After much consideration, I have decided to undertake NaNoWriMo again this year. After being sabotaged at the final hurdle last year, by the flu, I wanted to give it another go and see if I can complete this time around. Initially, I wanted to work on developing one of my current projects as I didn’t want to add another body of work to my constantly growing collection of WIP‘s, however, that has now changed.
On Tuesday morning, I woke with the memory of a dream in my head. It felt like the opening scene to a TV programme, and the events were being narrated by a young girl. I remembered the exact words she spoke as the scene played out in my dream, and could recall the setting and tone quite vividly. I wrote this all down as soon as I managed to drag myself out of bed, and was playing around with the idea all morning. During my daily commute to work, with headphones on, I was still wondering how I could expand on it when a track by The Beatles came on (a young, hip pop-beat combo, if you aren’t familiar with their work) and the song triggered that blinking-light-bulb moment that you only ever get in cartoons.
I wanted to note the details here, 3 days prior to NaNo starting, as I thought it would be interesting to see how far from my original idea and thoughts the final novel ends up. I already have a trazillion mixed-up ideas and images in my head that I would struggle to write down in a year, let alone 30 days, but I will try my best to get the basic story down. It is a young adult novel (as opposed to general fiction) and that’ s also a huge challenge for me, having never written anything of that genre before. I will be posting regular updates for any of you interested in my progress and hope that the enthusiasm that got me through last year infuses me once again. For now, I will leave you with this short synopsis:
“The world of Jennifer Jones is turned upside down when, shortly after her 13th birthday, her father dies suddenly. As she struggles to cope with his death, she begins to find her everyday life a strain and withdraws from her friends and family. Then one day, whilst exploring her father’s belongings, she discovers something beautiful and strange and begins a journey through a fantastical world. Along her way she meets a number of extraordinary individuals who scare, humour and inspire her, but who help her to eventually come to terms with her grief. The story is about coping with loss, but it is also a journey of discovery. It is inspired by my late father”.
Wish me luck!
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