After weeks of dithering over whether I should go rogue and just try to finish one of my many unfinished NaNo novels, I was suddenly struck with an idea for a science fiction novel this morning and I'm going with it.
quote:"The Grandson Paradox"
Synopsis: To stop the birth of the most infamous genocidal maniac known to man, hordes of soldiers, scientists and genocide survivors travel back through time to assassinate the maniac's grandfather to prevent his birth and save countless millions, even at the cost of their own lives.
You know, the grandfather's starting to get just a little peeved about this...
I'm registered at nanowrimo.org, as always, as CABridges. Feel free to friend me and harass me to write for the next month or so.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
Oh no. I always sign up for this and I never get to 50,000 words. And yet I'm about to do it again. Plus I'm really quite ill and am juggling medical tests and my job already. I'm a glutton for punishment, obviously.
I like your story idea Chris! Mine's sure to be about the end of the world.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I know I brought it up in your mayfly, but I'm tilting toward not doing it. Even though it would help me finish up the rough draft of the novel I've been working on. The one time I finished--2007--just about did me in. I'll consider it some more over the next few days.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
If I can finish my current draft in time, I will be going for it. I don't have a title yet. It will be first person, told from the pov of a college transfer student whose roommate is super smart but avoids engaging in the social life available on campus or elsewhere. In an effort to unstick said roomie from the proverbial mud, they end up involved in the mysterious disappearance/murder of a popular student.
It sounds incredibly lame, dunnit? *sigh*
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
Last year I was able to write two really bad chapters.
I'm debating whether I'll have the time to try this again.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
I'm giving it a try.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
ugh, not this thing again.
No, nanowrimo, my friends do not need to yet again be reminded that they will never be writers Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Don't tell them you're doing it, then.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
No seriously my friends have depressive episodes over nano. Every nano comes with a torrent of fb updates: one week of 'oh boy I'm doing nanowrimo,' 'lets have nano group and feel so cool!' two weeks of 'i am so behind in nanowrimo oh god,' and one week of 'i gave up i suck i will never be a writer ```'
the exception being my friends who are actually writers and who tend to have National Novel Writing Year every year, with a National I Gotta Get This Stuff Finished month.
i know, I better start a nanowrimo recovery group in advance.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
I "won" last year and have been submitting short stories and working on editing and stuff. This year though, I am not doing it. Baby is a bit too new to handle trying for such a lofty goal.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I'm doing it, but I don't really have a plot yet, I hardly have a main character. We'll see. I need something to get me back writing, though.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
I completed my 50,000+ [year before last] and am up for more. This time, I'm upping the ante by committing to send it off in search of an agent.
[ October 29, 2010, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: CT ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
My personal goal is to end up with something good enough to stick in the Kindle store Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
I hear you.
I've written plenty of stuff, but I have a hard time showing it to other people (other than erotica, and that anonymously). I'd like to bust through that barrier for the sake of my own personal development. It's a sort of mental block for me. I need to be literarily deflowered, so to speak, so I can start to enjoy myself.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Do you share your work as part of a writing group or other place where you can get feedback? You might consider showing some of your non-erotic work to the same people, if they're game, and see what they think.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
I'm still debating how I'm going to approach this. I've had the story in my head for close to two years now. There's probably not even the slightest chance that I'll finish it in the allotted time, but it's worth a shot.
Posted by stacey (Member # 3661) on :
Well. I just signed up. First year doing it - I'd never even heard of it before a couple of months ago. Wasn't going to do it - too much of a wuss. But for some reason I just went and signed up.
What did I go and do a thing like that for?
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: Do you share your work as part of a writing group or other place where you can get feedback? You might consider showing some of your non-erotic work to the same people, if they're game, and see what they think.
A stellar suggestion.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I'm an idiot. I wrote a chapter last year. Granted, I reread it a couple of months ago, and it wasn't bad, but at this rate, I'll finish it a few years after I'm dead.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I am not going to be suckered in this time. I am not going to sign up, I have too many obligations.
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
I'll admit, I'm tempted. I'm just afraid that whatever I write will end up being... finished after 10,000 words, or make no sense, or be complete and utter crap, or I could go on and on and on...
That, and I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what I would write about.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
Maybe the next time this comes around I'll try it out, I suspect its already been sometime since its started. Its a bit of a gamble really, sometimes I perform better under stress/a solid deadline that I cant bs my way out of and sometimes I just freeze.
On the other hand though I have complete confidence I could be a decent writer and maybe make a living off of it, I got many great ideas for stories just need to write them, right now I'm in the character design stage.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Tinros, what about an online forum that comes to life? Or, and I'm sure this has already been done, a parallel world in which people who sign up for NaNoWriMo are forced to write with severe penalties if they don't. Sort of like Stephen King's "Quitters, Inc."
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
One idea I liked, by a WriMo years back, was about a NaNoWriMo Participant who was sneaking around the homes and offices of other WriMos to steal their words...
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
"Tinros, what about an online forum that comes to life?"
What about someone's online persona coming to life?
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Dark Half? Shatnerquake? How about someone who uses sockpuppets having those come to life.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I would love to see Shatnerquake made into a movie...
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
I imagine Shatner would, too.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
I finished in 2008 as well as 2006, but it isn't showing up because I forgot to verify before midnight in the correct time zone. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I have a problem called I have several stories and I can't decide.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Combine 'em all!
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: I imagine Shatner would, too.
But who would they get to play Kirk? Shatner's too old. He's too old to play TJ Hooker, too, not to mention most of the other characters.
I think they'd have to use CGI.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
If they can make Jeff Bridges look thirty-something in Tron: Legacy, they can make Shatner look it as well.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
I can't recall my prior account, and it was attached to the work email address from 2008, so I am starting anew. Onwords and upwords (and sidewords and bywords).
[ October 29, 2010, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: CT ]
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: Combine 'em all!
I suppose, but I'm not sure how well a fantasy story with dragons goes with 2 gay men living in Boston...
hmmm... And then there's the werewolf story with a twist, and a story about a girl with asperger's syndrome with a passion for music.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I wasn't planning on it, but someone asked me a question a couple of weeks ago at church I realized it would take a lengthy memoir to answer. I got all registered this morning and did an outline.
I changed my user name (to Tricia V) a couple of years ago, and it lets you select which years you participated and which years you won in your author info.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Has a Hatrack writers group/club been set up for this year? I don't know if you need to set it up new each year. Don't they erase the forum each October? Anyways, I scrolled through 4 pages of topics and didn't see one.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by Synesthesia: I suppose, but I'm not sure how well a fantasy story with dragons goes with 2 gay men living in Boston...
hmmm... And then there's the werewolf story with a twist, and a story about a girl with asperger's syndrome with a passion for music.
Two gay werewolves living in Boston are swept into a world of intrigue as they try to save a young musician taken by a clan of dragons. But the dragons soon realizes that this was not as easy as it sounded...
Do I have to think of everything?
Let's face it, there's worse fiction out there...
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
This is absolutely the most stressful month out of the year for me and that was before I signed up for NaNoWriMo. Oh well...
I completely forgot this was just around the corner but I signed up anyway. Its my first year so I guess this would be the best time to go in without a plan.
I think I'm going to start a site for NaShoStoWriMo (National Short Story Writing Month).
Motto: "Because novels are too damn long."
[ October 31, 2010, 08:00 PM: Message edited by: Nighthawk ]
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
And so it begins.
Let's do it write, y'all.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I'm in. With the most coherent idea I've ever tried going in with. Same username as here if anybody wants to "Buddy" me so I can feel the pressure of eyeballs.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
docmagik,I find a "docmagic" but not a "docmagik."
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I've probably got a privacy setting switch flipped somewhere, but I can't find it. Can you see me here? Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
Gotcha!
I also added Shanna as a buddy. I'll comb back through this thread later and compile a list if someone else doesn't do it first.
I'm joined under my RL name, which isn't too hard to figure out if you've been around awhile. I try to keep it hard to search, though, for various historical stalkery reasons.
In case we don't know each other well, my ID is my first name and last name, both starting with "S," and the two of them are separated by a period. That should be enough to recognize it.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
Nighthawk, I would so join your Short Story site. Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
Why is the nanowrimo.org site so slow....
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
Essentially the same reasons why exercise gyms are packed in the first week or so of January. Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by manji: Why is the nanowrimo.org site so slow....
Because everyone's updating their word counts, probably several times a day.
I'm up to 27 words. Woohoo!
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
If I want to get 50,000 words by November 25, I need to average 2000 words per day. I'm already way behind my quota.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
If you haven't clarified your NaNoWriMo username and want to be added to buddy lists, please post so below. I'll add in direct links as I am able.
Let me know if you accidentally got left off the list, if you were linked but don't want to be linked, if there are incorrect links, or if there is a group to link to as well.
Possibles? 1. advice for robots 2. Tinros 3. Synesthesia
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: Maybe the next time this comes around I'll try it out, I suspect its already been sometime since its started.
It is for the month of November, so it started yesterday (November 1).
[ November 02, 2010, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: CT ]
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
Yes, that's me!
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
Found you! Yay!
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
So how are we doing? Hanging in there?
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I always have trouble at the beginning, when I don't know who any body is. I've got all but one of my MC's named now, but still can't find the over-arching conflict. I'm behind on word count, but I'm going to try to make it up today, now that I'm rolling along. Also, my male MC has suddenly turned into John Constantine. Not that I mind, but he's hard to write, and kind of a jerk.
How is everybody else doing?
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I just broke the website with my awesome word count But seriously, they have over 190k writers this year. I remember when it was 5k.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Just got past 25,000. Dang -- I'm tired!
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Crossed the finish line. Yippee! 50,000 plus. And I have more to go!
[ November 30, 2010, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: Shan ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Just crossed 40,000. I was staying up with it all month and then Teresa' birthday, Thanksgiving, and my son's visit derailed me. But I got 4,000 words in today and I'm still feeling good about the next three.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Good job, Shan.
I'm hoping to finish tonight.
Hang in there, Chris!
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
How are you all doing???
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Finished, barely, with 50,052 words. Which should represent about a 1/3 of the final novel, keeping in mind that after I avoid the thing for a few days to clear my head I'm going to edit the hell out of what I've written and probably chop out 10,000 words or so.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Late last night, just under the wire, I slid into the NaNoWriMo home plate with a final count of 50,052 words, and now I'm basking in the warm, tired feeling of accomplishment and slowly uncramping fingers.
Which is, more or less, the whole point of National Novel Writing Month (the accomplishment part). Would-be novelists who never seemed to find the time to get their opus on were challenged to produce 50,000 original words during the month of November. No penalties, few rewards, and yet over 200,000 people signed up this year to voluntarily cudgel their brains with a keyboard until they vomited words. Why? What do they get out of it, aside from something that, let's face it, will likely require several professional edits to rise the level of terrible?
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Yay!