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What to Write in November? Help!

November is nearly here. That means National Novel Writing Month for all you non-writerly types. In other words, insane writing for thirty days. And I still don’t know what to write.

Today, I’m asking for your advice. I need your input on how to spend my 50,000 words (or more) in November.

It’s not like I don’t have any ideas. Ideas flood my mind at every odd moment day or night.

In fact, I have four ideas that all hold equal appeal to me. Mostly for different reasons.

Here are my ideas:

  1.  A time travel story about a female lawyer
  2.  The elf novel that’s plaguing me
  3.  A New Adult romance that’s a spin-off of the novel my beta readers are reading
  4.  Another collection of short stories

All great ideas, right? That doesn’t help me narrow it down to one. I can only write one during NaNoWriMo.

Idea #1

More than a decade ago, I started this story. Here’s the gist:

A young attorney struggles to defend a guilty client. She’s fallen so far from the faith of her childhood, but this feels like an assault on her ideology of justice. In a freak hiking accident, she’s transported through time to first century Jerusalem, where she comes face-to-face with the Christ she left behind.

Upon returning to conciousness, she quits her job and gives up all her fancy goodies. When she walks into a private law office hoping to find somewhere to utilize her degrees and skills, she meets a man who was in her “dream” about Jerusalem.

Why was he there? Is she imagining things? Was the encounter real?

She is on the path to facing down the ugly truth about herself because it’s the only way she can move forward in freedom.

This story crosses many genre lines so I’m not sure how marketable it would be. But it has many solid messages that I enjoy writing about in my fiction.

Also, it works in my new commitment to write women’s fiction.

Idea #2

Masked_heartsI’ve written two short stories set on Earth that are published with Roane Publishing. Click through to get the newest one for free.

But when I wrote the first novel, I did a lot of backstory. I realized there was easily a novel that should happen in the elven realm (Evendon).

Holt is taken hostage by a magical artifact collector and forced to lead the man and his mercenaries into his home realm. He slyly leads them to his sister’s neck of the woods, where she puts the three outsiders into an enchanted sleep.

Alyona returns to Earth to fetch her human boyfriend who specializes in finding and neutralizing magical objects. He goes into Evendon with her to help stop the bad guy. Of course, he’s one-quarter elf and has an innate magic, that begins to surge through him once he’s in the magical realm.

There he will reunite with his elven grandmother and face the truth about his heritage. And he’ll need to learn to control his magic if he’s going to stop the bad guy from retrieving an artifact that will help him access the dragon realm and a magical power that would breech the borders between the four realms forever.

I’m not supposed to be writing fantasy. I’ve decided to put fantasy on the back burner. But this story begs to be told.

And I already have two published stories that would tie into it so I could create a sales funnel.

Idea #3

This is the other idea that works with my new writing direction. Although it isn’t women’s fiction, it springboards off of the novel I’ve written.

The youngest narrator from my novel, Mercedes Glen, makes a life-altering decision to move to a different state to pursue a relationship with the man she loves. Her parents are opposed so her father cuts off her health insurance.

One of the part-time jobs she takes on brings all her insecurities about her ability to counsel teenagers to the forefront. Her boyfriend’s Greek Orthodox parents aren’t in favor of him marrying outside the faith, even though he is a member and minister of a non-denominational Christian church already.

Lots of conflict. Some sweet romance. And I love this character and I’m already familiar with her voice, plus I have the character study completed. This would be the easiest project to write.

Idea #4

Virtually Yours CoverI wrote a novella that was published in a collection with seven other romance authors. It’s off the market now and I’m subbing it to Roane for a sweet romance call they have open.

I have begun the second (much requested by readers of the first) installment of Marcus and Ronnie’s romance story. It would be another novella I might submit to my small publisher. I have a vague idea for a third installment. I could then put these up and have another series sales funnel to direct readers to my writing.

Even if Roane doesn’t pick up the first one, I could offer it for free as an independently published title to funnel into the other books in the series that I could release within a few weeks of each other.

This is the idea that seems the smartest marketing-wise.

But I despise marketing. I just want to write stories.

So, which idea do you think I should pursue in November? It’s nearly here. Cast your vote in the poll.

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5 thoughts on “What to Write in November? Help!”

  1. Whichever you choose, make sure you’re passionate about it. I reckon NaNo is hard enough without some other work siren-calling you away at every turn.
    But what do I know? I’ve never NaNo’ed, although I’m thinking about it this year. I’d better make up my mind quickly, though, as this busy October is just rushing by!

    1. If you’re looking for a push to see a project through to the end, I recommend NaNo. It doesn’t have to be fiction or even a novel.
      Everyone is steering me toward the totally un-marketable elf story that has been writing itself in the back of my mind since last December when I wrote the first short story starring Alyona, the blonde elf with the gift of plant magic.
      At this point in my “career,” I feel like everything I write should further my goals. In this case solidifying my brand with more women’s fiction.
      But oh how my heart longs to write fantasy.

      1. What made you decide you had to keep writing women’s fiction if your heart is singing fantasy? Admittedly, I’m in a position where I can please myself as to what I write, but why make yourself be a women’s fiction author if that’s not where your passion is?

        1. First of all, because I feel God gifted me with this ability and I should use it for the furtherance of His kingdom.
          Do I think I can use allegory in my fantasy in ways similar to C.S. Lewis and Tolkien? Sure. But it doesn’t feel like giving the message in the same way writing women’s fiction with deep spiritual themes does.
          I will continue to produce one or two Bible studies per year no matter what, but I feel like God closed the door on my YA Fantasy dream. I have been wrestling with it for many months. And I could be misreading him. I have a YA fantasy short coming out in an anthology of Biblical retellings, so we’ll see if that goes anywhere. I thought that acceptance was a YES to my YA Fantasy dream.
          But then I realized that’s the answer I wanted to hear.
          And maybe this novel I just finished won’t put me on a new path. Maybe I will be able to write fantasy. I wish there was a neon sign…

          1. Wouldn’t we all love a neon sign? But to be honest, if your first priority is doing what God wants (good on you!), you should probably be asking him what you should be working on right now, not us :-). Wait for his answer, and then go for it! (And if he doesn’t want you writing YA fantasy, you could ask him to make the idea stop pestering you…)
            I’ll be praying God gives you clarity, even if he doesn’t quite go as far as neon 🙂 Be encouraged: God is pleased by the desire to please him.

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