Yes, I really am alive

[readingredhead]

So nanowrimo's off to a very good start. I decided this year to shoot for 60k instead of 50k because I did 50k last year and I don't think this is all very fun unless there's a challenge. That said, I'm well on my way to meeting the goal of 60k -- I'm actually a bit over how far I need to be right now, because yesterday I went to Borders and sat in the cafe for two and a half hours and wrote. It was awesome.

So I've made it to what I jokingly refer to as the "good part" of my story. My main character, Kes, has finally run away from home. The only problem is, I now need a way for her to get from her home planet to somewhere else far off in the galaxy. At the moment, her intent is to visit her friend who's in college on the other side of the planet she lives on (named Andaria). At first my idea was that she'd go to the friend's dorm, end up going to a party, partying a little too hard (drunk on alien alcohol, anyone?) and then waking up in a spaceship headed out of the galaxy. But I don't like that as much, because Kes doesn't seem that stupid. She's not so dumb as she is naive.

So I had another idea. What if, somehow, the space shuttle that she's supposed to be taking goes off course or runs into something or something happens that is completely out of control, but whatever it is, she never gets to see her friend -- she ends up slung out into the universe without a second thought.

I like that idea better than the previous one, but the only thing is, I don't know how to make it work. Any suggestions would be really nice and appreciated...my mind is currently at a loss. And I'm tired. I might just sleep...

Comments

[marang.livejournal.com]

Is it a very specific shuttle she needs, or it is like a bus system? If it's more in the bus category, she could miss the one she intended to take, find one that is going to get to her friend by a very roundabout, eventual way. Then it can get hijacked or something fun like that. :)

If not, I do like your second idea better--the first seems sort of cop out-ish unless you have a good explanation for her suddenly being spacebound.

[readingredhead.livejournal.com]

Thanks...I think I have an idea. She's gotta be on this specific shuttle, I think, but it's going to get hijacked by space pirates. And I've just discovered that I really like the way the written word "hijacked" looks because of the i and the j next to each other...huzzah for tangents!

[comment5.livejournal.com]

Pirates!

[cucumber-eyes89.livejournal.com]

60k?

You're my hero.

[i-wear-wellies.livejournal.com]

I like Jill's idea... or she accidentally gets on the wrong bus due to faulty info or something.