New Fiction Idea #7

The other night, my friends and I were sharing weird dreams we and others have had. I had the impression one of them could turn into something quite interesting—and since Chemists originally came from a dream, I figured this could use some writing down as well.

Title: Entrapped (could be changed)

Genre: Steampunk/Science Fiction

Protagonist: Sophia, a hard-of-hearing 17-year-old with long, brown hair. She's easily intimidated but has the power to pull through if she so desires.

Other Main Characters: Edwin, an 18-year-old with short, scruffy hair under a hat. He's rather impressive in stature but isn't that intelligent and tends to pick fights he can't win.
There could be a larger group.

Antagonist: Spoiler/not entirely determined. The environment is also a rather big obstacle.

Setting: An impossibly large, ornate structure that, when viewed from outside, looks like a birdcage. Inside this structure are several levels. Each level has a distinct horror, but if the obstacle is conquered, those entrapped can pass down to the next level. At the bottom level is an unlocked door to the outside world.

Plot: Sophia and Edwin, who had spent years in the cage, struggle to escape in hopes of safety and finding their families.

Point of View: Third person, probably omniscient.

In the original dream, the passages between levels were strange fireman poles, and two of the levels were a John Wayne movie and a zombie apocalypse. Not sure if I'm putting in any of that.

NaNoWriMo and Other Extreme Sports

I'm wondering whether or not I should do NaNoWriMo again this year.

The 2YN program I'm doing allots writing time during November, so it's compatible there.

I have no idea what my workload will be as far as education goes.

I'm not sure if writing 1,667 words a day for a month straight will be particularly useful. There are certainly other reasons I didn't like how last year's NaNo came out, but I already have a rather negative opinion of my normal writing, and I'd like to actually feel able to reread and edit what I write for Mayflies. I'm not sure what kind of writing schedule the 2YN recommends, but if it's under 1,667, I'm not sure I'll do NaNo.

It was certainly an experience; however, I more or less only undertook it to finally finish an original novel. Now that I have done that, I don't feel very motivated to participate this November.

I'm still not sure, but I do have time to decide.

New Fiction Idea #6

This is a vague idea I've had for a while. It's a bit too theme-heavy for my tastes, so I probably won't write it.

Title: Intolerant

Genre: U/Dystopian Fiction (is that a genre?)

Protagonist: As-yet unnamed female teenager. She has long, curly blonde hair under a pink knit cap, a puffy jacket she keeps zipped up unless it's absolutely too hot, and jeans and beaten-up running shoes. She has a distinct sense of right and wrong, isn't afraid to be stubborn about it, and holds to Christian values though she hasn't been baptised for reasons that should be rather clear.

Other Main Characters: Athena, a teenage girl with dark brown hair and generally ratty clothing. She's a rather acidic atheist, but she does have a conscience and will act on it.

Antagonists: Er... The world. More specifically, the city authorities, I suppose. I envision one of the leaders being a blonde lady named Laura. She has black glasses.

Setting: As-yet unspecified city in future America. Cities are places of work in factories and artificial futuristic greenhouse/farm things. Suburbs are places of residence. Both are secure from the wilderness and unwanted weather (for the most part). There are no laws but absolute tolerance, which is generally achieved through brainwashing. Crime (if anyone was silly enough to think such acts should be controlled, stifling the "criminal's" true self) is rampant.

Plot: MC never quite understood how everyone else wanted her to be. Despite everything she'd been taught, she always had the feeling there really was a right and wrong for everyone, not just for each one. As long as she went to the required sessions when she acted on these beliefs inappropriately, she was fine. But when she found a Bible that had escaped the Burnings, she liked what she read. It was only a matter of time before she acted up more and, after many attempts at reprogramming her, the authorities finally labelled her Intolerant and banned her from the enclosed network that was society. She struggles to survive in the wilderness, eventually (sort of) befriending Athena, a fellow Intolerant and a much better survivalist. I'm not entirely sure what happens after that.

Point of View: Most likely third-person limited to MC. Could be first person instead.

Yeah... Given the theme, a modern audience would hate it to bits, and I don't think it would have a high enough death toll for me to be interested in putting it together. Ah, well. I thought little harm could come of throwing it out there.

Writing Music

I very much have a habit of needing to listen to music as I write. I've carefully calculated the proper volumes for both my radio (4) and my computer (3 bars, with iTunes on half volume)—loud enough I don't have to figure out what song it is, but soft enough I can focus on the story.

I sort of wonder if I do better writing when listening to particular song styles, etc., but I haven't looked into it. I've heard others sharing their types of novelling music but haven't looked much into that, either. What kind of music (or silence, or perhaps a television program) do you like in the background when you write?

Incidentally, I recently got a Steve Perry CD, a Scorpions CD, and an A Flock of Seagulls CD. I'm currently in love with "Wishing" and various other songs on said CDs whose titles I cannot recall at the moment. They're not bad for novelling, either.

"Dirty Laundry" is inherently distracting somehow. I think it's the beat.

"Troubled Child" and "Edge of the Blade" are the best to have on repeat, especially with the kinds of stories I write. I haven't tried much else on repeat, though.

Also, how about listening to music while reading? I know I've done Recommended Listenings for everything in the Brutal series, but seeing as I don't read my own work, I haven't read it while listening to the listenings. I've done some casual reading with music on, but I always just end up ignoring one or the other. Any thoughts?

New Manga Idea #2

So, I was struck with this idea suddenly, but I'm not going to use it because it's too much research and should be left to someone who's not an advocate of teetotaling.

Title: Have a Drink on Me (could definitely be changed) 

Main Characters: Personifications of various types of alcohol, including:

Wine, a lean woman with very shiny black hair that usually wears a small but stylish dress. She can be quite a snob, especially towards Beer, but she does have a kinder side.

Beer, a big-boned frat boy with curly, blonde hair. He's huge on sports, especially American football, and considers himself the manliest of his group.

Vodka, a teenage girl who likes to dress in bright colours and is generally very sweet. She also likes to hack things (and if unrestrained, people) to pieces with a large axe.

Ale, a young man with dark blonde hair he keeps at a medium length. He's the most normal of the group, though he can definitely be mean when he wants to.

Rum, who is basically the pirate from Dodgeball with dark hair. He's totally crushing on Coke (if the series is expanded to include soft drinks).
Tequila, a Latino woman with dark hair she keeps long. She's usually in a black bikini and is quite a flirt.
Gin, a brown-haired girl who's a bit squirrelly and hates to be alone. She usually clings to Tonic.

Setting: Modern times, in various parts of the world.

Plot: None foreseen. I'm imagining it Hetalia-style. Them fighting and making up (or not). Going to sports games, swanky bars, and what have you. Yeah.

Obviously should be done by someone with more knowledge of alcohol. Please don't use this as an excuse to drink for research, though, haha.

Forward Motion!

So, I signed up for the Two Year Novel course at fmwriters.com some time ago, but the first assignment just came out today. I've already completed it (because I'm just that much of an overachiever... along with quite a few other forumgoers there).

I'm very excited about this. It seems like a long commitment, but I really hope to get some feedback on my original things (I'm going to do Mayflies for it) and actually get a final draft of something other than a research paper for once in my life. And maybe publish something. Maybe.

Wish me luck, and/or join in. It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun.

New Fiction Idea #5

I've toyed with this one for a while. I tried putting it through the Novelist's Boot Camp techniques, but the way I wanted to format it didn't really work out with that, and I put it to the side in favour of Macbay Transportation Services. I've gone through more of the book's exercises with it, though I'm still doing some world-building before I try to jump into it. This one hasn't seen much action since.

Title: War (could be changed)

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Protagonists: Several, including people fighting and leading on both sides of the war. No particularly main characters have yet been developed/established.

Antagonists: See protagonists. Good guy/bad guy distinctions aren't really made most of the time.

Setting: Very far into the future, on Earth, mostly in the trenches of a dry and dusty battlefield. All soldiers have a series of nanobots in their bloodstreams for instant healing and brain chips for telepathic communication purposes.

Plot: Beyond the two sides fighting is an organization of pacifists. This organization has managed to hack the technology within the soldiers so that each soldier on one side is connected to one on another side; if one of the pair is killed, the other will die. The story follows the soldiers and those above them as they fight, discover what's going on, and try to figure out what to do about it.

Point of View: First person, switching between quite a few characters.

Just an idea to toy with at this point. We'll see if I ever try to flesh it out someday.