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Everyone I know is doing it apparently, so this is a bit of a stretch for me - I'm actually considering doing it.
Writing 50K words is a daunting task for me I admit, and I can almost guarantee that (1) it won't be done by the end of the month, and (2) it's gonna suck.
Maybe this way I can better appreciate the effort you guys go through.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I am thinking this year is the year. I haven't written anything since my masters thesis in May. It is like writing that dang thing turned me off writing, but I want to get back into writing. I think since editing is pretty much forbidden this might be just the thing. But I have been wondering where the usual thread is and considered starting my own, but was too lazy (and since I am not yet 100% committed...)
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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My husband is badgering me to do it, but I don't know that I will. I did go ahead and re-establish my account, since it seems to have disappeared since the last time I tried NaNo. So, no guarantees that I'm even going to log in again, but my username is the same as here.
posted
I've just moved to a different country and am about to start a new job, so this must be the perfect time to write a book... right? Anyway, we'll see what happens, but I'll be having a go. Another YA writer here - I just can't get excited about writing anything else.
My user name is the same there as here, and I full intend to friend you all if you don't mind, as I'm going to need all the friends I can get.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have a question out of curiosity: how private are the things we write and the submissions?
I'm currently developing an alternate reality game, and am considering expanding the story I have in mind in to something much larger, but that would mean I'd write it all before the game launched. Because of the nature of an ARG, I don't want to disclose what I write until after the game is completed.
So how does this work in that sense? It seems that, as I write, I need only update my word count, and it's my choice (and not a requirement) to make available snippets of what I write for review. But,a t the end of the month, what happens?
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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If you read the FAQ on the site, they tell you a simple way to scramble it for submission purposes.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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I might just do it offline. I think I can do 10,000 words a day. But I'll make my goal 5,000, maybe. The most important thing to do if you want to become a writer is just to write, right?
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I'm going to write a short story, as I have a deadline I want to make at the end of November... and I'm going to be doing my practicum, so novels are out unless I want to die.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I tried it last year and ran into some odd plot issues. I'm still undecided about trying it again this year, because classes and homework are eating me alive this semester. I'm thinking I'll try, but instead of trying for the word goal I'm just going to make my goal actually sitting down and writing something every day.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I've been kicking a novel idea around in my head for the last couple years, so I think I'm going to use NaNoWriMo to knock out a big chunk. I haven't written any fiction I was serious about before. I'm ottonomy on the site, so be my writing buddy!
I'll be writing some earth-based sci-fi about war and social networking.. we'll see how that goes. The NaNoWriMo format seems like it might be good to get a big chunk written.. Probably much of it will need a rewrite later, but can't get to that step until I've done a first draft to see how things come out.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: Jan 2001
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I'm gearing up to do this again, but I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write.
No idea what genre, no idea what plot, no idea about anything except that I'm going to write 50,000 words that involve some characters doing some stuff. But I'm going to do it this year. I'm no longer in school, so I now have the time.
50,000/30 days = 1667 words per day
Come on fingers, we can do it!
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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For years, I tried to time my novels to be able to get into the NaNoWriMo craze but it never worked out and historically, November has been a bad month. I'm usually traveling the whole week of Thanksgiving and one year, I had a baby.
This year, there's nothing to stop me except that I stopped trying to be motivated by other people's time tables. I've started my novel this week and while I fully expect to pound out 50k or more words in a month, I have no intention of waiting until November 1st when I'm eager to write today. When the mood strikes, that's when I write.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'm with you, Christine. This will be my first novel and I'm so eager to start it today. I am pushing myself to wait until November, however, if only because I need to do some more free focused association on it to at least have a very general idea of which direction I'm going. I'm a very organic writer, but I'm trying to incorporate some structure to I don't start to flounder about half-way through. I know myself too well.
But the waiting is killing me! Luckily, I'm excited enough about this story that the urge to write just grows with time, unlike some other plots I've had. Sometimes I run out of motivation if I ignore a plot for a couple of weeks, and I know that that really wasn't the right story for me. But this one's begging to be written and won't let me sleep. I think it's a good sign. Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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That prep work is important, IMO. There's a balance to be struck between planning and overplanning, of course, but if I don't have a few good plot points worked out ahead of time, it's easy to get stuck. When I have the whole thing mapped out I will still have new scenes pop into my head and demand to be inserted, but I am much less likely to lose interest in the overall story.
I'm working on my first sequel right now. I've only ever written stand alone novels before. I finished book one last week (except for line editing) and book two was demanding to be written. I'm beginning to think I might have not done quit enough prep work, but I'm letting it grow anyway and see where it goes. Today I wrote an "insert scene here" and skipped to something I was dying to write.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I've never used an outline or anything before; of course, I generally write stories that are only about 10,000 words. But it's been helpful this time because it's allowing me to see early on the places where my story is thin and needs more meat, and it's forcing me to imagine more trouble for my protagonists before I get started.
I've done that thing where I skip ahead to write scenes I really want to do, but it never works for me. I always end up rewriting them when I come back to them in the normal course of the story. But often the second version is better than the first, so maybe in those cases it did help. *shrug* I might have ended up writing them twice, anyway.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I've done that thing where I skip ahead to write scenes I really want to do, but it never works for me. I always end up rewriting them when I come back to them in the normal course of the story. But often the second version is better than the first, so maybe in those cases it did help. *shrug* I might have ended up writing them twice, anyway.
Yeah, that's true for me, too, but since those are often exciting scenes I don't mind writing them twice. And as you say, the second time is usually stronger.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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God help me, I think I'm actually going to try it this year. I'm signed up as starLisa (what can I do? Lisa was taken).
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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49,980 left for me. But checking hatrack after every sentence is not going to be a good technique.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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At first I thought I'd just have to pass again on NaNoRiMo, but I actually changed my mind and signed up today. If I actually pull this off it will be the first novel I've ever written (keep dreaming I'll be a professional writer some day but never do a dang thing about it except brain-storming and writing the occasional poem). All I've got is an initial premise of a generic medieval-type town with a bridge with a troll that doesn't eat humans and a big silver church bell that randomly (or is it random? DUNDUNDAAA!) plummets out of the sky into the middle of the town. I'm going to actually start writing tomorrow (hopefully, unless I stay my usual lazy do-nothing self). I don't want to overthink this too much cause this is supposed to be about quantity-not-quality and I'm curious to see where a more stream-of-conscious story would go. And my thoughts on Darth Mauve's premise: there need be no explanation for including a cane in a story; like dragons or David Bowie, I think they immediately up the entertainment factor of anything by at least 79%.
Posts: 132 | Registered: Feb 2009
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1,665 words. I'll live with it for the night. Besides, I already need to figure out the next step in plot progression. But considering I decided I would try again today and didn't have a plot this morning, I'd say it's better than I would have thought.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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1962. I decided to go with something entirely new (well, for me). I have a vague idea of the plot (they are on a quest and I know why 2 of the characters are there, also know their is a third character who shows up eventually. I am hoping the first bit is going slow because I am still deciding things like names and occupations and relationships.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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I've had too much going on this week (and even more going on next week!). I'm at work until 10.30 pm at the moment so it's resonably hopeless. But I'm not giving up yet, and there's a new Thea Gilmore album out now - her songs always help me write...
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I started the week before, like I said, but I've just done 39k in a little over two weeks which I still think is pretty good. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I hit 15k- which for people doing the math means I am pretty much right on schedule. I was a little ahead, but then we went camping and it is hard to write and hike. I am amazed at how much I am writing though. I haven't been this productive in a long time. And while a lot of scenes are not good, there are many that are not bad. And overall, the characters and plot have a lot of promise. I am glad I am doing this and am much much more committed then I was on day one. Though my outline for some upcoming chapters include- something needs to happen here. I have a plot point A and C, but I know that they can't follow each other directly. Right now, I have written mostly in order, but I might need to just leave the something happening scenes for a bit.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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I punched through this in about a week but I'm not going to bother going through the infinite revision process. I just abandoned the story so that my brain can re-absorb it for creative nutrients.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Christine, I don't know if you have already, but you should sign up for nano. If you confirm that you have 50k words Nov 25-30, you get a free proof copy of your novel from create space. As long as you set everything to private when you upload the novel, it does not affect your publication rights in any way (legally, it is the same as if you had kinko's print out one copy for you which is the same as if you did it on your own computer). But no point missing out on the freebies if you did the work.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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For the free proof, you have 6 months to edit and change. On the nano boards, several people are planning on using it on their nano books from 2008 that are now edited.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Well, that may be worth taking advantage of, then.
I've started calling my first drafts exploratory drafts rather than rough drafts because it seems like a better description. Even though I do planning before I start exploring, inevitably, about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the story, there is some fundamental weakness that has to be addressed. I barely take a breath between my exploratory draft and my second draft, and only then do I let anyone else see what I've done.
I will say this much for NaNo -- it's a great structure for those exploratory drafts, which is exactly when I want to just get lost in the flow of writing without stopping to think too much. Sometimes, I can write subsequent drafts at that speed but I never want to set those kinds of goals when it's time to take more care of the words.
What I really need to do in the next six months, though, is probably not rewrite this so much as shop around the two completed novels I have collecting dust. I hate marketing. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I think marketing is why I am not a real writer. I like to write and show my family, but I lack the drive to really try to get it out there. Of course, maybe now that I have a bit more time and sanity, I'll be more up for the challenge.
I also think I need to go to the other side and find an editing buddy. I actually enjoy editing other people's stuff for big picture stuff, but I am awful at line editing (I think that is the right term- basically the nitty gritty should there be a comma here stuff).
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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quote:Originally posted by scholarette: I also think I need to go to the other side and find an editing buddy. I actually enjoy editing other people's stuff for big picture stuff, but I am awful at line editing (I think that is the right term- basically the nitty gritty should there be a comma here stuff).
Actually, I usually call big picture stuff a critique and the nitty-gritty editing. I've never actually had an editing buddy. I've trusted several people with my novels for critique and I find that valuable. Sometimes they also notice typos and I make the proper changes, but I have actually come to the conclusion that a writer needs to be their own editor, for the most part. If it gets accepted by a reputable publisher, there will be professional editors to smooth out the rest of the bumps. My novel, "Touch of Fate," actually went through 3 separate editorial reviews before it hit print and each time, they found another bump or two. It never seems to end.
If your stuff is very rough, I recommend more practice. If you're just blind to the rough edges that could keep your stuff permanently slush-bound, there are places that you can hire to edit manuscripts and they're not even that badly priced.
I mean, anyone can spot a few mistakes whenever they pass through a story, but I just really think my buddies aren't any better at editing than I am.
Do you hang out on the writing portion of this forum? I used to, many years ago, and it was a great place to get started. Then I went to OSC's boot camp and joined Codex, which requires some publication or by-audition experience. That's where I find my critique buddies. There are some other sites out there but I felt Hatrack offered a cozier atmosphere, or at least it did back when I was insanely active on it.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I used to hang out on the other side, but got busy with life and grad school and just stopped. This is the first time this year that I have written anything "fun."
It seemed like there were many writers over there that had numerous editing mistakes and were looking for those to be fixed. In general, unless it is bad enough to distract from the story, I skip over typos and forgotten commas when I read (when I am editing my own work and rereading every sentence to pick the exact right word, I tend to find my errors). If the editing errors are so bad it interferes with the story, it is usually a good sign that the story really is not ready to be critiqued.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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It seemed like there were many writers over there that had numerous editing mistakes and were looking for those to be fixed. In general, unless it is bad enough to distract from the story, I skip over typos and forgotten commas when I read (when I am editing my own work and rereading every sentence to pick the exact right word, I tend to find my errors). If the editing errors are so bad it interferes with the story, it is usually a good sign that the story really is not ready to be critiqued.
I used to do a lot of crits over there but in recent years, I've been a bit more selective about what I will crit. Numerous editing errors are one thing, but I won't read anything by a writer without a basic grasp of spelling grammar, and syntax. I used to try to guide these people through their first 13 (because the first 13 lines were enough to tell me exactly what was wrong with their story anyway) but my advice was rarely appreciated. I think I walked out for the last time right after *yet another* lengthy discussion involving people who didn't understand why no one volunteered to read their entire stories and complaining that people were unfairly judging a mere 13 lines.
But having said that, it's a great place to get started and I was always amazed how much raw talent I saw. I'm still in contact with some of them.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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But I have been wondering where the usual thread is and considered starting my own, but was too lazy (and since I am not yet 100% committed...)
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