Young Writers Society

Heyo, I only have the barest bones of a concept idea and a small cast of characters and I don't know if the title is any good or possible already TAKEN but this is my nano 2k19 attempt. I set my goal to 20k words because 50k is impossible and I highly doubt there'd be enough in this idea to fill that many words and having a glaring 50k would be more stressful, I think, so,,, coward's way out.

Anyway, all I can really say about this so far is it's another space story. It's somewhat related to Avery Trent but isn't *totally* a spin-off. It's actually been in my head for over a year now, I think, but I haven't made any serious attempts at writing it because 1) my writing has been totally dead, and 2) I didn't have an idea I felt comfortable going with.

The main character is a trans guy named Milo and he has a friend named Faris who has a pet pygmy marmoset and there's something about a cyborg villain and blah blah blah.

Here's a cover I threw together (that I'm actually p proud of):



But yah, wish me luck!

Alternate covers enspoilered

Yay Hatt!! You got this! 20k is better than not trying at all!
667 words per day!

The cover looks great, the plot sounds good, and you've absolutely got this! 20,000 is not something to scoff at, so good luck! ^^

Thanks @Carlito! 667 a day doesn't sound too bad BUT also coming up with those words right now is just,,, nOT happening so oof

And thank you @fraey - I'm glad you like the cover! I'm really hyped about it

trying to do some quick brainstorming because I decided to do this very last minute but fffingers crossed

233 words so far

That's something

I'm gonna try to just avoid deleting things if I can and treat this as a "vomit draft"? It seems to be the only way I can actually get my word count going up and hopefully get this written. (THAT said, even vomit drafts are really difficult for me to do, but fingers crossed)

I realized a big hindrance was that I really suck at character motivations (and concluding scenes), sO I'm taking a moment to try and work out?? those

Also I should probably introduce the cast (so far)


- Milo; trans boi, cool outfit, not a fan of his day job, wants to be like his idol(?)

- Faris; muslim maybe but trying to work out how thatd work in a possibly distant galaxy? enjoys his day job (same one as Milo's) and likes tinkering with things - ALSO has a pet pygmy marmoset, i forgot to include that before

- Andrea Kingsley; i don't know much about her yet but i think she's good with machines?

- Moira Kingsley (Andrea's aunt); she's like space police chief or somethin in this sector and all sentries report to her - also raised Andrea

- unnamed villain; is a cyborg

- Jude Harpoon; Milo and Faris's boss - he has a crippling gambling addiction and a swanky name

These are the ones I've got places for in the story so far. I've considered taking Leah from Avery Trent and putting her in this cast because I think she fits this world better (aesthetically at least, because that matters) but I'm not making any decisions like that until it makes sense/is needed.

okay, i've got some sort of plot coming together and the antagonist has a goal of sorts now. i also have a way to get my main trio together that hopefully isn't totally nonsensical. i've got stakes for the characters, i've got a spur to action, i've got vague motivations. now to flesh this out, name the bad guy, anddd WRITE

also, there's a lot more cyborgs now

[still no aliens in milo's end of the AT cinematic universe]

got tired of plotting so made a variant cover- wanna make at least one more w/ third mc but gotta find right reference image or whatev-

but yeah, plot is coming together p well

not as good as the others, gives me ben 10 vibes- original is still my favorite

(am writing! current total is 1,089 but i'm hoping to do a good chunk more tonight)

OKAY - sorry for the coNStant posting here today. I've got some legitimate progress to share, now, though- gonna quickly repost from my wall

i've now written 1,190 words today, bringing my total to 2,148 words so far and!! i've been doing most of it in paper and pen?? which i've never done before but it's a p nice change of pace so far and. i'm excited that this story is Actually Moving because i haven't been able to write in so so long

the setting is much less sci-fi than i'd hoped/intended? or, like, it's sort of a fusion of sci-fi and modern world stuff so far? like, regular modern city but there's spaceships
i'm gonna work and fixing that but for now i'm just trying to get the story itself out on paper

the characters also need a LOT of work because they're pretty stale and personality-less with their dialogue right now

(also figured out a way to include a small Avery Trent easter egg but i really dont need to but hey how hard is it to squeeze "two men in brightly colored scarves" into the backdrop of a scene?)

Okay, the plot twist is,,, set. I had an ending with a twist in mind but I've come up with a beTTEr twist on it (it's mostly still the same but. something something, spoiler spoiler), and the title finally has an actual connection to the story so heyyyy heyy

I also now have?? something of an ending to work towards? I have to work out what happens after this twist but the twist is basically in the last stretch of the story

I HAVEN't done any actual writing for the story yet today but I'll try to tonight! Nano time today mostly went to working out some character stuff and how to show that Milo is trans in ways that were? natural to the story and not awkwardly shoved in aND not insensitive, but I have a few of those down and that's excitingg?

I need to figure out his surname anddd some other small details like that bUt that can always wait- I have!! a framework to work with, I'm working with it, there's still quiTE a big gap between what I've got and what comes next and theee ending but hopefully I'll work it out soon


blah blah blah

EDIT: 521 more words in notebook so far!
EDIT 2: uhhh about 99 more done, i think? 2,768 overall now

i scribbled down 29 words tonight mainly so i wouldn't lose my streak, but i'm very sleepy and my head is hurting so any more will have to wait for tomorrow

2,797

Today I wrote 1,276 words! I'd say it was my most productive day, but I think I consider the previous plotting and worldbuilding to be a bit more productive. This word count covered just a single scene, but it was a bit more fleshed out than the other stuff I've been writing since it's in that ambiguous space where the plot kind of fades and I've gotta figure out what to shove there? Yeah. It was pretty character-focused, too.

But! I learned that Andrea's mother's name was Eliza Sommers(-Kinglsey), and that her (Andrea's) parentsss dieD iN the line of duty. And Andrea is intent on becoming a sentry peep like her parents, but Moira (her aunt) isn't thrilled about it because hER siSTER and brother in law diEd that way (but it's also kinda of hypocritical-ish since Moira is the director of the sentry organization (still needs an actual name))

But yeah, my total is now 4,073 words

Haven't gotten any writing done tonight. Work leaves me sorta drained for that at night and I didn't manage any before work today. Uhhh, did write over a thousand yesterday and brought my total to 5,199, though.

Decided to give-- wait have I mentioned this character?
Maybe not.

Okay, there was one particular antagonist character but now there are two. Need to figure out a name for the other. Can't tell u about first 'cause that feels like spoiler territory uwu

Considering Kelvin for his name but not sure

oKAy i didn't write any actual story stuff last night but i scribbled out 6 pages in my notebook, mapping out the plot and filling in gaps and. i have everything except the very end, now? i had a good chunk of the plot in mind beforehand but the middle was super empty (like most of my plot ideas) but now it's!! all mapped out and i have a path and. this might be the most complete a story of mine has ever been? v exciting

do need to work out some character details and antagonist's motivation still needs some tweaking and then i've gotta research some story-related details but

lookin' good, folks

(also this may very well surpass by 20k word goal? but that's fine, i wasn't really expecting 20k to contain anything? was just using it as a more manageable goal so i wouldnt stress out and make zero progress)