12 October 2007

NaNo dares

Last year I was going to write serious historical fiction, so I didn't do any dares (except the "Suddenly, ninjas arrived"-one, and I think we all know how that turned out). Nevertheless, I ended up with not only ninjas, but also JF Kennedy and the Pope turning up in a UFO, Jeanne d'Arc making a random appearance and a Monty Pythonesque "What have the Romans every done for us?"-scene (granted, that wasn't written in November).

This year I'll be writing serious historical fiction again. But I figured, since I'll inevitably end up with ninjas and UFOs and submarines (thanks Gabriele), I might as well do some dares. NaNo07 will probably be much darker than NaNo06 (I have a feeling one of my MCs will kill himself this year), so it needs some lighter moments. It'll be edited out anyway, so what the hell. I might as well have some author-only comic relief.

The dares I've picked:

Have a penguin stampede in a unlikely place. I.E., The Gobi desert. (Is Wales unlikely enough?)
Bonus points if it occurs during a otherwise perfectly serious scene.

Have the Spanish Inquisition show up, unexpectedly.

Bonus: Play the whole thing straight and serious.


Purple Moose. Take that as you will.

Include the line "'Because it's funny' is not a valid reason for turning the enemy troops into fluffy pink bunnies."

Double points if the person doing the transforming then offers a valid tactical reason.

Triple bonus points if they add, "And because it's really funny." to the end.

Quadruple if this is accepted as a valid reason.

Quintuple points if this is the only thing the transforming character ever does.


I was sorely tempted by this one too:
Have your character regularly burst into Beatles songs
BP if they dress like one of the Beatles too
DBP if they do NOT dress like John Lennon
But I eventually figured that'd be too hard to edit out. Sorry Agricola. Maybe Gabriele will let you sing 'Yellow Submarine'?

Also, winter is coming. It was snowing (well, sleeting) when I biked to work. So now I can look forward to six months of cold & darkness >.< See why I need funny dares?

9 comments:

Gabriele Campbell said...

Oh, definitely the Spanish Inquisition. :)

I like the penguin stampede, too.

Smarty said...

I'm thinking of having the Spanish Inquisition turn up during some mad Druidic ritual. Should be fun.
The penguins will probably appear during the siege of random hillfort #8.

Can't wait 'til November :D

Gabriele Campbell said...

Oh yes, you'll totally need penguins to conquer hillforts. Ninjas won't do. :)

Gabriele Campbell said...

Btw, where did you get your hands on that Nico Roymans book? Our usually well assorted university library doesn't have it, and it's way to expensice second hand via Amazon.

*sigh* Looks like I've to get it from somewhere else in Europe.

Smarty said...

Try this site. I got mine there for 32 € or something, but then they added another 8 € for packing and shipping it (yaay for living on the edges of the earth). They have one for 40 € now.

It's a rather expensive book, yes, but well worth the money.

Maybe your library can order it for you?

Gabriele Campbell said...

Yes, I'll try for distant loan. The only disadvantge is that I can't take those books home, and can only have the on deposit for 4 weeks.

I'm so spoiled by having dozens of library books lining up here, and some of them for years already.

Smarty said...

Wow. I think I like your library :)

My library lets me have books for a month. If I need books longer I just borrow them again immediately after I hand them in, haha. I'm the only one borrowing sagas anyways, so.

If there is a book they don't have, they order it for me. Then I can have it for a month and take it with me home and everything.

Only disadvantage is that it takes months before I actually get the thing. And sometimes it's impossible to get. I doubt any Norwegian libraries have that book about the Batavians, for example.

Unknown said...

Hmm.. seeing how you have a penguin stampede, I think this shouldn't be too far out of the realm...
Include Radioactive Eagle Monkey Chickens
BP if it's the concoction of your MC
DBP if the concoction is made during a boring class
TBP if they're significant/crucial to the main plot.
My undying admiration if they're real....

Smarty said...

Lol RC! I might actually have a few reincarnating tables... ;)