Just about a month late

Ideas are funny things.

I have been doing PiBoIdMo (a month's worth of picture book idea generating) in part because of my lack of an idea for NaNoWriMo (a month's worth of writing a 50,000-word novel). I said that I would not to do NaNoWriMo this year because I didn't want to overload my life, though if I had had an idea that I was excited about, I probably would have gone for it.

Sometimes ideas find you when you aren't even thinking about looking for them. For me, this is the rule, not the exception. The ideas that excite me the most are usually the ones that come to me without any effort on my part, in the form of a sudden Aha! or lightbulb moment.

The other night while I was lying in bed I had one of those moments. Born from the random musings in my trying-to-go-to-sleep brain, a concept for a YA fantasy/dystopian novel popped in for a visit. I know that some ideas will leave if you don't give them immediate attention, so I mustered up the nerve to risk waking my husband with sudden midnight scramblings, and soon I had jotted down a two-sentence pitch and info about my main character.

Throughout the past couple of days, other characters have presented themselves to me, as if auditioning for a part in this story. It's been interesting to see who has popped up to say hello.

I'm excited about this story! Had this idea come to me about a month ago, it might be mostly drafted by now. But this way there is no pressure. Just me and my new WIP taking our time getting to know each other.