I have a decision to make. A rather tough one. I have 2 ideas that I am outlining for the upcoming NaNoWriMo event in November. Both are sound ideas, but in the immortal words of the Highlander, “there can be only one!” At least there can be only one that I use as my NaNoWriMo novel.
In case you missed my other post on the matter, or this is your first time reading my blog, I will be participating in the NaNoWriMo event this year. What is NaNoWriMo? According to the official website:
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing.
On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
My first potential project is a sci-fi comedy novel in the vain of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” aptly titled “The Absurdity of Life”. It is a pure satire and social commentary told through the sarcastic perspective of an observation droid named Brad. I posted a prologue for this idea awhile back, and described it as: “This is a fun little satire wrapped in a farce masquerading as social commentary. The views represented in this text are not necessarily the views of the author… although, they are not necessarily not the views of the author. Life is absurd like that.” It is absurd, political, and very much at the expense of anybody and everybody. No one is safe from Brad’s wicked mechanical tongue. I like this project because it is fun, it’s exceptionally light, and I can focus on subtle bits of life circa 2015 that are absolutely bonkers – thusly making for great comedy potential. Give the prologue a read through and let me know if you think it’s the one that I should go forward with.
On the other hand, I have also been slow cooking an espionage thriller titled “Whatever It Takes”. It’s a globe trotting story about a no-nonsense Navy SEAL who is freshly retired and suddenly called into clandestine duty by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trust no one, absolutely no one in this dangerous game of cat and mouse with no apparent villain and/or organization to blame. Everyone is a potential threat, and only an operator from outside any agency and political pull could hope to get to the bottom of this confounding mystery. Enter retired Master Chief Declan Connery, the newly recruited Agent in charge of unraveling a series of seemingly unconnected, yet all high profile deaths of military officials and the politicians who influence military affairs. It is a thankless job, and in almost all ways he is on his own. Through evolving past the discipline and his military training he must change from the well-oiled fighting machine that he is, to the intelligent and tempered agent he needs to be quickly, if he hopes to stay alive long enough to solve this mystery. I presented the first draft of the initial chapter a few months ago, and have been slowly working on the outline ever since. Give it a read and let me know if you think this project is the better one to pursue.
I have a third option, a safety if you will, but it’s only to be used in case of emergencies. I will hopefully be picking a project from the 2 named above shortly, although I would love to make the decision with reader input. So pretty please, with whipped cream on top, take a moment to read what I have already written and weigh in on which one you think I should write during NaNoWriMo next month.
Also, if you feel like you are up for writing your very own novel, then consider adding me as a writing buddy and let’s motivate each other to stay on task. My NaNoWriMo username is: packysmith
