For those that have done NaNo before, what's been your favorite year so far and why? For the first-timers this year, what are you looking forward too?
My favorite would have to be last year, my second year. It was the first time I really started getting brave enough to post on the forums... and well, the story kept going and going. It was an amazing time, just letting the words flow by and not knowing when they were going to stop. ^_^
So what about you?
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Sadey
2006 - Wings of War - (50k) WINNER!
2007 - Cry Wolf - (100k) WINNER!
2008 - Lost and Found
56,016 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 09 16
Last year was my favorite NaNo year. I did more preplanning, character development, and outlining which helped me produce a workable first draft to a novel I can actually mold into a publishable work. I like the story, the characters, and the plot is good. This year, although I am working in a different genre, I am copying the techniques used last year. I am really looking forward to writing this year's NaNo.
http://chases--life.blogspot.com/
----------A smile is worth a thousand words...if I smile at my computer 50 times, my novel will be done!
50,142 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 09 44
I think 2004 and 2005 tie for best Nano year in terms of interacting with other Nanos - I had a fantastic region and I got along really well with the other Wrimos.
----------50,515 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 11 10
Last year (my 4th under this ID), because the story just flowed. The most stressful thing was the physical typing. I'm hoping this year goes as smoothly.
----------9,908 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 12 11
Last year was my favourite NaNo year because that was the year the writing went really well and although I didn't win NaNo it got me writing more regularly and I finished a novella this year (which now needs a third revision); I'm quarter of the way through another novella; halfway through a short story and I've got quite a few ideas percolating in the back of my mind as well.
I may not be able to officially complete NaNo this year as I'll be in the Wilds of Wales for the last week of November and won't be able to guarantee myself interweb access; but we shall see. Perhaps there will be an internet cafe within easy driving distance.
=^..^=
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Achievement: In life you should not pursue goals that are easily achieved, develop an instinct for what can be only just acheived through your greatest efforts. --- Inspirational poster
61,385 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 12 26
2006 and 2007 are very close for completely different reasons.
2006, I was writing about something I loved passionately and creating a story that was so much bigger than me.
2007, just floated through. It was easy it was joyous and, above all, it was productive!
51,233 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 12 36
Considering I've only done one before this, last year was my favorite :P
Not only did I meet the goal of 50K and get a massive chunk of my book written, but I was also fortunate enough to meet other writers who were part of a critique group. I've learned so much from being a part of that group and I'm really grateful for that!
Perhaps though, THIS year will be my favorite since I'm actually hoping to finish the book I started on last year (I know, it's not technically a new book and whatnot but oh well--I need to get it finished!)
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The pleasantest of all diversions is to sit alone under the lamp, a book spread out before you, and to make friends with people of a distant past you have never known.--Yoshida Kenko, Essays in Idleness
50,034 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 12 58
My favorite (and best) year was 2005. That was when I discovered the power of preplanning and wrote a synopsis that got me 24k handwritten words in a month. That's the closest I've been to winning, and now that I have a computer I plan to change that and pull out a win.
17,569 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 13 08
I think 2006, because I didn't pre-plan, lol. I actually have a lot more fun when I just wing it and come up with the story as I go. Well, aside from deciding a general setting and who the characters are any way.
----------NaNoWriMo '04 - Fake Wings : WON
NaNoWriMo '05 - Lonely Road : WON
NaNoWriMo '06 - The Painful Bunny : WON
NaNoWriMo '07 - Twilight, Lost Princess : LOST ;_;
NaNoWriMo '08 - ???
69,835 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 13 24
For me, it would have to be a tie between 2005 and 2006, my first and second year. I think just because I was so excited for them both. The first year, because it was my first time attempting to write a book so fast that I had no idea what it was even going to be about. The whole idea of NaNoWriMo was very exciting to me. And that story that I came out with is one of my favorites still. And my second because I knew what I was getting myself into and what I wanted to do. I was more excited to plan out the book , create the charectors and get going on it. That book that I produced that year is a top favorite also.
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Nano 2005-Coloring Outside The Lines...WON!
Nano 2006-Paper Hearts Have Strings...WON!
Nano 2007-The Elite...WON!
Nano 2008-Secrets...WON!
50,047 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 14 01
Last year. It was my second time as well, and the first year I actually finished and won. :) It was so much fun, and I was so proud when I won. I think this year might even be more fun than the last. We'll see. =]
53,055 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 15 16
Writing-wise, I'm enjoying this year so far. My novel seems much more promising than previous years, it actually has substance!
Otherwise, I really enjoyed last year. I posted on the forums a lot on my old account, had a bunch of writing buddies and such, and it was just overall a hilariously hectic and wonderful time for me.
----------2008: Pirates of Merth! (WINNER!)
2007: Firebug (12k. Pathetic.)
2006: Of Rainbows and Skyscrapers (A pathetic excuse for anything. Please do not bring it up. Ever.)
0 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 15 24
2002, my first. I just discovered it a few weeks beforehand and it was the perfect autumn for it: living on campus for the first time with a light schedule at work and easy classes. I had no ideas and only got about 11,000 words out, half of what I've done the last two years of fail, but being able to relax around campus and write on a cool fall afternoon was heavenly.
Second place would be last year with a Starbucks nearby. Such a luxury isn't present this year. :(
----------*****
LIST OF FAIL
2002: Untitled (11000)
2003: Untitled 2 (2500)
2004: Untitled 3 (2000)
2005: Really Untitled (0)
2006: Shawneetown (~21000)
2007: Creek Alley (~21000)
Blog Is Here
3,596 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 16 56
Last year, I think was my best. I think I had a better story than in previous years and was a much bigger fan of it, which made it more fun to write of course.
I always love procrastinating in the forums. <3
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50,002 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 17 25
My 5th year, 2006, was my favorite year. My story was totally ridiculous, but it was so much fun to write and just came out really easily. It's the only one of my NaNo books that I can look at without cringing. I mean, it was terrible, but it was supposed to be, so when I look at it I'm just amused.
And that was a great year of MLing too; my Wrimos were super fantastic and fun and wanted to participate so much. It was just a really fun year.
----------This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard. - Neil Gaiman
29,282 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 18 28
My favorite year was 2006. I was so in love with my story that year, I just felt joy the whole time I was writing it. Thay's the only year I can actually say it was easy.
----------Banner by August.
101,507 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2008 - 23 24
My favourite year was 2006, my first year.
Nanowrimo was new to me, I was excited, winning gave me back my confidence as a writer.
Ah, the memories... <3
----------Makes me wish I could do it all over again. I hope this year will be just as good. Or at least better than 2007.
2007 was an okay year, but it had a lot of setbacks which I will definitely not have this year.
NaNoWriMo 2006: Natalia's Journey (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2007: The Pride of King Julius (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2008: Hatoshi's Reality
"Hot chocolate is my coffee!"
50,601 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 01 06
Last year was absolutely the best, even if the story idea I had was a complete disaster, that I had only really decided on about a week before NaNo, instead of the one I had planned out since September. It really taught me what I want to write, and while it might have been complete crap, it did give me a couple of excellent characters for future use.
On the other hand it's competing against my first year, when I was so giddy at the thought of doing it I didn't actually do it, and my second year, when NaNo was one of the things which contributed to my breakdown (but that really was my own fault, I shouldn't have tried to do it when I had so much stuff in school going on at the time).
This year, too, looks like it'll be a good one. I have a plot that makes sense even without hours of explanation (provided you now the world, of course...), characters I adore, and have been in my head since I was twelve, and which I've never actually written before, and the world has come out the way I want it, and the secondary characters and the secondary plots fit like hand in glove. I am hugely pleased with myself, and that is a bit of a danger, I might just get bored in November, and stop. Not to mention Paris and tons of other stuff that'll take time away from writing.
Still, this year I will win! (I kinda have to, I'm doing NaNo for school this year.)
0 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 01 13
The first year I actually won, 2004, was pretty cool. I went to a regional meetup and everything, and I think I wrote around 70K words. But last year was probably the best because I wrote an original work of fiction and it gave me a nice break from my last semester of school.
65,227 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 02 51
My second year would have to be my favourite year.
Last year was the first time I'd used the forums (at all), I got involved with word wars which was great fun. Roped my brother in for the first week. I didn't try to write anything serious, it just turned into one giant crack-fest spliced together with random extracts from my thesis, masquerading as lectures.
But it was more fun than the previous year :D
----------In Scotland? Come visit Bute - details in the Glasgow Thread.
Go Team Erato!
50,147 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 03 47
Last year was good - a story that was actually enjoyable to write, though not really a terribly good story, in retrospect.
2004 was good also, though the story never managed to get anywhere. Still, it was probably the best actual story concept that I had.
2003 and 2006 were awful. 2006 was a winner, but should have been aborted in the conceptual stage.
I don't even remember 2005... :-/
50,022 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 05 46
I've only done NaNo twice. 06 was definitely my best. It was easy to write and I loved my characters. 07 was a complete horror! The words would not come and I had practically no love for the story I was writing!
My 08 NaNo is looking much more promising as, even though I only came up with the idea the other day (real last minute, I know) I'm already in love with it and want to get started RIGHT NOW! :3
(Obviously the idea of loving your story/characters is very important to me) ;p
51,737 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 08 13
My favorite year was 2006, the only year I've actually won. But I really went crazy and got over 56,000 words, so it was just amazing. Also, it was in the midst of my senior year, so I was kind of impressed with myself.
----------2 + 2 = 5
(for especially large values of 2)
2005: Siren Juice (eh, about 25,000)
2006: Romance Novel (over 56,000! success!)
2007: Here Kitty Kitty (about 1,000 words...oh, college)
2008: The Cross Under
3,149 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 09 09
2006, definitely. My excitement for NaNo was at an all-time high, after finding the site in January and waiting for ten long months just to be able to register! I had never written this much before, and I honestly didn't know if I could do it. I thought I could. I really wanted to. But it wasn't until I actually crossed the finish line that all my doubts disappeared. Winning that first NaNo was one of the best feelings of my life. I, perhaps for the first time, felt like I could really be what I wanted to be: a novelist.
----------NaNo 2006 - Divergence: 50,021
NaNo 2007 - A Love in Darkness Wrought: 50,023
NaNo 2008 - Missing (near)
65,700 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 09 26
2004 was my favuorite year! The previous year I wrote by myself because I only had a PC. 2004 was the year I allowed the use of a laptop! I was able to go to write ins after class, meet other writers and have loads of fun! It was truly magical!
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*Co-ML for Tucson, AZ*
You see these? You see these words? These are REVLON words!
62,000 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2008 - 10 19
Last year. I didn't win the year before, but besides that, I hung out on the forums more, I chatted with my friends more about it, I made more time for NaNo, and it was insanely fun.
----------"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing noise they make as they pass by"
-Douglas Adams
My blog My BFS goals
50,059 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2008 - 04 22
It had to be last year. I wrote my longest piece to date (60K) and on the day I finished it, I broke my personal record of most words in a single day (12K). I was just so into the ending, I could not stop until it was done. I love that feeling! ^_^
106,888 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2008 - 06 00
2007! That was my best year yet. I loved the story, the characters and I hit 100K for the first time!
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Want to know what I write? Go ahead....click....
www.fictionfusion.blogspot.com