›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

NaNoWriMo

ErynEryn
edited September 2008 in Everything Else
Wow. With how big this event has become, I'm almost shocked that there hasn't ever been a thread about this here. Well, no time like the present!

So, who all is participating in National Novel Writing Month this November? If you're not quite sure what that is, here's a quick description from their site:
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.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
I've been participating since 2002, myself. Not always with success, mind you, but I've at least made an attempt to start each year since then. ^^; I've crossed the big 50K mark three times, and made it to a real "The End" only once. Even in years where I didn't get very far, though, I was always glad that I tried. It's just such a great concept for a writing event, and when you're really feeling it, it's amazing both as an individual and a collective experience.

If anyone else here is participating: would you like to participate in word wars, exercises, dares, trading of ideas and other such things either in this thread or on the NaNo forums? I'd love to have an FRC-themed NaNo experience this year.
«13456789

Comments

  • WalkerWalker
    I would love to! NanoWriMo is an awesome exercise. My sister got me into it when I was 14 and I wrote a book about ninjas. It was a piece of crap, but I had a great time writing it and sharing the experience with my sister. I haven't done it since, but I was planning on giving it another try this November.
  • ErynEryn
    edited September 2008
    lol, my first two years were totally anime-derivative pieces of tosh. The first was a parody of Weiss Kreuz and other pretty-boy shows, and the second was a magical girl story. XD I actually wrote a fairly decent piece of urban fantasy/melodrama the year before last, though. I never finished it, but I did get past 50K and I was damn proud of what I'd created. Maybe I'll yet finish and polish that one, but this year, I want to see if I can make something even better. :)
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • ΣπεκωσποκΣπεκωσποκ
    I joined NaNoWriMo sophomore year of high school because of a senior I had a major crush on. I had some haphazard story about something forgettable, and she ended up graduating at the end of the year anyway. However, I think perhaps now is a good time to take it back up... any topic ideas?
  • DiddgeryDiddgery
    I tried writing last year and couldn't even get a week through without becoming discouraged and giving up. This year I plan to write about something I've actually put a good deal of thought into over the past two years, so hopefully I'll get much farther now.
  • misakyramisakyra
    edited September 2008
    I won my first NaNo in 2006, but last year was a disaster. I set out to write a western, completely overlooking the fact that I hate westerns with a passion. This year will be better! Count me in.

    Edit:
    This year I plan to write about something I've actually put a good deal of thought into over the past two years, so hopefully I'll get much farther now.
    This can be a double-edged sword. I almost stalled out in '06 because I'd been toying with the idea for so long that the frantic pace of NaNo didn't play well with my wanting to do right by my story.
    Post edited by misakyra on
  • ErynEryn
    edited September 2008
    This year I plan to write about something I've actually put a good deal of thought into over the past two years, so hopefully I'll get much farther now.
    This can be a double-edged sword. I almost stalled out in '06 because I'd been toying with the idea for so long that the frantic pace of NaNo didn't play well with my wanting to do right by my story.Indeed, it even says somewhere on the site that while you can use a treasured idea, it's best to go in with something you're not as attached to. It's possible that you could feel like you're ruining your wonderful idea (even though you probably aren't) in the fast pace of NaNo, and that may discourage you even more. It's best to play NaNo plots fast and loose for the most part, unless you've found that you really do work better with more planning.
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • misakyramisakyra
    edited September 2008
    Also worth mentioning is the official guide book, which is an entertaining read whether you participate or not.
    Post edited by misakyra on
  • ErynEryn
    edited September 2008
    Yeah, I finally picked it up during 2006's challenge. I love Chris Baty's sense of humour. And his indomitable spirit. I look forward to his NaNo pep talks every year. <3
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • TyashkiTyashki
    This sounds interesting. What am I doing in November... hmmm... not too much.

    XD
  • NuriNuri
    I still haven't finished my NaNo project from last year. Unfortunately making money > NaNo at this point. Good luck everyone who is participating!
  • DiddgeryDiddgery
    Hm, if that is the case then I'll try writing something with no aim. I think part of the problem from last year was that I tried writing about another thing that I had put some thought into already.
  • ErynEryn
    Well, I wouldn't say that your novel should have no aim, but I wouldn't recommend tons of aim either. I tried writing one year without deciding what I was going to do until midnight on November 1st, and that failed miserably. Last year, I experimented with heavy planning and barely got beyond 2000 words. The year before that, however, I just had a basic outline and a few character profiles, and that went spectacularly for me. It was just the right balance of planning and no planning. :) So I guess what I'm saying is: do come up with an idea that you like before the event, but don't overthink it or else you stand to be disappointed.
  • NuriNuri
    People usually do best with a loose outline. It's good to know what climax you're working towards, but not necessarily every step of how you get there. sometimes your characters do something unexpected, and you just go with it. The point of NaNo is to get you to sit down and get words on the page. You can parse out what is good and what is crap later. A loose outline helps give you a direction to go so that you don't hit a wall and say "well shit, what now?"
  • ErynEryn
    edited September 2008
    Well said, Nuri. :)

    By the way, with all that talk of word processing going on in the other thread: are there any particular programs that people like to use just for fiction writing? I normally do all of my word processing in TextEditor, but for NaNo, I use the utterly fantastic Jer's Novel Writer. Among other things, Jer's allows me to put customizable post-it notes in the margins, divide parts/chapters/whatever clearly and painlessly, keep a database of characters, places and concepts, and go into full-screen mode using whatever colour settings I want (currently I'm using an all black background with pale green text). Sure, I bet you could wrangle a regular full-featured word processor into doing a lot of that, but Jer's specific focus on novelists' needs just makes it so much easier. :D
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited September 2008
    Never mind.. I'll probably participate.
    Post edited by kiwi_bird on
  • kage_rodkage_rod
    My friend and I are participating this year. I did it in grade 9 and I think grade 10, then never touched it again because of life, and the fact that I barely know what today is, nevermind what's happening that month. I remember one year getting ready for Halloween and the next, BAM, Christmas.

    :D But I ain't lettin' it get by this year. I have a few plans in mind, but I'm not sure if I'll follow through. My friend is racking his brain - he wants to have an outline drawn up in his mind before even touching it.
    the utterly fantastic Jer's Novel Writer.
    Is that freeware? It sounds really neat. I usually just use wordpad (seeing as Office Word makes me angry now).
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    ...I'll Do It.
  • AnastiusAnastius
    Is that freeware? It sounds really neat. I usually just use wordpad (seeing as Office Word makes me angry now).
    No, and apparently it's only for Macs. Looks awesome, though.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I always have novel ideas banging about in my head. I've made numerous attempts to write them, though my problem isn't getting the words out. I once cleared 70,000 words and was just one chapter 4 or a planned 16 chapter book. I'm about half way through a novel at the moment (and 5 chapters into four others) but come November I'll give it a shot. If you set up something where I can compare notes with other Front Row Crew Forum members, I'll join in.
  • gomidoggomidog
    So are we going to post our ideas before November, or keep it secret until after?
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    I'd be curious to know which language the non US/ English users here will write in. I've been debating about writing in German or in English.

    The only plus for writing in English is, that you have a bigger audience. On the other hand writing in German gives you way more possibilities when describing/ formulating ideas.
  • NeitoNeito
    I have some ideas, but none that I think are fleshed out enough to go with. I still have a whole month to work on my idea, tho.
  • WalkerWalker
    I don't even have a basic idea yet, but when I do I might end up posting it here.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited September 2008
    I think I'm gonna do that sci-fi novel I started.
    Or would that be cheating?
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited September 2008
    I'm thinking of calling my novel "Under vast Skies". The basic idea is the main character describes different people he met through out his life and talks about what was interesting about them/ what happened to them. This leaves a lot of room for random ideas and twists in the story.
    Post edited by kiwi_bird on
  • misakyramisakyra
    I think I'm gonna do that sci-fi novel I started.
    Or would that be cheating?
    From what I know, you can plan, research, outline, or prepare in any way you want. But you can't start to actually write the novel before 12:00am on November 1st.
  • ErynEryn
    You can download the entire Jer's Novel Writer program for free, with the only catch being that it'll pop up a nag window asking if you want to purchase a key or not whenever you start it. And yes, it is only for Macs.
    So are we going to post our ideas before November, or keep it secret until after?
    I think it's more fun to share ideas before, during and after. NaNo is always more fun when you indulge in both the solo and group aspects of the event, and one of the best aspects of the group part is moaning to other people that your characters are supposed to be scaling the castle walls but are instead buggering off to solve some intrigue down at the local pub. Or things like that. ;)
    I think I'm gonna do that sci-fi novel I started.
    Or would that be cheating?
    The rule is that you can use a work you've already started, but you can't count any of the text you've already written toward you NaNo word count. Say if you're starting NaNo at the beginning of Chapter 3, then you would only count text from Chapter 3 and onwards in your 50K, with chapters 1 and 2 effectively not existing as far as NaNo is concerned.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Oh, okay. It's all cool then.
  • kage_rodkage_rod
    You can download the entire Jer's Novel Writer program for free, with the only catch being that it'll pop up a nag window asking if you want to purchase a key or not whenever you start it. And yes, it is only for Macs.
    Build up my homes and smash 'em with a brick hammer, why duntcha. Damn it, why don't programs work on all different computers?
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    No real reason, really. Just this meaningless thing called the operating...something.
Sign In or Register to comment.