Joyce's Novel: Day 1 of 90

Right now there are 30 days between me and the start of NaNoWriMo. Every year I begin writing a novel in November and every year I fail to finish it. Well, not this year. This year I am going to plan and outline my novel during the month of October. I am going to be prepared to hit the ground running at midnight on November 1. I will finish this year.

I couldn't pick just one. Sue me. 

Today is the first day of my planning and I thought it might be both interesting and worthwhile to bring you all along for the ride. Instead of the NaNoWriMo handbook by Chris Baty (which I own and cannot find) I will be using Book in a Month by Victoria Schmidt. I will be planning the novel for 30 days, writing it for 30 days, and revising it for 30 days. I will have a complete novel by January 1 and I think that's pretty exciting. Feel free to plan, write, and revise along with me. Let's get started, shall we?

The first thing Schmidt advised her readers to do is write a "One-Sentence Story Summary" which will serve as the anchor for everything else you will write. This one little sentence will keep your story focused and prevent you from going off on tangents. If you want to write a scene, first ask if it has anything to do with your One-Sentence Story Summary. If it does not, then the scene is superfluous.

Here's my One-Sentence Story Summary:

"Three offbeat, music loving teens in a rural southern town are accused of a crime they didn't commit."

Next,  we're going to think about some basic self esteem questions.

Why do you want to write?

 - I want to write because it's all I've ever really wanted to do and it's one of the only things that I feel like I'm really good at.

Why do you have to write?
- I have to write because I have a voice and I have stories to tell. I have to write because I can't not.

How will your life be different after you finish this manuscript? What will change?
- My life will be different in that I will have written a whole novel. I don't think much will change. Unless I get a big publishing contract. Then I'll be rich!

How will you feel about yourself after you finish this manuscript? (Will you have more confidence?)
- I will feel so freaking proud and accomplished. I will probably feel more confident and less like a fraud.

How will this feeling help you accomplish other things in life?
- I think yes. I think this might be the catalyst for a lot of changes. We'll see, won't we?

These are my answers. What about you? Let me know what you think in the comments!