Not that I want to wish away my novel planning time, but I got an email from Chris Baty yesterday, and I'm starting to get really psyched for this year's novel writing adventure! I know the email is a mass production because I signed up for the mailing list, but still... It's soooo cool to get an email from a person whose book I own! Well, if you're as big a geek as I am, then it's cool.
So, I have started my planning. I create characters in reverse. I spend too much time playing on random name generators and then create characters that fit the names. I discovered this one this weekend and it's my new favorite: http://www.xtra-rant.com/gennames/.
I also discovered an idea generator: http://www.lynnabbey.com/people/lynn.abbey/schenectady_steeple.htm
If you tell the old lady that you need help, you get answers like this:
The little old lady says:
Your theme will be "The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves"
Your plot will be: "Armageddon awaits!"
Your character "has no sense of humor or irony"
A major complication occurs when: "your protagonist´s secrets are exposed by the antagonist"
It's not quite as helpful as the name generator, but it's fun to play with. After about five times, I started getting the same answers.
Back to creating backstory for the few characters that I've picked out so far....
