NaNoWriMo Update: T-6 Days

[kaasirpent]

For those who care or who might be amused or who might have a suggestion. I put it here for myself to cement some things.


A Is for Angel

Fantasy. A very sick man in the hospital finds himself being fought over by two angels—one heavenly, the other fallen—and he interrupts their bickering to remind them about free will. Maybe.

B Is for Bard#

Fantasy. A bard was cursed with the magical power to make things he sings about come true. He's quite sought after and expensive. However, someone wants him dead. Maybe.

C Is for Clowns that creep through the yard

Dark Fantasy. Clarence hates clowns. His mother, however, loved them. She named him after one. Made sure there was one at every birthday. It was hell. Now, as an adult . . . he realizes that clowns . . . are everywhere. And they know he knows. Maybe.

D Is for Dragon

Fantasy/Humor. Daryl the Dragon has kidnapped damsel Darlene. She's terrified of the beast. Luckily, dashing, daring Dirk the knight comes to rescue her. Maybe.

E Is for Egg

Science Fiction. A mysterious object approaches from extra-solar space and takes up orbit around Earth. Nothing penetrates it. Amidst a political shitstorm on Earth to determine who will be the first nation to claim the object and study it, an international team is selected, and a young astronaut is chosen to be the first to enter the object, which turns out to be intelligently crafted. She enters . . . Maybe.

F Is for Fangs sunk into your leg

Science Fiction. On an alien world, a team of human scientists are studying the local flora and . . . other flora. There don't appear to be animals on this world. Or plants. Or fungi. Or microorganisms. Or even viruses. But what is there is nothing like anything we recognize as life. Yet it clearly is. It fits into its own category. A young scientist is studying a vine-like growth in a "forest" when it seizes her and sinks several fang-thorns into her leg. She passes out. And wakes up later, perfectly fine, the vine-like growth having withered and, apparently, died. Then the deaths start. Maybe. (Thanks to dchenes for giving me the seed of this idea.)

G Is for Gravesite

Fantasy. After a funeral for a grandparent (in a beautiful forest), a child overhears his elders talking about the deceased, speculating about the kind of person s/he was, and how the gravesite will be marked. I could go into detail, but it would give away the 'surprise.' And . . . I'm not 100% sure where to take it. Maybe.

H Is for Haunting

Ghost Story (duh). A ghost story told from the ghost's POV. How he learns the ropes, the eventual fate of ghosts, and the indignities he must suffer in his long afterlife. Goes from an indeterminate past to a far-flung, science-fictional future. Maybe.

I Is for Investigation blah blah blah -a(u)nting

Urban Fantasy. A big-city wizard detective retires (at least for a while) from the big-city life to a small, quiet, rural town in the south (that is not at all based on my hometown, really). Of course, this investigator discovers that all is not quiet in this sleepy town. Maybe.

J ?
K Is for Kiss

Fantasy Humor. I thought it might be fun to write a "traditional fairy tale" where there is a princess under an enchantment who is waiting for a kiss to end the enchantment. Only problem is, a lot of princes have tried . . . and she's still snoring. Then, along comes this other princess . . . Maybe. (Thanks to tbons for giving me the seed of this idea in a typo.)

L ?

M ?
N ?
O ?

P Is for Prey

Science Fiction/Horror. Basically, it's "The Most Dangerous Game," but with a couple of twists. I can't say more. Maybe.

Q Is for Quest

Fantasy Humor. "Mom, there's a dragon in the canyon!" "That's nice, dear." "Do you want me to slay it?" "Sure, honey, go on outside and play. Mama's busy." Thus is the Quest given. Maybe.

R Is for Rite blah blah blah -est

Fantasy/Horror/Humor. The Book of Rites gives explicit details in all kinds of rites. Love spells, spells to make one rich. And to summon demons. But . . . some parts of the book are a bit smeared in something that looks like blood. But is probably—hopefully—just brown ink. Hopefully. So when the demon is summoned . . . something else entirely answers the call. Maybe.

S ?
T ?
U ?

V ?
W Is for Witness

Science Fiction. Temporal Witness Protection is reserved for those cases when there is no way to protect the witness in the present. But is the past any safer? Maybe.

X Is for Xenogamy for maximum fitness

I haven't actually decided, yet. It just rhymes so nicely with 'witness' and Xenogamy is such a good X-word . . . Maybe.

Y ?
Z Is for Zombie

Science Fiction. ZOMBIES! One of the many no-doubt tired tropes of zombie fiction, but with what I hope is a different twist. We'll see. I can't say more because that would give it away, now wouldn't it? :) Maybe.

These are the stories that steal sleep from me.

(Does 'from me' really rhyme with 'zombie'? I say it does.)


There are only 6 days left and I have 10 letters wholly unassigned. I have some 'placeholder' words in there, but none of those are sparking story ideas. Must. Flog. Brain. Harder.

Comments

[dchenes.livejournal.com]

The only suggestion that springs to mind right now is that "daunting" rhymes with "haunting".

[kaasirpent]

Yeah, daunting, taunting, vaunting, flaunting, wanting, jaunting...none of them leap out at me as being suitable for the end of the line. I'm sure something will spring to mind, though. Maybe.

Haunted or Haunt are other possible names for the H story. Maybe.

Letters and Numbers

[izmeina.livejournal.com]

Why are clowns just so creepy? Love those thorny fangs. Let's guess who provides the seeds for these tangled weedy creatures?

M has just got to be for Monsanto! Or maybe minotaur in a maze

And still no critters for S!!!! Sssssssseriously ;)

V for venom and T could be tentacles

Not quite sure how the groups go since there's not enough letters for 9 groups of 3 (just noticed - Y and Z are all on their own)

Assuming that M,N and O form a group along with S,T, U
and also V, W and X

Re: Letters and Numbers

[kaasirpent]

The ninth grouping are the last three "lines":

Y ?
Z Is for Zombie
These are the stories that steal sleep from me.

That's why I was asking if 'from me' really rhymed with 'zombie.' But it kind of has to because I need for the last line to be either that or something along those lines, but it has to rhyme with the z-word or the entire thing doesn't work. And I like Zombie. No other Z word I could come up with that gave me any ideas had a rhyme that fit.

Re: Letters and Numbers

[kaasirpent]

The "filler" words for S, T, and U are:

S Is for Sinister
T Is for Tarot
U Is for Uranus--Where Did it Go?

The idea for Uranus is that someone or something steals the planet from the solar system. I couldn't make a story around it, though, so I don't have to hang on it.

The fill-ins for the other missing letters are Justice, Lightning, Memory, Nude, Ogre, Vaccine, and Yellow. I'm just stumped for story ideas with those letters. When I selected them back in August/September, I thought, "Something will come to me before November. Surely."

Yeah.

Re: Letters and Numbers

[izmeina.livejournal.com]

Looks like you have been peeking in the tarot deck.

So why not try Hermit, Hanged Man, Tower (instead of tarot) or judgment.

N - necrophilia, Necronomicon, necropolis or even plain old nerds

And O for orphan offers the opportunity of two dead bodies to create such a sad status

S- serpent, silver, shiver - also somewhat sinister suggestions


U - uterus (thinking of a certain Nirvana album)
ukulele - sometimes silly things like clowns can be kind of creepy
ubermensch, uber - anything

Y- yarrow - a plant with possibilities or yellow fever
Other weeds could include mandrakes, hemlock, wolfsbane, or even garlic
Yeti and Yowie - strange big footed creatures

Looking forward to lots of gory stories

Re: Letters and Numbers

[izmeina.livejournal.com]

What about the ghost of a Hanged/ Hanging Man learning the ropes?
There's lots more words rhyming with hanging man than with haunting

There was a book published in Singapore with the wonderful title of "Once a jolly hangman" It sounds like just the sort of story you would write.

Re: Letters and Numbers

[kaasirpent]

You seem to be under the impression that I only write gruesome. A good number of those other letters are intended to be comedic or at least not horror. :)