And here is the vote from Sussex.......

Hey there Kenners - I'm from good ol' Sussex too (though not by the sea :-( ) -I'm closer to Tunbridge Wells. I'm surprised there aren't hundreds of replies from our home county!! Where abouts are you?

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Hey there Kenners - I'm from good ol' Sussex too (though not by the sea :-( ) -I'm closer to Tunbridge Wells. I'm surprised there aren't hundreds of replies from our home county!! Where abouts are you?

(sorry about this appearing twice... I don't know how that happened!! :-S)

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Have you guys ever considered sticking your lot in with Brighton (and Hove)? They're a nice bunch...

Don't worry if you aren't quite from Brighton - I'm all the way up in Milton Keynes and they still let me in :D

Yeah, Zild, I have considered joining another group...this one doesn't seem to be moving anywhere, though I think I'll stay here as well, just in case anyone turns up!! :-)

Brighton and Hove a friendly lot, you say? Ok, I think I'll pop over and say hello! Cheers for the kick up the backside :-D

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Friendly, sure. Just not very wordy, judging from the current word-war drubbing...

I haven't found out what that is yet, so I'll have to check it out... Is it some sort of competition between the regions or something?

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Replace "contest between" with "trouncing by" and you're bang on! :)

:-D Going that good, huh? I see your word count is up on yesterdays - well done!

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Thanks - I realised how I could start my novel with a bang (although I won't technically write the start until the end...) so I'm, feeling a lot happier about the whole concept now. And a thrash metal CD a mate lent me helped pep me up for another 800 words when was flagging (after updating my profile), so I'm now on about 3.6k - only 3k behind target...

Meh, I'm used to starting a little late ;)

Well done - whatever it takes!!! :-)

I haven't actually done the beginning yet either... in fact, I haven't even got a story line yet, only the germ of an idea. I'm just thinking of scenerios that might fit in with that germ of idea with the hope of joining them all together to make something with an iota of sense in it!! :-D

You would actually hate the music that inspires me to write (my kids certainly do, lol!) When I was a kid my dad used to play Demis Rousos on a rainy sunday afternoon, and I'd sit and write stories to it... Well, I did a practice run at nanowrimo last March, because another blogger was going to do it, and I wondered if I might actually be able to. Yay, I managed sevently thousand something words, which surprised me totally (considering I'd never even finished a story before... only started millions :-S ).

Anyway, point is, I borrowed my sister's Demis Rousos cd, and it worked a treat (to the bitter disappointment of said kids! :-D )

Though doing it with just one other person was great, I wanted to experience the full nanowrimo with everyone else around the world... Only this time I can't think of a thing to write!!! yikes!

Anyway, I'm glad you made a proper headway into it... that's always a bit of a boost, isn't it! I've put you down as my buddy, so I can chivvy you along if you like (or shout at you if that works better :-) ) Catch you later!

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

No more progress from me... so very tired last night and this morning :(

I wonder if my old writing buddy-turned-med-student could sneak me out some adrenaline shots?

I didn't have my best day yesterday either, and worse, I had to force every last darn word out onto the page today... it was just plain hard work, and for a moment there tonight I wondered what the heck I was doing trying to force out something that just wasn't coming, and that I haven't even got a storyline for!! I better get one soon, I guess, cos this is like...torture!!

Reckon your old mate has something in that bag for me too? :-)

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Hehe...

I think I'm coming down with a cold, hence the tired - maybe after it passes I will be able to catch up.

I demoted my (rl) med student friend to mail-clerk in my novel, gave him steroetypical firey red hair, then had my female MC fantasise about him... Then I took my (rl) old stoner flatmate and had my MC make a drunken pass at him - he refused!

This all shows how sidetracked what little I am able to write is getting :(

Sounds fair enough to me!! In fact, it sounds like you're much more able to successfully transfer real people to characters than me... something I wish I could do better. Your characters sound like they'll be quite fun to keep up with!!

Ooo, and it looks like you've written more as well - a big well done to you, especially if you're not feeling too good (shows a true novelist that - working through pain and deprivation :-) ) Keep it going... even just a few words a day to keep your hand in...

Hope you're feeling a bit better!

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

I've only ever really taken elements of people to use in characters before, never deliberately based characters on real people. But then, the emphasis was always on several important, larger-than-life characters forming the core of the novel - this is based around one character and the novel is supposed to be more realistic, more everyday, so real life inspiration seems more appropriate for the supporting cast.

There is, however, a major downside - I inadvertently based my main character's physical appearance on a girl I deem "the most perfect girl in the world", who makes me very miserable every time I think about her because I am no longer in contact with her. Thinking about her everyday is not exactly making me a happy bunny :(

Last night I actually stopped writing before 10pm - I wanted to carry on, but my vision had gone blurry! But if I can keep flowing this weekend without too many interuptions I think I stand a chance.

But look at you - over 15k! You've got this sewn up already! :D

Hey Zild,
Hope the word count's building up in your neck of the woods!! Every word I've got down has been ripped painfully out of me so far... still waiting for that gratuitous flow...

No girl is the most perfect girl in the world! this is a perfect opportunity to remember all aspects of her 'wonderful' character...I'm sure there must've been habits, or expressions, or something that made her not quite as high on the pedestal!! Did she gossip about people, put them down? Did she criticize those less perfect than herself? Did she know how perfect she was (that's always annoying! :-) )?

Well, I hope you know what you're doing, using her as your character... maybe it's a great way of getting her out of your system!! By the end of 50000 words, you'll have changed her personality so completely, you won't miss her quite so much! :-)

How's your bug/ cold or whatever it was? Are you up and running again? I see there's been a word increase since last time I came on, so you've obviously been going some! Keep it up - you're over a fifth of the way there now :-D

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Ooh, 20k - shiny!

I got in the flow yesterday morning for 4k words, then took a "little break" which signalled the end of my writing for the day (I blame the wife getting me drunk. Okay, more drunk.)

Erm, the perfect girl wasn't around long enough to exhibit any flaws - that was her only flaw! (From my severaly restricted point of view, at least.) I'm actually tempted to base a novel on her properly, not just on her physical appearance. But for now I need to focus on this novel :)

Hey, nice going Zild - Your word count just zoomed up! I think you deserve a break after 4K - well earned I'd say. And the wife getting you (more) drunk sounds like a damned good excuse! :-)

Eugh! Perfect people have to be the worst people to know - there's got to be a flaw in there somewhere (I'd say being perfect is one of the biggest! :-) ) I'd say it would be impossible to base a novel on someone who's so perfect, because what would be their desire, or their character flaw they'd want to correct? I suppose something could happen to her and she's got to sort it out, but it makes a much more fun novel to write is she has to deal with some major character defect of her own, don't ya think?

Anyway, 13 and !/2 K is a great slice of a novel... so go, go, go! Get the rest of it down! :-D (I meant the words, of course...)

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

No no - the novel would be about one doting, desperate fool's attempts to find her again. She herself would probably not appear too much, but the more the reader saw her, the more they - and the MC - begin to see her numerous imperfections...

13k is still a bit behind... But look at you, almost at the half-way point! It's all downhill from here (in the "getting easier" sense, not the "getting worse" sense!)

:-D

That sounds more of a story... I already feel for the poor doting, desperate fool! :-) But that's not what this story's about, huh?

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit cagey saying what mine's about, 'cos every time I tell anyone the storyline, I stop writing! And, despite the word count, I really am extracting every word with the effort of a dentist pulling wisdom teeth. And I still haven't got a storyline!!! How's yours going? Do you know what you're writing/ going to write? Have you planned it all out?

I notice there's not one, not two but three (three!) meetings coming up in Milton Keynes with authors speaking - you certainly seem to live in the right place! :-) [Just in case you missed it, they're listed at the bottom of the first page of Europe:England:Elsewhere ] Sounds like they might be worth going to...

oh yeah, and I should do the winner's dance round the room just now... half way - yeeeehaaah! :-D

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Heh, I'm normally cagey about the contents of my novels because I hope to actually get them published... one day!

But this year I have been more open - it's about a young lady who grows increasingly bitter with her employer and thus starts fantasising about criminal acts against him, ranging from robbery, seducation and blackmail to kidnap and murder. Over the course of the novel, the daydreams turn into meticulous plans that the character intends to carry out, and then eventually they turn into reality...

I do like to plan my novels before I write them these days - if I didn't have a plan, I'm not sure I could convince myself to keep pushing on (though I am barely managing to do so this time as it is!) I had the chapters briefly laid out before November - which kind of crime she will ponder, how "real" the plots are, and of course what happens between plots to drive her to further hate her boss. I also had just the first and third criminal plots planned out, courtesy of a 3.5 hour wait in A&E at the end of October! So far, I've generally stuck to the plans, except that I merged the first two crimes into one by accident. But that was good, as the plans get more interesting the further into the book you get...

MK does indeed have some good events coming up, although personally I think some of them may be better suited to after November - for example, the last one was aimed at getting published rather than getting the first draft written (although I may be wrong, as I was not there!) As much as I would like to go, I'm really not sure I can spare the time in November - depending on the subject of the next one, I may toss a coin and let fate decide.

Novels...published? Hey, there's a thought that hadn't crossed my mind :-)

Sounds like a good plot idea... you seem to have thought it through more than I have. I'm winging it. I've got a definite writer's block, so I'm just sitting at the computer and making myself write anything as long as it has the same characters in (hey, I'll find a way to glue it altogether later - just got to write it first :-D ) Actually, it seems to be following on in a kind of sequence, just hasn't got a why? about it, or a 'what's it all about'. Even tried writing a plot plan the last couple of days, and managed to write out a list of the chapters I've written - in a notepad, on yellow bits of card, on the back of a shopping receipt etc...but got no further. I just can't seem to envisage a storyline, which is quite weird, since normally I can think of a million storylines, but never get to writing them! Oh well, c'est la vie.

(Oh, and if you think 'at least she's getting the word count' then just bear in mind how little cohesion it has - I obviously have the amazing ability to write reams on nothing. Oh, if only I could write it on my story!! :-S )

Have you updated recently? Looks like you got a busy week, huh? So, going to do a hard push on the weekend? You can still do it, you know. It's only the 14th - less than half way, so do like me....just write anything at all, anywhere in the book, and get something down - just anything!!! You've got time... Go, Zild, Go!!

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Thanks! I'm actually feeling pepped today anyway - 50k looks achievable! :)

I haven't written a word since Sunday (still on 13,522) but hope to double that by the end of the weekend and have a manic week next week.

So you don't have a plot, what's wrong with that? Look on the bright side: you have a lot of words already, and when you add in some more to tie them together that should be more than enough for a novel! :D

Hey Zild, what's up?!

I see you had a quiet weekend after all...are you still writing? Plenty of time to catch up...plenty! :-)

You ok? or did you just have an unexpected weekend? You know, it's a hard ol' thing to keep going, but you've written this much, so why not just take the opportunity to plod on until the end... see what happens. If nothing else, you'll have more of the novel done than you have just now.... just don't give up on it because you fell behind... You can do it!! And if you can't, you can keel over trying! :-)

I had a good weekend, but since then I'm so knackered, what with work an' all, it's a real effort to sit down and do anything, but in a minute I'm going to at least write a hundred words...just anything, just to keep m'hand in....

Let me know how you're doing?

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

I decided on Saturday morning to give up - not at all because I'm far behind, but because my better half's out of the country and, as good an opportunity as that is to write, it is also a great opportuntiy to knuckle down and get some solid gaming in...

But then I was reminded that my favourite game is as buggy as hell, when it crashed no less than half a dozen times that day, so I am now un-giving up.

This is all part of my normal cycle (albeit not usually in November!) - I play a game obsessively for a bit, then move on to some hair-brained scheme or project, such as a new novel. Granted, that doesn't really explain Sunday, which was just a general day of laziness, but Monday night was spent at my parents' house partaking of food that I didn't have to cook myself and three solid hours of Star Trek (and tonight will be the same...)

Maybe I won't reach 50k in time, but I'm sure as hell not going to stop writing for at least another ten days!

Let's not dwell on the fact that I've only managed about 900 words over the past week...

It's good to see that you're doing so well - you now have no excuses not to reach 50k and places beyond!

Good to see you're back in the writing seat, Zild! Go, go, go! See how much you can write in ten days, huh?

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

So far, it seems like zero words! I guess I've had other things to do - some of which were important, others not so much... ;) Might squeeze a few more out over the coming week. 20k would be nice, 25k a miracle...

But you're doing well... Just those last 7k to squeeze out - I know you can do it! :D

Right Zild, it's kick ass time!! You've done so good getting 13, 522 words (that's a dissertation, for goodness sakes!) down on paper (not literally maybe, but the words are there in hyperspace...) and you've got just 5 days left. So, let's be realistic... anything you write is going to be better than nothing, yeah? And I don't suppose you're going to be writing 7300 (or just under) a day for the 5 days, so how's about I set you a task. In the next 5 days, if you haven't done it already, you write ten words on each of the remaining chapters... get a feel for what's coming, get your ideas down so you can fill them out later.

Seems to me you've reached that point where you just can't seem to get started again, and anything is preferable to sitting down and finding you can't think of a damn thing to say (I passed that point by following one of our Nano writer's ideas of writing just 10 words a day...keep you thinking about it). My guess is that if you've got 13 thousand plus words to write, all you need is a kick up the backside to finish it. I'm not there, and much as I'd love to do it, I reckon you better do it yourself :-)

If you think whatever you've got going on your life is difficult, I work almost full time, and I have four kids, so time is pretty hard to come by... I take it when I can (when the kids aren't doing homework, or getting up before them in the morning) and it's knackering, but somehow... I'm nearly there (and believe it or not, I'm still winging it - I have no idea what the next chapter's going to be, except that it'll somehow follow on from the last :-S )...I also have health problems (which I'm not going into here :-) ) so, if I can do it, then you can too, if you want to ...enough :-)

(But, having said all that, if you don't want to, and you've had enough, there's always next year...)

Go for it Zild. You did it 2005, and I'm sure you will again (I heard somewhere that the second time was the hardest...certainly is harder this time round for me)... nano's supposed to be there to help you, so if you're stretched, then leave it and come back and do it again next year... nobody's going to mind except you...

...but from what you've said, you want to have a last ditch, so I'm going to wish you big lucks and lots of inspiration for the next few days!!!

Believe in yourself and your idea, ok?!

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world

Thanks!

But I've actually been giving this some thought over the last couple of days, and what I've come up with is this:

1: If I try to sit down and write intensely, I manage about 600 words per hour. (I think I manage more if writing for small amounts every day - my mind has a chance to come up with more ideas.)
2: This means I have to write for 3 hours per day, every day, in order to complete NaNo in the allotted time. (For reference, 12 hours per day for each of the next five days if I want to "win" this year!)
3: I typically have 6 hours per weekday for leisure activities. (I haven't factored in weekends yet...)
4: Leisure activities include writing, game design / programming, guitar and going to the gym (not to mention shopping, cooking and eating - I wouldn't exactly call these leisure acitivities, but they have to slot into that timeframe too).
5: I need to leave a small amount of time (maybe 1 hour) for general, lazy, non-frustrating relaxation.
6: Focussing on one activity too much burns me out, making my use of time less effiicient that a balanced approach.

Crunching the numbers, it looks like it is technically possible for me to complete NaNoWriMo in time - I've certainly managed it before under similar conditions. However, just because I can do it does not mean I should do it; I know people who are doing NaNo to get into a routine of writing, but what I need is a balanced routine that helps me progress steadily in numerous areas, rather than overly focussing on one.

NaNo is wonderful, and having succeeded that first year gives me the knowledge that I can complete a draft of a novel. But unless I can find a way to seriously increase my words per hour output, it is no longer for me.

Then again, I said that last year! :D

Thanks for the attempted kick up the arse - I will keep writing my one hour a day on my NaNo for the rest of this week (and eventually beyond, although I have a few other novels I need to get back to first). I'll still be here to watch you cross the finish line... :)

:-) busy guy, huh?!

Well, it was worth a try, just in case that was what you were needing... but I know that it isn't always what someone wants, and sometimes you just have to find your own way...

It occurs to me you've just written nearly 400 words in just answering me (oops... I should' a just kept my mouth shut, eh? )

Anyway, Just wanted to say, despite your not having added to the word count in the last week, it's still been good to have you there. I did subscribe to some other forums, but it's been nice having you there, and still willing to say hello every now and then (now I feel guilty for taking up all your writing time :-D )

And it's good to know you're cheering me on - ((hugs)) for that!

So, whatever you need/ want to do is for you anyhow, so it should be enjoyable for you. As you say, you did it before, and you will again, and in the meantime you can go your own sweet way.

Can you touch type?

*Many little things done by many little people can change the face of the world