NaNoWriMo?

[anonymous dreamer]

Hey guys! This is my first thread ever, so here goes I guess!

 

So recently, I found this flyer here at my college about a meeting for anyone who wants to participate in nanowrimo this year. I've never heard of it before, so I decided to do some research on it. For you guys like me who didn't know what it was, nanowrimo is short for national novel writing month. The main objective of nanowrimo is during the whole entire month of november, you try to complete a novel of 50,000 or more words. The motto is quantity over quality. They don't expect you to write anything groundbreaking or something Shakespearian. It's all about trying to write something without worrying about the long time that's associated with novel writing.

 

When I learned about what it was, I got really excited. I've always been meaning to write, and I currently have two storylines swimming around in my head. I've previously tried to write in the past, but everytime I tried to sit down and work on it, I would always write three sentences, get frustrated, and give up. So when I learned about nanowrimo, I got excited about it, because it seemed like the solution to my writer's-block-itis.

 

But I'm still not sure if I wanna do it. First, 50,000 words is seriously a lot. I'm in my first semester of college as a freshman, and I'm still struggling with time management as it is. Adding 50,000 words to my to-do list in college seems like a suicide wish. Plus, writing never came naturally to me, and it's a skill that I've been meaning to work on. So I'm scared it'll be more difficult for me as an individual to write a novel, with my current writing abilities. Another thing is I'm still not completely out of the closet yet. This meeting for nanowrimo is about meeting other kids who wanna write, talking about their stories and ideas, and supporting each other in the writing process. The story that I have in mind is one that involves gay characters, and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable sharing it with others. And it's not like I don't wanna share out of fear of prejudice or anything like that. My school is extremely liberal, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind. It's more of a personal issue I guess.

 

That being said, I just wanted to ask for some advice. Should I do it? Should I not? Considering the community here at GA of all places, has anyone ever attempted to do nanowrimo? If so, any tips or suggestions for a newbie like me if I decide to do it? And even if you've never done it before, any advice on the writing process in general would be greatly appreciated too!

 

This meeting is actually tomorrow, so this thread is really short notice. Sorry about that! So any comments and suggestions would really be great!

 

Thanks a ton!

-John =)

[Nephylim]

Definitely do it. There are quite a few here on GA who are doing it... there's a thread somewhere about it. I did it last year. Death by Dreaming is the story I wrote. It's a fabulous feeling. You set up your page and you keep a running total of the words you've written and it's exciting to see the purple bar go up and up. You may not finish it, that's okay, although you get a cool certificate if you do

 

As for the story you write, you don't have to be gay to write a gay story. You don't have to admit anything other than that you are interested in exploring that area. Take a look at some Yaoi pictures for inspiration and you can then say that you came upon Yaoi and thought it would be intersting to write a story based on that kind of thing. If you're creative there are all sorts of reasons to come up with if necessay without having to admit you're gay.

 

Anyway I digress and am probably talking a load of shit but I love NaNoWriMo and I would heartily recommend anyone to do it especially if you have a group to do it with. Think about how excited you all will be and you will make new friends and have a whole new sense of achievement.

 

The main thing is not to get too hung up on the story. As you said its the quantity and not quality, so just sit down and write whatever comes into your head. It's surprising how quickly a few thousand words can flow out of your fingers

 

There are 30 days in November so that's a target of 1666 words a day. It's not like writing an essay because it's fun

 

 

[anonymous dreamer]

Whoops! Silly me! I didn't know that there were other threads about nanowrimo already!

 

And yea, I think I am gonna do it. Or at least I'll go to the meeting tomorrow and see how it is. And I guess if the topic of my story comes up, I could always make up some vague answer or something.

 

I'm really excited about this, because I've seriously been meaning to write some stories for the longest time. I just hope I can finish it! 50000 words on top of a college schedule is gonna equal out to a looong month... >.> haha

 

Thanks again Nephy!

[Zeoanne]

Hey John! Have you tried using "Write or Die"? it's a system that forces your brain to work, work, work.... You set up how many words you're going to write in how ever many minutes you choose and trust me, your brain just jumps out of it's cage and start coming up with ideas on what you want to write. If you sit idle for a few seconds it will start flashing forcing you to come up with the next thoughts. Write on what ever and overlook the mistakes/misspells, etc. The first time I used it I set it for 500 words in fifteen minutes, ended up writing over 600 and that was the beginning of a story I've been working on. Talking about that, I really need to use WorD again, my story's just sitting here collecting dust! UGH!

I've been thinking of doing NaNo this year also, we'll see...

Good luck hun!

 

Oops, forgot to add the link... http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

Edited October 29, 2010 by Rush

[Lugh]

um I think this is my 10th year... maybe 9th... maybe 11th... I'd actually have to count. Anyway this year's nano thread can be found here.

 

It's probably best to try for 2500 words the first two weeks of November if you can because of the holidays near the end. Anyway, we sometimes gather in chat to whine (or I do) or get encouragement from each other and everyone else. The people here are very good about it.

 

Welcome aboard.

[anonymous dreamer]

Hi Rush! I've never heard of the write or die thing, but it sounds really helpful! Thanks! It'll definitely come in handy on Nov 29 I think haha XP

Ya'know there really should be something like this for life. Especially in college! i would seriously be able sleep then!

 

Hi Lugh! Thanks for the link. Expect me to be a regular whiner in that thread in the future too! XP

[Nephylim]

Whoops! Silly me! I didn't know that there were other threads about nanowrimo already!

 

And yea, I think I am gonna do it. Or at least I'll go to the meeting tomorrow and see how it is. And I guess if the topic of my story comes up, I could always make up some vague answer or something.

 

I'm really excited about this, because I've seriously been meaning to write some stories for the longest time. I just hope I can finish it! 50000 words on top of a college schedule is gonna equal out to a looong month... >.> haha

 

Thanks again Nephy!

 

Who needs sleep

 

Hey John! Have you tried using "Write or Die"? it's a system that forces your brain to work, work, work.... You set up how many words you're going to write in how ever many minutes you choose and trust me, your brain just jumps out of it's cage and start coming up with ideas on what you want to write. If you sit idle for a few seconds it will start flashing forcing you to come up with the next thoughts. Write on what ever and overlook the mistakes/misspells, etc. The first time I used it I set it for 500 words in fifteen minutes, ended up writing over 600 and that was the beginning of a story I've been working on. Talking about that, I really need to use WorD again, my story's just sitting here collecting dust! UGH!

I've been thinking of doing NaNo this year also, we'll see...

Good luck hun!

 

Oops, forgot to add the link... http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

 

 

Yeah you naughty naughty girl you have left me hanging for long enough

[Zeoanne]

Who needs sleep

 

 

 

 

Yeah you naughty naughty girl you have left me hanging for long enough

 

I'm sorry darlin'. I don't know anyone around here so I don't go out. I can't even talk to my own family for they are always TELLING me what to do and I find myself not knowing how to get out of the hole. My flame's almost out.

[phana14]

I'm sorry darlin'. I don't know anyone around here so I don't go out. I can't even talk to my own family for they are always TELLING me what to do and I find myself not knowing how to get out of the hole. My flame's almost out.

 

"Momma's" flames are NEVER EVER allowed to go out, you silly goose!