Then along comes NaNo. Yeah. Whole new experience for a so-called organic writer. In essence, it’s a rather primal type of expression, but at the same time, you only have thirty days and you need a plot. Plain and simple. Yeah, a character is great, but a plot is what’s gonna get you through the thirty days of mindlessness. Plot…mindlessness. The two don’t seem to go hand in hand, but they do.

I’m a little behind on my goal as of this moment, but I’m about to catch up by doing what I always told myself I’d never do. I’m gonna pull a gun on my character. Something crazy and horrible happened in my hometown—just down the street from me—a couple nights ago, and it resulted in a death. Real life, meet NaNo book.

My character, Kyle, is just kind of dragging at this party. Of course things have happened and she’s just a big ole mess as far as people go, so there’s a story there. But, I was finding I had no clue where the story was going.
Well, since I’m not a plot/outline gal, I’ve decided to be a gun gal. 

Do y’all do things like that? Or is it a cliche that people suggest, yet no one really does? Like, if you’re having a problem with a character and s/he is going nowhere, not pushing the action along, kill him/her off. Make something crazy happen.
See, I’ve never made anything happen. But I’m about to. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I’m also interested in how you guys deal with situations like this. I also wonder if, by doing this writerly thing, am I growing as a writer? Am I learning what needs to be done to make things work? Or am I so desperate I’m becoming less of a writer? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not insecure or doubting this plan of mine. I just wonder….

Do you use writers’ tricks? If so, have they worked? Let me, and all of our readers, know. I’m in the mood to learn something and who better to learn from than fellow writers, right?!?

Image Credit

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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Go!

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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*****

*So, this song gets to me every time I hear it. And I doubt I’m the only one.

I’ll bet others on here have wanted a boyfriend, girlfriend, heck–even a close friend to stay. Just one more day. One more night.
To ‘lie’ a little bit longer.

How would a character of yours react/deal with this situation?
Write a short story depicting his/her pain and progress–or downfall. I’ll post mine in the comments, as well.
Have fun with this!

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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Let’s see what y’all have for this picture.

You can find this image here.

Now go write that story.

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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Here we go:

Picture found here.

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Remember, write your story before you read the others. I will post my story in the comments as well. Have fun, and let the creativity begin!

Here is the picture:

The link to this picture is here.

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First favorite memory.

I could hardly sleep that night as I thought about going on our family vacation.  I hadn’t seen Jeff in 2 years and he and I used to be the best of friends.   I couldn’t wait to see him again.

The next morning my mom woke us up bright and early.  My older sister was in the bathroom already getting ready.  I had never cared before, but now I had a reason to look nice.  I could feel myslef becoming more and more annoyed as she took her time putting on her makeup, curling her hair and flipping her bangs in that high 1980′s flip.

“Come on Stacey, I need to get in there too!”  I whinned.

“Stac, hurry and  let your sisters get in the bathroom.  We have to get on the road.”  My mom yelled from down the hall.

I of course thinking I had won the argument smirked at her and she pretended to back hand me.  I flinched away and ran into the bathroom.  Colleen following right behind me.

We packed up the car and at 6:30 in the morning we were on our way.  I don’t know why I had spent any time in the bathroom the 10 hour drive to Oregon was going to mess up anything I had tried to accomplish anyway.

The drive was excruciatingly long.  It wasn’t until we had passed over into the east side of Oregon that I was amazed at the beauty that unfolded in front of me.   Growing up in Utah’s desert I was amazed at the size of the trees.  They were green Mammoths.  Every where you looked it was a different shade of green.  My breath had been taken away.  I thought I was in heaven until I stepped out of the car and felt the cold wet air surround me.  it was June for heaven’s sake.  I was needing a jacket.

We had pulled up in front of a cute brown one level home.  The yard was full of green grass and flowers of every color.  The huge pine trees and saplings that lined the yard gave it a very private feel even on a  suburban street.

As I began to walk towards the door, the front door opened and Jeff came running towards me.  The last 2 years had been good to him, he had grown out of all the baby fat and had finally out grown me.  We embrassed eachother and began to laugh and talk like we had never been parted.

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