Regular readers will remember that I’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month every November since 2003.  The challenge is to write 50,000 words on a novel (typical full novel length is 60,000 – 100,000 words) (I’ve written on non-fiction before — they aren’t that stringent on the rules).  That’s an average of 1667 words per day.  Or, there’s a methodology called the Backwards NaNo, which frontloads the words, leaving the end of the month much less stressful and the participant has more time to enjoy Thanksgiving with family.

Backwards NaNo is my plan for this year.  I’ve been contemplating what I’m going to write for a little over a month.  Until late last week, I thought I knew what it was, then I felt compelled to write a quick back story summary so I had a good feel for where my characters were coming from in their lives, and everything changed.

I began to think one my main characters who was my lesser villain in the story might have a shot at redemption — a guy who in his fifties realized things didn’t have to be the way they’d been just because they’d always been that way, and maybe, just maybe, they could be better than they had been.  A minor character, the 35-year old son of this character emerged as a likely candidate to tell his dad’s story.

The other characters have a role, but they’ll be less prominent than originally planned. Right now, I have the son telling the story in a memoir type fashion with alternating chapters of the father clarifying his thoughts on the same period — as if he’s reading the story after it’s been written and commenting on it.

The story takes place in the fictional small town of Granite Hill, located between the ghost town of Crabapple, TX, (north of Fredericksburg, TX) and Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, population 583.  The working title is Granite Hill, but with the change in focus, that is subject to change.

Sometime after midnight tonight, I can begin working.  I’ll do my usual word count updates.  Posts may be largely uninspired other than that.