NaNoWriMo '08!

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a yearly event that takes place every November. The very first NaNoWriMo was started with 21 participants. The trick was to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Crazy, right? It seems like it, but it's possible. 9 years later, NaNoWriMo is a hugely poplar program and is much anticipated every year.

I will be participating in this event this November. Truth be told, I can't stop hopping up and down thinking about it. I know it's going to be difficult with my newborn nephew to take care of, school and piles of homework to do, and Thanksgiving dinner to eat, but I'm more than excited. I wish I could start writing right now, but seeing as I can't, I'll be doing a lot of plot and character outlining.

Here's a short (ahem...) synopsis of the novel I will attempt to write in 30 days. I'm really hoping for it to be a good combination of comedy, romance, and a bit of horror. The summary sounds like a trashy romance novel, but it does my story no justice:

Emma moves to a remote but upscale Virginia neighborhood in a large Victorian-styled home. She thinks it's creepy to begin with, but it gets worse when her mother claims to have seen a ghost. Emma wants to be skeptical, but she finds it almost too easy to believe, having had a few odd things happen herself. Emma doesn't know what to think until one day she runs into Liam the ghost. Or, more like, runs through Liam. This sends Liam into a panic, for Emma too is quick to realize that there really are ghosts in her home. But Emma's mom is probably quicker, calling for the Ghost Hunters TAPS team the moment after she sights another ghost soon after Emma's encounter. This horrifies Emma, for she's already come to like all the ghosts who dwell in her home; especially Liam. But the ghosts seem to think that the TAPS people's coming will be no problem. They are prepared to mess with the Ghost Hunters more than has ever been done. They study up on crappy horror movies from way back when, watch numerous episodes of Ghost Hunters create a hilarious chaos the night the TAPS investigate.

But the evidence that the TAPS team gets is enough that Emma's parents decide to move. Emma, who has grown far closer to Liam than she thought possible, tries to persuade her parents to stay. But they've made their decision. And Emma's never going to see Liam again.

Of imaginary cars, pregnant boys, and hilarity...

So in my Drama class today we had to do an improvisational exercise. It sounded pretty promising. Mr. Zack set up four chairs in groups of two in the middle of the stage, telling us it was a car. He selected three people from the class to get into the car. Then he called another person to be a hitchhiker. The point was for the person being the hitchhiker to come up with a character. When the hitchhiker got into the car, the other people already in the car had to adapt the personality that the hitchhiker had. We had someone be a paranoid person, which was quite amusing. We had a preppy Valley Girl type, and a nerd and the list went on. They were only mildly amusing, because most of the kids didn't sign up for the class and were too boring to do anything. But Corn Dog (his real name is Frank, but that's lame. Heh.), who is an awesome 7th grader that I'd love to have as a little brother, caused true hilarity. Thank goodness, too. He totally saved that period.

He held up his thumb as a signal to the imaginary car. He was clutching his stomach in a strange way, so my classmates and I were exchanging bemused looks. He opened the car door and plopped down, slamming the door shut and began wailing loudly, slouching in his seat and still holding his belly. That's when we realized; he was a pregnant man in labor.

My laugh was probably the loudest there at first; until I noticed that the car was full of guys. I think everyone was staring at me when my laughter scaled higher as all the guys began to be pregnant men labor. They were screaming and the class were shouting "PUSH! PUSH, FRANK! PUSH VON!" The most hilarious part was the person pretending to drive. He's like "OH MY GOSH! SOMEONE CALL MY HUSBAND, CALL MY HUSBAND! I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT! OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" while trying to steer an imaginary car. I think if it were a real car, all eight people (including the babies) in the car would've crashed.

So here ends one of the best moments I think I shall ever have this year. Oh 8th grade.