NaNo ponderings

[estirose]

So, I'm doing NaNo this year. Things were going smoothly until a second plotbunny thought she was suitably epic. I have reservations about #2, because she's an AU genderbend of an AU, and it's that universe that has the incest problems. Plus, I was rather hoping to not write fanfic again.

I'm going to lay out the characters, their storyline pros and cons, and some considerations.

Storyline #1, Emery (Late Bloomer)
Emery is a thirtysomething who grew up in the tiny little town of Hayfork, CA. Her family makes harps. She's a small-town girl and happy to stay that way. Unfortunately, what she doesn't know is that her father used to hunt a type of energy monster, and was fooled into fathering her on one. She wears something to limit/supress her power at all times. Her kin have been trying to find her for years, and her father's luck in keeping her safe runs out as one comes to town.

Pros:
* Possibly saleable. It is vampires, but....
* Apart from the small-town setting, it is set in the U.S. I don't have to worry about Japanese customs and honorifics.
Cons:
* I barely know anything about the plot except Emery's background story. I have her name, her father's name, how her kinfolk's society works. Two weeks before NaNo.

Storyline #2, Song (Queen's War)
Song (her nickname; she's an alternate Kurenai Wataru) was born to Maya, the rogue Queen of the Checkmate Four, and her human lover, Kurenai Otoya. Maya decided losing Otoya was enough; she was not going to lose Song, so she raised her as a human. Song discovered she wasn't as human/normal when Bishop came to execute her mother when she was 16. Since then, Song has hated the Checkmate Four. When she turned 21, she found that she was heir to her mother's position in the Checkmate Four, due to marry the King, her half-brother Taiga, who was a witness to her mother's execution. In a universe where Kings and Queens are driven to be each other, Song plans to exact revenge on those she considers responsible for her mother's death.

Pros:
* I know what's going on here more than I do in the first universe. I know more about Song's personality than I do about Emery.

Cons:
* I did fanfic in '06. Eventually I want something saleable.
* When I tell people I'm writing a novel, they assume I'm trying for saleable/publishable. It got rather awkward in 2006 when I had a family road trip and I couldn't well explain that I was writing 1667 words a day for something I can't even publish. (Explaining it was slash was not even possible.)

Considerations on time:
* Last year, I finished my novel on the 25th and averaged ~2000 words/day.
* This year, while I'm not doing a road trip, I am spending time with my mom for 2-4 days.
* I'm taking 6 units of college coursework. That's a drain.
* I may do Yuletide, and I'd like to start on my story earlier this year.

[Poll #1278473]

Comments

[finnyb.livejournal.com]

Storyline #1 has me intrigued.