I'm planning to give it a try. Planned to last year as well, but some things came up and it ended up not happening. But I've already got a project pretty well laid out and the idea is that nano will give me the motivation to actually knock it out. Though I do need to finish up a few more details before then or else I'll have an excuse to not do it at all, hahah.
Already started my outline, a few more chapters and I think I can do it. Still have time before November so it looks good. I did 30k in July, so its close to double for November. I think I will give it a shot, I had a lot of fun last month and it didn't mess with my schedule too much. I just need to get off to a good start. Good luck for anyone who is going to give it a try.
Hi there, I am new here. I have been enthusiastically researching for a non-fiction book for 3 years now and I really need to get started with the writing, but am not sure how to go about it. I have a basic structure/ chapters, but having never written a book before I guess I just don't know if I can do it. I have released poetry and songs, but this book is a whole other ball game. I heard about the November book challenge and wonder if it could be the push I need, especially the support of being part of a community of writers. Do you think it could be suitable for a beginner like myself? Thank you
I tried NNWM in 2010 but I discovered that it really didn't suit me. It led to a lot of plot padding to get to the daily requirements. It sort of made editing my story afterwards a nightmare. Not to mention every year since then I've gotten busier and busier. But one of these years I might try NNWM with fanfiction.
@etherealcalc They are like NaNo in the sense that you only have one month for the challenge but they are held in April and July and you are able to choose your own word count rather than sticking to 50,000 words each time. You are also given a virtual 'cabin' in which there will be other members of the same challenge so that you can have a support group (and a bit of a challenge if you want to see if you can beat how quickly anyone else is progressing, haha, but that's up to you). You can find more about them on their dedicated website - http://campnanowrimo.org/ - but I would definitely recommend giving it a go
Yeah, it definitely has a more relaxed feel to it and I love being able to choose my own word count! The support group is a really important part of the Camp NaNo's and are certainly one of their best features
How big are the support groups. Is it just kind of forum-style for each word count or do they try to make smaller groups?
Just went to the site. Turns out I was already registered. I knew about the camp from the time I did NNWM, and clearly I registered xD, but I never did it nor did I look too deeply into it
Haha, fair enough. I do like to run my own virtual 'cabin' (for both the April and July Camps) into which I usually invite Camp NaNo participants from this site I usually set up a thread sometime in March so if you would like to join the cabin I'll be setting up then you can reply to the thread then otherwise the Camp NaNo website will place you in a randomised general cabin which can also be quite fun and interesting; it's entirely up to you As to the answer to your question: the virtual 'cabins' usually contain up to 11 people (including yourself) and there is a place in the cabins to upload 'statuses' about your progress and to support each other. There is also a place for you to update your word count. Another edition is a progress meter in the form of a target in which the arrow moves closer to the bullseye each time you progress in word count.
That sounds great, only I'll be really busy during April's Camp, I'd be willing to do July's. What kind of stuff do you write?
That's okay; I tend to set up a thread on here for the July Camp NaNo sometime in June so you can just reply to that one instead to become part of my 'cabin' then I tend to write historical fiction (and alternative history) mostly now but used to dabble a lot with fantasy (still do at times) and I've always liked to play with darker fiction/themes. I also tend to spread myself across the forms of poetry, short stories, and novels so I guess I am not 'specialised' within any of those, haha, but I like the variation. What about you?
I have just been and registered for this year! I have my synopsis up, I'll be idly planning my chapters and plot development over the coming few weeks in the lead up to it starting. However as a Student and a full time worker, I'm already pressed for time, So I shall see what I can fit in.
Absolutely. November is about the worst month there is. I'm always really busy then, getting stuff ready for the Christmas season, etc. I'm in favour of January. That's when Christmas is over, and folks are in the middle of winter (in the northern Hemisphere) and probably looking for something to do to tide them over till Spring. February would do as well, except it's a short month. So January? However, there is nothing stopping people from choosing whatever month they want, is there? It's not as if you win some sort of prize for taking part in November.
Hey, there's an idea. We could start a new campaign, and call it "New Novel for the New Year." Or something like that. January's pretty good for me, either, because my work at the DIY store tends to be cut down then, and sub teaching can be a little slow after the holidays.
I guess there's a huge chance a lot of people would drop out compared to November because January is the time everyone makes ambitious life goals and resolutions that very rarely become a reality? But other than that not sure why November was chosen out of the other months.
I love reading hist fic! And I don't have one main genre. I am very much spread across all the genres. I find it a little problematic at times, because that means I can't hone my craft in any one genre. I write only fiction, never delved into horror, and don't think I'd fare well in poetry.
From Wikipedia: "Freelance writer Chris Baty started the project in July 1999 with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area.[7][8] In 2000, it was moved to November "to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather."[9][10][11] and launched an official website, designed by a friend of Baty's.[10] That year 140 participants signed up for the event, including several from other countries. Baty launched a Yahoo! group to facilitate socialization between participants and, after the posters began asking about guidelines, he set most of the event's basic ground rules: the novel must be new, cannot be co-authored, and must be submitted in time to be verified. Of the 140 participants, 29 completed the challenge as manually verified by Baty himself.[10][11]"
Because of the WEATHER???? Good grief. (So January's weather is much better?) Erm... Well, whatever. That's funny, actually. My question was rhetorical, in that I never actually researched the topic. But I must admit, the weather was the last thing I thought of! The seasonal issues didn't concern him, apparently. Thanksgiving. Election Day? The approach of Christmas? (I do most of my shopping and all of my Christmas card writing before the end of November.) Ah, well. It's just that I've heard a lot of people (several on this forum) mentioning that November was not a good month for them to devote to writing a novel, full-tilt. Of course no month would be perfect for everybody, but that one just seems a weird choice in the western world. I remember when I first heard of Nanowrimo, I thought ...nope, bad month. Good idea, bad month. The thing about the project is that it really does require full committment. If you have a 'real job' or parenting responsibilities, etc, you will obviously have to work around them. But you need to be able to commit full-time to writing all the extra hours you've got. Having other seasonal distractions (like the aforementioned holidays) seems to make it all more difficult.
There is absolutely no explanation I can think of. Even if Nanowrimo was first popular among college kids, who maybe go on vacation during winter break, there would still be February, which is obviously much worse in weather than November :S
Yes, February would have been a great choice ...except, of course, it's the shortest month of the year. January is the one month that stands out as the sensible choice. Not much yard work to do (except shoveling snow, if you live in that sort of place.) Holidays are over. Folks always complain that January feels like a letdown, and a long way to spring. It's still dark out there for much of the day. And it's a time of 'beginnings' as well, isn't it? It would give people something to look forward to, and get them through the worst of winter.
Yeah, I know what you mean with feeling like you can't hone your craft in any one genre but sometimes I think it can also be a relief not being stuck in the same genre and sometimes swapping to a different piece in a different genre can be quite fun for me and has freed me from writer's block once or twice As for poetry, I think it is definitely something that people seem to have mixed feelings about and, to be honest, I never liked poetry as much as I did when I started my undergraduate creative writing class ... I still don't like learning much about poetry but I do enjoy writing it sometimes as it, and short stories, are a medium I can use to write something short and quick if I need a break from writing long complex pieces. What is your favourite genre to write in?
