Its almost November!

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Hapsburg

(I hope no one has posted this already and I missed it...)

November is National Novel Writing Month!

There's a site Nanowrimo.org (i think that's the address) that pushes you through the process of getting that first novel out. I wrote my first novel with them, and though I didn't make it in the month it did help me immensly in keeping motivated and getting through it. They also have forums where you can have meetups with other writers in your city. It's free and if you've wanted to write a novel but needed a kick in the pants this is the place to do it. I had a lot of fun last year and got a lot out of it, hope you enjoy it too!
 

Fresie

I know, I know. I'm already there, and very curious. Let's see what comes out of it! At the moment, I'm immensely motivated: :jump :bang :snoopy
 

Yeshanu

Hapsburg:

A number of us are gearing up for a busy November. Check out the thread here for the right address and other people's comments.

And good luck! :jump
 

Jyndral

Yup, been mentioned.

Yup, I'm going to do it.

Yup, I've been working on a pseudo-outline and character info.

Yup, I'm ready for it!
 

arainsb123

This is my first NaNoWriMo. November is taking too long to come!!!!
 

Jamesaritchie

NaNo

Seems to me there's a problem if you have to gear up to write one month a year. Especially for a site that asks for quantity over quality.

The truth is, 1,666 words per days isn't very much writing. It's below average for successful writers. There's certainly should be no big deal about writing 50K in a month. In writing 50K of quality writing in a month.
 

debraji

Re: NaNo

I don't see the point in sniping. Different folks write at different speeds.

I did NaNoWriMo last year, and it was a great experience.

Sure, there were folks who did it for a lark. Most of them probably didn't persist until the end. (Over 20,000 people initially signed up; only 3500 completed the challenge.)

But a number of us used the framework to do some serious work.

I didn't write 50K of garbage. But sometimes you have to be willing to write through the garbage to get to the good stuff.

Having the deadline and the community of writers working on this crazy challenge was extremely valuable. Because in the past I'd abandoned novels after three or four chapters, it was important for me to push on through to the end of that 50K first draft. Along the way I developed the habit of writing every night, which has stayed with me. I'm almost finished with my second draft of the manuscript now.

Also, writing 50K in a month given my full time job, commute, and family responsibilities, was quite a challenge.

NaNoWriMo isn't for everyone. We're all at different stages in our development as writers, and have different needs. There's no need to carp at NaNoWriMo because it's not to your taste.
 

maestrowork

Re: NaNo

I agree. Anything to help motivate people to write is a good thing. Not everyone can write, on a normal day, 2000 words a day. But if something can help fire up their energy and prompt them to write that could be a good thing. It doesn't mean it has to be of poor quality. But that's just first draft.
 

Risseybug

Re: NaNo

Yeah, it's going to be fun :) I think that's all it's intented to be - just for fun. I have a pretty good story in mind, and it usually takes me much longer than a month to write 50K words - mostly b/c I don't usually give myself a deadline. Plus I have a life outside of writing. Unfortunately writing doesn't give me the income I need to do it all the time.

Don't thumb your nose at something just b/c you don't think it's worth your time. Others are having a good time. For me, just getting that many words in 30 days will be a challenge.
 

Gala

NaNo for advanced writers

I am an experienced, published writer who writes every day, and most nights. I don't share in the challenges of many NaNo'ers.

This year, for me NaNo is a communal environment in which to write a philosophical novel that's been knockin' my noggin for a few months.

I spend little time on the forums over there, because most of the participants do seem to be having difficulties I don't share. Still, there's some very humorous and useful writing discussion mixed in.

Last year I needed to kill things, vent anger. I did that and developed some quality writing I used elsewhere.

There are many benefits for me but I'm saving my wrists for NaNo and won't bother you typing them.

:nerd
 

Kida Adelyn

Re: NaNo for advanced writers

I signed up with Nano because I do things faster with a deadline, challenge, or competition.
I'm hoping Nano will help me finish a novel for once, so I know I can do it, whether it's crap or not.
 

Euan Harvey

Re: NaNo

Seems to me there's a problem if you have to gear up to write one month a year. Especially for a site that asks for quantity over quality.

The truth is, 1,666 words per days isn't very much writing. It's below average for successful writers. There's certainly should be no big deal about writing 50K in a month. In writing 50K of quality writing in a month.
Click to expand...

:wha
 

Jyndral

Re: NaNo

Naw. Not "gearing up." Doing prelim work I should've done before I started the story the first time in the first place.
 

Eowyn Eomer

I don't think I could get a novel written in such short a time. At least not to the point of thinking it was publishable. Maybe if I didn't work and did nothing but write, sleep, eat, and go potty. Hey, multi-tasking!

Novemeber is such a busy month, I'm surprised they would choose that month what with it being the start of the holiday season and all.
 

Hapsburg

Seems to me there's a problem if you have to gear up to write one month a year. Especially for a site that asks for quantity over quality.

The truth is, 1,666 words per days isn't very much writing. It's below average for successful writers. There's certainly should be no big deal about writing 50K in a month. In writing 50K of quality writing in a month.
Click to expand...


Not all of us have the benefit of a stable and affluent income from our writing alone. After working a 10 to 12 hour day it's extremely difficult to have the energy and time to crank out 1700 words a day.

For those of us who are moving from short forms to a novel, it's intimidating to move from 10 page manuscripts to 200 pages of writing. It's a difficult transition for someone who's never done it.

It took courage and a kick in the pants for me to devote the time and energy into writing my first novel.
 

Writing Again

There was no Nanowrimo when I wrote my first novel.

Yet I did essentially the same thing with no time limit. I knew I had to get thru the sheer bulk of writing 80,000 words, so I did. Prior to that I had never produced anything longer than a 5,000 word short story.

I think Nanowrimo is a good idea for anyone who has never pushed out 50,000 words before.

Get the first one out of the way, the chances are it will be crap anyway, so get that out of the way too. I never intended my first novel to be publishable, but I still felt a real thrill of pride when I got to "the end."
 

arainsb123

Not all of us have the benefit of a stable and affluent income from our writing alone. After working a 10 to 12 hour day it's extremely difficult to have the energy and time to crank out 1700 words a day.
Click to expand...

I'm in a similar situation because of school (though I'm not at school for 10-12 hours, of course). After waking up at 6 and getting home at 3:15, I'm almost always too exhausted to write much of anything (today I napped from the time I got home until 9, for example).

So NaNo should really help me get back into the habit of writing everyday like I did over summer break.
 

FM St George

hey, it's a great exercise and no one gets hurt...

and it's FREE!

heck, don't get better than that... especially on the sugar high from all the "misplaced" Halloween candy...

;D
 

Jules Hall

Good idea...?

I think Nanowrimo is a good idea for anyone who has never pushed out 50,000 words before.
Click to expand...

Its also a good idea for people like me. I'm about to start work on what I hope will be the second novel I complete a draft of. But there are a number of projects I just never finished in the past, and the one I have written all the way to the end, I have written twice: the first time took about 5 years, the second time about 14 months. So, I'm doing NaNo while hoping to get this down to something more like 3 months for the next one.

My average word count for days on which I work is something like 1200 words. But there are a lot of days I don't work at the moment, and I think I need a kick in the butt to get into the habit of that, and I think that could be NaNo.

So, to answer James's point: yes, I'm sure most professional writers do produce this kind of output consistently (see note 1). For many of us the point is to use it as a motivator to bring us up to this kind of productivity.

[1]: Although in a discussion of NaNo on slashdot not long ago I came across one published writer who was convinced that writing at this sort of rate most people could only produce crud and that for everyone except a select few the best way of writing a novel was at a rate of a couple of hundred words a day, producing one complete novel every two years or so. Takes all sorts, I guess.
 

Gala

writing pace

[1]: Although in a discussion of NaNo on slashdot not long ago I came across one published writer who was convinced that writing at this sort of rate most people could only produce crud and that for everyone except a select few the best way of writing a novel was at a rate of a couple of hundred words a day, producing one complete novel every two years or so. Takes all sorts, I guess.
Click to expand...
If Steven King wrote that slowly the world would be seriously deprived.

Writing is rewriting.

For me NaNo is a sort of Lent. I'm giving up a couple hours a day of things I enjoy, that tend to waste time, to write a philosophical novella I've not made time for otherwise.

This won't affect my other wops, and affords a break.

One thing I like about the NaNo site: no one's over there saying, "if you have to ask that question you're no writer". Most appear to be new to writing novels; experienced writers like me don't post much but enjoy their enthusiams.

I cannot believe the food those kids are eating!
:ack
 

Supersquid191

Re: writing pace

I don't understand why some people think NaNo is ridiculous because it promotes quantity.

I like to compare it to practicing for sports. Say you want to cure your slice. You can read about golf, watch golf, study golf, but you're not going to improve if you don't golf.

The NaNo guys are saying we're all going to go out and hit a bucket of balls every night in November. Don't worry about it if you only hit one down the middle on the first day. We're hitting a bucket of balls every night. No excuses.

Everyone's style is slightly different. Sometimes you have to go out and hit 50,000 balls before you start to figure out what it takes for you to find the fairway.

It's about setting a goal and accomplishing it. It's about be a part of a community of writers. It's about doing something we love every day. What's wrong with that?
 

SRHowen

Re: writing pace

The last few months for me have been total hell. So, for me NaNoWriMo is my month to get back to how I used to write before hell seeped up through the floor boards and took over my life.

I used to write 3,000 to 5,000 words a day, often many many more. I wrote before all else, I taught full time, and my house was clean. Now---all I can say is UGH!

So, I am doing it (on my own, with my writer's group) to get back to where I need to be.

And maybe, just maybe if I can get my writing on track other things will get back on track as well.

Shawn
 

Gala

Hell, fast writing

Hell as a writing stimulant is over rated. Perhaps you've met your quota for the long while. (Hell, not writing.)

Fast Writing:
Don't know how much of this is true, but find it fascinating. Discussion of well-known authors who ground out novels and major works in matter of days. The anecdote about Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 intriguing. He was one fast typist.

<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=4078&forum=164" target="_new">Literature written quickly</a>
 

Fresie

Re: writing pace

NaNo doesn't promote quantity, and they repeatedly state it on the site. As many people have already said, 1,666 words a day is below average. But it's all about dedication and discipline. Besides, it's fun. That's why I'm doing it, in fact, for fun -- I'm pretty lonely here where I am (it's a tiny French hamlet with no one to speak to, let alone discuss literature) so meeting all these people sharing the same goal makes me feel much better about myself. What's wrong with a good old community challenge? Because that's what it is.

I've already done my words for today, started 12.04, and I've realised that I need to plan and outline much more. I wasn't writing fast enough because I constantly had to stop and think what had to happen next. Now I'll be outlining every day before I write. But I've finished a big fat scene!

Another thing: 50,000 words probably isn't too much for a novel, but it's fine with me because I tend to underwrite and omit lots of things in my first drafts, so for me editing is very much about adding and expanding. So if I finish my story at 50,000, then during the editing stage it'll easily expand to its target length.

Good luck!!

Fresie
 
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