NaNo 2004 Reunion Thread

Ah, one year off.
(Bumped it for others.)

Follow the progression of my novel at my writing journal here.

HI! Another fifth year Nanoer here.

I found out about Nano the first week in December 2003. Since I couldn't sign up until October, I lurked. I signed up because I wanted to see if I could finish a novel.

My novel was about a girl with the uncontrolled power to make her wishes come true. Add in the FBI investigating the odd things around town, and you end up with a stressed-out teenager who gets found out by said agency.

Well, I've edited it twice now, and will do it again. I'd like to publish it eventually.

Um, the fact that I love the craziness and the kick in the pants it gives me? I now write year-round (try, anyways), and there's no way I'm not doing Nano.

"Footsteps in the snow suggest where you have been, point where you were going: but where they suddenly vanish, never dismiss the possibility of flight..." - Diane Duane, A Wizard Alone

Moderator: Nano Soundtracks

Yay!
I first heard about it on another board...can't remember which now! But it was only a few weeks before so I had not much time to prepare...hence a rather unusal plot(add to that I was 14 at the time and had never written anything more than about 2000 words). I'm not actually sure of all the details now, but roughly it was about a group of people that lived in the woods, I remember one of them was a PURE EVIL MASTERMIND, and they were all involved in some very complicated game that decided all sorts of things for them - who they would marry, what they would eat, etc. It sounds very confusing I know, and trust me it was!
I never actually finished it. Got to 50,000 though. Don't know where it is now, probably somewhere on my computer, too many files everywhere for me to find anything
And I'm back this year because...well, it's addictive! I love the thrill of it all and the challenge. It's actually become a part of my life now, I'd feel really strange if I wasn't novelling in November.

2004 - lost
2005 - won
2006 - won
2007 - lost
2008 - ?

Me too!

I signed up in 2004 thinking this would finally be the kick in the pants I needed. I made a big deal out of telling everyone I knew, pinning down some NaNo buddies in email, and making myself participate in the forums. I figured the more people know I'm doing this, the less likely I am to give up quietly and slink away.

And goodness, did it ever work. :-P I wanted to quit on Day One. My writing was so awful it made me want to cry. But everyone knew I was doing this and one of them told me that if I quit, he was quitting -- and I didn't want that guilt hanging over my head, did I?

So I kept plugging away, and shocked myself by getting into a real groove and actually enjoying the process. I'd only ever written a handful of short fiction before -- and now I was writing battle scenes and romantic interludes and witty dialog that actually made me laugh. I had such a great time!

It took me a couple of years to realize how vital a daily writing habit was to improving -- and possibly getting published. I know, I'm slow. ;-) But I've got five novels written now, lots of short stories, and even though I still cringe when I go to edit something, I know my writing has improved.

And it's all because of NaNoWriMo! November just wouldn't be the same without it. :-D

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
+ What was your 2004 novel about?
+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?

Woot! This is my fifth NaNo, and I have so many fond memories by now...

A friend of mine told me about NaNoWriMo back in 2004. I don't remember where she found out about it, and she didn't participate. I thought it was interesting, and signed up on November 5th. Finished 3 weeks later at 52K!

My 2004 novel was somewhat based on Dante's Purgatorio, and it featured a man stranded on a desert island who decides to turn the whole island into a work of art. It wasn't very good, but I was shocked that it was not, in fact, very bad, either.

I printed it off, stuck it in a notebook, and took a pic my friend had drawn and stuck that on the cover. My mom and dad both read it, and liked it. I gave it to a couple of friends for feedback, and got some great stuff, but finally decided that the story really isn't a novel story. A short story, maybe, but it got too convoluted.

After the experience of writing a book, I was completely hooked. My 2005 novel was a failure, mostly because I didn't outline, but my 2006 novel was the best I've done to date (which is why I writing a sequel this year), and my 2007 novel was the most complex. I'm so addicted it's not even funny. I couldn't live without NaNo!

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
I really don't remember. I don't know how I ran across the site, probably from another forum that was talking about it (maybe writing.com). Anyway I thought I'd be able to do it, I was writing all the time at that point.

+ What was your 2004 novel about?
It was really dumb. It was about a teenage actor and his life and loves and problems. I am amazed I had enough material to get to 50K. And it took me only 2 1/2 weeks to do it.

+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
I did nothing with it, it was so bad, there was no editing that. I still have it on my hard drive at work. Not that I care.

+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?
I am determined to get a half way decent story out of the nano experience.

5th time a charm eh?

Heck yeah! Wouldn't miss '08 for anything.

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?

I actually meant to participate in 2003 but it completely slipped my mind and by the time I realized it, there was only about 2 days left in November. I've loved writing since I was little but always had a hard time getting my . I was reminded of it in 2004 when a friend mentioned it in an online journal. I signed up 3 days before the month started.

+ What was your 2004 novel about?
A high school slice of life story about a girl going through her last year of high school...first date, first kiss all the cute stuff. The girl is actually writing a fantasy story and she writes her love interest into it.

+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?

It's in novel heaven now after being wiped out by hard drive failure. It never saw paper.

+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?

Well...primarily because I'm addicted to the event. My past 4 years have all been wins so I'd love to have a 5th year win as well. This year will also be my most difficult year as my November will be suddenly cut short on the 25th and I have to run around like a maniac doing other things in the days leading up to it. If I win, it will be AMAZING. XD

Municipal Liasion for Central New Jersey

Hey, that's me!! I signed up for the first time in 2004.

I signed up because I love to write and I thought this was the coolest idea ever. My 2004 novel failed horribly at 29 000 words. It was about a girl from our world who got stolen and taken into a fantasy world. Once there, her memory was wiped and she was convinced that she was a princess of that land. The real princess was in hiding until she came of age. The girl from our world was an assassin decoy. Several years later, when it was time for the real princess to come out of hiding, the "fake" princesses sister discovered how to get into the fantasy world and went to get her. Whether she would have succeeded or not will never be known.

Since then, I've done Nano every year because I just love it. I even won the last two years. :)

**happy sigh** It's good to be back.

Banner by August.

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
I'd just found out about NaNoWriMo (I don't remember how - through the Internet, somehow), and I rushed to sign up. It was already October.
+ What was your 2004 novel about?
A woman who starts out disappointed because the Great American Novel she quit her job to write isn't happening. She's also looking for romance, but that turns out differently than she thought, too. (Yes, there is a happy ending!)
+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
I've kept it all these years. I do plan on editing it and submitting it for publication.
+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?
When I signed up to do my first NaNo in 2004, I was overwhelmed with the thought of writing 50,000 words in one month, but I knew I wanted to try. I'd written a lot when I was a kid, but I hadn't in decades. I'd just started writing again about six weeks before finding NaNoWriMo. I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I finished those 50,000 words and my novel! I keep coming back. I've won every NaNo since. This year will be my fifth, and I'm really excited about this year's story.

First signed up in '04 (under a different name), and this is my 4th NaNo (by dint of managing to completely forget about it in '05 *facepalm*)! Woohoo!

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
Like others, I found it through the 'net. Thinking about what I liked then, it was, quite possibly, through Gaia Online. But don't quote me on it. ;-D I thought it sounded like a neat challenge - I'd managed 5K word fanfics, so why not a 50K original work? I failed spectacularly, though.

+ What was your 2004 novel about?
It was planned to be about dragons, elf-type creatures (I think), with a homosexual romance and male pregnancy. xDD That's all I really remember.

+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
As I managed to fail with less than 100 words that year, what little of it there was is on a now-defunct computer. :P

+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?
The fact that I had fun in '06 despite losing with not quite 11K (YAY forums!), and even more fun last year with my 50K worth of crack (YAY NaNoisms!). Plus I think I've a growing case of NaNoitis - I started planning this year's alll the way back in July after discovering via Screnzy that advanced planning really does help. My Screnzy failed because I didn't plan quite enough (discovering midway through that you don't have a middle part of the plot is an excellent "oh.. bugger" moment, btw), but hey, I still like the premise and shall someday finish it. And/or turn it into a novel in and of itself. >:D

Anyway, I think this year's plot will easily carry me to (or past!) 50K. Hoorah for NaNoWriMo 2008!

NaNo'04: {Title lost} Fail.
NaNo'06: Dreamspinner - Fail.
NaNo'07: The Hole in the World - Win. :D
Screnzy!08: {untitled} Fail.
NaNo'08: The Silver Stone - Win!
Screnzy!09: TBA

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
Well, I signed up in mid-November 2003... but I had no way to count words on any of the word programs I had, so I didn't participate.

+ What was your 2004 novel about?
A 14-year-old's rambling about castles and annoying sisters, more or less. That whole thing made zero sense. I don't even want to look at it.

+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
I think there's a copy of it floating around somewhere among various e-mail accounts... and it might be on a desktop that I no longer use. I know it's not on the computer it was originally written on.

+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?
I, uh, went to college for a week and a half, decided that I was just not ready for that life... and came home this past Thursday. I'm now applying for those low-paying jobs at stores within about 10-15 minutes of my house. And I guess I need something to do aside from a part time job or two. Writing a novel in November seems regular... and I suppose I want to keep what I can normal. I need to do some growing up before I go to college, I think... but writing is a favorite of mine and I wouldn't give that up.

My '04 novel was a weird mishmash of short stories I'd written and (mostly) never finished. My characters were all part of a school that teaches people how to be Fantasy Heroes and Villains; one was the headmaster, three were professors, one was an assistant, and the sixth was a student.

It was a total mess, but it was also a whole lot of fun.

I took the whole troupe through a bunch of worlds I'd created where they met up with former students who, in their current roles, don't recognize them. So, for instance, one very successful graduate ends up stabbing the headmaster in a dark alley outside a tavern full of scoundrels. I also dragged them through a game dungeon (NetHack, for any old nerds out there) where they met my best Valkyrie player character and her pet Vampire Lord. They also end up in an entertaining battle with a gnoll, a kobold, and a bugbear, just to satisfy my latent AD&D urges.

It was jam-packed with silly dares (my big dumb warrior had to use various nonsensical acronyms like HFTTF: Heroic Fight To The Finish); I went to great lengths to make sure no one died -- including the above mentioned monsters; and I even gave myself a cameo as a mysterious, wise, transgendered mystic.

It was awesome. :-D Thinking back on it, I haven't written anything that fun in all the years since. Of course, it's complete crap, but it's fun crap!

Another 5th timer here ... so far I'm only 1 for 4, but I have a good feeling about this year.

I joined in 2004 because my friend had told me about NaNoWriMo a couple of months earlier, but I forgot about it until November the 2nd, when I saw it mentioned on another writing site. I decided to have a go, because, why not? I made it to 31,000 that year, which I was satisfied with. My novel was about Japanese lesbian schoolgirls.

I've been back every year since, because I can't seem to keep away. I failed dismally in 2005 with a spy comedy, won in 2006 with another lesbian story, lost last year when I attempted to write a ghost story, and this year ... who knows?

Good luck to everyone!

My name is Jenny and this is also my 5th NaNo. 4 for 4 wins for me. Though it was the 2005 one where I quit three times during November. The 2nd year is hard.

+ What made you sign up and participate back in 2004?
Masochism? I barely remember back that far, except that I fell in love with the idea, wherever I heard it. I remember quitting my job mid-Nov that year and it being one of the best decisions of my life.

+ What was your 2004 novel about?
It was called Binding Atlantis and it was about a young woman who gets swept up in her druid father's plans to draw up Atlantis and control the world. A current setting with magic.

+ What did you do with it? Edit it, publish it, print it off and burn it?
Still working up the guts to edit it, but I printed it off for my mom and now-husband. I did the "free Lulu copy" they did that year, which other family friends have read. I still love that book.

+ What motivated you to come back and do it all over again this year?
I'm going to do this every year until I can no longer write.

Hello! Don't let my join date deceive you. I first participated in NaNo in 2004 under the username AmandaH, and switched usernames this year to something somewhat more creative. This will indeed by my fifth NaNo. :D

I signed up for NaNo in 2004 after reading about it in an online writing list I'm on. I love writing and it seemed like a good challenge.

My 2004 NaNo was entitled "Every Day After" and about what a superhero does "every day after" she's saved the world and no longer has a purpose. Well, not literally every day since that would be honking long book, unless I killed her off. *g* But anyway her powers are gone and she has to adjust to life as a normal human.

I did hit 50k, but didn't finish the story--largely because I discovered it's really, really hard to write a novel where the conflict is almost all internal. I still think it's a good idea and would like to come back to it at some point, but I'd need a firmer direction in mind before tackling it again.

What motivated me to come back this year? I love NaNo. Even during year 3 when I wanted to claw my eyes out just about every time I sat down to write. I'll go into withdrawal if I don't participate.

This is my second NaNo. I signed up for NaNo 2004 on November 6th, shortly after that election. I'll admit it. I campaigned hard for Kerry and was very depressed. What a difference four years makes!

But, I digress. In 2004, I wanted to write about the last year my father was alive. He and I had played golf. I was also recovering from a "major depressive episode" (aka nervous breakdown) and so the two of us hit golf courses in three states during the last nine months he was alive. I used NaNo to tap into that material. At the time I didn't know if it would be a novel or a memoir and so I just wrote it as nonfiction. Guess that makes me a NaNo rebel, but it really worked.

I didn't do NaNo again until this year because, in 2005, I applied to graduate school and spent the next two years revising and reorganizing and rewriting the material. I graduated from grad school in July 2008 and have been shopping it to agents. No bites yet, but a few nibbles.

So this time I'm doing "REAL" Nano - writing an honest to god novel. It feels good to be back NaNo-ing and wild to be trying my hand on a totally from scratch book, but I'm happy to be doing it. I geet a little depressed sometimes. Feels like I've taken on the impossible task, but then, it probably feels that way to everyone else too.

So, Hi everybody and welcome back!

- Nita

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NaNoWriMo Track Record:
2004: Memorial
2008: The Dream

I found out about it via a Bulletin Board, and she was challenging people to try it, so I did. I won that year, and finished the novel before I hit the 50K.

It was a piece of fanfic, an extended version of one of my Vampire PC's backstories.

I edited and had Lulu print it.

I like doing it, and I've won every year since, though the novel topics vary.

Deny the Impossible

2004: Cards of Change - won
2005: Blood and Asphalt - won
2006: Days of Death and Roses - won
2007: A Roll of the Dice - won
2008: Tricentennial