Day three of NaNoWriMo challenges

Day Three Nano Challenges

#1

Opinions Count

People, as you know from looking at yourself, usually have strong opinions and not everyone is wishy-washy and about to change opinions on very large issues. If your character is a career politician, they're probably going to be the sort to form opinions based on either what will get them further ahead in the game. If your character is a no-name nothing of a creature from the back-woods of Oz who didn't get even a passing mention, it's likely that they will form their own opinion and not change. Try considering your characters stance on large topics related to your plot (or even not related to the plot). For instance, someone getting unjustly murdered and the police just want to find a culprit so they choose the most obvious person. An injustice followed by another. Opinions can be part of the driving factor that gets your character to do what you want them to do which is solve the plot.

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#2

A Surprise For The Writer

When I finish a book, one of the factors that figure in to how content I am afterward is directly related to whether or not the book ever surprised me and how many surprises it managed to whip out. I like twists that sucker punch me in the face, so that when they occur I'm left gasping and recalling how I should have known that would happen because x, y, and z were total lead ins and--AND HOW DID I MISS THIS?! But not every surprise can have a lead in. At the start of the book where we're at, you have the chance to shock the reader and yourself like we all went to an electroshock therapy session gone wrong. It's easy to shock readers now without lead ins because you then have the rest of the book to ease the reader out of the shock and tie it into the plot. Try shocking yourself with something plot-like.

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#3

Suspected Killer

The only black and white book that grabs my attention is non-fiction. There's no gray area to a book of recipes. Fiction has a lot of gray area. There's a murder in a mystery, and unless you do something unique with the butler (such as have him abducted and stuff him in the closet of some other criminal's bedroom so that criminal can assume his identity for the purpose of kidnapping the heroine who happens to be the criminal's best friend back to a city full of criminals--don't worry, I changed my killer just now) then it's safe to assume he's too obvious. And the more obvious the possible killer is, the less you're going to want him to be the real killer. Craft your villain, if not on paper, at least in your mind. As a reader, I love (and hate) when the villain ended up being likable.

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#4

Changing Leaves

Setting is very important, but what is more important is changing it. Every novel becomes a visual novel in my head. I want to see what the characters look like, and the place around them. I want realistic people interaction. Remember to keep devoting time to describing what the character sees, hears, feels, and tastes. Not only will it fill your word count, it will also help the reader envision the world you want them to see.

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