9 Days to NaNo

OK, I've got a few things behind me on my way through NaNo prep. I've got a few notes worked out on who's going to be who, how certain chars will be introduced into the story, who'll be sniping at who & over what. Some nice basics. I've got files set up for my novel & one for notes, I've got my minimum word counts all scribbled onto my calendar(Ty to whatever benevolent soul was more ambitions than I & did the math on that, lol). Also, as per Chris'(NaNo's founder) suggestion in his book, 'No Plot? No Problem!'. I sat down & wrote my Magna Cartas.

The Magna Cartas, for there are two, are lists to help guide you along in your writing for the month. One lists things that when you read them in other people's work you generally enjoy seeing. These are things that you should try incorporating into your own novel, as if you like reading it, you'll likely be good at writing it. The other are pitfalls & quagmires, things that in others' writing makes you cringe. These things should be avoided at all costs whenever possible.

My MC1:
3rd person past - it's habit. I write in my 'off season' for an RPG & that's their preferred structure

Dystopian - I only really realized this a while ago, but a lot of my favorite stories have a least a slight lean into dystopia.

Broken people - most of the chars I write in things tend to be "damaged" in some way. World weary, abused, middle child syndrome, too long under the burden of command, etc, etc.

Conflict - Cuz like the commercials says, conflict's good for drama, right? lol

Intrigue - Not always knowing things is fun, a li'l mystery, a li'l Cloak & Dagger. I like that.

The 3rd Act Twist - And just when you think you have it all figured out....BAM! Lol, I love that.

Heroes - Average, super, unwitting, nonconventional...I just like the good guys.

Otherworldliness - If you were to take a look at my bookcases & movie shelves, you'd see sci fi, comics & fantasy filling most of it. Now, I don't -have- to have elves, mages, mutants, spaceships, etc in everything, but I do enjoy stories that're a few degrees off regular life.

Underdogs - Who doesn't root for the li'l guy?

Action - *shrug* what can I say...Spaceships, superheroes & stuff that blows up. I'm a weird girl.

Pithy dialog - I love getting engrossed in really snappy, smart back & forth. It's great when a writer has good timing, a great sense of humor & a decent vocabulary. I wish that happened more often these days.

Suspension of disbelief - now this one's a bit harder to quantify. It's that engrossing power that a good story has to make the real world fall away. I'm not sure if I'll be able to write it, but I love when I read/watch it!

Strong female chars - *shrug* what can I say, I put together my own computer, entertainment system & the furniture to house them. Why shouldn't the chars? Lol. I know the just-trading-on-their-looks, woe-is-me, some-big-strong-man-come-save-me group isn't going anywhere anytime soon, I'm just not that interested.

My MC2
Long, overly wordy prose - There are certain writers I've read(or in some cases, attempted to read), big, famous writers, who's style is just like slogging through a muddy field to my mind. I'm all for description, but 3/4 of a page to say 'red dress' is too much! Blech!

Bland language - Ok, I admit, this blog & its accompanying novel when its time comes, aren't scintillating fonts of effervescent prose most days, but still...'Nice', 'interesting', anything with '-ly', the list goes on. I realize in a first draft these handy go tos will happen, but that doesn't mean they won't be the first to be shown the door during any rewrite.

Sex scenes - I know, the romance industry makes billions, I'm just not interested in watching(or reading) people go at it. Sorry. I guess I just prefer my own expiriences & fantasies to other people's.

Lack of realism - In any genre there's a certain veneer of reality that can be applied. No matter how big the dragons, how lasergun laden the starships, how camped up the pirates, it can be there. I know not everything is a documentary in life, but still... It goes back to the suspension of disbelief in MC1. I need to be able to at least come within spitting distance of buying the story.