I put up a post about why I participate in NaNoWriMo at my blog: http://etoiline.com/coronach/2009/10/30/why_i_nano.php
Feel free to comment there or here about why *you* NaNo. Do you want to get a book published? Do you just want to get a book *started*? Tell us why you deal with the stiff deadline or why you come to write-ins.
Are you ready to write? Sunday is almost here.
Good luck!
~j
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Municipal Liaison for St. Louis, MO
Previous NaNovels: King Arthur, angels, dragons, the Forest Lord, and prostitutes. Apparently this year it's folks rising from the dead.
aspirations: http://etoiline.com
69,627 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 17 48
I NaNo because I love to write, and doing it in a community is so much more fun!
(And because for the rest of my life, November just won't feel right without a novel going on. I'm hopelessly addicted.)
----------It's pronounced "dack" -- All my stories are autobiographies. Some are just a little more shameless than others!
Follow me!: http://twitter.com/ffnikki
40,150 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 17 55
The first year I did Nano, I have no idea why I did it. But at the end of the month, I had a completed novel, something I'd NEVER been able to do before. There it sat, 96,000 words, staring at me like "now what?"
And I was HOOKED. This is my seventh year. I have three of my Nano's in print, one in editing phase, one that is getting re-written completely (that is this year's project), and one that will never ever ever see the light of day, it was THAT bad.
Why do I do Nano? Because it is the one way I feel I am guaranteed to finish a story, and I like being able to actually finish!
----------"The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter." Edward Albee
Join the NanoWriter's Yahoo Group!
54,790 / 50,000
oct. 30, 2009 - 18 48
I NaNo because i live in a very left brain world and this is how I exercise my right brain. I love the idea of maybe being published someday, but really I just do it for me. And now I also do it for the socialization, I've made some wonderful friends here.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
40,219 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2009 - 13 29
Well, I had a bunch of reasons for starting--mostly hearing about online friends' experiences (and one of my online friends is an English prof at U WI Platteville and will drop the lowest grade of Nano winners in the fall)--and it sounded like a good way to meet people.
I must've succeeded at that second goal, as this year, when I thought about not doing Nano (because I'm taking a class) my first thought was: but can't hang out with all my Write In peeps if I don't do nano. : ( So doing Nano I am. :) So why do I keep doing this? Because of all of you, that's why! :)
37,198 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2009 - 17 42
Why do I Nano? It's a good question, I mean, why would someone with an insane schedule to begin with get into something that just about eats your life for a month? Having done it 4 times already (3 wins, 1 fail) why subject myself to it all over again?
It started with revenge like all really stellar plots do. I had convinced Quantum Tea do Nano the year before and what I'd got for my troubles was a wife who totally ignored me for a month. So I resolved to be a grown up about it all. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. How much colder than a whole year? I started Nano with the sole aim of ignoring her right back.
The advent of the XML Wordcount API from Nano was when I went to town and created a suite of wordcount widgets. I hosted them on my own server and it ate my bandwidth, but things stayed just within the bounds of reason. I contacted Nano and heard nothing back. Months later (does it really take Chris Baty that long to clear his inbox?) I sent a second email and after a lengthy wait got a response - my widgets were "in" as an official part of the Nano website.
Why am I doing Nano this year? Ummm... dare I say because Chris Baty asked me? He contacted me on August 5th about updating the widgets for this year. And, yeah, the widgets page here links to my profile ... all the other amazing crew that keep Nano running are also writing, why should I be the odd one out? That said, I cant imagine life NOT doing it. I look forward to the write-ins, and have made great friends through this crazy adventure!
----------47,667 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 07 39
My first NaNo was a "this is insane, can I really DO this" escapade and I never thought I'd do it again.
Then Hubby decided he was doing it, and dragged me out to the write-ins, and I met a whole bunch of people I would never have encountered. And I liked hanging out with them, and cheerleading, and word warring, and hammering out five novels so far.
I save my extrovert all year round for November. Normally I'm very shy around strangers, and very quiet. Come November, I'm chatty and almost extrovert. I love doing this! My goal is to end up with a whole shelf of NaNo novels. Published or not I don't really care, it would be fabulous, but I have such a great time doing this.
And then there's the NaNo t-shirts...
----------http://www.quantumtea.com/blog/
82,070 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 08 25
because I don't exist anyplace else, but through my words.
not really
----------"Not a Rose but a Thistle" -- 2005 (Win)
"Welcome To Lamentation!" -- 2006 (Win)
"A Saint Nobody's Heard Of " -- 2007 (Win)
"Nympho-izing Love Goo!" (working title) -- 2008 (Win)
"Like Getting Honey From a Stone" -- 2009
54,790 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 08 58
Addition to previous post on this topic:
I also do it because, let's face it, this about the only way you'll ever see me with a Halo.
----------As kids we fried ants with magnifying glasses. Now that we are adults we fry characters in far more interesting ways with plot twists
40,604 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 09 28
*hugs mischiefsmom* That's a really interesting thought.
~j
----------Municipal Liaison for St. Louis, MO
Previous NaNovels: King Arthur, angels, dragons, the Forest Lord, and prostitutes. Apparently this year it's folks rising from the dead.
aspirations: http://etoiline.com
44,016 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 09 51
I do it so I can meet everyone (new and returning) at the write-ins once per week in November... :) And because one of my goals in life is to finish and edit a complete book-- I still need to write a complete story I am happy with after all of these years.. 50,000 words of random conversations and evil events is much simpler to write than a good novel.
This November is a crazy month with family visiting, house projects, and other things. I always wonder why I do this.. but I know that I would miss something if I didn't at least make the attempt.
----------Chuck
44,016 / 50,000
nov. 1, 2009 - 10 04
(I had a server connection denied message but the post went through anyway. I ended up with a duplicate post. So I'm changing this to something new).
I think some people Nano so they can taunt other regions (kindly and gently, of course!) during word wars :-)
And I admit once I start writing I feel obligated to win lest I lower the average word count of our region.
----------Chuck
18,124 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2009 - 03 08
I NaNo because it gives me a sense of accomplishment, even if I don't finish. XD
When I first participated a few years back, I only made it to the halfway mark. Even then, it was still a very 'wow, did I just do that?' moment. For the longest time, I was always coming up with stories and plots and ideas, but never doing anything with them. Or I'd try, get stuck, and simply give up. But for some reason, NaNo always makes me want to keep pushing, to get passed that block and keep writing. I don't know if it's just the attitude surrounding the event or the knowledge that so many other people are doing and experiencing the same things I am.
Plus, it's just crazy fun.
65,999 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2009 - 04 37
Last year, I wanted to see if I could do it. This year, I want to see if I can do it again, bigger and better.
53,464 / 50,000
nov. 3, 2009 - 07 34
I don't have any big deep reason for why I first did NaNo last year. I was ready to start another novel, and it seemed like a fun idea to try to write it in a month. I never though I could do it, but 14 days later I had 50,000 words. 87,000 by Nov. 30. And a completed novel (that needs to be edited some more, but still...) And it was a lot of fun. I went to write ins, I met new people, but I was very quiet and reserved and kept to myself. People keep asking me this year if I'm new. "No, I was just quiet last year." Aside from InjunJoe...I can always talk to someone with a motorcycle! And tptigger, who I see every month at the Crestwood creative meetups. Point is, it makes me happy when I feel like I'm part of something, because I've always been one of those "on the fringe" people who can get along with almost anyone, but never quite belonged anywhere. Anywhoo, I'm much more outgoing about it all this year and getting into it even more. This is better than xmas. The month leading up to it was stressful in my personal life, but my some miracle (my NaNo angel watching over me?) it is almost all done with, so I can devote the entire month to writing.
So, I do it because it's fun, because it's a great motivator to put your butt in the chair and write, because I like hanging out with everyone at meetups, and it's fun to be part of something, to feel like I belong with all you other crazy people. :) I mean that in the most endearing way possible. And because I have a hidden competitive streak. I thought I did good with over 10,000 words the first day, then saw someone on the forums with 26,000 words, and was upset someone was beating me. ;)
Jen
----------Reading and weeping opens the door to one’s heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one’s soul. – M.K. Simmons
http://www.jenniferksights.com