Is anyone doing it this year? I did last year and I am again this year. My name on there is photogooroo. If your doing it please come find me. I've already written an outline for the story.
Posted by TamesonYip (Member # 9072) on :
After doing Nano last year, I was planning to this year, but I am taking November off from everything. Hopefully next year.
Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :
After doing it last year, I discovered that I just don't like to write like that. Good luck to you though.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
I loved last year, even though I didn't come close to completing. But I just doubled my hours at work so I think I'll still be adjusting.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I'm joining the group who did it last year, but not this year. I've got a ton of WIP and have to take care of that. Plus I proved to myself I can do it.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Speed is not my problem. Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
'Won' last year; in again this year.
Hey, photogooroo! We doing Daily Grind again this year?
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
3 years, 3 novels, I'm going for four this year. You can find me on the fora with this same user name, I think...
Nano is one of my best writing things all year - I plan for it, get really energized by it, and love writing like that. I am writing a YA sci-fi future story this year that I've been noodling on since May, but haven't settled on the master plot arc yet.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I did it a few years ago and last year I almost did it again but this year I am already working on most of the novel ideas I want to do right now. I have a ton more, with new ones popping up every so often, I could do but as I said that all I want to do.
Well, there might be one I wouldn't mind doing but if I did it, it would supersede all of my other writing. I have mentioned a time or two there are two I want to finish by Christmas. And three new stories I want to start.
So unless my inner muse starts to insist that I do that one even though he still has a few days to act up, the answer is no.
It would be fun and challenging, so if anyone wants to I say Good Success to you all.
Posted by RoxanneCrouse (Member # 9172) on :
Rhaythe,
I'd love to do Daily Grind again. I was thinking of putting a post up about it on the NaNoWriMo site. It would be fun to have a launch date get together or something.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Like KayTi, I've finished 3 Nanowrimos. Unlike her, I'm not sure if I'm doing it this year or not. My last nanowrimo is beckoning to be completely rewritten and I don't know if I have the creative courage to do another. But maybe.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
I wanted to take part this year, but my November is looking busy. My mother-in-law will be in town for a week and we see her so rarely that if I lock myself up writing the entire time she is here she will probably think I don't like her.
Posted by RoxanneCrouse (Member # 9172) on :
Anyone doing it look me up. I'm photogooroo. The NaNo site is going to reset Oct 1 I believe. If any of you are near Martinsburg WV. A few of us met at the Daily Grind. I'd love to get together again.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I'm thinking seriously about it this year. I'm trying to get a short story done for an anthology, but I have had a novel outline lying around that I could do some tweaking to and focus on.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Doesn't hurt to try. If nothing else, it helps form a pattern. Nanowrimo 2009 really helped me establish a habit of writing pretty much every day. That alone, whether you finish or not, is worthwhile.
Just a thought.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I said that I was already doing all the novels I had ideas for.
Well, no more. I came up with an idea for an opening tonight after I started reading a new book. I talk about that book on the what are we reading topic on another Hatrack forum. I was thinking about how the writer opened her last book and my inner muse decided to come out and play.
Anyway, now I have to decide to do it or not. It would still cut into my time to finish two of the other novels by Christmas.
Posted by TamesonYip (Member # 9072) on :
You can always work on all 4 and just be a Nano cheater. They had a section on the forum set up for those who were basically defining nano as 50k words, not a 50k novel (thesis, short story collections, finishing other novels, whatever). But they said, they are happy to support everyone, not just those who follow their arbitrary rules.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: You can always work on all 4 and just be a Nano cheater. They had a section on the forum set up for those who were basically defining nano as 50k words, not a 50k novel (thesis, short story collections, finishing other novels, whatever). But they said, they are happy to support everyone, not just those who follow their arbitrary rules.
Yeah, that might work. Except my writing time has been reduced by about half for another couple of weeks. I'm way behind on those two novels. I'm also forgetting to send out completed stories. I have three I need to reformat, along with a bit of revising, I should have had out two weeks ago. Of course there could also be another reason I'm forgetting that little chore. And I have two or is it three stories to finish. And two to three to send out including one to IGMS and the next WotF contest. But one good thing about being being a not so good a writer...no deadlines--not counting WotF of course.
Anyway, it could be fun to do again not to mention good practice.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: They had a section on the forum set up for those who were basically defining nano as 50k words, not a 50k novel (thesis, short story collections, finishing other novels, whatever).
Couldn't find the section you referenced, is it under some other title?
But boy has the web site changed, I don't recall half of that stuff. Some of it I may not have been interested in but I should still remember most of it.
It is under nano rebels, under the outside the box section (very bottom of forum.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
I've decided that I'm giving it a shot this year. I doubt I'll be able to make it but I definitely won't do it if I don't try!
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote:
It is under nano rebels, under the outside the box section (very bottom of forum.
Thanks, I see your point.
Hmm, most of my stories lately have one thing in common, they're Urban Fantasy and so is this idea I have, along with the three novels I am working on.
Posted by Dark Warrior (Member # 8822) on :
Thinkig abput it. O am doing a writing bootcamp in tje middle of that mpnth that i could do in conjunctiom
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I want to do it. And it looks I'm not going to finish those two novels by Christmas so finishing them a month or three later would be okay.
But today I thought if I'm going to be a rebel anyway why not be one with a novel I have already started? 50,000 words would finish my Number one WIP-and I would have one done by my personal deadline. It would make it somewhere between 90 and 100,000 words.
Or would almost finish my Number two WIP.
But then again my inner muse is already working on that new idea behind my back. I don't know what the main problem is but I know a lot of the universe my MC lives in. I would have to decide if my MC works as a DJ in a radio station that broadcasts both into the ordinary human world and Fey. As a whole humans don't know about the Fey. It's like she is working for two different stations at the same time.
[This message has been edited by LDWriter2 (edited October 07, 2010).]
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
OK. I'm in.
Posted by mrmeadors (Member # 6378) on :
I think I'm in. I am going to be visiting the in-laws for the first week, but I think I can do a bit of work there and make up for it later. Good luck everyone! I am phantomsquirrel on the nano forums. Not sure how much I will be on there, but hey!
Melanie
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Today I decided I was in.
I still have to decide whether or not to be a rebel though. But I have a couple of more weeks.
I will probably stop working on my third WIP, I referenced a while back, when I get the second chapter done. It will be out of my head by then. And I keep coming up with ideas for the new one I haven't started yet. I even have a title. It's the title of a music video I saw advertised at the gym. Just perfect for the type of story this is suppose to be. So I may try to do it for NaNoWriMo but at the same time do some writing on the other two. We shall see.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
In. You can find me with this nick.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Ten days. Clock is ticking down. Not that I'm counting or anything.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
I am in. It's my first NaNoWriMo, actually.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Just signed up, too.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Boy, there's so many we could have our own section there. Posted by Joseph Forrest (Member # 8460) on :
I'll be trying it again this year. Don't know how far I'll get what with work, school and family but I'm still gonna try.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
If someone starts one I'll definitely join.
I'm really excited to start actually. It's been hard to restrain myself from writing the story as I've been thinking through the world and the background. November first can't come fast enough!
[This message has been edited by coralm (edited October 22, 2010).]
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I sorta-cheated. I started writing a short prequel episode for my main character, more or less to flesh out how I want to treat him during the real novel. I won't count it towards the 50k, obviously, but it's been a lot of fun working out how he'll behave in certain situations now. I've limited myself to just my main protagonist, though, so hopefully it doesn't kill my enthusiasm for the real storyline.
Never know. If I decide to do the CreateSpace option, maybe I'll throw that in as an "extra".
Anyone else tried that with their stories?
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
So I was reading a Nano guide and it suggested an extreme form of outlining that I'm going to try. Write a sentence outline for every 200 words you're planning to write (so 250 plot points basically). Then write up ten of the points every day in November. That way the thinking is already mostly done, it's just the writing. I think my story is pretty well visualized and writing the outline so far I've been able to catch places to make changes before writing. What do you guys think? Will it work or too much trouble?
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: If someone starts one I'll definitely join. I'm really excited to start actually. It's been hard to restrain myself from writing the story as I've been thinking through the world and the background.
I don't know how to start one. I belong to a local area group but you can join more than one it looks like.
And I too have been doing some thinking about my idea. I know the opening and I know something about the world. It's kinda, sort of modeled after the universe in the series that inspired my idea. That series isn't the only dealing with the same type of people.
I have a title. I was watching videos at the gym the other week and they advertised one by an all girl group. I assumed it was anyway since the short scenes they showed had just girls singing but I didn't see a group name. Anyway, I thought that would be a good title for a story based on that other series. So I used it instead.
I know the job my MC has and sort of how she gets involved with the crisis. But I don't know the main crisis yet.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Hey, people it's getting close.
You all got your ideas going?
Posted by Delli (Member # 9202) on :
For some crazy reason I decided to sign up last night...... Why would I do that 4 days out from the start date?
Didn't have any ideas but after a few loser ones I finally hit on one I like today and have started some planning.
[This message has been edited by Delli (edited October 28, 2010).]
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I've warned my wife that she's about to become a widow for a month. She seemed a little too comfortable with that idea, in my opinion...
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
So is anyone familiar enough with the program to start a group we could join? Or explain how you get on a buddy list? It would be nice to have fellow hatrackers for encouragement.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Regions are geographical in Nanowrimo. I think they do this to encourage local communities to meet up during November and provide support to one another. I don't believe region creation is available to run-of-the-mill users.
You can add people to your 'buddy list' by searching on their username and clicking the cooresponding option.
Boy, I didn't release they had all the forums they have. Age groups, genera groups, newbie groups etc.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I did a search of the groups to see if there might be a hatrack group already. I didn't find one but I did find that writers there are placing links to this forum in various conversations. Including one that said something about it was like hatrack meets Jim Butcher meets Harris. Not sure if they meant this hatrack or something else.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
OSC has an unfinished fantasy series that "hatrack" may refer to. Interesting that the other two parts of the combination appear to refer to authors, and the "hatrack" part doesn't.
Posted by Jesse D (Member # 3241) on :
This will be my first year participating. I'm pretty excited. I'm very busy right now, so we'll see how it goes - I may not succeed. But it should be fun to try.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Kathleen--interesting. I seem to be missing out on a bunch of interesting shows on cable this year.
Jesse Good for you. Even if you don't finish it in one month you can still finish it at your speed.
And since 50,000 words is really short for a novel I think must of us will be working on ours after Nov is over even if we reach the end.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Okay, so sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself. I did this extreme outline (a plot summary per page) so I could tweak things in the outline stage and just write without thinking when it came time for NaNo... Well, um, my outline is 22k and now I can't find out where to tweak things anymore than if I'd just written the darn thing! Gah. Two days to figure it out. Is this what NaNo is - 30 days of delirious stress?
Posted by Corky (Member # 2714) on :
RoxyL, you could just try writing it all over again from memory and from scratch (as in, not looking at your outline unless absolutely necessary), and see if that gets you up to 50,000 words.
Sometimes tweaking is not the best way to go. A complete and total rewrite from memory is always an alternative.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
*paid for by the Committee to Elect Corky.
Posted by Corky (Member # 2714) on :
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I even asked my wife to pick up a new flash drive when she went to a certain store. I can use it to transfer the part of the story I did at work to my home computer. I could E-mail it to myself while at work but I rather not take the time. And I may end up using my laptop at home while my wife is online.
Boy they are getting better and better. This is my fourth and each one has significant more memory. The second two are pretty much filled up. The first one has so little memory I usually don't think about using it. Come to think of it I could even though I would have to delete some stuff on it.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Oh yes. I received an E-mail calender of events from NaNoWriMo. M. Lackey is suppose to send a pep letter this next week. Or they will send it for her.
I don't recall them doing any of that the last time I took part in NaNo.
Posted by History (Member # 9213) on :
Good luck, everyone. For me, I think such a writing challenge will need wait for my retirement. I'm working nearly every day except for a few I'll be in Paris with the missus (She's always wanted to go). May you all go from strength to strength.
Respectfully, Dr. Bob
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Anyone want to trade names to be writing buddies?
And/Or does anyone want to join a Hatrack group if I manage to start one?
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Aw shucks. I guess I'll do it for another year. It fits in my schedule. I ended up shelving a novel and just finished doing a major edit in my WIP and it needs a little quiet time, so I'm in with a novel I outlined in August.
My user name is... owasm.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Foste89.
I'll accept everyHatrack brother/sister
[This message has been edited by Foste (edited October 31, 2010).]
Posted by sjsampson (Member # 8075) on :
This is my most unprepared nano yet. I can't wait! Username is sjsampson if you want to add me. Good luck everyone. Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
He's going to be hosting an online write-in and has a book out that help with Nano.
Too bad that write-in will be during my dinner hour, well I get home about half an hour after it starts and have to fix dinner.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
First, I'm very unprepared also. No notes but a few ideas in my head.
Hopefully my mind doesn't go and I need a new hard drive.
And yes, I read a story with that idea. Guy had to use the back up for his physical memory because of an internet virus.
Plus I will try to put include all who said yes as writing buddies but probably not today. The site's very slow probably because of being super busy. I will see if it's better tomorrow night, and I can write as I wait if need be.
And of course you can include me, same user name as here.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Done 1669 words today! Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
My username on there is coralm and I added the folks who mentioned they wanted to trade buddies above. I would also join a Hatrack group.
So far only 534 words today but I'm still at work. Shhh!
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
I'd buddy up with anyone who's willing. I'm RoxyL there also. Up to 1970 today and trying to get as much in as possible to prepare for those crazy, crazy days when nothing will get done. (Started writing at 5am and I wonder how much of it is even coherent. Ya know?)
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
I wrote more than five thousand words today. I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened. Somehow I've turned into Owasm.
Look for me tomorrow to be struggling over every word.
I'm diving back in. ~Sheena
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I had 1947 words done at 4am. I'm planning to add on tonight. (And I'm tinkering with a short story...crazy, huh?)
Posted by redux (Member # 9277) on :
I'm trying again this year. I'm redux on nanowrimo as well.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
I think I'm Unwritten_1971 but I can't get on the site to find out. If that's wrong you can probably find me on the friend list of anyone who did it last year.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Wow it's really hard to access the page right now... Is this normal?
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
I haven't been able to get on NaNo either for a couple hours. I wonder if it crashed because this is about the time everyone starts getting home from work all across the US and it's the first day. Ya think?
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
I live in Europe.
Well considering that NaNoWriMo is such a big event globally, no wonder the site is stuck. I managed to sign in (after waiting for about 5 minutes for the page to load)
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Yeah, the server is being pounded. This happened last year too.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
It gets better after the first few days. It's something to keep in mind towards the end though--no one wants to lose because they waited until the last second and then couldn't get on.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Ugh.
Just another reason to pound away at the keyboard I guess.
[This message has been edited by Foste (edited November 01, 2010).]
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Exactly. Fewer distractions. Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
I like the way you're thinking Rhaythe...
[This message has been edited by Foste (edited November 01, 2010).]
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I got around 2,488 words the first day.
It's been flowing, could have done more but had to do real life stuff like mow the yard.
A flashback is probably too big but I will see about redoing it and shifting some of the info to other places after Nov 30th. I do some little changes as I write since that is the way I write but nothing big right now.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
7,730 today. I had to watch my baseball team, the SF Giants WIN THE WORLD SERIES tonight! Slowed me up a bit.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Wow, Owasm, just Wow. And congrats!
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Most of you know scrivener is a very popular Mac tool for writing. It's finally coming out for Windows in January. Hooray!
And at the link they're giving a 50% coupon to anyone who finishes NaNo!
Posted by sojoyful (Member # 2997) on :
Arg. Only 121 words yesterday. Hopefully I can make up for that today.
You people who can write thousands of words a day - do you have day jobs??? I'm in disbelief.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
quote:You people who can write thousands of words a day - do you have day jobs??? I'm in disbelief.
Owasm is a word-cranking machine. All I can figure is that he chains himself to his computer and has someone poke him with a cattle prod if he's typing fewer than 300 words a minute.
In my case, two to three thousand words a day is "normal". That takes me about two hours and is generally a chapter or so. I've found it easier to write by scene, as it gives me a well-defined "section" of the story to finish and offers a sense of completion when I'm done. The most I've ever done in one day is around the six to seven thousand word mark, but that was still a single chapter that stretched on for a long time (gunfight scene).
Find a level that works for you. It may be that you can't write in long stretches at the moment. Or it may be that you're second-guessing what you're writing as you're going about it. Try not to be an editor while you're a writer. Just write. It's easier to edit a typed page than a blank one.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
It's a good idea, as you go along, to make notes about what you want to do in the rewrite phase (after 30 November).
That way, you don't have to worry that you'll forget what you want to do, and you can just go on and write more first draft, as fast as you can.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Shimiqua, you are on fire!
Posted by Jesse D (Member # 3241) on :
I got 3000 done yesterday, writing in spurts. I'm not going to get near that done today, but since I'm ahead of the pace, I guess that's okay. My fear is if this book turns out to be longer than 50,000, I won't be able to finish. I need to get ahead of the game early so I know what I'm dealing with.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
I'll ask this now so I won't panic later...
What if the novel turns out 10 000 words SHORTER than it needs to be? What if I stretch the plot as far as I can?
[This message has been edited by Foste (edited November 02, 2010).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I'm beta testing Scrivener for Windows. Not all of the functions are active, but I love it for plotting. It's kind of strange not seeing the format, though--is that different in the Mac version...anybody?
Apparently, the NaNo word counter only likes to be updated once a day. I write late at night, then more throughout the day following, and when I posted a lower word count at the beginning of the day (actually it took me til 12:01 to get it entered) it listed me as having a fail day, with 1 minute into the day. So, with limited internet access, my record may not be accurate.
Posted by Jesse D (Member # 3241) on :
Foste, maybe try adding another character. Writing them into scenes will a) lengthen the book, and b) change the plot. It might do the trick.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Thanks Jesse.
I just hit 5k but I'd hate to arrive at a point where I would have nothing left to say.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
Hey thanks. 11,777 words and counting.
That is almost four thousand words more than I wrote for last year's NANO. In two days.
What. ~Sheena
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
This is the first year I've had a large block of time to write. So far it hasn't done anything for my word count. I can't believe how much longer it takes to write if I don't give myself a deadline.
Don't worry about finishing your story early. There's bound to be something you can do, like rewriting a scene you didn't like or creating a sudden catastrophic typhoon.
Posted by redux (Member # 9277) on :
For the folks with high word counts - do you guys write fully fleshed out scenes with complete sentences or are you writing stream of consciousness style?
Just curious
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Not doing too badly even though I am not keeping up with some of you guys.
So far I only have almost 1500 words for today. Of course I had to so some real life stuff, like voting and watering.
But this evening I was working on it while fixing dinner and a way to add some length to it came to mind. My MC rescues some children from a car wreck, as a first in a line of tougher and tougher events that come into her life, and a guy helps her. My first thought was that he helped than leaves the "stage" never to be seen again but the thought came to mind that this guy could become a love interest. He decides to find her later and asks her out. Right now I don't think he gets involved with her Fey life so she has to make sure she doesn't say anything about that half of her life.
Anyway need to get back to work. And remember to put up my word count on the web site. I was going to do that last thing so I know how many words but forgot last night.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Rats can't get on the Nano web site.
But today I got a total of 2,345 words.
And found some more background for my MC to mention.
I should say this is in First Person.
I want to stay up later to write more, it's flowing well, but got to get up early.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
5150 today. That makes 12,880 in two days. Last night it was the world series, tonight it was a teaching session and election coverage. My goal is 35,000 this week and 40,000 next week.
Posted by Delli (Member # 9202) on :
Ok, so three days in. Not feeling too bad. Have done 5215 words so far. Just the bare minimum 1667 today. I don't want to ever do below 1667 as I don't think I'd catch up again! So I force myself to write - even though I've been writing bollocks..... But it's actually been good for me. I haven't allowed myself to go back and edit anything as I'm writing. And when I do go back and read it (still not allowed to edit).....ok so it's not great - but it's not ALL bad.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
At 5456 right now, but that will expand before tonight's through. Work interrupts.
Posted by Luna Jade Adelle (Member # 9306) on :
I signed up for Nano late, but I am really excited about it! I have never pushed myself with a real, tangible deadline for my writing before, so this is giving me a whole new perspective on things. I almost feel like I'm back in school again, trying to finish a paper. Oh well, pressure can be a good thing...at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Welcome aboard, Luna Jade Adelle. You'll get your pace.
Ended at 5500, but I worked a long day, too. (And I think I'm going to moonlight on the story for a little bit tonight.)
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
5,152 today. 18,032 total. The story is moving along. I added the bad guy's POV and Cloud (a sentient lovable mistball who laughs at his own lousy jokes) is coming along nicely.
Posted by walexander (Member # 9151) on :
I finally was able to access my nanowrimo account. I forgot my password, (It took me several tries to remember old passwords I use to use.) and really didn't want to create a new account since I've had this one since 04. I'm under william stirling there, and just reached about 8,400 with no looking back. Wasn't sure I was going to do it this year but what the heck. I just want to make sure I have time for my 2nd draft wotf group for nov. 7th. I figure lets see how many hatrackers we can get in the winners box. Go for the gold everyone! Cheers!
W.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
I'm curious. Do you guys scramble your text before you upload at the end of November? It seems like a waste of time to me but maybe I'm naive?
Posted by TamesonYip (Member # 9072) on :
I did not last year. My thought was the writing was pretty unpolished and I had every intention of editing before submitting (it has been heavily rewritten since then, though not yet ready for the agents). Also, imagine sorting through all the crap to get something worth stealing. Not going to happen. Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I'm not sure how to scramble mine. but I wasn't planning to. Mine will be spell checked but I most probably won't have time to go back over it to revise it so it probably won't be worth much either.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Cracked 11k words tonight. I'm pleased with this pace.
I did have a moment of panic, for no good reason I might add. I classify myself as an action/thriller writer... which means my work has to have a fast pace and it has to keep moving 100 percent of the time.
Well, this Nano novel is a departure for me. I'm working on a treasure hunting story. Anyway, I had one chapter that was mostly dialogue. To me, that's normally a bad sign. Now I bundled all that dialogue with plot development (IE: the characters were rummaging around the sewers of Istanbul), but still... it gave me a bit of a panic.
Edited to fix the link (it was missing the ht at the beginning).
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited November 05, 2010).]
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
5233 tonight. 23,265 total.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
I scramble mine. It's just so much fun. I have no fear that they'll steal my book. If I can't make any money off it, chances are no one else could either. Besides, it only takes a couple of minutes.
quote:Rats can't get on the Nano web site.
I was reading some of the older posts and saw someone had written this. In my current sleep-deprived state it struck me as wildly amusing. My first thought was "They have a rule for that??"
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 05, 2010).]
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I had a lunch with a few people at my office that are also participating in Nano. Most of them had good ideas for what they wanted to write, but something stood out about what they were telling me. It might just be that they so summarized what they were writing that I didn't pick up on this key element, but I noticed most of their discriptions were missing a key point:
Plot.
It gave me an idea for the competitions we have here on the site. Instead of working on style and wordcount, I'm proposing a contest that focuses squarely on plot. Give each participant a list of key words. Their goal is to write an entire story... but using plot only.
In other words, their story might look like this:
Protag in car accident. Nearly knocked out. Briefcase stolen. Police seem useless. Protag goes to private investigator, who overcharges. PI goes to talk to a street source. Knocks on door; it drifts open. Source is dead on her bed. He checks for pulse; gunshots rip through window...
So on, so forth. Forget worrying about style or voice. Write the entire story from a plot perspective only.
Any interest here?
Posted by rich (Member # 8140) on :
Rhaythe, Not sure if you've read any Ellroy, but he writes exactly like that. If you can stomach racist, misogynistic characters, and foul language, check him out. It's a staccato stream of consciousness shorthand that focuses almost entirely on plot. Some of the outlines for his books run over 300 pages.
Apologies for the thread drift.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
I'm just over 9k total right now. Seems like I'm on track so I'm excited. My story is drifting rather far afield from where I thought it would but this is the first time that I've actually tried to write something this long in order. My only other novel length work I wrote scenes as they occurred to me and then patched them together later. I'm a little shocked but I kind of like writing in order better.
Edited to add: LD there are instructions in their FAQ about how to scramble the text so that the words are still counted but the text is incomprehensible. I don't think I'm going to bother though.
[This message has been edited by coralm (edited November 05, 2010).]
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Hey I got an E-mail from Mercedes Lackey . I didn't know she knew I was a writer.
Nice Pep talk. Nice some pro writers are involved with Nano.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
18,342
Does anyone else feel like they have taken an eight hour final for their favorite class for five day's straight?
My brain is tired, my creating muscles are jelly, and the Halloween candy is all gone.
I cannot continue at this pace.
~Sheena-powered by chocolate-
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Keep at it Shimiqua. If you're tired float a few days with a thousand words or so and then ramp it up.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: 18,342 Does anyone else feel like they have taken an eight hour final for their favorite class for five day's straight?
My brain is tired, my creating muscles are jelly, and the Halloween candy is all gone.
I cannot continue at this pace.
~Sheena-powered by chocolate-
In a word, no.
Not for a month but I've done this before. Well three or four years ago it was for a month but recently I spent a two week vacation writing. I was alone, my wife was still working and my daughter was at her grandparents for the day. I had a couple of other things to do so it wasn't all writing but it was mostly. I even opted not to go to a movie so I could write.
No deadline except for a personal one of want to finish first one than two novels by Christmas. I won't be done by then thought. Since then, as I said on another thread, Murphy has stuck his big nose into my writing affairs to much. And NaNo of course but I wouldn't have finished them by Christmas even if I hadn't opted for NaNo
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Oh yes a PS
But I can see if you're not used to it how that many words in that short of time could make one's creative juices low. NaNo has some interesting forums you might find helpful, so relax for an evening or two and look them over. And/or check out Michael Stackpole's web site and/or reread the pep E-mails.
[This message has been edited by LDWriter2 (edited November 06, 2010).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Another 1800 words tonight, and worked most of the night, too. I'm going to have to give it a hell of a boost if I'm going to have time enough to get this short polished and submitted by the end of December, too. :cool" I wish I had learned to speed-type.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
26770 total and 3,504 for the day.
I had to work later than anticipated.
Posted by RoxanneCrouse (Member # 9172) on :
I've been sticking to the 1667 per day and am now at 10040 words, right on target to finish 50,000 on NOv 30th. I did the same thing last year and it worked for me kept me from burning out too fast from writing too much at the beginning.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I seem to be in the low numbers also. Two of my attempts to update my word count didn't register. It says 3,000 some but it's actually over 10,000.
One day was over 3,000 and one just under 3,000 but three were under 2500. Today even with being a Saturday, with an extra hour, will probably be less than 2,500.
My MC is on her second date with the guy who helped her rescue four children and one adult from a wrecked car.
Hmmm, I was just thinking about how she has to use her magic to save them from attackers from the Summerlands and that he carries a gun. Maybe he's a FBI agent or just someone who carries large amounts of cash so he has a permit. I haven't decided yet.
But I need a new name for Summerlands, it's been used as has never never and Fariye.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Just over 1700 words. If I could only get a peaceful day to just sit and write.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I've made my goal for the first week, 35,010 for the first week, one day early. Another 8,241 words made it into my manuscript today (11/6, it's midnight where I live.)
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I think I may be closing in on one third of the way through my project.
My MC is about to go one her third date with a certain guy. I'm debating if this is the night she is attacked and has defend herself and her date even though he helps. I need to start closing in on her main adventure. This is her third adventure, each one is getting more dangerous with more at stake and the only one not involving children. I thought about putting in one more where she has to rescue children but I don't think I will have time. If I do I may go back an add it. Or wait 'till Nov is done and I go back over the novel--it will have to be lengthened.
Posted by sojoyful (Member # 2997) on :
I am behind schedule - 7332 words at the moment, hopefully more before the end of the night. However, I am not displeased. This is the best I have kept up with Nano yet. Most of all, I'm happy that it's just forcing me to write crap at high speed instead of the insane as-I-go editing that is my normal compulsion.
I find I only write well at night, but that doesn't mesh well with a day job. Saturday night I wrote over 5000 words - a personal best! The rest of the week, it just trickled along.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
In the first seven days - 40451 Today - 5,441
Posted by sjsampson (Member # 8075) on :
After falling behind when my dad came to visit, I am finally back on track at 11,784. I'm hoping for a couple action scenes soon. And a villain.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
sjsampson I don't have a villain yet either. Or one that shows himself anyway. My MC may have already stopped him at one point without knowing there's something strange going on. I say may because I just got the idea and haven't decided yet to go with it.
If so she may start to suspect something when the three child kidnappers she stopped die in jail.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
1973 words for today, bringing me to 12,750. I'm happy with that. Life's been hectic, but I've been making the cut--if just barely.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Didn't do so good yesterday and today with my word count but still over 15,000 words. So I'm not doing too bad over all.
If I figured it right one third of the way is slightly under 17,000 words. One fourth is 12,500.
Nice numbers at this stage I think.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
If you don't have a villain, you might be able to use someone who is a "good guy" but who has goals that interfere with those of your MC. That way, they can keep being obstacles to each other, and your antagonist (instead of villain) can be more complex and rounded than many villains end up being.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
I had an interesting experience today, and wondered if it had happened to any of you. This is the most intensely (and by far the most words) I've written and by Saturday I felt like a wrung out sponge. I barely managed to pull in 300 words and hated every one of them. So, I took Sunday off and it was like my brain refilled. Today I got in over 7000 words and there's still more in there to say. Wow. Does down time really help, or is this a fluke?
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
@RoxyL - sometimes we just need a breather. To let the story sit in the backs of our minds to stew and process and layer and complexify (totally made that word up.)
I've had the story I'm working on now in my head since May and I'm finding that it's a *much* easier story to write than many of my other Nano projects, because there's been a lot of time for things to just stew up there in the Great Gray Mass.
Now if I could only put more hours of butt-in-chair in, I might actually have this thing farther along!
But I am approaching the climax of act 1, which puts me in the right range given that I'm close to 1/3 of the way through. My two main characters just met each other, about frigging time, and are soon to embark on the quest they have to go on together. First the mentor needs to give them gifts and they need to decide to do this together, even though they come from very different areas. Yes, using standard mythic quest structure even though it's a sci-fi story. If it's good enough for George Lucas...
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: If you don't have a villain, you might be able to use someone who is a "good guy" but who has goals that interfere with those of your MC. That way, they can keep being obstacles to each other, and your antagonist (instead of villain) can be more complex and rounded than many villains end up being.
I have a kinda idea who my villain is and that there is one. Someone kidnaps children to force them into becoming servants in his land. My MC has to rescue them and stop him. But I just have the barest outline of who he is. And so far he hasn't made an appearance even though he may be behind a kidnap attempt that my MC stopped and he may also send someone-something to attack her.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Reached 2250 for the day. Very happy until the cat blew chunks at the base of the stairs.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
42,832 total 2,381 today. Too much going on tonight.
I don't know if I'll hit 50K in ten days, but I can feel my energy slipping a bit. *slaps self in the face* Onward.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
RoxyL, if you don't pause once in a while to refill the reservoir, you won't have anything to draw on for your writing. One of the best ways to take a break is to focus on something entirely different and unrelated to your Nano project, even if only for a short time (an hour, an afternoon, a day).
Edited to add:
And who knows? It might be useful in your project after all.
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited November 09, 2010).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
2000 words tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day for me, so I'll try to squeeze more in this morning (12:00am - 2:30am).
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited November 09, 2010).]
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
45711 total 2878 tonight
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Owasm, you're an animal!
I was able to clock 2400 before 10:30 AM, which I think is going to be key for me. I felt much better about what I was writing and more connected, and best of all - now I don't have the "I have to write" albatross around my neck this afternoon/evening. Instead it can be "I want to write" and do so for my own reasons. Yes, I play mind games with myself during Nano. But hey - to each his/her own.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Wrote maybe a thousand last night, then realized I had written one of my main characters into a corner that he could not survived. I broke the cardinal rule of nano and deleted the whole chapter.
I'll have to try and make up for it tonight
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Well, I'm certainly no Owasm, but I broke 2k again tonight, my story is progressing well and I'm happy with some new discoveries. All-in-all, no regrets. Hopefully I'll be busy working (making money) tomorrow, but I'd like to keep padding my lead, if only by a little farther each time.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Hooray! 50,007 I made the last 4296 words tonight.
The timing is funny because my little group just finished a section wher they had just made it over the ice field of a secret pass and am now descending into the equivalent of Mordor. No rings in this one, but the heroine basically has the powers of the Master Mage but can't remember spells to use them.
With the 50K out of the way, I can let up just a bit. The last third of the book will be exciting even for me as it comes out of my fingers and onto the screen.
Keep it up everyone!
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Not quite up there as much as some but I got 23 and a half thousand words.
That's 23 1/2 k in computer talk isn't it?
Posted by sjsampson (Member # 8075) on :
Congrats, Owasm! Everyone seems to be doing so well. I'm finally caught up again.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: The last third of the book will be exciting even for me as it comes out of my fingers and onto the screen.
Good job there
But I know the feeling from this quote. Sometimes when writing a scene and get interrupted I feel the same way as if I was reading an exciting scene. I just got done with a scene like that. Of course sometimes I seem to be the only one that feels that way about a certain scene.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Good, good sjsampson
Keep it up.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Another 2k tonight, bringing me up to 21k, but what's really worrying me is that I'm only on chapter four.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
53,204 A few shy of 3,200 tonight. 55,389 2,085 (11/12) I'm finally getting to some crits I owed!
[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited November 13, 2010).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Another 2k in, but I think I'll be adding for tomorrow a little bit tonight.
Posted by RoxanneCrouse (Member # 9172) on :
I'm alomst to 22,000 and writing the part I dreded, the mental hospital part. I only have movies and what I've read on the internet to draw from. I think it's going well though. I had wanted the hospital part to end at 50,000, which would be the middle of the book, but I don't know how I'm going to write 25,000 words in the mental hospital and keep it interesting til 50,000. I may just have to write a shorter book, maybe 80,000 instead of 100,000.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Am I the only one who dreads reading the novel after NaNo?
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Yep, I'm past one half but I recently I remembered I'm doing Urban Fantasy. In UF any romance always has a rocky life. It seems to be one of the things that makes UF. So I need to make my MC's romance difficult. But my subconscious seems to know that for I have a set up just perfect for a little storm over the Love Boat.
I should have remembered that, In one UF novel I'm working on, even though I haven't worked on it for months, my MC is married, while he is advancing in his Mage career they are having problems. At the end of the book even though they have to work together(Or will have to if I ever get to the end)they will separate. But only until the next book. Even though she said something stupid she was going to do they get back together but....
And in another UF novel my MC is engaged. He ends up thinking she is having an affair with his best friend, she's not but she is lying about something. So he breaks off the engagement and cancels their wedding and has to stop the bad guy on his own and it isn't until the last he finds out she was lying about her family and even though the engagement is back on there is no new date for a wedding. Next book.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
quote:In UF any romance always has a rocky life.
Really? I hadn't heard that that was an established part of urban fantasy. I've seen that in several of the UF I've read, but I just figured it was because romance in regular romance stories is rocky (almost by definition--what else serves as the conflict or tension in a romance novel if the romance isn't rocky?).
I don't think you need to feel that you're are stuck with a rocky romance just because that's what you've seen. I submit that this is one way you could do it your own way. Why not let the romance go comparatively smoothly, and let other things be the sources of conflict and/or tension?
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: Really? I hadn't heard that that was an established part of urban fantasy. I've seen that in several of the UF I've read, but I just figured it was because romance in regular romance stories is rocky (almost by definition--what else serves as the conflict or tension in a romance novel if the romance isn't rocky?).
I don't think it is official but it is in every UF book I've read and in some I have just looked over. I should say in every book that has a romance. Two or three series do not have any type of romance going on- but at least one of those is developing one, it looks like.
And you're right about a romance novels, as far as I know that is. But some of these UF romance problems are pretty heavy, though come to think of it a couple books have ordinary problems.
You're also right about mine breaking the mold. I've debated that in my mind. But in this novel, as I said, there's a set up already to go. I didn't plan it but it's there. I could make it something they overcome and let it be pretty much smooth from there. I believe the set up is something that would cause problems because they are both lying. Her about her ears and background, this one is revealed in a deadly evening with hell dogs, elves with long sharp knives and a unicorn watching it all. And my MC doing magic. Not to mention that he was almost torn apart by hell dogs just because he was with her. He might be lying about his job and why he carries a gun. I haven't quite decided for sure yet. But if he is a TV reporter is going to reveal to her his real job.
Things like that can be overcame (overcomed?) so I will think about it some more.
[This message has been edited by LDWriter2 (edited November 13, 2010).]
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Day 13: 56635 total 1356 for the day.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I've been a bit behind on my word count suddenly. I think I'm around 29,000 later or tomorrow I will add it al up.
But you all read this week's peep E-mail. Make sure you do.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Done. 73,410 and that's long enough for my MG/YA fantasy. I just buttoned it up and it's on the getting my WotF story rewritten.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Owasm, Many, many congrats! You are a writing machine.
Do you mind if I ask a few questions since you have already reached your goal? How do you feel your writing is during a NaNo sprint compared to regular? Is it worth it (for myself, my writing is so nasty I'm going to have to rewrite huge chunks - not editing has been torture) Is this going to change your regular writing habits? How do you plan on proceeding with your novel now that the rough draft part is done? Thanks! I have really admired your determination in this. And again, Congrats!
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
My writing is okay. I wrote 105,000 words last year and my writing was worse, but I write very fast anyway.
The key for me was a solid outline and notes about the story in advance of starting. My muse takes over, but I know where the story is going so I write towards my goal and the writing flows better that way, at least for me.
I also never went back to edit. I had to go back if something really changed, but in a normal writing mode, you may delete a scene, not in NaNo. I read five hundred to a thousand words before I started every night (I gave myself 8 to midnight to write) to get into the writing groove.
My drafts are plot and character driven and that helps get the novel down. I'll have to go back and do grammar/spelling work and fill in description and then it goes out to some readers for review. Then I'll do a solid rewrite.
I hope that helps.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Interesting Owasm.
I may be up there this year. I know I wrote a lot of short stories last year but not sure if it was enough to be over 100,000 words but this year it could be altogether.
I do know I won't be near you for NaNo, even if I do get over 50,000, which the way things look now I might. I don't mean just a couple of thousand over.
And when I do finish my two, well three counting NaNo's, novels I'll be needing a First reader or two.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
In my grammar check, I've managed to pick up a thousand more words today. It's crazy to see what you've put in as you sail on getting words down on paper.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
This applied here I think because it has to do with how I spelled certain words in my NaNo novel but I spell the same words the same way in other stories and novels.
Anyway: Glimmer is actually Glammer. I'm surprised no one caught it.
And I have spelled Fairye wrong it's something like Fairaye or Faireye I need to find it again in the book I am reading. But this one may not be as important as Glimmer- Glammer.
Or is it Glammour ? Need to double check that one too, I guess with my swiss cheese memory.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I'm 80% through with my first-cut edit on my NaNo novel and hit my 75K target (75,729) for the novel tonight, late.
UPDATE: Nearly a day later, and I finished my edit and an MSWord grammar and spelling check. I'm formally done with my first draft. It ended up at 76,193.
[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited November 21, 2010).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Broke 40k before I went to sleep. I'm pretty sure 50k is a foregone conclusion, but right now, I'm only on chapter six, so I guarantee the book won't be finished. Still, the mystery part grew last night, and the story added it's own twist--which will only work better with the rough times that are coming for my protagonist.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
4000 words. 4000 words and I am done. My first Nano... sniff...
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I got about seven more words to git to 50 but it ain't done when I do.
Ah'l have another five to ten thousand to before I do The End.
50,000 may be Saturday at bedtime. I may have to rush the ending to be done by Tuesday, Monday be better.
But afterwards if need be Ah'll redo wat I rushed. And even add a scene or three.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
need a neutron bomb for my book, nothing is happening, I am so bogged down in the details, it's terrible!
I gave in tonight, having achieved my word count for the day, writing "Oh my gosh I think I can’t stop being boring in this book help!"
I think tomorrow I'm going to do one of those..."And then the little green men came down and stole all their gear" kinds of upheavals, or just "Three months later..." or something, because right now it's just the journey and absolutely nothing interesting happens on the journey.
Plot is still what I'm weakest at. I need to plow ahead to another section of the story where I have more in mind for what happens, and hope that the rest of the plot shows itself, so I can stop feeling like I'm just wasting words, writing this crapola. :/ (but I'm at 36,800 and will finish, just a matter of whether I can feel better about it soon.)
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
KatTi
I'm sure you know this but journeys can be very exciting. They can get lost, run into zombies living in the backhills(oops that was a movie, I think), get stopped for speeding, loose something, pick up flowers that turn out to be intelligent and from another dimension(An old book), crush and not burn, find they are trapped in time bubble so everyday is the same and when the try to leave they end up back where they started, come across fresh dinosaur tracks when they stop to take a nature break in the middle of nowhere, or find a guy with a metal wristband that can turn into an energy weapon(New not out yet movie) Etc. etc. etc.
Posted by Delli (Member # 9202) on :
I'm behind By around 5000 words. Will be behind by more tomorrow. It will take a big effort to catch back up as I'm away Friday through to Sunday and there is little chance I will get any writing done. I had been feeling good about my novel but am starting to wonder whether I can make it now! Bother.
Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :
Delli,
I managed to crank out 10 000 words for the weekend. Try to get every snippet of time you can and you'll catch up.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
KayTi,
When in doubt, add a car chase. Or danger. Or spies, or a kidnapping...
~Sheena
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited November 24, 2010).]
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
I'm coming off a five day stint of pneumonia where I couldn't even open my eyes. Hope there's time to catch up. And KayTi I feel for you. Somewhere in my text is a rant about the awfulness of not being able to edit. Sigh. If anything I think this experience has almost convinced me that I really don't have any talent... just put the keyboard down slowly before anyone gets hurt by actually laying eyes on that monstrosity!
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I be aiming for Sunday night to finish. It'll be more than 50,000 words so we shall see.
I have between 39 and 40 now.
But bet you all can catch up-- recovering or busy or what not...you can do it.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Keep pounding them keys!
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
Getting close to 70 thousand words... and still not done with the story. *sigh* Don't think I'm finishing this one before 30-NOV.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Rhaythe, you might fake it to finish by then. I know I'm leaving out scenes and putting in a couple I will have to go back and add a led up to, so I can be done by Sunday night. Of course I will add more afterwards. I want it at least 80 even though 90 would be better.
I need to get done before the 30th so I can spend an hour or so doing a spell check and not have to wait inline with the last minute people. Of course the 29th might be last minute to but hopefully not too bad.
You have plenty of words already so unless your going for the longest novel your amount will be good.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
44,700 words, and lucky to be there.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
It was a personal goal more than a Nano goal. I just wanted to be able to put "THE END" on the thing before the 30th. But apparently I write stories that are too long.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
46,400 hard won words. I'll beat this NaNo, but if every November is like this, I won't be able to do this next time.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Wednesday night, I had to rush my wife to the ER. She had a tumor on her pancreas, and they removed part of her pancreas. Unfortunately, there is another mass on what she has left. If it is cancerous, there is a good chance I'll lose her. So, it's getting harder and harder to keep the NaNo commitment. Harder and harder to sleep at night, right now. I'm 4,600 shy of finishing, and I'll try -- and hope it doesn't turn to gibberish.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Fortunately, gibberish words count as much a real ones.
I am so sorry to hear about your wife and that's where your concentration should be.
- Owasm
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Rats, I have either miscounted or forgot to put in one or two sections. After adding up all of the chapters I end up with 3050 less words than my count up to this point.
With all the sections I have 20+, I don't feel like going back to double check right now so I'll just go ahead and say I have 44,440 words. If I did forget something I can add it later, it won't hurt if I'm actually over anyway.
And here I thought I would reach 50 today.
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
InarticulateBabbler I'm so sorry to hear about your wife. Definitely be where you need to be - with your family. In the end, Nano is just words on a screen.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Now that I have time to read the posts here:
Man, inarticulateBabbler, that's bad News. So many things come to mind that's it's hard to decide what to say. My great sympathies to you-Babbling is okay under the circumstances- Some people have found it peaceful to do something normal during this time but that's up to you-Reminds me that my problems are small.
I'll be praying for you.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Thank you. Pray for her. She NEEDS it.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
[hug] IB [/hug]
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
Best wishes for your wife IB.
My NaNo story came in at just under 59k. I think I have another scene to add, so I should end up in the low 60s.
Anyone interested in trading crits on NaNo stories in December?
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: Thank you. Pray for her. She NEEDS it.
I have but you both have needs right now. I've never been faced with something like that but I know people who have so I have a wee bit of understanding of what you are going through.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Finished the NaNoWriMo commitment. I'm a third of the way--maybe--finished with the outline, so the rest will not go as quickly. Besides, now there are other concerns. Good Luck to everyone who hasn't yet finished.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
You and your wife have my prayers, too, InarticulateBabbler.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: My NaNo story came in at just under 59k. I think I have another scene to add, so I should end up in the low 60s.
Anyone interested in trading crits on NaNo stories in December?
I might be very close to 50,000 despite my counting mistake, but I still hope to completely finish it by Sunday bedtime.
And I would be interested in trading crits even these are very long stories And do you mean the way they are now? I will have add 25,000 words, at they very least.
But mine will be needing massive revisions in certain areas. I have doing some as I write--I write that way, one guy calls it the slinky way of writing-but I didn't take the time to redo certain scenes like the opening scene that I went back to when I was half way through and partially redid. I will have it spell checked but there is no doubt a lot of nitpicks that missed.
Of course with epublishing now we could keep them the length they are and epublish them as a NaNo set.
That would almost be fun to do....
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
Good point! Mine will need revisions too, although I think it's fairly close to it's final word count now. I've been trying to let it rest for a while before doing my first complete read through, but I've been itching to take the red pen to it. I suppose we could put it off until after the New Year.
An E-Pub'd collection of NaNo stories is quite an interesting idea!
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
If we did do E-Pub we weren't have to worry about the length but we would have to figure out how--as one set at one price, who would get paid how or a set were the buyers would have a choice of which novels to buy???
Could get complicated. But could be fun too.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Okay made it.
Now I still have to run it through a spell check before I verify it.
The last 4,000 words were the fastest I've ever written for that many. I won't say it's good writing.
But It ended at a good place to end. My MC is a hero, survived, she got all the children out, and her boyfriend hasn't quit on her even though she is still confused about that relationship. But that's okay, be something for the next book.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I'm 3k from the finish and havent even reached the action climax yet, whoops. Ah, well, that's what first drafts are for. I'm probably within 10k of the end end, but will not likely reach that before tomorrow (but will reach 50k before tomorrow, I can do it!)
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
Got'er done. Final word count, 60,030. ~Sheena
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Yes, you can KayTi Go for it.... burn it down the track.
Congrats Sheena
I got mine in a tiny bit over 54,000 words.
So me is a winner
Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :
Done at around 52k.
Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :
You can do it KayTi! Plenty of time left.
Congrats to LD, Sheena and Roxy!
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Boy, all of a sudden NaNo web site got busy. I'm glad I verified mine earlier.
Got a comment to make on my local forum there if I can get back on tonight. See if anyone wants to keep writing and to start a writer's group locally. We could keep the write-ins going once a month or so.
But while I was there it looks like everyone from here made it. Or at least those on the NaNo Hatrack forum. Not sure if KayTi is on that one.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Speaking of epublishing and getting our novels ready for normal publishing.
I have been thinking about my novel and how to lengthen it. I said I would need at least 25,000 words. I'm making that 26,000 now. That would 80,000 words.
Today I decided I could easily add 1500 to bring it up to 55,500. Just add to the final scene which could use it anyway, and add a conversation or two.
But I'm not sure about adding 26,000 more words. I want to add two scenes, put in at the beginning something about abilities I gave my MC toward the end, add another couple of conversations. Maybe lengthen even more the ending. So instead of spending part of a day in the Nightland area of the Summerlands, she stays two days there. With more danger and more use of her magic which she needs to do anyway. But I don't think all of that would be 26,000 plus words. Something could come to mind when I start the rewriting but right now that's where it's at.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Yep, I made it. Never really in question, I just let things slide the last few days so it was a bit crazier than usual (last 3 years I've finished both the story and Nano at about 55k words and 2 days in advance. Today I finished 50,642 and at 5 PM, lol.)
I am not at all happy with the story, but I realized I do have some cool stuff down. Again I have to work on plot, or more particularly how I lay out events and maintain tension in a story. I think I really must plan better for my next novel, I thought I had so much figured out with this one, but I think a solid outline with scenes (and using the Bickham concepts of Goal-Conflict-Disaster or along those lines as other writers-on-writing discuss) is the way I have to go.
Posted by Delli (Member # 9202) on :
Didn't make it - got to 38802. BUT I am still very stoked with that effort
Lots of excuses I could go into for not finishing but they really don't matter.
Really happy with the story idea - and I wouldn't have come up with it if it wasn't for Nano. So, even though I didn't finish, I'm not down about it - I'm still quite proud of myself actually
Congrats to those of you that did finish - which looks to be all of you Well done
Posted by Jesse D (Member # 3241) on :
First time I've tried NaNo, and I won about an hour ago. Feels good. This is the first time I've finished a draft of a novel that I actually think might have a chance. I've got a lot of work to do before I'm ready to have people see it, but I'm pretty satisfied with it.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Congratulations to all those who made it.
Congratulations to all those who made the attempt.
- Owasm
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Thumbs up. We Rock! Some harder than others; others faster than some, but nobody is a loser.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I've seen the headlines for a couple of Nano articles but this one caught my attention.
Note from Kathleen: I have tried at least ten times to edit this to fix the link, but I guess the link is too long--it won't fix.
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited December 02, 2010).]
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
quote: Didn't make it - got to 38802. BUT I am still very stoked with that effort Lots of excuses I could go into for not finishing but they really don't matter.
Really happy with the story idea - and I wouldn't have come up with it if it wasn't for Nano. So, even though I didn't finish, I'm not down about it - I'm still quite proud of myself actually
Good, that you got that far in one month. And good that you are happy with the idea. As you seem to know you can still finish the novel. And if you try for the normal range for novels looks like your a bit over one third there.
You didn't say if this was your first time but if it is than you know what to expect next year if you do it. So this was nice practice as well as a good start on your novel
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
I have mentioned that I am going to redo the ending...at stuff. The original idea was to just drop various editions to the scenes, with maybe a little tweaking to get the new stuff to fit with the old. But today when I started the process I decided it would be a whole lot easier and probably be better writing, if I would just rewrite the whole ending adventure from scratch. I will include a lot of stuff from the original ending but it will be a whole rebuilding not just a redecoration
By around 5000 words. Will be behind by more tomorrow. It will take a big effort to catch back up as I'm away Friday through to Sunday and there is little chance I will get any writing done. I had been feeling good about my novel but am starting to wonder whether I can make it now! Bother.
