24 May 2015

NaNo Musing - 2015 Edition

Camp NaNo is over, and was a nice relaxing writing sprint.  Managed to get stuff done without having to use a laser-like focus on one project.  However, November is coming.  I have four months to figure out what to write and get the prep work done.  NaNoWriMo 2015 will be my tenth go at it.  I was considering skipping for a year, but this is not that year.  This may be the big one, though.  As such, I want to be ready.

Good thing I have a few ideas already.

The obvious project is a continuation of Unruly.  After all, I have the characters, I have the ideas, and I don't need to worry about filling out a novel's worth of ideas when I can use several novellas instead.  There are plot hooks dangling, from Laura's testimony to the mysterious person or persons working against Caitlin and the Academy.  Worst case, I escalate the Caitlin-Verity war for an episode.  For more fun, I have an idea where Autumn does her own thing against Caroline.

The next idea is one I've been toying with for a couple of years.  Potentially set in the Subject 13-verse, the idea uses a concept I've played with in an RPG.  Imagine, if you can, a suit of steam-powered power armour, with canister launchers*.  The story, tentatively called The Clockwork Avenger, would straddle two eras.  The first era is Victorian London, where the first Clockwork Armour would be built and used to fight the forces of darkness.  The second era is today, with the descendant of the original builder receiving the plans for the power suit.  The clockwork becomes digital instead of analog.  All I need now is a plot that can span about 150 years.

In a similar vein, I've been trying to work out a team of heroes doing what Batman does, but without his wealth.  Using the working title Streetwise Valyries, the team fights crime in a city that is currently Chicago but may move elsewhere.  The Valkyries have a uniform, a costume that makes each member look similar enough that they're seen as just one hero.  The difficult part is trying to get all the needed equipment together without being traceable.  Batman may have Wayne Enterprises to launder purchases; the Valkyries need to be careful.

The last idea, but certainly not the least, involves taking an idea I had for a Star Trek story and filing off the serial numbers.  The characters I had in mind were my own; I was using the Trek setting, set during the Next Generation era, to pull together several ideas together.  Without the Star Trek details, I can move the story to a new colony and not worry about stepping on trademarks.  Thus, the security officer who hates Orions becomes a Star Navy boarder who hates an unspecified neighbouring nation, and lets me step away from the baggage of Trek.  This idea may work better as a serial, like Unruly, so will require more thought.

Good thing I have four months.

* As an aside, never launch an ether canister into a room lit solely by candles.  The ether ceases to be non-lethal when exposed to open flame.

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