So it begins...

This is my first go-round so I am VERY excited!

And we're off and running. I am pretty sure what I'll be writing so all I need to do now is start organizing my thoughts and notes. Great to be doing this again this year, especially all things considered.

Leave it to my computer to hiccup and double post my message. Thankfully I can edit it and write something different. The only problem is I haven't had my morning coffee so I can't really think of anything else to say.

Sorry about that.

Yay! For me, each year I'm more excited than the last!!

This is my first year too. I'm ready to get my feet wet and see what I'm made of. I've got my spreadsheet ready and my tea just waiting on me to begin.. Good Luck everyone!

General Question: Has the site's server been slow? Earlier today I tried to navigate to our Region and I got re-routed to YESTERDAY'S homepage where I couldn't access My NaNoWriMo because yesterday I wasn't registered....weird. And now navigation is just sloooooooooow. And I'm on a T1 line so it's not me...

celestial...what are you doing with a spreadsheet? Snowflake Method?

Me? I live 3.5 miles from work so I am going to be walking to and from work everyday (hour each way) in November as long as it's not raining, which it probably won't because of this drought, and brainstorming my story into my digital voice recorder. Then at night I'll transcribe it into my story. I actually have Dragon software to convert my voicefiles to text but I won't be dictating my story, just brainstorming it, so I'll just use the text notes as a rough outline.

So, I should not only get my 50K in but maybe I'll lose some weight, too!

Hello, EVERYONE!

Hello! This is my second year of Nano, and I do feel more excited. :-D I'm not sure why, since I already know how crazy my life will be in less than a month, but I'm still looking forward to it all.

Yeah the site has been acting slow today due to the amount of traffic it's getting. I believe they're going to take it down tonight for an hour or so to make adjustments. hehehe, it's certainly not you! I don't really do the snowflake method very well, I tend to need to write things a little bit more linear if you get my drift. The spreadsheet I have has a tab for word count goals, a calendar to keep track of the different stages like pre-writing, writing, edits etc. and a chapter list that lets me see the content type and progress. Sounds complicated but it's not, it's just a way to keep my procrastination side occupied as I actually get some writing done. It also acts like a reward of sorts.. in a strange sadistic sort of way. I'm using a digital recorder too when I exercise, how funny is that! Maybe the site will be better after the downtime..

I'm pretty excited this year, as I'm outlining, so my novel might actually not suck. Unfortunately, I have college and scholarship applications and lots of AP homework and etc., so this might be kind of suicidal, but I'm gonna try to get as much done this month as I can. Besides, it just wouldn't be November without NaNo!

I think I might wanna try a few write-ins this year, too.

This year I've decided to only have the basic idea of the story and just wing it and then dissect the novel afterwards to see how well the construction held up. I'm pretty curious to see how well I can do without much pre-planning which I get really retentive about usually. That's not to say I don't have ideas or I'm thinking about scenes and dialogue but I'm just going to try and not write them down unless it's in the novel.

It'll be a miserable failure most likely but it'll be fun :)

This is my first year. I'm so nervous. I've never been good at writing quickly so this should prove to be a challenge. I'm trying to counter that though by planning ahead of time. I actually prefer winging it thoguh so this outline thing is kind of new for me. Also, the more I outline, the more I just want to start writing the book >.< I won't though. I at least want to get this right my first time around. I think I may have picked the wrong year to start though. So...much...homework...so...many...exams. Oh well. Hindsight twenty/twenty right and I can't turn back now. I'm too excited. Hobey-ho. Good luck everyone^^.

I don't think there's any getting it wrong. Part of the beauty -for me at least- is that NaNo is a personal challenge where you're encouraged by thousands of strangers. How often does that happen? It's like a sport I guess in a way although I don't like sports much.

You sound a bit like me in reverse. I'm a stickler for outlines but this NaNo it's all un-planned un-outlined and just more like an experiment to see what I can come up with mostly off the cuff.

It's 1667 words a day which really, once you get into the groove isn't much. Yeah, don't turn back, we all need all the encouragement we can get!

I have attempted Nano since 2003 (my only win year), and each year I hope to make it but seem to fizzle too soon. It's quite discouraging. Not sure if this is THE year for me or not.

Sorry if this gets posted twice. The forums are so slow as to be barely usable here.

Maybe you should try and get a mentor or whatever they call them here at NaNo. I'm thinking of trying to get one myself this year since I've decided to torture myself and go for more than 50,000.

Hi Celestialwolf,

I'm down the road a piece in College Park! This is my first attempt. I've been working on a novel for years now. The one fo NaNo will a new idea of course.

What's this about using a spreadsheet? How does that work?

I'm planning my chapters in a linear fashion. I don't have an ending which is always a sticking point for me. Sometime during this month I'll do character bio's. That is the extent of my planning so far but I'll be searching this site for tips.

Good luck

jj

this is my first year too and I'm excited! i'm not sure how much pre-planning i really want to do, sometimes it works better for me if I take it as it comes. we'll see...

Celestialwolf, I was wondering if you would mind uploading your spreadsheet template into a google spreadsheet and sharing it with us! It sounds really helpful. If not, I understand, these things can be all too personal.

This is my first year also (I see that there are a number of others in the same boat which is fantastic. We sink or swim together, it appears).

I am looking at this first year as a trial run. Do I have enough chatter in me to spew for 50K? I am going to find out.

I have no game plan, no outline, no nothing. Literally a wing and a prayer. I have a few ideas playing around in the back of my mind (as I am sure most everyone does). But as for what is going to pour out, I am as interested in seeing that as anyone else.

So good luck to everyone and particular best wishes sent to my fellow first-years.

Sounds like you're going to tackle this year just like I am. I have the foggiest idea of what the novel is about but I've set some ground rules for myself.

No outlines
No written down notes
No Revisions till it's over
No Rewrites till it's over
No pre-plotting

I'm just going to bang out 2334 words a day (trying for 70,000) and see what happens. I have the "high concept" idea of what it's about, the blurb you'd read on the back of the book basically and a direction I see the ending taking but other than that it's all writing freestyle.

Wish us luck :)

HI all. First timer here. I am a little nervous yet excited. My Dad and I are sort of doing this together. However, he is currently in Japan and I am here in Atlanta, GA. What better way to bond with Dear Ole Dad who is half way around the world than to write a novel along side of him.

I have a vague idea of what my novel is going to be about but I have no outline, plot, etc. I read the "no plot, no problem" book and i am going to follow that. It said to work on the outline a week before writing begins.

I am nervous but I can't wait. My life is so hectic that i am planning to use this writing experience as an escape. When folks say they need me to (fill in the blank), I''l say, "nope, I have a deadline to meet". :)

Welcome to the madness, Sherri! I think it's cool that you and your dad can do this together even if he's in Japan. I hope we meet you at some of the events!

This is year #6 for me, and every year just gets even more exciting. Sure, I have no plot, but the suspense will make it fun.

Right?

Hey everyone! I'm back for another year. With another insane goal. And no plot! wahoo!

This is my first year, and I'm running behind already!!!!At least I already know my basic plot and characters. I thought them up ears ago and then thought of all the reseach required to make it seem plausible and through them into that dusty space in the back of my mind. When my friend suggested this no holds barred, rules out the window kind of challenge, they jumped up and started screaming. Now I just hope I can do them justice at this breakneck speed. Then again, I don't think pirates are the best judges when it comes to writing quality. huh...