It’s November 15th and we’re halfway through NaNoWriMo, which means it’s time for an update on my project. I started this month with an outline to a sequel instead of a new novel from scratch. It’s the second book in my supernatural trilogy. I never shared the original details of my project, so here’s some background on book one and what I’m doing for NaNo.
In the summer of 2012, I thought of a small idea I originally wanted to use for a fanfiction. The premise was, on Halloween, the costume one wore transformed them to that being/creature for that night. I tried to figure out what fandom to use for the idea, but eventually created my own characters. Though I didn’t have a general idea on where the story would go, I wrote a few pages of a girl dressed as a werewolf attending a party with her brother. This idea then morphed when I thought “What if they were the creatures and used Halloween to walk around normally?” The idea took off and I ended up writing the first draft in the span of three months that summer. It had my, now Lycan, girl attending a Halloween Party with her brother where she ends up attacked and cursed by another supernatural being. As she tries to fight the curse, she is forced to stay hidden from her family, the human world, and those who want to get rid of her to bring balance to the supernatural world.
I shared this story with a friend, who critiques it while offering suggestions. It was placed on the back burner as I started college the fall of 2012. I returned to it throughout the school year, but never made it far. Other story ideas came to me and I’d write down the important details before shoving them deep into my computer. Then my computer crashed. It was unexpected and I didn’t even have time to save any of my current documents. Though I backed up most of my files on a flash drive, I couldn’t remember the last time I had done so. Once I got a new laptop, I fiddled with the files I had saved, stumbling upon the supernatural story. There are more details on my blog post titled “Lost Work” if you’d like to know more. But after reading through it, I took a more serious look at publication instead of just writing as a hobby.
And that leads us to NaNo! Through October, I created an outline for the main plot lines of the sequel. While it was very basic, I had the major plot points, climaxes, small scenes to include, and character introductions. While I felt very prepared for November 1st, once the day finally came, it didn’t go smoothly. The first few chapters were slow and agonizing to write. I kept pushing, wanting to reach the meat of the story, to the main plot I had planned. But I knew I needed to set up the story as it started a few weeks after the first book ended. As of the 15th, I have reached 26,000 words and I’m on track to complete the daunting 50,000 word challenge. Based on how long the first book is, I know it won’t end at 50,000, but it’ll be a big chunk of the first draft.
If you’re taking part in NaNoWriMo, I hope it’s going well. Until next time, have a good day and happy writing!
Kaylen Azalea Grimm 