Writing Woes!

Gah, my plot for NaNo is fading fast... and it's not even November yet! >_<() I've been very quickly losing faith in my ability to write this story. Something about it just doesn't sit right. I don't know what... it's not a BAD idea. I'm just getting a feeling that when November ends, if I've written anything at all the result will not be this. Maybe it'll incorporate some part of this, but not THIS.

Crap. ><#

Now what should I do? It's not too late to come up with a new plot, but I'm just so "blah" right now. My brain can't be bothered... which is bad, because I really believe the only reason Flight 62 was finished was because I outlined. Hm... maybe what I need to do is NOT think up a plot, but instead just start writing down scene ideas until a plot congeals. I'll try that for now and see how it works out.

Meanwhile, I've read C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent, and have started the sequel, Perelandra. So far, it's... all right. I like it, but not as much as I expected. Lewis did a few interesting things with Out of the Silent Planet... he explored people's misconceptions of what an alien should be like and said something about human potential, on top of the usual Christian themes. I also liked how he introduced several layers of "evil villains" early on, only for each level to be, upon closer inspection, no where near as evil (if at all!) as initially expected. My biggest complaint is that the story has an anti-climax, and just sort of peters out after that. Since it is the first in a trilogy, though, I'll forgive that for now and wait until I've read the whole thing before passing judgment.

Finally, I've recently been developing an ASB ("alien space bat" -- meaning, fundamentally impossible) what-if scenario at the alternatehistory.com forums. The premise is that the Race -- the lizard-like aliens from Harry Turtledove's Worldwar/Colonization series -- have been teleported from their alternate 1960s to real life 2007. I've been having fun writing it and been getting some nice praise (one guy said: "it's in the top one percent of anything posted on this website"...!!)

If you feel like checking it out, you can read it here: The Race, but not their Empire, ISOT to OTL 2007.

Don't be afraid to criticize! It can't be that good. I mean, it's essentially fan fiction! ^_^()