OctNoWriMo 2016 - A Fine and Dangerous Season

Adam Israel · Oct 15, 2016

I've been calling this month my NaNoPlano. I've attempted Nano multiple times but never "won". I think the best I managed was around 25k (which ultimately hit 80k). I've been kicking this story around for so long, though, that I need to write it.

My goal for October is to write an outline that I'm happy with, so that I can hit the ground running. That includes a bunch of reading and rereading of story structure, re-reading (parts of) some of my favourite novels, and pre-writing as much as possible (detailed notes, research, character bios, etc).

October: fueled by decaf coffee, self-imposed deadlines and hope.

November: A storm of sentences, one word at a time. The novel target is 120k words, so I'm planning to write the first third or so for Nano. I'm happy to word war and/or hang out in chat with anyone who needs company or an accountability buddy.

Raindrop · Oct 15, 2016

Raindrop said:
October's going to be a tricky one. I'm just back from France, where I couldn't write because of the radio and the TV being on all the time (gaaaah!), so I need to get started again after a long break (three weeks...). It's harder than I thought. And we're smack in deer-rutting season. I've basically spent the last three days outside. Forget writing -- there's deer to be heard and seen. Soooo:

- Writing: get cracking! I want to finish the first draft of WIP #2 Finally started again, but I can tell I'm definitely getting towards the end, which is very difficult for me. My scenes are half-brain dumps, half- real scenes. I don't think I'll be able to finish it this month, but that's all right.
- Location location location: I need to relocate WIP #2 because my fake island isn't large enough for my fake faun. Find the right spot, and say good-bye to Rock Rose Holme on Winandermere, boohoo. I've got a couple of ideas. At the moment, I'm staying where I am. No point in worrying about that so close to the end.
- Planning: get ready for NaNoWriMo. Uhhhhh. Well. I bought a notebook, does that count?
- Volunteering for the local nature club. (Done! At least the first part, as of this morning. But now I need to find ideas for activities => that's my goal for next week.)
- Go and watch the deer some more. Hey, I'm doing it anyway, I might as well turn it into a goal! Eh eh eh. You bet. I even managed to get a couple of nice drawings.
- Beta: a few pages everyday. I've fallen into a rhythm. All good.

So yes, I'm still recovering from France. It's so hard to get going again! At least I'm writing most days again, even though my word count is ridiculously low. I've also bought myself a planner. Did you know there are "planner" communities? I like the minimalist approach, but some of the more decorative ones are pretty cool as well. Anyway, setting that up took a lot of energy and brainpower, similar to my writing-brainpower, so I couldn't do both. I'm also busy setting up a goal tracking method, seeing how well NaNoCamp worked for me (and this monthly thread, too). I want to expand that into other areas.

On the plus side, in spite of a rather nasty cold, I went out and watched the deer.

On the minus side... I've used up quite a bit of my "social" abilities recently, and I have quite a few meetings, events, etc coming up shortly. So participating in forums is tricky at the moment. Odd how that works.

chompers · Oct 15, 2016

I don't think I'm going to make my goal of 4,000 a day. My writing has really struggled. I'm only getting about 300 words a session. And now we are halfway through the month. No way I can write 8,000 day to make up for it.

Matt T. · Oct 15, 2016

Matt T. said:
-Relax from finishing my current WIP and hopefully un-fry my brain. That sounds like it should be easy, but I was getting to the point where my mind was little more than mush, and even writing a new sentence or two to swap in as I proofread my story was a chore. I'm starting to crave actual writing again. I wanted to just launch into writing a new novel today, but I had to restrain myself because so much about the story has yet to be decided.
-Read 3 novels (one of those is the final Dark Tower book, so this may be harder than I thought) Dark Tower VII is a slow read, but I've been reading the first Charlotte Holmes novel at the same time, so I think I'll hit three.
-Brainstorm and research a story idea for a NaNo novel. It's coming along. I became discouraged at one point, as I was struggling to turn my loose ideas into anything cohesive, but I've been getting buried under ideas the last couple days for some reason. I'm loving some of the directions for the story I'm exploring in a rather chaotic Scrivener file, where I outline and brainstorm across page after page.

chompers said:
I don't think I'm going to make my goal of 4,000 a day. My writing has really struggled. I'm only getting about 300 words a session. And now we are halfway through the month. No way I can write 8,000 day to make up for it.

Don't feel bad about that; 4000 words a day is quite a feat for the vast majority of us, especially if we're talking about 4000 words of quality writing. There have been times when I hit 4000 words in a single day, but those don't tend to be very often.

At least for me, when I'm writing new copy and have at least a moderate amount of free time and inspiration, I tend to hit around 2000 per day and then things start slowing down.

chompers · Oct 15, 2016

Matt T. said:
Don't feel bad about that; 4000 words a day is quite a feat for the vast majority of us, especially if we're talking about 4000 words of quality writing. There have been times when I hit 4000 words in a single day, but those don't tend to be very often.

At least for me, when I'm writing new copy and have at least a moderate amount of free time and inspiration, I tend to hit around 2000 per day and then things start slowing down.

4,000 is quite a feat for me too.

Even 2,000 is a lot for me. But I was really shooting for the stars. I had worked my way up to about 2,000 a day. But now I'm at a snail's pace, even for me.

bdwilson · Oct 21, 2016

Weekly check-in time!

Work through the exercises I've let pile up: ~~Set Two~~, Set Three, Set Four
Done one set. (Finally got a chance to wake up early and write. It sucked.) Two sets to go.
Add more reading time to my week
More fail!
Edit novella
Still not.
Prep Outlines for NaNo Project
Still not. I am running out of time. This is not unusual for me.
~~Finish short story edits when they come in~~
Done!
Finish next short story
Put this one on hold for a little while. I have to structure it and so far I haven't taken the time.

mrsmig · Oct 22, 2016

Finished the editing pass of Book 3, started on the polishing pass and contacted my beta readers, who are all (thank goodness!) on board to read. I'd hoped to get further on the polishing pass by the end of today, but my schedule got screwed up by a last-minute taped audition request from my film/tv agent, which may end up blowing a hole in tomorrow's work as well (I despise doing taped auditions).

I don't know if I'll be able to start the editing pass on #4 before the end of the month. I had an email from my editor for Book #1, who's been doing her first pass and says "it's looking really good with no major changes" (whew!). I should have her edits next week, which will probably alter my November goals a good bit.

Meantime I've foolishly started two additional books (Tristan Gooley's How to Read Water and Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars) and am taking turns reading them, while the Panama Canal book is just sitting there. The way I've been going, I won't be able to finish any of the three before month's end. And the bicycle may end up being put away unridden - for the second year in a row.

Finish editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - DONE
Do a final polish of Book 3 - on Chapter 9
Send Book 3 to betas
Start editing pass on Book 4 - currently on Chapter 0
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 451
Read three books - 1 of 3
Take three nature walks of at least two miles - 3 of 3 DONE
Take three bike rides - 0 of 3

NaNo plans: Not participating this time.

Tamlyn · Oct 22, 2016

I've lost a little enthusiasm for my NaNo plans. Hopefully it returns when November comes >>

Finished another story. It's not flash! Just. I've maybe finished two more flash pieces as well, but I need to do some relooking at them before I decide for sure. I've also got back into editing the novel, even though I was planning on waiting until after NaNo for that. Oh well.

Finished Fortress in the Eye of Time and another ghost book. I may actually hit my reading goals for the first time in ages. Pity half of them are children's books so I'm still not actually reading much.

1. Write Ilana (novella?) Yes.
2. Edit/fix three shorts. 2/3
3. Read four books. 3/4
4. Figure out what I'm doing for NaNo. Yes.
5. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day. Yes.

Evabeth · Oct 23, 2016

Evabeth said:
Good day everyone.

My goal is to brainstorm and outline for Nanowrimo.

I've nearly fulfilled all of my New Year's Resolutions for 2016. The only item left is to have a completed first draft of my debut novel.

I've been brainstorming, but I don't have an outline. Somehow, I got caught up in organizing a few write-ins for my region and taking care of some can't-be-ignored errands at home, and I probably have been on the forums more than I really needed to be---but it was so much fun.

I am just biting my nails right now.

There are only 9 days before NaNoWriMo, including today. It feels like I still have so much to do and not enough time to do it.
Now, more than ever, I have to "buckle down."

Evabeth · Oct 28, 2016

There are four days, including today, until NaNoWriMo and here is where I stand: 28-pages of outline, questions, ideas, and character sheets.

Believe it or not, I don't quite feel ready, but it's better than nothing.

Jason · Oct 28, 2016

Def not ready for this NaNoWriMo - I can barely form 3 coherent sentences, let alone 200 word hooks - but everyone must crawl before they walk, or run for that matter. Maybe next year...in the interim, my Nov goal will be 500 words/day

Evabeth · Oct 28, 2016

CBJason said:
Def not ready for this NaNoWriMo - I can barely form 3 coherent sentences, let alone 200 word hooks - but everyone must crawl before they walk, or run for that matter. Maybe next year...in the interim, my Nov goal will be 500 words/day

You're doing just fine. 500 words a day is worth reaching for. Who knows---you might even surprise yourself this November.

mrsmig · Oct 29, 2016

I've spent the last week editing and am just about cross-eyed now BUT I finished my polishing pass on Book 3 and fired it off to my betas not 15 minutes ago. I would have finished earlier except as mentioned last week, my editor completed her first pass on Book 1 and sent it to me with a 10/31 deadline. She had very few edits and I suppose she thought it would just be a matter of me okaying them and firing it back. However, I saw a lot of additional edits I wanted to make and she very kindly told me to go ahead with them - so I had to put #3 aside to focus on #1. In the two years #1 was on sub, I think my writing has improved a lot (thanks in large part to critting and reading crits here at AW), and I couldn't resist polishing #1 even further. But lord, I'm tired. I really like editing but doing it 4-6 hours a day for a solid week is just exhausting.

Very little else got done this week. I'm almost through with the Oliver Sacks book but made no progress on the McCullough. And the bike still sits. Oy.

Finish editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - DONE
Do a final polish of Book 3 - DONE
Send Book 3 to betas - DONE
Start editing pass on Book 4 - currently on Chapter 0 - probably not going to happen until November
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1 - probably not going to happen until November
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - still on page 451
Read three books - 1 of 3
Take three nature walks of at least two miles - 3 of 3 DONE
Take three bike rides - 0 of 3

NaNo plans: Not participating this time.

Sage · Oct 29, 2016

- Fix my printer - Sorta done
- Get SCWWGC to a beta-able level - DONE! And messaged everyone who offered to beta (I think)
- Send last beta read the in-doc notes (very belated) - done!
- Start betaing Hexes - printing it out right now, but NaNo's in 2 days
- Plot NaNo novel - Sure, I can do that in 2 days. It's what I had for Camp NaNo too!

mrsmig · Oct 31, 2016

And here we are, already at the end of October (wasn't the first of the month just five minutes ago?). I don't have any progress to add to my report from the 29th - and I start rehearsal for my next show today, so between that and dealing with trick-or-treaters tonight, the chances of a last-minute burst are nil. I'm happy with what I got accomplished, though.

I'm off to start the November thread. It's open to both NaNo and non-NaNo folks, so swing on by, state your goals for the month and let's get ready to cheer our fellow writers on!

pentimental · Oct 31, 2016

Wait, wait! It's still October for another 9 hours and 28 minutes!!!

I'm taking a break from the Scrivener tutorial. I want to get a handle on it before tomorrow's running start, but it feels like tech overload. My eyes glazeth over. I'm fortifying myself with a root beer float, hoping the sugar rush will last long enough to get me through to the end.

Anybody here still use a typewriter? I confess I miss the satisfying sound of the carriage return, and taping various coffee-stained versions of a WIP to the wall for comparison. Yup, that old LOL. But I'm too spoiled now by cut-n-paste.

*going back offline before the rush wears off*

Tamlyn · Oct 31, 2016

I won October! Well, maybe not won, but it's the first time in a long time I've actually completed all my goals so I'm very happy.

I managed to get to the end of the novella (it turned out to definitely be a novella) yesterday. While my shorts I edited were flash or nearly flash, I also got two chapters edited (starting the third pass) on that book so I don't feel like I failed on the editing front.

The only place I'm not entirely happy is my reading since four of those five books were kids' ghost stories.

1. Write Ilana (novella?) Completed!
2. Edit/fix three shorts. 3/3
3. Read four books. 5/4
4. Figure out what I'm doing for NaNo. Yes.
5. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day. Yes.
6. Edit 2 chapters Book 2.

bdwilson · Oct 31, 2016

I'm kind of scared to look at this...

October Goals:

Work through the exercises I've let pile up: ~~Set Two~~, Set Three, Set Four
Well, one set down and another started. These last two are going to take more time than the others.
Add more reading time to my week
Ha, nope!
Edit novella
Also nope!
Prep Outlines for NaNo Project
And again! There is going to be more pantsing than plotting in my plantsing
~~Finish short story edits when they come in~~
Done!
Finish next short story
Still on hold.

Constant Goals:

Work on shifting wake-up & go-to-sleep times
Not really.
Catch up on Marvel shows (Daredevil S2, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD)
Creeping forward and falling farther and farther behind.
Keep writing streak going
10/12 months so far!

OctNoWriMo 2016 - A Fine and Dangerous Season

Adam Israel

Formerly known as StoneTable

Raindrop

chompers

Matt T.

chompers

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Tamlyn

fish skeleton

Evabeth

Evabeth

Jason

Ideas bounce around in my head

Evabeth

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

pentimental

Tamlyn

fish skeleton

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker