And the opening paragraph is...

"The saying goes that the two happiest days of a boater's life are the day he buys his boat--and the day he sells it. Tom had owned a boat for a while and completely agreed with this age old aphorism. Today, however, he wondered how he was supposed to feel about renting a boat. Should he be happy he didn't actually own this floating RV in the middle of nowhere? Or should he continue to silently wish he hadn't agreed to be the skipper for the week?"

I know I shouldn't be writing actual words for my novel until November 1. But I had to get this much captured. I promise I won't count these 88 words when the time comes (unless I already have 50,000 other words).

Plot plops into my lap

This morning the plot for my NaNoWriMo project plopped into my lap. Actually, it plopped into my head sometime during the night and I was able to get it transcribed into an outline form in the computer this morning.

I had been worrying over the thing for some time. It seemed obvious that I should figure out a way to set a mystery or thriller on a houseboat on Lake Roosevelt (where I vacationed this year). But I could not come up with a satisfactory angle on it. What would be the mystery? Would someone get killed? Why would that involve six or so middle-income empty-nesters on vacation? Wouldn't they just leave it to the police?

The answer came: they don't find trouble, trouble finds them - and won't leave. So the basic plot seems to be that the houseboat gets hijacked. The exact when and how and how it gets un-hijacked still need to be worked out. I have one sequence outlined, but it needs more work. But it's a start. I'm further along than I was when I did this last year. At least it feels like I am.

First Concrete Step

I took the first concrete step in planning my new NaNo project last night. As part of the writing class I'm taking this month, I had to create a character sketch. So I did it for one of the characters I think will be in the new novel I've been planning in my head.

The tentative title of the new project is Sunk. The character's name is Karrynn Becker. She's a secondary character, but will have a major role.

Less Than a Month

Less than a month to go before subjecting myself to this festival of pressure and deadlines yet again. This year I think I might actually be more prepared, having been through it before. And having actually tried to write some other stuff. And having recently attended a class on writting (this month). But we'll see. It's possible some other circumstances may cause me to back out. But as of right now, I think I'll be ready when the time comes.