Hi there, Everyone,
I finally decided on the topic of my story (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and I'm getting psyched to start writing. Unfortunately, I'm also looking ahead at my schedule, at things that can't really be avoided, and I'm wavering in my dedication to reach that 1,700 daily word count. I can already hear the excuses popping up in my head...
So, I need a few competitors. Nanos who know they'll write daily or ones who would like a few buddies to compare word counts to. Yeah, I know, I can just check the charts and look at the guy ahead of me and try to beat him, but I'm looking for a little more human interaction than that. Perhaps a small circle to toss around some fun bantering, heckling, and friendly fire to get the fingers tingling across the keyboard. I'm all about competition and I never quit a game I've started, so those who are thick skinned and could use a little humor (or a kick in the butt) to get them going, please add me as a friend.
I'm almost thinking this could be a competition circle, where everyone who says they want to join in this thread will buddy up. It might make things interesting if the friendly fire around the same group of people. *halo*
- InkTrace
----------
"Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world." --Tom Clancy
10,156 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2007 - 21 24
I'm totally in!
Anyone who wants to add me can!
50,528 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2007 - 22 26
Fabulous! One sorry - huh, I mean lucky - soul has joined the circle. :0) Any other takers?
I hope you're already writing, Coffeequeen, because (looks at the watch) it is already Nov 1st in Texas and time isn't waiting. Think you can beat my 1,000+ before I reach the computer again 7pm eastern time? It is all 1,000 crap (yeah, darn, already feeling that way) but they say you gotta get through the crap to reach the gems.
Off to bed for me,
InkTrace
50,528 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2007 - 22 36
FYI: I did cross post this in the 20s forum and we got another bite. Add "dhuck" to your circle of competitor buddies. (He maybe easy prey for you... Only 202 words in at the moment.)
Ok, now I'm heading to bed.
- InkTrace
50,060 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 09 24
Add me as a buddy. This is my first year doing NaNo, and I'm definitely in search of some writer pals. Oh, and feel free to heckle me. Whatever doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 19 54
Welcome aboard, Reenum. This thread seems to be very quiet, but if you look for it in the 20s forum (same subject name) there's like seven of us there with many opportunities for heckling. Unfortunately a few of them and you have left me in your dust... You know you can slow down, right? 3334 words for day two is more than enough to get you going on the right track. ;0) (Trying a little reverse psychology. Too tired tonight to write more, but I have all day tomorrow. *cracks knuckles*)
Coffeequeen, about time you finally put some words down! Even still, at this rate, it'll be Christmas before you reach your 50,000. Think padding, lots of description, character names that are two words (Mary Kate, Tommy Lee) -- whatever other trick you can come up with or you just may be doomed.
- InkTrace
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 20 22
Throw me in to the mix of things. I'm new to Nano, and could probably use some coaching and coaxing.
Yesterday I wrote 1868, so far today I've written 765. I'm really doggin' it today.
7,004 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 20 36
Can I play? I'm new too, and I have a tough time getting motivated. Maybe trying to beat someone would help :D
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 20 51
Well, I'll be darned. There are actually competitors here in Mainstream Fiction. :0) You're all welcome to join, but there's only tough love here. It is nice to see some people with lower word counts than me. In the other forum, I'm getting crushed (which makes it hard to heckle others) but you two will be prime prey. *grins* With that said, what's taking you so long? Come on, 3334 words for two days isn't asking alot. That's like five pages, unless you love dialogue (like I do). If you don't keep up, you may never make it. (Though, I'll just think that joining this thread was just too much intimidation for you.) Consider this your kick in the butt to get started!
- InkTrace
P.S. Please keep returning back to this thread for the dishing and taking. That'll be the main way we'll be communicating (unless you feel like sending emails to everyone, but I thought this'll be easier).
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 20 55
It's not my thread, but I say welcome to the club anyhow. I'll try to help you along. My name is Ben.
Do you use Yahoo messenger at all?
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 21 01
3005 words at present...I've got more than my fair share of dialog though. Hate to break it to ya kiddo, but 3334 is closer to 7 pages than 5. LOL. I'm at 3005, like I said, and I'm about half way through page 5.
How long you been writing, Ink? I mean writing in general, not just this year's Nano.
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 21 41
NOW who is behind the 8 ball!! I do believe I'm leading this little competition!
104,099 / 50,000
nov. 2, 2007 - 23 53
add me. i love the competition!
7,004 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 01 07
3443 words, Ink. 3443 glorious words. You're falling behind! You're next, Shadow :D
And tk: Wow. 10k plus. I am very impressed. Don't worry, though. I'll catch up... Maybe... o.O
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 08 18
Shadowed, our leader, oh, wait, that crown went to tkgurrl. Ah well, easy come, easy go. See what boasting does to ya? And you’re only a few hundred words past me. The next time I post, you’ll find yourself demoted to jester. (My 3,379 is just barely on the 6th page.)
Tkgurrl, let me warn you: slow and steady is the way to go. If you go running fast now, you’ll run out of steam by 25,000 words. So, slow down! (I’m concerned for your novel, that’s all) Out of curiosity, is Australia ahead of the US by a few hours?
Crifel, not bad… if you’re competing against a one-handed typist. You’re going to have to do much better than that if you want to get me sweating. I’ll bang out that 64 words in 5 minutes and then leave you coughing in my dust. :0D
Shadowed, I’ve been writing all of my life (starting from fifth grade on), but just for my personal fun. I seemed to have no problems starting a story, but I’ve got the bad case of “it-won’t-end” and interferences of RealLife™ which is something I really want to break through. If I can stick to writing daily, I’ll call that a success. How about you, Ben?
Okay, time to make my threats into actions. Keyboard, here I come!
-InkTrace
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 09 33
Holy crap, TK. Way to go! Don't listen to the that wimpy Ink. Keep it up.
Ink, I've been writing to some extent as long as I can remember. I used to write these little one page blurbs and sell the to my parents for money to buy candy or rent video games. I found one a few years back that my mom had saved from when I was like 5, it was AWFUL. You could hardly read the handwriting, the spell was atrocious, and the plot....well it was virtually nonexistent. LOL, but I made like $3 off of it, so I was happy at the time.
I'll probably start my writing for the day in a few hours. I've only been up for a short bit and there's somethings I need to get done before I can sit down and write today. Tomorrow's my mother's bday and Monday I have work and a football game at night (Go Pittsburgh!!!) so I'm going to try and get most of the next two day's writing done today.
50,086 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 10 04
i'm keeping pace pretty well . . . probably because i don't make use of very much dialogue. free prose boosts word counts quicker.
here's to using saturday to get noticeably ahead of the pace by midnight!
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 10 39
I'd be utterly lost if I wasn't able to use dialog. It MOVES the story. Gives the character life. I dunno, I could never write a story without it.
52,792 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 10 50
Alright, having started over twice, I've decided that I need some kick-in-the-pants to just keep me going. I need to go fast enough to make my inner editor shut up and stop reading.
I will not start over. I'm just going to type. And I type pretty fast, so even if it ends up being absolute crap, I'm gonna crank out those 50k...
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 11 01
That's the entire point of Nano, Rayna, to simply WRITE. Don't worry about if it is good or not. We're not concerned about writing for publication. Writing is your only concern. JUST WRITE!
25,049 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 11 12
I'm in! Sign me up. Day 3, and I'm only 6 words behind or something like that. Ok, I could write more, but I have this thing to go to for my daughter. I'll be up all night, though. :)
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 12 30
I'd say you're doing quite well. I'm sitting at 4080 at the moment. I'm really trying to shoot for writing 5k today alone. I know, that'd put me at close to 8k total, but I've got a busy weekend. LOL.
Anyone else pushing for a big goal today?
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2007 - 15 35
I'm trying to get my 1667 words done for Thanksgiving day, but I'm dragging now. I did reach my Saturday quota (5001 -- made it to 5139) but my mind doesn't really want to move forward. Maybe it's a caffeine crash. Lots of diet coke and chocolate today. (Darn Halloween)
Is anyone else having a hard time getting to their profiles with the word count update section? I've wantied to update mine for three hours now and it keeps crashing. Not sure if it is my computer or the website. At least I can visit forums. :0)
Alright, back to writing. I'll bash people later, when my brain is feeling more creative. I will say this, though: Rayna: *swings a pocket watch back and forth* "The delete button does not exist. The delete button does not exist. Write and don't go back. When I count to three, you will not see the delete button. It'll reappear on December 1st. Okay, 1...2...3." There, problem solved. :0) Seriously though, if you read my novel, there's three different beginnings to three different stories. I kept typing and finally found my story. While I could cut the first three pages (and probably will after nano), I am taking elements from it and connecting it to my "new story". It has become an interesting challenge to combine the two and it is working out very well, actually. So, just keep writing and watch your word count go up.
- InkTrace
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 07 41
Well, I'll be darned. My post actually went through three times last night. Sorry for the repeat (and repeat). Thankfully, there's an edit button, so maybe no one else saw that. *halo* I wish there was a delete button, too....
- InkTrace
50,528 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 07 45
Not bad, Shadow, but you're slowing down, man. I had you passed hours and hours ago... and then got distracted by the nano website being down. (For some reason, it mattered that I had to get my new word count up.) But today it is working and I'm full of new ideas. Be prepared to be left behind - or should I say further behind?
- InkTrace
52,792 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 10 24
Ooooh, so I'm not really as far behind as I thought! I could just put it all together and make it go.
My keyboard looks curious today... something missing... I'm not sure waht - ah, I get it now. :) That shoudl make my word count go up and my accuracy level go way down!
Thanks!
You guys are gonna way pass me today and tomorrow. I've got busy days, with not much time to write. I'll sneak in a few paragraphs here and there. Even though the site will probably be too slow fo rme to update antyhing.
Rayna
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 10 48
I've been having trouble with this site for a few days now. It's really quite annoying. I couldn't do squat on here at all last night. I think they need to upgrade their servers.
Anyhow I was at 5282 when midnight struck last night, but I get on to the computer this morning and I'm thrust backward to 5032, so somewhere during the course of the night I lost 250 words, damn it! Anyhow, I'm rewriting what was lost as we speak, sitting at 5319. Onward!
Wimp, I'll have you passed within the next hour, at most. I'm shooting to stop at around 7.5k today. That'll make the 1667 for tomorrow a bit easier. 8 hours of work, 4 hours of travel time, and a football game to watch.
Yup.
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 11 20
Alright, I'm stopping for a bit. I've got a headache and just can't seem to get myself into it today. I'm sitting at 5961, so I'm over half way to the daily mins. I'll try and write more later. Not sure what time I'm going to my parent's house for dinner.
50,447 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 11 57
*wanders across from the equivalent forum on 20s*
*glances round to see if there's any real competition here*
*decides there isn't, and wanders off again*
that was a nice moment's procrastination - now, back to the writing! ;)
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 19 02
Go ahead, go running away.
How's everyone else doing. I'm closing in on the mins for the day. I tell ya the first two days went by easy enough, but today has just been a bear. I can't get squat done. Or at least it seems that way. Having my computer randomly erase 250 words sure doesn't help much.
25,359 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2007 - 19 24
Alright, I'm done for the night. The headache is back and I feel a bit dizzy too. Wonderful.
Well I hit my minimums for the day.
Good luck to all.