To Nano or not to Nano...

 So, this year I had planned to use November as editing time rather than writing time (well, editing with a large chunk of writing, actually, since last year's Nano needs A LOT more words) to get last year's effort into some kind of shape.  Then, last night, I was watching X Factor (don't judge me!) and one of the contestants said that writing songs about his ex was a kind of therapy, and I asked myself why I'd never used my writing as therapy.  When have I ever delved into the dark, dank depths of my psyche?

I've got a bit of a story idea, I'm just worried it looks too much like a rehash of 'Frozen'.  Anyway...

• MC wakes up one morning and is very excited because today is the day they are crowned as their father's successor AND they get married
• there are two parts to father's legacy, a genie and a treasure guarded by a fearsome beast
• the genie is locked away in a dungeon but the MC can draw on its power at will
• when they can fully control the genie, they will be able to defeat the beast
• using the genie's power is a double-edged sword because it feeds off anger; using its power repeatedly means getting angry, a lot
• there is a character, Grand Vizier?, who encourages the MC to abuse their power, under the guise of controlling the genie
• actually, the way to make use of the genie is to befriend it but the MC only realises this after almost destroying everything they love
• the 'fearsome beast' is revealed to be something cute and fluffy that only appeared fearsome because of people's fear of it

My initial thought was for the MC to be a woman and to have a younger sister, but that's when I started thinking "this sounds like 'Frozen'...".  Then I thought it should be a man and his wife becomes the real hero.

But most of my stories have a female protagonist and, actually, it would be a departure for me to have the man as the hero.  So, the MC is a woman and it's her husband who helps her back to her senses.  Or is that playing into all the old fairy tales where the knight in shining armour rides to the rescue, even if he is saving her from herself?  Or am I just over-thinking this?

Anyway, the idea is to really WRITE.  To have a story that is ABOUT something, to explore real emotions like fear, anger, hate - even love.

I think it's worth doing as a way of really stretching myself as a writer, if for no other reason.  But I will have to get my skates on if I'm going to have something planned out by 1 November!