NaNo 2017 - Four Months to Go!

With under four months until November, it's time to review the possible projects.  I listed a few back in April, but I've had time to think about what to do.  Some ideas have changed, some ideas have been added to the list.

The Shadowrun serial may be the front runner right now.  I have the first two arcs of the series in mind, and the cast is more or less stable.  Ultimately, I want to take the serial and adapt it as an audio script, to see how that process would turn out.  Why audio?  The special effects are easier; no need to use extensive CGI for trolls and dwarves and no need for makeup effects for elves.

The time-travelling kaiju invasion is also shaping up, though it will need a portion written before NaNo starts, just to set up what happens in the first chapter.  Because of time travel, it's not a prologue.  Temporal mechanics flip cause and effect, but the bit written before NaNo won't count towards the 50k words needed.  I probably won't reach the events for some time in the story.  I'm also working out the rules the defense team uses when time travelling.  Since they are still trying to figure out temporal physics, they're doing everything possible to avoid paradox.  Their method of travelling uses a variation of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, where they can know where a team is going or when a team is going, but not both.  It's easier to plan for a known time than a known location, so the team uses the former when planning.  Going to the late 19th Century?  These are the typical clothes, this is a typical weapon, and tell not!Burt to hide his rifle better.

The Terran Commonwealth stories - the new colony and the courier crew - are on hold.  The ideas are sound, but plots are thin.  They're on the back burner while I work out just what the casts are supposed to do.  Not a problem, really.  Other ideas are going to take their place.

Finishing The Devil You Know is also off the table.  Posting The Soul Blade created a push to finish it, so why not try that again with The Devil You Know?  That means that once "Boomers Like Me" is complete, you can expect to see TDYK appearing on Fridays.

An older project, though, wants attention.  Mecha Academy, an older work that hasn't seen much light, could use a rewrite of the beginning to properly set up the characters.  When I was working on it, I was trying to turn it into a novel.  The story isn't working out that way, though.  It is a serial at its heart, and would work best in that format.  The chapters need changing to reflect the new approach, and I do need to work out what all the characters' arcs are, not just two in particular.  Fortunately, the setting is mostly built, and can be easily expanded as necessary.  I even worked out rank structures, since the academy is for military cadets.

I also have an old Final Fantasy VIII fanfic that could get the numbers filed off without losing much from the story.  As I mentioned in the first "Boomers Like Me" commentary, this was one of three fanfics I worked on that had me wondering why I didn't just do original fiction.  There are going to be questions, such as why is there a military academy taking in young teenagers and sending them out as elite soldiers before they turn eighteen, to be worked out, but rebuilding the world may help.  I'll also have to make sure that it doesn't look too much like RWBY, which has a similar premise.  However, the characters are solid enough and can be moved to the new setting without too much effort.

Unruly and Subject 13 both need more love.  I've posted some ideas about Unruly already, and there are some outstanding plot points that need development and wrappage.  Subject 13, though, was left just before what would be a massive crossover event in a major comics line and is a major headache for a serial with just one title.  I may want to skip to the aftermath of the battle against the Four Horsement of the Apocalypse to get Nasty back on her own arc so she can finally return home.

At some point, I'll have to narrow down the selection.  Right now, though, I do want the wider range, to let me see what intrigues me enough to delve into the idea further.  I don't want a replay of 2015, where The Elf's Prisoner was the last minute choice with next to no preparation and world building done on the fly.  Made for an interesting November, one where I wasn't sure what direction I was going in.  With the above, I do have an idea of where I'm going, though without a path set.

NaNo Backgrounder - Araminta - Commentary

Araminta is on her way to Colony Base 183 as I continue working on background info for NaNoWriMo and try to figure out what I'm doing this November.

The result was rushed.  Very rushed.  As in, I was working out details as I posted the story.  World names were left as marked filler.  I don't have a name for the world the base is set on.  Those would be important things to have if I choose Colony Base 183 as my NaNo project.  Some details I did need worked out, such as Araminta's name, appearance, and motive for volunteering for her next posting.  So, 50% there?  Adding to the chaos and quickness of writing the backgrounder, I had "Explorer Corps" instead of "Exploration Service" before I double-checked the name I used.  "Explorer Corps" is from the BatteTech setting, the name of ComStar's exploration branch.  Good thing I caught the mistake.

One thing that made sense to me was the Exploration Service's standard jumpsuit, the closest thing it has to a uniform.  Bright orange, which makes the person wearing the jumpsuit visible.  It gets used in areas where the wearer needs to be seen, such as ground installations with traffic and construction sites.  When Araminta becomes the junior constable at Colony Base 183, she'll wear the jumpsuit; she'll stand out from the colonists and still not look military.  That said, the jumpsuit isn't worn everywhere.  In the office on the starport before she was given the boot, Araminta wore something more comfortable and better suited for an office.  During her time on the mailships, where she was the only crew, being dressed became optional, especially near the end of the third week.

The Belanger High Port, the official name for the orbital starport, was loosely based on several space stations in media, in that they were also space stations.  The high port sees traffic passing through; not all ships are atmosphere-capable, and not all cargo is worth the cost of landing a large starship instead of using a shuttle.  With artificial gravity, there's no need to rotate the station, making docking easier.    There's a central docking bay for smaller ships; larger ones dock on the outer rings.  The high port is in geostationary orbit above the down port, the ground installation.  There are minor ports on the surface, mostly for cargo.

There probably should be a part two, where Araminta boards The Dusty Crater, with some drama as two people share a small space for a week without being able to step away.  It will be in mind as well as other background works to prep for November.

Tomorrow, more background work for NaNo.
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, Electra-Woman and Dynagirl.
Saturday, over at Seventh Sanctum, insights from Can-ConSF 2016.

NaNo Backgrounder - Colony Base 183 - Araminta

Araminta watched through the viewport as the first passenger shuttles of the day left the station.  Far below her, Belanger began to glisten orange, as the light of its star bathed it.  Cargo vessels lumbered overhead, heading to parking orbits.  Araminta shifted in her seat, stretching her arms and legs.  The light of the station's concourse was still dim, reflecting the night of the main starport on Belanger.  Shop employees arrived to set up stores before the crush of transient shoppers arrived.  Lights in the shops came on, one by one.