(no subject)
Well everyone... it's October 31st and you know what means!
Halloween? Well, I don't really have plans for that. Sadly. But oh well, got lots of other stuff to do.
But for me (and other crazy people) it means 1 day away from NANOWRIMO!
This will be my first Nanowrimo... weeeeeeeeeeeelllll.... technically second because I tried last year and it only worked for, oh, a DAY. XD This year I'm determined to try for the 50K, despite many busy things coming up this month. Like, for instance, trying to fit 15-20 hours of my research work at home in a week. XD And possibly trying to needlefelt... something, I don't know. I have a feeling though that other art projects may take a backseat to this for a while. I REALLY want to try to write SOMETHING this time!
I want to share with you all a method I thought up for when I get stuck. Since the novel I'm trying to write is really an excuse to flesh out a setting for a tabletop RPG I want to create, I thought of using a 20 sided die to determine 20 random events. (For those of you who might to try this but don't have a d20, I just found this online one: http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20dicebag.htm FYI, the 20 sided die (d20) is second from the bottom. X3) I've decided to go ahead and list my 20 random things. (Well, not all of them are events, but other ways of deciding what can happen.)
A bit of background first. The story I've done as little planning for as possible, since I learned from here that sometimes too much planning can hurt for NaNo. All I know is that there's a kitsune, Hashi Shitabashi, as the main character (BEST NAME EVER <3 it means "Bridge under bridge" XD), a kirin girl, Meiran, and another kitsune named Kurenai that may/may not be the antagonist. The world (so far) is a setting for Asian shapeshifter creatures that are collectively known as Makemono, (from "mahou kemono", I REALLY need a better term... but I'll stick with that) that was founded by the Four Gods and the Yellow Dragon. They also use magic tied to the Five Elements. There's a lot more to my setting, but that's enough to understand why some things are in my 20 random events.
Anyway, here they are!
1.) Pick a random book off my shelf, open to a random page, and base a scene around that. (If there's trouble, assign a number 1-20 to a random set of 20 books and roll.)
2.) Introduce a new species of character.
3.) Have them go to a shrine, any kind of shrine!
4.) YOUMA ATTACK!
5.) Introduce some exposition about the world.
6.) Pull out the I Ching. (Note, I have an actual I Ching book, but I found an online one here: http://www.cfcl.com/ching/) Roll a percentile die, and if the number is between 1 and 64, find that gua (character) and use it as the basis of the next scene. If higher, roll again.
7.) Switch to Kurenai or the makemono with him. (If already there, go back to Hashi. Or if you're not feeling it, switch perspective to a new character entirely.)
8.) Use the Japanese (or Chinese) name generator, figure out what the name means, and introduce that character in the story.
9.) A character has a dream about their respective god/dess. (Or, go into exposition about their relation to such.)
10.) Pick a random podcast, and roll for the minute. Listen for a minute and incorporate that idea in the story.
11.) They go to a place near the ocean. (Or, if there's difficulty... ANY natural spot. Absolutely no idea? Use the element roll at the bottom to determine the place.)
12.) Go to Genius in iTunes and make a playlist. Roll again, and pick a song with that number as inspiration.
13.) Grab the kanji dictionary. Roll a d20 first, then a percentile die, and combine the two for a number. (For example, a 7 and a 61 becomes 761.) Look up that kanji and base the next scene around that.
14.) Pick up a Chinese dictionary and use the d20/percentile die to determine a page. Use a word off that page. (Maybe Korean dictionary too?)
15.) Take a 20 min break from your story and come back to it.
16.) Pick a random generator and use it. ANY random generator.
17.) A random official pops in and tells the characters important news.
18.) A long lost family member of one of the characters shows up. (If there's difficulty... heads - major character, tails - minor character.)
19.) Element roll! 1(6) = fire, 2(7) = wood, 3(8) = water, 4(9) = metal, 5(10) = earth. First set = yang, second set = yin. Either A.) they meet a character that uses this element or B.) They need this to get out of the next situation.
20.) Something really GOOD happens the the characters. (You rolled a critical! XD)
(I think out of all of these my personal favorites are the kanji dictionary one and the I Ching one. I may not HAVE to roll, I'll keep using those! XD)
I've never tried this method out before, so we'll see how it goes this year. Good luck to whoever else out there is going to do a NaNoWriMo! XD
And Happy Halloween!
Halloween? Well, I don't really have plans for that. Sadly. But oh well, got lots of other stuff to do.
But for me (and other crazy people) it means 1 day away from NANOWRIMO!
This will be my first Nanowrimo... weeeeeeeeeeeelllll.... technically second because I tried last year and it only worked for, oh, a DAY. XD This year I'm determined to try for the 50K, despite many busy things coming up this month. Like, for instance, trying to fit 15-20 hours of my research work at home in a week. XD And possibly trying to needlefelt... something, I don't know. I have a feeling though that other art projects may take a backseat to this for a while. I REALLY want to try to write SOMETHING this time!
I want to share with you all a method I thought up for when I get stuck. Since the novel I'm trying to write is really an excuse to flesh out a setting for a tabletop RPG I want to create, I thought of using a 20 sided die to determine 20 random events. (For those of you who might to try this but don't have a d20, I just found this online one: http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20dicebag.htm FYI, the 20 sided die (d20) is second from the bottom. X3) I've decided to go ahead and list my 20 random things. (Well, not all of them are events, but other ways of deciding what can happen.)
A bit of background first. The story I've done as little planning for as possible, since I learned from here that sometimes too much planning can hurt for NaNo. All I know is that there's a kitsune, Hashi Shitabashi, as the main character (BEST NAME EVER <3 it means "Bridge under bridge" XD), a kirin girl, Meiran, and another kitsune named Kurenai that may/may not be the antagonist. The world (so far) is a setting for Asian shapeshifter creatures that are collectively known as Makemono, (from "mahou kemono", I REALLY need a better term... but I'll stick with that) that was founded by the Four Gods and the Yellow Dragon. They also use magic tied to the Five Elements. There's a lot more to my setting, but that's enough to understand why some things are in my 20 random events.
Anyway, here they are!
1.) Pick a random book off my shelf, open to a random page, and base a scene around that. (If there's trouble, assign a number 1-20 to a random set of 20 books and roll.)
2.) Introduce a new species of character.
3.) Have them go to a shrine, any kind of shrine!
4.) YOUMA ATTACK!
5.) Introduce some exposition about the world.
6.) Pull out the I Ching. (Note, I have an actual I Ching book, but I found an online one here: http://www.cfcl.com/ching/) Roll a percentile die, and if the number is between 1 and 64, find that gua (character) and use it as the basis of the next scene. If higher, roll again.
7.) Switch to Kurenai or the makemono with him. (If already there, go back to Hashi. Or if you're not feeling it, switch perspective to a new character entirely.)
8.) Use the Japanese (or Chinese) name generator, figure out what the name means, and introduce that character in the story.
9.) A character has a dream about their respective god/dess. (Or, go into exposition about their relation to such.)
10.) Pick a random podcast, and roll for the minute. Listen for a minute and incorporate that idea in the story.
11.) They go to a place near the ocean. (Or, if there's difficulty... ANY natural spot. Absolutely no idea? Use the element roll at the bottom to determine the place.)
12.) Go to Genius in iTunes and make a playlist. Roll again, and pick a song with that number as inspiration.
13.) Grab the kanji dictionary. Roll a d20 first, then a percentile die, and combine the two for a number. (For example, a 7 and a 61 becomes 761.) Look up that kanji and base the next scene around that.
14.) Pick up a Chinese dictionary and use the d20/percentile die to determine a page. Use a word off that page. (Maybe Korean dictionary too?)
15.) Take a 20 min break from your story and come back to it.
16.) Pick a random generator and use it. ANY random generator.
17.) A random official pops in and tells the characters important news.
18.) A long lost family member of one of the characters shows up. (If there's difficulty... heads - major character, tails - minor character.)
19.) Element roll! 1(6) = fire, 2(7) = wood, 3(8) = water, 4(9) = metal, 5(10) = earth. First set = yang, second set = yin. Either A.) they meet a character that uses this element or B.) They need this to get out of the next situation.
20.) Something really GOOD happens the the characters. (You rolled a critical! XD)
(I think out of all of these my personal favorites are the kanji dictionary one and the I Ching one. I may not HAVE to roll, I'll keep using those! XD)
I've never tried this method out before, so we'll see how it goes this year. Good luck to whoever else out there is going to do a NaNoWriMo! XD
And Happy Halloween!