Nano Idea Gathering

[elaby]

Idea and post stolen from dakegra (with permission, thanks!)

Been thinking about NaNo, and whilst I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do this year (fishermen and dragon people), I think it might be a good idea to stock up on prompts and other ideas.

for example, dakegra's character Monty has a scar, and someone could ask about it. Bingo 1000 words telling about how he got the scar,

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for. Words, phrases, character names, ideas to throw into the mix. I can put them onto cards and shuffle them to pick out a prompt for when I'm feeling stuck...

Characters:
East - Fisherwoman, oldest daughter of two, helps father fish, mother died a few years ago and father remarried. Tall and somewhat rough and unladylike by necessity. Doesn't like being inside. Nurtures younger sister.
East's sister (needs name) - 11 years old, rebellious, discontent, showing signs of emerging dragon-people blood that has been cropping up in adolescents
Dragon Boy (needs name) - Half dragon-person and half human, lived in East's village and was friends with her until they were around 6 or 7 and his mother took him to live with her dragon-people. Hasn't met East since but is somewhat in love with the idea of her.

So, go!

please
:-)

posted by caitirin for at-work-elaby

Comments

[amythestcat.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, well, what tradition/ culture are you basing names from. I like East, would you want more directionals for the family?

The dragon boy, normal name or something linked to his beaing?

this has been a favored name source of mine...

http://www.20000-names.com/female_japanese_names.htm

have fun!

I'll try to think of appropriate prompts throughout the day and forward...

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the resource! I think I want East to be the only direction name in her family, and I wasn't thinking of any particular culture or tradition for names, but there's going to be a viking-like group in the society, so that could have bearing.

[raechel]

Oh, I should do this tonight! Write out 30 prompts so I have something to write about each day. Maybe somewhere between all that I'll get a plot, too =D

GOOD LUCK DEAR!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Good luck writing your prompts, too! Woohoo!

[jongleur-gerard.livejournal.com]

oki doke, so... obvious bits first: how did the mother die? Is the dragon blood multigenerational, having skipped some generatiosn to come to East's sister and not her? Or do they have separate fathers? Is the sister related to the dragon boy and only adopted by East's family? How does the father interact with them both? Why did the dragonboy's mother take him away? What about East did he like/ focus on? Is it still the same or has she lost that in the hard life of a fisherperson? How old are East nad the dragon boy? Do you have distinct drgaon races like d&d? ( ie, gold, green, black, blue, etc, or is it just 'dragons' or some other difference?) Are there still dragons about? how do they interact with the dragon people? The regular humans? Are they predatory adn demanding of sacrifices/ tribute, or benevolent? Where do/did the dragons live? In the seas? in distant lands? On mountains visible but distant from the villages? If in the seas, how do they specifically interact with the fisherpeople? What about the new wife of the fisherman/ father? Is she normal or dragon person? Nice to one or both or mean? Is she creative and crafty? or another fisherperson? How did she meet the father? What happened when she first met East? The other daughter? East doesn't like being inside- claustrophobia? or wanderlust? disconent with her situation like her sister? Do they run off at some point because they can't deal anymore? Or maybe younger sister runs and East has to chase her to keep her safe/ try to bring her back?
I'll leave you with those for now. I like the concept so far.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, these are awesome! Thank you so much ^_^

The central conflict of the story is actually that the sister runs off/disappears and East has to go after her. I know it must be a logical idea now! Thanks for your help :)

[jongleur-gerard.livejournal.com]

I ask questions ebcause I'd rather have you answer them for yourself, since somewhere you probably know, or at least have a feelign what the form of the story could be. Throwing words at you, or names which don't fit that thought seems less helpful. Maybe I misinterpreted. Anyway, I hope some of that was useful.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

No way, questions are great! Especially since you don't expect answers right now ^^;; Questions are exactly what I need.

[jiatra.livejournal.com]

A bunch of questions that'll hopefully get you thinking:

What is East's sister's favorite vegetable?

What was the most unusually-colored fish East ever caught?

How does she deal with killing the fish she catches? Does she ever throw them back?

Have they ever had a pet? What kind?

What kind of seabirds live around their home? What sort of legends are connected to them?

When there are rough seas, is do the people think it's due to the random weather, or to the gods?

How do the fisherwomen deal with having rough skin from being on the sea and working with rope and wood? Are there any common lotions or salves, or are rough hands a badge of honor?

What does East own that comes from far away? How did it get to her?

How does East's sister wear her hair? Why?

What is the dragonboy's favorite color?

What instrument did the dragonboy begin to learn while he lived with East's people?

In East's village, what do they say when you sneeze?

What popular food/drink does East dislike?

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Eeee, these are awesome! Thank you so much :) These give me a lot to think about!

I have the answer to one - East's sister has short hair. It's a fashion among high-class girls, and the lower classes think it's silly and frivolous and don't like it, but her father let her cut it after her mother died. East wanted to have her hair short because it'd be convenient, but she didn't press the issue so that her sister could keep hers short.

[scaree.livejournal.com]

Does the Dragon Boy need two names? A human/birth one and a more Haughty Dragon Name which he can invoke if things don't go the way he wants them to, maybe?

Does East dress and talk like a boy all the time, or is this just the way she behaves when with her father?

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ooh, excellent questions! Thank you!