NaNoWriMo 2012

[Lucian Poll]

I hadn't heard of Scrivener. I might take a peek when tackling the next one as I'm trying to get to grips with GIMP and Inkscape at the moment for my cover images.

(Here's a link to an early Inkscape effort of mine: http://lucianpoll.com/2012/09/30/a-s...n/cover-v1-01/ I won't embed it here as that would be a little vulgar of me. I quite like it, but I'm probably not up for accepting commissions just yet!)

(Also, the sneaky side of me wonders whether Scrivener would be clever enough to know it's running inside a virtual machine, as VMs are so much more disposable than physical machines!)

[Xiabei]

I do think I will likely skip out on using chapters during the first draft and thinking about it more once that draft is completed. If I sense a natural break I will probably mark it in some way. Maybe extra lines between paragraphs or a page break or something. I also plan to download the trial of scrivener, which should be a much better tool for novel writing than Word. I don't know when I'll get it though, could get it before starting this challenge or wait until after I am done.

What I need to decide before that though is what my story will be since I have a couple ideas. Also trying to figure out if those ideas could be combined in some way.

Richard Kadrey's "Sandman Slim" books don't have chapters, and they move along quite nicely. Of course, he also basically tells a story from start to finish and doesn't really jump around in time and place.

I'd like to someday find a decent basic write program that doesn't cost anything.

[Lucian Poll]

A fellow Norfolk NaNo-er has recently posted a link to our Facebook group that may be of interest to those here tempted to dabble with Scrivener. They've just launched a cut-price offer tied in with this year's NaNoWriMo:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.php

With a few days left 'til the big write, are there any others here that fancy giving it a try?

[RJK1981]

Already got my nano trial of Scrivener.

Right now I am trying to come up with a final title for story.

I know how my story will start and how I envision it ending right now, which is a good thing. Will probably write the beginning and the working end first, though when edit time comes the end may end up being something else entirely.

[Lucian Poll]

Nice one, RJK. I'm glad to hear you're getting a good grip on your story. We'll give those 50,000 words what for!

A short story I recently finished had an ending that I only saw very late into the writing, as up until then I was determined to keep it open-ended and ambiguous. I used to think that writers who say "the story often leads the author" were talking from the wrong orifice, but when I read through what had gone before an altogether new and much more devastating ending leapt out at me. I guess it does happen!

Good luck with the big write. I'd love to hear how you get on, either here or through NaNomail.

[RJK1981]

Yeah, I don't want to do a big outline for my story as I feel it will make me feel limited and too rigid. If I feel my novel is the end of this character's story then I will have to end up changing the ending, but not worried about that yet

[TerryE]

Hey guys, I'm late to this party, but I also want to try again this year. The 3 times I've tried in the past, I never made it past day 6, and even then my average was too low, about 1000 words a day. I'm another one that spends too much time editing as I go, so I'm hoping to avoid that trap, too.

Xaibei, if a long structured novel isn't up your alley, maybe you could do a series of related short stories, kinda like "The Martian Chronicles".

[TerryE]

I've finally signed up for the year and have added 3 of you as buddies. I'm "apathid" by the way. Good luck guys.

[RJK1981]

Just remember Terry, it's only the first draft of the novel. First drafts are likely never perfect and will require many edits. I can't remember the number for sure, but Douglas Clegg goes through several drafts of his books before he feels they're ready. I will have to remember that too of course, lol. Doing well so far today, close to the daily target for words in a little over 2 hours. Would love if every day went like this, but definitely don't expect that at all.

[RJK1981]

Here is a great blog entry that Brian Keene today.

http://www.briankeene.com/?p=12788&c...#comment-65363

[Lucian Poll]

Hi Terry, welcome aboard! RJK said it all, really. Keep plugging away at the story and get into the habit of writing. Keep that inner editor locked up for 30 days. If you need inspiration or motivation let us know here or through NaNoMail and we'll help. (I'm saying this to me too!)

RJK, I'm glad you're off to a solid start. I hope you keep the ball rolling! Nice link too!

Right, I've just gotten back from work so it's shoes off, heating on and laptop open. Let battle commence!

Good luck everyone!

[TerryE]

I got the first paragraph done, just after midnight and before bed. The title came from an icon on the computer and then a first sentence came to me. Drifting off to sleep, I planned the next page or so. I've got no clue where it might be going, but that's okay. For some reason, I didn't want to go with anything that I've had planned, so we'll see what happens.

[RJK1981]

Are you connected to your local region Terry? If so that might help too, though not all are very active. The Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN region page is luckily very. very active in the forums and many write-in events. I was going to post some stuff from there here with other tips, but their website seems to be having issues, though I was warned this was a possibility as Nov. 1 hit the US. It was up when I stopped writing earlier, but it was also like 2:30 in the morning, when normal people are asleep, lol. Once things settle and get back up I'll post what I was planning to. Any of you can also visit any regional page that you want to if you want to check things out there.

[RJK1981]

Here a couple of the tips that I was going to post earlier today:

Turn those blinders on and don't look back. Because it will be awful. And you'll want to edit it. And you really shouldn't because it'll only slow you down. If you do realize there's a chapter that doesn't belong at all, don't delete it. Just highlight it or make it a different color or font or something, and decide later if it needs to be removed. But you wrote it in November, and it's part of your word count.
Oh, and have fun! If Steve Jobs shows up and gives everyone iPads, just go with it. Even if your story is set in Middle Earth or something. I can't promise it'll make sense, but it'll be something. And it could be hilarious. Don't fight with your characters. Let them do what they will do and your story will adjust itself as you go.

Some advice on handling the crap:
When I know something I just wrote is terrible -- like, mind-meltingly, modifying my Last Will and Testament to say "Don't Forget To Delete These Files" bad -- I just add a little [this sucks fix later] note in the draft. Or [wrong place check continuity]. Or [SO MANY ADVERBS OH DEAR GOD]. It makes me feel a lot better to at least have an idea of where the edits will need to begin, and it reminds me that, no, I'm not even pretending this is flawless, so no reason to get upset about it. A silly psychological trick, but it works.

[adamjames]

Well, I started today. A day late, but I like to write after everyone in the house is asleep. I'm on track to finish on time, well December 1st anyway. Thanks to the folks who told me about this in my short story thread.

And to be honest if this helps me to get to novella length, I'll count this as a small victory.