Fantasist’s Scroll

As I mentioned in a previous post, here’s my Magna Carta II.

Okay, again, just in case you jumpped in here at the last minute and haven’t read anything else, Chris Baty talked about two Magna Cartas of noveling in his NaNoWriMo primer No Plot No Problem. The first is all the things I think go into a good novel. (That’s what the last post was.) And the second is the list of all the things that I think should be definately left out of a good novel. (That’s what this one is.)

So, without further ado, here’s my Magna Carta II, Elements of “Bad” Fiction:

• Trick, “O’Henry” endings
• Characters who do consistently stupid things and never learn
• Info dumps
• Characters who preach
• No action or plot movement
• Wooden characters without any background or substance
• Mysteries that can only be solved with information/clues not given in the story ala “Murder She Wrote”
• Not enough description
• Too much description, especially with florid prose
• No one working or trying to make a living
• No conflict based in responsibility to a real life
• Magic that doesn’t follow rules or has too many loopholes
• Not enough explanation of how magic works
• Inconsistent characters

Sadly, with so few days left and so many words to catch up, I doubt this will ever shape up into an actual novel, especially since I’m so strapped for time, that I’m stealing posts from my other blog, Diary of a Network Geek. Still, it’s been a good exercise and, as I’ve mentioned before, it has gotten me writing more than I’ve written all year long.
Ah, well, maybe next year!

As I mentioned in a previous post, here’s my Magna Carta I.

Well, just to refresh your memory, Chris Baty talked about two Magna Cartas of noveling in his NaNoWriMo primer No Plot No Problem. The first is all the things I think go into a good novel. (That’s what this one is.) And the second is the list of all the things that I think should be definately left out of a good novel. (That’s for a future post.)

So, without further ado, here’s my Magna Carta I, Elements of “Good” Fiction:

• Violence. Lots and lots of violence.
• Mystery
• Exotic locales
• Magic, or at least the hint of magic
• Religious beliefs
• A real villain who has good points (ie. “loves his mother”)
• A tough “everyman” hero who’s good but has bad habits
• Surreal interiors (ie. Basement hothouse, warehouse filled with Asian antiques, building facades that hide something super cool)
• Smart use of current technology
• Slightly futuristic/near future sci-fi stuff
• Exotic creatures
• Characters who change based on the plot
• Characters who LEARN during the course of the book
• Something criminal, or potentially criminal
• Books, lots of books
• Libraries
• Big, strange houses filled with rooms of unusual things
• Quirky supporting cast
• Characters who worry about bills, money and similar every day concerns
• Characters who have bodily functions
• At least one scene inside a bathroom
• Guns
• Knives and swords
• A monk, or hermit, or wiseman or guru
• Characters with strange things in their pockets
• Secret organizations
• Adventure and daring-do and, maybe, even a bit of swashbuckling
• Memorable images
• Cinematic moments: action and description
• Humor from what the characters say, not bad writing (ie. Humor from the characters being funny with each other.)

Up next… My Magna Carta II, Elements of “Bad” Fiction.
(And, sadly, I had computer trouble last night on my main system, so I have sincere doubts that I’ll be able to make up my 12000 word deficit at this point. Still, I keep working at it. Hope springs eternal!  And, yes, this also appeared on my other blog: Diary of a Network Geek.)

Yes, I’m going to make a feeble attempt at NaNoWriMo.

With my work schedule and the rate at which my friends are having emotional breakdowns, I sincerely doubt that I’ll actually find a way to get 50,000 words out in a single month, but I’m going to give it a go.  I’ll post my personal guidelines, based on No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty, who originated NaNoWriMo, and I’ll make my Friday Fun posts, but, other than that, all my updates will be on my other blog, which more people know about; Diary of a Network Geek.

In essence, though, as I expect total failure, this is just going to be a month long writing exercise.  But, it might be fun, and, if it gets me writing regularly again, it’ll be worth doing.