NaNoWriMo Plotses

NaNoWriMo is nine days, four hours, 56 minutes, and several seconds away. Well, it was when I wrote that, although it is now nine days, four hours, 55 minutes, and several seconds away.

But regardless of what it is now, you get the point.

I get it too. And have come to the unfortunate realization that I don't have a plot. And I'm not a "no plot, no problem" type of person. I NEED A PLOT. I don't even have a genre.

So I need your help. Yes, your help.

I have four rather vague possibilities:

1. Fantasy - I continue my somewhat cliche but very fun fantasy novel that I've been working on for several years. Pros: I have an extensive outline and know the characters well. Cons: I've done this for the past two WriMos and desperately need to branch out.

2. Southern Gothic (note several posts down) - A civil-war era novel, somewhat breaking the rules of the southern gothic novel. The novel would delve into the topics of love and forgiveness. I'd definitely be over-extending myself, no? Pros: I have a very, very rough outline and this would be branching out of the "norm." Cons: This would take a lot of historical research in the next nine days, four hours, 52 minutes and so-many-seconds, I doubt that I could pull it off (although it'd be fun to try), and it'd be really, really, weird. Although maybe the last one is a pro.

3. Historical Fiction - A novel involving a Khmer woman and an American journalist and their parallel journeys from the time of the Khmer Rouge up to the modern day KR Tribunals. Both of their paths would revolve loosely around Duch, even though they'd never see him face to face (until the very end and then only briefly, but that's a spoiler). The novel would basically revolve around the meaning of forgiveness. Pros: This would be so much fun, I really am fascinated by the topic, I love this idea, I know quite a bit about the KR tribunals and Duch, I have a rough idea of the plot, I have the final scene planned in detail. Cons: This would also take quite a bit of historical research, I'm not sure I could make it historically accurate (and you know how accurate I need to be) since I don't know intricate details about the historical aspect (although once I reached modern day it would be easy), and it'd be very hard to pull off.

4. Science Fiction - A forgotten Earth colony, exploited by a lone race of aliens, the problems of planet management, and psychological realism. That's all I've got. Pros: This would actually be really easy, since Sci-Fi is quite an easy genre to write, I like the idea, I've been wanting to try out psychological realism for ages, and I'm currently taking a sci-fi class. Cons: No plot, no characters, this wouldn't really be branching out (although I've never written a full-fledged sci-fi novel, I have done short-stories...so it'd be sortof branching out).

Further thoughts: I'm going to be stretched for time this year, so maybe I should pick one of the easier topics (fantasy or sci-fi). I'm leaning away from fantasy, however, since I've done it so much. I really love my historical & southern gothic ideas, but I'd be content with my other ideas as well... So in end conclusion, I cannot make up my mind.

So now it comes to you. I'd like you to vote for the novel you think I should write. If you have comments, feel free to comment on this post, but otherwise please head to the poll on the top right of this post to vote. Thank you so, so much! I really am having a bit of a dilemma here, and your vote will help!

~Manwathiel/Kath
p.s. Nine days, four hours, 45 minutes, and several seconds to go...

The Merits of Chocolate

Chocolate...
Imagine getting home from work, utterly exhausted because of a mere five hours of sleep the night before. You get home, gulp down a Royal D and simply want to go to bed. But you have schoolwork. Three quizzes (psychology, spanish, and physics, to be specific) lurk on the horizon of tomorrow. And you aren't even sure what to study for the psych quiz, since you have the wrong textbook. So you go up to your room and haul out your physics book, only to discover that your parakeet has become some sort of recluse who only talks to his mirror. You feel awful. You need chocolate.
And then you remember. Chocolate!
Pulling open a nearby drawer, you find, to your utter and complete delight, a forgotten Mars bar!
Unwrapping it, you bite into the sticky gooey chocolateness of it. Suddenly, you feel less stressed and less tired. Your parakeet smells the chocolate and comes flying over to get some of it (which he can't have, because parakeets can't digest it, alas). And suddenly physics seems so much more interesting.

The moral of the story is, always keep a spare bar of chocolate lying around.

Drip, drip, drip...

I made a fascinating discovery last night (or perhaps I should say la madrugada, or the early hours, if I'm keeping my Spanish at least mostly correct). Going downstairs to get a drink of water, I discovered that I love the sound of dripping faucets.
Fascinating, no?
Walking through the silence, I came into the kitchen to hear a slow, steady, drip, drip, drip. Or perhaps it was a splat, splat, splat. Or maybe even a frenzied tink, tink tink. It sounded so...alive. The dripping of the water seemed to tell a story to my tired, half-asleep mind. It sounded desolate, alone in the silence. Forgotten and forsaken. Just a steady, never wavering, drip, drip, drip.

It's amazing what a dripping faucet can tell you about itself.