After flailing about I have come to a decision on what to write for National Novel Writing month 2014 with a week to spare: Road Closed.
As with 2009, I am taking an unfinished short story and expanding it to short novel-length. There are a few differences this time. I am actively working on the story “Road Closed” while “The Ferry” had been abandoned many years prior. I also had planned on completing “Road Closed” before November 1, using it as my warm-up for the contest.
But with it already clocking in at 7,000 words and only just laying the foundation for the grisly meat of the story (ho ho) I realized I might be able to turn it into a novel by expanding certain aspects of the story while keeping the basic plot/framework in place.
I can’t say I’m optimistic about my chances of being successful, as my writing has floundered for most of the year. “Road Closed” began as a writing exercise back in January before being abandoned and it was only a few weeks ago that I dusted it off, chucked most of what I had written and dove back into it. But the intervening months did give me time to think about the story and I found a hook that eluded me. My intent is to keep the story light while dealing with alcoholism, death and dismemberment. We’ll see how it pans out in 36 days.
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