My NaNoWriMo

hey! This is my first time doing Nano...partly because I have only just heard of it, and I decided, hey, I will do this. I will take this challenge and do my best... okay, so here is my (sort of) plot.

Landon Maxfield's father, on the night of Halloween, tells Landon a story about the legendary werewolf, Wolfgang. Landon is compelled to finish the story that his father had left off, because it had left off the night of Halloween.

Ten years later, Landon is fourteen years old, and his English teacher sets out the assignment: Write a Fictional Essay about whatever scares you the most. Landon writes about the history of the werewolves, and when he turns it in, his teacher is stunned. Landon soon learns the truth that his teacher was a werewolf in hiding, and now that he had found Landon, he has come out of his shell.

Everything that Landon made up about the history of werewolves was true. Landon, being freaked out that his teacher is a werewolf, tries to run away, but his teacher bites him; turning him into a werewolf.

Yes, follow Landon on his journey to fight with the most bloodthirsty of beasts: the werewolves.




How is this? I am not sure what happens next, but I will find out soon! Please post your comments!


BBB

In his novel "On Writing" (I'm obsessed, I know), Stephen King writes:

"I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible[...]I want you to understand that my basic belief about stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is to give them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course)[...]Stories aren't souvenir tee shirts or GameBoys. Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer's job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible[...]Plot is[...]the writer's jackhammer. You can liberate a fossil from the hard ground with a jackhammer, no argument there, but you know as well as I do that the jackhammer is going to break as much stuff as it liberates[...]Plot is, I think, the good writer's last resort and the dullard's first choice. The story which results from it is apt to feel artificial and labored."

I'm NOT calling you a dullard, for starters. I'm also not going to lie and say I've never plotted. I wouldn't worry too much about plot, however, especially with a project like NaNoWriMo. Ultimately, what Mr. King suggests is letting go and not confining yourself before you even begin writing. Just tell your story. It looks like a good one, too.

(I happen to believe Stephen, by the way. Stories tend to take on a life of their own once you've begun. Its pretty neat. Oh, and read his book. Its also pretty neat.)

Galatea is right; too much of a plot can be a bad thing. I've done both when writing novels. I wrote a long one a few years back, about 120,000 words with absolutely no idea how it was going to end. As I progressed through the book, ideas were constantly presenting themselves. Stories without a written plot tend to wind a little bit, making them more realistic. Charles Dickens' stories are like this.
Then I plotted a book and started writing.
It seems that plotted books are less fun to write. It's like sticking to a regimen.

I wouldn't go as far to say that you should have no plot, but don't know everything that's going to happen before you write it or you'll bore yourself.

As for the plot you have, it sounds pretty good. You might want to add a monster-hunting organization, like the anime/manga Hellsing, and maybe have your main character have to hunt down his teacher is Wolfgang the ancient werewolf blah, blah, blah.

I'm coming up with ideas for you, it must be a good plot.

Good luck.

For plot, I pretty much get a general idea of what the story will be about and let it flow from there. No matter how much I want to, I don't let myself obsess over the details until I actually start writing.

I have an idea. A young boy finds a special cat on the streets. This cat is empathetic, meaning certain people can feel what she feels.

They somehow end up being persued by the government. Sounds good, no?