Beautiful People - Coffee at Lockwood's

It's almost here! National Novel Writing Month!

If you'd like to follow my progress over on the NaNoWriMo site, you can find me as YellowSymphony. I know the encouragement helps me and I'd love to give you some in return! 

Now, for the Beautiful People segment of this blog post!



1. Sum up your novel in five words or less.
"We're gonna need more caffeine."

2. Novel title?
Coffee at Lockwood's

3. Sum up your main character(s) in one word each.
Emma: Conflicted 
Rhys: Awestruck
Molly: Candid
Eli: Vigilant

4. Advice for newbies in three words?
Just write it! 
(In NaNo, it doesn't matter if it moves your story along. Or uses proper grammar. Or even makes any sense. It's about getting the ideas on the page... You'd rewrite 90% of it later anyway, so why not go with the idea and see what comes of it? You could learn something interesting.)

5. Tell us about your secondary characters, how do they affect the story?
Asher and Owen (The Boys) serve to keep their sister, Emma, focused on what matters. Heather and Matthias demonstrate what Molly feels she's missing. The church members give context. The firemen add emotion. The Character Who Shall Not Be Named gives the ~plot twist.

6. Do you plan to stay up till midnight on the 31st?
I'm going to try!

7. How many years have you done NaNo?
Twice... 2009, I lost. 2010, I won! People knew I was doing it last year, which helped tremendously. Having people I knew as more than just a username on a forum to talk with and be encouraged by gave me the push to get it done.

8. What came first, characters, or plot idea?
Err... I'm actually using an abandoned project of someone else's that I'm re-making to be my own. It was the characters that intrigued me and made me unable to rest without knowing what else will happen to them.

9. How much prep do you do before November?
Depends on the story. My first year, I did next to none. Last year, it was a story I'd been trying to figure out for 3 years or so. This year, I got permission to rework the story in August-ish and have been fleshing out the characters and main plot devices since then.

10. Now be honest, how do you really feel about NaNo?
I really like it, as it forces me to abandon my perfectionist tendencies and just write, for heaven's sake.