NaNoWriMo starts in less than six weeks, and until now I’ve been wracking my brains as to what to write this year.

The other day, when I was talking to Hubby about books, writing, and maybe NaNo (I can’t exactly remember what), it came to me that some of my favorite writers write in the first person (d’uh!). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, PG Wodehouse, Rex Stout – they all write in first person, using one person to tell the tale. Dr. Watson, Bertie Wooster, Archie Goodwin – all have very distinctive voices, and through their eyes, you see the story unfold. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but the problem with my first stab at an original novel was having too many people. I had at least nine characters, all telling their part of the story through their eyes – but very few of them had a strong, compelling voice. There were just too many characters all talking at once.

I’ve always thought they were good characters, with interesting backstories and powers. Marcus and Julio especially were especially interesting to me, especially with Marcus being disabled and trying to look at the world as he did. With him, the whole coffee shop business was fun. I enjoyed Elise when I roleplayed with her.

So, I decided to take these characters, put them in a less modern, more magical setting, and tell the tale in  the third person. The problem lately, though, has been the setting. Somehow, this evening (at IHOP, of all places) the phrase "the house on the corner" popped into my head, and with it, a vision of the outside of the house – from the street. That opened up a whole lot of ideas. I think I’ll be working to develop the setting, add the new characters needed, and write some backstories. I’m very tempted, too, to make this a sort of magical steampunk. Been reading too much Girl Genius, I guess. Not sure if I can pull it off, though.

All this while taking care of Hubby, the house, the kids, the cats, the dog, and trying to make progress on my WIPs. At least I got the grocery shopping done.