I read the aliens are either walking and talking, or of the cute stupid fluffy type. I guess it might be somewhat like Sundiver by David Brin in that there are intelligent aliens that no one really understands, but that would be the only similarity.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It was just a "what if" idea I had that kept poking at me. I don't think humans are very good at recognizing intelligence in other species. I imagined this problem would be far worse when it came to alien life that was so vastly different from us.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

In addition to the aliens, it is also about doing something new, and scary. The main character has to learn to trust herself when she has no guide to follow.



I don't think I know any writers who haven't already been tagged. If I think of some, I will actually tag them this time because I love reading about other people's writing process.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

2012 NaNoWriMo

I was not going to participate in National Novel Writing Month this year. The main reason was that, having actually won NaNoWriMo once, I now know exactly what sort of mental energy it takes and I just plain don't have that in me right now.

But. . . .

I am darn close to finishing my work-in-progress (I've stopped calling it my novel since it will be far to short to fit that term). It has many problems and holes that need fixing. I know exactly what and where they are. I've kept a list, but haven't let myself fix them until I finish, since finishing is such a big problem for me.

It is very tempting to get to the end, and immediately start in on the rewrite, but all the advice I've heard says not to fall to that temptation. Instead, I understand it is wise to set the piece aside, give it a little time and distance, then I'll have a better perspective when I dive back in.

The timing seems perfect to let NaNoWriMo be that distance. Now, I'm not doing NaNo for real. I'll be breaking lots of rules. I may not be 100% finished with my WIP by Nov 1st, so I may work on that a few days first until the first draft is done. Also, as I mentioned, I can't cope with 1667 words a day, every day. So my own personal goal will be to just write every day. So I suppose I'm participating more in spirit than as an actual NaNo novelist.

I do have my idea though, and I plan to try to push myself a few hundred words past where I would normally stop writing each day.

So what are you doing for NaNoWriMo this year?