The Official "What Are You Writing This Year?" Thread

I'm writing in the science fiction genre, a story revolving around human colonization of a distant planet.

At this point, lack of ideas is not going to be a problem. Rather, the reverse is true. I have so much stuff percolating in my mind that I want to include in the story -- it's going to end up being rather a lot longer than 50,000 words if I don't find a way to narrow down my focus before Novemer 1!

Of course, due to the nature of my writing process -- I'm uploading the story to my blog daily as each new installment is written and inviting my readers to vote on the direction they feel the main character of that day's scenes should take next -- I need to have at least two storylines weaving throughout my novel (so people can vote on the material I wrote yesterday while I'm working on today's installment) so I don't know that I'll be able to cut much out. Probably I'm just looking at writing a whole lot of words!

Whoa, nice ... I'm a sucker for good sci-fi, even if I'm not too good at writing it non-collaboratively yet (domestic dramas? character-related intrigue? heck yes, I can give you that, but don't ask me to populate a universe or come up with space-travel rules).

Yeah, a plethora of ideas can almost be as challenging as a complete dearth thereof, which seems unfair to me. Though the good news is, there's nothing wrong with writing more than 50,000 words, so if it ends up that your story goes over, I don't think anyone will hate you for it. (On the other hand, I've checked out your blog and saw your intended daily schedule, which allows for 2,000 words daily, so you could be one of those enviable ones who manages to trim down the excess and turn in a 50,000-word novel of pure content -- if so, many of us will be asking for your secret, so be prepared!)

That's an interesting approach, and I'll definitely be following it along to see how it turns out. I don't have the courage to direct my writing process that way -- I'm a little chagrined to admit that the story is my master, not the other way around, and it's always fun to see people whose writing process is completely different from one's own. (I couldn't even kill off a character by leaving him locked in a room for 3 months without food or water -- the story didn't want him to die, so it didn't happen. And that's by no means the sole -- or even most dramatic -- example.)

I will most likely be writing in the modern-fantasy-romance genres, in a coming-of-age story about a teenaged werewolf.

The story will probably revolve around the title character (Mishka), the pack leader Rapheal, and a currently unnamed human (male). Nothing much is really planned out for any of them. I prefer to go into this with an open mind so I will not feel constrained or confined to anything specific.

My writing process is not unusual I will be doing the same thing as I did last year, except I will not be uploading my chapters onto my DeviantArt page until after I have completed NaNoWriMo. Also, my chosen style is past tense, third person.

Oooh, modern fantasy. I've got a soft spot for that as well, and magic realism. Things are looking up this year, as far as getting a glimpse of what other people are writing goes! So far, speculative fiction has been the majority here in London, so that'll be fun when everyone gets together to discuss things.

Any reason why you're not uploading your novel until you're done? Well, no, I mean ... I can see the reason for it, but what changed your mind from last year? I always upload mine as I go as some sort of consolation for those who won't see me for 30 days and want to know what I'm up to, but I absolutely forbid critique until the end. I have enough time unleashing the inner editor as it is without someone pointing out something specific for me to change ...

Also, welcome to the forums, both of you! It's good to see you and I hope you stick around (and can make it to some of the meetings - that would be even better :D).

Well, last year was my very first year doing NaNoWriMo. I did not go into it very prepared last year, and I found myself distracted constantly by MSN, and the rest of the internet. So this year, I am planning to cut myself off completely from it. Also, last year I never completed my NaNoWriMo story and it is still uncomplete. Rather then have a repeat of this during this year (encase som unfortunate mis-hap occurs preventing me from touching my computer or a notebook for the entire month) I have decided not to upload it until it is complete.

I really want to be able to make it to some of the meetings, but I will be unable to do so until November. I have a previously arranged responsibility on Thursday nights, and this responsibility is moved to Monday nights during November. Another obstacle may be that my mother might not let me go to meet people I never met before (she's over protective that way), so I might just have to drag her along with me. :)

(Let's see if I can actually get the forum to work...)

I'm gonna try to take a shot at SF again this year. I've been attempting to Nano several years in a row but not really getting anywhere with it, until last year when I at least managed 25K. (I'm still boggled that I did, considering my house was undergoing nonstop renovations all day every day during it.) I tried doing a bunch of connected short stories in a setting I've been working on for Entirely Too Long, and got several more or less completed last year.

I'm considering trying something similar this year - either trying another short story sequence, or taking one of the ones I didn't get to start and expanding that into something full-length.

Hi all, BTW! New to London since I'm here for grad school, I used to be in Halifax.

Seeing how I have never completed Nanowrimo, I am desperate to finally finish this great November Adventure. By the end of last year I had about 30,000 words, all rushed in the last couple days of November. I have set my foot down this year, and am forcing myself to not get behind by procrastination!!! Which translates into me having a decent storyline before November starts. Ahhhh! Help!

I have been throwing around some ideas, and think I have decided that I am going in the direction of a metaphysical story about a person, who occasionaly is granted a supernatural power - such as being able to animate small non-living objects (such as a rubix cube, or a toothbrush), or being able to control the friction cause by his feet and the floor so he can glide really quickly, or be rooted to the spot. I don't know where I'm going to go with the plot but for now I think that's the basic idea. The novel will be about his adventures with these obscure powers.

I'm lucky that I don't have internet access in my room this year (where i will be writing most of my story), therefore staying on task should not be as big a problem as last year.... i hope *crosses fingers*

Hello all, new to the NaNo site, read up about it last year and took a year to get myself ready to try it.

Of course I have no real starting point, as any good NaNo always starts out as a random mental path that spawns a 50,000 word behemoth. This morning I just had this very random thought for a NaNo idea however.

Almost a sort of autobiography, a rambling, meandering thing from the point of view of a backyard wrestler of all things, and his vainglorious view on life and the small world of his tiny 'supposedly non-fictional' fictional business.

I have that, or I just take something distopian and try and get it across in 50,000 words a la Relevations :P See what it was like for John of Patmos to write his book.

xD;; At least this year I can actually participate! I am finished with school so I can annoy you all with my writing whinings! :D I too have never finished NaNoWriMo so I'm determined to finish this year.

Anyway, I've decided to go with some Sci-fi myself written a la memoir style because of a book I've been reading for the whole summer. The main character is a girl named Jayde and so far the only details I have brewing in my mind are the fact that it takes place on Mars, the society is more similar to the Medieval period (yeah, class system.) I have the rich, the middle class, the poor and the orphans and I believe that there's going to be some sort of... something. I need to start working out some of the other details of the story but I have this habit of never planning anything! I think I'm going to be in trouble unless I start writing things down now. D:

I haven't decided yet for November. I am currently writing one about a girl joining gang eventually. I am thinking maybe having it based on a girl in High School, but have no plot about it yet. I have a lot of time to think about it, of course.

It has taken me a few years of contemplating the waters before deciding to jump in this year. I just finished a novel this week that took ten plus years of putting it in and out of drawers, so writing an entire novel in November should be a rush. I am torn between writing about a geritocracy or a sociopathic pre-teen. Who knows? I may end up doing both. I live a fair ways out of town, so I will unlikely be able to make any meetings, but I will be thinking of you.

Man, I'm going to have to kick myself in the butt and get into gear if I'm going to catch up with you guys. ;) I still have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm hoping inspiration will strike any time now ...

So far for NaNo I've done fantasy, gender-play literary fiction, and borderline urban sci-fi ... not sure whether or not to repeat one of those genres or try something new. I toyed with the idea of romantic comedy/adventure, but I'm not a very whimsical person and it fell flat very quickly. ;)

Is anyone toying with structure in their novels? Messing with timelines/chronology, epistolary, etc., etc.? Sometimes for NaNo it can be liberating, as you're not tied to traditional methods of writing, so if you get stuck you can just go nuts and do something different. (apenwarr, for example, did this last year and it worked out quite well for him.)

Also, hi and welcome to those of you who are new to NaNo/the forums/both. I'm seeing a lot of people who've signed up this year as well as some who've done NaNo in previous years when there wasn't a London forum, and that's fantastic! Hopefully a lot of you can make it out to meetings in November. :)

This year I am going for Mystery /Suspense/ Victorian /Gothic. BUT with a little twist which hasn't quite untwisted in my brain. I have put more thought into it this year. Last year I just ran off at the finger tips and would have died if anyone had read it. Ouch run on sentences abound!
In order to inspire me I have been googling "images" and I am making my self a montage to stare at when I slow down..lol
Last year was my first year for NaNo and I hope to get over to the library one Thurs night this month to say hello. I would like to be more active this year rather than just a "lurker."

I've thought about timeline switching around, perhaps not neccesarily alternate timelines within the same story, but I have recently been trying to practice the mulitple story angles happening at once in the same chapter, each having occurences which affect both sections of time that are simultaneous, but distinctly apart (such as say, a bomb blast at an embassy being felt by those across town first, and then directly after the writing of the embassy perspective)

It really just depends on the justice my pen decides to bring to my characters :P

I've been thinkin' about writing about a bunch of letters that join together to create words that compress themselves into strange subcultures known as phrases which follow a cult known as sentences which are led by one mysterious figure known as the paragraph

Finally getting around to posting... ^^ So, on the pre-October boards, I rambled on about throwing all of these random ideas together to create a storyline. And somehow, it stuck. x_x

I'm going for a romance, with a heavy does of plot and adventure sort of thing. Setting is fantasy-esque - a pre-modern, almost medieval world, with kings and kingdoms, villages, farms, no modern technology, but maybe a bit of magic, etc. I planned on having a central female character - a secret Princess, who's decided to go around masquerading as a warrior or something. Also included are the ruggedly handsome (it is part romance, after all - I'm allowed to use phrases like that) rogue traveller, and the loyal (and also cute) stable lad. And, thrown in the mix for some reason is an elf. Lately, though, the characters seem to all be fighting for the role of main character, each telling me how much more interesting it would be if I wrote their story. They're very insistent. XD (On the bright side, it's given me all sorts of ideas for plot!)

The character of Mr. Elf is currently awaiting review, to see if I should keep the character, but toss the he's-an-elf idea. I'm not too inclined to write a whole back story about elves and their place in the world - it would seem like a rip-off of LotR to me, no matter what I do, and since I'm not writing fanfiction for NaNo... not so good. Who knows - I might toss him in as an elf anyway, and skip the explanation. XD

Probably one of the more interesting ideas I'm working with this year is to take all the terribly bad cliches from romance and try and work them in, with a bit of a twist on each one. We'll see how that works out, I guess. ^_^

Anyhow, that's what I'm planning on writing this year. At least, as of this week it is. Hopefully I won't suddenly decide to change it to something completely different any time soon... x_x

I finally have my story! I think... it's about this Icelandic goalie who is discovered by NHL scouts during a series of exhibition games in Iceland. He's signed to a NHL team (the Leafs) and comes to live in Canada, but starts having nervous breakdowns because he's not used to gigantic arenas and crazy hockey fans. Especially Leaf fans, who are never happy with their team even when they win.

No, it's not going to end with him getting over his anxiety to win the Stanley Cup. That's too predictable.

I'm making it hockey- and Leafs-related so I can write while I watch games and it won't make much difference if I add in my own commentary. ;)

I feel bad for little Hinrik (his name is Hinrik, incidentally). He's a cute little guy (5'8", short for a hockey player, dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, average build) and I'm going to be tormenting him into insanity.

Hello one and all,

I'm an aspiring author from the southern states posting here hoping to interact with writers from somewhere else.
I thought it would be interesting to maybe forge some lines of communication with writers who were influenced by something other than the region where I live.

I'm an ex-newspaper reporter who has had some success with relatively short projects, but who is looking to get my feet wet writing a feature length novel.

Of course, I'd actually like to turn in a rough draft which was a little bit longer than 50,000 words, but this would be an excellent start.

I'm hoping to make a contribution in the sci-fi/fantasy field.

Will hash it out more later, but plan on really going with the rough outline already in my head.

Obviously, I can't make it to any meetings, but I'd be open to communicating with online writing buddies for support, encouragement and ideas.

Best of luck to you all.

The Dark Knight

I CAN FINALLY POST HERE WITHOUT SHAME AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA--

(translation: Lora has an idea. She will return and reply to others' posts in a coherent fashion later. In the meantime --)

--AHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!

This is my first year with this competition.

I am going to be writing a Fantasy novel with a War theme like a Sharpe or Honor Harrington style novel.

I am planning on starting with a new officer that has graduated from a fantasy military school and is now taking his first battle command. The story will thus track the character as he moves from life where he is graduating from the academy to leading troops in his first real battle.

The fantasy elements will hopefully give me room to explore some unusual military thinking.

Probably a sequel to my post-apocalyptic SF novel of 2005.

Either that or religious literary zombie porn.

Or sword and sorcery....

Or space opera....

Or whatever....

ask me in four hours.....

"His name was Hurg or at least that's what I called him."

That line could go with any of those genres.

I'm writing about Death, and someone who's dying. The main idea is that every human is assigned a reaper when they're born.

And uh, yeah. Good luck everyone.

Sigh.

I wrote myself into a bit of a corner with my original story (the Icelandic hockey player one) and while trying to figure that out, life (and death) things happened and then I was attacked by another story idea which I had to start writing now.

SO.

The new story is about Margot Frank, Anne Frank's sister. See, it's known that Margot also kept a diary while they were in hiding but it was lost. So part of the story is my own recreation of her diary, and the other part is what happened to it. I had read a biography on Anne Frank and her family some time ago where the author wrote a recreation of Margot's diary but it was horrible and I know I can do a better job at it.

Tune in next week when a third story will come into play.