Also, there is a lot of stuff set up there for support, encouragement... people post some cool stuff that you can use any time for writing. Plus you set up a nifty profile, and once the 1st of Nov rolls around, there will be a bar graph to chart your progress, and other things cool things. They (the organizers) put a lot of work into this.

MLs help set up write-ins (or outs, since it gets you out of your house, and into another venue) - give out goodies, etc. - basically, there are all kinds of reasons to do it if you want to - if the thought excites you! It spells the end of the one-day novelist (as in, One day I'll write a novel!).

Also, 8 NaNovels have been sold for publication, or are already published. It's a tiny amount, but it's still encouraging.

It sets a fire under your fingers with a deadline.

Most people just work on novels by themselves. Some have readers, some have writing groups, some have family. NaNo is the kick-in-your-pants some need to get writing with the goal of FINISHING sometime before they die ;-) Attending a write-in is very inspiring - hearing others typing away gets you going too. At least for a lot of people. It's like a built-in, instant support group - it provides some of what Hatrack does, but with the added knowledge that everyone is going through the same thing.

Also, the acronym for this thing is the worst ever! I was reminded of the Calvin & Hobbes comic where Calvin says that the phrase "Big Bang" was a poor one, considering the magnitude of the event in question. I would think that a bunch of writers could come up with something better than NaNdEmoMO (or whatever) .

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Average quality is 6.87.

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If anyone would like me to email them the forms for them to do the same thing, let me know and I can email them to you. They're nothing special, just a spreadsheet for sign-ups and some information pulled off the NaNoWriMo site to get potential donators interested, but it will save you some leg work.

Best Regards to All and Good Luck.

I'll give you a genre if you give me some names.

Couldn't think of anything.

Spent the next 4 hours reading blogs and talking to friends.

Yeah, I'm ready. hee hee hee

I really need at least a working title. I guess I'll try to start sometime today, anyway.

So today, my goal will be to EXPAND and SLOW DOWN instead of writing the broad strokes.

Having written around 500 words, it is becoming clear to me that the genre will be urban fantasy of some flavor. Probably garlic.

I've got two characters (Tony and Uncle Al), a missing mother, and a mysterious embroidered shower curtain. I have no idea where this is going to go *G*.

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Only 42,992 words to go! Woo-hoo!

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So you added another 7,000 words? I'm so jealous.

Math is hard.

And here I was thinking that you did some special Beth-magic to get all those words so quickly. I can see it now:

bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon...(7000 more bacons here)...bacon bacon bacon.

*crumples up her treatise on bacon and throws it in the fire... then realizes she lives in southern california and the fireplace has nothing in it but air.*

Brain dead now. Must find coma to crawl into. There is so much exposition and pointless stuff in this first part. I've given info and personality info for each horse in the barn and a bit about the area.

Word for the day today was Alpenglow.

Oh yeah, the other trick I'm doing: The first line is "It was a dark and stormy night." Which I will use to start any area that I find myself staring at screen for 5 mins with no fluff coming.

still at 8 words. Really should start typing soon. But oh, look, I think I'll go watch TV first. That's important.

To generate my two new characters I chose a Ben Folds Five song to listen to ("The Last Polka") which is about a dying relationship, and I just wrote that scene. Ben Folds can be great at describing interesting relationships, which is why I chose him.

I didn't quite make the quota for the day, but I came pretty close: 1188 words.

Oh, the surprises. I had no idea that my MC spent most of his time stoned until tonight. Now I am kind of regretting all the time I spent not hanging out with the stoners behind the gym; I am just making it up. If any of you have extensive experience with being stoned and wouldn't mind talking about it to me, please send me e-mail. I won't rat you out to anyone, promise.

I'm struggling to get off the ground. But then, I did have Ladies Auxiliary Enrichment meeting tonight. It was a children's Christmas book review. Kind of dementor experience for me, really.

I used to date a stoner, it wasn't really obvious. Perhaps because I never knew him before he was a stoner. He was just really pleasant, mellow, and spineless, except for when it came to giving up pot. He's a Presbyterian minister now.

2-thousand-something words and counting. So far I have 3 nomadic tribes, 3 kingdoms, 2 prophecies with a third on the way, and words like Heuwameix, which is a specific type of prophecy... I have 5 types, and I may only use 2 or 3. Words for types of earthquakes, rain... ooh, need words for fires.

*starts writing again*

A poem my mother taught me when I was very young:

Birdie, birdie, in the sky,
Dropping whitewash in my eye.
Gee, I'm glad that cows can't fly!

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Congrats to everyone for getting off to a good start yesterday (at least I hope you all have...must go check NaNo boards...).

Only 1667 words per day, that's nothing, right?!