NaNoWriMo2013

[William J. Grabowski]

Greetings, LP. This is simply a statement inspired by the NaNoWriMo2013 thread. I love the entire idea--here's why. I'm an independent writer/editor, and recently completed a brutally difficult ghostwriting job (mainstream novel) for a Wall Street worker. Foolishly, I signed a contract promising delivery of final manuscript in 30 days. My client phoned me every M, W, and TH at 10AM for a status report--a genuine nightmare for me, as I do not enjoy this intrusive contact (but she was paying me well, and had every right to protect her investment--pun much intended).

In short, I wrote the novel in 30 days--final draft. My client loved it.

What had started as a very, very stressful project ended positively, as my own writing--in comparison--now is much less taxing. Forcing yourself to such discipline is like swinging 10 baseball bats over and over.

Once you drop them, you feel as if capable of lifting a truck!

[Lucian Poll]

Thanks, RJK! It's all still rough in my head (hence the rough synopsis) but there should be enough to keep me going for a while.

[RJK1981]

Not that I can think of, but more are always welcome. I see you put your story for the year up on your page Lucian, sounds very good!

I still wonder how this year will go for me, but I am not really too stressed or worried about it. The story in my mind seems like it could take a lot more than 50k words to reach "The End", but at the same time I have never written science fiction, so it will definitely be an experiment, lol. I'm actually hoping that I can come up with a way to have the story short enough to enter into the Writer's of the Future contest, perhaps turning part of it into a short story that leads into a longer story or is expanded on. I had the idea for another story pop into my head last week or so, so I know I should be good for the word count.

[TerryE]

I'm as ready as I'm going to be, I guess. I've got you two on my buddy list from last year.

Anybody new?

[RJK1981]

Today begins my week of research for this title, likely do some character work, and possibly even doing some plotting for the story as well, though that isn't a priority for me.

[Lucian Poll]

Well, we're nearly there, folks: another 30 days of creative nirvana, punctilious plotting and 'orrible deeds told well (or, if you will, 30 days each spent looking at your word count and thinking "Shit! It felt like more.") Yes, it's nearly NaNoWriMo time!

As we head into the final week-afore, are we all ready for what lies ahead? Any call for a writing buddy? You can find me via http://nanowrimo.org/participants/lucian-poll.

[TerryE]

I developed the same idea last year. The story I was working on was probably heading for novella territory. If I would have finished it, my idea was to continue with other stories related to the main tale. I even made mention of a past event that would make an interesting story on its own. One day.

[RJK1981]

Well, if it is cheating, so what? Haven't you heard the quote "If ya ain't cheating, ya ain't winning"? Sock Monkey, if nothing else, if whatever you settle on doesn't give you 50,000 words then just write them both. It's supposed to be for novels but I know there are people who do short stories and things like that.

I know I don't plan to stretch out my story if I end up struggling and will start on another story as well that has recently entered my mind. I know that if my science fiction story fits within the 17,000 word limit I will definitely consider entering it into the writer's of the future contest after I edit it.

[TerryE]

I still haven't come up with an idea, except maybe doing a novelization of my screenplay. Does that seem like cheating?

[Sock Monkey]

Well, after thinking it over quite a bit and along with some encouraging words from RJK1981, I've decided to give NaNoWriMo another go this year! I have a couple projects in mind, so now I just need to settle on one.

[RJK1981]

I might do as you suggest. I tend to be a little rigid when it comes to goals or deadlines. Maybe just doing the best I can might be liberating. Still mulling it over, but you definitely gave me some food for thought.

I tend to be more of slacker when it comes to deadlines and put things off until close to the deadline, but that doesn't work with NaNoWriMo, so I was out of my element in that way last year, but I was luckily able to make it work. We'll see if I am able to make it work this year too, am crossing my fingers that it will, that is for sure! If it helps you could set multiple goals, in order of importance. Perhaps something like:

#1 Write as much as I can in November
#2 Don't give up
#3 Write 50,000 words in November

Then writing writing as much as you can is the most important goal and 50,000 words is the least important goal, but still a goal (without the pressure of it being the primary or even secondary goal). And if you do that you get in on deals for participants. Like the Scrivener writing program, which is 50% off for winners, but is still discounted 20% for those who participate and don't reach the goal.

And for those who will be doing NaNo who didn't add me to their writing buddies last year, here is my profile link to add me. And whoever wishes to see what I'll be writing this year I have already entered the details of my story for this year. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/rjk1981

[TerryE]

Monkey, I've fought the same fight in previous years. Last year was my best attempt. 12,000 words in 23 days. I didn't make the goal, but I got a good start and I got into good writing habits, that unfortunately disappeared for most of the past year. But I like what I wrote, still feel like I need to finish it, and learned some new things about the history of my fictional county. (And now that I've got the lost sections back from the broken computer, I intend to finish it)

[Sock Monkey]

Why not try it? Just write as much as you can in the 30 days. Don't give up after 4 days, just keep plugging away. As long as you write as much as you can it'll still be more than if you don't do anything, which I call a success!

I might do as you suggest. I tend to be a little rigid when it comes to goals or deadlines. Maybe just doing the best I can might be liberating. Still mulling it over, but you definitely gave me some food for thought.

[RJK1981]

Oh, NaNoWriMo how you taunt me! I'm on the fence about whether or not to try again this year. November is a brutal month for me which I thought I was prepared for last year, yet failed miserably after about four days. Going to think long and hard about it before I commit.

Why not try it? Just write as much as you can in the 30 days. Don't give up after 4 days, just keep plugging away. As long as you write as much as you can it'll still be more than if you don't do anything, which I call a success!

[Sock Monkey]

Oh, NaNoWriMo how you taunt me! I'm on the fence about whether or not to try again this year. November is a brutal month for me which I thought I was prepared for last year, yet failed miserably after about four days. Going to think long and hard about it before I commit.