Day 5

1,190.

Way behind my goal of 1,667 per day, or day 5 goal of 8,335.  The thing is I'm really excited about this, as Chandra calls it, parlor game, I just have not had the time to play. Most of my writing, well, ALL of my writing has been over my lunch hour and that is just not productive.

And, I'm excited about the novel itself. If I thought I was stepping outside my box by just participating in NaNo, I've taken a giant leap in the subject I've chosen to write. My stories are traditionally family-related. I enjoy writing about community, family, slices of life. So, if I'm going to write a novel in 30 days, why not go outside my comfort zone, why not take on a popular genre.

With that said, I'm writing a modern day monster novel. Yes, monster. And no, I'm not jumping on the vampire-bandwagon, that horse has been beaten well into the ground. My monster is, well, different.  She is mythical, familiar, and probably the last creature you'd expect to destroy mankind. Yes, She.

Why the monster novel? I admit to being a huge fan of Bram Stoker's Dracula and after reading Christopher Booker's 7 Basic Plots as part of a plot class last year, I became intrigued with the idea of writing an "overcoming the monster" story. Why not follow a basic, familiar plot structure?

So, I'm taking Booker's monster structure and running with it. Or at least, strolling with it, at this point. But, I'm excited in creating characters I am unfamiliar. I spent an hour establishing my hero: what does he look like? where did he grow up? what are his quirks? what haunts him?

Even more time on setting, location, and my three other prominent characters, including my monster. Or is it monstress? I already had a summary of the novel and synopsis from an assignment in the aforementioned class, but deciding details and watching these characters blossom has been, I hate to be redundant, but exciting.

Now, if I could just find the time to put Booker's outline to the test. Oh, and Tony, my monster is a monster. She will not be an erotically characterized seductress, she's a killer. A killer, plain and simple. I mean, isn't that what a monster is supposed to be. I've never fantasized about being seduced by a monster, and I don't plan to start now. So, my monster is a monster. There will be nothing sexy in the way she slaughters her victims. And, you will want her dead by the end of the novel, if not sooner.

Comments

[Greg]

Nancy Pelosi?