Friday, October 14, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011: Monsters

While I didn't finish last year (looking back, it feels like I haven't worked on that story for years), I will participate again this year. For the past two months, I've been trying to start my current story but I can only make it a few scenes before I restart it. The first time, I realized that I hated my main character, so I had to kill him and restart (I literally killed him in the first attempt. Just mid-scene wrote "Suddenly, the ground opens up and sends the young man hurtling towards the fiery pits of Hell"). Second time? I ruined him even faster. In my head he was right, but on paper he just moped about like a thirteen year-old. I didn't even bother killing him and just deleted the files. This time, I've outlined the work out and I think I can pull it off, so I'm going to start it over again in November. So anyway, here's the basic info for next month's project/contest.



Odd things are happening in Glennshire. A rash of thefts involving useless objects, cow abductions, the disappearance of the mayor's daughter, and rumors of a mythical beast that lurks on along the northern road currently plague the small ranching village (and its famous* lake). There may be hope yet, though. The arrival of an odd man brings the promise to stop the strange happenings and find the mayor's daughter. The man enlists the help of Whistler, the son of the innkeeper and the last person to see the mayor's daughter before her disappearance.

Whistler is not ready for the road that lies ahead as the stranger reveals three things: wizards exist, the stranger is over 500 years old, and those old folk-tales used to frighten children have more truth to them than anyone could have realized.

*lake is not actually famous.


I'm planning on an episodic set of stories based on hunting fantasy creatures, both popular and ones I've created. The main character, Whistler, accompanies the strange man as he tries to track down a thief who stole a book that can cause the end of the world. For the most part, I'm working on it as a "monster of the week" type series that will dip into the folklore of many cultures along the way (Japanese-style monsters and ghosts, imps, brownies, the yeti, etc). This first story will be simple, though, and I wonder if it will hit the 50K mark. But I'm very excited as I've got the outlines to a few of the later creatures they encounters, including a creepy fellow I like to call the Arachnomancer (referred to as "beetle boy" by the wizard, much to BB's annoyance). Sadly, I don't have a good name for the stranger yet, but I'm working on it.

And with that, I'm off. See you next month.

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