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I came here looking for the thread, but it seems like no one has made it yet. Since it's officially the second day of October, I might as well create the official thread. I took the next part from an older thread that I saved two years ago. I'd like to thank the original poster who took their time to type this out. Whoever you are, thank you, you saved me a lot of time. What is NaNoWriMo? quote:National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) is a month-long event every November where aspiring writers hunker down, work through their stress and their crippling self-criticism, and churn out 50,000 words of pure prose. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to start and finish a novel (well really, a novella) within a 30 day time frame. They haven't officially opened sign ups for this year, but I assume that it will happen soon. So until then, let's start getting organized and get ready to write. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/jarrettbrown If anyone wants to add me, feel free. So what's everyone planning on writing this year?
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Oct 3, 2014 03:23
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 22:37 |
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Oh yay Nano thread. I've been doing this since 2006 although I changed my Nano name (same username as here) in 2011 and it wiped out all my previous novels info but oh well, they objectively sucked. I've always enjoyed reading about what people are going to be writing, everyone usually has such interesting ideas. I love excerpts so please do include them, I love to go read them. If anyone is planning to publish to amazon ebooks let us know, I have a kindle and often go hunting for self published books just to see what's out there, particularly if it has lgbt characters in it or if it's funny. Or both. Re-reading the old Nanos is an interesting experience. I find most of them seem to be dotted with furiously angry rants about my own lack of skill, long strings of swears bolded in red because I can't think of the word I need, big green directions to my future self to apparently "make that suck less" and sometimes pages and pages of stuff that needs to happen before I get to the bit I'm about write because it's more interesting. As for this year? Not entirely sure. Whatever it will be likely there will be plenty of long strings of red swears and angry rants because I can't think of the word that means that thing where you GODDAMIT IT WHAT IS THAT loving WORD I HATE MY BRAIN SOMEONE SHOVE AN ICEPICK UP MY NOSE FUUUUUUUUUCK. ps keep an eye out for Wrageowrapper his writing is amazing.
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Oct 4, 2014 12:39
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I know you're ideally supposed to start clean slate, but I'm continuing my scifi story from last year because I'm still very much interested in seeing it through. I made 50k last year - having never written anything longer than 10 pages before - and this year I'll do the same, counting only new and entirely rewritten sections towards the word goal. Should it happen that I finish the first draft before I reach 50k I'll do daily editing/rewriting instead. I also need to get someone not me to read this or I'll be second guessing forever whether it's at all good in any way.
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Oct 4, 2014 14:09
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Elukka posted:I know you're ideally supposed to start clean slate, but I'm continuing my scifi story from last year because I'm still very much interested in seeing it through. I made 50k last year - having never written anything longer than 10 pages before - and this year I'll do the same, counting only new and entirely rewritten sections towards the word goal. Should it happen that I finish the first draft before I reach 50k I'll do daily editing/rewriting instead. Water for Elephants, Night Circus, and various others where all written over the course of NaNo. The author of Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern, wrote hers over the course of two years. So go for it.
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Oct 4, 2014 19:42
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I think there might be an area on the Nano forums for book swaps, you might find someone keen on your genre or who is interested in the premise to have a read. I was going to go check but it appears to be down for me at the moment, it was last night too intermittently up and down - likely they'll be resetting the forums in a few days.
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Oct 5, 2014 01:11
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Why the hell not. I'm going to be the Debbie Downer here and drop a home truth about NaNo though: your finished product is gonna suck. Nobody can write that quickly and have a complete and perfect package sitting in front of them. It's a first draft, and first drafts are meant to be hasty, poorly-worded things that you come back to fix later. Here's what you're going to try do in your 50K words: 1) figure out the plot 2) figure out the characters: who are they and what do they want? 3) that's it. There's no #3 Then later, you go and back and do a painstaking editing process to make your book actually work. NaNo stories can be great novels, but most people miss the importance of the later editing stage. Hoo boy, is there gonna be a long drawn-out and painful editing stage. I'm not trying to discourage people here, just setting their sights more realistically. You're going to need to silence your inner editor for a month so you can spin out a huge steaming pile of poo poo, then bring him back later so you can turn that poo poo into gold. quote:I also need to get someone not me to read this or I'll be second guessing forever whether it's at all good in any way. SurreptitiousMuffin fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Oct 5, 2014 |
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Oct 5, 2014 03:24
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Actually rather than being a downer you point out the fact that it's okay that it will suck, of course it's going to suck (though there might be gems in amongst it all). Silencing the inner-editor and telling the little naggy voice to shut the gently caress up and let you write is really important. “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ― Terry Pratchett
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Oct 5, 2014 04:46
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im in
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Oct 5, 2014 06:12
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screenwritersblues posted:I took the next part from an older thread that I saved two years ago. I'd like to thank the original poster who took their time to type this out. Whoever you are, thank you, you saved me a lot of time. You're welcome  I've failed the last three years, might as well fail for a fourth in a row.
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Oct 5, 2014 16:14
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Just finished up my plot and character outlines for this years... only made it to 45k last year. Ended up cutting up last years into a novella at 32k words.
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Oct 5, 2014 16:26
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Ah yes, it's that time of year again. I won't be participating yet again since I'm back in (grad) school and that's way more important than a lovely NaNo novel, of which I've already written two. Advice? Don't concentrate on making the next Great American Novel since it will inevitably suck, and write a shitload of words (I'd recommend 3000-4000) on the first day then go down to 2000 for the rest of the month.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:59
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I'll be participating again this year. About two years I think I managed near 7000 words but there was a lot also going on in my life at the time. I didn't really have a solid idea to go with. This year I have at least a vague idea of the start and the end, and it's a matter of simply filling the in between. I've been teetering between something for kids or something more geared towards a more mature audience. Either way I'm sticking with my favorite genre of fantasy ( ) and looking forward to it. I bought Scrivener because I really enjoyed it when I was using it and it's just so drat convenient.
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Oct 5, 2014 20:54
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Lastr time I tried was 2012 I think. Managed about 23 000 words, still have it lying around. I have been meaning to reboot the story (totally new angle) so I guess two years on would be suitable. Plus Nov 1 is a Saturday so that means a good solid two days of writing.
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Oct 7, 2014 06:53
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Looking over my NaNo history since 2008, it appears I lose every even-numbered year. So here I go again, traipsing into oblivion. No idea what I'll write, but dammit that's never stopped me before. I'm Miriable on their site. Unless you're new this year, I've probably already buddied you.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:39
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I'm in, third time in a row. Username is bootysnatchers, the name of my first Nano story. Two years ago, I took a week off and that enabled me to finish. Last year, I had spinal surgery, and that bought me the time I needed. This year, I just got laid off. MAN do I get all the luck or what?
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Oct 10, 2014 03:49
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I'm going to be the Debbie Downer here and drop a home truth about NaNo though: your finished product is gonna suck. Truth right here. I completed the challenge in 2012, came back to the pile of words a few months later, and was so horrified I nearly deleted the whole thing immediately. Out of the 50k words of that mess, there's maybe 300 tops worth salvaging. I'll take a shot at it again this year, because god knows I haven't written anything substantial in months. It's a good way to jump start the engine again.
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Oct 11, 2014 00:13
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It looks as though the site has been updated, for those who haven't yet checked - you can now enter your 2014 novels and whatnot.
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Oct 13, 2014 23:07
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I'm in this year. I want to finish a story I started for a novel writing workshop a few years ago. I can do that if I just use what I have + 50,000 words, right? In under http://nanowrimo.org/participants/manic_wind nael fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Oct 14, 2014 |
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Oct 14, 2014 04:38
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Yes the 50k refers to what you write during nov, if it's a continuation that is fine as far as I know. Plenty of people do sequels, continues and rewrites.
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Oct 14, 2014 09:23
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First time attempting to do such a thing. I am pretty much doing Code Geass but without magic superpowers and set in a still-colonial Africa in a world where the Great Wars never happened so most military buildups were used to quell nationalist revolts and America doesn't want poo poo to do with anyone. I have literally no idea what the meat of the story will be besides that there will be WWII bombers turning into robots and the grizzled mechanic pilot is our Lelouch analogue's mother all along. So it should go well! is Sovereign Riser Malkia an okay name for a robutts story
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Oct 14, 2014 22:23
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I'm going to try and work on the same idea that I wanted to work on last year, but due to a screenwriting class, I didn't get a chance to work on it. So I figured that this year would be the best.
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Oct 15, 2014 03:11
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It's that time again. This will be the tenth year for me participating (11 if you count my '04 failure) and likely, win #10. I'm still working on my other novels. This year I'm going to work on at least two projects, but the one officially on the site will be my Snow White retelling. I look forward to all your copious haterade.
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Oct 15, 2014 04:38
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Nethilia posted:It's that time again. No hate here, that sounds interesting - how are you doing the retelling?
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Oct 15, 2014 08:33
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Two years in a row I meant to participate in this, and both times I remembered which month was NaNoWriMo about three days before the start of December. Because I am dumb. This time, I didn't forget. Yet.  I decided to skip a silly/witty username. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/scott-webster
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Oct 15, 2014 18:48
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Tambaloneus posted:No hate here, that sounds interesting - how are you doing the retelling? Snow Black: Dwarves In Da Hood.
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Oct 15, 2014 19:09
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Just banged out some plot notes that should give me enough to work with, so I'm in: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/cthulhucarl Pike and Shot warfare and white phosphorous, sure why not?
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Oct 15, 2014 22:56
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Tambaloneus posted:No hate here, that sounds interesting - how are you doing the retelling? Snow White is a black girl with vitiligo, the Seven Ds are a family where all their first names begin with D.
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Oct 16, 2014 16:11
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Tambaloneus posted:Yes the 50k refers to what you write during nov, if it's a continuation that is fine as far as I know. Plenty of people do sequels, continues and rewrites. Traditionally you're supposed to start from scratch, but they've gotten pretty lenient about it over the last few years (by which I mean they went from "Technically the rules are that you start with a brand new story, but nobody's sitting here checking" to "We think it works better if you start from scratch, but we don't really care"). For the past few years I've used the energy/momentum of it to push me to work on my ongoing YA novel, and inevitably I decide that this is the year that I'm finally close enough to the end that I'm going to power through to the finish, get 10-40,000 words down before realizing that I'm not any closer to finishing than I thought I was at the beginning of the month, and quit. So I'll probably do that again. Next year though!
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Oct 16, 2014 22:09
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I've taken the weeks (or months) leading up to Nano to flesh out my characters, plot, locations, series of events, scenes. Everything except the process of putting words to a page to tell the story. It worked for me. I didn't feel like I was fudging it. I let the idea percolate for awhile before jumping in. This year, on day one, I'm thinking about checking out the MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) on Twitter, and write a story based on the first five posts there. Hell yes. Selling out. https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSWL?src=hash
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Oct 16, 2014 22:42
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I probably have most of you added as buddies already, but if not, here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/nighthand No idea what I'm going to write, if anything, this year. I want to, and it's probably going to be a superhero story, since I recently finished reading Worm and was heavily inspired. I can take the base I made with last year's nano and spin off of it. The reason I'm not sure about writing this year is my actual writing career kind of took off ~6 months ago, and I currently write 90K-100K words per month in blog posts for cash. I spend a lot of my time working on those and a lot of the rest of my time relaxing and not writing, so adding NaNo on top will make things hectic. Likewise, getting an Xbox One and the new Call of Duty, plus Binding of Isaac Rebirth coming out in the first week of the month is going to eat up even more of my time. I guess what I'm saying is I should start getting up before noon, huh?
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Oct 17, 2014 06:40
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I'm going to write a story about a young boy living in Crimea during the late 19th century. His mother is dead and his father is distant. Every day he grubs for potatoes, breaking apart the ice with his bare hands before he digs through the freezing ground. Each potato must last his family a week. One day, the Tsar's men arrive in the town and begin to break down doors. They are looking for somebody. It will never be clear who. Just another empty year; devoid of warmth, love or answers. Nah jokes I'm writing about werewolves WITH A TWIST.
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Oct 17, 2014 07:16
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Nethilia posted:It's that time again.  fellow 11th-but-really-10th anniversary buddy! Your story sounds really neat!I'm just doing Digimon fanfic. :B SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I'm going to write a story about a young boy living in Crimea during the late 19th century. His mother is dead and his father is distant. Every day he grubs for potatoes, breaking apart the ice with his bare hands before he digs through the freezing ground. Each potato must last his family a week. One day, the Tsar's men arrive in the town and begin to break down doors. They are looking for somebody. It will never be clear who. Just another empty year; devoid of warmth, love or answers.
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Oct 17, 2014 19:23
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Ayin posted:Potatowolves?
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Oct 17, 2014 19:32
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http://nanowrimo.org/participants/weszor Well, we'll see how this goes this year! Going to use this as an excuse to get away from editing and jumpstart the second novel of my trilogy. I only got about 14k last year, but that was a significant chunk out of a book I was working on already. This year will essentially be from scratch, so I'm going to give outlining a try to see how it goes. I tend to be pretty free and loose with creating a story, so actually planning out a novel could be either great or utterly disastrous. Can't believe we're already here again. Feels like the last NaNoWriMo just ended.
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Oct 17, 2014 20:10
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It's cool to see mention of NanoWriMo here. Finished it in 2006, tried in 2007/2008, stopped trying after that. Whatever creative fires were in me back then have been banked. Good luck to all doing it this year.
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Oct 17, 2014 21:14
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Huh, their database seems to have wiped my account of the previous years' work. That's either a blessing or a curse. I'm in. Why the hell not? http://nanowrimo.org/participants/polymphus
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Oct 18, 2014 08:34
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I flamed out about a week in last year, but I have a better feeling about this year. Not having a story idea I dreamt up the night before probably helps. I've taken to describing this year's story as The Swiss Family Robinson meets Nevil Shute's On the Beach. It will be slow and sad, and is destined to become an Australian classic since it's set in the bush. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/hookshot
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Oct 19, 2014 15:58
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e-nvm
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Oct 19, 2014 19:30
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I'm down. Should be fun, mostly just writing it as an exercise, gotta get back into the flow. Considering how loving bizarre my first nano novel was(a story about cosplayers who thought they were real people and went on adventureslulzrandomshit) I'm hoping for a more grounded experience.
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Oct 19, 2014 21:49
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This year I finally think I'll have enough time to commit to this. I'm going to do it this year! Or... I'm going to flame out horribly. But I'm at least going to start. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/baby-babbeh
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Oct 20, 2014 19:15
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