National Novel Writing Month 2010

I have attempted to win National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)since my friend, Katherine, introduced me to it.  (For the record: Since 2004)  The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  It starts on November 1st and ends at midnight on the 30th.  In order to meet this goal it is necessary to write 1,666 words a day for the entire 30 days.  My friend aims for 2,000 a day so that she isn't as panicked towards the end of the month.  The exercise is supposed to free the writer of all responsibility to edit and just allow them to create.  As the NaNo website clearly states:

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

I'm usually good for about 10,000-20,000 words and then I hit a road block from which I never recover.  The best year was when I was incredibly passionate about the story and wanted to develop it into an actual (possibly publishable) manuscript.  Unfortunately, Ianthe and her protectors didn't make it out of the forest scene I'd written.  I still have this one on my hard drive, waiting for inspiration to strike again.  The next best year was when I took a cue from Jasper Fforde and created a playground for some of my favorite literary characters.  Borrowing his bookworld as the framework, I was able to work out some of my aggression towards the Twilight series. The worst years are when I start with absolutely no idea at all.  Though, last year's time machine story wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I've been worried about this year because I haven't had any brainstorms or even a low pressure system threatening to move in.  That is, until last night.

While working at my second job, a local retail store, I had an idea.  I was dressed as Snow White for the big Halloween debut event the store was running and had to walk down to the grocery store to buy my lunch.  Not thinking about this ahead of time, I failed to bring a change of clothes and had to walk through the store still in costume.  A little girl was so excited to see Snow White that she ran to get her father and dragged him back to meet me.  It was really quite adorable.  But it also got me thinking about the Disney Princess Line-up and what if they all lived in a house together.  (Maybe a sorority, Real World, or Sex In The City-type group.) Or possibly I could take the Princesses' personalities and use them in characters in a different setting, like a small town or college group of friends.  Maybe they are looking back after 20 years and wondering about the course of their lives.  So this could be a good start for NaNo, depending on how I can develop these seeds.