Another problem, I feel, is a lack of good plot ideas. I have plenty of ideas for characters, situations and scenes, but very few ideas that I can figure into a full, cohesive plot that can carry a fifty-thousand-word novel.
Camp NaNoWriMo is an unofficial event hosted by the NaNoWriMo organization that takes place in April and July. The format and goals are much more open than the official event. In November you have to write a fifty-thousand-word novel, at Camp NaNo you can write whatever you want.
- Set your goal to thirty and write a haiku a day for the month.
- Set your goal to sixty and write a sixty-page travel guide of Barcelona.
- Set your goal to fifty thousand and write a fifty-thousand-word novel.
I’ve only attempted Camp NaNo once before - and failed. Without the hard goal of fifty-thousand words, and the community that forms around the official event, I just haven't been able to motivate myself for Camp.
Last year I tried to write a story about a tabloid reporter who went to a small town in Northern California to solve the mystery of a murder that was allegedly perpetrated by a sasquatch. I couldn’t find the plot, the story kind of meandered and didn’t get anywhere as I tried to force fit everything into the plot that didn't work. Bah!
I’m setting my goal to twenty-five thousand. My plan is to send the tabloid reporter to the town in search of a general bigfoot story. Instead of writing a story, I'll write about the weird characters he meets in the town and describe the scenes between them. My hope is that I will discover a good plot that I can then turn into a good novel.
If it works I will have discovered a great process. If not, well I'm working on my writing habit.
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