Back From the Busy

I can’t believe how busy March was.  Isn’t March supposed to be the lamb?  Or the lion?  I’m not sure, but 2015 has definitely come into full swing, and it’s already racing toward December.  At least, that’s how it feels for me.

Yet, despite it all, I’m participating in Camp NaNoWriMo.  Even though I’m busy, one of the things that keeps me most grounded is writing.  Hopefully getting back into the habit will help balance my life.

Normally, for NaNoWriMo, or even Camp NaNoWriMo, I focus on finishing a book, or a draft, or some other big project.  This month, I’ve decided to do things a little differently. 

The Orphans of Jadox is finished and waiting for a query letter to be perfected.  In February, I finished another major revision of The King’s Councilor, and I want it to sit for a while.  The Stone Mason does need some tweaking, but nothing major enough to warrant Camp NaNoWriMo.  Servant of an Empire is being torn apart by Betas, and I’m trying to figure out a plot hole for Jen’s Story (still unnamed). 

So naturally, it’s time to start a new novel, right?

Except, for some reason, I haven’t had any juice.  There’s no plots pouring into my mind, there’s no characters begging for their stories to be told.

I started to panic at the end of last month because I didn’t have anything to work on! 

But then, inspiration struck. 

This month, I’m not writing a novel.  I’m writing a character introduction.  Every day in April, I’ll create a new character and try and figure out what their story is.  Why do we care about this person?  

To add to the challenge, each bio is no longer than 500 words.  (Okay, 510.) 

So far, the past three days have been an interesting experience.  It’s forcing me to write completely differently.  World building?  Thrown in there, only if necessary.  Other characters?  Meh, sometimes.  But I’m more focused on figuring out who the character is, and what they want.  That’s it.  Usually by the time I have that figured out, I’ve almost maxed out my word count.

I’ll try and keep you updated on how it goes!  So far, I’ve found two characters that have intrigued me somewhat.  (Day 1 was a disaster.)

What are the rest of you working on?