Sam (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
samatethecookie) wrote2011-02-21 06:45 am
samatethecookie) wrote2011-02-21 06:45 am
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NANOWRIMO - My Magna Carta I and II
I had another insomniac evening/early morning, so I decided to redo this exercise. The last time I did this, it was in 2009 shortly before that nanowrimo. This time, I did it out of boredom.
Basically, you compile two lists before you write a novel: one list for things you believe make a good story/narrative, and another for the things that bore you or the things you simply hate too much to even consider.
I looked at my last lists back from 2009--for some reason, I'm the very first link that shows up on Google when I search "nanowrimo magna carta", even though I forgot I wrote that entry--and I hated the list I've compiled. I won't go into the details as to why these elements work for me unless someone asks, or if I wake up tomorrow and feel inspired to explain myself, but I thought sharing the lists would be fun.
Magna Carta I
Improbable/complicated romance.
Unrequited love.
Sexual tension.
Unexpected relationships/friendships that surprise others.
Underestimated heroes.
Mother and daughter relationships.
Sibling relationships.
Dysfunctional family unit who decide to work together or get over the past.
Existential characters.
Happy endings, or at least something good coming out of the story.
Grief/loss, and how the characters grow from it.
Twisted or modern versions of fairy tales or myths.
Multiple, interesting secondary characters who can add to the plot.
Immortality, and the consequences that go along with it.
Feisty old people.
Girls with differing personalities, lifestyles, and opinions managing to befriend and learn from each other.
Misunderstood people.
Rising above oppression and/or abuse.
Villains with good points or sympathetic background, or villains who used to do good until their inevitable fall from grace.
Smartass characters with a lot more heart than they let on.
Geeky characters.
Promiscuous characters.
Characters that could fall in love with simply remain good friends.
Characters with lives of their own outside of significant others.
Characters that hide a secret or two, and how the narrative forces them to reveal themselves.
Socially awkward protagonists/characters who grow into their own skin and learn to love themselves.
Redeemable anti-heroes/villains.
Just redemption, actually. That loose term can apply to anything if it suits the story.
Cold, tough guys who act like they hate everyone and everything until it's revealed that they actually have a heart or a soft side, which only shows up on rare occasions.
Guys that turn into bashful puddles of gush over the ladies they love.
Asshole characters who grow to care for others or learn from their mistakes.
Smushy scenes involving dates, cuddling, dessert, or merely two characters finally realizing they really like each other. It helps if an ice cream or chocolate is involved.
Magna Carta II
Vampires.
Most of the time, first-person narrative.
Too many dicks on the dance floor. AKA: a crazy amount of dudes but no sight of a lady, unless she's a love interest or helps two dudes get together.
Mental illness handled poorly.
Female characters without agency.
Unhappy endings.
Books that read like autobiographies.
Pointless angst.
Villains with no true purpose or motivation simply existing to give the story some conflict.
Characters that constantly mention how sexy a specific character looks.
Abuse of the thesaurus.
Minor characters who serve no purpose or were given extremely bland personalities.
When a narrative implies that a boy and a girl can never remain friends, that eventually sexual tension will happen and they'll eventually date each other.
Drug and/or alcohol addiction being featured in a light-hearted way.
Too much description.
Inconsistent characterization.
Stereotypes; the Asian characters are always brainy and polite, the gay characters are sassy sidekicks for a female protagonist with no lives of their own (and they're always sassy and flamboyant, and they're always working in salons or interested in fashion, and they always seem to have all the answers when the protagonist needs them), women are weak, men are always sexist assholes to women, etc.
A scene involving masturbation or sex that betrays the tone the book was going for.
Most science fiction narratives.
Boys/men who constantly hit on girls/women until they get what they want.
Basically, you compile two lists before you write a novel: one list for things you believe make a good story/narrative, and another for the things that bore you or the things you simply hate too much to even consider.
I looked at my last lists back from 2009--for some reason, I'm the very first link that shows up on Google when I search "nanowrimo magna carta", even though I forgot I wrote that entry--and I hated the list I've compiled. I won't go into the details as to why these elements work for me unless someone asks, or if I wake up tomorrow and feel inspired to explain myself, but I thought sharing the lists would be fun.
Magna Carta I
Improbable/complicated romance.
Unrequited love.
Sexual tension.
Unexpected relationships/friendships that surprise others.
Underestimated heroes.
Mother and daughter relationships.
Sibling relationships.
Dysfunctional family unit who decide to work together or get over the past.
Existential characters.
Happy endings, or at least something good coming out of the story.
Grief/loss, and how the characters grow from it.
Twisted or modern versions of fairy tales or myths.
Multiple, interesting secondary characters who can add to the plot.
Immortality, and the consequences that go along with it.
Feisty old people.
Girls with differing personalities, lifestyles, and opinions managing to befriend and learn from each other.
Misunderstood people.
Rising above oppression and/or abuse.
Villains with good points or sympathetic background, or villains who used to do good until their inevitable fall from grace.
Smartass characters with a lot more heart than they let on.
Geeky characters.
Promiscuous characters.
Characters that could fall in love with simply remain good friends.
Characters with lives of their own outside of significant others.
Characters that hide a secret or two, and how the narrative forces them to reveal themselves.
Socially awkward protagonists/characters who grow into their own skin and learn to love themselves.
Redeemable anti-heroes/villains.
Just redemption, actually. That loose term can apply to anything if it suits the story.
Cold, tough guys who act like they hate everyone and everything until it's revealed that they actually have a heart or a soft side, which only shows up on rare occasions.
Guys that turn into bashful puddles of gush over the ladies they love.
Asshole characters who grow to care for others or learn from their mistakes.
Smushy scenes involving dates, cuddling, dessert, or merely two characters finally realizing they really like each other. It helps if an ice cream or chocolate is involved.
Magna Carta II
Vampires.
Most of the time, first-person narrative.
Too many dicks on the dance floor. AKA: a crazy amount of dudes but no sight of a lady, unless she's a love interest or helps two dudes get together.
Mental illness handled poorly.
Female characters without agency.
Unhappy endings.
Books that read like autobiographies.
Pointless angst.
Villains with no true purpose or motivation simply existing to give the story some conflict.
Characters that constantly mention how sexy a specific character looks.
Abuse of the thesaurus.
Minor characters who serve no purpose or were given extremely bland personalities.
When a narrative implies that a boy and a girl can never remain friends, that eventually sexual tension will happen and they'll eventually date each other.
Drug and/or alcohol addiction being featured in a light-hearted way.
Too much description.
Inconsistent characterization.
Stereotypes; the Asian characters are always brainy and polite, the gay characters are sassy sidekicks for a female protagonist with no lives of their own (and they're always sassy and flamboyant, and they're always working in salons or interested in fashion, and they always seem to have all the answers when the protagonist needs them), women are weak, men are always sexist assholes to women, etc.
A scene involving masturbation or sex that betrays the tone the book was going for.
Most science fiction narratives.
Boys/men who constantly hit on girls/women until they get what they want.