Monday, November 10, 2008

NaNoWriMo Update: 11/10

Writing a novel with no plot is hard.

As you may have read in an earlier update, I after a lot of head scratching and restarts, I finally went with an idea I thought had potential to work.

Unfortunately, in going with that idea, I left a number of plots on the table that I now can't use. Plots that probably would have been a lot easier to flesh out and come to a conclusion with. As it stands right now, I have a weak beginning, a few ideas I want to put in the novel, and no ending.

It's not the world's best position to be in with only a few weeks to go. However, I plan to soldier on, and hope I can come up with a hook to make this at least somewhat interesting; I would hate to have the drawer I put it in when I'm done to be bored with it.

I will tell you what it's about. I won't tell you what the other ideas that I'm not writing are though. There are plenty of plot poachers out there, ready to cash in on my brilliance (I might be a slight bit over paranoid about some things).

It's a story of a teenaged boy's last summer at a swim club before college.

Slightly autobiographical (at least the location and many of the hijinks that ensue), somewhat whimsical, mostly crap.

5 comments:

khop said...

Couple of anecdotes from my life guarding days you are free to poach (if running low on ideas or just need to fill space):
1. two lifeguards at my pool had sex in the pump room (ugh, awful pun) and made a baby. The baby mamma went her entire freshman year of college successfully hiding that she was up the duff. (not me!) baby named Summer (again, ugh)
2. life guard/ swim coach extraordinaire went to coach in a neighboring development who hadn’t won a swim meet in 11 years. Due to her coaching genius, said team actually won a meet by 4 points, beating the community she grew up in and parents still lived in. Parents’ neighbors not at all amused, deemed traitors at annual pig roast.
3. Cheerios floating boredom issues (see a past comment.)

Goose said...

if you've read any of the Hidden Hollow files, you'll see some of the stuff we got away with at the pool, but I haven't really touched on the interpersonal dynamics of what went on - pretty much due to legal constraints.

Suffice it to say, Sex, drugs and rock and roll however flowed through that swim club. FLOWED.

Anonymous said...

Sex, drugs and rock and roll . . . write what you know. I just have one request. Don't end it with a drowning . . . maybe a burning, but please, no drowning.

Thanks to you I'm signed on to this craziness as well, and I might have even less viable plot material. More on that when next we meet.

How many words do you have so far?

Goose said...

@nic

definitely not a drowning - nor a burning - nor anything like that. That would kinda ruin the humorous vibe i'm currently working on.

As I posted in an update - I'm like over 5000 words but can't help myself from tinkering with the stuff I've already written. It's a curse.

Keep me updated on yours. If you want to check me out on nanowrimo.com, I'm under Goose42. I put an excerpt up that amazingly I've kept so far in my manuscript.

Anonymous said...

Could you post a vimeo clip of you reading the story.