NaNoWriMo?

Or Emeril...

 

I think it's worth noting that on the iTunes store, in the podcasts section (so it's free), there is a NaNoWriMo podcast! Search the term "writing" in the iTunes search feature, click on the podcasts section, and there ya go!

I havent had the chance to listen to it yet (I'm about to lay down and make my judgement call), but I thought some of you might be interested.

Hmm. I wonder what they have to say...

-D

 

i just spent a month writing a 25,000-word piece of crap. i kept going because i already did the entire outline and i told myself, "you're going to regret it if you don't finish this story."

now that i'm done, i find there isn't a single aspect of this "story" that i like. i just know this is going to be one of those things that will put me to shame in 20 years, 10 years... hell, next week.

nanowrimo? if it means the opportunity to write even worse crap that is twice as long, i think i'm gonna have to pass...

 

I signed up last year and just didnt have the time to get anything flowing. This year i think it might be different. I actually have a goal, and feel it can be achieved. Novemeber is a good month for Procrastinators for me step up... or wait another year.

I know what i'll produce will be way below standard, but if November means i can get 50,000+ words of ideas and imagination onto something, it will be worth every single moment. Also means December will be busy as well patching up all my awfulness. Which can only help me improve right? We'll see.

 

Man, this year I'm definitely going to give this a shot.

I have never in my life been able to write that much on one topic, let alone in one month. It'll be a challenge, especially because it's in the middle of Yr 11 exams for me. . . but I know next year I won't get a chance to do it. So this should be great fun.

Last year i was going to do it, but I realised that it was NaNoWriMo on the 27th of November. Oops.

I have a half assed idea, but to me writing 50,000K of crap will be worth it. Why? Because it'll unclog the drain and make me write faster, which will be especially handy next year in my English, Literature and History classes.

 

Hmm I sort of see your point Cog, but as someone who two years ago had never even gotten close to finishing a story because of an over-active internal editor, these month-long challenges are fabulous.

Two years ago I would angst over every line, and never get the damn thing done. I discovered NaNo in 2006, too late to actually participate, but there are other challenges out there - JanNo and April Fools being my personal favourites.

My first challenge was JanNo in 2007. I missed the target but I wrote 26K - which was about 22K more than I'd ever written on one piece before, lol. But the real lesson was that the first draft is supposed to be very rough. For me, discovering I didn't have to hit perfection the first time around was liberating.

That doesn't mean I go for quantity over quality - I still try to write the best I can, but I don't get hung up on perfecting every detail. I make notes and move on.

So yes, I'll be going NaNo this year. I'm misaditas over there if anyone gets the urge to buddy me, but I don't tend to post on the boards much. They're a little overwhelming.

 

Truth is, despite what I said last year, I've decided to give it a try this year. My goal is not to write a finished novel in a month, but as I mentioned last year, to lay down the bones and musculature of my Frankenstein's monster, and then take a couple months after that to flesh it out, clean it up, and apply the lipstick.

I did take a month to come up with a storyline, some proto-characters, some subplots, and do some technical research (it's sci-fi), so I'll be a little better prepared to dive into it on Saturday.

From that point on? We shall see.

 

Ha, well, Cog, you've got more lined up than I do. I've got a major plot and the main characters, but that's about it.

 

I'm just going to use NaNo as a reason to write everyday without that pesky 'internal editor' that I sometimes just want to shoot. It prevents me from actually writing anything of any particular length, and I think it will be a great experience.

Even if the material I have written is crap, I'm still fleshing out ideas for this story that's been itching to escape my brain for about 2 years now. I'll learn what works and what doesn't, which is an invaluable lesson for me.

 

Is it wrong that I read that and immediately thought of Rocky Horror?



I've no intention of finishing either, but just getting 50,000 words of reasonable quality into a document. Especially seeing as my one-shot wonder seems to be rapidly turning into a mini-series.

Why can't I keep anything simple?

 

If you were in the USA these days, you'd probably have thought of Sarah Palin instead.

 

My chances of managing 50,000 are pretty much down the drain before I've even started. I've to hand in 5,000 words worth of assignments two weeks into December, and seeing as I need to research case law, articles and commentary, that's going to eat up my time. The most I can hope is that I can write a few thousand words at weekends when I'm not working or going out. I'm still having a pop at it though. As I said before, it's a challenge, and it should unblock my mind for the Christmas holidays when I can sit down and do some time at the keyboard.

 

Woot, under 24 hours till kickbutt no more procrastination time.

My first attempt...was ganna plan some stuff out before starting, but last two weeks have been hectic and i'll be starting off with no idea.

NO way im ganna complete anything.... if anything i'll just spend the 50,000 words writing three, maybe four chapters (i do tend to have a BS detail factor)...which will just help me when i need to edit after the month.

Looking foward to it, spent last two days writing about 8k words, so...the exercise went Okay

 

And this is why they tell you not to drink at the computer

 

I agree. I am using NaNo as a reason to just write.

 

Geez, im guessing their website must lag like a mother neither the start.

First i couldnt log on because it was to busy, now im getting the dreaded 404! lovely

 

They just reported on Twitter that they had a disk failure. They say that it does lag like a mother for the first couple of days.

 

Thank you. You put my mind at rest.


Im trying to get a few of my mates into this (we are going to swap stories after and see how we all did).

You can register after the 1st? (i hope so)

 

I think so. I'd leave it a couple of days as the site is always manic at first.

I just want it to be November already. I'm brimming with ideas. Which given previous challenges will most probably all evaporate as soon as the clock passes midnight.

All prepped though. I have a new MP3 player (the old one died yesterday!) and an actual outline (a first for me) and I want to get going!!!

 

I'm doing one thriller in a European language and an English-language fanfiction. It's day 2 where I am and I have more than 7,700 words for the fanfiction, which is pretty much on target.

Yes, the NaNo site is slow. You have to count your words in your original file, and then write the number in the spot on your Edit Novel page inside the NaNo site. You can't put in the whole text and have them count it.