National Novel Writing Month

[girlnamedcarl]

Thanks, Moldy!

This will be my first-ever attempt at NaNoWriMo[/color]. I was panicking over what on earth I was going to write, but then I visited the Plot Generator[/color] at Teresa Nielsen Hayden's site and now feel slightly more prepared. Dammit, I can't just create out of whole cloth; I need some rules and limitations or I'll just stare, slackjawed, at an empty screen.

Are any of y'all planning to do the NaNoWriMo this year? Any advice you might have to share?

And because it never gets old -- although it does get mighty tedious -- here's[/color] Princess Sparklefuck's NaNoWriMo from a year or two ago.

[Deleted]

I'm thinking about it. I've signed up the last two years, but little has come of it. But if Sparklefuck can do it....

[girlnamedcarl]

Exactly, sporedelia! The key to NaNoWriMo isn't to write well, it's just to write, period.

[Deleted]

I wish it wasn't in November. I always start off strong but by Thanksgiving week I'm trapped in a car for 6 hours and then stuck at my parent's house where I can't hide away with a computer for any amount of time. The holiday just makes it suck.

[Deleted]

I've done Nano for the past three years and have either failed miserably due to angry pregnant hormones (2004), or dropped because the ex needed all my attention (2005). This year I plan on kicking serious novel ass. My best advice is to brainstorm and outline as much as possible right now, and jot down little plot points you want to include once you start your novel. The Nano boards can help a bit, especially if you need expert advice or specific gendre help. If you are completely stuck than I suggest hitting up the Adopt-A-Plot thread in the Plot Doctoring section and reading through the suggestions to get some ideas. Other than that I would suggest come November that you either have a word count or time that you set yourself to daily/weekly. Most people have a 2,000 words a day bench mark to ensure they can complete their novel.

November is kind of a sucky month for nano in my opinion too, for those of us who work retail it can be a hassle to juggle around that time.

As for this year's novel it is a pretty general plot line that I actually threw out in the adopt a plot thread when I wasn't sure of it, but then overnight I got some more clarity on it. I figure if I get stuck I can turn it into a zombie apocolypse, chick lit comedy, or both! As a bonus I may try to include the Oh so sparkly one into my novel somehow.

[chonies]

I signed up in 2004 and justified it as "practice" for writing my thesis. Which, of course, remains thoroughly unwritten.

[Deleted]

I once tried to schedule a NaNoWriMo meeting in Chicago--just a little writing meet-up. It was not successful. No one that promised they'd show up actually showed up except for one guy who came right when I was cleaning my stuff up and getting ready to leave. I remember he was wearing sandals without socks (in November!) and his toenails were oddly long. He also smelled of cheese. I hung around for 5 minutes of polite time and then left as soon as I could. He really only wanted to talk about his very complex SciFi story but was one of those rude people who never asked anything about you. Plus, the toenails freaked me out.

[wprock]

Heh, one of my friends is always talking this up and for a couple years she tried to get me to sign up. I think it's a great idea and it always seems like a lot of fun, but, eh. I guess I'm just not much of a writer anymore. I always have a hard time convincing myself that even if I write crappy crappy things that it'll still be worth it.


Jensational, guy sounds creepy and inconsiderate. I can't figure out why you'd go through the trouble of joining a message board and saying you'll be somewhere if you don't intend to show up.

[Deleted]

I've done it (successfully) for the past three years and haven't decided yet whether I'm doing it again this year. I'll decide on November 1st, I suppose.

Advice? Write as much as you can on the first day, and after that, 2000 words every day. You'll be a little ahead if you need to skip a day or three later on. Boring advice, but it works. I've finished early all three years.

[Benni]

I have never heard of this before and it looks like something I would love to do. Why November Why. I own a store. The only worse month for me would be December. I think I might give it a try though. My husband will be gone all this month. I do have an idea I have been kicking around for a long time.

I can't believe you have done this 3 times Calamity! You are awesome.

What type of software do you guys use?