National Novel Writing Month 2012 (aka NaNoWriMo or just NaNo) starts in just over a week: November 1st! This will be my fifth year doing NaNo, and hopefully my fourth win. I’ve been slacking on my fiction writing this year, but am really getting back into things now. I’ve got the third book in The Steam and Steel Chronicles nearly done (I’ll be starting on revisions to the fourth likely after NaNo). And I’ve got two ideas I’ll be working on during NaNo.
I’m doing something a little different this year: I’m going to be a NaNo rebel! I’ll be starting the month working on a screenplay: The Difference Between Flying and Falling (hereafter known as TDBFAF). The title was actually taken from a NaNoWriMo “Adopt a Title” thread. TDBFAF is going to be about two people who deeply love each other. But just because they’re absolutely in love doesn’t mean that they have it easy, or that they don’t hurt each other. In fact, I think because they’re so in love, they maybe hurt each other more. It’s going to be a super-low-budget feature, with only a handful of characters and a couple of sets.
Now, since screenplays usually only run 13,000 – 19,000 words, I’m obviously going to need to do more than just one project to reach 50,000 words before December 1st. That’s why I’ll be working on a novel after TDBFAF is complete. The novel will be titled Music For the End of the World (another title I lifted from the same “Adopt a Title” thread, hereafter known as MFEW), and will be post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy. I’m pretty excited about this one. It’s an idea that just came to me as I was reading through the adoption threads on the NaNo forums. It’s kind of a mix between Firefly, Mad Max, Tank Girl, and The Road.
As anyone who’s followed this blog for long knows, I like to “cast” my projects before I start working on them. It solidifies the characters in my head and makes them come alive. I haven’t cast MFEW yet, but I have cast TDBFAF. Here’s who I’m picturing in the three main roles:
Who doesn’t love Johnny Depp? (If you don’t, just leave my blog now. I have nothing further to say to you. I’m not kidding.) As far as I’m concerned he’s the most talented actor of his generation, and as an aspiring filmmaker, it would be my dream to work with him someday. And from what I remember, I don’t think I’ve ever based a character on him before. Here’s another good pic:
So that’s how I picture my main male character, whose current name is Ray (sometimes I change character names once I start writing, if they take on a different persona). On to the main female character, currently named Virginia:
That’s a very innocent-looking Christina Hendricks. I think she’s probably one of the most beautiful women alive today, as well as a phenomenal actress. And someone else I’d LOVE to work with in the future. Here’s another pic:
Absolutely gorgeous. And I think she and Johnny Depp make quite the fetching couple.
There’s one other female supporting character, currently named Stacy (pretty sure this one is going to change once I start writing), who has a large role in the story. I’m not going to say what that role is, but I will show you how I picture her:
Jordana Brewster, another gorgeous and talented lady.
So there are my main characters. There are some other supporting characters who will cameo in the screenplay (I can picture Mickey Rourke as the pervy landlord or Kathy Bates as the main character’s boss), but I’m not going to bother casting them all ahead of time.
I’m really excited about this screenplay, as I really feel like the story is the pinnacle of what I want to write. It’s exactly the kind of thing story that I love to read and watch, and I hope I can make it as magical on paper (and later on screen) as it is in my head right now. Only time will tell.
Feel free to share your NaNo project for this year in the comments! And be sure to check out My Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo, from last year if you’re new to NaNo.
UPDATE: If you want to follow my progress for NaNo this year, you can do so on my author Facebook page, here. I’m going to try to post daily updates, and might even post some excerpts.
