Hello Insano-wrimo-ers. It is your ML here, Tiffany, Tiff, Tiffy, Toggy. Call me what you will. Sorry that this is late in coming. I have been moving, and work was crazy busy, and I have only just now enough time to site down and do this. But I have been planning. The calendar will be up on the site with the socials and write ins and the like by the meet and greet – which I will get to in my next post.
Today is a special day. It is the first weekend of October, and the first of three full weekends that we will have before the fun begins! I will shortly have in my possession fantastic new stickers for everyone, as well as score-cards, prizes and some secrets in a bag of tricks. I hope that this will be a fantastic year! I am certain that we can all do this. And that we will have more winners than ever. Why? Because you all are awesome. And something would nano, and the thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon that brings out the potential that you did not even know that you had.
A bit of my history, and some encouragement. I know that this will not work for everyone. But this is what works for me. We each have to find out own groove. And run with it.
I have won twice. I have epic failed once. Year one, 22k. Year two 75k. Year 3 50k and some change. Life happens. We cant all do 200K. Some of us might only manage 10K. But you know what. That is alright. You tried. Which is more than most can say. I think, personally, that Nano will be difficult if this is your first adventure into writing. Or if you write a lot of drabbles and short stories. But here are my tips.
1) OUTLINE. And outline more than you think you will need. I ran out of outline about 10 days into nano one year and nearly panicked. What – how did I write to much already??!?!? It was a bit of a predicament. So outline more than you think you will need if it is a multi part story, or outline the entire novel. You don’t want to break stride and have to pause to plan things. I know everyone’s writing is different, but I don’t profile my characters. They seem to develop well enough on their own. Outline what you need, but really, outline.
2) The alternative to outlining. Have one fantastic character whose story is ready to burst forth. And so with it. I cannot work like that, but I know that others do.
3) Nano is a wonderful time to see what you are capable of, but don’t try and change genres. I did that the first year. And that is why I got stuck. If you write fantasy, don’t try to switch to horror, or scifi or romance. It probably wont work. Maybe fantasy to urban fantasy, but write what you know. This is about producing many many words in a short amount of time. It is easier if you stick with the familiar.
4) Own your idea. If you are wishy washy about the idea, it will be harder to live and breath it for 30 days and 30 nights of literary abandon
5) Try to stay ahead of the curve. Maybe not on the daily word count, but at least for the end of week goals. If you get behind, it just seems to be insurmountable. If you are even, or ahead, nano is a lot more fun. I tend to sprint ahead in the beginning, so that when life happens I can not end up behind. And I like to be done by Thanksgiving. That is always my goal.
6) Come to events. We are nice people. Some people can win at nano as a lone solitary island of nano participantship, but what fun is that? We are a support group, and a brainstorming group, and just cool people. And really, it was due to a group of nanoers that I got some of the names for my nano last year. And some of the names I even kept. Asligarh is such a good name
7) Writeordie. http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
It is a fantastic motivational tool. use it. Come to writein’s. We will word war. And there might even be prizes. :ninja:
8) Routines are your friend. Or at least my friend. Try to write at the same time each day. That way you know that it is always nano time during those times.
9) have fun. this is about having fun, challenging yourself, and creating something in a month that most people never create ever. So enjoy yourself. We are all winners here, cause we rock for trying this, but some of us just get completion certificates at the end.
10) Remember that your muse has a pet plot bunny. Embrace where they lead. The road that your characters try to take will probably deviate from the outline, but that will lead to some unexpected awesomeness.
I think that is about it for now. Let me know if you need anything. Contact me any way you need to. PM me. Email me. tiffany.noel.jones@gmail.com. I am here to help you. Use me.
~Toggy
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11,022 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2009 - 16 51
Hello!
I am an in-betweener (I live just north of San Marcos so its a toss-up between Austin and San Antonio). I grew up in SA and lived there until this January, so I will probably lean towards you guys.
Can't wait to get started and look forward to meeting you!!!!
TAM
----------Tabitha A. Miller
(otherwise known as Brandi)
50,000 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 05 21
heeelllooooo!!!!!!! *waves*
I'm in Cibolo myself, and I'm the one that got tricked into NaNo, but guess what?
I. Am. PUMPED.
Its all good for me (I hope) because my current WIP is going through a complete rewrite. There are only bits and pieces from the last first draft that I can use, because that draft was so weak it was crying. I'd started the rewrite on 09/29 and was taking it pretty chill until I accidentally signed up fro NaNo. I can't write more than one story at a time, so this is my practice so to speak. My minimum goal is 2k a day, but I'm trying to push myself further and get 5k a day - epic fantasy is no laughing matter. LOL (hahahaha that was lame). Even better, I've started a vague outline for the sequel, which I'll use for NaNo!
My twitter friends are really supportive through the #amwriting and #writegoal hashtag, and every hour or so I tweet Current Accountability, with my current word count and how much more I need to get to the goal of the day. We're calling what I'm doing, writing two novels, one in October and one in November, the 2 in 2. And if I complete OctNo (the whole draft, not just 50k) and NaNo (minimum 50k) I am getting a TROPHY.
THATS RIGHT A TROPHY! NaNo is hard enough, but a 2 in 2? I will PWN YOU ALL!!!
*Ahem* Some friendly competition. ^_^
----------50,135 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 10 55
A trophy would be awesome! You can do it!!!!!!1
11,102 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 18 25
Hello, hello again, NaNoWriters! :D I am Cris, and I have been courting the madness going into my fifth time now. While I've won the last three attempts, I've yet to actually finish a story. (The novel I started last year, The Drifters, I'm still working on. I just like to really tell stories and some take me a while to tell.) This year, I'm going to shoot for both hitting 50k and for finishing a first draft. We'll see how it goes.
----------- Cris -
52,153 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 22 44
Hi! I'm Tal!
I'm new to San Antonio... moved here from Corpus for college (Go Roadrunners!), and I can't wait to meet everyone!
This is my second year of NaNo... and this year I hope to finish my novel no matter how many words past 50k it needs. Last year, I got 50k with two days to spare and decided that was okay. This year, however... I'm finishing the book!
At least, that's what I'm telling myself. :D
----------51,002 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 16 38
Mabuhay!
I am back for yet another year of hectic writing goodness! Won two years in a row, hoping to make the hat trick this year.
And a shout-out to my writing buddies! Tyger's Den indahouse! 0:)
----------A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... if you use it right.
60,000 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 18 50
Are you doing another Gospel book this year?
----------2007 - Rogue Loves Kate: 50,534
2008 - Tainted Perfection: 110k
-----------------------------------------------
2009 - This Is Our Town: 27k
2009 - 9 Crimes: 11k
2009 - Broken Promises: 22k
GOAL = 50K = WIN!!!
~NaNo 2009 [college freshman] Rebel~
50,000 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 08 07
I has a random question...
Whats with all the damn little suns on certain forums? I don't know, can't seem to find the answer anywhere on the site. WTF? I NEED to know, its driving me NUTS.
Kthnxbai
----------15,696 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 08 09
Those mean that particular forum is "All ages friendly" AKA no profanity/adult content and play nice. ;)
-------------
~Jami~
Unless absolutely necessary, make characters talk at cross-purposes. How many of us actually listen to other people? We don't. We're always thinking about what to say next, when they shut up.
50,000 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 11 05
So... I shouldn't have used the "D" word or the short "WTF"? Well that su- poops.
Meh. I always try to be cool for everyone, even those in school.
Yes lame I know. I'm TIRED.
^_^
----------1,950 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 13 30
Hi, Everyone.
Man, after seeing all these clever and vague user names, I wish I hadn't gone with my real name. Too late. As a gesture of promise to not go back and edit the novel (my biggest problem), I won't try to change my user name.
Looking forward to meeting everyone, though I don't know if I'll be back in SA in time to make this Sunday's meet and greet. I'm going to Houston to check in with my family. I live and work in central San Antonio.
Anyone writing literary fiction?
Cheers,
Karen
50,255 / 50,000
Oct 14, 2009 - 11 37
Hey everyone!
I'm Nate, and this is my second stab at NaNo. I won back in '07 with far too little planning, and I'm looking forward to doing it again with some proper outlining and prep work done beforehand!
Also, last time I was never able to make any of the social events, and I'm excited about doing that this time around! Sounds like a whole lot of fun. I'm going to try to come to the meet-and-greet on Sunday, but unfortunately I have a church volunteer meeting thingie at 6:45, so I'll have to be late. :(
----------NaNo '07: In Ringshadow (done - 50,002)
NaNo '09: The Hand of the Jackal (planning)
0 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 00 48
Howdies all. I'm Patricia (Tish, Pat Patty...just about any variation of Patricia I'll answer to.) and this continues my challenge of writing massive finals at the same time I'm writing NaNo for the...3rd? 4th? year officially. I actually had a highschool course that required us to write 50k in November for a grade. I have a sneaking suspiscion that it was NaNo in disguise. I attend St. Mary's along with Cris up there, but live by the Forum (boo thursdays, though I'm busy most other days too). It's the first year that I'll be the only one writing in my house (lil sister left for college in Arizona)...it'll also be the first year that I may have a plan. In general I refuse to write outlines (or if I do...I'm an English major and occasionally run across the professor who requires them...then I write the paper and model the outline after the paper). I wrote a comic/graphic novel (pick your politically correct poison) script for Script Frenzy and think I either want to adapt it into a novel form or, alternatively, novelize the second portion of it that I haven't gotten around to writing or sketching for. Then again...I'm more than likely to scrap all the planning and head down my mental road chasing whatever's shiniest or flutters.
----------NaNo '06 Divine Puppets
Script '07 Glass Eyes
NaNo '07 Divine Puppets Bk. II
Script '08 Cogs, Gears, and Blood
Nano '08 Wonderland
Script '09 unnamed comic script of awesomeness
Nano '09 gonna follow the shiny things and flutterbies.
59,287 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 12 35
Hi. I'm Amanda, and this is my first attempt at NaNo. I'm hoping to come to the meet and greet tonight, and hopefully get to know some of you. I'm really nervous about this whole thing, but also very excited about my mss. I have it outlined and planned out and am ready to go!
15,102 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 21 06
Hi everyone! I am Tammy and I live in Schertz. This will be my 8th year participating in Nanowrimo and I've won 4 times so far. Of my 4 wins I actually have one really great book that I am still editing and preparing to submit! Woot woot! The others are basically crap but I love them just the same ;)
I write chicklit and will probably keep with that genre, although I am leaning toward something of a more period piece but after one year veering into a horribly pitiful attempt at a mystery novel...ugh...I think I should stick with what I love! Perhaps I will do some historical flashbacks..hmm.
I never outline, just do up a page or 2 of notes with some character descriptions, a few scenarios and a vague plot that usually changes. I love getting to that point in noveling when my characters start taking over and misbehaving on their own! No greater writing joy than uncontrollable character mutiny!
I strive for at least 1666 words a day, very 'do-able' but life does happen so I am constantly subtracting my running total from 50K and then dividing it by days remaining to get a new daily goal- really helps me stay on top of things. I have dug myself out of several holes over the years but it's rough and that writing is oh so forced at times.
----------I have never been able to participate in any events (have lived all over as a military family so I have not always had a 'region'). I am super excited to meet everyone!! Can't wait to get our Nano on!
My nano stats so far: 4 for 8...going for win #5! Write On!
"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."
56,032 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 19 04
Hey guys I'm Raye and I'm coming into the game a bit late but that's okay right? (At least as signing up for this goes.) I'm a first year Nanoer and I'm going for the big push. After all, I've had this idea for nearly a year now. It's time to get rid of the brain crack and just go! What better time to do it then now?
I'm in the Universal City area and wish I had seen this before tonight. Ohwell, I'll catch the next one, right? =3 I'm hoping to do 2+K a day, if I could get 7K a day I'd be happy but I've still got school (although just history now!) and work to juggle. 0o;
I hope to meet all of you guys, we can do this!
32,145 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 21 18
Hya! My name is Holli.
I'm a brand new NaNoer.
*screams and faints*
----------Had the Greeks held novelty in such
disdain as we, what work of ancient date
would now exist?
Horace
16,952 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 07 32
Yo yo yo, I'm Krystal. :) This is my 3rd year doing Nano, but I couldn't log into my other account. I haven't won at all, although my first year I came pretty close. *fail* Last year I was nowhere near winning.
BUT
This year I shall do it! :D
I haven't attended any socials in the past, but I might this year. :)
50,135 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 23 17
Nice to meet you! You should totally come to something. Write in. Social. We are nice. And don't bite. Much. ;)
Which area of town are you on? We are getting stuff going all over town.
32,145 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 03 10
I live over by Crossroads. Is there an event near there?
----------Had the Greeks held novelty in such
disdain as we, what work of ancient date
would now exist?
Horace
1,814 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 09 41
I live vaguely in the Stone Oak Area.
I would love to join in on the Get togethers, but my scheduled usually prevents that. I wish it weren't so, but it is.
This is my first nanowrimo, so I am going to work hard to keep the pace up and keep writing.
Terence Reilly
60,329 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 11 12
I'm by North Star Mall, where they have a free WiFi area under the escalators leading to the massive food court, lots of parking and an okay selection of edibles.
Is EVERYONE on the far North side of town?
----------50,233 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 11 37
Hello all. This is my first NaNo year and it is a bit daunting. I have to keep telling the editor part of my brain that errors are good. They are our friends. That it doesn't have to be right the first time it's written down. That the editor can go back and make corrections and comments and judgements about all of it later, but for now, my creative side gets to take control without any censorship. Boy, is that hard for me. I have caught myself three times going up into my text and making changes. Of course, I have rationalized them that I should make them now when they are obvious errors in the facts of the story. But, I should probably figure out a way to make a note of that in the writing somehow and come back to it later. Still, I'm keeping the editor at bay more than not.
I live in central SA, in the Alamo Heights area. Any Quarry events planned? I'm going to try and come to the one in the Forum this Thursday. Is there a start time? Did I miss it on the calendar? I thought I looked but couldn't find out the start and stop times. Please either respond or tell me where to look.
52,303 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 11 45
Hi all, I'm Suzanne. It's my fifth year nano-ing from the Bandera Rd. and 410 area. I usually don't make it out to the events but I love reading the forums and knowing there are other insane people nearby. Happy writing everyone!
----------------------
----------"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young."
W. Somerset Maugham
"Truth! stark naked truth, is the word, and I will not so much as take pains to bestow the strip of a gauze-wrapper on it..." -John Cleland
50,031 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 13 42
I live across the street practically from UTSA. I work there also.
So if you are at the University, I'm in the BBlab most evenings working.
And when it's quiet, I'm typing at my novel if I can. :D
----------===
Blue Girl Graphics
http://www.elledeegee.net
http://www.zazzle.com/elledeegee*
108,933 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 15 59
Start time is 5 PM or whenever people can get there -- I'm guessing for most people, that will be a bit later than 5. Hearthstone closes at 9, so we can stay as long as people want to until then.
108,933 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 16 00
I think the North-side folks are just excited because it's only recently that we've had events on our side of town. :) But no, not everyone's up here.
16,952 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 16 51
Oh, I am from the North-westish side of town. I live about five minutes from SeaWorld. :D
My schedule used to keep me away from events, but I feel it won't be as bad this time, seeing as I won't have work much and my school stuff will be out of the way during the day now.
How early do we need to RSVP before the events? :)
52,114 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 17 10
Hey InSano-wrim-oers! Despite the fact that I'm no longer in SA (I miss you guys!) I am still an Insanowrimoer and one of the originals to go under that name! I hope you all have fun with your novels this year! Key point? Don't stress over it! That makes things the easiest. Just let go of your stress and actually let writing be a stress relief from life.
Good luck and I'll try to stop by at what ever we do around Thanksgiving!
----------"Secrets are our greatest lies.... This Paradise is simply an illusion."
~Tori
2006 Legacy of the Blade (17k), 2007 When a Thousand Petals Fall (75k), 2008 All in the Family (82k), 2009? All in the Family (Part Two)
9,170 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 22 03
Hi! Just wanted to say I do that too. :) I've gone back and changed lots of things in my text today. I don't think you can completely turn the editor off. I can't write without doing some minor edits and revisions when I get stuck. I'm glad you're keeping it at bay--I have a terrible time with that. My sister told me to make it a different text color like red or pink and come back to it when editign time comes 'round, but I can't make myself do that. :(
Welcome to NaNo! Good luck!