Novel Notes

I figured it’s about time for me to write a post about my NaNoWriMo project for this year, right? Especially now that the Kick-Off is over, I have time to plan my novel which I’ve been meaning to work on since this month started. Heh.

So the working title of this novel is I Am Single (And Everybody Knows), as suggested by Julie during our long discussions during Altar Boyz days. :P I’m going back to chick lit lane again, as it’s easier to write plus I’m sure the novel fits that genre perfectly. It’s about Ruth, a 27-year-old (insert her job here) who has never had a boyfriend since birth. Now that fact is really okay for her, but then her friends decide to take the matter into their own hands and throw Ruth (flailing) into the dating world.

Really, that’s pretty easy to work on and I have a lot of basis (oh you bet I do) to work on…it’s just that I’ve been so busy that I can’t sit down and plan it out. I’m thisclose to just winging it, but I also want to write down some plans, especially since I want this to be the first novel that I really finish within the month. I always end November with an unfinished novel, but this time I want to finish it and set it aside and then edit it and then have it printed (through this really awesome offer) so at least I have something with me. You know?

So here’s what I have so far:

• Ruth is the classic “manang”. I’m thinking she’d be the eldest among her friends, so she ends up sort of taking care of all of them in one way or another.
• I didn’t want her to have three other friends because it’s too Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-like, but they just marched up to me all of a sudden. There’s Pia, her best friend, who owns a restaurant and who gets a boyfriend at the start of the novel. Mitchie, who originally is supposed to be just an officemate who doesn’t know Pia, became one of her old friends who would be the primary person who’d set her up in dates. She’s the cliche party girl (unless she decides to change herself). And finally, there’s Carol, who appeared at the last minute. She’s the youngest among them, works as a florist and is engaged to a guy who would probably deal with car insurance.
• I don’t know what Ruth’s job is until now, but I’m greatly leaning into the events management industry. I feel that she wants to be some sort of a multimedia developer or probably an account executive (whatever that is). So is there any reference out there for events management? Mitchie is going to be in marketing, I think.
• I’m still undecided how many dates she’d go to, but she will be going on a lot of dates, for sure. :P Heh.
• Ruth will also have a sister, Naomi, who’s a single mom. I don’t know if she’ll be older or younger. I feel like if she’s older, there’ll be a twist as Ruth takes care of the older sister even if she’s younger. But if that is the case, why did they end up living together in the first place?
• Come to think of it, what will be Ruth’s family’s background? Argh.
• And the males. Haha I have figured out two guys who will stand out so far. There’s Ian, an old guy friend who Ruth works with and ends up getting to know better, and there’s Matt, this cute new guy who she starts to really like.

So far that’s it. I can see some weird dates already, but as for the flow I’m still quite lost. I know what’s going to happen in the start and end though. I just need to fill in the blanks from Point A to Point B.

I have a week to work on this. Enough time, right? I hope.  Good luck to everyone joining NaNoWriMo this year!

Related posts:

1. Date date date (Yes this is a NaNoWriMo Post)
2. NaNoWriMo 2007 Notes
3. The One Where My Character Juggles and then Cries
4. Everyday is better with Tuesday
5. NaNoWriMo Weekend # 2: Writing, but not the Novel

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