Hi Everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself and throw in my two cents. My name is Jenny and I come from the Grimsby area. I first heard about NaNoWriMo on New Years Eve last year, when I was searching amazon.ca for a good writing book to buy myself since nobody had gotten me one for Christmas and came across Chris Baty's "No Plot? No Problem!" which I promptly bought and read eagerly. It motivated me so much that I quickly signed up for NaNoWriMo and have been waiting for 10 months to participate in my first NaNoWriMo! Now that it's here I'm scared and excited and am currently reading No Plot No Problem for the 5th time in case I missed anything exciting. I can't believe how fast time flies!
I have been an aspiring writer since I told my grade 3 teacher I was going to be an author when I grew up...but here I am, dragging myself to a boring office adminstration job every day with nothing published and about 3 unfinished novels sitting on my hard drive. Does anyone else have major motivational problems? That's the main thing that seems to hold me back...but now that November's here I'm determined to see this thing through!
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Jenny Rae
43,017 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 13 46
I have always loved writing, ever since I was a little kid. Books and journals were pretty much my only friend, not forgetting to mention a wild imagination! Now I prefer writing things that are dark and insane, but I still find it very difficult to force myself to sit down and write.
I found NaNoWriMo through a website that has been very helpful, not only for motivation and solving practical problems, but for small grammar lessons etc. Dailywritingtips.com Under the writing basics tab at the bottom there are some articles that can help anyone that's feeling overwhelmed by this task!
5,668 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 15 22
Hi Jenny!
I've always wanted to write, and spent most of my grade-school and high-school years composing short stories instead of paying attention in class. :P But then college came and life interrupted and I stopped.
My motivation to get back into writing? Hearing that a co-worker finished a book, and finaled in a contest. My thought? Well hell. If she can do it, so can I!
And here I am - joining my first NaNo! I do have 1 book published, and am 250 pages into a second. I'm leaving my poor characters dangling to jump full force into NaNo.
What keeps me going is feedback. From peers, fellow writers, and fans (I also write fanfic regularly). Hearing someone say "good job" pretty much makes me want to keep it going. If you can find yourself a writing partner (someone who enjoys or writes the same genre you write) it will go a long way towards keeping you moving!
- Nika
----------Nika Dixon
Riveting Red Hot Romantic Suspense
Feed Your Romance Addiction
http://www.nikadixon.com
6,211 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 18 05
I've been writing since I was a kid, my first major story that caught anyone's attention being a story I wrote in 6th grade with the embarrassingly bad title of "Blanket Buddies" (it was all about my plush characters who lived in my room. Think Toy Story but more fantastical).
Through my life I've been up and down with writing. I joined NaNo a few years ago with the intention of writing a book, but I got nothing from it but a short story. I skipped the last few years due to various circumstances (including a crippling depression that I've finally gotten up the will to fight), and now I'm back at it again.
I'm hoping this year will be different, that I will finish my book and finally publish it, and that being part of this group will help keep me grounded, and give me the will to write again.
41,630 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 15 03
My main setback has always been my own self criticism...I always re-read what I've written and think how much it sucks, and then try to rewrite it to make it sound better, and then eventually give up and turn into a miserable person for a few days till I forget about it...I guess that's why No Plot No Problem is such a motivational read for me because it's made me open my eyes and realize that I don't have to take my writing so seriously in order for it to be good...in fact that might be what makes it not so good...also the clock is ticking on life as we all know and I don't have forever to get something published...I must take action!! NOW!! Before it's too late!! Uh oh...panicky feeling rising...*nervous laughter* hehe
Nika you're right about praise from other people being great for the motivation....my friends have read a couple of things I've written that I thought were crap but they thought were publishable...actually they were sad to get to the end and wanted to read more! Now that feels good!
To tell you the truth I have no idea what I'm going to start writing about in 2 days...I mean I have maybe a couple of very vague ideas in my head that I probably couldn't put into words because they're so vague...but I guess that's the point right?
----------Jenny Rae
29,116 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 19 55
Hi Jenny. I agree that it is hard to be motivated. I have signed up for Nanowrimo for the last 2 or 3 years at least and just didn't really take it seriously. I didn't really spend enough time writing first of all and always had good excuses why. This year is different though. Over the Labour Day weekend in September I entered 'Write a Novel in 3 Days' contest. I'll tell ya I had no choice but to be motivated in order to get that done. My job wouldn't me give time off so not only did I have to write the novel in 3 days but I had to work for 2 of those days as well. I had to stay focused and I ended up writing 65 pages and 40 of those pages were done in the one day I was off. This year I decided that it was time to step up and take this thing to a more serious level. When I think that I can't do this or I get stuck I think about what I accomplished over the past Labour Day weekend. That is the first time a long time that I have actually finished something. This year in Nano I'm going to finish another novel. Jenny I believe that you can write a novel this month too. You just have to want to and then do it, it can be that simple.
Tara
----------Princess Zoe
564 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 03 47
Hi, fellow niagara nano-ers!
I'm Cheryl, and this is the first year I've actually posted or done anything on the nano site. I've had an account since 2006 but just never did anything with it.
I used to love to write, but took one of the romance writing courses at Niagara college and I think it killed me haha.
But I've looked through the prompt thread and found not only stuff for an interesting new idea, but also things for the novel I'd started for the college course.
Well, I think this might be it, I just thought I'd introduce myself. I'm sure I'll have more to say later hehe.
49,150 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 04
When I was in high school I wrote creatively but I mostly fell into the trap of writing and rewriting elaborate plot outlines, that grew into unapproachable hopelessly convoluted brain dumps of everything that I had the slightest bit of interest in. I wouldn't write so much as plot, and was fearful of diving in until I had every imaginable loose end tied, as if the words I had chosen for the first page would be so carefully placed that when the book was finished the reader would be floored by the magnitude of my planning. Suffice to say I wrote nothing.
I'm a software developer now and for the past 10 years I've been an editor for Punknews.org, one of the bigger punk music news sites in the world. I've yet to seriously tackle anything that hasn't been promotional business writing or music reporting in years. I like that NaNo, by design, frees me of worrying about planning. I like the idea of a deadline.
41,630 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 18 55
Quick replies (gotta get back to writing...on a roll...woohoo!)
Adam - I like the no planning approach of Nano almost too much. In fact, if this works out for me, I may never plan another piece of writing ever again, as scary as that sounds.
Cheryl - I took the online romance writing course through Niagara College a year ago - I got 25,000 words into the final assignment, and I can't even bring myself to read all the way through it now, it's so bad. I don't even think it's worth finishing, nevermind editing. HAHA but then again, I didn't have the Nano knowledge back then that I do now so it might still be salvagable!
Tara - Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have been meeting the daily word quota so far every day, and I know it's only Day 3 but that is still a big step for me!
Good luck to everyone! KEEP WRITING!
----------Jenny Rae
29,116 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 19 56
Hey Jenny. Just wanted to let you know, I never use an outline. Personally they always seem to get in the way withe creativity. You go girl!!!!!!!!!
----------Princess Zoe
564 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 09 35
Jenny, was Tom your prof? At least I think that's his name haha, it's been too long.
I've looked at my synopsis a few times since and could probably do things with it, but just haven't had the creative ideas before the other day. To give you an idea, I have exactly 294 words for the first chapter, plus I'm not sure how much for other scenes that might not even be kept.
ok, done rambling haha, I do that a lot.
Good luck everyone.
41,630 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 17 17
Cheryl, I can't remember who my teacher was either. I know it was a woman though. It was a good course, I'm glad I took it but the things I wrote weren't that great. I did pass though. The thing I liked about it was I got a lot of constructive criticism back so I sort of got an idea of what worked and what didn't.
How are everyone's stories going so far? I am on page 10, and the dialogue and characters were getting bored so someone had a heart attack and almost died...that spiced things up a bit! I didn't have the heart to kill him with the shovel of death though, he's a really nice guy. LOL
----------Jenny Rae
88,944 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 22 04
I am just finishing up the first part of my story. I have a fairly good idea what happens past a certain point, but getting there is driving me nuts. I need to come up with some magical plot bridge real quick. Like, now.
----------The morale of the story is Never Put Your Weapon Down!!!
564 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 12 46
God, I am getting nowhere with mine. I started one but then hated it so deleted it.
I got some cool ideas from the prompt thread, but now I can't seem to write anything, sigh.
29,116 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 19 48
Mine is coming along quite well. I started writing a mish mash of things now this week end I'm gonna put it together in a more organized fashion. Actually surprised at how well so far it's going. Good luck to all!
----------Princess Zoe
88,944 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 20 42
The plot bridge has been cobbled together!
I am just know realizing how stupidly long my story it. 20,000 words and I'm just kinda sorta finished the begining. argh. I'm gonna die.
----------The morale of the story is Never Put Your Weapon Down!!!
49,150 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 07 15
I'm really impressed with your progress Demagis. Good job! Your word count is what I'm aspiring to catch up to every day.
41,576 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 07 59
BAH! Took one little day away from writing and so woefully behind my daily goals.
Squirreled away in my bedroom now though.. gonna pound up my count this weekend to be in a good spot on Monday... HUZZAH!
Donna
32,785 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 15
LOL
I'm trying to catch up to Demagie's word count too, I don't go by the NaNo, suggested daily counts, I have my own count schedual that I did up based on my work schedual which makes me feel better when I don't get as much done as I had wanted to. I'm tryign to do 9,000 words today, which isn't bad because I just finished 2,000 exactly. (and decided to reward myself by playing in the forums.)
I strangely have been hopping through my story by writing different parts, I'm doing the chase scene right now (Imagine a hearse being hijacked and running from the cops [that were leading the funeral procession at that], and the best part is: the body in the back gets up in the middle of the chase on the highway! It's awesome!) But when I finish the major parts I'm stitching them all together because I know what little things go in between, but I also know this novel is going to be a hell of a lot longer then 50,000 words. So as long as I hit my target, I'll be happy!
----------"Taking over the world for fun and profit utilizing plenty of purple platypi and pissed-off pompus pink penguins posing as plastic politicians promising perfection placed on platnium platters."
...say that two times fast, I double dog dare you! (five ti
88,944 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 17
Well at least I'm good for something. Remember, don't write good - write FAST!!!
----------The morale of the story is Never Put Your Weapon Down!!!
41,576 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 37
I have been stopped cold in my tracks.
Gawd love him, the spouse has spent the last HOUR doing his own artistic pounding .. at the guitar. Not lovely soft feed-my-brain classical kind... the loud thrashing rip-my-eyeballs-out-one-at-a-time and beat them with a squawking electric chicken kind. I can hear him from the second floor. I can feel the amps boom boom from my toes straight up in to my neck. Arghrrrr.
Watching my chicklit romance turn the corner and step into gory thriller like scenes...
Must
Keep
Writing
well maybe THIS male ain't THE male.. maybe THIS male could die and then she hooks up with the morgue guy... ya ya i like it. I like it alot... okay I got it.. still going -yay!
:-)
32,785 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 10 33
Damn straight skippy!
...except that I keep editing while I write. I know! Bad Ellie! Bad!
On the upside, I just pounded out 1500 words in 40 minutes (not sure how but I think it has something to do with listening to The PotC soundtrack, go chase music)
"Taking over the world for fun and profit utilizing plenty of purple platypi and pissed-off pompus pink penguins posing as plastic politicians promising perfection placed on platnium platters."
----------...say that two times fast, I double dog dare you!
"Taking over the world for fun and profit utilizing plenty of purple platypi and pissed-off pompus pink penguins posing as plastic politicians promising perfection placed on platnium platters."
...say that two times fast, I double dog dare you! (five ti
41,630 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 13 11
I'm doing ok...I just wrote 3000 words straight and am now going to reward myself with a glass of wine and try not to think about the horribly long and drawn out dialogue I just wrote between co-workers...although at the end of it, one of them confessed to sleeping with the boss's husband...so it was worth it for that juicy detail
Hang in there Cheryl...just write what comes into your head if you are not getting anywhere, don't even think about it...all that matters is the count!!!!!!!!!!!!
----------Jenny Rae
32,785 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 13 48
Congratulations Jenny!!!
I'm looking at this bottle of wine a customer gave me the other day, it's looking mighty tempting. I did 5,001 words today, and I want to do another 4,000 idealistically.
Realistically I'll be happy to do 2,000
Enjoy your wine love, I may be joining you in a few hours *grin*
----------"Taking over the world for fun and profit utilizing plenty of purple platypi and pissed-off pompus pink penguins posing as plastic politicians promising perfection placed on platnium platters."
...say that two times fast, I double dog dare you! (five ti
564 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 14 52
Waaah! Oh man, I am so jealous of you all!
Hey, we should put up a yim/lj/twitter/msn/whatever thread for this board, that way we can find each other online without having to wade through the hundreds of posts in the other forum.
y/n? I was gonna do it but it wouldn't let me? I dunno.
I need heeelp. six days in and I have nothing.
29,116 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 19 40
Hey Clefurgey. When I get writer's block like that I go for a walk somewhere busy like the mall or Star Bucks or even the grocery store and I people watch. People do some interesting things sometimes. For example, I was at Tim Horton's reading my book having a coffee, minding my own business and this couple was sitting at a table across from me chatting and there was a Tim Horton's bag on the table and you could tell there was something inside it; it looked just like someone had packed their lunch in there. Anyways, the couple left and they left the bag on the table. People would look at the bag and walk slowly by the table like it was a bomb or something it was hilarious. I even saw someone I knew and tried to get him to open the mystery bag but he refused. It almost like watch a live performance of Candid Camera. Now you can take that mystery bag scenario and do a writing exercise. Call it Mystery Bag or something and don't think just write and you may be surprised what you can come up with. That's just one idea. The idea is look for something that you think is interesting then you just run with it. I also find when your stuck the more you think the worse it gets. I always find getting started the hardest part. Anyways, I hope this helps you and good luck! You can do this!!
----------Princess Zoe
564 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 29
Haha OMG, that story was hilarious. I wonder what was in the bag?
Also, I love to, I guess you'd call it people listen since I can't see. Others might think I'm weird or rude for listening to their conversations, but it's kind of interesting to me to know what others are talking about.
Damn, I could've been writing all day, since we're having serious internet issues. The net obviously works for the moment, but who knows how long that'll last. maybe I'll start now, leave the net alone while it works or something haha.
29,116 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 15 05
Hey Clefurgey! Grats on starting your novel. Keep it up!
----------Princess Zoe
41,630 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 20 53
Hi everyone. Just felt like bragging a bit. My novel is flowing beyond all reason into a beautiful kind of a plot, sort of. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this could happen, to me of all people. I even thought of a title for my novel. I feel like I could fly, but I'm not going to try, don't worry. Ellie, the wine works wonders on my words per minute. I think I reached about 100 at one point. I'm gonna have to go buy some more shiraz if I want my fingers to keep flying like this! Ok, I better shut up now, I probably just jinxed myself. Oh am I ever tired though from all the typing and the staring and the thinking. WHEW this is a workout eh?
----------Jenny Rae
88,944 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 21 47
Hi everyone. Just felt like bragging a bit. My novel is flowing beyond all reason into a beautiful kind of a plot, sort of. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this could happen, to me of all people. I even thought of a title for my novel. I feel like I could fly, but I'm not going to try, don't worry. Ellie, the wine works wonders on my words per minute. I think I reached about 100 at one point. I'm gonna have to go buy some more shiraz if I want my fingers to keep flying like this! Ok, I better shut up now, I probably just jinxed myself. Oh am I ever tired though from all the typing and the staring and the thinking. WHEW this is a workout eh?
Wine was made for writers. True fax.
Seriously though, whenever I'm writing something really emotional, I needs me some wine to let myself go enough to write the words down.
----------The morale of the story is Never Put Your Weapon Down!!!
41,576 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2009 - 07 09
I caught a cold bug and been feeling sorry for myself the past couple days. Coming out of my wordLESS count pity party today though:
Have wisely decided my main character can share the experience with me.. lol. Lets see what her oh so amourous beau thinks of the sniveling, snot crusted, blurry eyed chick now... will true lust conquer all? Cant wait to find out.. and if nothing else, at least my word count will 'rise' to occasion... hahahahha.
Sniffle, snort... hack...
:0)
Donna