Hi hi!
First congratulations to all the wonderful 2007 winners!
But we losers deserve a special thread to commiserate. What happened to keep you from winning this month? What do you plan to do differently next year? (Because not trying again is not an option!)
My "excuses": can I use the "I have 5 children" card? lol Actually I started a sewing business earlier this year and November was a very busy month with lots of people ordering Christmas gifts. So I spent many, many hours cutting fabric and sewing instead of writing. If I could have dictated my novel, I totally could have won.
Next year I'm going to have a firm outline with characters and locations. Winging a Sci-fi novel is definitely not as easy as making up Mom Lit on the spot (well at least for me). And I'm going to look into voice to text recognition software. ;)
336 days* until next NaNoWriMo!
* 2008 is a leap year, I'll make sure to use that extra day for some good outlining. Or sleeping. Whatever.
----------
Katie
http://www.katiefleck.com
50,201 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 07 35
I think any woman who has five children and still attempts something like this should be given as many accolades as possible....I only have one child and it is still tough, at least for me!
154,896 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 08 01
Personally, I don't think there are any losers - anyone who even attempts to write a novel is a winner in my book, since it's one of those things that a lot of folks talk about, but few enough of them try...
:) Just start preparing - as you said, the next one's right around the corner!
9,201 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 09 52
Hey thanks all. For me NaNo is about making the time to write and I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't try harder to make the time. I suppose 3 wins out of 6 years isn't terrible though. Next year, next year...
Edit: interesting, italics aren't an allowed html code. No emphasize for me!
71,061 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 09 59
I was wondering why I wasn't seeing you in purple this year. But I have to second the above opinions. Because even if you haven't (sorry--have not--no contractions) hit 50k, you're still closer to your goal than when you started. You tried something lots of others haven't. Instead of just saying, "You know when I have time I'm going to write a novel," you actually sat down and tried to do it. That is something to be proud of.
74,310 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 10 01
Oh, I would so TOTALLY edit the title of this thread, if we had our ML superpowers on the site...
No losers, only those for whom RL reared up inconveniently and behaved worse than the dreaded Inner Editor.
This should be the "Official Participants-Who-Tried" Thread!
Planning ahead is definitely a plus for me. Though funny thing, this was the first year I did not plan and I'm 16K beyond previous wins.
Also, you can use emphasis Katie!
I'm officially proud of anyone who gave this a shot. There will be other years!
Lee
74,310 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 10 03
For italics:
< em >But delete the spaces!< / em >
But delete the spaces!
Lee
61,279 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 10 23
I understand completely, Katie. I have 5 kids too ranging in age from 5-17. What helped me write (aside from their father taking them for extra days) was having them do nano too. The three youngest (5, 7 &9) all worked on their own novels and won too. That way they understood better what I was trying to do and not fussing that I was always on the computer.
Try it next year and see if it helps.
518,335 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 11 24
Part of the reason that I catapulted so far beyond my original production limit had to do with involving both my wife and my eldest daughter in NaNo this year; a major boost to all our confidence and awareness of writerly needs. Also, I ried IVOS voice recognition sotware, and if trained, it works fairly well. I've been told that the Dragon software is better, though.
In re your comment about dictating your novel, though, that is something I did do. I used the record feature on my cell phone to record literally hours worth of material for transcription. Most of the time, i did this while driving, so I probably garnered more than a few nervous looks from passing cars. But it worked, and worked well.
518,335 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 11 29
*Double post* and where's my DELETE button?
22,325 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 14 13
Well, I'm a loser but I'm not really feeling super bad about it. I got alot done..more then I thought possible and it's a step in the right direction. This is the most I've ever written!
22,325 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 14 55
ETA:
Double post! D'oh!
66,972 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 18 24
Edit: interesting, italics aren't an allowed html code. No emphasize for me!
Katie,
You know as well as I do the heartbreak of not finishing. I had one of those years myself and while I might have made it up, I simply "gave up" that year. Your situation isn't like that. I KNOW what a strong and gifted writer you are. so don't be down on yourself. Life is like that sometimes, it's not always as flexible as we'd like it to be.
Please NEVER doubt yourself or your abilities because WE know how great you really are.
(PS--I can't handle the ONE kid I have, if I had five, I'd reserve a personal rubber room requesting restraints...)
Big hugs and know next year is filled with promise for ALL of us.
Carol
Surrounded by water and lulled by the tidal pull, I remain The Tidewaterbound
Go Team Maryland! (Co-ML -- Carol) email: pittsville_md@nanowrimo.org
21,599 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 20 08
Well, this was my first year. I did plan ahead. The problem came because I've never actually written anything longer than a short story. I managed to tell this one from begining to end in a little over 16k words. So, I've been going back and adding more descriptions and adding new scenes. That only got me up to 21k. Oh well, I can't say I'm dissappointed. It's more than I've ever written on one story consecutively and I have no intention of not writting now that Dec. is upon us. I will finish this novel by the end of Dec!! See you all next year!
43,687 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2007 - 06 07
Well I made it to 50K last year, not so much this year. Part of it was work finally decided to pick up again. All of October I literally had 30 mins to an hour of work to do, which left a lot of time on my hands. It gave me a wonderful chance to plot and research for my Nano novel. Then literally, Nov. 1st, it all went nuts. Suddenly my attorneys had deadlines and I got a new attorney. So work is busy again, which is kinda yeah because I always feel guilty writing all day at work. Its not what I'm paid for.
Then for the first time ever we went out of town for Thanksgiving and I had no access to a computer, but I wrote in my notebook and my little niece wrote in hers and we had a good bonding experience.
Finally my editor got back to my co-author and I for our initial edits for our novella and that took precedence. However, I'm not disappointed in the slightest. I love the story I've come up with, it's one of my most intricate ones to date. It's very, very different from what I normally write and I'm pleased with how it's going. So I still consider myself a winner.
Congrats to all who made it to 50k.