Monday, October 26, 2009

5 days until the craziness begins...

National Novel Writing Month starts in five days! I can't wait to get started but I'm really nervous. The first half of my novel is outlined but the second half is really sparse. I only have one character developed and she's not even fully rounded. Character development is the hardest aspect of fiction writing, I think.

Plot is easier this year because I'm writing about what it could have been like to live through the plagues of Egypt and the exodus. The overarching plot is already written out for me, though the details of the story are completely open.

I'm trying to focus on finding God through the plagues and exodus. What would it have been like to live in slavery? How would people feel when Moses shows up and says that God is ready to deliver them? What was it like to work under harsher conditions because Moses demanded their release? What was it like to watch the plagues occur and to be affected by a number of them? How would people have seen God through this situation?

I'm sure that everyone's experience was different, much like it would be if it happened today. My response to God would probably be different than your response to Him which would be different than the neighbor's response. It all depends on your history, your life experiences, and your attitude toward life. Would God seem mean? Caring? Loving? Would you be scared of Him?

These are the things I want to explore in writing my novel next month. I hope to grow closer to God through the experience as I seek to understand how He dealt with a lost people, a stubborn Pharaoh, and a meek leader.

4 comments:

Not the Waltons said...

Wow! That sounds like a very interesting topic to delve into! It sounds like you have some wonderful thoughts to put in the story! Have lots of fun!!

h2ovapor said...

Have you read Patriarchs & Prophets? If you are going to write on this subject, I recommend taking another peek at it. It's so fascinating...

Cassandra said...

Mona - Thanks! I can't wait to start!

Alilia - I have read Patriarchs and Prophets, though it's been awhile. I don't have time to read it before the first, so I'll have to reread the first few chapters after Nano is done and I'm preparing for a rewrite.

Shereen - How wonderful that your daughter has a talent for writing! I hope she continues to develop it. I would love to share my novel with you after I'm finished. Be forewarned, though, it won't be very good. I've completed the Nano challenge before and it's really hard to push out an entire novel in 30 days. The results are very rough. I'm also not sure why I'm attempting fiction again as fiction is very obviously not my strongest writing genre. I'm much better at writing nonfiction but I wanted to see if I could write what Adventists call "a Biblical narrative" because almost all the ones I've read are written so poorly. Anyways... long response to say, yes I'll send it to you when I'm done! P.S. Any chance your daughter would be interested in writing a devotional book?

Shereen said...

Hi Cassandra, thanks for responding. Silly me forgot to check the box so that I would see any follow-up comments. Thanks for sharing. What Biblical Narratives have you read? I'm wondering if what you call a Biblical Narrative is one in the same with some books I have seen at the ABC. As far as a devotional book, hmm...I never even thought of that. I would have to ask her. What type of nonfiction do you write, like on what topics? You can email me if you want. I'm not sure if you want all this info in your comments section. lol w8ng4him@gmail.com