NaNoWriMo

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PetPony

PetPony

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It was EC's idea to start a thread, so here it is. Anyone else doing it this year? It's my first time and I hope I'll be able to at least reach 25,000 words so half of the goal. 🙂

I just came up with a story, so there's still a lot of planning to do.
 
Fifth year for me. 😀😀 Started in 2006, didn't participate last year because of super-busy schedule.

Only reason I let myself is because I have an outline all plotted out!! Behind already, but I took the GRE today, so...I forgive myself. 😉
 
Just looked it up because I had no idea what NaNoWriMo was. 😛 If I didn't have so much to do this month, I would be all for it. I have an idea that I've been dying to write out, but who knows if it will ever happen.
 
TwistedRose said:
Just looked it up because I had no idea what NaNoWriMo was. 😛 If I didn't have so much to do this month, I would be all for it. I have an idea that I've been dying to write out, but who knows if it will ever happen.
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I just found it yesterday, too. :laugh:
 
I've been wanting to do it for a while now and was completely set on beginning this year, but I came down with the flu at the beginning of the week and have been pretty useless since then. It's probably not too late to start now...

Why do I have to like so many things?! This is a stupid lament, but sometimes I feel like a jack of all trades, master of none type person.
 
It seems like so many people already had their stories planned out before it started. I just got started last night. You can still do it! 🙂

I've almost got 1000 words. I don't think I'll make the 50,000 but I do think I could get a good story out of it if I keep on writing.
 
PetPony said:
It seems like so many people already had their stories planned out before it started. I just got started last night. You can still do it! 🙂

I've almost got 1000 words. I don't think I'll make the 50,000 but I do think I could get a good story out of it if I keep on writing.
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Plotters vs pantsers. 😉 I am very firmly a planner/plotter.
 
nohika said:
Plotters vs pantsers. 😉 I am very firmly a planner/plotter.
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I would have planned something had I known about it before! And I didn't even have something that would've been long enough.

I looked through the plot bunny thing and found something that I combined with an idea I had before. I think I can make it long enough. But it would've really helped if I had time to think it through before.
 
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selisona said:
Why do I have to like so many things?! This is a stupid lament, but sometimes I feel like a jack of all trades, master of none type person.
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Same here. 😀 You are not alone.

PetPony said:
I just found it yesterday, too. :laugh:
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Good to know I'm not the only one! I wish I didn't have so much to do, but maybe I can write some during Thanksgiving break?
 
TwistedRose said:
Same here. 😀 You are not alone.


Good to know I'm not the only one! I wish I didn't have so much to do, but maybe I can write some during Thanksgiving break?
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I just write down ideas as they come. And I don't write a whole chapter at once. I have a few scenes started and a few flashbacks done. Because I don't know how the whole story will work out, I just write as I think of something. Which is sometimes during my five minute breaks.
 
I am always a pantser. For at least the past two years, I literally came up with my story idea November 1. Usually though I have some idea where the ending is going to be...this year I have no clue. I've basically written everything that I already knew about.
 
I think the philosophy to follow is that NaNoWriMo is less about creating a great novel and more about actually creating one in the first place. Quite the marathon indeed! I think I will get started ASAP. If I don't finish, well, I tried. It's not like I can't finish working on it in the months to follow. 😛

Anyone know what genres they will be writing?
 
selisona said:
I think the philosophy to follow is that NaNoWriMo is less about creating a great novel and more about actually creating one in the first place. Quite the marathon indeed! I think I will get started ASAP. If I don't finish, well, I tried. It's not like I can't finish working on it in the months to follow. 😛

Anyone know what genres they will be writing?
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Exactly! I have never actually gotten around to editing any of mine or making them good at all, but I've written 3 novels! :laugh:

This year I'm doing sort of a sci-fi/steampunk thing...time travel is involved, but I have no idea who my BBEG is yet.
 
selisona said:
I think the philosophy to follow is that NaNoWriMo is less about creating a great novel and more about actually creating one in the first place. Quite the marathon indeed! I think I will get started ASAP. If I don't finish, well, I tried. It's not like I can't finish working on it in the months to follow. 😛

Anyone know what genres they will be writing?
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Kind of urban-y fantasy.

Summary issss...

"Today is Ariadne's 21st birthday. It is touted by the government as the happiest year of her life - she graduates from the School of Alchemy, gets married, and is officially an adult. When Ariadne meets her husband for the first time, she isn't as happy as she thought she'd be - he's silent, ignores her, and disappears often for lengthy periods of time. One day after her work is over in the library, she is grabbed and whisked off by a mysterious figure. When she wakes up, she is underground and learns one of the most shocking secrets that the Government would literally kill to cover up...."
 
I'll post mine later when I'm on the laptop.
 
Right now it's just called "Written" because I don't know what else to call it.. :laugh:

The setting is in the future, a dystopian world. The government is made up of writers instead of politicians. But these are not normal writers. They write biographies for every single person in the nation – before they are born. Each person is assigned a previously written story and their life plays out the exact same way as the words tell them.
A girl meets the guy of her dreams on a day she has been waiting on for a long time. Every waking moment has been used to prepare for this special day that she has known about for years. But once they meet, she actually finally keeps reading her life story and realizes that it does not have a happy ending. She’s devastated because she knows there is nothing she can do about it. Or is there?
 
I've been wanting to do NaNoWriMo for a while...this year I'll be writing two more application essays instead!

John Green has a great video on YouTube about how the point of NaNoWriMo (in his opinion) is to give you permission to write something that kinda sucks, which you can then edit into something that doesn't suck, rather than to write something great in the first place, and therefore NaNoWriMo reduces the terror that a blank page can inspire.
 
PetPony said:
Right now it's just called "Written" because I don't know what else to call it.. :laugh:

The setting is in the future, a dystopian world. The government is made up of writers instead of politicians. But these are not normal writers. They write biographies for every single person in the nation – before they are born. Each person is assigned a previously written story and their life plays out the exact same way as the words tell them.
A girl meets the guy of her dreams on a day she has been waiting on for a long time. Every waking moment has been used to prepare for this special day that she has known about for years. But once they meet, she actually finally keeps reading her life story and realizes that it does not have a happy ending. She’s devastated because she knows there is nothing she can do about it. Or is there?
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That's awesome!! 😍😍
 
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I'm playing catch-up...boo.

Another 800 or so words to get caught up. Word wars are my friend...
 
You writing people are weird. :laugh: I loathe writing anything. But love reading. Go figure.
 
I'm totally behind. I only have 902 words right now. I have two more lectures to review after work and then I want to reach 1500 words tonight. Low goal because I doubt I'll get much done tonight.
 
I missed yesterday pretty much because of the GRE and then work and stuff, then had other-work stuff to do when I got home and was just like...nuuu writing, wanna play HM. Which I will be playing as soon as I'm caught up.

Work? Schoolwork? What's that...
 
washbucket said:
i've been wanting to do nanowrimo for a while...this year i'll be writing two more application essays instead!

John green has a great video on youtube about how the point of nanowrimo (in his opinion) is to give you permission to write something that kinda sucks, which you can then edit into something that doesn't suck, rather than to write something great in the first place, and therefore nanowrimo reduces the terror that a blank page can inspire.
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dftba
 
You can do it, guys! Your summaries sounded like really fun stories to read! If you finish, you should post a link or something so other SDNers can read them (unless you decide to get them published and go on to be a rich and famous author, of course 😉)
 
I totally just had to look it up, because I thought you started a thread about a Japanese anime character... 😛
 
I met my goal of 1,500 words! :laugh:

Gonna finally study a bit now and then go back to writing! 😀
 
PetPony said:
I met my goal of 1,500 words! :laugh:

Gonna finally study a bit now and then go back to writing! 😀
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I got caught up too! 👍👍 And even a little bit ahead. Been playing games all afternoon. Mad that we have no potatos, so heading to the store soon to get some so I can make these delicious garlic baked potato fries.
 
nohika said:
I got caught up too! 👍👍 And even a little bit ahead. Been playing games all afternoon. Mad that we have no potatos, so heading to the store soon to get some so I can make these delicious garlic baked potato fries.
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I wish I was all caught up. According to the timeline, there should already be 5,000 words. 😱
 
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I haaate catching up. Just hit 5k here. I'm keeping on top of it so far, but I'm not sure how well that's going to work next week with schoolwork threatening to drown me.
 
I just stopped kidding myself and decided that it's useless to keep trying to tell myself that I will study tonight. I am about to hit 2k and hopefully there will be much more. I had a few ideas and want to get them down asap.
 
equineconstant said:
I haaate catching up. Just hit 5k here. I'm keeping on top of it so far, but I'm not sure how well that's going to work next week with schoolwork threatening to drown me.
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Me too. 🙁 Another friend of mine is doing NaNo too, so we word-warred for a while and when I focus, I type relatively quickly. I'm about 700 or so words ahead and my first grad school app is due Dec. 1st, so I have to start on that stuff too. I don't know exactly how I'm going to keep on top of NaNo. 😳 But I'm going to try. 1.7k only takes me about 45 min or so if I'm warring/typing/focused. So I'm lucky there.
 
I'm a bit over 2k now. I just don't have enough ideas yet. And Mean Girls and The Wedding Crashers are a bit distracted, too. :laugh:
 
PetPony said:
I'm a bit over 2k now. I just don't have enough ideas yet. And Mean Girls and The Wedding Crashers are a bit distracted, too. :laugh:
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Sometimes it helps to browse the adoption threads on the NaNo forums. 😀 That combined with another idea I previously had is basically where my plot came from.

The dares threads are good too, I hear.

Take a break from writing and just maybe think about your characters, what they are doing, what their motivations are, etc, and see where some conflicts may come up that you can use for story fodder. 😀

I'm bakin' garlic fries! Nom!
 
My entire story this year is abou trying to use as many quotes as possible from my NaNotebook. I started carrying it around freshman year and writing down ideas and quotes and whatever good lines I came up with, and now I'm trying to use them.

Also, with sci-fi/fantasy type stories, the Seventh Sanctum generators are pretty great.
 
I'm up to 8000 words on mine- it's about the life of a lamb. I just finished gestation and parturition and the lamb is a few hours old. I think it's thrilling but everybody who read it couldn't get past the first couple paragraphs. I don't care- it gets it out of my system. :laugh: And it's educational, so it's not a waste of my time...right?
 
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Maybe when it's finished! It reads like a combination of scientific writing and James Herriot...which isn't a popular mix, apparently. It's sort of from a shepherd's point of view...except not...it's ridiculous, really. I am officially nuts. Not sure if it even counts as a novel, except in length- I tend to ramble on and on about sheep...

I'm not sure about the 50K thing though. I might have to change things a bit to get there. Does it HAVE to be?
 
Finnsheep said:
Maybe when it's finished! It reads like a combination of scientific writing and James Herriot...which isn't a popular mix, apparently. It's sort of from a shepherd's point of view...except not...it's ridiculous, really. I am officially nuts. Not sure if it even counts as a novel, except in length- I tend to ramble on and on about sheep...

I'm not sure about the 50K thing though. I might have to change things a bit to get there. Does it HAVE to be?
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If you want to win, it needs to be 50k I think.
 
How do you manage to write so much? haha
 
Do you know the tricks about not using contractions and putting a space on either side of hyphens? :laugh:
 
PetPony said:
How do you manage to write so much? haha
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There's tricks, like EC mentioned, and then there's basically how you get good at writing...
...
..
..

You write. 😀 It'll get easier the more you do it. I've been writing on and off for over ten years, and am a very fast typer because of that history. So hitting the daily wordcount comes easier to me than some other people. I've seen it quoted that you become somewhat proficient at like 1mil words or something like that. Writing is basically like a sport. The more you do, the better you get and the easier it becomes. 😀

Word wars are my other secret to a high wordcount. 😉 Nothing like some competition to get the words coming!
 
I've been writing for years, too. Just never a story that long. It's always little things. Now I'm just running out of stuff to write for this story.
 
PetPony said:
I've been writing for years, too. Just never a story that long. It's always little things. Now I'm just running out of stuff to write for this story.
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Look for the dares, adopt-an-item threads...kill off a random character, introduce a new one, conflict! 😀 It's hard to keep going when things get tough, but it's what separates people.
 
nohika said:
Look for the dares, adopt-an-item threads...kill off a random character, introduce a new one, conflict! 😀 It's hard to keep going when things get tough, but it's what separates people.
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I already got some ideas there. Changed a lot in my story. And gave me ideas for future books. :laugh:

Maybe I can find something else there tonight. I'd like to get 2k more words.
 
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