Does THIS Count as a Novel?

OK you say it would be more honest not to validate, yet you answer on two forums that state they are for nano rebels, I want to be honest and also write a novel. I am confused. Please help

Can a novel be a bunch of short stories, maybe interconnected, maybe not?

It all depends how you write it, really. That topic could come across as a 'non-fiction', for your world. Or if you wrote it as a journal, from someone's POV as if they've researched the races all their life, then it could be more like a novel about a historian and their life.

In the above post by Dragonchilde, it states: NOVEL - "a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes."


Is your book going to portray characters and have scenes, action, conflict and resolution? Then it's a novel, and therefore fitting the rules of NaNoWriMo :)

If you think it is, then so do we. We don't have a prescribed amount of fiction that must be present. When it comes to determining how much fiction is enough for a novel... it's up to you.

Please see this thread.

As long as you start writing on November 1 and not before... sure! The only rule we have for content is that it must be fiction. Beyond that, it's up to you!

Feel ree to join up as a Rebel, but a graphic novel sadly doesn't count rules wise. In the very first line of 'NaNo in a Nutshell' in the Help section, it states: 'Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time', so it clearly states 'word' novel.

There's a full Rebel section in the forums though :) Many people come here to write a script and a few are probably doing graphic novels (as they have in other years) so please feel welcome!

I mean what?
I meant 50 pages in a month.

What you might want to check out is NaNoMangO -- a November event specifically for graphic novel work. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nanomango&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnanomango.livejournal.com%2F&ei=xZGxTr_FE-j30gHt7ajMAQ&usg=AFQjCNG_afnt_r8TkKl8T9x8cCURBKtUDg

We allow fanfiction of any kind, so I can't see why we would disallow fiction inspired by a song, and you wouldn't need to change anything. Now, if it's publishable, that's another story, but we don't worry about publishability for NaNoWriMo.

can other people read my novels or is it just a way to save something online

We do not save your novel, nor do we display it. You can post an excerpt in your profile if you like, but it isn't required. You write on your own computer, in a word processor (or offline, even, if you want!)

and does it matter if its not the complete 50,000 words

Stories do not have to be complete at 50,000 words. The word count goal is a threshold, not a limit.

would it count as just a story if its like 10,000 words

No, your novel must be at least 50,000 words to win.

Well, yes, it is supposed to be fiction. You can check out the NaNo Rebels and see that many people do non-fiction, but the event itself is officially about writing fiction.

Frankly, I've considered writing about people in my life. Heck, my life lately reads like really, really bad fiction. All you'd really need to do to make this work within the strictest interpretation of the rules is fictionalize it. So, your significant other is not just Joe or Suzie or whatever... he/she is a superhero with the amazing ability to move chocolate and coffee... (or whatever). Point is, fictionalizing the truth may be easier to do, falls within the rules and, if you choose to share it with anyone who might make an appearance in the novel, it may simply be safer.

It's legal to write and post on the internet (if not for profit), but you'd probably have a very hard time publishing it.

Dictating is very much acceptable. I use that Dragon program. :)

I'll quote what we have posted in the rebels forum:

I'm writing a collection of short stories. Am I a rebel?

Probably not. There's no actual rule on this one. We define a novel as "a lengthy work of fiction." However, we the moderators feel that since you find short story collections on the shelves alongside longer works of fiction, if they're related, they count. They need to have some common theme, or linking thread that weaves them together that makes them a single, "lengthy work of fiction."

In short: If you think it's a novel, we do too.

As opposed to?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.

olafmoriarty wrote:
If the argument against graphic novels is that it can't be validated and that it needs to have 50,000 words, how about this: Can I write a script for a graphic novel, or would that fall into the rebel category?

It's a rebel project, yes. Scripts and Novels are two completely different beasts.

Quote:Yes, I know that there's some other completely different thing called Script Frenzy, but honestly, I see no reason why a graphic novel script shouldn't be a valid NaNoWriMo novel. Is it a lengthy work of fiction? Check. Is it "a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes?" Check.

I don't think that a script counts as prose; I'm not a formatting expert, of course, so someone else may be able to clarify that. However, script and novels are completely different art forms, that serve a different purpose entirely. A script is effectively an outline; little more than a blueprint for the finished product. A novel IS the finished product. Saying a script is a novel would be like saying an outline is a novel.

Scripts involve formatting rules, certain limits that are not present in novels, for example. I don't think I've honestly ever heard anyone argue that a script is a novel; They're such different art forms that we have completely different events for them. I'm a novelist at my core, and I've never been able to do a script. They are just too different.

I'm going to check with the others at HQ to see if I can get someone else to explain this better than I can.

Quote: Is it possible to validate it by counting the words to see if there are fifty thousand of them? Check. Okay, you may argue that as long as it's only a script and not a finished graphic novel it's not really a novel, but at the same time, the rules allow that if you start writing a novel, it counts as a win if you pass the 50,000 word mark, so logically I would assume you could do the same thing here, by doing the art part after November. So in my opinion, a fully scripted graphic novel script with 50,000 words or more would count as a novel in the NaNoWriMo meaning of the term.

At the end of the day, our rules state: "If you think it's a novel, so do we." While I disagree with you that a script is a novel (if it was a novel, it wouldn't be a script) in the end, this is a self challenge, and we don't care what you're submitting.

Quote:However, if people and admins feel that this is outside the scope of NaNoWriMo and that it would be dishonest to validate such a work, I would like to know that before I start writing this. I didn't join up here to be a rebel.

Scripts really are outside of the scope of NaNoWriMo. That's why we have the Script Frenzy challenge separate from the NaNoWriMo challenge. Writing a script (even a graphic novel script) is rebellion, and that's where you'll find other graphic novelists.

I'll see if I can't get some of our more educated staffers to take a look and see if they explain why a bit better than I can.

Cymilla wrote:
Are there different word count divisions for different ages? Is the 50000 word count only for writers over 18 or 20? Or is it for all ages? Just wondering...someone said something about this.

Here on the main NaNoWriMo site, the 50,000 word threshold is for all of us. For anyone under the age of 18, you have the option of using the Young Writer's Program site, which will allow you to set a different threshold.

MaggieLR wrote:
I have a novel that I started, I would like to continue, I have left it untouched for a while. Would it count if I continued and added a new 50,000+ words? or does it have to be a start of a new novel?

You have to start from scratch, with a new novel.

From the FAQs:

Do I have to start my novel from scratch on November 1st?

Yes.
This sounds like a dumb, arbitrary rule, we know. But bringing a half-finished manuscript into NaNoWriMo all but guarantees a miserable month. You’ll care about the characters and story too much to write with the gleeful, anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such a creative rush. Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you’ll tap into realms of imagination and intuition that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing manuscripts.

absoluteddie wrote:
If I'm planning on writing a fictitious memoir of a rock star, is this a novel? or will I have to scrap/restructure my idea?

Do you think it's a novel? If you do, so do we. It's a lengthy work of fiction, so it probably counts.

As long as you're starting over and don't refer to what you've already written, you're okay.

You can use your notes and planning.

Sounds to me like you're well within the rules.

Happy novelling!