National Novel Writing Month is 25 days away. Normally, for me, this means that I have nothing more than a general idea what I will be writing. Sometimes it’s a story that has been sitting with me for months, nagging at my imagination. Other times it hits me suddenly and I just know it’s the right story to tell. This month, I am attempting to not fly by the seat of my pants so much and, gasp shock horror, PLAN a little.

This is a new concept for me. In 13 years of doing Nano, I have never attempted this. Honestly, I feel totally out of my depth. So today, let’s talk a little bit about novel prepping. Or, rather, my pathetic approximation of prepping.

Some typical prep items I already figured out after this long. I know I will write it on my laptop. I know what program I like to use (though admittedly Scrivener needs to be an investment at some point). I have organized my haphazard research before. And I know the importance of backing up my work. Losing 24,543 words back in Nano 2010 taught me that one.

But what about the idea itself? I have never wondered before if an idea is worthy of being written. But, if I am going to spend all this time planning this thing out then I felt I needed to explore this a little bit. My skeleton idea:

From the beginning of time there has been a Light One. A cataclysmic event eons ago led to the creation of their equal opposite, a Dark One. The two have the same goal. One wants to snuff out the light. One wants to snuff out the darkness. Locked in battle for eons, will this dance go on forever?

I think it’s a good idea. But I also recognize that it could be too much project for me. I did that to myself a few years ago and the story was just too broad and it got away from me. So from here, I need to boil this idea down to its base. I have 2 characters. the Light One and the Dark One. This gives me decisions to make. Are they immortal? Have they always been the exact same two people? Is there a way to kill one and have their essence move on to a new host? Obviously, if they are at battle with each other there HAS to be a way for one to be defeated for good, otherwise the entire story is pointless. This has been quite a conundrum for me the past several days. Working out the kinks in a logical way that won’t leave a reader feeling “WTF just happened, that makes no sense!”.

Slowly, the details on my characters are coming together. I can start to imagine them in my head, which is a vital step for my process. I cannot write a character that I can’t imagine. Their dynamic and interactions are starting to come to light. They are becoming people. There is still a long way to go on that one, but we’re making our way.

Now I have to tackle something I hoped to forever avoid, an outline. I’m scared folks. I have never written this way, but I am willing to try. I have much more limited writing time these last few years, I don’t have time to spend days mentally hashing out a problem that presented itself because I didn’t plan! I recognize the value this will have, but I think I need a few more days to reconcile it in my head.