NaNoWriMo

[c m chase]

I'm totally considering doing this this year... :?


http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2





National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

[ceowens]

You go girl. :?

[c m chase]

Ya know...I've been considering this for a couple of years. So I just dove in and signed up.


:shock:


Mommy help me. That's an average of about 1700 words a day. 88-)

[nimrod]

Sounds like a good exercise. You'll have you hands full w/ all the stuff you've got cookin', though.

I hear that cheesecake dulls the writers' pen. Stay away from the stuff.

[c m chase]

:evil:

[nimrod]

What are you worried about? Just take some of that leftover cheesecake out of the freezer. We'll never know...

[c m chase]

Just take some of that leftover cheesecake out of the freezer. We'll never know...


Oh. Yeah. That's right...the leftovers. Because, um, I froze some of it for future eating....oh yeah.



xdancex

[J_Snow]

So whatcha gonna write about?

xdancex




:)++

[c m chase]

I'm going to try and finish a complete first draft of my nursery rhyme thing that I keep putting on the back burner. :lol:

[J_Snow]

how about a story where little kids use pokey things and sharp knives to cut out holes in pumpkins?

that will be my evening tonight... and I'm bringing the power washer!

:roll:

[nimrod]

how about a story where little kids use pokey things and sharp knives to cut out holes in pumpkins?

that will be my evening tonight... and I'm bringing the power washer!

:roll:

"...pokey things and sharp knives ..."

:shock: Sounds like a teeny-bopper/slasher movie.


heh. bop.

[c m chase]

Heh. Teeny.

[spoiler]

Do we all get to read it when you are done?? :)

So You can work on a book that you have already started?? Hmmm....maybe I should sign up.

Maybe... :-|

[c m chase]

They say that you can work on something you have sketched out or have an outline for....but you aren't supposed to work on a partial manuscript.

And, it's very very unlikely that I'd share the majority of the work once it's done....it's not supposed to be GOOD...it's just supposed to be getting you writing words everyday for a month. Quantity, not quality. So, if I shared anything, it'd be bits and pieces...which is possible. I'd do that. :D


Do I have to start my novel from scratch on November 1?
Yes.

This sounds like a dumb, arbitrary rule, we know. But bringing a half-finished manuscript into NaNoWriMo all but guarantees a miserable month. You'll simply care about the characters and story too much to write with the gleeful, anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such a creative rush. Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you'll tap into realms of imagination and intuition that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing manuscripts.

Does that mean I can't use an outline or notes?
Outlines and plot notes are very much encouraged, and can be started months ahead of the actual novel-writing adventure. Previously written prose, though, is punishable by death.

Can anyone participate in NaNoWriMo?
No. People who take their writing (and themselves) very seriously should probably go elsewhere. Everyone else, though, is warmly welcomed.


I do have some short scenes written, true. Most of my work so far on my idea, though, is character sketches and background information. I wonder if they'll murder me for that kind of stuff?

:?

[c m chase]

Here's more about the 50,000 words :




If I'm just writing 50,000 words of crap, why bother? Why not just write a real novel later, when I have more time?

There are three reasons.

1) If you don't do it now, you probably never will. Novel writing is mostly a "one day" event. As in "One day, I'd like to write a novel." Here's the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel. It's just so far outside our normal lives that it constantly slips down to the bottom of our to-do lists. The structure of NaNoWriMo forces you to put away all those self-defeating worries and START. Once you have the first five chapters under your belt, the rest will come easily. Or painfully. But it will come. And you'll have friends to help you see it through to 50k.

2) Aiming low is the best way to succeed. With entry-level novel writing, shooting for the moon is the surest way to get nowhere. With high expectations, everything you write will sound cheesy and awkward. Once you start evaluating your story in terms of word count, you take that pressure off yourself. And you'll start surprising yourself with a great bit of dialogue here and a ingenious plot twist there. Characters will start doing things you never expected, taking the story places you'd never imagined. There will be much execrable prose, yes. But amidst the crap, there will be beauty. A lot of it.

3) Art for art's sake does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants. Doing something just for the hell of it is a wonderful antidote to all the chores and "must-dos" of daily life. Writing a novel in a month is both exhilarating and stupid, and we would all do well to invite a little more spontaneous stupidity into our lives.


Countdown to NaNoWriMo, where I will surely go insane:

10 Days : 12 Hours : 59 Minutes

[spoiler]

This sounds really fun!! I've got another novel idea that would be great for this....

maybe I'll wait until next year. I'm getting really passionate about the book i'm writing now so my progress is really good...don't want to put this one on the back burner.

I'm horrible, horrible, horrible on my grammar skills. So I bought a book and am going to start studying up again. No way anyone is going to want to read the crap i'm putting out if it's full of mistakes...

[nimrod]

I may do it, too.

Hmmmmmmmmmm........what could I write about.....

Nimmylocks and the 3 Ho's

The Squid & the Whale - A South Carolina Love/Hate Story - darn that's been done.

The Stabby-Lady

WOW. The possibilities are ENDLESS!!! :shock:

Countdown to NaNoWriMo, where I will surely go insane:


You sure that boat hasn't already left the dock?


:)++

[c m chase]

:evil: Bite it, NImrod.




But....I'd LOVE if you two would embark on this, too!!! That would be SUCH fun to go insane with you guys (at least one of ya!)

I have a couple blogger buddies who are doing it, too, so this should be interesting!


YAY!! :D

[J_Snow]

3) Art for art's sake does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants.

Why just this morning I was out walking and decided to run down the street like Phoebe! It was FUN!!!!

xdancex


Hmm.... I wonder if I just starting writing the crap that I think about when I'm supposed to be sleeping would count.... Course sometimes I'm drunk at that time!

[nimrod]

Do you think they'd notice if I just tweaked an existing story?

With the 30+ mph winds we've had all day, I'm thinkin' I might write:

Chasey the Poo and the Blustery Day

I could even use the existing cover art. Winnie's always been a little "squishy," too.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/pappylicious/chase/winnie.jpg

Maaaannnnn! This is gonna be really easy!

[J_Snow]

I have a title for my load of useless words.... 'Danger Will Robinson!'

xdancex

[c m chase]

Why just this morning I was out walking and decided to run down the street like Phoebe!


Jay!! My heart just grew a little more full of love for you!


xsqueezex



Chasey the Poo and the Blustery Day

I could even use the existing cover art. Winnie's always been a little "squishy," too.


Don't worry...it'll start getting less and less in about 9 months. :)++

[nimrod]

:shock: I didn't know Shellie had it in her...



heh.


:cool:

[c m chase]

;)

[J_Snow]

Today's Chapter:

Running with Scissors really doesn't matter much if your naked in the pool...

xdancex

[direred]

Anyone doing Nanowrimo THIS year?

[DocDon]

If it's this easy, I'm in

http://www.hnabooks.com/product/show/3246

[direred]

It's easier than that -- you don't have to take ANY photographs, much less 250 of them.