NaNoWriMo Group Hangout
 

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Useful Websites and Resources
 

Reserved.

Yeash, I'm in it and can be found as Kakushigo. And now to see about that 6,000 word marker I have.


(Those who are familiar with the name, yes, it was my cousin's account. She never used it so I got it.)

Not at all Steam.

I'm flying by the seat if my pants, learning things as it pops up so I'll be no help for helpful websites.

Yes, I have. I think I may end up changing it but currently I have a novel going.

I am currently clawing my way through NaNoWriMo. (user: wordybee)

I think this is my worst year since I started doing WriMo in 2005.

Absolutely nothing is coming easily for this one. I mean, usually I at least have some level of verve for the first half of the month, then it gradually wanes until I'm forced to stop at around 30,000 words or so. This year I can barely decide if my "plot" is enough to actually write about.

It's frustrating. :/

I've known about NaNoWriMo for years, but I've never even considered attempting it. I am a frighteningly slow writer -- most of the time due to a lack of motivation to work, but also because I'm an obsessive "architect" when it comes to planning a novel. I need to spend months or even years outlining the plot and ironing out any issues that crop up before I even consider putting pen to paper. I'm also hyper-conscious of word-choice while I'm writing, which slows me down even more.

I do speculate sometimes on what would happen if I disconnected myself from the internet, took away any distractions, and just left myself with writing to occupy myself, since I do waste a lot of time deliberately not working on things. I just know for a fact there's no way I could write a novel in a month. 50,000 words in a year is good for me.

And, no I've never actually completed a novel (well, one, but it doesn't count because I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote it). I'm 50k words into one right now, 20k into another, and have a trilogy on the back burner simmering, but they're all a long way from finishing.

Speaking generally as a writer (I'm much better at talking about writing than actually doing it) I really don't see much promise in the exercise of writing a novel in one month (not that 50k words is really a novel...) There's really not much of a chance of anything good coming out of it, and working at that pace will leave a nightmare of editing behind. I understand the sentiment of getting in the mode of writing every day, and I do think that's a good thing, but I also think it's a waste of writing time in most cases since the finished product has a very low chance of being satisfying to anyone, least of all the writer.

(In case it isn't obvious, I do not at all support the "just write" mentality. Writing is a craft, one that talent is only one aspect of. And like any craft, time and care are rewarded. Rushing isn't a good idea. But, I suppose NaNoWriMo has always been about quantity over quality, anyway.)

And I can babble endlessly about this (English major/Creative Writing minor). Going to stop myself now. :p

Edit: Also, if find some of those tips you linked to rather questionable. I very much advise to *not* turn to RPGs for inspiration for a plot. Even in the context of absolutely-needing-a-plot-and-I-can't-come-up-with-anything, that strikes as a terrible decision. RPG stories, for the most part, are not compatible with the storytelling required for a successful novel. Such books are almost inevitably the lowest common denominator of (usually) fantasy literature and aren't going to impress anyone worth impressing.

(I know that makes me sound like some ivory tower elitist, but I swear I'm not. I actually have a huge problem with "literature" and prefer fantasy above anything else, but only because I have faith that the genre can be more than what R.A. Salvatore makes it to be.)

I have a friend who is trying this, and I would love to give it a shot next year, if I have time.

I think you're sort of under the impression that people write these books and think they're perfect and try to send them off to publication, but they don't. The point of NaNoWriMo is to finish something; "ready for publication" isn't really a factor and everyone who participates in NaNoWriMo is well aware that what they've written isn't ready for outsiders to see. No matter what an author does, he or she is going to need editing - full, every page with a fine-toothed-comb editing. There's little difference, really, between changing one or two misplaced commas on a page and changing an entire sentence. You (or your editor) will be looking at that page anyway, so why not?

This month isn't actually any different from any other time during which a writer attempts to write a novel. The only real difference is that the success rate of completing something is up significantly, even if that something is only the first step in a long, long process.

In my experience, the first draft will always be crap, regardless of whether it's taken thirty days or thirty years. That's what first drafts are for. Even if someone edits as he or she goes, it's still probably going to need more editing in the end.

More than anything, I think that NaNoWriMo helps considerably for those who have never written a book in their lives. It lets them figure out how they should start things, how they should pace things, and how to tie everything up in the end. Yes, they could probably, eventually, some time in the future, complete a novel and figure it all out then, or they could spend a NaNo month writing what will ultimately be a "test novel" and figure it out a whole lot sooner.

Ive been seeing facebook statuses about it every year, so I'm finally trying it, if only to work on my writing and see what I can come up with. I dont see myself getting even close to 50k, but it'll be fun anyway. :D I think i have the same username as here..

I wasn't really assuming that, but, just speaking for myself, I would rather make the first draft be as "complete" as possible to cut down on further editing, but I think I do have a slightly unusual writing habit in that I edit as I go along, which again, slows things down for me. Also, there's a difference between editing and needing to rewrite entire sections. Just from my own experience, if I just sit down and write something, I always have to go back and rewrite it more or less from scratch afterward, so I figure, might as well put the effort in with the first draft.

I suppose I define "complete" different than you do. :p

As long as the editing doesn't involve tearing out multiple chapters and re-working entire character arcs, I don't think that's a problem. (And, yes, I've had that happen before. Kind of kills the impulse to work on a project when you get to that point...) Again, just for myself, I'm never satisfied with what I write, so I always tinker with things even after they're probably good enough to leave alone.

That's probably true, I was thinking along the same lines after I read up a little more on it this morning. I already wrote a horrible novel when I was younger, so I'm not of a mind to repeat that experience. :p

Of course, I'm not exactly meeting success with my outlining, either... but I think that's more from my inability to get motivated than anything else.

Though... if I was going to attempt something like this, November seems like an ill-timed month to do it on. It's typically the busiest month for college classes, I find, which translates into added stress and less free time, which makes me want to cry in a corner when I consider trying to write a novel at the same time. :p

Yeah, I think that the support group on the site and stuff is really the only reason why people participate in NaNoWriMo rather than, say, picking a month they're off from school and doing the exact same thing on their own. With NaNo, it's easier to find people going through the same thing that you are, and you can grumble and compare notes on exactly how miserable you are and how far you've gotten in your schedule. You could be in writing groups and have other writers to talk to, but you're unlikely to have writing groups with hundreds of thousands of other people who are in exactly the same situation and with the exact same goal as you have. I think the shared experience makes a big difference and it's a big reason why people participate in the big national event rather than just locking themselves in their bedroom for the month of July and banging out a super-rough-draft of a first book.

I personally wanted to do NaNoWriMo because I thought I could connect to other writers and it would be this great fun thing and I could finally focus on writing and talking to people about writing (which I never get to do because, frankly, my real-life friends couldn't care less how or why people write and every time I bring up something I'm thinking about writing their eyes just gloss over and I suspect they're thinking about laundry or grocery shopping or other more, comparatively, exciting things) but I seem to be losing before I've even really begun so... That plan's a bit of a dismal failure.

Now I'm just hoping I can do something so I could maybe move on to a more logical hobby. Like knitting.

I actually agree with a lot of these points, but I can pull of NaNoWriMo because it gives me a product to actually work with. I sit down, instead of thinking about and talking about things constantly, and I give myself something that, at the end of the month, I can perfect - or leave be, if I don't want to.

And I don't like using RPGs to write novels either, I actually think that's ridiculous. You wouldn't take a Pokemon game and write about it, would you? Well, maybe you would... but yes, I think that is not a good idea. Ignore those tips in favor of the other, superior, ones...

Anyway, I appreciate your opinion, and feel free to stick around and chat! A learned person like yourself could have much to offer even if you aren't doing NaNoWriMo. I'm a Creative Writing major too, heh heh.

As for chance... I really think that how well NaNo works depends on the person. As someone who has too many ideas floating around in the ether, this month gives me an opportunity to get some down and cemented in reality (or at least a word file!) rather than me losing it. As far as 'chance' goes, it depends on the writer in question. Different strategies will work for different people.

Wordcount so far!
 

I have 2124 words so far, and the characters are coming along nicely. I've yet to decide the intended audience, but I'm enjoying writing.

Does anyone else have updates?

Despite not participating directly, I have nonetheless written a grand total of 0 words creatively this month, barring Trisphee-writing. I feel so accomplished.... (though the staccato of research papers I've had to write hasn't helped, either...)

I'm in the 5 thousands on the two books. I think I may end up running with Nightmare though, simply cause the characters are easier to write. And I need 30,000 for Saturday at Midnight cause me and Fonza have plans for hitting 30,000 that night then going on a 3k sprint.