According to our regional stats (on the Regional Info tab of the forum's main page), quite a large percentage of our homed Wrimos are new to this. And our Introduction thread bears this out too.
So guys... here are some questions for you, and I'm very interested in the answers because they can only help improve how we promote and communicate NaNoWriMo in Northern Ireland.
- How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
- What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
- Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!) - What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
Old-timers, feel free to chip in on these, particularly in terms of your own first-year experiences! But it's you new people I really want to hear from. :) Feel free to ask questions of your own, too!
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- Northern Ireland Municipal Liaison | WriMo Ireland | NI NoWriMo Facebook & Twitter
- Moderator for the Polling Booth
10,739 / 50,000
Oct 22, 2009 - 05 00
How did you find out about NaNoWriMo? I follow some youtubers who said they were doing it and I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go.
What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'? I've always been interested in writing and Im normally a crazy person. So writing like crazy is something that appealed to me as a person.
Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)? I just love the crazyness of it and the community spirit. It's awesome that there are so many other crazy writers out there and that we are able to come together for a month.
What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about? What Im writing about this year. It's a fantasy type thing which is not usually my genre but I've decided to try it. I'm always nervous about the meets as well because Im only 20 and quite young :P.
25,335 / 50,000
Oct 23, 2009 - 00 52
How did you find out about NaNoWriMo? I've known about it for a few years now and I always think 'I'm gonna do that.' But I never do.
What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'? I turned 31 in September. If not now? Then when?
Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)? The sense of achievement of actually motivating myself to write regularly. I'm lazy. IRL I have bursts of productivity and then lose interest and stories moulder under my bed forever.
What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
I'm worried I'll finally prove to myself that, actually, I CAN'T do it. Trying and failing is far more terrifying than not trying at all, isn't it?
40,506 / 50,000
Oct 25, 2009 - 00 54
1. How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
By word of mouth. I had never heard of it before a few weeks ago
2. What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
A combination of knowing I can beat 50k words in a month as I've done that before, just not on purpose. Also the fact that it's timebound and will mean that I have a deadline so I can stop procrastinating. I'd also like to get my work out in the public a little bit. And the icing on the cake is that I'm being made redundant from my full time job in mid November so I know that I can set myself up to do something I enjoy and get through it.
3. Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
Oh wow I didn't even know there was a certificate! I just want to accomplish something in literature. I want my work to be read by someone other than me and normally I horde my own work so this is going to be a bit of an exercise in sharing. It will also help me build up the confidence in myself to actually attempt getting published.
4. What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
I'm not anxious about anything. I guess I just want to know more about NaNoWriMo - is the work we do here going to be visible to anyyone, or just ourselves/other participants?
35,184 / 50,000
Oct 25, 2009 - 02 56
What you do with your NaNoWriMo work is entirely up to you.
You have the option to post an excerpt on your profile, which a lot of people do. Some people blog their entire NaNoWriMo (I did a few years ago). Some people don't show anyone and never do anything with their words.
And the online word-counter (available in November) doesn't do anything with your work either except count the number of words - the word count monkeys are illiterate and eat your novel as soon as they've counted.
So if you want to share your work - it's really up to you how and where and why you do it!
----------- Northern Ireland Municipal Liaison | WriMo Ireland | NI NoWriMo Facebook & Twitter
- Moderator for the Polling Booth
40,000 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 08 21
1. How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
I found out about NaNoWriMo several years ago and thought it looked interesting but never got around to joining in.
2. What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
At the moment I have no job and realised if I didn't do it now I may never have the courage to do it.
3. Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
I think I will enjoy creating an idea and running with it but making the word count would be fantastic.
4. What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
I'm anxious over the fact I signed up so close to the start and have currently no firm idea about what I want to write about.
----------My LJ is here: http://wardrobewitch.livejournal.com/profile
Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing
0 / 50,000
Oct 30, 2009 - 09 36
1.How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
I found out about NaNoWriMo from two friends i made recently through Ballymena Literary Society. I only found out about it yesterday, and have surprised myself by following up the notion of joining so quickly :)
2.What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
I want to do this because I want to be an author. I just turned 15, and I love books, but I've never had the courage to write any of my ideas for novels down and develop them. When I heard about this I thought, 'Well, now I have an excuse to do it and not give up'. It's a motivation for me, and I've always been to embaressed to do it before, but it's ok 'cause it's about the amount of words :)
3.Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
Just the idea of writing whenever I can, it makes me smile. It's just what I want to do, and to hopefully let others read it and read other peoples stories really appeals to me.
4.What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
Well, I don't understand how I'm meant to submit my work, I'm not very good with computers. And can I write about ANYTHING? Also, can people read your work even if you don't reach the 50k mark? I have a few questions hehe sorry. I'm just a bit apprehensive. But excited.
Thanks.
46,115 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 11 47
How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
I've known about it for a while now; have signed up at least three times previously but never wrote more than my profile information (hence considering myself a 'first timer').
What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
See above - the fact that, each year, I don't even bother trying it (I procrastinate, worry, plan, etc). This time I have decided to actually write something and see what happens.
Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
The challenge and the 'buzz'. A couple of hours ago I told someone I wasn't doing this, this year. Then I signed up - again. I already have an idea buzzing around my head so that is a good thing :)
What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
I am a 'tight' writer. Normally I research, plan, write, review, edit, edit some more, repeat to finish. I know that I can't do that this time so am treating this as an exercise in 'letting go' and writing with more freedom. I intend to view the finished product* as a first draft/treatment type thing and work on it after Christmas too.
... a factor that 'worries' me, a tad, is that I already challenged myself to write 52 short stories in a year which I am in the middle of. So I either have to work on one novel and four shorts, at the same time, or play catch-up and drop four weeks of the challenge.
* see, that is a good thing; I already see a 'finished product'!
----------We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be.
35,184 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 05 22
To answer your questions, TheDiarist...
You don't have to submit your work until you've finished writing your 50k, if you don't want to. You can use your word processor (or count the words yourself) to get your count, and then input it manually in the little box at the top-right of the site.
To submit your work once you have your 50k, you paste it into the big box on the Edit Novel Info page (My NaNoWriMo > Edit Novel) any time after Nov 25th once the validator is working. (You can do it before to get the word count monkeys to count your words for you.) See http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/1044627 for more.
Whether anyone reads your work or not is entirely up to you. A lot of people put an excerpt onto their profile (Edit Novel Info again), but no-one will see your work unless you show it to them.
And yes, you can write about absolutely anything at all. (Of course, if you want to submit it for publication some day, there are things you may need to consider, like not using copyrighted characters, but for NaNo - write what you please.)
----------- Northern Ireland Municipal Liaison | WriMo Ireland | NI NoWriMo Facebook & Twitter
- Moderator for the Polling Booth
43,211 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 13 35
1. How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
American friend entering it every year and this year I wanted to be a part of it.
2. What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
Pretening to be part of a fellowship today, I RP but never write stories but that made me want to try...
3. Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
Trying to catch up with my word count? Oh and just being imaginative xD
4. What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
I don't know... not getting it finished I suppose xD I've started 5 days late!!
39,014 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 04 42
1. How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
I came across it a few months ago, forgot about it then found it again. :D
2. What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
I wanted to try and write a novel, but I'd always been such a procrastinator I never got far so I found this was a perfect opportunity to actually do something.
3. Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
Actually managing to finish something.
4. What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
Getting the time to write, but other than that...there's nothing I'm anxious about.
2,430 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 05 33
1.How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
On one of my late nights on Twitter, DA and other sites, many people were talking about it. I knew about it last year only because my friend was writing one but I didn't have the time so this year I signed up.
2.What made you think 'yeah, I'll give that a go'?
Guess it's because I get loads of ideas to put down on paper but alas the time goes on and I eventually lose interest or find myself to pre-occpuied with school and such that I forget.
So for Nano I said "What the heck there's never gonna be a right time unless I go for this now in November!" and I did =]
3.Is there anything about NaNoWriMo that you think you'll particularly enjoy (or are already enjoying)?
(Getting the winner's certificate is pretty special, I can tell you!)
Probably the diversity there is, just goes to show how creative people can be when it comes to writing or just what a person can write when given the oppurtunity. That and having friends writing along, nice to know what they're writing about, how they're progressing etc you know.
4.What, if anything, are you anxious about, or want to know more about?
Not really, probably getting to 50k but I'm just taking it as it is and I'm doing fine
13,007 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2009 - 07 56
I was aware of it in previous years and always thought "someday...".
Having been involved in a different sort of writing competition earlier this year I was impressed at how stretched I could be, given a challenge, and so decided to explore that with possibly The Ultimate Challenge. Previously I've done lots of poetry, travelogues and blogs, and factual articles, but hardly any fiction, and certainly nothing of this length.
So far I'm enjoying creating my characters and just letting them come to life - I have very little idea of plot. And that probabaly is my biggest fear - I'll end up with something that's a bit of a ramble but with no proper beginning middle and end. But maybe I can slot those in at a later stage!