Nanowrimo

[darrylduffy]

anyone doing this this year? maybe look for someone to exchange/peer edit when the month ends? PM me or post here.

National Novel Writing Month

Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.


Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.


So, to recap:
What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.
Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.
Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.


Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

[Valorie]

Is November the best month for this? What with everyone being so stressed with upcoming holidays.

[dan telfer]

November is the worst month for this! I usually travel and do volunteer work in addition to the holidays.

However, I have "won" Nano twice. It is a very rewarding experience, and I can't recommend it enough to anyone who enjoys any kind of creative process.

This year I am travelling too much, plus I have a baby. So I'm not trying. But good luck to any of you brave enough!

[Having Fun!]

I'll start it right here!

It was a dank and swealtering night. I was wearing nothing more than shoes and pants...

16 words down, 49,984 to go

[congolia]

I "won" a few years ago. I consider it a positive experience, but the end result was garbage.
I think any aspiring writer should give it a shot.

[Kentock]

I know this is rude and totally undercuts the supportive, fun nature of the contest, but I am addicted to reading the terrible excerpts that people post on the NaNoWriMo forums.

This is my favorite so far, from the thread First line:

Lord Olan Jarrell caught the blade in his gloved hand as it was swung down at him by a bloodied assailant dressed in blue and green armor effortlessly.

[Valorie]

I know this is rude and totally undercuts the supportive, fun nature of the contest, but I am addicted to reading the terrible excerpts that people post on the NaNoWriMo forums.

This is my favorite so far, from the thread First line:

So, did he swing the blade effortlessly or dress in blue and green armor effortlessly?

[congolia]

I know this is rude and totally undercuts the supportive, fun nature of the contest, but I am addicted to reading the terrible excerpts that people post on the NaNoWriMo forums.

This is my favorite so far, from the thread First line:

I told you my novel was garbage. Did you have to show it to everybody? (throws jewel-encrusted sword in a fiery lake of fire, angrily. )

[thisbetterwork]

I just searched for this and a 2 year old thread came up.

GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

I am going to try this. I might not succeed but I feel like having a specific goal oriented creative outlet will help me get my creative muscles moving, even if I don't quite hit the goal.

[dan telfer]

Good luck! Chris Baty's No Plot No Problem is worth the investment.

[SeanX3]

I did it a couple of years ago and had a great time with it. Good luck!

[Evander]

I just signed up.

Let's see how spectacularly I fail.



Crash and burn, baby. Crash and burn.

edit: came up with my novel idea on my drive to work. This is really happening. Impulse decisions are the BEST decisions!

[Bucky_Sinister]

Once you've written that many words out, whether or not they are good, you will be a better writer. Trust me on that. If you want to be a writer or novelist, writing a crappy first novel will help you. You have a lot of bad ideas, get them all out. Move on.

[thisbetterwork]

Once you've written that many words out, whether or not they are good, you will be a better writer. Trust me on that. If you want to be a writer or novelist, writing a crappy first novel will help you. You have a lot of bad ideas, get them all out. Move on.

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to be a writer, per se, but writing is something I enjoy doing and don't do enough of. I think it'll be good for my creativity getting going in general, which might help with writing stand up, especially writing more linear long form stuff which is generally what I aim for.

So far I've done 3500 words and have a vague idea of a plot and characters and have enough random characters in my ensemble and a plot that can plop around to different time periods, which is helpful as I think I will tire of one character, write a lot about another and then go back to the other one when I have a good idea of how to further that plot and so on.

My vague idea is sort of the autopsy of a indie buzz band who slowly collapse with the pressure put on them and why. And so I have all the different band members and the main characters wife to play with, why they got involved in the band and whatnot. Plus I have fake wikis, reviews, interviews. I have a ton of things I can do at any given time that might not all come together into anything particularly great or even covalece into an actual novel, but is definitely writing and is definitely all toward the goal of the novel.

[Evander]

I'm doing this because I've been talking about various novel ideas that I've had for three or four years right now, but aside from the opening to one of them (which was subsequently lost) I've never put any effort in to writing any of them, for fear that I don't want to "waste" one of my ideas on my first attempt. I like the idea of just forcing myself to do something. I can't keep calling myself a "writer" when all I've got is a large stack of poetry and a co-writing credit on a short film. That is a poet, not a writer.

edit: to re-clarify, I am not using any of the myriad idea I've had for years. it would feel like cheating. Although the one I came up with today (which is still more premise than plot, to be fair) I probably like just as much as any of the other ones

[pissedpissedofferson]

I'm going to do this because I enjoy writing yet have trouble doing it regularly.

I'll post my novella here. Stay tuned for the next exciting cycle of the Olan Jarrel Chronicles!