NaNoWriMo 2013

It's that time again!  (Almost) time to get started on NaNoWriMo 2013!!!  I'm trying something a bit different this year.  All four of the stories I've previously tried to write (two of them for NaNo) were all fantasy-esque, a little sci-fi, but definitely not life-like.  This year's story actually takes place at LSU, where I go to school, and it's entirely realistic.  It's not going to be autobiographical, though it will be shaped by my own experiences.  I wanted something that was simple and easy to write, but that I would really enjoy writing and talking to people about as I write it, and this is the idea I came up with.  I'm actually really excited about it, even though it's not what I normally write about.  I've been reading a lot of realistic YA fiction lately, and I wanted to try my hand at it.

I've written the synopsis of the novel, though I'm not sure if I like it yet.  We'll see once I start writing how well it hold up.  I'm definitely pants-ing this one, though not near as much as I did for last year's NaNo.  I have a very basic idea in mind, along with a few events and characters that I want to include.  We'll see how this goes.

I think I actually have an ending in mind this time, so hopefully I'll be able to finally finish something.

Anyway, here's the synopsis:

Winifred Michaels is worried about college.  An overachiever who always follows the rules, she doesn't feel ready to take on the world of drinking and partying that she imagines college to be.  The idea of "adulthood" terrifies her, because it will mean that she's finally on her own.
When her parents ship her down south to Baton Rouge to attend LSU, Winnie is left more scared and alone than she's ever been in her life.  Stress and anxiety are her constant companions, and she doesn't understand how anyone can think that college is fun.  For the first time in her life, she's struggling with school, and her fear of failure rises up to greet her.  Add in a partying roommate, a weird guy who sits next to her in class, and an excitable girl she meets at work, and Winnie feels like she's in over her head.
When her first semester ends in disaster, Winnie is devastated at her failure to live up to her own ideals.  She doesn't think she can handle college and all its struggles and responsibilities.
But failure has its benefits.  Starting from rock bottom, Winnie comes to realize that college is a place to create and discover yourself.  Turning from false friendships and a major she hates, she learns to embrace a different side of college life that she didn't know existed, one that might just change her for the better.

I don't know how I feel about it, but it's going to stay for now.  I needed to write one so I could "create" my novel on the NaNo site, and this is what I came up with.  The current working title is The Way We Were, which I got from Carrie Hope Fletcher's new song.  The video fits perfectly with the sort of feel I want for my novel, and I thought the title was fitting.

Good luck to all the other Wrimos out there!  See you all at the starting line on Friday :).

~Victoria
(originally posted on Victoria's writing blog Curious Nonsense)