Ahem.

Now that I have your attention, I would like you to know that I have nothing interesting to say.

Are you surprised?

Honestly, I haven't been doing much actual writing lately, although I have been doing a lot of plotting.

I'm very much a 'pantser' when it comes to my writing, in that I have no formal outline written down most of the time. I'm getting better about keeping a little notebook full of character info, though, and that's handy. I like to spend a lot of time thinking about my characters and getting to know them before I start writing. I think that's because my favourite novels and stories are very character-oriented. I love reading about someone who just jumps to life on the page. I just finished reading a novel from the book basket at work (I have no idea where the books come from, but there's a basket full of books in the lunchroom, and everyone can take from it as desired), and the characters sucked. The MC didn't grab my interest at all, his soon-to-be-ex-wife had no motivation for any of her actions, his girlfriend was one-dimensional, and his two partners were, well, boring. The only character with any grab was one who got himself killed halfway through the book. I didn't like the novel at all.

So I've been thinking about my characters for my NaNo idea this year. There are two MCs, and they both play important, though unequal, roles. They're floating around my head, and I keep putting them into different situations to see what they'll do. The female, SA, started out as a 21-year-old, fresh from college, but as I played around, I realized that she needs to be almost 30, and she's got all sorts of crazy-ass life experience, because she knows all kinds of random shit. The male, TW, is a bumbling sort of guy, but not in a really bad way. He started out as an idiot, but I've come to the conclusion that he's just not particularly good at what he wants to do for a living. He should just go get a job in advertising, but he's decided that he wants to be a PI. This is going to make a big difference in how he's written. I think I like him better as just inept, rather than an idiot. He's got to be lovable, after all.

I'm definitely liking the characters, though, and this pair has the potential to become stars of a series, which is exciting. I've never written anything with a sequel before... the thought makes me giggle.