The yearly ritual of NaNoWriMo is about to begin on Tuesday. What this means is that thousands of people will participate in a process that challenges them to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. I’ve been participating in this ritual for the last three years, and while I’ve succeeded before, not always do I end up with the full 50,000 words. Last year, I kind of got stuck at around 30,000 words and started playing World of Warcraft. This year, I don’t play that any longer, so I have no complications of that nature to hold me back.
This year, I actually have my novel being planned, unlike some previous years where I tried to write it on the spot, making up as I went along. This year, I am taking one of my award-winning short stories and turning it into a full novel. For those wondering, and that would probably refer to the fantasy people I imagine are reading my blog on a daily basis (who are often standing next to the fantasy women who are lining up to date me…sometimes, they’re the same woman!).
The novel has the working title of Buried Memories, although I don’t think that’s the title I’ll end up with in the end. It is a mainstream fiction novel, but it borrows a lot from the romance genre, something that is not my normal area of expertise. Like most of my later novels, it involves telling the story from multiple perspectives, where even the reader is perceived to be an almost participant viewer (not involved in the story, but kept somewhat sheltered from all of the details as a storytelling element, kind of like how people experience life in reality). The basic premise of the story involves a 20 year struggle between Eric and Jennifer, when she begins the novel by finally forgiving him for betraying her those 20 years ago, involving their best friend Annie.
The novel, much like the short story, is told backwards in time from the moment of forgiveness back to their marriage 21 years ago. But unlike the short story, the novel will then jump 25 years back to when Eric and Annie were a couple, and Jennifer was their best friend, leading to the events that brought Eric and Jennifer together and Annie to become the outsider. Then it will lead to the events that provide the mechanism for the betrayal, and then culiminate with the events of the betrayal itself. The linking mechanism throughout the novel is a tree planted by Eric and Jennifer that has been growing for 21 years, a tree that was planted with the words: “this tree stands as a testament to the power of our love, and like our love, will endure forever.”
Tuesday begins the adventure.