It's the end of the first week - time to take stock of how it's gone. There are some amazing word totals out there - and some struggling folk, too. Remember, there's time yet to get into your stride.
Personally, I'm just over 11,000 words. Not quite where I;d hoped to be but moving along - yet I know this is only because I'd really outlined and made lots of notes on the first few chapters. Once chapter five is done, I'm toast.....:-(
Anyone want to share their tricks (or treats) for keeping going as we approach the sagging middle of Nano month?
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Glenys O'Connell
Romance Can Be Murder
www.glenysoconnell.com
26,313 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 11
Sometimes Random prompts might lead you on a really creative tangeant, especially if you challenge yourself to a timed word war. You never know what you might come up with - sometimes spontaneous billiance :D
I'm really dragging along this year, I had no outline at all so I may have to try some of my own suggestions ;)
----------38,250 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 16
Well, I'm a first-timer, so I haven't got any tried and true solutions to offer you. I've been writing for a while, though, and have always despised planning. I only have certain chunks plotted. Ending? Yeah, don't have one of those yet.
Still, the solutions offered above sound good, and trying things like Write or Die could help kick your word count up, even if the stuff you write is pure crap (which, believe me, definitely applies to some of what I've got). There's a reason December will be devoted to editing.
For myself, I've already found myself taking showers for no reason other than that seems to be the prefered locale for plot bunny attacks. It worked! I'm moving again and am nearly at 14.5K! :D
Something I have found to be a good incentive, though, is CreateSpace's offer of sending all validated writers a proof copy of their novel, in BOOK FORM. They will print your book and send you it, FREE. Now that I want. It'll make life a lot easier, considering friends want to read it. Plus, hell, I just really wanna see my own words in book form. :D
Hoping some of that largely pointless rambling helped......... :)
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
31,400 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 23
Thanks for your replies. I hadn't actually heard of the CreateSpace offer , that's really good - and there really is nothing at all like holding your printed book in your hands - ah, that intoxicating new book smell, the glossy cover, your name, right there...oops, sorry, got a bit carried away there!
I teach creative writing and one of the things I always advise my students is to make at least a brief outline, preferably just plot points or perhaps even chapter by chapter, as insurance against that sagging middle. Do I take my own advice? Do I...heck, no. It may be necessary to actually take a day or two and jot down exactly where this book is going - or it could just be the shortest Nano book ever :-(
Good luck, and happy writing....
----------Glenys O'Connell
Romance Can Be Murder
www.glenysoconnell.com
38,250 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 40
If you want to find out more about the CreateSpace offer, Glenys (since I've mostly just been giddily babbling "OhmygawdIgettoactuallyseemybookinbookformSCREECH" to everyone who knows I'm doing this), head over to the forums and check out the "Special offers from NaNo sponsors" bunch of threads. It's in there, and well explained. It's surprising how so few people know about this.
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
26,313 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 45
Nano is Meant to be Pure Crap ;) That's why November is so liberating! ;)
----------38,321 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 17 59
One trick if you're stuck is to write a scene from a part of your character's life that takes place before the start of your story. Choose any character at random.
----------Make Known the Unknown
32,243 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 18 45
So far so good! Happy to see everyones soaring word counts. Going home for the weekend has destroyed my routine, but hopefuly I will get my butt back in ger on monday.
Hope everyone has fun at the write in tomorrow!!!
----------NaNoWriMo 07 - The Four Horsemen - Won!
Script Frenzy 08 - The Dream Weaver - Won!
NaNoWriMo 08 - Of Nightmares and Fairytales - Won!
NaNoWriMo 09 - The Dream Weaver - In production!
38,250 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 22 13
Will do, and hope to see you at the next one. :)
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
8,720 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 02 29
oh, gosh, the emotions of "WRITE WRITE WRITE" and "SLOW DOWN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT COMES AFTER THIS" are so conflicting.
i'm incredibly behind because on thursday, i suddenly realized that i didn't care at all about the story that i was writing and there was no way i was even going to push it to a thousand words, let alone fifty times that... so i switched ideas on the fly. i don't know where this story is going in any way, but i'm enjoying it, so that's fine.
mostly i'm proud that i'm doing it at all! long prose is essentially my greatest fear-- i shy away into poetry and free verse sort of flash fiction because i can never commit to a piece for long enough to make it a story. this is the first year i've even gathered up enough courage to try. so, all things considered... i'm doing fairly well (:
----------38,250 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 05 08
I've written up to 80K or more before, it's just taken me considerably longer than a month. And I tend to lose track of where I intended to go with a story. Stupid me.
But I refuse to let that happen here!!! I want a copy of my book, dammit!!!!!
-ahem- Okay. Now here's the part where I say I'm going to bed now, and you guys all consider me a nutjob. :)
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
8,720 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 05 33
80k!! that's so crazy to me.
i haven't gone to bed yet... i got really distracted? but it was by writing, so, uhh, go me for that!
----------38,250 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 11 26
Yay, I'm not the only one. ^^ I crashed sometime around 8:30. Just dragged myself out of bed. Debating about dragging my butt downtown to the write-in when I can't buy anything at the CoffeeCo and would probably be murdered if I brought Tim's (which is on-campus and covered by my meal plan).
Glug.
As for the 80K, it took me a while to hit that point, and it kind of surprised me too. Definitely a "Whoa, when did that happen?" moment. :P
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
8,720 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 22 23
haha, i was all pumped to go to the write-in but then in a huge burst of energy, i recorded a bunch of music, and it exhausted me and i fell asleep at around three (: and to add to the excitement, i didn't do any homework at all this weekend! this is a fun project.
----------40,068 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 06 49
I've written some fiction before, but never this much, or this fast. I've been discovering some tricks to really help myself along:
-character background. As has been mentioned, not only do character backgrounds eat up words, they also make your characters come alive, and then they do things that actually surprise you.
-when you have a bizarre idea, do it. In my case, my main character had to find some information that was not easily obtainable. I actually had a vague idea of how he could solve his problem, but I found myself writing something entirely different. He just went ahead and found his own solution! Weird, eh?
-having the challenge in mind doesn't always mean having the solution in mind. This goes back to the last thing: it's cool to have a plot-problem. But you don't need to have everything figured out from the start. I like to see the fixed story elements as constants in a mathematical equation. The characters, then, are the variables, able to do as they wish.
-eat coffee crisp. It's just the best.
-visualize the ending, and work backward. You'll be amazed at what can happen. My whole story got started by a particular image, a painting, from which I worked backwards with around a hundred "what-ifs?"
37,112 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 11 22
I write fiction year-round, so 50K is nothing for me. It's just that I'm a slow writer, so to do 50K in a month on a deadline is getting at me. Ugh. I'm only a little behind the daily word goal though. I think I'll put in a few hours tonight and catch up.
35,011 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2009 - 12 25
I'm doing fairly well. I've lost my lead but I'm still on schedule for now.
I had what I thought was most of the plot planned out but I went through it pretty quickly so I've been planning as I go for the last several days. I'm actually pretty happy with some of the things that have popped up randomly, a ruined castle called Spell Kale, (a market place with fire jugglers etc.) that runs continuously day and night and my villain got the power to shoot green fire out of his hands :-) So I've had some fun with it, the other day I threw a birthday party for my main character and served candied apples.
I can tell there is going to be a lot of editing and clean up when this is over but that's how it's supposed to be I hear. Some days I can tell it's very poor stuff and that is discouraging but every now and then a part of the story goes well and it makes me happy again.
Now I'd better stop talking about it and actually go write.
Onward Wrimos!
----------Homework: Something to do during the writer's block
1,583 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2009 - 14 28
Haven't had the chance to write a word yet. May have to kill everyone I know and seal up all doors, disconnect phones and doorbells, etc. ;)
----------The bankers and the diplomats are going in the army - it seemed a shame to keep them from the wars that they have planned. MALVINA REYNOLDS
38,250 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2009 - 15 14
You can use me as an alibi if necessary. I can be very convincing. :)
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
4,983 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 15 29
Anyone up to meet sometime Sunday, preferably around 6-7ish at a cafe or whatever for some major writing?
Anddd, I was thinking that towards the end of NaNo, we should meet up to a) have a celebratory party for getting our creativeness sucked out of us for the past month and on a job well done AND b) cram to finish up to 50K if people still haven't gotten there yet.
Obviously option (b) would happen before (a) but still. Anyone up for it?
40,709 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 17 29
Yeah, there usually is a Thank God It's Over party, which is arranged by the ML :)
----------38,250 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 23 58
First we gotta get there though. lol
----------"You're a jackass. Just saying."
— Cass Gallagher, The Sharpest Lives
50,111 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 05 10
Can't make it to a write-in, but wanted to say hello to my fellow local wrimos. Good luck, everyone!
3,346 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 16 51
Uh, yeah. I'm not doing well. I'm taking university prep english and it's, quite frankly, kicking my butt - I haven't had time to breathe or to do any of the work for my other classes, not to mention write a book.
And it sucks, too, because I was really excited about my story this year.
----------40,709 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 17 29
Oh gods...I remember University prep english. It's BRUTAL!! Good thing I went to college after highschool, my ENG4U mark would never have gotten me into Queen's...or any other University, for that matter. : /
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