NaNoWriMo

[Camy]

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

 

Check it out.

 

The idea is to write a 50,000+ word novel during the month of November.

[SonoLuminus]

I've done this the past three years, and was successful my second year. I don't think I'll be able to participate this time, since I'll be in the process of moving in November. I might reactivate my account anyway, though.

[Trebs]

I've done this the past three years, and was successful my second year. I don't think I'll be able to participate this time, since I'll be in the process of moving in November. I might reactivate my account anyway, though.

 

Heh - you could always write a story of a gay skater who has to move into a new house, and all that it entails...

[Graeme]

I read an article about this last year, and how the number of words is the important thing, rather than quality.

 

I found the concept amusing, and I may try it one year, but I know I don't have the time to dedicate to it at the moment.

[Lugh]

heh.. when I first did this.. um six? years ago now... there were a couple thousand people doing it, now.. gads there are TENS of thousands of people doing it.

 

There is another writing motivational thing that goes on in April called "April Fools" that is fun too. The trick though is not to take these kinds of things too seriously.

[SonoLuminus]

Heh - you could always write a story of a gay skater who has to move into a new house, and all that it entails...

 

My first thought was

 

Second was...hey, that's not such a bad idea!

 

Knowing how my previous NaNos went, it wouldn't take long for ghosts to start showing up at his new house.

[C James]

It sounds like a very interesting concept! I'm not sure I like the "quality doesn't count" implication though. However, once you have your 50k word novel, if it has merit, who is to say that you can't re-work it later and fix the bad parts?

[Graeme]

It sounds like a very interesting concept! I'm not sure I like the "quality doesn't count" implication though. However, once you have your 50k word novel, if it has merit, who is to say that you can't re-work it later and fix the bad parts?

Exactly. My understanding is that there has been at least one published novel that came out of it... but I wouldn't be going into it with that as my goal. If I did it (and it won't be this year), I'd be doing it for fun.

[jalaki]

Yeah, have seen this before, know quite a few folks who have entered it in the past, but I have yet to do so myself.

 

I'd like to, but I know I can't make the commitment this year. Always next year though.

 

 

I have to second the disliking of the "quality doesn't count" but I understand the purpose for that, and hey, if you at least get something written maybe you'll write more later that's better...or fix what you wrote.

 

Still a pretty cool concept overall. Anyone around here actually gonna go for it this year?

[SonoLuminus]

The whole idea behind 'quality doesn't count' is to get you to write something rather than sitting there agonizing over perfection on your first draft, and ending up with nothing. Also, practice is practice. Some people use daily freewriting for the same purpose. It doesn't have to be publishable for it to be helpful.

 

If someone is already really disciplined and churning out great works on a regular basis, then they probably wouldn't need NaNo, but it's great for people who struggle with the 'inner editor', or who work better with deadlines and/or encouragement from others doing the same thing.

[Graeme]

I saw a recommendation from a writer that said you should try to write something everyday. It doesn't have to be part of a story -- just that you should write something.

 

That's why I have a personal blog that I try to add an entry to everyday. It's not for public consumption, but partially as a diary and partially as just plain practise.

 

While it sounds like I've been negative on this project, that's because it's just not for me. I can certainly see the advantage for many people -- once they start writing regularly they'll see the benefits and will (hopefully) keep writing

[C James]

I saw a recommendation from a writer that said you should try to write something everyday. It doesn't have to be part of a story -- just that you should write something.

 

That's why I have a personal blog that I try to add an entry to everyday. It's not for public consumption, but partially as a diary and partially as just plain practise.

 

While it sounds like I've been negative on this project, that's because it's just not for me. I can certainly see the advantage for many people -- once they start writing regularly they'll see the benefits and will (hopefully) keep writing

 

I do write a little every day, but I just bounce around between stories. I often say "to heck with it" and just blaze away at full speed if the muse strikes me, and then go back and do a "clean up" later.

 

I see your point on this project, Graeme, and it's not for me either. To me, it just isn't "done" unless it has some quality so I'd never be able to say I "finished" it.

 

However, if someone is inclined to give it a try, I think that's great!

[DarkShadow]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I could easily churn out 50,000 words of crap. I like the idea that every bit of writing is helpful, but I don't think that this is the case here. Perpetuating bad grammar, spelling, and shit content for the sake of speed just doesn't seem to be a good lesson in my head.

 

It seems to me, and I may be wrong, but effort at making your writing as good as you can as you go, without the constraints of speed seems to benefit me so much.

 

I think a better lesson, would be to take someone elses story, and do a complete rewrite. Edit it to the hilt and make it your own. In doing this, a person would become a better editor, learn new styles of writing, and most likely, read a great story!

 

I don't suppose that would ever catch on though. I think it would be interesting to see how many version of a single chapter people might come up with, with a single 'stock' story to work from.

 

To me... that would be helpful, but shoveling out mass crap... just doesn't seem very constructive. I could be wrong... lol it sure wouldn't be the first or last time for that.

[Dio]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I could easily churn out 50,000 words of crap. I like the idea that every bit of writing is helpful, but I don't think that this is the case here. Perpetuating bad grammar, spelling, and shit content for the sake of speed just doesn't seem to be a good lesson in my head.

 

It seems to me, and I may be wrong, but effort at making your writing as good as you can as you go, without the constraints of speed seems to benefit me so much.

 

I hear so many people say they could easily churn out 50K words of crap, sign up for the event, and never end up finishing. And asking someone to write around 1.6K words a day is not perpetuating bad writing, or grammar, or anything like that. It's enforcing a good habit. Nor is the idea to churn out 50K words of crap. The idea is to stop slacking and sit down and WRITE. You don't have anyone to answer to but yourself. If you can only put out 20K words of writing in the same time period by your 'quality' standard, then by all means, go nuts! It's just a great way to hook up with other like-minded people, and get yourself motivated to write more. If you just sit there for two days typing nonsense, I can see how this might be seen as a great waste of time. (And, don't get me wrong, I've read several of these types of stories and they were just as entertaining to read as the more serious ones! Half the fun was sitting near them and feeding random plot events that somehow got turned into a coherent story~~)

 

Your editing idea sounds very similar to what most nanowrimo participants end up doing AFTER the deadline, assuming it's worth re-writing and polishing.

 

At any rate, the forums are a lot of fun to visit. And local organised write-ins are not only entertaining, but educational as well. I'm looking forward to this event this year. My roommate and I have already reserved a table at the bar where our local kick-off is happening. It's so big this year they had to reserve the entire room for the night. She's already got her outline written though >_> I gotta hurry and catch-up.

 

hugz,

db

[Graeme]

The art of writing has a lot of parts. It's almost impossible to practise all of them at the same time. This project helps with two important parts -- getting into a habit of writing regularly (you can't get to 50K words unless you write regularly, and most people who do it will gear themselves to write at particular times each day) and also to exercise the imagination. If you can't think of ideas (even if they don't go anywhere or don't mesh), you're not going to get to 50K words.

 

No, it doesn't help the writer to concentrate on grammar and spelling or story flow, but it does help with other parts of the writing process.

[eternity2rock]

I actaully signed up for the nano site by the insisting of my best friend whom is doing it this year. My writing is immature..at best.lol but I agreed as a moral support for her. For me, it will just be for fun, and the main thing i want to get out of this is the ideas that i have within me, since i have just begun to let people read my ideas. Just my thoughts on this...

 

 

 

The art of writing has a lot of parts. It's almost impossible to practise all of them at the same time. This project helps with two important parts -- getting into a habit of writing regularly (you can't get to 50K words unless you write regularly, and most people who do it will gear themselves to write at particular times each day) and also to exercise the imagination. If you can't think of ideas (even if they don't go anywhere or don't mesh), you're not going to get to 50K words.

 

No, it doesn't help the writer to concentrate on grammar and spelling or story flow, but it does help with other parts of the writing process.

[Empathy]

Little off topic but does anyone have a rough idea about the conversion or difference, of word document to print. In other words; what would 1 page in standard format using MS Word translate to in printed book form.

 

I don't think I described that correctly, but I was just wondering if this were a real book where would I be progress wise; as far as pages.

[Graeme]

It depends on how you are formatting what you write. Typically on the internet most stories have a blank line between paragraphs, while in a printed book they indent the first line of the paragraph instead.

 

If you DON'T put a blank line between your paragraphs, and you are using a 12 point proportional font (like Times New Roman), then an A4 page of writing in a word processor like MS Word equates roughly to two pages in a book.

 

That's from an empirical test -- I copied a page from a Tom Clancy novel into a word processor and it took up about half a page. However, it's going to vary depending on the length of paragraphs. It should be good enough for a rough guide, though.

[Camy]

So ... It's begun.

 

My beast has a working title of 'King of the Marsh' and is a post apocalypse adventure love story set in southern England.

 

Actually, I'm really excited about it, as for once (drum roll), I have a plot well worked out in advance!

 

Camy

[Graeme]

So ... It's begun.

 

My beast has a working title of 'King of the Marsh' and is a post apocalypse adventure love story set in southern England.

 

Actually, I'm really excited about it, as for once (drum roll), I have a plot well worked out in advance!

 

Camy

Good luck!

 

Does this mean we shouldn't expect anything out of you (writing-wise) for the next month?

[Camy]

Good luck!

 

Does this mean we shouldn't expect anything out of you (writing-wise) for the next month?

What, apart from a Novel?

 

Seraph chapter 4 should be out soon.

 

Thanks for the luck. I'll be needing it, along with tankers of coffee and massages, oh and some great pastries every now and then.

 

Dio is writing as well. A SciFi epic, I believe - and he's over 6.000 words already!

 

Camy

[Dio]

What, apart from a Novel?

 

Seraph chapter 4 should be out soon.

 

Thanks for the luck. I'll be needing it, along with tankers of coffee and massages, oh and some great pastries every now and then.

 

Dio is writing as well. A SciFi epic, I believe - and he's over 6.000 words already!

 

Camy

Oh? You actually ended up planning something? Good man! lol

 

I copied this out of my blog:

 

Novel Status

Title: Sand in the Void

Chapters:

Intro(Complete)

One (complete)

Two (20%)

Words inked: 8,801

 

It's easy to write chapters when you've already planned everything out. This feels almost like cheating ccompared to last year >_> Takes friggen FOREVER for the nano site to load and update my wordcount. They don't have enough servers to cope >

 

So far I'm living on halloween candy and Tim Horton's coffee. It's been fun. Is anyone else aside from me, Camy and E2R doing this?

[Graeme]

Congratulations, Camy!

 

I notice from your signature that you made it to 50,000 words!

[Camy]

Congratulations, Camy!

 

I notice from your signature that you made it to 50,000 words!

Thanks! The last three days were a real struggle, but I got there ... now I feel oddly lost!

[Red_A]

My congratulation also. The last few days must have been hell . I did not think you would make it.