Countdown: 18 days until the start

This year your sophomore novelista has decided to get somewhat more organized. So, no more deciding what we're gonna write today just as the laptop is booting up. No, this year There Will Be Preparation. So far it's paid off.

To wit, the first idea to take root in YT's active imagination was a travel novel: five California techies go on a wild holiday trip. Okay, each of the five men was taking shape in profiles in the notebook, the six women they meet were starting to emerge from the dazzling sunlight, and each act had a name. Five men, six women, must be a plot twist in there. Then YT realized that he's never been to Mardi Gras, Carnival, or Spring Break, doesn't know the requisite foreign language, and would have to study really, really hard to give the culture clash any plausibility. Sounds like too much work for NaNoWriMo, frankly.

So, out came the list of 20 plot ideas. It should be easy to choose some one-liner to hang a novel on. Then that old devil imagination got going again and suggested a plot that combines threads from several. Starting two days ago, out poured the details: a science fiction adventure, sort of an anti-time-travel novel, where the protagonist gets plucked from a party-party lifestyle, takes risks and rewards stiff discipline with stiff drinks. Or perhaps that last bit goes the other way around.

YT now has three pages of notes on plot developments, pacing, culture and some good questions to ask about the pocket world he's created. There's still time to let the characters start speaking for themselves. Let's see where this one goes.