Planning my Nano

    When I decided to write Nanowrimo, I wasn't sure what I would write about, until I heard a news report that fit into the "weird news" category and I just knew I had to write about it.   The news report told of a man who would walk around the city in a super hero costume, and he considered himself a crime fighter.   One day, he saw a group of people, and according to him, they were brawling.  He took it upon himself to stop the brawl, and ran over to them and began to spray them with Pepper Spray. 

    It was such a odd story and I seem to remember the phrase "Delusions of Grandeur" coming up by either the commentator or the news report.  

     I didn't think anything of it for a few days, and then it hit me, what if i developed a story around people who all have Delusions of Grandeur, and they all believed they were super heroes.  I would have a therapist as the main character, and she can go around evaluating, and helping these people.   To make the book even more interesting, I would have the super heroes "special powers" based on a secondary diagnosis.


    The basic plot of my book was set, and what was left was for me to prepare myself for the long month of writing 50K.    I first detailed my main character first, and then the supporting characters.  That part was fun, and as my family and I were on along drive, I worked on it, with the help of my husband. 

    Next, I used the DSM-TR to pick the diagnoses for the super heroes, then planned out the outline.

    The part I liked the best, was when I went through the book, to write out the basics of each diagnosis, so that I would have them as accurate as possible, and I then went through the various treatment options.

    Some of the diagnoses I chose were: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Schizotypal, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Dissociative Fugue, and Depersonalization. 

    I finished up the book, with a small homage to the guy who gave me the idea.

    I really enjoyed planning the book, I think I actually like that part, even more then I did writing it, but then I really enjoyed writing it as well. 

    I will tell more about the writing of it next time.