So, after November ended, I realized that I still had an unimaginably long way to go before my novel would actually be done. NaNoFiMo? Haha. . .no. That never happened. And now, it's been five months (almost six), and how many words have I added?
Like. . .1,000 maybe. And that's being hopeful.
In no way have I given up on it, though; I still love it--even though it's a giant turd--and I love writing it, and I WANT TO FINISH IT ALREADY. A few weeks ago I finally came up with an ending, something I've been wrestling with every since I started writing, and it's perfect and everything. I've also seemed to lose the steam one acquires during November, which is unfortunate. . .I'm trying to get back into the zone again.
I'm making a vow to finish it before July (or June, if I'm lucky: in this case, I'd get to edit it during July), now that school's over and I have way too much time on my hands to do nothing.
So, to make me feel less like a lamebutt, is there anyone out there still struggling with trying to finish that novel? Where are you in your stories and how much longer do you have left? What stopped you from writing as much as you wanted during these five months? (For me, it was laziness, and the chunks of my brain being pulled out by school.)
I have nothing to say to you all except: ONWARDS, FRIENDS! And good luck! I'm definitely there with you.
----------
I like Muse. I also like NNNNERDFIGHTERS!
56,442 / 50,000
Mayo 24, 2008 - 18 45
*shuffles up and raises hand*
Hello. I'm Minfire and... well... I haven't finished mine either.
*shuffles back*
I have made progress though. I wrote through December thanks to an overenthusiastic friend who joined a little late. And then I did my own Nanowrimo with friends. So now I have a rather long out of hand novel and only a vague idea of how I could end it. And it's a BAD vague idea too. I keep getting urges to just rewrite the whole thing, but I want to finish it first.
But that was three months ago. Every time I open up the document now I just end up typing all of one bad sentence and then getting distracted by the internet. Which is, well, kinda why I'm here right now xD
School and friends=majorly distracting
I miss November myself, with its focus.
But! I will carry on! I'm with you here chasrireeh! For better or for worse... my poor story... I would've given up on it long ago if not for some of the characters...
----------*races off to type again*
My goals?
Awareness. Courage.
“When I know in my heart that something is right, I will go for it.”
60,054 / 50,000
Mayo 25, 2008 - 17 54
Heck no, I haven't written a single word of fiction since November 30. I plan on fixing that tomorrow. In all fairness, some of my time has been taken up by my job here.
----------Heather
Forums Moderator
52,755 / 50,000
Mayo 25, 2008 - 19 05
I'm still trying to write the final chapters of my 2007 novel!! They just won't come but I'd rather not start the third book without having finished that...and typed up all my notes on this quartet - which is taking ages cause there are so many!
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Helen Blakemore: If he insists on coming in here, we'll have to shoot him.
70,350 / 50,000
Mayo 26, 2008 - 00 48
Oh, I'm still trying to finish both my 07' nano and my 06' nano novel! I was able to write more of my 07' nano in December, but after that it all kinda.... stopped. Well, lately I've been at it again, but not as much as I'd like. I'm finding that since college finished for me I've been sitting down to.... think about writing more, ha. I haven't actually gotten a whole lot of actual writing done, mind you. Well, perhaps about 2k at the most, on my 07 nano.
I think I'm going to make a goal for myself to finish both my 06 and 07 nano's before THIS year's nanowrimo. I really, really hope I can do that! I'm thinking, with the two novels combined, I have about 55k to do... in 5 months. That doesn't sound too bad. That's like.. 10k/month!
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Temp title:
Cups of coffee consumed:
Other caffeinated drinks:
No. of alcoholic drinks:
Sanity Level [0=sane, 10=insane] 3
25,015 / 50,000
Mayo 26, 2008 - 02 01
I just got around to working on the first chapter of my 2007 novel that never got past halfway. I did manage to go back and take a look at what I'd written, then divide it into chapters. I think waiting around a bit helped me see where I got way off track. I now have a better idea of where I want to go and, as mentioned earlier, am editing the first chapter. I had already added a few hundred words. I hope to have it finished and have at least the first few chapters completely edited by this next November so that I can get started on the next book. I have a vague idea for a trilogy, but I don't want to start the next book until I finish the first, but I will if I have to.
Now, to get those next ten (or so) chapters finished and finish editing the first three. :)
50,246 / 50,000
Mayo 26, 2008 - 15 14
It's comforting to know that I'm not alone! I just can't get back into that NaNoWriMo mindset. I sit down to type, I get all fidgety, and then I just go on the internet to do internetty things. None of this, obviously, is conducive to any sort of productive activity. I'm very easily distracted. . .I wonder how I managed to win in November!
Keep on trooping, fellow troopers. :D
----------I like Muse. I also like NNNNERDFIGHTERS!
51,071 / 50,000
Mayo 26, 2008 - 16 38
I haven't finished mine, either, and I have a really long way to go. I've added maybe 5k words to it since NaNo finished, I think. I feel guilty about it and I want to finish it, but... I miss November. *dies* I really wish I could get into contact with people and have some NaNoWriDays or something.
I did decide to myself that come hell or high water, it was going to be finished before September 31st. That way, I'd have all of October to plan for NaNo 2008. I'd like to have it done in August, but I've realized that leeway is important.
----------NaNo 2006 = Cloudburst = 14k
NaNo 2007 = Redeeming Pandora's Curse - WINNER
NaNo 2008 = The Elemental Chronicles: Earth
My Writing Blog: Illuminated Words
65,363 / 50,000
Mayo 27, 2008 - 06 58
If you need some incentive, and some other fools striving to finish WIP or something new, join the Southern Cross Challenge for June. 50K in a month with others like you and me.
Thread: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/2007711 Click on "Join us" near the bottom and sign up.
I'm starting a new novel and I spent all day yesterday working out the last of the kinks in the background research because the setting is a major character in my story.
Good writing!!!
----------Won NaNoWriMo 2007 Black Moon 1
Won Southern Cross Novel Challenge 2008 The Amber Pearl
Won KiwiWriters "Don't Stop! Keep Going" 2008
Won JulNoWriMo 2008
50,572 / 50,000
Mayo 31, 2008 - 01 33
I'm still working on my '07 novel. I'm currently working on the second draft and intend to get it finished (along with my Script Frenzy script) next month so it'll be ready to critique. Then probably one last draft, and it'll be ready to submit to publishers. Then I'll turn to its sequel, which just happens to be my '06 novel, the plot of which still hasn't fully come together yet...
----------NaNo '06: Black Science
NaNo '07: Bad Company
NaNo '08: Points of Authority
Script Frenzy '08: Spanner
Project Blog: Spanner's World
65,395 / 50,000
Mayo 31, 2008 - 07 29
You're no the only ones. I haven't finished either. After writing 65,000 words in November I took most of December off. Then I tried again in January. Then again in February. Then again in March. Basically I tried and got to around 115,000 words.
Then I stopped to participate in Script Frenzy. I won that.
After taking most of May off, I did manage to write 300 words on May 28th! Since then nada, but I'm starting again in June and aiming for 1000 words a day and hopefully I'll have it finished by my birthday in July.
I'll let you know how I get on.
** I hope you enjoyed reading my 100th post, and if you didn't, you probably have high stands **
50,572 / 50,000
Jun 1, 2008 - 05 21
I've now resumed rewriting Bad Company. In fact, I've just posted the first two scenes I wrote, in the MayNoWriMo Final Non-Progress Report entry on my project blog. So there's now some tangible evidence of my progress.
Just as I intend to finish the second draft of the Spanner script by June 30, I'll also finish the second draft of Bad Company by -- well, my birthday in July!
----------NaNo '06: Black Science
NaNo '07: Bad Company
NaNo '08: Points of Authority
Script Frenzy '08: Spanner
Project Blog: Spanner's World
50,329 / 50,000
Jun 2, 2008 - 14 28
I hit 72000 words today. I'm going to try and finish mine as part of my 100000 word summer I'm doing with some friends.
0 / 50,000
Jun 2, 2008 - 15 50
I haven't finished mine. I haven't even LOOKED at it since last year. I should... but I just hated it by November 30th. I wanted nothing to do with it because it was so difficult. lol I've written another full first draft since then, and took another two month break. -_- I'm now back to rewriting it at least, but it's turned into a completely different story. I'm keeping a lot of the same elements, but they're not main elements anymore. They're very minor, and... it's daunting. I have to write all the rest from scratch, and decide what to do with the leftover scenes. Eek!
51,607 / 50,000
Jun 2, 2008 - 22 01
i haven't finished either, and I'm not sure when I'm going to.
I did start revising it in January, but then I put my '07 novel aside to concentrate on Script Frenzy. Now that's over with and I haven' t yet got the energy to get back to revising. Maybe in a few weeks.
----------inez
50,572 / 50,000
Jun 3, 2008 - 02 37
Here's the conundrum: I finished my crappy first draft on March 1, the first day of NaNoEdMo. Then I worked on the second draft all throughout EdMo. But right afterwards, I realized that my original plan was actually correct and, even though it didn't work for Desiree at first, 1st person was the right POV for Bad Company, only I had to alternate between Desi and her sister Charlie in order for it to work. I'd switched to 3rd person POV in the middle of NaNoWriMo simply so I could be able to finish NaNo last year. Then the main character switched from Desi to Charlie during NaNoFiMo, which I couldn't finish because of computer problems (power supply went out, had to replace). Now they're dual protagonists. And finally the second draft is now coming along smoothly, though it's still early in the rewrite.
----------NaNo '06: Black Science
NaNo '07: Bad Company
NaNo '08: Points of Authority
Script Frenzy '08: Spanner
Project Blog: Spanner's World
50,023 / 50,000
Jun 5, 2008 - 10 50
I haven't finished mine either. I've been 'working on it' every since the end of NaNo. I never took a break. How much did I manage to write since the end of November? About 27,500 words. Thats an average of about 5,500 a month....bleh.
I'm planning to finish by the end of July, writing 1k on my novel everyday, M-F. Can't write on the weekends...which is not normal for most people I know. Oh well.
Keep on moving forward! We all can finish our novels :D
----------~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Life is sweet, treasure it!
25,040 / 50,000
Jun 5, 2008 - 15 22
Yeah, um. Both my NaNo07 and NaNoDay08 have sat at about 25k since I wrote them. Yeah...I've been busy. I really would like to able to finish them before this year's NaNo though.
----------NaNoWriMo07- 25040 words
NaNoWriDay08- 25020 words
33,083 / 50,000
Jun 7, 2008 - 08 52
*raises hand*
HERE I AM!
I don't know if my goal is a bit outragous, but I plan to have my novel finished at 130k before the next NaNo. I've already slapped another 22k onto it to make it a nice PAR for NaNo *headdesk*. All thats left is 75k *headdesk*. Oh well, I like the story. And it's the second in a 5 part quintology! All together it should amount to an amazing 650k! If I can get through it all. But here I am...
----------NaNoWriMo '07 - The Gang Wars-33,083 words - Failed
Script Frenzy '08 - Untitled-101 pages - Won
NaNoWriMo '08 - Chaos-0 words so far - Will win
50,859 / 50,000
Jun 7, 2008 - 22 48
Haha! What I wrote during November was about 1/3 of the story i'd had planned back then, but all of my inspiration and motivation vanished by December 3, even though i really want to finish it because it's actually a halfway decent idea. The plot i managed to hammer out in March (when I tried to participate in NaNoEdMo) made the story about three times longer than I thought it was going to be, so now I have a vague outline of a monster of a story with enough material for three books. And NaNo '07 (the only bit i've written) was only half of book 3. I'm going to try to write the rest of that part of the story in July and August, but i'm probably going to fail. And NaNo '08 will be book 1 and 2 of my outline.
As for what kept me from writing over the past six months, it was a huge buttload of homework. Participating in NaNo ensured I had a backlog of homework that i spent all the way through February finishing. And after that was studying for the AP exams. And now it's terms papers and finals and book fines. It's not gonna end until the 20th.
Oh, and procrastination. That played a MAJOR part in keeping me from doing anything productive.
Anyway, good luck with your story, chasrireeh! Good luck to all of us!
13,033 / 50,000
Jun 8, 2008 - 11 12
Hullo, fellow Nerdfighter and writer!
----------I've written about 2k words on the NaNo novel, about....3k on another novel.
Yay, procrastination!
And school.
[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/1682806419_f89fe74b99_o.jpg[/img]
51,135 / 50,000
Jun 9, 2008 - 06 39
Yay!
----------I am not alone in this uphill battle!
I won Nano, got 50,000 words but was only roughly 1/2 through my story. O_o So now, I /really/ want to finish this, and edit it, ect. but I haven't.
And I don't even have the school excuse anymore!
I have continued to ramble on in my novel, though, when I revisited this site.
Who knows, I may actually -gasp- finish it!
~Anna
NaNo Novel 2007:
A work in the Key of Fantasy WON!
Adopted: Kore-of-Myth (You can do it! xD)
50,991 / 50,000
Jun 10, 2008 - 21 29
...I've been toting around a folder with my novel in it for the past month, waiting for a chance to sit down and read through it so that I can finish writing it...
Mind you, since November, I DID buy a house, plan a wedding, and get married. So that took up a bit of my time, you know... just a bit... lol.
But I WILL finish by this year's NaNo! I must...
52,108 / 50,000
Jun 12, 2008 - 01 37
The first draft of mine was done in november, but now it needs lots of polishing and that's what I'm having trouble being consistent with.
50,246 / 50,000
Jun 13, 2008 - 13 50
Wow, I'm amazed and by the number of replies! Thanks to everyone who responded; I love hearing about it all. Since I wrote the original post, I think I've only added one chapter to my novel. . . Rather sad, I know, but I've been. . .uh, busy (if busy is synonymous to lazy, then yes.) I'd feel better if I was at least doing something productive in my spare time, but alas, productivity levels are frighteningly low.
And hello, fellow Nerdfighter!
----------I like Muse. I also like NNNNERDFIGHTERS!
65,395 / 50,000
Jun 13, 2008 - 17 36
And since my post in this thread I've written a grand total of 1273 words. I don't think that I'm on target to finish this for my birthday.
Boo.
50,385 / 50,000
Jun 15, 2008 - 17 54
I haven't finished my novel either. I was going to do NaNoFiMo, but I decided to take the month off instead. And then I went on vacation in January. Then, some stuff happened that kind of made me not feel like writing. I've opened the documemt once and read over what I had, and I plan to finish it. I know what I want to happen immediately after where I stopped, and I still have my plan for the ending.
But right now, I'm working on turning my unfinished script from ScirptFrenzy into a short story, and I plan to write a series of short stories, that will lay the background for my next novel. So . . . no idea when I'm actually going to manage to finish Dragon's Destiny.
50,121 / 50,000
Jun 21, 2008 - 03 17
I'm the same way. I just.... hadn't done anything. And now it's been so long that I can't just pick up where I left off. So instead of just writing, I'm rereading what I wrote before, to get to know my characters again and so on.
I've written the end. I just haven't finished the novel. There's about 20k in the middle there that I just haven't gotten around to yet.
And it's a masterpiece! I love this novel. It's not for everyone, but I really believe I have something good here, and I want to get it finished so I can send it to publishers or something.
*sigh*
----------------------------------------
S. Azelma Melmoth
50,467 / 50,000
Jun 29, 2008 - 14 27
hrm... yep.
----------i mean- nope.
I'm still working on my nano. and it's almost (err- 5 months) until my 2nd nano, in which i'll probably be doing the sequel to my nano that isn't finished.
sigh.
i need to work on my out-of-nano discipline.
Wow- this globe is kind of shaped liked the Earth!
Let me slip into something more comfortable... like a coma.
56,442 / 50,000
Jun 30, 2008 - 15 41
Well, hello again all! I have actually moved backwards on the Nano novel progress, as my computer died on me. Luckily I saved most of it on e-mail ages ago, just not the recent stuff.
----------I also kind of er, got distracted. Some new characters appeared (completely by accident, I swear!) and wouldn't stop bugging me. Literally. I bet some of you guys have had my problem, trying to fall asleep while you're tired but your mind keeps on spinning out the story, forming the characters... Well now I'm going to do JulNoWriMo, to make a long story short. http://julnowrimo.thewrigro.com/
But, I will finish it. I swear. Just... not now!
My goals?
Awareness. Courage.
“When I know in my heart that something is right, I will go for it.”
50,572 / 50,000
Jul 1, 2008 - 02 40
I'm doing JulNoWriMo too! And no, I'm not going to finish my novel by my birthday. No, I'll start it. I'm hoping to get the total word count above 100,000 words and finish the novel.
I didn't do any actual writing in June. You see, June was Synopsis Month over at NaNoPubYe, and I wrote such a long and disjointed synopsis that I had to put in a herculean effort to wrestle the plot of Bad Company into shape. Now I've got something halfway decent, maybe even a workable plot. From it I'm creating the plot outline, and from that I'll write.
Oh yeah: I'll at least redo the plot of Spanner #1, too. Can't neglect my script, not after all the work I've put into the story since '92...
At PubYe, July is Month Ten, Resting and Reading Month. But no resting for me! No rest for the ambitious...
----------NaNo '06: Black Science
NaNo '07: Bad Company
NaNo '08: Points of Authority
Script Frenzy '08: Spanner
Project Blog: Spanner's World