NaNoWriMo & Me: Christopher Law

Age: 36

Hometown: Dover, UK

Occupation: Temp

When/where do you write? I write at my PC in a corner of my bedroom which I like to think of as a work station but is really a nest of CDs, ashtrays and coffee mugs. I mostly write in the evenings and into the night but, when I can, I'll write in the afternoons as well. I mostly try to avoid doing anything I'm not getting paid for in the mornings.

Writing background: I've been writing stories since I was a child and decided novelist was my preferred future when I was about twelve. I drifted away from it in my twenties and decided to start taking it seriously a few years ago. Since then I've had one story appear in an anthology and guested a few times on other websites

Why NaNoWriMo and why now? I stumbled across NanoWriMo four years ago, although I can't remember where. It sounded like fun, and unemployment does give you lots of free time. I managed it that year, if not very coherently, and I've gone back every year since. I haven't made it the last two times, but this year will be different. Right?

Genre (of NaNoWriMo novel): Psychological horror, I think. It might turn out to be more of a drama. It isn't the supernatural horror I normally write. I'm certain of that.

The novel I want to write (in one paragraph): It's a fairly straightforward story about a teenage girl dealing with a truly evil father and uncaring mother. It isn't entirely new material but I'm hoping I'll be able to make it a slow-burner, everything slotting together. There's a lot in it that is going to be fairly bleak and grim, and I suspect a few people will have problems with the ending. If I can get it right, however, I think it can avoid being horrid and trashy. Technically, I suppose it is also a little bit of a period piece, as I've chosen to set it in the mid-nineties. That's partly because I had the initial spark back then but mostly because I don't think I can tell it convincingly in a modern setting.

Meet my main character: Maria Shaw, sixteen years old and the only child of Graham and Eleanor. On the exterior she's leading a fairly privileged life. Her father's company is successful and she attends the best private girl's school in the area. They live in a big house in leafy suburbia and go on expensive holidays. She does well at school, getting the grades and keeping her head down. Outside school, when her father's away, she's starting to embrace the hedonism of some of her peer group.

Have you done any planning? I haven't actually written my timeline or character bios yet but I pretty much know what they are. Like I said before, this story has been kicking around in my head for almost twenty years, although I think only I can actually see the connection between the initial germ and the story I have now – there's only actually one scene in common between the two. By November 1st, I'll have written those and hopefully have ironed out the last few wrinkles that are bound to remain.

Writing fears: That I'll spend the next four weeks with the kind of writer's block I had when I was twenty-five. That I'll spew out thousands of words and end up having to admit they all suck. I hate it when that happens. I'm also worried that my real-world situation will interfere – I can only find temp work at the moment and scheduling anything more than two or three days in advance is rather complicated. Then there's also the possibility that this great idea in my head just isn't any good.

Writing hopes and dreams: That the story in my head is better than I think. I'm confident with it and I know that I can hit the work-rate. I think I can even do it coherently, with words other people might enjoy reading. Either way I'm positive Nano will be as much fun this year as the last three.

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