How many have read NP?NP! - the 'official' NaNo book?

scarletpeaches · Oct 7, 2007

And how did you first hear about NaNo?

A couple of years ago - as I recall it was round about my birthday so it would have been May '05, I decided to look around for another 'How to Write' book in Waterstone's and there weren't many on the shelf. I came across No Plot? No Problem! and swithered about buying it, especially as it was such a short book and cost a tenner but eventually decided, "Why the hell not? Treat yourself!"

So I bought it, took it home and read it really quickly, got excited and thought, "I'm gonna do this!"

But it was May. And NaNo happens in November. So I decided to have my own private NaNo month - I started in the middle of May and finished in the middle of June, exactly thirty days later. My motivation was giving my aunt my ex-boyfriend's email address and saying, "If I don't email you 50k words in a month, email him to tell him I'm in love with him and really appreciated those 'interesting' photos he sent me the other week."

No, really. The last person you want to send those kind of photographs to is the woman you dumped a matter of weeks before. Just don't do it, guys.

So, that November I decided to do it again, officially this time - and pulled it off! Two NaNos in a year - my most productive year to date. 100k on NaNo alone, amongst other things completed, including many poems. Ah, 2005, how I adored you...

So what's your story? How did you first discover NaNoWriMo, and have you read the book? Do you have your own copy or do you participate 'blind' as it were?

Siddow · Oct 7, 2007

Guess what? In April of '05, I was browsing the New Books section of my library and found Baty's book. I thought, oh yeah, I don't have a plot! Must read this.

Inspiring, inspiring, inspiring, so...

Me and a couple of writer pals were doing NaNo, with you, in May of '05.

Thump · Oct 7, 2007

Hahah! I discovered NaNo in 2005 too! X-D That november was my first NaNo.

I haven't read the book mainly because they don't sell it in my local bookstores. I can't buy online so...

Esopha · Oct 7, 2007

I've never read No Plot? I might look into it. Maybe.

As to how I discovered Nano...

I was wasting my time on an internet forum when I clicked the Nano link in someone's signature. I decided to go for it, since I had nothing else to do with my time. I came up with the plot, the characters, and the setting in two days, and made up most of it as I went along.

And then I won.

And edited. And edited.

Little Cities is so much better now.

Saanen · Oct 7, 2007

I started in 2005 too, after my mom talked me into it (she started Nano in 2004). I've had a blast and won both years I've participated! I can't wait for Nov. 1, except that I still don't have my outline started and I don't know more than the bare bones of the story I want to write this year.

Maybe I should pick up No Plot? No Problem! Is it that useful? I've seen it on the shelves but I haven't looked at it.

Sassee · Oct 7, 2007

This is my first year, and I haven't read the book. I should probably do that...

Discovered it on these forums, of course

Siddow · Oct 7, 2007

Saanen said:
I
Maybe I should pick up No Plot? No Problem! Is it that useful? I've seen it on the shelves but I haven't looked at it.

It's not a useful "How to Write" book (and really, how many of them are?) but for a big adrenaline rush and the feeling "Oh heck yeah, I can do this!", it's fantastic.

benbradley · Oct 7, 2007

Haven't read it, next time I go to the bookstore I think I'll sit down on the floor and read through the whole thing...

Siddow said:
It's not a useful "How to Write" book (and really, how many of them are?) but for a big adrenaline rush and the feeling "Oh heck yeah, I can do this!", it's fantastic.

I read "The Little Engine That Could" over 40 years ago, is that about equivalent?

scarletpeaches · Oct 7, 2007

benbradley said:
Haven't read it, next time I go to the bookstore I think I'll sit down on the floor and read through the whole thing...

Evil!!!

Saanen · Oct 7, 2007

Hey, I just got back from B&N, where I bought my copy with cash money!

Well, okay, plastic money, but you know....

Sage · Oct 7, 2007

Haven't read it. The thing I find most interesting about the title, "No Plot? No Problem" is that I once heard that that was the translation for the Japanese word "yaoi." Sadly, I doubt the book will be as... exciting as the manga genre.

I heard about NaNo on the Serenity movie site. I saw a thread on it, & thought about doing it, but really wanted to finish Echoes of Silence. I had started lurking on AW not too long beforehand. Then, a few nights before NaNo started, I was working on EoS & a character acted on her own accord, something I've never had happen before while actually writing (they do it in my head all the time, but it's not the same). She suddenly was begging for her own story, so I decided to do it.

benbradley · Oct 7, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
Evil!!!

I was just trollin', wondering if anyone read what I wrote in the "How many books have youi stolen" thread...

Forbidden Snowflake · Oct 7, 2007

I haven't read it yet, but I think I need to

Also I discovered Nano last year through AW and I failed miserably

L M Ashton · Oct 7, 2007

I discovered NaNo in 2003 through a writer's group, but we had no internet that year, so couldn't sign up on the site. I did it off-line on my own, and wrote around 80k words. Hmm. Maybe not having internet does have its advantages... But shhh! Don't tell my husband!

larrypotter · Oct 8, 2007

Scarlet Peaches, my Nano discovery story is alost identical to yours. Like you, I was in the "writing" section at Barnes and Noble, saw the tiny little NP? NP! among the other bigger thicker books, and bought it (after reading half of it on the floor of the bookstore). Like you, I was too late (it was actually mid-November). I'm a big skier, so I said, "As SOON as ski season ends I'm doing this!" I posted flyers around town, got a Nano group together and our group of 5 people all succeeded in getting 50K that April.

Then I turned around and did it again in November 05 and I've been hooked ever since!

And as I said in another thread (not sure which), for those who haven't read NP? NP!, it's well worth it... whether you support the poor starving author or read it in the bookstore aisle!

Simran · Oct 9, 2007

I bought the whole novel writing kit. Can't wait to get started with it. There's gold star stickers and a pin, a chart and coupons, of course there's the book too and much more.

MarkButler · Oct 10, 2007

Forbidden Snowflake said:
I haven't read it yet, but I think I need to Also I discovered Nano last year through AW and I failed miserably

Why did you fail? Was it lack of BIC (Butt in Chair), inability to force words past the internal critic? lost interest?

Soccer Mom · Oct 10, 2007

MarkButler said:
Why did you fail? Was it lack of BIC (Butt in Chair), inability to force words past the internal critic? lost interest?

Not to answer for Snowflake, but I remember that she had a health scare around that time. But she's back with us to do it again. Yay!

benbradley · Oct 10, 2007

Siddow said:
Guess what? In April of '05, I was browsing the New Books section of my library and found Baty's book. I thought, oh yeah, I don't have a plot! Must read this.

Inspiring, inspiring, inspiring, so...

Me and a couple of writer pals were doing NaNo, with you, in May of '05.

I just checked, my ~~redneck~~ rural-area library system, covering two counties, doesn't have a copy! I'm amazed that it has Attwood's new book on Asperger's.

I'm going to have to go to the bookstore and just buy the thing. I may get a motel room for the month of November so I can be alone to write the thing...

TheIT · Oct 10, 2007

A friend of mine browbeat me into doing NaNo in 2005, and I'm extremely grateful she did so. NaNo helped me get past the wall I kept hitting in my novel attempt.

I highly recommend the NP? NP! book. Fun read, and it's very encouraging especially around week 2.

jennifer75 · Oct 10, 2007

So is this what we can hope for at the end of November, a steamy tell all?

scarletpeaches said:
And how did you first hear about NaNo?

A couple of years ago - as I recall it was round about my birthday so it would have been May '05, I decided to look around for another 'How to Write' book in Waterstone's and there weren't many on the shelf. I came across No Plot? No Problem! and swithered about buying it, especially as it was such a short book and cost a tenner but eventually decided, "Why the hell not? Treat yourself!"

So I bought it, took it home and read it really quickly, got excited and thought, "I'm gonna do this!"

But it was May. And NaNo happens in November. So I decided to have my own private NaNo month - I started in the middle of May and finished in the middle of June, exactly thirty days later. My motivation was giving my aunt my ex-boyfriend's email address and saying, "If I don't email you 50k words in a month, email him to tell him I'm in love with him and really appreciated those 'interesting' photos he sent me the other week."

No, really. The last person you want to send those kind of photographs to is the woman you dumped a matter of weeks before. Just don't do it, guys.
So, that November I decided to do it again, officially this time - and pulled it off! Two NaNos in a year - my most productive year to date. 100k on NaNo alone, amongst other things completed, including many poems. Ah, 2005, how I adored you...

So what's your story? How did you first discover NaNoWriMo, and have you read the book? Do you have your own copy or do you participate 'blind' as it were?

scarletpeaches · Oct 13, 2007

If he appears in my NaNo novel, I'll change the identifying features and just think of him as I'm writing it, chuckling as I write him into a fate worse than death.

Actually he isn't in this WIP. I'm saving him for a future, deadlier, disgustinger book.

Joycecwilliams · Oct 14, 2007

Sassee said:
This is my first year, and I haven't read the book. I should probably do that...

Discovered it on these forums, of course

I heard about NaNo in 2005, however I never signed up for it. I did this year, and am looking forward to it.

Is it common for everyone to do an outline prior to the start?

:hi:

AnnieColleen · Oct 14, 2007

I don't know about common, but I'm outlining (and having a blast with it so far!).

(Newbie here also, btw)

L M Ashton · Oct 15, 2007

I don't know about common, either, but I do. It's the way I write best.

How many have read NP?NP! - the 'official' NaNo book?

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