JEFFREY GRANT BARR's picture
JEFFREY GRANT BARR from Central OR is reading Nothing but fucking Shakespeare, for the rest of my life October 21, 2012 - 8:27pm

I'm going to do NanoWriMo this year, anyone else? I've participed the last 2 years, and it was great fun.

This year will be the first I start with a solid outline, now that I've started using Scrivener as my outlining tool. Scrivener normally offers 50% off the cost of the software for winners of NanoWriMo, and it looks like 2012 continues that tradition. I'll use mine to get a Mac version

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 8:30pm

I did it the last two years and it was a lot of fun. I also do the fundraising for OLL they offer during November. I think I am sitting out this year though, as I've committed to WAR and have a couple of other writing obligations going. If you are doing the fundraising, let me know. I'm looking for someone to toss my yearly "starter donation" at.

JEFFREY GRANT BARR's picture
JEFFREY GRANT BARR from Central OR is reading Nothing but fucking Shakespeare, for the rest of my life October 21, 2012 - 8:32pm

What is OLL? 

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 8:33pm

The Office of Letters and Light is the organization that puts on NaNoWriMo.

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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 8:35pm

HERE is a link about doing the fundraising. It's like when people do charity marathons or whatever.

Alex Kane's picture
Alex Kane from west-central Illinois is reading Dark Orbit October 21, 2012 - 8:42pm

I'll be feeding off its energy and writing as much as possible, but I started my novel three weeks ago, so it probably doesn't qualify me. Even if I manage to finish by the end of November. Shooting for a January finish, to be honest, but it would be nice to finish in November. We'll see what happens.

What do you guys typically aim for with a first draft, in terms of word count? I'm hoping to have the finished novel be 80- or 85,000 words. Just curious.

I tend to add stuff in subsequent drafts, rather than cut, since I'm more of a minimalist and prone to occasional bouts of "white-room syndrome."

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 8:49pm

I aim for what it takes. I know that's a crappy answer, but...yeah. NaNo requires 50,000 words. That's not enough for me. Both stories I wrote probably needed at least another 30k to be good.

TKnite's picture
TKnite from the US is reading Poison Dance by Livia Blackburne October 21, 2012 - 8:53pm

I've done NaNo three times in the past, but I don't think I'm doing it this year. I've never gotten much out of it. I basically have two modes of writing: slowly written good writing and quickly written crap writing. My NaNo stories usually end up so incoherent that I scrap the entire manuscript, and that's not cool. I prefer to write at the best pace for me, which, unfortunately, is not the pace needed for NaNo. 

@Alex Kane- Depends on the story, but generally 80-100k. That's a wide margin, but my novel lengths are all quite different in terms of structure and plot, so narrowing it down anymore than that is impossible.

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On October 21, 2012 - 8:55pm

Uh, what is NaNoWriMo?

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 9:03pm

National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50k words with a beginning, middle and end during the month of November.

I enjoy it a lot, but it's not for everyone. It is done on the honor system (you copy and paste your work into a counter, but it doesn't save it) so a lot of people do revisions or even short stories to make it work better for them.

Alex Kane's picture
Alex Kane from west-central Illinois is reading Dark Orbit October 21, 2012 - 9:05pm

All right, screw it. I signed up and have thrown up a word count widget on my website at alexkanefiction.com. Let's do this. I'll aim for 50,000 words by the end of November, with the understanding that it'll take me another month or two--at least--to actually finish the book.

ETA: I'm up to 9,674 words as of tonight, so admittedly I'm cheating.

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 9:05pm

Yeah my first year I got the 50,000 but I didn't finish the draft.

Dammit. I really want to do it. I did this last year, too...I stood firm that I wasn't doing it, then I caved in on Nov. 1st. Maybe I could do what you're doing and just work on my current project.

Alex Kane's picture
Alex Kane from west-central Illinois is reading Dark Orbit October 21, 2012 - 9:07pm

Do eet.

Also: Where's Dakota? Doesn't he have a novel project he's working on?

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 9:10pm

My husband freaked out when I told him I might end up doing it, hahaha.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 21, 2012 - 10:22pm

@Alex - Wait, hold up. There are people on this site who DON'T have a novel project going on?

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On October 21, 2012 - 10:55pm

Thanks Sparrow. Interesting site and premise. However I'm saving November for WAR.

Love that it freaked out your husband!

 

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 21, 2012 - 10:56pm

@Sparrow - It is so cool to watch you pretend you might not do it.

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 21, 2012 - 11:15pm

Oh I already committed on Facebook. If there is one thing I won't do, it is be asked about it and go 'uh...'. So I'm doing it. 

 

Love that it freaked out your husband!

To be fair, he is incredibly supportive of my writing all year round, and makes extra efforts during NaNo. And the first year I did it, my father died the week before Thanksgiving. And we have to go to Vegas every November for four days. And there is Thanksgiving. This year, I'm doing WAR, traveling North for my class reunion, the event in Vegas, Thanksgiving, and whatever curve ball November may throw. He's right to be freaked out!

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 21, 2012 - 11:32pm

So I went and checked it out and the Lexington NaNoWriMo has all night write ins, so that should be cool.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks October 22, 2012 - 12:04am

I've always said I'm going to do it and never have, so I'm doing it this year and stating it here so someone will hold me accountable. College be damned.

Jay.SJ's picture
Jay.SJ from London is reading Warmed and Bound October 22, 2012 - 8:15am

Thing is I started my novel, about 5k in, but might do it anyway. Fuck tha haters yo.

pendragon's picture
pendragon from Seoul is reading Memories October 22, 2012 - 8:21am

I think I'm going to try it out! I've never written a story longer than 1,000 words, though.

For some reason I think I'm going to write porn for it.

.'s picture
. October 22, 2012 - 8:41am


What Courtney said. 

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On October 22, 2012 - 8:48am

@SparrowStark: I believe in the Sparrow.

@Courtney: Consider yourself held accoountable. Hope you kick ass!

@Pendragon: 50,000 words of porn? That's asking a lot of endurance from your average male. I wish you luck:)

Alex Kane's picture
Alex Kane from west-central Illinois is reading Dark Orbit October 22, 2012 - 11:07am

Sweet. Lots of takers means we should all have a good support system for staying on track. I'll need to write at least 1,000 words per day until the end of November, which is totally doable.

As Sean Bateman would say: "Rock'n'roll."

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 22, 2012 - 11:16am

How about 13,000 words on 3 nights, what does that leave me on for the rest of the month?

Mess_Jess's picture
Mess_Jess from Sydney, Australia, living in Toronto, Canada is reading Perfect by Rachael Joyce October 22, 2012 - 12:09pm

@Dwayne: delerious?

I signed up today. I also start as a slush reader soon, I'm doing a class with Kat Howard here 'til mid November and I've signed up for War. I, too, plan on being delerious. 

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 22, 2012 - 12:21pm

I'm going to try and do 50k in the month, just ON the project I am working on. I've managed it the last two years, so this year it will just be some added challenge with the other stuff I've got going on.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 22, 2012 - 1:35pm

@Jess - That's just how I right. Being delirious is a unrelated issue.

kimberlynotkim's picture
kimberlynotkim from L.A. (currently in Hawaii) is reading my phone October 22, 2012 - 1:37pm

I might, I haven't decided. I probably should. I did it in 2007 and finished, then got thrown off by a series of Major Life Events every autumn since then, but this year would be a good year to recommit.

OtisTheBulldog's picture
OtisTheBulldog from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz October 22, 2012 - 1:47pm

Hmmmmm...wonder if I could actually do this. On one hand, I'm unemployed. On the other, I am trying to deal with that. I've also (faithfully) committed to WAR and I'm taking 200 Proof which lasts til Mid-November. And I'm going to NYC the 3rd weekend in Nov to collaborate on a project with a friend. And I have a rock show the Saturday after Thanksgiving which I'm rehearsing for. 

Yet, I'm super-tempted. It averages to just about 1,700 words a day and there will be days I won't be able to devote any time to a NaNo project, so I'd have to have some marathon days.

Time management has always been a weakness and a miserable failure for me...

kimberlynotkim's picture
kimberlynotkim from L.A. (currently in Hawaii) is reading my phone October 22, 2012 - 1:57pm

So what is WAR?

 

Besides, y'know, "All my friends know the low-rider," etc.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters October 22, 2012 - 2:02pm

WAR

kimberlynotkim's picture
kimberlynotkim from L.A. (currently in Hawaii) is reading my phone October 22, 2012 - 2:31pm

Oh my, that does sound intense. I think I'll enjoy that one from the gallery and stick with NaNoWriMo this time around!

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer October 22, 2012 - 3:43pm

My girlfriend is the municipal liason here, so despite grad school and everything else, I am expected to take part. I even got volunteered to speak at the kickoff that the public library is hosting. I made 50k in two weeks last year so I suppose I have a chance.

.'s picture
. October 22, 2012 - 9:59pm


I've done WAR and liked it. I couldn't get past the first day with Nano. I'm sorry. I don't like Nano. 

Renfield's picture
Renfield from Hell is reading 20th Century Ghosts October 22, 2012 - 11:26pm

I guess I'm doing it. Very busy month it seems. I guess we all buddy up on there? I'm Renfield McCormack.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 23, 2012 - 4:42am

@Jack - Did you go out to the events and what not? It seems that here it is a much a social networking thing for writers are it is about the work.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters October 23, 2012 - 6:35am

I almost want to do it and just take my WIP novel in with me to motivate me and make me move it forward, but at this time of year, I know I would just make everyone around me miserable with it.  Between War and my job taking up extra amounts of my time, I just can't make the time and still be a functioning part of society/keep my house clean/take care of my child/whatever else it is people have to do. 

Maybe next year I can do it. 

Or maybe I can just motivate myself to write a set amount in May or something. 

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer October 23, 2012 - 6:50am

@Dwayne, Yeah, I did, and still do, which was part of the reason I did it last year. I was a productive writer even without it, and I didn't need any help to get fifty thousand words. After Nano last year, a few of us from the Nano group started a website to help promote our writing, and we started hanging out once a month. The website gives us deadlines and a reason to consistantly get into the writer's frame of mind. One of our members got her 2011 Nano novel published by Carina Press, which got her a six-book deal. She then put in a word for one of our other writers, whose novel is getting considered by her publisher right now. I know that more people have submitted than would have normally, because when they see other people in the group getting published, they feel like they can do it, as well. On top of that, I started dating the Nano ML after critiquing her urban fantasy novel.

I like the write-ins, but not really as social things. They do things like word sprints, which don't exist for me. I write at a constant, steady pace, regardless, and I am sort of in my own world while writing. Last year, there was an earthquake during the midnight write-in, and I didn't even notice.

I've enjoyed the social networking part of it during the non-writing events, but I think there are people who wouldn't get the writing done without the support group that comes with it. I'm just not one of them.

Mess_Jess's picture
Mess_Jess from Sydney, Australia, living in Toronto, Canada is reading Perfect by Rachael Joyce October 23, 2012 - 7:49am

This will be my first shot at a novel, so I'm expecting nothing short of tripe to be written. I don't get downhearted about being realistic with these things. I do hope, though, to get to know people in my area with some of the social activities and write ins. I'm only living in Florida for two months, but it would be nice to get to know other people in the industry around here. 

@Averydoll - why don't you just say you'll do it, and then just do what you can do without ruining your life? And that's good enough, because you tried your best. (I never know how not to sound like a motivational speaker or a primary school teacher when I try and encourage people.)

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters October 23, 2012 - 8:00am

Yeah, there just comes a point where you are doing nothing well and everything gets half assed and I feel that coming on.  I don't want to do everything miserably.  And I know if I commit I'll force myself to finish it or hate myself for not finishing. 

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer October 23, 2012 - 8:03am

Some people set their own Nano goal. My girlfriend wants me to set a goal of 25,000 so that I take part in it, but I don't push aside my school work for it. I honestly don't see how I could do 50K for the same reasons as Avery. Single parent writer is a tough gig.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated October 23, 2012 - 9:21am

@Jack - Sorry, I should have been more clear I meant that for Jacks_Username. Although I am hoping to learn how to do have a something besides my two extreams of "pick at it and get 30 words done" and "write like a mad man and do 12,000 is in a night" so good to hear about someone who can write steady.

XyZy's picture
XyZy from New York City is reading Seveneves and Animal Money October 23, 2012 - 9:45am

I'll be doing both war and NaNo this year... so I'm pretty sure I'll be trying to cram Avery's prompts into my novel plot. Should be fun.

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer October 23, 2012 - 10:30am

Oh well. I am always happy to get my two cents worth whether it is asked for or not. :p

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig October 23, 2012 - 1:00pm

Avery--they also do "Camp NaNoWriMo" in June or July.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters October 23, 2012 - 1:25pm

Ah - excellent.  Someone remind of that...

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias October 23, 2012 - 9:15pm

I did it twice a number of years ago. Was in SF at the time so got to meet and hang out with Chris Baty and the crew, helped do some stuff. It was fun, and write-ins can be enjoyable, but it didn't really help me produce quality work. Just a lot of work very quickly, some of which was interesting in terms of premise, but not much else. And neither were complete novels, though one did meet the word count goal. I'd like to revisit the ideas, but I'd be starting from scratch.

It's cool and everyone should try it, though. Ultimately I don't think I'll be going back to it, but for many it's a great thing. And I'd probably do it again at some point if I had the time, but... school and all that. I don't know that it's really even aimed at writers so much as just at people in general, and depending on how you write, it may not be of that much utility. But depending on who you're hanging out with, it can definitely be fun. All-nighters at bars and cafes with like-minded people are always a welcome activity.

Alex Kane's picture
Alex Kane from west-central Illinois is reading Dark Orbit October 23, 2012 - 9:34pm

Night two of 1,000 words is a success. Puts the book at 11,661 words.

This could happen.

Dorian Grey's picture
Dorian Grey from Transexual, Transylvania is reading "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck October 23, 2012 - 10:25pm

I'm going to try again this year. I did it last year, got to 50k, didn't quite finish it and never touched it. Really hoping this year's book is a hell of a lot better.