dreampunk geek

Three things to do when you are writing your NaNo masterpiece and find yourself stuck, up against a wall, written into a corner, with no plot, or with writer’s block.  Plot ninjas, dares, and the adoption society can get you through.  Resources at the end of this post with ideas for each.

Plot Ninjas:

A plot ninja is something that is inserted into the plot when the writer finds him- or herself at a loss for what to do next, or when their characters are bogging down in dull conversation rather than doing anything interesting. The traditional form of the plot ninja is literal ninjas crashing through windows or leaping out of wardrobes and attacking the main characters, turning the dithering over plot into an exciting action scene. When actual ninjas are not appropriate, milieu-appropriate enemies, such as orcs, cyborgs, or gangster can be substituted.

In a more general sense, a plot ninja is any plot element, perhaps randomly generated or taken from other’s suggestions (such as dares), which a writer will toss into the story when things are slowing down.

The plot ninja is not to be confused with the plot bunny.

via Plot ninja – Wikiwrimo.

Dares:

A dare is a challenge to include an idea into a NaNoWriMo novel or Script Frenzy script. Dares can be anything: characters, scenes, quirks, dialogue, or even plots. Unlike adoptables, which are generally ideas that the original writer chooses not to use, dares are often silly ideas that aren’t necessarily abandoned ideas.

via Dare – Wikiwrimo.

Adoption Society:

One of the most popular features of the NaNoWriMo forums are the adoptable threads. Participants will post superfluous ideas, plot twists, awesome titles they can’t use, or characters they’ve thought up but don’t fit in their novels.

via Welcome to the Adoption Society! | National Novel Writing Month.

Additional Resources:
Adoption Society Forum
Ambers Bolg – She regularly posts tons of Dares
Dragon Writing Prompts – Check out this post for a bunch of plot ninja ideas

Tags: book, dare, literature, nano, NaNoWriMo, ninja, novel, plot element, plot ninja, plot twists, script frenzy, story, write, writer's block, Writing