National Novel Writing Month (moved from Writing Novels)

Lavinia · Sep 22, 2008

Anyone joining this year? I've done this in the past and decided one has to be a raving lunatic to embark in the journey. But oh the rewards!

For those who don't know what this is all about, it is about taking a month (November) and writing a 50,000 word novel in that time. The accompanying book "No Plot, No Problem" gives you an idea of what it's all about too. The point is to write, write, write. You turn off the internal editor in you and just get it down on the page, or screen as the case may be. The official website serves as a community to get and give encouragement. My favorite place on the site is the one where you find your city or region and check in with each other. There are even "write-ins" where you get together for real and write. My other favorite forum is the one where you can find experts on absolutely everything; you'll find someone who can help you write about brain surgery, or someone who will have information on what kind of tomato is eaten in Sri Lanka (these are just examples, of course).

By the way, the official website is not up right now. They are closed from 9/21 to 10/1 in order to prepare for the onslaught of nanowrimo'ers. You can sign up in October and the fun begins on November 1st. Since there's not a place to discuss this on the site, I thought I'd start a thread here.

Any fellow lunatics out there? ~Lavinia

Mr Flibble · Sep 22, 2008

I'm signed up. It's gonna be a real push to get the words in but hey, worth a go. I even booked my last three days of leave off in November to help

Lyra Jean · Sep 22, 2008

I'm doing it this year. But I have no title for my novel....help!

Judg · Sep 22, 2008

There's actually an entire forum dedicated to NaNo here. It was the NaNo website that first pointed me in the direction of AW.

J C Coy · Sep 22, 2008

I'm not sure. I did it last year, and I wrote more crap than good stuff, and once I took a class that was close to the same deal. In both cases, speed created crap that would take three times as long to edit into something halfway decent.

Sean D. Schaffer · Sep 22, 2008

J C Coy said:
I'm not sure. I did it last year, and I wrote more crap than good stuff, and once I took a class that was close to the same deal. In both cases, speed created crap that would take three times as long to edit into something halfway decent.

Actually, if we're talking first drafts, then it's likely going to be crap anyway, simply because it IS the first draft.

I haven't signed up yet, but I did it last year and I will be participating this year too. I barely made 50,000 words and then I lost the manuscript, which saddens me because the piece was decent in premise and in plot. (BTW, I started mid-month, so I only had a couple weeks to do the 50,000 words. If I can do that, so can a lot of you out there.

)

Having a deadline helped me to produce something that vaguely resembled a novel. Whether crap or something else, I think the challenge is worth it.

ETA: And there is a NaNoWriMo subforum in the Writing Exercises, Prompts, and Games forum, for anyone who might be wondering.

Phaeal · Sep 22, 2008

Did it last year and finished the month with almost 60,000 words of my current WIP novel, about to enter its last draft. I went into NaNoWriMo with a very complete outline for this novel. This year I don't have a novel outline ready for first drafting and am deep into research for a second novel in the series, so I'll be passing on a "true" NaNo experience. However, I hope to use the impetus of writing 1667 words a day to put out several short stories that should be ready for first drafting by November.

There is no better way to throw off the Inner Editor. If you're a procrastinator and you will truly commit to NaNo, you will learn more in a month than you may have learned in years of stalling and overediting and second-guessing.

J C Coy · Sep 22, 2008

Sean D. Schaffer said:
Actually, if we're talking first drafts, then it's likely going to be crap anyway, simply because it IS the first draft.

I haven't signed up yet, but I did it last year and I will be participating this year too. I barely made 50,000 words and then I lost the manuscript, which saddens me because the piece was decent in premise and in plot. (BTW, I started mid-month, so I only had a couple weeks to do the 50,000 words. If I can do that, so can a lot of you out there. )

Having a deadline helped me to produce something that vaguely resembled a novel. Whether crap or something else, I think the challenge is worth it.

ETA: And there is a NaNoWriMo subforum in the Writing Exercises, Prompts, and Games forum, for anyone who might be wondering.

All my first drafts are crap but this was crap to the extreme...strangely, I let someone who reads for me see a piece of it and she loved it...slaps forehead! I may try to fix it one day, lol.

Dale Emery · Sep 22, 2008

Lavinia said:
By the way, the official website is not up right now. They are closed from 9/21 to 10/1 in order to prepare for the onslaught of nanowrimo'ers.

The website is open, but the forums are locked. That means you can't sign up and you can't post. And the existing posts will be deleted within the next few days.

But there is a site there, with news, FAQs, and a store.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Dale

urbanespaceman · Sep 22, 2008

I did it last year and only got 20,000 words out because of work pressures, but still, it's probably about 15,000 words more than I'd have managed otherwise with my usual procrastinations

So yes, I'll be giving it another go - currently in the planning stages of a novel and will likely use that as the basis for my NaNo efforts this year ...

Feathers · Sep 22, 2008

I can't decide. I really want to try it, but I just got over a huge bump in my WIP and I don't want to loose that. The other option is to try and write 50k of my WIP instead, but this story seems to work best when I persist without pushing. Nanowing would be pushing.

I tried it once a few years ago and I never got more than 10K....I think the problem is that I'm not a procrastinator; I just tend to write on the erratic side, in spurts. *chews nails* As they day grows closer, I grow less certain

-Feathers

JustJess · Sep 22, 2008

If I'm done with my current WIP (either abandoned or 1st draft completed) then I'll be doing it. I did NaNo in 2006-loved the challenge of it. It was the first draft I'd ever completed. I tend to be very indecisive and NaNo was a great fix for that. No time to obsess and doubt.

Yeshanu · Sep 22, 2008

Dale Emery said:
The website is open, but the forums are locked. That means you can't sign up and you can't post. And the existing posts will be deleted within the next few days.

But there is a site there, with news, FAQs, and a store.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Dale

The forums and new registrations will open again October 1, I believe.

Until then, here's the link to our very own NaNo forum, which others upthread have mentioned.

Kryianna · Sep 22, 2008

I've done it the last two years, and will be doing it this year as well. I have a writer's retreat the first weekend of November, so I'm stoked -- I should be well ahead of my word count after that!

sunandshadow · Sep 22, 2008

I won't be attempting the crazy writing pace because I know from experience that by half way through the month I would burn out and become repulsed with the project. But I will be hanging out in the forums there answering questions and sort of osmotically absorbing some of the enthusiasm.

Sassee · Sep 22, 2008

YAY! Carpal tunnel month!

/dives in

Ugawa · Sep 22, 2008

Yeah, i read about it a couple of months ago, i'm going to join. Not having to go back and edit everything sounds fun.

Is the other website you're talking about allexperts.com?

XX

It might help my writers block
XX

After you write it, do you get to keep it?

XX

melmeza82 · Sep 22, 2008

Wow

I've never heard of this before!

It sounds so interesting. So you write 50,000 words and then what? is there a prize? any novel? romance? fantasy? how cool!

Judg · Sep 22, 2008

The prize is bragging rights and a winner's badge you can display on your blog or whatever, although I have heard rumours of a coffee mug this year.

Any kind of novel is acceptable, although if you play by the rules, it will be one you haven't already started, although research and outlining ahead of time is permitted.

Ugawa · Sep 22, 2008

Do you think many people just copy and paste things they already have?

XX

Alpha Echo · Sep 22, 2008

Signed up and ready to go!

Judg · Sep 22, 2008

Ugawa said:
Do you think many people just copy and paste things they already have?

XX

What for? There's nothing to win. The whole point is to get yourself writing.

Last time I participated, I didn't notice that rule, so I continued work on something I had already started, but I didn't count the words that I'd written before November. As it turns out, I didn't manage to hit 50,000 words, but I surpassed my personal goal, so I was happy. I also learned a lot about my own writing style and what works for me. (Trying to produce new material without a decent outline doesn't work very well; having measurable daily goals is a very powerful tool for me.)

FOTSGreg · Sep 22, 2008

I'm in. More for fun than anything else.

I'm thinking of trying my hand at a mystery or a Lovecraftian horror novel, but I've also got ideas for a werewolf novel, a zombie novel, and I've got a space opera that has been sitting around for years unfinished that needs finishing (50k words would put it at around 80k).

A friend or three from Asimov's and Analog's forums will likely be joining up as well.

Oh, and a second book to write in a series where the first book has been completed already.

Dale Emery · Sep 22, 2008

Ugawa said:
Do you think many people just copy and paste things they already have?

Certainly some do. But you don't have to go even that far. You could type the word "a" 50,000 times and submit that. The web site counts your words and then throws them away. No person ever sees your submission (unless you post an excerpt on your profile).

So there are any number of ways to cheat.

But nearly everyone treats NaNo as what it is: A month of enthusiasm and camaraderie to spur you to write lots of words (and to try to turn off the internal editor).

Dale

Ugawa · Sep 22, 2008

cool. Is it allowed to work on something you already have, as long as you start the word count from scratch

XX

Certainly some do. But you don't have to go even that far. You could type the word "a" 50,000 times and submit that. The web site counts your words and then throws them away. No person ever sees your submission (unless you post an excerpt on your profile).

So there are any number of ways to cheat.

But nearly everyone treats NaNo as what it is: A month of enthusiasm and camaraderie to spur you to write lots of words (and to try to turn off the internal editor).

Dale

Writing 'a' 50,000 times. Man some people are just sad if they actually do that, lol.

Do they get to keep their novel once they finished?

XX

National Novel Writing Month (moved from Writing Novels)

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

Two years old now.

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

is way off topic

emerging from the writing cave

Elf Queen

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Momma Wolf

It's a catastrophic success!

DISENCHANTED coming soon

It's a catastrophic success!

I should be writing.

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Today is your last day.

is way off topic

It's a catastrophic success!