C U L8R: Characters

Todd Stansifer (POV) -- 30/M, working on Ph.D. in management at Maryland State University in Silver Spring. Shy guy, not prone to sharing, the anonymity of online chat is refreshing/shocking to him. Answered an altar call (2 weeks before the story starts) at church with Jasmine Menard -- "occasional" churchgoer in his background/family . GF Paige ignores/does not treat him well, but he takes it again and again because where else will he go to have as good an opportunity -- she is wealthy, attractive, young, etc . . .

Paige Turner -- 23/F Senior at Maryland State, psych major. Spent two years "finding herself" after high school, became interested in new Age spirituality, trying to "be a better person." Youngest of three girls, sisters Sharon (Shar) -- 35, and Meredith (Mer) -- 32.

Kip Turner -- 60/M, Paige's father. Likes Todd, sees him as a potential heir to his publishing business -- with three girls, and the other two have married duds, Todd is his only potential heir with potential. Sharon "married well" to an architect/artist, Jerome Winchester, but he has no interest in business. Meredith is living with a loser, whose name is never mentioned in his presence. Has a respectable marriage to Rose, 57/F.

Jasmine Menard (POV) -- 20/F, junior, lit major, has some money in the family, Paige's roommate and best friend. They met two years ago in Philosophy class . . . this is their 2nd year as dormmates now, living in West Court. She is a strong religious Christian believer, and now sees herself as a discipler/encourager of Todd. She goes to the Vineyard on Georgia Avenue. 2 weeks ago, Paige stood the two of them up at church, but he and jasmine attended, and Todd answered the altar call.

C U L8R -- intro stuff

Thoughts on the NANO, now titled "C U L8R"

Idea --> Man involved in online chat finds the anonymity allows for surprising openness, which seduces, but he finds real-world relationships are hurting. This begins a spiral of addiction/obsession with the online world, thinking he is finding true "friends" and "community."

Intention --> To write a novel about a man whose obsessive involvement in virtual relationships irrevocably damages his real-world relationships, with both his friends and his God.

Attitude --> The negative aspects of online "community" far outweigh the positive, which only mask real world deficits, anyway.

Purpose --> To prove that "community" only exists within those of a common faith meeting in the "real world" . . . and that the "community" offered by online relationships can be dangerously addictive and seductive.

The Non-Sequel It Is!

For my NANO '05 project, I have decided to go with the non-sequel. This is a work in process currently called "LOL," which I am going to re-title "A/S/L" for the re-write. I am scrapping the few thousand words I wrote a couple years ago, tossing out those notecards, deleting the file, and starting from scratch in just about one week.

The BIG IDEA for the work: "What is Community?" A guy gets heavily involved in the virtual/chat world, making "virtual friends" in a range of "virtual communities," much to the detriment of his real-world relationships with a serious girlfriend and her powerful rich father, who has always had high hopes for the match. The girlfriend's best friend plays the role of Greek Chorus/Conscience, pointing out that deep community only exists among real-world people, and that the deepest community of all only exists in the body of Christian believers.

To Sequel Or Not To Sequel

I have narrowed down my NANO choices to two: The Sequel and the Non-Sequel. I can't decide which to do.

The Sequel would be a follow-up to my only finished manuscript, "Wanted," which I intend to re-write in early '06 and prepare it for submission. The advantage of the sequel is that I already know the characters, and I know where the key personal relationship is going. The drawback is that is a thriller, and I have a vague idea of the crime that would be committed, I have no feel for the villain or much of the rest of the key plot. This is by nature a plot-centric genre, and may not work in the 30-day madness of NANO. But . . . it would be cool to have a sequel at least well in progress when shopping around "Wanted" in the future. Of course . . . if "Wanted" doesn't sell, the sequel is pretty much a waste.

The Non-Sequel would be a trashing and re-starting of a novel that is about 5,000-10,000 words along the way. This one could be written quicker, I think, and I already have done some thinking about it. And since it would involve trashing an on-process novel, it wouldn't add to my already too-long list of unfinished manuscripts. But I don't know if I have the guts to delete what I've already done . . . .

It's a tough call.

Signed up for NANO!

Well, I set myself from rules about how much work I'd have to do to justify my joining NANO this year, I didn't actually achieve them, but . . . I signed up anyway! I was a good boy and took last year off, but I can't skip for two years in a row.

I've got my novel selection narrowed down to two; will post these ideas later.

NaNo Month is Almost Here!

29 days from now is November -- and at this time of the night on 11/1, I'd better have put at least 1500 words down on paper to make the quota. Because November is national novel writing month, an exercise I have participated in 2 of the last 3 years.

I'll probably do it this year -- I am thinking about it, and will put some of my thoughts down here as they become clearer in my mind and as the day approaches.

But I haven't decided to jump yet -- just probably. But I still have weeks to decide, and anyway I heard the system was kind of slow this weekend -- Everyone who has decided to do it signed up, I guess.