NaNoWriMo

KingLoser

I've started my novel this month...

So in November, I'm gonna crunch out a 50,000 word version of it. The entire thing will be wrote in November, every single word... does that count as cheating?

Phototoxin

Ugh Its embarrassing, but I tried to begin the editing process on my NaNoWriMo and the writing was so appalling that I had to stop. The overall quality (!) of the first draft was too low, I think, to even merit a full editing so I decided to put it aside for now and work on keeping my quality higher throughout the writing next time I do it.

balls dude, you're not writing a novel per se, you're writing a draught which will BECOME a novel ! Hang in there.

Also I am on it too.

luckat

First drafts are meant to be sucky. They're where you get to know your characters and their stories and their neuroses and hangups and virtues and heroism, and where a good solid scenario and a place where it happens appear.

If it's too bad to edit, sit down and write a second draft from what you've got in your head from the first. Then a third. Then a fourth. Writing the same novel each time.

You'll find that you're in more control of your material each time.

Antilles

Alright, well I didn't manage to salvage much of my last attempt, but it was the first time I'd tried anything of the sort.I'm giving it another go this year, and have taken tomorrow and the day after off work so I'll have a nice five day stretch with the bank holiday to work on my outline and character bio's.Planning on getting my entire plot down by Tuesday, which should improve the quality a bit (fingers' crossed).

I'm also going to break away from the 1,667 words a day thing. This year, I'm planning on two days of 2,500 words each, and then one day of revision and review, which should also help the quality.

Blush_01

I've had an idea in my head for a short story for almost a year now. I think I could flesh it out to the full 50,000 and it might encourage me to beat the nasty case of writer's block I've been having.

God loves a trier, and I just want to be loved!

Wish me luck.

marie_85

Signed up today for the first time. Really just need to get into the habit of writing every day and learning how to express my ideas. I don't expect anything salvageable to come out of what I write, but then again, maybe I'll surprise myself!

Matt Holck

It will be a unwanted christmas present
again

lemon_sherbert

I did it last year, and since October began, I've been itching to start. Last year's 50,000 words made the bulk of the plot of what I hope will eventually be my first novel, (far, far in the future) but I've shelved it for a bit to think on it and revise. This year's effort is going to be different, but I loved the experience of last year. My quality improved as I went, and I lost all the self consciousness of writing.

Plus all the winners from last year got an offer to get a printed, binded manuscript for free from createspace.com, so I might even design a cover and get a mock up done for the laugh!

jw297

I've just signed up to this for the first time, not sure what Ive let myself in for....
I really want to get writing, and this seems like a good way to kick-start things, but just wondering what other people feel they have got out of it in previous years, apart from 50,000 words?

luckat

Got out of it? Red eyes and a sense of permanent crazed exhaustion.

Look on the site - Dublin or Ireland-elsewhere in the regional boards - for meetings every Saturday.

Spyral

Not many meetings though in the other regions

el_tiddlero

i'm scared.. what if i don't make it??

luckat

Pop over to Paris. There, they have writeathons in Starbucks three days a week during Nanowrimo.

The Mad Hatter

luckat wrote: »

Got out of it? Red eyes and a sense of permanent crazed exhaustion.

Look on the site - Dublin or Ireland-elsewhere in the regional boards - for meetings every Saturday.

Damnit, I work every Saturday!

I've signed up. Not sure if anything's gonna come of it, as I'm usually extremely busy anyway, but we'll see.

If anything, it's a good excuse to write the book that's been playing bits in my head for the last while.

Edit: site keeps crashing, though...

Antilles

The site is unbearably slow this year. I keep getting timeouts. I have only been able to update my word count once since November 1st

Matt Holck

I will try to get the will to write tonight

Spyral

the site is WAAAAAAAAAAAAY slow and makes it painful but its good because it stops you procrastinating on it (procrasitnating on boardsie is always a kicker though..)

luckat

They need new servers - that's why they're asking people to donate $10. I've donated - it's a great site.

This week's pep talks for writers - which come as emails - are from Philip Pullman (author of the His Dark Materials books), and Jonathan Stroud (author of the Bartamaeus Trilogy).

Phototoxin

I'm only on 11K words

luckat

Phototoxin wrote: »

I'm only on 11K words

*Only*? Are you out of your mind? That's fantastic! That's 11,000 words more than you'd written a fortnight ago. You have characters, a story, funny and tragic and disastrous things happening to them, a world you've created.

Very well done! Keep writing.

Matt Holck

this incenntive only compounds my failure

Phototoxin

17000 words since middle of the thing. Its now 1 week away and I cannot write 33k in that time..


still more than my dissertation in 2 weeks is good !

Antilles

OMG!

At the end of a day's writing, I always highlight everything I have written that day so I can see what the wordcount for that section is. I had a really good day on Friday and knocked out about 5k words.

I had to take a break over the weekend and just came back to the doc to find that the entire two chapters are missing from Friday. All the other edits I made that day, including the name of the following chapter, are still there - but the stuff I highlighted after my writing on Friday is just... gone.

I think I must have hit a letter between highlighting the text and saving. Now instead of being 4k down for not writing at the weekend, I'm 9k down instead.

Argh! Thank god the last two days of this thing are the weekend so I might stand a chance to catch up, but man I'm hurting right now!

Antilles

Anybody else still working on this? I hit 45k words this morning, am going to write some more after dinner tonight.

el_tiddlero

finished on saturday night at about 3 am for a grand total of 50,250 including those magical words, "the end"

anyone else get there?

lemon_sherbert

It's a great feeling, isn't it? I finished too, for the second year trying. Though I think I might well give it a miss next year, it's going to seriously affect my exam results...:o

Antilles

Its good to be a winner!

el_tiddlero

wahey, congratulations to you both.. 2 in a row is mightily impressive Lemon.

yeah it's a wild old ride alright, although i did find myself doing more on weekdays after work than i did on any of the weekends (apart from the last one) which i thought was weird. Usually i always use being tired after work as an excuse to not do anything, guess i blew that one out of the water.

until next year brave soldiers!!

The Mad Hatter

Well done to everyone who finished. I gave up like the weakling I am. (And because I had far more important work to do. And because I was only 3000 words in after two weeks.)

But I'll definitely try again next year.