7,614 / 50,000 (15.2%)

In other words, I'm behind. I'm not too worried, though. I've written quite a bit today and I'm not going to go to bed before I've hit the 8K mark.

Today, for the first time so far, I actually wrote a scene I like. It's got a point, it's got the necessary emotion, it's kind of random and kind of unexpected and I quite like it. And it's about 2000 words, which helps, too.

( Random thoughts on my NaNo, aka, What I've Learned So Far )

This is mostly for __neongenesis, though naturally, everyone is welcome to take a look.

So, TT is telling the story, and Kassu is his bandmate. The bass to his guitar, etc. His future boyfriend, too, though TT's clueless, as of now. I'm Not Here is the only single they ever released, before their record company decided to sack them.

( Here be a few paragraphs of my NaNo. )

I've just now broken the 5K mark. I was hoping to hit 6K tonight. And I have to go back to work soon. *eyes clock with concern*

ETA: In English this snippet is 334 words. In Finnish it's merely 256 words. Good god.

This is unreal. I've got 400 words and I've already managed this:

I wondered if my dad had a rifle hidden away in some closet. Maybe with a proper gun I'd be able to shield myself against the plans of the mad bunny. Then I remembered this was not an American movie.

...I have no excuses.

Watch me change my mind about which story I'm going to write. *chokes*

Sometimes I feel like I haven't thought my story through. In those cases, my characters pull stunts on me, do things I don't want them to, say things I wasn't expecting. It's somewhat terrifying.

It's also the best sort of writing I've ever done. It's how all my best stories come into existence.

So who am I to plan my plotlines for something like NaNo, which is supposed to be fun, not work in any way?

I'll write about #1 then; a bloke coming home for the summer yadda yadda, I even have the opening line for it. Nicked it from work. That's about all I have, though, so we'll see where it goes from there.

I really want to write something á la Six Feet Under, where when you think you know exactly what's going on, the situation turns upside down.

Also, I want to have a character in my story who keeps getting killed off. *plots*

I've been thinking about naming the main character Joonas. I'm not crazy about the name, and he doesn't seem crazy about the name, but it suits him, in a weird way.

As for his best friend - I really want to name him Mikael. Unfortunately, I have a Mikael in my circle of friends, and that's just not acceptable. My next thought was Sami. (Seriously. Football much?) However, I have a co-worker called Sami.

Right now I'm thinking about Oskari. Even though I've once known an Oskari. And I don't like that name much, either.

What is it with me giving terrible names to my characters?

(In Riot, the two main characters are called Tapio and Kalervo and I absolutely hate both names. The names suit them, though. And they do have nice nicknames.)

For a long time now, I've had this thing for the Ten Commandments.

A friend of mine once pointed out that several of the commandments actually weaken the chances of survival of any spiecies. Greed, for instance, wanting your neighbour's things, has always helped individuals on. And as for adultery - without sex people wouldn't reproduce. And so on.

I'd really like to use them as some sort of on-going theme - maybe ironically, so that the hero of story breaks them all and still manages to save humankind, or suchlike.

( The Ten Commandments, in Finnish, since I keep losing the link )

I still don't know what I'm going to write for NaNo this year, and I suppose I won't make up my mind before November 1st. I do, though, have four different storylines sorted. I just need to pick the one I'm going to write. Some of them are more thoroughly developed than others. Here they are...

1. Stealing Apples

A young man comes home for the summer to take care of the house while his parents are out of the country. He notices that the old lady living next door is acting strangely - and remembers that she always has, even when he was a little kid.

Genre: fantasy/magical realism

( Details )


2. Riot

The story of the rise and fall of a rock band. Four boys get a record deal mostly by accident, which leads them into accidental fame. At first everything is fine, but then the pressure of fame and fortune pushes the four young men into a spiral of sex and drugs. Real love might yet save them - but in a world of youth and rock'n'roll, what is real anymore?

Genre: Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Drama. Angst.

( Details )


3. Illusions

Marika is struggling to forget about her past. She's trying to do the right thing, trying to hold together, she has a job and a flat and something of a life. She meets Kristian, and for a moment, all seems to be working out. But she realises she can't run from her past forever.

Genre: Drama. Angst.

( Details )


4. Alive For Now

An unnamed protagonist, a very young woman, suddenly gets a compelling need to get away. Without a word, she walks away from her friends, gets into a taxi, and finds herself abroad in a matter of hours. She doesn't know what she's doing and frankly, she doesn't care. She leaves no trace of herself behind, uses someone else's ID to get around, comes up with new names for herself as she meets new people.

She finds herself in London, surrounded by new people and a new, if fake, life. For a while, things are looking up - but is`even London enough?

Genre: Drama, angst.

( Details )


I know for a fact that, as it's going to be a very intensive period of writing, what will start shining through is my sense of humour. That's what happens every time. If I'm in a hurry to get a lot of text written and don't have all that much to say, I'm inclined to throw in some jokes to help with the pacing of the story.

I'm actually quite pleased with this. It looks like there's some potential in each of these storylines. Which is good, because right now I have absolutely no idea which one I'm going to write.