What Point of View to write in?

Well, this is a record for most consecutive day’s blogging…2 in a row. I need to scratch that out because it is not true. I started out good but before I posted this I went down to watch the final game of the World Series and as always I fell asleep before the game was over and woke up, cold, cramped and miserable at midnight.  Maybe this is a start of something promising. I have been toying with my story all day. I know I said yesterday that I was going to write it in the first person point of view but after many failed attempts, in my mind, I have decided that the best way to write the story would be in the third person and have the main character, Johnnie, or whatever name I decide on…I’m still not sure, tell some of the story in diary form. I have also decided that the story will take place at the Battle of Manassas and/or Bull Run. Why? Because I live in Virginia, about 10 to 15 miles from Manassas and if I decide after NaNoWriMo that I want to continue working on this first draft and see if I can get it published I can do all my research close by.

The last time I walked the battle fields of Manassas I was struck by the fact that I could almost feel the history that took place there. It’s hard to explain. I recently had the same feeling at when my wife and I, on a Caribbean Cruise, docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico and toured Fort El Morro. Walking through the different areas of the old fort I could get a sense of how the soldiers of that day worked, eat, slept and tried to enjoy themselves under those conditions.

 OK. 2 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes till NaNoWriMo begins.

No pressure, right?

My NaNoWriMo Story

Well, the countdown clock is now ticking at 4 days, 4 hours and 4 minutes as I write this post. And I am happy to say that I have an idea of what I am going to write about...kinda like a "Novel Idea". My novel is going to take place during the American Civil War and the main character is going to be a 14 year old boy who is Drummer Boy in the Union Army. I am considering writing from the first person. I'm thinking that by writing in the first person I will be able to express, (let's give him a name...Johnny), his feelings better. Stop for a moment and think of when you were 13 years old. What were you doing? Playing baseball and trading baseball cards, skipping school, sneaking your Parents booze, thinking of girls, thinking of boys ( if you are a girl, of course). One thing is for certain; you weren't looking death in the face every day and trying to stay alive.                                               
I know a little about war having served in Viet Nam at the age of 19. That's a 5 year difference. doesn’t seem like much but I think the mind of a 14 year old and that of a 19 year old are quite a bit apart. I'm hoping that there not that far. We'll see. It is going to be a challenge but then so is NaNoWriMo.

Countdown to NaNoWriMo

Well, the countdown has begone. Less than a week till November 1st and the start of NaNoWriMo 2011. To be exact at this moment we have 5 days 9 hours and 35 minutes. Last year I didn't finish. My daughter, Dustin, did. She managed to pound out 50,000 words in 30 days of November. I managed a dismall 6,386. But, this year is going to be different.
So far, I have no idea of what I am going to write. I know it will be a Young Adult Fiction. I love to read YA books. As a matter of fact I just finished Chris Priestley's "Mister Creecher" and I just picked up at my local library Liam Tanner's "Museum of Thieves". But what will I write?
I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and it seems that the more I think about it the more confused and uncertain I am. What will probably happen is on Monday the 31 of October, as Trick-or-Treeters are roaming the neiborhood in all types of goolish outfits in search of candy I will be poised at my computer with a plank Word document open ready to start typing my fingers to a nub.
It doesn't matter if I have a plan, plot or draft, on paper or in my head. If I am not at the computer every day the best laid plan, plot or draft will die by the wayside. The key is to be ready each day, pen and pad in hand or fingers on the keyboard and WRITE. Good, Bad or Indifferent. It doesn't matter. The Key is to WRITE, WRITE, & WRITE SOME MORE.
That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. If you are participating in NaNoWriMo 2011 Good Luck and remember, WRITE,WRITE, & WRITE SOME MORE.