It is now July, which means it’s also Camp NaNoWriMo time,. These are my favourite months, when writers around the world are all writing together and cheering each other on more than usual and there’s just such a rush of enthusiasm and motivation to get things done. It’s such a fantastic feeling. To be honest, Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo are the reason I’ve been able to write so much over the past few years. With my YA fantasy, ‘The Crystal Tree‘, being so close to being out in the world, I’m certainly feeling the need to move on and start working on something else to refresh myself.
This Camp NaNoWriMo I’m diving back into one of my favourite side projects and sinking my teeth into some good old fashioned editing. My project is a sci-fi/spec-fic thing, temporarily titled ‘Snow’ (because I am the literal worst at coming up with names for these things).It’s one of my favourite books I’ve written to date, and it is going to make such a lovely change after all the hard work I’ve put into ‘The Crystal Tree‘ in the first half of this year. Today, I thought I would share four of the reasons why I’m excited to be getting back to work on this book of mine.
It’s Not Fantasy
Fantasy is definitely my favourite genre, both to read and to write, but you know what they say, a change is as good as a rest. And, seeing as I’m not going to stop writing any time soon, having the chance to play around in a different genre for a while is a breath of fresh air. Not to mention the fact that, as it isn’t fantasy, I can use modern language and phrases with abandon instead of second guessing whether, in the context of the world, they’re actually going to make any sense.
It Has Dual Points Of View
Dual point of view is a bit of an experiment for me. My books definitely tend towards being single POV way more often. But dual point of view has some really cool things to it, like being able to follow two different paths of action, They see the world in different ways, and it’s fun seeing the ways they think about each other. Of course, ti comes with huge challenges at the same time, but experimenting with different POVs is a cool learning experience.
There Are Mutant Abilities
‘Snow’ is set in an alternate world where mutants with X-Men-like powers are real and fairly common. This is such a fun idea to explore. Many of the characters have cool powers, like super strength, or the ability to shapeshift. And it’s fun figuring out how these abilities would affect everyday life. For instance, Eric, one of the two MCs, has ice powers, and when he gets emotional, ice gets everywhere. Or he’ll play around making frost patterns when he’s bored.
It Has Teens Doing Big Things That Make A Real Difference
If there is one thing I love in my books, it’s teens doing big things that make a real difference to their worlds. I really enjoyed this when I read The Illuminae Files recently, and it just cemented my love of books that let teens do big, important things, that really change the world, while still being allowed to be teens. They’re inexperienced. They make mistakes. Their judgments aren’t always the best. But they’re fighting to make a real difference. They aren’t on the edge or told they can’t be involved because they’re too young. they’re front and centre in the fight to change the world.
These are four of the reasons why I’m excited about being able to work on this book during July Camp NaNoWriMo, but there are soooo many more. This book has been my pet side project for the last five years. Maybe this time I’ll even get the last of the plot wrinkles ironed out and it’ll look like the epic, intense, gripping adventure I imagine it being. But I would love to hear from you! Are you taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo? What are you working on? Are you writing or editing? What’s your goal for the month? Let’s chat in the comments down below. I would love to hear from you!
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