NaNoWriMo 2011

AnnieColleen · Sep 4, 2011

Yep. Count the previous draft as pre-planning & start over from Page 1 on November 1.

Jessianodel · Sep 4, 2011

Yay, thanks! Still debating on doing it or not...I just have so much other stuff going on...should I or shouldn't I?

Tromboli · Sep 4, 2011

Do it!

Emily C. A. Snyder · Sep 5, 2011

Blargh. I'll have "Tempest" going up just before Thanksgiving, so November isn't the month for me (tech week and week before tech and week before that are...well there's a reason tech is lovingly known as "Hell week!").

Buuuuuuuuuuut, I do want to do, as much as possible, NaNo since I have an Austen novel (Presumption - a rewrite of an old Pride and Prejudice riff) wanted by my publisher, and I want to work on the expansion/revision of ShadowQueen (fantasy).

Suggestions, from those who've done NaNo in busy years before? Thank you in advance!

blrude · Sep 5, 2011

Emily, if tackling a new project isn't for you, you could try to do 50k of cumulative on your projects. Totalling it is a pain but I've heard of people who do that. One of my MLs did the second half of her novel, and I heard about someone else who had 35k left of one story, so they counted that and then wrote another 15k of another. And even if you don't think you can revise/expand a total of 50k, then set your own goals and join us anyways.

I've been planning my NaNo since early August. I've done so much silly/over-the-top stuff this year that I'm going the opposite direction. I've never written a tragic everybody-loses story so... Yep. Need a name still, but I'm in!

jazzman99 · Sep 5, 2011

I'm hoping to be in a position to tackle it this year. I've got an idea that should be pretty fast to write, actually--lots of snappy dialogue and fast-moving action.

Tromboli · Sep 5, 2011

Here is my plan: Write what I want to. I've started one of my projects so we'll see how far I get before nano. If I really want to finish it and think I can add another 50k I will do that. Otherwise I'll start my other project.

Maybe I can finish both by the end of November! Or at least the end of the year

Karen Mathis · Sep 7, 2011

I'm in! This will be my 8th NaNo, and I still love it. It's the best way I've found for me to write a first draft. I even already have my idea! Although I always wait until October to begin planning, because otherwise I tend to burn myself out and get impatient waiting for Nov. 1st.

AllieKat · Sep 7, 2011

Tromboli said:
Here is my plan: Write what I want to. I've started one of my projects so we'll see how far I get before nano. If I really want to finish it and think I can add another 50k I will do that. Otherwise I'll start my other project.

Maybe I can finish both by the end of November! Or at least the end of the year

That's a great plan.

Best of luck to everyone, whatever your goal~!

cbsmth · Sep 11, 2011

I'm definitely game - it's the reason I joined this forum, after all.

With the long wait for November, I'm actually finding it a bit troublesome not starting to think out too many details. I'm putting down rough ideas, modeling the characters in my mind and so on, but as the novel is supposed to be written during the span of a month, I just don't want to get too much done.

...I will most likely regret those words when I struggle to meet the quota later on.

Caitlin Black · Sep 11, 2011

I've decided I'm going to try to do something for NaNo this year. I was on the fence about it, with hecticness in my life right now, but screw it - if I can't make time to write a novel while my life is hectic, then the dream will die. I can't let that happen.

Not sure what I'll write yet... We'll see if I get anything written before then on the 2 projects that still need to be finished. The movie and novel are close to being finished, actually... 20k left on novel, 1/3 of the movie left to be written.

I should be able to knock those out in the space of a month or so... Then I've got to plan something for November.

Serena Casey · Sep 13, 2011

I'm gonna do it! First timer here. I'm also working on organizing group writing sessions at my local library for other NaNo Newbies. Very excited!

bettielee · Sep 16, 2011

omg! I'm totally outlining! I felt like that are 4 stages of the story.

This is how the headings of the different arcs look (they really stuck out to me, since they are in bold in the outline)

First: slight sinisterness

Second: take a break from the sinister, let in the light, develop the relationship

Third: The sinister ramps up!

Fourth: The gloves are off! All sinister, all the time!

c.m.n. · Sep 16, 2011

NaNo newbie here too

But I didn't do it last year due to illness, so I'm all for it this year.

I'm also going to write an outline so I have a general idea of what to write. Funny thing is, I've never tried to write a novel length story... this is really exciting!!

Kateness · Sep 16, 2011

*raises hand*

Yeah. I was hardcore NaNo in college and during my unemployment. Last year when I was employed, it was frikking terrible. I still won, but not the way I like to win.

Let's see if we can fix that this year

blrude · Sep 16, 2011

Kateness said:
*raises hand*

Yeah. I was hardcore NaNo in college and during my unemployment. Last year when I was employed, it was frikking terrible. I still won, but not the way I like to win.

Let's see if we can fix that this year

For Camp NaNo this year, my goal was to write my 50k in two weeks (got 25k the first week, but just couldn't keep up steam). Instead it took three, and I was so disappointed in myself.

Worst of all, I couldn't complain, because no one was going to sympathize with me that it "only" took me three weeks to write it... ;D

Kateness · Sep 16, 2011

blrude said:
For Camp NaNo this year, my goal was to write my 50k in two weeks (got 25k the first week, but just couldn't keep up steam). Instead it took three, and I was so disappointed in myself.

Worst of all, I couldn't complain, because no one was going to sympathize with me that it "only" took me three weeks to write it... ;D

*grin*

I feel you. I can't recall what my last NaNo wordcount was, but I think it was 60k-ish.

But my previous three (four? five? I should really know) wordcounts exceeded the 50k mark by...significant margins. I always felt like an asshole bitching about my goals and where I was on not meeting them.

We should talk sometime.

Tromboli · Sep 16, 2011

When nano comes around we'll have to make a new thread for people exceeding the 50k goal (other than the absolutely ridiculous thread on nano which is filled with people posting about their 250k they did in three weeks. Those people make me sick lol)

This year I too will have a goal of 70+

Serena Casey · Sep 17, 2011

c.m.n. said:
I'm also going to write an outline so I have a general idea of what to write.

Me too. I've written without one - now I want to see how it goes with one. I think my plot will be stronger with some advance thought.

izumi · Sep 17, 2011

Count me in on nano :3 It'll be my forth year doing it. Though, I'm a little worried since I'll be in school this year for the first time in two years.

ProsperitySue · Sep 17, 2011

I'm just getting back into writing fiction after a loooong layout. I did NaNo in 2005 and 2006 I think -- some time ago -- and am going to do it this year. I had a question though.

When I wrote before I didn't do anything at all until November 1 and made up the plot and everything as I went along. It as a lot of fun, very seat of the pants writing. I had a story, but not anything I developed further.

I see other writers here talking about making big outlines, doing research and scouting locations before November 1. I had in my mind that the spirit of NaNo was not to do anything on the novel until Nov. 1.

Is this the way NaNo is doing it or is it an evolution that has been created by writers as they go along? It's a lot of fun to not do anything before Nov 1, but then again, it would be really nice to have research, locations, plot and character development and an outline in place. It's not as freewheeling, but I could go into the story in more detail.

Development and preparation or not, I just remember that it was so much fun and I'm really looking forward to Nov. And of course the fun of coming here to talk about it and hear what everyone else is doing.

fourlittlebees · Sep 17, 2011

I'm barfing just thinking about it, but I'm in. I've only won one year ('09) and failed again last year by NOT doing what I did in '09, which was research and outlining BEFORE HAND. I'm doing that now. And I'm already tired just thinking about it.

I'll add my ID to my sig as soon as I look it up again. I think this is year four for me.

AnnieColleen · Sep 17, 2011

ProsperitySue said:
I see other writers here talking about making big outlines, doing research and scouting locations before November 1. I had in my mind that the spirit of NaNo was not to do anything on the novel until Nov. 1.

NaNoWriMo FAQs said:
Outlines and plot notes are very much encouraged, and can be started months ahead of the actual novel-writing adventure. Previously written prose, though, is punishable by death.

As far as I know this has been the standard, but I wasn't around for the earlier years. And of course personal preference plays into it. Some people like starting absolutely from scratch; I'd freeze up even attempting it.

fourlittlebees · Sep 17, 2011

ProsperitySue said:
I'm just getting back into writing fiction after a loooong layout. I did NaNo in 2005 and 2006 I think -- some time ago -- and am going to do it this year. I had a question though.

When I wrote before I didn't do anything at all until November 1 and made up the plot and everything as I went along. It as a lot of fun, very seat of the pants writing. I had a story, but not anything I developed further.

I see other writers here talking about making big outlines, doing research and scouting locations before November 1. I had in my mind that the spirit of NaNo was not to do anything on the novel until Nov. 1.

Is this the way NaNo is doing it or is it an evolution that has been created by writers as they go along? It's a lot of fun to not do anything before Nov 1, but then again, it would be really nice to have research, locations, plot and character development and an outline in place. It's not as freewheeling, but I could go into the story in more detail.

Development and preparation or not, I just remember that it was so much fun and I'm really looking forward to Nov. And of course the fun of coming here to talk about it and hear what everyone else is doing.

Outlining and research is okay. Actual writing isn't. Some of us just can't pants, as I discovered last year when I tried to do it that way.

I write adult fiction... literary, to be exact, although two years ago I tried for an upmarket that has had no luck finding rep this year. I just can't do it without research, and writing 50K AND researching and working full-time and being a single mom is impossible. So this year, I'm actually writing the book I tried last year (from the beginning since last year was a disaster and nothing was even salvageable) with my research done and an outline in place of where I want to go with it.

Shadow_Ferret · Sep 17, 2011

I'm still working on my novel from last year's NaNo.

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