Woo hoo! I started my NaNoWriMo novel outline last night, and so far I have the start of a character list (including cameo appearances) and the first 5 chapters outlined. I’m terrible at writing action sequences, so this should be interesting since there’s a lot more action than dialogue in the first 5 chapters — which, incidentally, all take place on the same day.

One of the fun things about NaNoWriMo is the “Dare” thread in the forums. People post dares (suggestions) of things to include in your novel, and you take what you think will inspire and/or amuse you. Here are the dares I’ve chosen to include in my novel:

• Include the line, “You learn more if you don’t knock.”
• Somewhere in your novel, there are seven goats sitting on an island.
• At some point in your novel, have a character seriously consider how to kill a person using cutlery and/or kitchen implements that you wouldn’t normally consider to be deadly weapons.
• Have a cat follow the main characters around EVERYWHERE.
• Include the line, “All in all, I think the world needs less ethics and more fire.”
• Dare: have a character carry around an old chicken bone at all times.
  Bonus Points if s/he constantly gets questioned about it.
  Double Bonus Points if s/he has no rational explanation for it.
  Triple Bonus Points if s/he refuses to talk about it
  Quadruple Bonus Points if s/he does not allow anyone else to touch it.
• Give youself a cameo in your novel.
  Bonus Points if you include your friends.
• Use the Buffy the vampire Slayer quote, “I laugh in the face of danger…and then I hide until it goes away.”
• Use the word defenestrate in a sentence in context.

Yes, I’m going to give ALL my friends (with their real first names!) a cameo appearance in my novel. This means 1 or 2 sentences, basically a bit part…however, if a character seems really compelling, they might get a smidgen more of a part. We’ll see what the muse decides when the time comes.

I’m already having lots of fun with just the cameo characters. Since my novel is set in a vaguely-medieval fantasy world, and the plot revolves around a good king who’s just liberated his kingdom from a years-long conqueror and must now rebuild his shattered land while simultaneously pursuing the truth about a woman who may or may not be his long-lost only child who was kidnapped 20 years before, there will be lots of opportunities for minor characters to appear. While I don’t want to give away a whole lot, I will mention that Mari will be an Imperial Princess from the Empire of Kyuet. *snicker*