With a month until NaNoWriMo, I figured I’d be writing short stories involving the cast of Dream Clover to allow myself to get to know the characters better. I’ll probably still do this, but I’ve found myself writing something different.
I have two hours a day (one before sunrise, one in the late afternoon) where I can’t do anything except read a book, play a Nintendo DS game, or do something on my laptop. The latter is often watching DVDs. In November (and maybe December), I’ll be setting aside watching DVDs, etc. to write. Until then, it’s a mix of trying to finish up this one DS game, watching through this one series on DVD, and writing to get into the groove for NaNoWriMo.
When I started to write a bit about the characters in Dream Clover, I found that some things needed explanation. At its core, Dream Clover’s plot is about recovering “Rainbow Jewels”. What happened to the Rainbow Jewels leading to their need to be recovered? Where are they, who has them, how did this come to be?
I started out with a basic outline to answer the questions I had about how things came to be the way they are in the present day story, only to find I’d already slipped a few holes and inconsistencies in! Rework, rewrite, replot, rewrite. This is the kind of thing I cannot do during NaNoWriMo. Once I start writing Dream Clover, from its first chapter, first page, first paragraph, first sentence, first word on, I have to live with any plot holes I create. At least, until December when I’m no longer striving for a word count, and can start cleaning things up.
With the history behind Dream Clover coming together, as ideas, as thoughts, as written story, as a timeline of events and people, I’m hoping this will make it easier to keep Dream Clover on track with the little things. The past is mostly history, and it will not a major part of Dream Clover, but sometimes where will be a need to talk about the past, and that’s where I want things to be as lacking in plot holes as possible.
