Nanowrimo prep, part 1

(WARNING:  I do Nanowrimo.  For more info, see the link on the right, or read more of my posts.  As a result, throughout the rest of October, there may be several Nanowrimo prep posts... there will certainly be a number of Nanowrimo posts during November, and there might even be some Post Nanowrimo posts, in December.  I'll label the posts, accordingly.  Feel free to skip.  Or hop.  Or run... but never with scissors.)


Ugh, and ack.

I've been taking part in Nanowrimo for a few years now.  This will be year 4.  I don't really know what I'm doing, I just kind of close my eyes, hold my breath, and jump in.
Years 1 and 2, I wrote dystopias.  Year 3, I wrote soft sci-fi.  This year looks like it will also be sci-fi.. perhaps not quite as soft.  I'm still a relative newbie, and each year, I've done things differently, in terms of how I approach the story.  But one constant has always been that I have no idea how the story will end, until the end is approaching.  Frankly, this is one of the things that I really enjoy about the whole process... the surprise factor.  I don't mean surprise to the reader, I mean surprise to the writer!

I have this general concept for my 2012 Nano, and I created a Scrivener folder, and I've been gathering some background research, and I've got a few characters that seem to want to be in the story, and I even know the names of 2 of them.  I've jotted down a couple things that might happen in the story, but of course I have no idea how it will end.

This morning, driving to work, I did not have my travel mug of tea with me, and perhaps that was part of the problem.   I was driving along, minding my own business, listening to the recorded book that was in the CD player (not a very good book, so I won't tell you what it is), and all of a sudden..
BAM.  
The ending hit me.  Not the ending of the book I was listening to, but the ending of my 2012 Nano. (I also realized my main character's profession is a bit different than what I thought, but that's ok.)  I tried to dismiss it, and put it out of my mind, but instead, details started filling in.
Sigh.

So, when I got to the office, I took a few minutes, opened up Scrivener and created a folder called 'possible end', and jotted down those notes.  (For me, writing something down is the only way to get it out of my head, so that I can move on to other things.)  But I have to tell you, I am disappointed.  There's a part of me that hopes I'm wrong, and this is NOT how the story ends.  Maybe it will be like one of those times when the phone rings, and you know with certainty that your Aunt Mabel is calling to say she's coming for a visit...but in fact it turns out to be your next door neighbor, telling you your dog got loose.  (Just for the record, I have neither an Aunt Mabel, nor a dog.)