Paws & Prose: My NanoWrimo Project 2020

Last year, my friend Sophie and I participated in NaNoWriMo – we even had a NanoWrimo Race. And we are participating again this year! Although I don’t think the race is happening this year. Who knows?

What is NaNoWriMo?

It stands for National November Writing Month. Writers from all around the world will sit down from the first of November—so today—and start to write in the hopes that we are able to get to 50,000 words by the end of the month. This is 50,000 new words, so if we already have 40,000 on the project, we aim to have a total of 90,000 by the end of the month.

What is my NanoWrimo project?

For a few years now, I have had this idea about Death… also known as the Angel of Death / the Grim Reaper. What if Death also had a “life-cycle” in that he or she had to move on. Only I have been stuck on Chapter Two for what feels like forever!

So my NaNoWriMo project is Death’s Hourglass. Although the image labels it as Horror, it isn’t. Unfortunately, Supernatural falls under the horror/supernatural genre. Which is stupid but there you go.

About Death’s Hourglass

Mara Stone and Hayden Earnest Ward meet when Hayden dies. Mara is a six-year-old girl from the medieval era, although with 700 years of collecting British souls, she has adapted very well. Hayden is a 40 year old man from the 21st century and neither are happy to meet the other.

For Mara, Hayden marks the end of her career as Death. She will now have to move on like the billions of souls she had collected. For Hayden, Mara’s presence means the end of his human life. He will never see his daughter grow up.

Hayden does not want to become Death. He thinks that the life of Death is torture. Especially when he sees Mara’s room. In 700 years, she has kept a replica of what her human room once looked like. A ragdoll comforts her.

Considerations

I am considering making Mara older. I’m not sure if 6 is too young to make it believable. If I made her 11 or 12, she would be almost a woman in her own time. It might cause a bit of a better power dynamic between herself and Hayden, but also if I kept her young, it might also add an interesting Dynamic as Hayden could believe that Mara does not understand what is going on.

What do you think?

Writing Style

I’m certainly a panster or perhaps even a panster-planster. For those of you who do not know these terms, here are the NaNoWriMo Definitions:

• Panster: A person who free writes with no idea or plan.
• Planster: a person who semi-plans and semi-freewrites.
• Planner: A person who plans first.

If I am a panster-planner, I will mostly free write but have a very small plan. I did make a quiz if you are interested in finding out what type of writer you are.

My NaNoWriMo Objective

I do hope to hit the 50,000 word mark. It would mean I certainly moved past the second chapter, but honestly, I’ve been stuck on this story for so long that even an extra 10,000 words would be an improvement. I am hoping I do better than 10,000 though.

I also like to collect the Nanowrimo target badges. Last Year I collected them all and hope to do so again this year. From left to right the badges are:

• It’s just the beginning
• First Day Update
• Start a streak
• Update Word count:
  • 3 days in a row
  • 7 days in a row
  • 14 days in a row
  • 21 days in a row
• Update progress every day
• Achieve par every day
• Write:
  • 1667 words
  • 5k words
  • 10k words
  • 25k words
  • 40k words
• Wrote 50k words in November

Additionally, there are badges that you can award yourself. This one is a bit more colourful at the moment, but I cannot do all of these… I mean I’m in the wrong country to vote for Biden, but I am voting in spirit…

Can I click the vote button for spirit…?

I also cannot buy from the Nano shop as the shipping is extortionate—I really wanted a mug too. However, I did select the panster and planster icons, the rebel icon as I did start the book before 1st November, the Stay at Home icon, and I’m supporting my Nanowrimo friends as other fellow friends of mine have signed up this year.

Oooh and I can now also award myself the: Tell the world badge because of this post! Yay! I do like virtual badges…

Thanks for Reading

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this Year? If so, what is your project about and what do you hope to achieve?

Let me know in the comments below, also feel free to ask me more about Death’s Hourglass. You can also “check-up” on me using my NaNoWriMo Username (SeaBear211).