Thought I'd start this thread early to give myself some motivation!
Who else here on LitReactor is planning on participating in NaNoWriMo this year? What are you doing to plan before November rolls around ... or are you just planning to "pants" it? And if you have a rough storyline to share, or questions to ask, feel free!
I do have one question to ask myself, at the risk of sounding incredibly stupid. How the heck do I search/add friends on the NaNoWriMo site? I remember never being able to figure it out last year, and this year I'd like to add as many LR folks as possible!
Good luck to anyone taking a crack at it this year. I'm out as per usual, just struggling to finish a 5k short story at the mo.
I am.
I've thought about it before, but it's simply contrary to the way I like to write. Even so, I might try it just to see what forcing myself into that discomfort might produce, although I'd bet against my finishing. On the other hand, chaining myself to such a task might produce a really angry, impatient, exhausting book full of painful rants, intractable logic, and eerily personal insults directed at the reader. We need more of those, right?
I think a post-apocalyptic noir. Maybe a lost in the desert. Maybe both. I'm not sure.
I may have to pass this time. I'm already kind of on a roll with this new story collection The Vet Who Loved A Cat, and a new one I'm working on. Granted that is 15,000 words in a month.
But my mind just doesn't work for 50,000 in a month.:/
I'm in. I'm going to write the first 50k of book 3 for my Talent Show series, under the working title of 'Shadow's Trial' - well and truly into space opera territory now. I've just finished the final version of book 2, which ended up at 212,000 words. Getting to 50k with what I know about book 3 shouldn't be too much trouble. I'm really just doing it with NaNo to give it a flying start.
@anna: There's so much I've discovered about sticking with a series that it's hard to know where to begin! Now that you've got me thinking about how I've managed it so far, I'm tempted to answer your question with a blog column...I'll let you know when I get time to write it.
I suppose the most important thing is that I'm no different from most other writers: I've nearly lost my book/series more times than I can count. I once wrote my friend a message saying 'Thanks for the support but the book's dead,' and then as I was about to hit send I got this sudden flash of an idea that saved it in a second. That was three years ago, and now I'm on book 3, having been through at least two more despair moments like that. The lesson I learned: a series can almost always be saved somehow, but the other thing to decide is whether your heart is really in the rescue mission. Mine was - five years of writing have gone into this now, but even though I've had this one really fulfilling ride, I've given up on plenty of others.
Okay, here's the blog post: https://tommymuncie.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/staying-power-how-to-keep-writing-your-series/
At least, that's part 1 of it. I got carried away as usual, so I decided to split it. I'll finish Part 2 tomorrow. Just to stay on topic, NaNo gets metioned - it's a good way to help build up your staying power, especially with a series.
I am going to be working in a new novel titled The Dream Catcher about a guy who intercepts the dreams of others when he falls asleep. Shenanigans ensue. I have some preliminary notes for an protagonist and antagonist, but most of it will be me winging it.
At Anna's request, I'll share Part II of my blog post on staying power in her NaNo thread. <---There it is.
I'm already kind of getting ahead and catching steam on a current collection, so I'm not sure if I'll have time. My voice is definitely more in short fiction that connects like a novel but isn't.
I have an idea for a split POV novel exploring madness. It might end up sucking, but it rains in Seattle in November, so 50K is a good way to kill some time. :)
I've never done NaNo before but I've always been curious.....I think I signed up in high school but then lost my nerve like, the day before. Also, I haven't written more than a paragraph in about a year. So basically....I'm in. How do I do it? Also, hi Anna :)
A couple of grad school years, I did a novella instead and made my goal 25K. It's basically just an excuse to get to writing every day and get a first draft completed.
I already have an account myself, just haven't used it in a while. I think the last year I was only get to 10,000 words that month, cause I kept being destracted and I was caught up in a contest in Wattpad at that point in time.
Note to self, decline all contests during November if doing Nano.
I've been crazy busy lately but overall pretty good. How about you? I see you're doing stuff for the magazine now! That's amazing! I've read some of your articles and they're pretty damn legit :)
Yeah, I'd been trying to think of ways to get back into writing so I started lurking here a bit, stumbled across this thread and was like "Oh yeah! NaNo's a thing!" I'm pretty excited. I've missed writing a lot. I wish I could do NaNo and workshop simultaneously but I've had to cut back on my budget so much that it came down to workshop or Spotify and I just couldn't bring myself to part with my sweet, sweet playlists. But I'll definitely add you as soon as I have a profile and everything set up on NaNo! And thanks for all the info, it's got me even more stoked :)
A friend actually sent me a link to your Trainspotting one a little while back. At first I was thrilled because I love Trainspotting but then I saw it was one of yours and may have audibly giggled a little. It was just such a strange little coincidence since they have absolutely nothing to do with this site and don't even know I'm associated with it much less you. It was the kind of strangeness that makes my day :)
Aw, you have no idea how much that means to hear, thank you! And obviously right back at you. You're still the only YA author I like (aside from my generation's literary mom, JK Rowling, that is) so definitely don't hesitate to harass me as much as I'll be harassing you come NaNo time. Your work was always such a pleasant break from the gloomy crap I normally read. It was like the joy of rereading Phantom Tollbooth but with just enough gore and creepiness to keep my morbid ass engaged.
Very, very true. And speaking of, I couldn't sleep last night so I made my NaNo profile! I'm so ready for this nonsense it's insane. Other than, you know, having anything more than a vague idea of what I'm actually going to write. The writing part I'm totally unprepared for but the hype is real.
We are now officially NaNo buddies. Soups exciting. Yeah, I'm not too worried about accumulating buddies but I was looking at the page for regional activities and found a weekly write-in at a bar that I've been meaning to try for ages now so that's happening at the very least. Fate! Did you do anything like that last year? How did you go about accummulating buddies?
I most definitely feel you on the procrastination front. But I also don't typically do outlines or anything like that anyway and, to be perfectly honest, don't even know how to do that kind of stuff so the only prep work I'd be able to do is drafting which I have a feeling would be frowned upon. It feels like it'd be considered cheating. But I also want to get started so bad!! What do I do?!?
You amaze me with your output. (your talent too, but damn, you are so productive)
How much do you normally write in a month?
Good luck all that are entering. If anyone is looking to buddy up I'm on as Jen5000.
Still haven't got my idea yet but I've signed up.
I'm in, it'll be my 5th year, or is it my 4th... at any rate, I'm a veteran and I have some ideas.
And it's 50,000 words in November, which translates to about 5K every 3 days or 1,666 daily. I find that targeting the 3 day goal is easier and more practical given the way my availability can change from day to day.
I don't remember off hand how to add friends, but I've done it and I recall it's not super obvious. I am 'camcombs' on that site.
So far I've been a pantser, and I probably will be this year as well. I usually come in with an idea to flesh out but don't have it outlined or anything.
I'll be doing NaNoWriMo again with you guys, this is my 11th year... though I'd hardly consider myself a veteran as I've only ever "won" once, but I keep trying. I'm XyZy over there as well, and I'll add you all when I get a chance...
@Anna: Yeah, Cameron's right. It's always been 50k. If it had been 40k, I would have won a couple more times in the past decade :)
I never heard about this before except as an acronym for the actual event. Sounds like the equivelance of sitting in silent meditation for ten days straight at a Vipisana yoga retreat but for writers.
Last time I wrote a novel draft from A-Z it took me four-five years so I'm pumped to pick up some pace. There's a bunch of novel drafts lying around on my laptop, but really after years in the Litreactor workshop I'm just aching to write something new and focused instead of being stuck in rewrites.
I just made an account under the name Gonzo Gabanzo, probably going to take me until November starts to figure out the webpage.
I'm in. Someone please friend me. I don't know how. I haven't even picked a novel, but I am a bit excited.
I add those of you I could find, I'm on there as Dwayne.
@Dollface - I couldn't find you.
Thanks for looking for me. I tried to find fellow citizens, but I recieved an email telling me that the site is still under repair, and we would find each other eventually. Whatever that means. I have the same username if anyone breaks through. Thanks Guys!
I am joining this year. I want to use it to continue a project I have already started.
I'm gonna do it this year. Hoping to finally get my novel idea onto real pages, because I need to write my novel now...
Looking for a nanowrimo buddy? Come visit my little corner. There is only one way in, and this is it.
Shit, can't believe it's November this soon. I'll probably participate every year, but really nervous about writing a fifty-freakin'-thousand words. I've been doing some test-runs. Not good--something short of 400 words and grinding to a halt. I guess I need a lot of outlining(?).
My username is candleintheroom.
@Anna---Thanks Anna!