I have more than three ideas in mind as of this moment, but there are three specific ones I'd like to concentrate on for this 'first round' of serious writing. I picked these three because they are the ones that have been floating around in my head the longest, and they are the three that are the closest to actually having a roughly complete plotline.
Actually, none of them really have a plotline even close to complete. Because I find it impossible to plan out everything that will happen in a story before I begin to write it. Thankfully I have learned over the years that this is perfectly normal. While it can lead to meandering journeys along subplots that eventually turn out to mean nothing, it also makes writing the whole novel as surprising for the one writing it as it might be for those who will eventually read it. Which always makes it fun, and often shocking. I still remember the first time I consciously realized the story seemed to write itself… a character I had grown quite attached to committed suicide, and after it happened I sat there staring at the page, going, "Whoa, what just happened?"
So I don't worry anymore if I have no idea how something will end or how things will lead to the end. That's what the first draft is for. Write it all out, then later you can always go back and chop out what ended up being unnecessary or pointless.
Anyway, the three upcoming projects are (all temporary names, if named at all):
1) Cheetah on the Roof – fantasy genre, so called because I got the idea from watching a show about cheetahs on National Geographic. One of the cheetahs would jump up onto the jeep's roof and sleep there, so I thought that sounded like a book title, and then the meat of the story has slowly built up since. Keep in mind I saw this show… like… YEARS ago. Other plot ideas came from the back hallways of the Animal Science building and a few very old concepts from one of the very first stories I ever wrote.
2) Lady in Black – sci fi genre, so called because about two years ago I was listening to the radio and a song gave me an idea. All I remembered later about the song was that it talked about a woman wearing black, so that's what I started calling it until I come up with something better. I finally discovered not too long ago the song was "She Talks to Angels" by the Black Crowes. Originally I thought of it like a chick lit book set in space, which still might be fun, but then this guy named Lane showed up, and he kinda ruined all that. Other plot elements came from some science related ideas I've thought of since working in a lab, and my desire to create a picture of what the future might look like in a hundred years or so. I think this one will be really fun to write, as it's got some interesting characters that may not get along so well…
3) No name for this one yet (let's just call it Cat Story) – but it was inspired by my cat. Our oldest, Nala, who is fifteen pounds and seems like the laziest cat around. I'm convinced however, that she leads a secret life when we're not looking… Just be around cats for awhile and you'll know novel ideas come easy when it comes to cats. Not sure what genre this would be either. Maybe fantasy… maybe just fiction. I'll have to figure that out. But it will be highly entertaining to write and I hope to read some day, especially for cat owners. 😀 (And I promise it won't be like every other cat book out there…)
That's all for now… more later!
PS: I will try to keep tags on this LJ neat and orderly so past entries can be easily found based on story title or basic subject.
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