National Novel Writing Month

ShadowSky · 10-15-2009, 05:46 PM

Anyone else thinking of participating in NaNoWriMo this November?

For those of you who don't know what it is:

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."

http://www.nanowrimo.org/whatisnano

It looks like a lot of fun, and I've wanted to try for a few years now, so I think I might. Whether I make it or not. So is anyone else thinking about it? If so we could use this thread to talk about it and keep eachother's morale up, lol!

L_E23 · 10-15-2009, 05:57 PM

Hmm, well now that I know what it is, I think I might like to try too. I've always loved writing, but never have done a contest or anything. It seems like a lot of fun. :)

Sonn84 · 10-15-2009, 06:20 PM

This is my 2nd year to participate it is a lot of fun if you like to write.

Xeph · 10-15-2009, 07:11 PM

I'm gonna do it!!!!

Aran · 10-16-2009, 10:08 AM

This will be my sixth year.

I've written under 50k total words in that time. I always lose interest by about the sixth of the month.

RaeganW · 10-16-2009, 10:53 PM

Oh NaNo. I wish I liked to write half as much as I like to plot and research.

I can't say enough about their forums, though. Oh gosh you can learn everything there.

Xeph · 10-17-2009, 12:03 AM

Ha raegan, I love the writing HATE the research

ShadowSky · 10-17-2009, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaeganW

Oh NaNo. I wish I liked to write half as much as I like to plot and research.

I can't say enough about their forums, though. Oh gosh you can learn everything there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeph

Ha raegan, I love the writing HATE the research

I don't mind doing some research, but I get lost when trying to do that and plot things out

. It's something I'm trying to work on. I love the writing part though!

RaeganW · 10-17-2009, 12:20 AM

You guys are tempting me in again.

I may just have to dredge up my setting & character notes from last year, I only wrote one actual sentence of that one so I think it's still 'legal'.

What are y'all's genres? I am firmly in the 'speculative fiction' camp myself, and you cannot budge me! I have trebuchets and laser guns.

Xeph · 10-17-2009, 02:06 AM

If I'm going to write a novel, I'm all about Fantasy. Short stories, I write mostly human angst type stuff

ShadowSky · 10-30-2009, 03:10 PM

I love Fantasy, Scifi, medieval fantasy...

So dragging up this topic again, because it is now the 30th! NaNo starts in two days, anyone else still gonna do it? I'm both nervous and excited!

Ayanla · 10-30-2009, 04:49 PM

This will be my fourth year. My "record" so far is 20k words two years ago. Last year I didn't even make it past 10k. I love to plot, love to plan the characters, love to think about the story and what's going to happen, but when it comes to the actual writing, I run out of steam. I have an incredibly tough time getting from A to B. I sort of linger on A for a long time, trying to find my out...then say heck with it and end the chapter and start the next one already at B.

RaeganW · 10-30-2009, 05:25 PM

Oh gosh I kind of want to throw up. I realized last night that you could drive elephants through my plot holes. I've done practically zero research, haven't planned farther than half of the first chapter, and still haven't actually finalized any actual plot.

At the same time though, I'm stunned by how little this bothers me. I've come to embrace the fact that my novel will be little more than my characters sitting in a room talking to one another, and to hell with historical accuracy or linearity. I think I might actually write more than five hundred words this year, get bored, and go read an already-written book.

winniec777 · 10-31-2009, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayanla

This will be my fourth year. My "record" so far is 20k words two years ago. Last year I didn't even make it past 10k. I love to plot, love to plan the characters, love to think about the story and what's going to happen, but when it comes to the actual writing, I run out of steam. I have an incredibly tough time getting from A to B. I sort of linger on A for a long time, trying to find my out...then say heck with it and end the chapter and start the next one already at B.

We should join forces - I have the opposite problem. I can write and write and write. It's the upfront planning part that makes me bonkers. Next career.....ghost writer!

Xeph · 10-31-2009, 04:06 AM

I have trouble developing a setting, as I don't want to use a place everybody knows (it involves actual research and I hate it) but I also have trouble maintaining continuity in a fictional place.

Aran · 10-31-2009, 04:51 AM

I'm still on the fence. 19 hours to decide.

winniec777 · 10-31-2009, 01:27 PM

10.5 hours....tick....tick.....tick.....

Faerunner · 10-31-2009, 07:28 PM

Awww yeah! 4.5 hours to go, and I joined up to wave at you guys and say that as Aran's fiance (and proud owner of the world's cutest puppy), I'm totally doing NaNo this year. It'll be my 7th year running. Of those years, the first 5 were losses! Last year I won with a few hours to spare and a dead laptop screen... long story.

So this year I'm hoping to do better, and I hope I'll see some of you guys around the forums/chat! (For IRC users, there's a chat at irc.goodchatting.com channel #nanowrimo - if you don't use irc, goodchatting.com has a java chat service that will let you get into the channel as well). I'm Faerunner in the chat, and MossAngel on the NaNo site - look me up!

Aran · 10-31-2009, 07:45 PM

There's also Mibbit

RaeganW · 10-31-2009, 08:07 PM

In hindsight, perhaps it was not the best idea to try to update my computer the night NaNo begins. Now I'm out one laptop screen, in need of twenty-six minutes to restore my files, and there's only five hours left to get home, a power nap, and a workspace set up...