National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

[Hairy Woman]

Hello, all you wonderful writers!

I am the 'Hairy Woman' and I am new to these forums. I would like to introduce you all to this website:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

The objective is to write 50,000 words in one month: the month o' November. I completed this challenge back in November '08, but failed to make it past 20,000 words last year. I'm gonna take up the challenge again this year. I thought it might be best to show this to everyone now, rather than wait until Nov' 1st to give it mention, so those interested can start cooking up and outlining ideas.

The rules are simple:

Don't write one word 50,000 times.
Don't write out something that's already been written (e.g. writing out 'Alice in Wonderland' exactly as Lewis Carroll wrote it).
Don't edit - just write. December is for editing.

(An expanded set of rules is available in the site FAQ.)

Despite 'novel' being in the title, you could write a collection of short stories or poems.

Anyone game?

Edit: Moderators, please feel free to move this to where it should be/will get the most attention if I haven't placed it into the correct sub-forum.

[dream soul]

I'm doing this again this year!!! Been attempting it for the past three years lol and still never reached 50,000 but fingers crossed for this year!!

I'd advise anyone to give it a go, it's tremendous fun!!! and great writing experience too

blessings all, and good luck writing!

[Reyna]

I'm game! I have a story idea that has been simmering so long its starting to curdle but with one thing or another I always have an excuse not to write. Maybe this will get me going! (And 50,000 words...isn't that a full novel??)

Do we sign up and have to keep track of our daily word count, or....

Maybe I'll just go look at the website but if there are any pointers or tips from y'all who've already done it I'd love to hear them!

[Hairy Woman]

Hello, Dream Soul and Reyna! Bracken is about somewhere and she's also signed up. I know that this topic has only been up two days, and a month before the event actually starts, to boot, but I was starting to think that no-one would reply! By te way, 50,000 words is a novella, I think, and somewhere around 70,000 is considered proper novel length.

There is a daily word count tracker to help you keep track. This word-count bar will fill up as you write and announce you a winner once you get over 50,000 words. There are two ways to input your word-count: they had a word-count confirmer that automatically updates when you add in your whole story into the box, if I remember correctly, and also a smaller box where you can just type your word-count in. They work on the basis that 'you're only lying to yourself' if you update the bar to say 50,000, when you know you've only managed 23,000.

Do you know what your stories are going to be about? Or are you just going to start typing from the first of November and see what comes out? Mine is going to be a pagan story - something I haven't tried before. The daughter and son characters are sorted, but 'mum' and 'dad' are more complicated because I don't have that kind of life experience. I need some jobs for the parents (I thought the father could be a youth camp worker or something, whereas mum was more lab-oriented), a setting for a Lughnasadh festival gathering and some issues.

All I know is that 'mum' character is currently having faith issues, and there's a guy at the festival who makes things very uncomfortable not just for her, but a bunch of other women. Has anyone out there ever had an uncomfortable experience at an event, to the point where you feel you need to mention to someone about this person? What if this person is reasonably well known and respected by others, including the event organisers, whereas you are relatively unknown? A touchy subject, I know, but please let me know your thoughts and feelings on this topic, as dealing with issues at social gatherings is my main theme, not paganism (that's just the lure!). PM me if you're more comfortable.

So Dream Soul, how do you usually keep up your daily word-count? I'm gona try to write 3,000 words a day this year (like that's really gonna happen! ) and I've thought about recording my voice on my laptop (which is with me 90% of the time) so that I can listen and write up what I say later. Considering that the average woman speaks approximately 250 words per minute (source: internet ), I should have 3,000 words in 12 minutes if I don't hesitate or stop to take breath!

[Reyna]

Well, I have a werewolf story but its already started and has about--*goes and checks*--18,000 words. That's the story that is starting to stagnate but I guess I can't use it. Considering it's taken 6 months to get 18,000 words...

So...I'm starting from a completely blank slate. Glad you posted early-it gives me time to think up...something...um....*think think think* *insert Winnie-the-Pooh emoticon here*

[Bracken]

Yes, I'm here. I've never done anything like this before so I'm banking on beginners luck, and it seems to have come at the right time.

By te way, 50,000 words is a novella, I think, and somewhere around 70,000 is considered proper novel length.

I did a bit of looking around google the other day when I was signing up. The consensus seems to be that above 40 000 is a novel. Below that is a novella and below 17 000 is a novelette, but there are differing figures if you go and look. I don't think they'd have called it National Novel Writing Month if we weren't writing novels.

I think I can cope with the wordage - not saying it'll be easy - but I can already see myself going, "oh, this is rubbish, this is rubbish, this is rubbish..." so I'm glad there is a forum for support. I feel pretty determined right now, and it'll be good to talk and get to know you all better.

[Kima]

I've heard about NaNoWriMo before but have never taken part in it before. I don't think it would make sense for me to force myself to write 3000 words a day given how busy I already am and the poor quality that would inevitably come out, but on the other hand these are good excuses to never start writing! So if we keep this thread going (for encouragement and support) I will commit to 1-3 pages a day for November. I'll think about the exact number of words later.

[Hairy Woman]

Hi, Kima! Welcome aboard! Make sure to register at the NaNoWriMo site for more ideas and support (also for greater peer pressure! )

50,000 words in a month will not produce anything of sparkling quality - it's just too much, too quickly for that. Expect grammatical errors, plot holes and typos galore. It is, however, meant to help you become more creative and write what feels natural, rather than planning it out too much beforehand and falling into the cliches. Whether this actually works or not is up to you to find out!

3,000 is a big target to set myself: I doubt that I'll be able to stick to it, and it's why I'm going to be recording my spontaneous voiced narrative and writing it up that way. As long as we write on average 1,666.667 words a day (about the three pages you mentioned), we'll make the goal.

Do you have an idea of what you want to write?

[Kima]

Still not sure whether I want to register for NaNoWriMo but I'll come up with something. My project is called "Daughters of Naria" and in my mind it would be a mixture of fiction, local history, and bibliographical elements. I'd love to start with an illustrated handwritten draft, which is why I may not do the official writing month but rather ride its wave from a safe distance and set up my own rules.

[Hairy Woman]

I just wanted a quick go-around to see what kind of support we think we'll want/need during the event? Do you want to show your efforts to the rest of us, in this thread, or maybe in your own thread in 'The Writers' Grove'? Perhaps an 'after-care program' where we look at each others' work and find the major areas that require editing?

I am very tempted to commandeer the chatrooms during this event (not that it'll be a real take-over since no one's using them anyway) and if anyone wants to come chat, I will be there once I've finished daily work on my story during November.

As you can tell, I can't wait for this event to start!

[Kima]

For me it would help to have a fairly active forum thread during the month to share joys and frustration and receive or give support whenever needed. I wouldn't be against sharing some material after the event. A chat however could quickly become too time-consuming and perhaps not as helpful.

[Ori Whitedeer]

I'm celebrating myself by, once again, rebooting my novel. I've been writing, re writing, and etc the same story for the last 6 years or so, but its a story that I believe in so I don't mind. And as I evolve as a writer it just keeps getting closer to, what I feel, is the best it can be. Would it be appropriate to post it here as I write? Its long, so I'm unsure if it would be a good idea. :/

[Selene]

Ori, are you looking for input/constructive criticism, or just want to share? If the former, we have a Writers' Grove on this board which is open to people who want to post their works for comment and critique. Here's the post that outlines the forum's policies and tells how to request access: http://www.druidry.org/board/dhp/viewto ... 82&t=32037. If you prefer to just present it to the general readership, you can post it in this forum; you might want to note in the subject line that it's a long post, though, so that people with slower Internet connections can decide whether to get into it.

[Ori Whitedeer]

Selene - Oh I just wanted to post it to share. I have a close friend who edits and proofs my other work and he'll tear it to itsy-bitsy pieces. And when the first few chapters are ready I'll start posting it, noting that it will be a long post/topic (are there character limits to posts? Or should I say, post per chapter? I know its a faux pas to do multiple posts on forums.) I hope the others share their work too; it would be nice to see some nifty bard-work

[Selene]

Ori, yes, there is a 60,000-character limit on posts. Just divide your piece into sequential posts if what you want to share is longer than that.

[Ori Whitedeer]

Selene, alright that will work well. So long as the in sequence posts are allowed I'll be golden. My novels tend to be...long...like over 200k words long x.x. I need to learn to write short stories...

[Muddy Fox]

Good luck with that Whitedeer, I know all about faux pas, as someone pointed out, and quite rightly that it could be seen as a way of getting a following. Which never occurred to me as everyone writes under usernames, unless they are well known off the boards as well, which never occurred to me either. Druid and Pagan circles and all that. Good luck with your writing, I'm feeling inspired to do some of my own now, although not for these boards.

[Hairy Woman]

Hello and welcome, Ori Whitedeer!

Have you done NaNoWriMo before? If you're going to follow their rules, then this is probably not the best event to rewrite something to improve its quality! It would be great to read some of your writing, though, so please post something in the 'Writers' Grove' or the 'Poetry and Writing' forum soon!

[Ori Whitedeer]

@Angelique - Yeah I can see where people might think that; it's why I asked before starting to post it. I just want to share it here because it is very heavily influenced by pagan and Buddhist culture and most people don't really have an appreciation for it. They just like the fantasy aspect which is perfectly fine too. But when you take the care to include the extras it's nice when people know what they are

@Hairy Woman - thank you for the warm welcome . I've never done the national novel writers month just because I need WAY more time to think of things. This story has taken me 6 years to get it where it is today. I just use the month as motivation to keep at it

[Muddy Fox]

Whitedeer,
I know quite a few Buddhists and Pagans, I've never seen anyone react badly to either to be frank. Christians on the other hand seem to generate a wide range of emotions in people. I personally prefer not to label myself or anyone else, I take people as I find them,
love and light.
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