Trailers of the Bookish Variety

A reminder: This post courtesy of Julie Jarnagin’s 101 Blog Post Ideas for Writers.

61. Book Trailers

Book trailers. Book trailers. Book. Trailers.

Is this a thing? Really?

Google tells me that it is and that there are apparently tons of websites specifically dedicated to producing and sharing them. I’ll be honest, when I first saw those two words together I just assumed that it meant something like a synopsis…a quick blurb that reveals just enough about your novel to make people want to know more. But then I did my little Google search and found out the truth…people spend time and money to create little movie trailers for their novels. Literal, live-action trailers for their novels.

I must admit, this concept has me pulled in two different directions. On the one hand I find it so hard to believe that writers are doing this, that they find the time and resources to put something like this together. On the other hand I find myself imagining what my book trailer would look like…

Fade in on a typical young woman laying asleep in her bed. Slowly zoom in on her serene, dreamless face…

*BANG!* Her eyes shoot open.

Fade to the woman peering out her apartment door; pan back to see several other neighbors doing the same.

Fade to the woman peering up the stairwell; zoom in toward the back of her head as she looks up to where the steady thud echoes over and over…

Screams; the camera shakes as the apartment building erupts into chaos. Sirens and screams fill the air and the light of a fire blazes in the background.

Fade to the woman holding a bloodied kitchen knife in her shaking hand; a shambling body, covered in stab wounds, shambles into the shot as the woman takes a deep breath and shrieks.

Eh? Eh? Bah, whaddaya want? I’m a novelist, not a screenwriter.

Oh no…NaNo!

And so it starts. NaNoWriMo 2012.

I didn’t stay up and start writing at precisely midnight last night, as so many do, but the first thing I did this morning (after giving the baby her breakfast and setting her up with some Sesame Street vids) was to run to my laptop and start plucking away. I’ve only got 351 words so far today, as I’ve got about a million other things to worry about as well, but it’s a start. The daily target is 1667 words, but if I get 1000 today I’ll be happy. So many other things to do! o.o

You may also notice that I’ve changed my sidebar image to one more suitable for the situation I now find myself in. This avatar more accurately represents how I’m going to look for the next month. If I could go to work in my pajamas and curl into a corner with a mug of tea and my laptop, I definitely would.

Since this is a special month, and since I didn’t find the time to write any 101 blog post ideas entries over these days off, I’m going to have a different kind of update schedule over the next few weeks. Each week I’ll put up a couple of posts relating to my NaNo-novel. Some posts will be bits of the planning process, like the synopsis I posted yesterday. Other posts will be excerpts of what I’ve managed to write so far. Others will be my strangled cries for help/sleep as I drudge through the month. Stay tuned! @_@

Nova Scotia’s Curse and A Sneak Peak

I loved Halloween when I was little. I loved dressing up and running around in the dark, trying to hit as many houses as possible so I could go home with my enormous bag of candy and sort the good stuff from the stuff I’d give to my parents. And in all the Halloweens I can remember, I only recall a particular couple during which weather was an issue. There were a few during which the winter weather was sneaking in early, so we had to wear extra layers under our costumes in order to stay warm, but I only remember one or two Halloweens when it rained.

Sometime after the last year I went Trick-or-Treating someone in Nova Scotia must have displeased the Halloween Gods. It has now rained almost every Halloween since I can first remember staying home and handing out treats. I plan on braving the misty ickiness with my daughter and an umbrella because this is the first Halloween that she’s old enough to actually hold out her bucket and see what happens, but it disgusts me that this situation has become a tradition around here. It’s no wonder that we see so few kids out on Halloween these days. Who wants to go door-to-door when you’re soaked by the end of the first street? Well, whichever kids are willing to brave the weather this year will at least get their effort’s worth at our house…our treat bags are the BOMB.
Aside from my whining about Halloween weather, I’m also writing this post so that I can share a bit of my NaNoWriMo novel planning…a synopsis I wrote a couple of days ago. The madness starts tomorrow! Arrrrrggg!!!!
Victoria MacKinnon is battling a deep depression. Her world fell apart the day the man she loved left her and she has no idea how to put the pieces back together. She hates her job, but she can’t bear to return to school. Her family is worried about her, but she can’t bring herself to talk to them. Her best friend, who has been in love with her since grade school, is becoming increasingly desperate to “rescue” her, but she won’t allow herself to be rescued. Her only solace is in the bottle.

But Tori is special, even if she doesn’t know it yet. Another world is calling to her… A world of her dreams that have been suppressed for many years… A world that desperately needs her to save it, and won’t wait for her to figure out how to save herself.

Synopses are Boring :P

A reminder: This post courtesy of Julie Jarnagin’s 101 Blog Post Ideas for Writers.

44. Mistakes to avoid in synopses

This is an area in which I have absolutely no experience. Since I’ve never submitted anything for publication or attempted self-publication, I haven’t written a synopses since I learned what the word meant back in grade school. Because of this I’m cheating a little on this one and giving you a link to a site I found via Google that explain just this sort of thing quite well:

Synopsis Tips

I’ll try harder later, I promise. 😛