Countdown to insanity.....

Less than a month and the madness will begin....


I've actually become quite attached to the feeling of spiraling madness that comes with participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), linked here. This will be my fifth year to partake in a month-long feat of literary abandon, the purpose of which is to come away with a 50K-word manuscript. That's right, you write a novel-length manuscript in 30 days.


I have never written at such a frenzied, feverish pace, but, from year 1 I was hooked---addicted---obsessed. The adrenalin rush to write so much in so little time is beyond wonderful---it is such a high (there really is no other way to describe it). 


This year's idea came from one mind-numbing day a couple of weeks ago. An injury at work had me side-lined for a couple of days, and I fought against my boredom, constantly. I couldn't seem to make my mind focus. The problem, mainly, is that I require so many things going on, the panicked fretting that I won't get everything down, the dreadful fear that I'll look stupid, or worse, that I'll disappoint myself or others. 


Deadlines, pressure, stress...I feed on these things like candy. I push through every time-sucking activity until I break through. But, when all that stops--suddenly--I flounder. 


My entire day was spent, begrudgingly, in bed...my mind whirling and unable to focus because I didn't HAVE to do anything, and wasn't supposed to do anything. 


Midnight--- after a round of ibuprofen for my stupid sprained? ankle? fractured? foot? and a single beer to numb my mind--- this year's NaNoWriMo idea materialized in my mind and I scribbled frantically, hoping I wouldn't lose any of it. 

Title: Eye of Faith, Eye of Reason

“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.”—Benjamin Franklin

What if you could tell somebody’s future just by touching them? Though, not just their own personal future--- what if, when you touched someone, you could see every future that person would impact? Who would be born because of them… who would die because of them?

Everything hits you in a flash of light and images.

What kind of power could be wielded by someone who could see the future of the world in a touch? Who would want that kind of power? What would they do to achieve that power?

How would the world be different if, by touching someone, you could tell who would become the ultimate evil… someone whose single life would mean the destruction of many lives. Would you have the ability/courage to remove such an evil so that the future might be spared?

But, what if in sparing the great evil, a great goodness is allowed to live on? If the person who could divine future lives from a touch saw that an evil needed to be spared so the birth of a world-changing goodness was dependent on it, would it be possible to allow that evil to live? Would the good of the many outweigh the good of the few?

                What if that evil that was allowed to live was someone like Hitler?

--- Tactile diviners first show their power at puberty, a power that fades by the time they are 50

--- More girls are diviners than boys (something to do with sensitivities) power is empathetic

--- It becomes common practice for the government to seek out the diviners and remove them from the natural circulation… their powers are necessary for the greater good

--- The governing council is made of mostly older men, who see the diviner’s powers as a way to control the future of the world… to become the future leaders of an entire planet.

--- Certain atrocities (like Hitler) are allowed to live, to carry out their horrific plans, because, the diviners can see the future of the world rippling from them.

--- Main diviner at the time of “Hitler’s” birth is young female, about 25 yrs old. It was deemed necessary that the diviners frequent the nurseries and homes of those who’ve recently been born—to ascertain the worth of the new addition--- sometimes culling is necessary  

--- Main diviner reports what she sees in “Hitler’s” future, mostly. She gives the government what she knows they want to hear--- that a future descendant of some "Nazi officer" will hold the key to uniting the world under one government.

--- However, the main diviner fails to mention that another child will be born, because of "Hitler’s" atrocities---one that will have the power to free the world from the autonomous rule.

--- Diviners live exceptionally long lives, even though their powers of divining the future leave them.

--- Some of the higher government officials were past diviners, who remember what power there was in the ability to divine.

--- 2 children will be born… Raised 2 different ways… hearing 2 different stories of what brought about their existence--- both will meet, but only one will triumph. 

I'm interested to see where this story idea will lead. I've found that no matter how much you plan for the month of November, there will always be something unexpected that creeps in----

Anybody else taking the NaNoWriMo plunge??