NaNoWriMo is coming...

[oggbashan]

November is NaNoWriMo month. Are you planning to challenge yourself?

http://nanowrimo.org/

Sometime ago I wrote a How-To: http://www.literotica.com/s/complete-nanowrimo

That is 'How-To' Complete NaNoWriMo, not everything about NaNoWriMo.

Like Literotica, there are many helpful items scattered around the website.

Even if you don't complete the 50,000 words in the month, trying NaNoWriMo could kickstart your writing.

 

[PennLady]

I'm aiming to do NaNo this year. With PennGirl in school in the mornings, I should be able to take advantage of that time although I'm wondering if I need to leave the house. If I stay, I'll be thinking there are other things I should be doing.

 

[PinkPeep]

definitely doing this

Challenge accepted!

 

[CDWilder]

Hopefully this can be the first kickstart for me to FULLY DEVELOP and FINISH writing something!

Thanks for the heads up Ogg!

 

[LadyVer]

Going for it. I've been giving a lot of thought to it.

 

[sheablue]

I attempted it for the first time last year and only got halfway through. It was a tough month, though, and I had decided to do it at the very last minute (while trick or treating the night before) and really winged it.

But I still thought it was super fun and I'm definitely doing it this year! I can't wait to get started!

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

Every year since 2006. I love it.

"Won" all but two years - aka got at least 50K words in.

Good luck to all.

 

[TxRad]

Like TTT, I've done it five times in the last 8 years. I have one completed novel, one three quarters complete novel, and two more of at least 50k words. My first try was only 35k so i didn't complete that one.

I have a couple of different ideas floating around but I haven't decided yet. It's all in how work goes and if i have the time off.

A piece of information for anyone who hasn't done it. It does not have to be just one story. You can do as many stories as you want as long as the total is 50k words.

 

[SherlockianMan]

I did NaNo for the first time last year and completed my first novel. Then I did Camp NaNo this summer and made it maybe 2/3rd of the way through a second book.

Looking forward to next month, but not sure what I'm writing about yet.

 

[_Lynn_]

This will be my seventh NaNo. I fell short of the 50k in 2011 but completed the challenge the other five years. An idea came to me this morning, so we'll see what happens.

 

[Bourguit]

Just entered

Going to use my "The Good Deed" story and see if I can make a book out of it.

For anyone that has read the story, feel free to comment; ex. keep doing this and that, don't do that, etc.

Thanks and good luck to everyone else!!!

 

[PennLady]

I aim to do this. I did it three or four years ago but haven't had the time since then. This time, with the kids in school, I'm hoping I can. Although I already know of five days the school is closed in November, so....

 

[_Lynn_]

I aim to do this. I did it three or four years ago but haven't had the time since then. This time, with the kids in school, I'm hoping I can. Although I already know of five days the school is closed in November, so....

I've been sick the past month and haven't even been writing. Not sure if that will have any affect on what I can produce in November, but we'll see.

 

[xelliebabex]

I went and joined up a little while ago. The group in my home town is really active with writers retreats and planning days and a kick off party.

I have a lot of questions about it but I am in

Ogg would it be okay if i messaged you some of my Nano newbie questions?

 

[oggbashan]

I went and joined up a little while ago. The group in my home town is really active with writers retreats and planning days and a kick off party.

I have a lot of questions about it but I am in

Ogg would it be okay if i messaged you some of my Nano newbie questions?

Yes - You could post them here and get advice from a variety of experts, or by PM to me.

If you post, of course some of the advice might be unsuitable or physically impossible.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Nope. I'm nearly finished with a 50,000 word story that I've been working on for the past two months. I'm not ready to start another one just yet. Maybe next year.

 

[_Lynn_]

Nope. I'm nearly finished with a 50,000 word story that I've been working on for the past two months. I'm not ready to start another one just yet. Maybe next year.

There's always Camp NaNo.

 

[xelliebabex]

Yes - You could post them here and get advice from a variety of experts, or by PM to me.

If you post, of course some of the advice might be unsuitable or physically impossible.

I guess i just wondered mostly about cross posting, as in:

Can i take a story i have started here and carry on with it there or;

Can i write a winter holiday themed one there and use say the first chapter of it for the contest here?

Is it cheating if you start before the first day or at least have a rough draft going?

I am such a newb sometimes.

I actually considering taking these questions to my local group, their planning day is today in a coffee club across town, might be nice to meet some other local writers.

 

[TxRad]

I guess i just wondered mostly about cross posting, as in:

Can i take a story i have started here and carry on with it there or;

Can i write a winter holiday themed one there and use say the first chapter of it for the contest here?

Is it cheating if you start before the first day or at least have a rough draft going?

I am such a newb sometimes.

I actually considering taking these questions to my local group, their planning day is today in a coffee club across town, might be nice to meet some other local writers.

Yes, you can carry a story over but only what you write after Nov. 1 will count.

What you do with a story you use in NaNo is up to you. so using it in the Winter contest would be OK.

You can start before the first but only what you write during Nov counts. Most people use outlines and not rough drafts. Rough drafts could and would make it hard to keep up with what you had actually written.

NaNo is on the honor system with only the writer responsible for what they do. If someone cheats, they are just cheating themselves.

All good questions for newbies, by the way.

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

I guess i just wondered mostly about cross posting, as in:

1) Can i take a story i have started here and carry on with it there or;

2) Can i write a winter holiday themed one there and use say the first chapter of it for the contest here?

3) Is it cheating if you start before the first day or at least have a rough draft going?

I am such a newb sometimes.

I actually considering taking these questions to my local group, their planning day is today in a coffee club across town, might be nice to meet some other local writers.

There is no judging or arbitration. It's all self ruled. With that said:

1) Doesn't matter if you started it here, as long as there are 50K NEW words written.

2) You can use a first chapter from here, but it doesn't count toward your 50K words

3) You can do research, history, outlines, characters studies, all the preparation you want. It doesn't count. All that does matter, is that you write 50K new words toward a story, or multiple stories.

According to NaNoWriMo: We define a novel as “a lengthy work of fiction.” Beyond that, we let you decide whether what your writing falls under the heading of “novel.” In short: If you believe you’re writing a novel, we believe you’re writing a novel too.

I bought Chris Baty's NaNoWriMo book, NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! Didn't do much for me. In essence their suggestion is write. Don't edit, don't reread, don't review. Just write. At the end, you can clean it up. About 1.5 to 2 hours a day should do the trick. The most I managed was around 85K words in 2011. It's a story for this site I still haven't completed yet, but I do have 12 long chapters done. I'm thinking this year I'll use NaNoWriMo to finish it. It will be the length of a two novel series (close to 400 pages).

I do interact with the local groups. It's a lot of fun. Dallas has an active NaNoWriMo scene. In 2006, I was still traveling a lot for my job, and several times hooked up with local writing groups while on travel. I had a blast. Groups in Scotsdale and San Francisco were especially interesting.

I just checked my account at NaNoWriMo. 2005 was my first year. 2008 was the first year I didn't 'win' but participated. 2012 I didn't even come close. I'm hoping for better this year.

You probably won't get much else written that month, unless you have a LOT of free time. I was writing from 11:00pm when everyone in my house went to bed, until about 2:00am five nights a week. It's great for developing a writing habit.

Good luck!

 

[xelliebabex]

Thanks TxRad and TTT I actually got up and went out with my trusty laptop and met my local group today it was a lot of fun i really laughed and met some unusual people as well as like minded. Its not a huge group by any means but bigger than i thought.

They say that there is a RebelNano movement around that start their work before the due date and like you said its not supposed to count but who would know except the author themselves.

I very much like rules and stuff so i will be starting something brand new on November 1st that gives me less than two weeks to get my Winter Holiday contest entry done so that I can finish the survivor challenge as well. Seems i have more of a masochistic streak than i thought taking on Nano as well.

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

I very much like rules and stuff so i will be starting something brand new on November 1st that gives me less than two weeks to get my Winter Holiday contest entry done so that I can finish the survivor challenge as well. Seems i have more of a masochistic streak than i thought taking on Nano as well.

The first year was especially exciting for me. I was so worked up to get going. I was doing an erotic fantasy, and I did a complete world creation, including a fantasy language (I'm a linguistics major). Character description, backgrounds, plot outline, huge maps, I went a little insane.

My mistake was trying to write quality. I kept going back and rereading, editing, tightening, fixing things, that in the last two days I had to write 7K words. I almost didn't make it.

Don't edit anything until you hit your 50K, then you can start playing around with the writing.

Good luck.

 

[xelliebabex]

The first year was especially exciting for me. I was so worked up to get going. I was doing an erotic fantasy, and I did a complete world creation, including a fantasy language (I'm a linguistics major). Character description, backgrounds, plot outline, huge maps, I went a little insane.

My mistake was trying to write quality. I kept going back and rereading, editing, tightening, fixing things, that in the last two days I had to write 7K words. I almost didn't make it.

Don't edit anything until you hit your 50K, then you can start playing around with the writing.

Good luck.

Thanks

 

[_Lynn_]

Thanks TxRad and TTT I actually got up and went out with my trusty laptop and met my local group today it was a lot of fun i really laughed and met some unusual people as well as like minded. Its not a huge group by any means but bigger than i thought.

They say that there is a RebelNano movement around that start their work before the due date and like you said its not supposed to count but who would know except the author themselves.

I very much like rules and stuff so i will be starting something brand new on November 1st that gives me less than two weeks to get my Winter Holiday contest entry done so that I can finish the survivor challenge as well. Seems i have more of a masochistic streak than i thought taking on Nano as well.

I start at 12:01 AM on the first, never before. However, I've joined the official Rebels, which NaNo defines as writing a memoir, a script, a nonfiction book, or something else that's not a novel. In 2009, 'Maggie's Gift' was one of the Christmas-themed short stories I wrote for NaNo. It also won the Lit holiday contest that year. And my first NaNo was non-fiction.

 

[Celedriel]

I'm doing it, not erotica though.