Last years nano novel...this year?

So i'm having quite a hard time coming up with something to write about. if i were to re-write last years novel would that be considered cheating?

i wouldn't use ANYTHING that i wrote last year, i just want to work some more with the same characters and rewrite several scenes that just weren't good.

i feel like is semi-cheating, but NaNoWriMo is the only time i ever feel motivated to write anything..and i love these characters.

If you are starting over and are not looking at anything you did last year... consider last year a false start and go for it. You don't want to refer to or use last year's work though as that would be violating the "starting new" rule and also because it would likely bog you down because you'd have some emotional attachment to the scenes.

In any event, reusing the idea is perfectly acceptable.

It's probably against the rules. What you're talking about is more editing than writing from scratch. However, when people ask the question in the forums about whether or not they can restart old ideas, we tell them it's fine as long as they set the OLD work aside, and do not refer to it in any way... basically, working from their head. This is usually used for works much shorter than 50k, though. ;) Usually it's people who are working with a few chapters or something.

Whether or not you're editing, or starting over, it's up to you. The real question becomes, on December 1, will you feel like you've completed the NaNoWriMo challenge according to the rules, which state you must start from scratch on November 1?

Personally (and I am not a rules-interpreter), I think it depends on how you approach it.

This year for NaNo, I am "rewriting" last year's. By that I mean, I am starting in the same situation, with some of the same characters and some new ones, and am then running away with the idea again. I am not referring to last year's novel at all (and in fact have not reread it). To me, it *is* a new work of fiction because I am not trying to recreate something, but to create something that happens to be similar in the way it starts, but is totally unconstrained (in that I'm not trying to make it like an existing story - I am free to just write, which is the point of NaNo). Some would probably still consider me a rebel, or a cheater, though.

Now, if you were just rewriting part of last year's NaNo, that would probably be against the rules, and would make you a NaNo Rebel (they have their own forum, and could be a perfect place for a project like this!).

This is all very good feedback.

The reason that I'm so hung up on those characters and there story is because i feel the 'plot' was well thought out. but then the execution of it didn't turn out to well.

so with that in mind. i wanted to write what should've happened but didn't.

and then after november i plan to merge the two together to make something decent.

.

Ah, this answers my question as to whether I can continue with an old story. Before, I had stories in my head--for three years--but I'm not sure what I'm going to do this November. I was thinking of working with an old short story, but I guess I'd better think sequel to one of my old stories--some of which are begging for a sequel, but I never got around to them.

I'm glad I saw this. I actually had several different drafts of a short story written, but in fear of it being against the rules, I deleted it all and replaced it with a single sentence summing up my original concept. I'm still glad I did that, though; if I'd left it as a short story to continue with, it would feel like I was forcing it beyond its already set limits of 'short story'.