NaNoWriMo2013

[RJK1981]

It's a few months still before November, but oh well, starting the thread for it now, lol.

Who plans on taking the plunge and trying to write 50,000 words in November? If you do, have you decided on what your story will be?

I will definitely be going for it this year, hopefully going to be 2 for 2. This year I will be doing something different than I thought in that my story will be more Sci-fi, though perhaps with some horror elements.

What gets me excited about this one is that I decided a few days ago I should think of ideas for what to write, and just like that the story popped in my head. On top of that, I was mentioning this to Lucian on Goodreads and was going to say I still had to think of the title (that is an area I struggle with at times), but then the title formed in my head! It actually happened in a process that took less than a minute to fully form.

So, my NaNo 2013 novel title will either be Ancestral Skies or These Ancestral Skies! I am leaning towards the latter right now. What do you guys think?

[Lucian Poll]

Oh, I'm very much in for NaNo 2013!

At the moment my project is a ghost story that's been slowly gnawing at the back of my mind since the start of the last NaNoWriMo. Hopefully the summer and autumn months ahead will see me develop a fully-fleshed outline.

(Future Me would like Present Me to create a simpler plot this time around, thank you. )

I really like the titles proposed, RJK. There's a lot of play to be had there. I guessed something steampunky over on Goodreads, then something altogether more mythical and fantastical. On further reflection I can also see it working in a post-apocalyptic scenario too (in keeping with the current issue of CD). As for the better of the two, my 2p would say it hinges on the POV you'll use - "These Ancestral Skies" focuses the story well for something told in the first person or restricted third-person, while "Ancestral Skies" has a sweeping, omniscient ring to it. (Could just be me, though.)

I look forward to hearing more about it as NaNoWriMo draws closer.

Anyone else tempted?

[RJK1981]

I will probably try to do some outlining for this years NaNo novel, but I am not an outliner by nature, so we will see how well I do with that, lol!

I gotta figure out if I will do it like a regular novel with just chapters or if I will do it in something like Part One, Part Two, etc. Most likely I will just do chapters for now and make a final decision on whether it will be broken up further after November. Also debating whether to have a prologue or not.

As for 1st person or restricted 3rd person, I still gotta decide on that too. Never really dabbled with 1st person before, though I plan to give it a shot sometime. I was going to do something with that when CD was open for submissions, but the story did not really come to me, so that idea has been shelved for now.

What do you think of Our Ancestral Skies? For the moment, the final title isn't all that important and is up in the air. Except for the Ancestral Skies part. I don't see those words not being in the title. That part just sticks in my mind and makes sense for the focus of the story.

And as I was typing this out I was thinking of the story and its plot and then started writing out of the synopsis for the story in the Scrivener file I created for it this morning! Hopefully everything comes this easily/quickly come November! What I might do since it is coming so fast so far is start on the story for the Camp NaNo event in July and then continue the story in November. Wasn't sure whether I would do the Camp NaNo event (and still not 100% sure), but if this keep happening I might have to, lol.

[Lucian Poll]

I'd keep the title up in the air, no pun intended. You'll get a good feel for what the title should be the further into the project you go. There's nothing wrong with trying new titles as you go along, though. Towards the end of NaNoWriMo I dabbled with calling my story Dead Floors, but soon switched it back to just The Floors. Both worked, strictly speaking, but Dead Floors may have led readers to believe there was an element to story that wasn't there.

What is great, however, is that you've hit a rich seam of ideas. I'd keep on writing them down, shaping them up, and don't stop until your typing fingers can't take it any more. The more groundwork you do, the more ideas you nail down, then the better a feel you will have for the story when you come to the big write-off. (This is what I'm hoping for!)

[RJK1981]

I will be keeping it up in the air, but I don't see the Ancestral Skies part changing. If something else comes to mind I am open to changing it though, of course.

I should finish with my short teaser/synopsis (whatever you would call it that is on the back of a paperback book, lol) tonight, then probably on to figuring things out about the actual plot. At least a start on it anyway. If you are interested I can send you my short synopsis in a message here or on Goodreads, see what you think of it.

[TJCams]

RJK: Either title sounds pretty good - it leaves open lots of possibilities as far as making the reader think of what kind of story it is.

I would so love to give a shot at writing even a short story or 2. I have a couple ideas that I think (at least to me) would make a cool short. I even wrote down some very basic points. However - I have no idea how I would start putting a story together that I could format into something that I would have somebody read. It's like I have 2 different scenarios that I thought up, but have to turn them into enough of a story, and how to put the ideas to paper (or world processor ), I have no idea.

Even thinking back to highschool - I hated English class. Creative writing was never something I looked forward to. I even took an expository writing course first year university, and although I did well in that class, I am not very confident in my "skills" or lack thereof for tackling something like this.

The one idea especially, to me, sounds like it could be the basis for a pretty cool story. I am not thinking in terms of making money off it or anything, but if I could put together a story that I could show people, and they read it and think that it was a good story, or interesting, to me would be pretty satisfying.

[RJK1981]

I say go for it! Worst that can happen is that you don't write 50,000 words, but you definitely won't if you don't even try. Nothing wrong with trying and failing. There are books (eBooks and physical, of course) to assist with the process. One that comes recommended that I have is The Complete Idiots Guide to Writing a Novel, Second Edition, which is about $10 on Amazon, or can be ordered through Borderlands Press if you can't order off Amazon. The Amazon link is http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiot...riting+a+novel.

You can also look up things like writing prompts to help as well.

I took creative writing in high school, but it was an elective for me.

Also, just write for yourself. If you get something completed and like it, great, and especially great if you are able to get it published! If you have ideas that just won't go away, go ahead and write it to let it escape your mind.

[Lucian Poll]

RJK: I'm torn! The curious part of me (one of many) wants to know more about your story, but, at the same time, another side of me wants to be blown away by an idea that has matured for some months. By all means give us a peek, but I'm really keen to be gobsmacked come November (or, indeed, when you're ready).

(A small anecdote, if I may. By the time I came to last year's NaNoWriMo, I'd only really told close friends the gist of my story. This allowed me to ferment my ideas, which was vital, but it also drove me batty as I really wanted to know if the idea was a good one. When it finally came to the NaNoWriMo launch day, I was both stunned and delighted to hear positive noises from my fellow local WriMos as I (badly) explained the story. When I finally revealed the big hook that tied whole the piece together, I heard five words I'd always wanted to hear: "I want to read that". I can't tell you how good that felt!) (Same goes for the fantastic response I got when calling for test readers - I'm still buzzing!)

(Oh, and thanks for the blog like!)

TJ: From my (admittedly limited) experience of NaNoWriMo, a common element between all who took part was they all had a story they wanted to tell. The quality of delivery often played second fiddle to telling the story. (My first draft is testament to this!) If you're tempted by NaNoWriMo, sketch out some ideas, dive in and give it a go. There was a good show of support here last year, and I think everyone who gave it a go took away something positive from the experience.

[RJK1981]

RJK: I'm torn! The curious part of me (one of many) wants to know more about your story, but, at the same time, another side of me wants to be blown away by an idea that has matured for some months. By all means give us a peek, but I'm really keen to be gobsmacked come November (or, indeed, when you're ready).

(A small anecdote, if I may. By the time I came to last year's NaNoWriMo, I'd only really told close friends the gist of my story. This allowed me to ferment my ideas, which was vital, but it also drove me batty as I really wanted to know if the idea was a good one. When it finally came to the NaNoWriMo launch day, I was both stunned and delighted to hear positive noises from my fellow local WriMos as I (badly) explained the story. When I finally revealed the big hook that tied whole the piece together, I heard five words I'd always wanted to hear: "I want to read that". I can't tell you how good that felt!) (Same goes for the fantastic response I got when calling for test readers - I'm still buzzing!)

(Oh, and thanks for the blog like!)

TJ: From my (admittedly limited) experience of NaNoWriMo, a common element between all who took part was they all had a story they wanted to tell. The quality of delivery often played second fiddle to telling the story. (My first draft is testament to this!) If you're tempted by NaNoWriMo, sketch out some ideas, dive in and give it a go. There was a good show of support here last year, and I think everyone who gave it a go took away something positive from the experience.

I'm fine with sharing what I have that I am talking about. I am fully of the mind to NOT give away much at all in my description for my stories. My synopsis for last year's NaNo on my page there mentions the main character being plagues with dreams. I didn't reveal the nature of the dreams or some other critical elements of the story. I like it better when a short paragraph on the back of the book seems more like a teaser, leaving me want to know more about the story.

That being said, I have no problem with more detailed info on the back of the book or anything, but I won't do it myself (Unless I was being published and the publisher required it, of course).

TJ: Lucian brought up a point I neglected. The quality of you story written during NaNo will likely not be good. Plot holes, misspelled words, missed words, double words, accidental changes in POV or past/present tense, mixed up names, etc. etc. are to be expected (maybe not all of them, but definitely a lot). The key to NaNoWriMo is to write, no matter how bad it is! No correcting misspelled words or anything like that. Very difficult to do, but doable. To help myself, I even made sure I did that elsewhere, such as Facebook. I didn't always succeed, but I mostly did.

Oh, and Lucian, I will send you a message on Goodreads with what I have for my synopsis (though it really isn't much of a synopsis). I have no problem sharing this little bit already, but only to a few people. In fact, I would say only with those who are going to be doing NaNoWriMo that are interested.

[TJCams]

I will think about it. I have to go over the few points I jotted down, and see if I can come up with a complete story. I have a general idea of certain events that my story would cover, and the cause, but beyond that I haven't thought out where things will lead to and finish off.

[TerryE]

Hi guys. I definitely plan on attempting NaNo again this year. I greatly enjoyed it last year, even though I still haven't finished my story. No clue what I'll work on this year. I have several story ideas, but a couple require quite a bit of research first, which is why I didn't work on them last year, either.

RJ - I'd prefer These... or Our... The title has a more unique sound that way. (Adjective) Skies has been pretty common lately [Falling, Dark, etc]

TJ - Go for it! Last year I started my story with a title that I came up with on Nov. 1st when I sat down to write. A semi-related first sentence came to mind a little while later, and I was off from there. I had no plot, and only 1 character to start with, and even he was completely unformed. By the end of day 3 I had several more characters, the central mystery, and an idea of where it was going to go.
I was completely unsure if it would come anywhere near the 50,000 word mark, but determined that if it was too short, I'd add another story taking place in the same locale. I even sowed a seed for another story in a quick news report during my main story. I wrote a little bit most days, and was very, very happy with a couple passages that came completely out of the blue.
Another idea that helps for the daily goal (that I used during my screenwriting class several years back) is to work out a scene/few pages during the day, then just put it all down in the writing session that evening. Good luck.

Also, the support I got from you guys here, really helped last year too.

[Lucian Poll]

Hi, Terry, that's great to hear! November's shaping up well already!

We just need a decent summer to fill the gap 'til then. (I swear it's been mid-November here in the UK since the end of 2006.)

[TerryE]

Not here on the east coast. We had our first heat wave last weekend. Now it's back to spring for a few days.

Hmmm.... Mid-November weather for 7 years. There's a story there somewhere.

And that just gave me the idea, that maybe the few of us here can work up to November with some short writing exercises or challenges. Anybody up for that?

[RJK1981]

RJ - I'd prefer These... or Our... The title has a more unique sound that way. (Adjective) Skies has been pretty common lately [Falling, Dark, etc]

Thanks for the feedback. I really like the idea of Our Ancestral Skies. Depending on how the plot, and ultimately the story, shapes up it could easily be split up into a series a books:

Our Ancestral Skies (The Ancestral Skies book 1)
Their Ancestral Skies (The Ancestral Skies book 2) - This could be from the POV of the alien overlords or something, lol.
These Ancestral Skies(The Ancestral Skies book 3) - This would be the prequel that all the cool kids are doing these days

That's all tongue-in-cheek of course, but at this point I could easily see this as possibly being too involved, complicated or whatever for a single book so as to avoid a massively long and intimidating book.

[RJK1981]

Not here on the east coast. We had our first heat wave last weekend. Now it's back to spring for a few days.

Hmmm.... Mid-November weather for 7 years. There's a story there somewhere.

And that just gave me the idea, that maybe the few of us here can work up to November with some short writing exercises or challenges. Anybody up for that?

I'd be up to give that a try.

We've had odd weather in MN. Last year we had a record early ice out here in MN, and then this year we had a record late ice out! Hell, areas around here had a frost warning a couple nights ago! In June!