There it is, the first step on the journey towards NaNoWriMo 2023! To summarize last week’s introduction, I’m tackling my third series of short stories for this year’s November, and in the coming weeks, I’m exploring the various prompts for story ideas and inspiration. At least one of them will be inspired by a pair of stories from my previous series, but more on that once I find out which.
Now, we have no less than ten prompts to look at, and I’m already later than I’d like, so without further ado, let’s get to the good part and explore the first ones!
Temptation
Immediately, we start with a prompt that’s full of possibilities, whether it’s romance and (more direct) seduction or suspicious bargains that seem (and probably are) too good to be true. Themes of greed, deception and desperation, of love, willpower and hope could all fuel the story, a story that will likely feature beings either mundane or supernatural, but all far less benevolent than they seem on the surface. It’s tough to think of something concrete at the moment, but with all the aforementioned in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if my mind drifts towards Star Wars or Baldur’s Gate for inspiration.
Slice
The first themes coming to mind here are culinary and geopolitical, represented by a literal slice of pie and the pieces of a land being divided among various forces. The former could be in the vein of of the children’s stories from the first two series, the latter reminds me of a 2020 short story, set in the criminal underworld, I’ve been meaning to continue. What about a wholly new tale, though, featuring a mysterious martial art, an ancient sword or, both? As it stands, I’m most strongly drawn to the crime story, but the others aren’t off the table yet, and who knows what the coming weeks will bring.
Pyramid
Coincidentally the topics of two of my grade school presentations, ancient Egypt and the Aztecs, are the most obvious ideas I could think of with this one. I could go for a (semi)-historical story, take the mythological route, or steer it in a completely different and wild direction. There’s plenty that’s in some way connected to these grand structures, after all, from the Louvre to Las Vegas to aliens! Oh, maybe could this be the moment I return to my second (and technically also my third) NaNoWriMo project! It’s been a few years. Could be fun to check up on what’s happening in that world…
And that’s where we’ll leave it for now. I meant to look at five of the ten prompts but got a little lost in exploring these first three, and this post is getting plenty long as is. ^_^; Hey, that only means more posts coming up this October, right?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first peak at my upcoming November writing journey. I’ll be back soon with the next couple of prompts. In the meanwhile, if you’d like to discuss the ideas here, have anything at all about the plans for your NaNoWriMo you’d like to share, or maybe just want to say hi, the comments are open. ^_^
See you next time, and all the best with your NaNoPrep!
Ever since a group of shoes held a birthday party a long, long time ago (though in a galaxy not that far away) a little boy’s appreciation for creation was born. And so, throughout the following years shoes partied, a dinosaur travelled through time, oddly shaped football players went on adventures, a young wanderer became a knight, a comedian rose to godhood, Jedi fought an evil empire, a war between cyborg warlords and human-insect hybrids engulfed the world… The boy had learned how with only words on paper (and from times to time a few pictures) he was able to bring people, places, even entire worlds to life. By now that little boy has reached almost the third decade of his life and his love for telling stories has not ceased. And finally, long after he had planned to, he has decided to share these stories with the world. Whether you are a new or already familiar face: welcome to this little archive of mine! This is a place where I will, finally, actually be sharing my writing with others. It will feature pretty much anything I feel like sharing, both old and new stories, fan-fiction and original content, and probably some non-fiction added in at times. So, if you like reading, writing, stories (or me ^_~), drop by, drop a comment (I can’t promise I’ll get back to you quickly, since I’m horrible at that, but I’ll do my best) and, drop it like it’s hot. … Sorry… ^_^; In any case, I hope you’ll enjoy yourself and I look forward to seeing you around!
The Ashukahwa Archives 
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