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NaNoWriMo

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  • Congrats, Günter! I just used the name Günter for a minor character as a tribute to you for the mini competition we had that kept me pushing on. Congratulations also to Misakyra, good job on winning even if you didn't hit your goal of 100,000 words.
    Man, if only I had thought of that. You may have to settle for being in the acknowledgments of my best-selling book. After I finish editing it in about ten years, that is.
    So, anyone up for trying next year?
    Hell yeah.
    *crushes dreams* Congratulations with writing you first novella Günter and Luke.
    This is my second novel, actually.

    There are about a million different definitions of the term "novella". Whether or not we wrote a novel depends on what definition you go by. You could be an asshole and just exclude all the definitions that say we did write a novel (I wouldn't blame you, that's just your nature), but we're going to go ahead and keep all of our self-satisfaction.
  • I wrote a science fiction story. Both of the two top awards for science fiction, the Hugo and Nebula, have categories for short stories, novellas and novels. For both awards a novel is considered 40,000 words and over, and a novella is classed as between 17,500 and 40,000 words. I don't expect to ever win one of these awards, but I'll classify my story as a novel, not a novella, due to their categories.

    However, of all the people on the forum, I'm least surprised that it was you who congratulated us both in such a manner. But I won't blame you, that's just your nature.
  • ......
    edited November 2008
    There are about a million different definitions of the term "novella". Whether or not we wrote a novel depends on what definition you go by. You could be an asshole and just exclude all the definitions that say we did write a novel (I wouldn't blame you, that's just your nature), but we're going to go ahead and keep all of our self-satisfaction.
    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't take me serious gosh darn it! I just repeat the NaNoWriMo site anyhow, though they call it 'short novel' instead of 'novella' because it sounds better. Really, dude, you just wrote a 50 THOUSAND word story in only 30 days. And drat, your second eh... Well congratulations to Luke for finishing his first novella in only 30 days, and you congratulations for finishing your second in only 30 days.

    @Luke, aha, well NaNoWriMo calls them novellas. I did not know that those awards had such specific and low word counts to classify a novella from a novel. I'd have to say, this entire 'classification' between stories having more or less words than an arbitrary number is just bullshit imho. Novels all around, though I prefer the word novella. Sounds more classy.

    @Misakyra, holy crap you finished early, so much words. Wow. O.o
    Post edited by ... on
  • edited December 2008
    Congrats to both Günter and Luke! Double congrats for actually being done with the stories you set out to write!

    I failed miserably at getting to 100k (not entirely surprising, but disappointing all the same), and I'm still not finished with the entire project. I've got the tools I need though, so I'm determined to see this through to the end, wherever it is.

    I've revised my goal to be at 65k by the end of the month, which is doable, since I'm only 537 words away, and have about six and a half hours left.

    *EDIT* Final word count for NaNo '08: 65479. Not as much as I'd hoped for, but it's still better than I've done the last two years.
    Post edited by misakyra on
  • Congratulations from me too, you guys. Next month, maybe I'll do a NaGraNoWriMo (national graphic novel writing month) along with you.

    Are any of you guys formally trained in writing in any way, self-taught through books/etc., or do you just go for it?
  • I'm self taught and the only writing I sell on a regular basis are magazine articles and how to guides. Like I mentioned in this thread (I'm sure) is that I've put in many, many previous attempts at novel writing. The idea I used for NaNoWriMo is one I've been knocking about in my head for two or three years, so once it came to writing it down it went quite well. And I read a lot, and doing a 20-40 minute podcast review of every book I've read this year has given me a stronger feel of what I like about fiction. Sure, I just "went for it" but without all the preparation I'm not sure how well it would have come out.

    In fact, I do know how well it would have come out, about as well as all the other novel attempts I've made. I've read it back through and I was pleasantly surprised how well it read and how well the story flowed. I've just started editing it, and hopefully by the end of the year have a more consistent second draft.

    I'll leave you to do the NaGraNoWriMo without me!
  • The only experience I have in creative writing is easy-as-hell school projects and another NaNo I did a few years back. I do read a lot, so that's influenced me to some extent, but I just winged it for the most part.

    As for NaGraNoWriMo, I am intrigued. I've had some vague, shapeless ideas for a graphic novel bouncing about in my head for a while now, and I'd love to try developing them into something more.
  • Right, my novel is now in a state where I'm happy for other people to read it. I'm looking for three or four people who:

    1. Are happy to read a book on some kind of screen, as I'm not going to print it out and post it.
    2. Appreciate science fiction.
    3. Aren't stupid (for example, if you think Snow Crash is the best novel out there, don't bother asking).
    4. Are will to give me harsher feedback than I am giving myself at the moment.
    5. Won't share the file with the entire world. Not because I think I'll make money from this in the future, but because I want the rest of the world to read it when I think the novel is ready, not you.

    Who wants to give it a read? Email me luke@juggler.net and I'll send you a copy.
  • Last night I passed 20,000 words on novel number two. I'm only aiming for 1500 words per day this time, not 1667, for a total of 45,000 words in 30 days. So far so good.
  • Who wants to give it a read? Email me luke@juggler.net and I'll send you a copy.
    I'd love to read it. My email is the same as my username here, and I put "Your Novel" as the subject.
  • How about starting a thread to put people's written stuff in? We already have art, videos and music, why not writing?
  • How about starting a thread to put people's written stuff in? We already have art, videos and music, why not writing?
    How would we organize it, though? Pictures and video/audio recordings are easy enough to post or link to, but large files of text are another matter.
  • edited February 2009
    Link to text files or web pages? If you post up a blurb to go with it that should give people an impression of what to expect.

    Maybe we should just create a shameless plug thread; though, not with that name.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • edited March 2009
    Last night I passed 20,000 words on novel number two. I'm only aiming for 1500 words per day this time, not 1667, for a total of 45,000 words in 30 days. So far so good.
    I just posted the following on my blog, but thought it would fit here too.

    Last night Pola asked "Do you want to watch a DVD with me?" I wasn't feeling well, and suspected she wanted to watch the Sex and the City (while I'm more of a City and the Stars kind of guy).

    So I sat in bed with my laptop and plugged away at my novel. I didn't realise when Pola put on another film, so I ended up writing far longer than I intended. After about 3000 words I not only reached the end of the story, but wrote the last two chapters which I'd intended to be some kind of epilogue.

    Ok, let me clarify, the story isn't a finished novel, but I reached the end. There is going to be a LOT of editing on this one. The first novel I wrote was set on Earth, and even though it was set (mostly) in the future, I didn't have to do a whole lot of science fiction authors call "world building". The current novel is set on an alien planet and has non-21st century levels of technology, and there are lots of small plot points that rely on other small things, with details spread throughout the narrative.

    As I was writing I'd notice something didn't fit with something else I'd already written, or that I needed a new character, or could combine two other characters, or that this one piece of technology stood out too much and needed to be replace by another... but when I made the change, I didn't go back and rewrite the previous material to fit with the new, I just continued to write as though the later facts were true and the earlier facts had already been changed.

    This means that if someone else was to read the story now it would make zero sense. For example, in the opening chapters I introduce two characters who, in the planning stages, were going to play a major role in the last thirty or forty pages. But as I was writing I completely forgot about them, and their roles were filled by other characters. So they need to be edited out. Also the shape of the main camp changes quite a bit from the original description compared to what I have in my mind now, at the end of the writing process.

    What I'm going to have to do is read the entire thing and make a whole new list of facts about the world that are in place at the end, and then go through again and make sure they are consistent from the beginning.

    A final note: this story, at only 35,000 words, feels much more like a novella than my first long work of fiction. The word length is going to grow a lot during the edits though, as I on the first draught I was concentrating mostly on plot and action, with very little description, and not much characterization either.

    I wanted to write about 45,000 words in 30 days. I took two weeks off from writing in the middle, and finally settled on between 1000 and 1500 words per day as the least stressful workload. I managed 36,776 words in 28 days, averaging 1,313 per day. Along the way I added 1782 words of non-story notes, for a total of 34,994 words. My novel writing software says that's about 145 pages in an average paperback format.

    The final breakdown is here:

    Day: Date: Target: Behind: Catch: Sessions: Today: Running total:
    Fri 23 1500 -467 -533 1967 1967 1967
    Sat 24 3000 -343 60 1376 1376 3343
    Sun 25 4500 563 873 594 594 3937
    Mon 26 6000 1583 1023 480 480 4417
    Tue 27 7500 930 -675 1024 1129 2153 6570
    Wed 28 9000 332 -645 1349 749 2098 8668
    Thu 29 10500 -1991 -2468 1839 1984 3823 12491
    Fri 30 12000 -491 1413 0 0 12491
    Sat 31 13500 -263 148 580 692 1272 13763
    Sun 1 15000 1237 1487 0 0 13763
    Mon 2 16500 -90 -1407 2827 2827 16590
    Tue 3 18000 -130 -126 1540 1540 18130
    Wed 4 19500 -555 -539 1010 915 1925 20055
    Thu 5 21000 910 1430 35 35 20090
    Sat 21 22500 2248 1385 162 162 20252
    Sun 22 24000 2684 515 1064 1064 21316
    Mon 23 25500 4184 1692 0 0 21316
    Tue 24 27000 4392 430 1026 266 1292 22608
    Wed 25 28500 3452 -777 1135 1305 2440 25048
    Thu 26 30000 3880 644 1072 1072 26120
    Fri 27 31500 4005 376 1375 1375 27495
    Sat 28 33000 4544 877 961 961 28456
    Sun 1 34500 6044 2068 0 0 28456
    Mon 2 36000 6536 934 1008 1008 29464
    Tue 3 37500 6573 547 556 907 1463 30927
    Wed 4 39000 6540 557 1533 1533 32460
    Thu 5 40500 6925 1170 1115 1115 33575
    Fri 6 40500 3724 -1145 15 3186 3201 36776
    removing notes -1782 -1782 34994
    I need to start coming up with working titles for my fiction. "Edward" and "Monster Story" are fine for file names, but don't really portray what I want about the stories.
    Post edited by Luke Burrage on
  • Wow, thumbs up. So can we say that you're a writer and a juggler now, or are you still a writing juggler?

    I'm still slowly chipping away at Edward, but then I saw Watchmen laying on my desk, and started reading that for the second time.
  • Wow, thumbs up. So can we say that you're a writer and a juggler now, or are you still a writing juggler?

    I'm still slowly chipping away at Edward, but then I saw Watchmen laying on my desk, and started reading that for the second time.
    I've been writing for years. Now you can say I'm a writer who has found the willpower to actually get shit finished. My next novel is going to be a project I've started three times already in the past, and never made it past the forth chapter. Now I know I can finish a novel length story I should get further this time.

    I'm going to start editing Edward again next week (15th of March onwards), so any feedback would be handy before then.
  • It's been a long journey, but my first novel is now available online for general downloading, reading and sharing. It's now called Minding Tomorrow, and I think it's awesome.
  • Congrats! I look forward to reading it.
  • Fun blog post, I thought I might share it here:


    I've seen links all over to the website called Where I Write, which features photos of science fiction and fantasy authors in the places where they write. For example:



    So, after seeing yet another link to the same website, I thought I'd share a photo of the place I write. I've got time to spare at the moment*, so got out the tripod:

    Where I write.

    Of course, I travel a lot, and much of my writing (and even more of my re-writing and editing) is accomplished while sitting in the same position but in hotel rooms and cruise ship staterooms around the world. But at home, when I write, I do it lounging in the living room.

    Things in this photo:
    - Me
    - My laptop. It's a MacBook, so often gets quite hot, which is why it isn't on my lap.
    - A very large couch. I can sit on this in many positions and orientations.
    - A lamp. Reflected light off the wall is plenty to light my keyboard.
    - A big piece of art. Made by Pola.
    - A mobile. Made from twigs.
    - A globe. It is very old and dated, but globes are the only way to really get a sense of the shape and size of different places in the world.
    - A ladder. This leads to the bedroom/office.
    - A window. This leads to the kitchen, important for the provision of drinks.
    - A chandelier. Only turned on during large dinner parties.
    - A blanket. Nice for if I get chilly.
    - Three white boxes, stacked. These hold magazines, photo albums and many an atlas.
    - A large fuzzy mat. This is to make the expanse of wooden floor more friendly.

    Compared to the authors on the Where I Write website, my place is either more comfortable or more tidy than them all. John O'Niell looks comfy, but is surrounded by clutter. Nowhere near as much clutter as Samuel R. Delany, but it's still there. John Harrison is tidy, but the room doesn't look that inviting.

    Why no mess for me? And why not sit at a desk?

    First, all my notes are on my laptop, and my laptop is backed up every day. If I need to do research, I usually do it via electronic sources, online or via ebooks.

    Second, I outsource my library/bookshelf functions to the Another Country bookshop, which is only a few hundred meters away, and has about 25,000 books. Any book I want I either borrow from there or buy it new from another shop, and then, to avoid clutter at home, donate the new books so borrowing books is free.

    Berlin's Another Country bookshop.

    Third, and this relates to no clutter as well as my comfort, I'm not a professional writer! Why the hell should I sit at a desk as though I'm working? I get paid for my writing, but not for my fiction. Like Ted Chiang, I write fiction because I enjoy it, and have a real job to support my hobby. That is, if being a professional juggler can count as a real job.

    Catch you later...




    * Due to recently becoming single for the first time in 4.5 years I'm not really into writing at the moment, nor much of anything. Regular posts will resume shorty.
  • Can we trade living rooms?
  • Can we trade living rooms?
    My thoughts exactly. That is some seriously classy shit, Luke. The only interesting thing about my writing space is the recording equipment, which is only used after all of the writing gets done.

    Incidentally, does anyone else plan on doing NaNo this year? I've become proficient enough that I think I'll have time this November, despite all the work I'll be doing.
  • Incidentally, does anyone else plan on doing NaNo this year? I've become proficient enough that I think I'll have time this November, despite all the work I'll be doing.
    I've been threatening to do it for a couple of years, but this time I'll just crap a novel out regardless of quality, just to get a feel for the process.
  • Incidentally, does anyone else plan on doing NaNo this year?
    I've been thinking about doing it, and writing a graphic novel script instead of a novel. We'll see if I have any decent ideas when November rolls around.
  • edited August 2009
    Since I'm gonna try to get all A's this semester, I'm going to cheat and start my nanowrimo as a agnowrimo. Hopefully I'll be able to churn out some form of scifi tripe by december.

    Also, Luke, Your house is AWESOME. I wish I had a ladder accessible bedroom! It's almost like having a treehouse, but with plumbing and electricity!
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • The last two years I've attempted I have failed big-time, but I'm definitely going to try again this year.
  • agnowrimo
    Agwhat Novel Writing Month? Perhaps you mean SoNoWriMo (Sonic's Novel Writing Month)?

    @Luke, your description sounds awesome, ladder bedroom, ooooooooooh~
  • I plan on doing it again. I wrote a novella in February, and half a novel in May. I was planning to write another novel in August, but events sort of overtook me, and I'll be starting it in the next day or two. My NaNoWriMo novel will be another science fiction adventure, set on a strange planet, much like my February story. Or in the same universe as my February story.

    Maybe we should make a NaNoWriMo 2009 thread, and maybe a separate, more generic thread about writing.
  • I might try this year. I have tons of story notes for various things.

    @Luke Got damn! Your living room is awesome. What does the rest of the place look like?
  • edited August 2009
    agnowrimo
    Agwhat Novel WritingMonth? Perhaps you mean SoNoWriMo (Sonic's Novel Writing Month)?
    Actually, I made an error in my acronym. I will retroactively call it sonowrimo.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • I'm definitely going to try this year, when is it? November?
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