Let us be frank: my current novel idea is not going anywhere. No matter how many times or how many ways I rewrite the opening or plot, I cannot write a constructive story. As the first marking period is already over, I am feeling extremely behind on this project, and cannot imagine the current idea working out in the foreseeable future. As such, I believe it is time to change the story's premise.
As I have stated previously, I have always had trouble with creating plots. Characters and settings always come easily to me, but stories themselves within the worlds I have created are another matter entirely. This made me think: what if I did not have to write the basic plot itself? What if I based the plot on an event that already happened? It's said that the best fiction is based on fact, after all. Today, inspiration finally struck: inspiration in the form of flags, swords, and codes of honor.
For years, I have been obsessed with feudal Japanese history, strategy, and culture; as such, I was overjoyed when I saw a passage of a book in Barnes & Noble on "Sengoku Jidai:" Japan's warring states period. The passage in question was only a few paragraphs, but it was enough to make me research it further: an era of frantic warfare, political intrigue, allegiances broken as frantically as they were forged, honorable duels far from the warlike politics, and the rise to power of the legendary Tokugawa Ieyasu. After looking for nonfiction books and novels on the subject, I realized that there are few books on the subject. As such, I am changing the topic of my story to Sengoku Jidai... with a twist. As a simple novel on the subject will require resources and skill I do not have, I have decided to make the story more interpretive: a space opera, a sci-fi epic, a "mythic science fiction" (similar to Frank Herbert's Dune, as opposed to the hard sci-fi of Arthur C. Clarke) novel recounting an adapted version of the heroics and sadness that was the Warring States period of Japan.
Of course, I will have to work much harder in order to complete the project. Given the subject matter of the project and the fact that I am basing the story off of historical events, however, I will be able to work much more passionately and quickly than I was able to with my other story. Sengoku Jidai... the very name seems to carry the weight of the conflicts and influential individuals of the era. It is a relatively uncharted realm in the world of fiction (or, at the very least, science fiction), and one that will become the topic of my new story.
Wish me luck!
Have you heard of National Novel Writing Month? It's been on my radar to share with you. You can probably find support and ideas for your struggles at the website: http://nanowrimo.org/
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