I'm so stinkin' pumped that NaNo is just around the corner!!! The thing is, we only have five more months of planning and preparation until the next NaNo frenzy (pardon the borrowed term there) begins!
I have this rad idea and concept for my novel and I am so excited about it. Is it cheating if I write out a couple of scenes and/or vignettes that I plan on using in the novel? I want to do this, because it helps me get to know my characters more and I can have a clearer vision of where I want the story to go. Plus, I'm just so excited about getting started and although November is a short ways away in the writing world, I don't want these awesome ideas to get away from me like they have so many times before.
What d'ya think?
----------
www.associatedcontent.com/dkhinton
121,522 / 50,000
Mei 30, 2008 - 09 19
Heck, I'd just write it now! It's against the rules to write any prose ahead of time, but no one is stopping you from writing the novel in the "off season" -- you could even do it in a month, the 1st of June is conveniently close. There's a thread in Life After NaNo for people writing in June, or poke around in the genre of your choice and see if anyone is writing. I'm supposed to start my next novel on the first, but my plot is still working itself out, so I'm likely to keep working on that for another week or two.
I highly recommend writing over the summer. I've written four NaNo novels and one off-season novel, and as much as I love this crazy contest, the novel I spent three months working on is significantly better than the other four. I used all the tricks and tools I learned in November, but just took my time.
Either way, good luck! :-)
----------Moderator: Newbies Forum
10,320 / 50,000
Mei 30, 2008 - 09 20
You're not really supposed to write on your novel beforehand, but people here are pretty lenient, so if you subtract the pre-written scenes from your word count I think it'll be okay. Or just write a sketchy outline of the scene/story. I always have trouble with keeping them sketchy, though. -_-;;
51,071 / 50,000
Mei 30, 2008 - 09 50
I vote for writing it in the off-season, too. I mean, I <3 NaNo but it only comes once a year, and it's so hard to wait. You might want to jump into it while you're still excited about it.
As for me, no, I'm not ready for NaNo 2008, lol. I've got a microsoft word file with all of the plots I've thought of during the last few months [there's six or seven by now]. Around September, I'll pull them out and look them over. By then, the Adopt-A-Plot thread will be and running as well. I'm still pretty focused on my NaNo 2007 novel, though.
----------NaNo 2006 = Cloudburst = 14k
NaNo 2007 = Redeeming Pandora's Curse - WINNER
NaNo 2008 = The Elemental Chronicles: Earth
My Writing Blog: Illuminated Words
50,572 / 50,000
Mei 31, 2008 - 01 28
For my own NaNo '08 novel, I'm not writing any words yet. I'm just taking out some blank index cards and writing character, scene, and other story ideas on them. Maybe a stray line here or there. Also, I'm doing research.
But I'm not fully focusing on getting my plot ready till October. Right now I'm rewriting my '07 novel so I have a coherent second draft (the first draft was a complete disaster), and so far it's coming along fine.
----------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
Mei 31, 2008 - 07 32
I'd plot my 2008 nano out because I just did it last year on the fly. I'd like to see if it makes things any easier.
But before I start on the 2008 effort i want to finish last years novel first.
50,572 / 50,000
Jun 1, 2008 - 05 08
Come to think of it, that's exactly what I'm doing. My '08 novel is the third book in a trilogy, so I need to finish the second draft of the first and the first draft of the second before I can get a good idea of the third. But until then, I'm collecting ideas for November.
----------NaNo '06: Black Science
NaNo '07: Bad Company
NaNo '08: Points of Authority
Script Frenzy '08: Spanner
Project Blog: Spanner's World
50,141 / 50,000
Jun 1, 2008 - 14 24
I usually open up a blank file and just freewrite to get all my thoughts about that particular plot organized. Writing actual chapter or scenes from the new book is cheating, though.
----------To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it. - Kurt Vonnegut
0 / 50,000
Jun 2, 2008 - 12 23
It'll be my first NaNo this year. I've got a vague plot and not-so-vague characters (although one of them is incredibly indecisive about his appearance, particularly his hair) ready...I'll write out some of the main plot points I want to hit sometime before November, but otherwise a basic plot is probably what I'm going into it with. I was never a majour outline kind of person. I think writing out whole scenes might be cheating, but I know what you mean about not wanting good ideas to get away, so writing them down and organizing them may be good. xD It would suck to forget them!
----------"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
0 / 50,000
Jun 2, 2008 - 16 31
I've never done a NaNo before, so I can't wait! I'm going to start writing out plots in the next couple of weeks, then write outlines, then some character outlines. I'm really excited, but I don't think I'll be able to win this year. I have a few odd ideas drifting through my head, so I'll begin to write them down soon. I think you should just write this novel now and do a different one for NaNo. If it were a couple weeks away, I'd say wait, but we have another five months. I think you should just take your time on this one and work as long as you need to, then start a different one for NaNo.
----------No NaNo wins yet! This November will be my first attempt!
11,861 / 50,000
Jun 5, 2008 - 09 54
If I do it (I quit with 2 weeks left), it will be a total rewrite of the one I did last year.
50,093 / 50,000
Jun 6, 2008 - 22 32
I say start writing it now, while you are excited about it. I had someting I was contemplating and on Tuesday it just started to pour out of me, now it's Friday and I have 6500 words. You'll think of something else by November, the muse will visit you again!
54,134 / 50,000
Jun 7, 2008 - 21 42
I have no clue what I'm going to be doing this November. I might write the third installment of the series I started in 2005, but at this point I really don't know.
----------2005: In Back of the North Wind (urban fantasy) -- WINNER!
2006: Leopard's Paw (mystery) -- WINNER!
2007: The Old Straight Track (urban fantasy) -- WINNER!
Origami cranes completed: 42
"The night was moist." -- (Throw Momma from the Train)
5,000 / 50,000
Jun 10, 2008 - 20 28
Not sure if I'm ready, but I have a few plots lined up...
1. The Mask - Erik's Journey. This one tracks the history of The Phantom of the Opera (because I'm obsessed with that awesome mask... I have a replica of my own!). While Phantom by Susan Kay looked at Erik, this is about his mask and how it changes from time to time in certain periods of his life.
2. The Ugliest Princess. I LOVE this story! It's almost a musical in my own head, but I've incorporated song like 'Savin' Me' by Nickleback (for an excellent scene when the exiled Mage Royals return to save their lands from the hands of the evil Prince Mortimer) and 'My Interpretation' by Mika (another awesome scene when handsome Prince Jonathan rejects Crown Princess Sabrina because she isn't pretty enough). But the best one is the wedding of Mortimer and Sabrina to 'Happy Ending' by Mika, when she gives up the right to be with the man who loves her (an exiled royal named Prince Alexander) to save her love and her land from Mortimer's destruction. Is so sad! *sniff*
3. The Phantom Lives. The best one ever. Is my personal fave. A young descendant of Christine Daae returns to the Opera House nearly a century after the Phantom is "killed". With her return come rumours that the Phantom has arisen again, and he's not impressed that a Daae has returned... oooh!
I can't make up my mind! Gah!
----------Friendlyhoos need to balance exammyhoos in order to make univeristy a scintillating experience.
75,445 / 50,000
Jun 12, 2008 - 01 57
I can't wait for Nano '08. :D
The idea for it is slowly coming together too, but fortunately I don't have all the details yet.
Why fortunately? If I have the whole storyline in my head now, then chances are I'll have forgotten about it by the time it's November.
I hope Nano '08 will go just as well as my other Nanos, because this year I'm attending University for the first time, and it's probably going to be hell. Well, not hell, just... I probably won't have much time to write. :(
----------I hope I will though, I'm so stoked! :D
NaNoWriMo 2006: Natalia's reis (Won!)
PeNoWriMo 2007: Plotholes in Natalia's journey. (Success!)
NaNoWriMo 2007: The Pride of King Julius (Won again!)
30,000 / 50,000
Jun 18, 2008 - 13 13
I did have a plot (based on the poem 'The Laboratory' by Robert Browning http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/the_laboratory.html ), but then I started re-reading it and then I got stuck and started to doubt it and myself *rolls eyes*
I'll think of a plot between now and November, I'm sure I will *hopes*
----------Smile and remember to be happy
50,009 / 50,000
Jun 19, 2008 - 06 24
I haven't even thought about NaNo yet this year... 2007 was my first year and I literally decided a few days before Nov 1 and had no plan, etc. It would be interesting to have more of a plan this year (well, I can't have LESS of a plan!) and see how that affects the writing.
Katie
----------Katie
(In real life a nutritionist so yell if I can help that way with your writing!)
23,375 / 50,000
Jun 19, 2008 - 16 29
I've had a novel idea in my head for years, now, that I keep thinking "I'll do it for the next NaNo!", and then I end up getting another idea right before November, and ditching it. I really should just write it in the off season.
----------WriMo '05: Shattered Mirror (21k/50k)
WriMo '06: Dream Diary (38k/50k)
WriMo '07: A Wish for Dawn (23k/50k)
Wrimo '08: ??? (0k/50k so far)
58,830 / 50,000
Jun 21, 2008 - 17 57
I am so excited for NaNo, it's my favorite time of the year, hands down. I never know what I'm going to write (last year I tried to plan and ended up scrapping the plan and 9k on day three and starting from scratch with a blank document) but it always turns into something special.
I never wait for NaNo to do my writing though, I write all year long. But there is something so special about NaNoWriMo that I get so excited for. The community, the frantic pace, the knowledge that all over the world and right next door are other writers pulling their hair out at 3 am and mainlining espresso as they struggle to get the story out. It's a beautiful feeling.
Fae Sutherland
----------14,659 / 50,000
Jun 21, 2008 - 20 06
As everyone has said, writing out scenes and/or vignettes that you intend to use in November is cheating. However, if you do something completely unrelated to your actual NaNo, but still involving your characters, I don't think there's a problem with that. What I usually do is grab a set of prompts from 1sentence over at LiveJournal--there are five sets of fifty--and then pretend I've signed up for the challenge with one of my characters. (The actual community rules say you have to do pairings, but since I don't know necessarily if I want to have pairings, or who will be paired, I usually just do one character at a time.) It's a good writing exercise and it helps to get to know your characters.
I have a plot in mind...I just don't have character names...
----------NaNo 2006 - participant - Painted Wings and Giants' Rings
Screnzy 2007 - participant - No Time to Cry
NaNo 2007 - participant - Sing Me a Riddle
Screnzy 2008 - WINNER - God Bless the Broken Road
NaNo 2008 - ??? - My Country-Western Life
0 / 50,000
Jun 25, 2008 - 11 48
Eek. I just decided the other day that I am going to do NaNo. I actually have a plot. Er...the main idea of a plot and a few details about what happens. I still have to get the determination to create my plot and characters and then develop them.
I wish SuperNotecard was free. D: I love organizing things on the computer, and it looks much cooler than Freemind, so I think it'd help me a lot. But nooo, let's make people pay to make square piece of paper on a computer. D:
Anyway, I hope to at least get it developed before November. There is no way I can make up a story as I go, like some people do. I have this stack of four packs of index cards that I can from my National Merit Prep Course for the PSAT - I think they're calling to me to develop my story.
50,247 / 50,000
Jun 25, 2008 - 22 37
I have my idea planned, but not a real clear idea of where it's going to go.
As for writing your nano before November. It's not allowed. The rules state that you have to start the story from the beginning. You can have notes and scenes and stuff sketched, but it's all lumped under the catergory of "planning".
----------My NaNo Blog
2005 § Red Rose Castle § 50,024
2006 § Solstice, Rose & Equinox § 51,628
2007 § The White Rose § 50,247
0 / 50,000
Jun 27, 2008 - 04 09
Though november is some time away, I'm already getting ready. Last year I rushed to prepare, but this year, I'll be far more ready. I liked drawing up outlines, and getting my plot ready, so I'm taking my time. (( Also didn't help I learned of NaNoWriMo 2 weeks before November))
So, am I ready? Oh no. But will I be? Heck yeah! I'm fairly excited. Since I wasn't able to hit my word count last time, I'm hoping the extra prep time will make up for it. I'm very excited.
50,126 / 50,000
Jun 27, 2008 - 10 44
Last NaNo, I sat down and wrote for the first time in a few years. Used to write all the time, got discouraged, and then quit. NaNo changed all that. So after last NaNo, I vowed that I would write regularly in the off-season.
It hasn't happened.
I'm woefully lacking in diligence. This is why I don't have a writing career. But anyway. In the off-season, I have done some editing of last year's NaNo, and might even get a re-write completed before November rolls around. This would be good, because this year's NaNo is supposed to be the sequel to last year's, so I would like to have the details of the last story just a little bit more solidified before I write a bunch of new events based off of it. So I guess I'm not really ready now, but am pretty sure I will be ready by the time NaNo rolls around. I can't wait for it, though! The pressure of the deadline is the only thing that makes me sit down and crank out those words!
8,100 / 50,000
Jun 27, 2008 - 13 52
I'm not ready at all, but very excited anyway! I have no real ideas as yet, but I decided on a plot very last minute for my first NaNo in 2006, and ended up not only winning, but completing it, so I now have a novel first draft. Last year I knew what wanted to write, but I was applying to uni at the same time, and I gave up after the first week. This year, I'll be at university, taking the first year of my english lit and creative writing degree, so in theory, I should have plenty of time to write! I may even try and fit NaNo into my course. Bring on November!
----------http://ladypenelopesmagicalmysterytour.blogspot.com/
0 / 50,000
Jun 28, 2008 - 16 56
I have two ideas I'm torn between using, but I think I like it like this. This way I can develop both and when i get bored of one, I can move onto the other, etc. Because I think the one thing against me is my own interest, you know? Or, rather, lemme find a better way to say it. I think it's more enthusiasm than anything. It's all fun and exciting now but if I keep going like this TOO much between now and Nov. then I'll most definitely LOSE that enthusiasm, and not be so motivated to finish.
So yeah.
0 / 50,000
Jun 28, 2008 - 17 46
Well, as a first timer I'm hoping I get to participate, but frankly I'll find out more on this Wednesday- I get a decision concerning my appeal for disability (I've suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder since 1991 and have been unemployed for 6 1/2 years now.) My participation likely hinges on a positive outcome Wednesday- which is not something my lawyer seems to think will happen. (He's been a REAL cheerleader for me... hehe!)
Still, I can keep my fingers crossed, and in the event I am declined, there's still a (good) chance I won't have work in November- and if my stress levels aren't out of the park by then (unlikely!), I might be able to sneak NaNoWriMo in!
I really want to start writing- but it's amazing how much focus you lose when you have no income! It's all you can think about! =P
0 / 50,000
Jun 29, 2008 - 06 51
I just heard about NaNo a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to do it this November!
There's only one problem: I have absolutely NO clue what I'm going to write. At all. I don't have a plot, or characters, or even an idea of what genre I want!!! It's only June and I already feel like tearing my hair out. What if I can't think of anything good by November?
Okay. *deep breath* I still have a few months to think. I'm just not sure how I'm going to do this. Is this normal for NaNo newbies?
66,147 / 50,000
Jun 29, 2008 - 15 16
Not yet. I'm still editing last year's NaNo novel, so I won't do anything for this year's novel until the first week of Septemeber at the earliest.
----------My blog -- Two Shots of Sweetness, One Shot of Naughty
14,659 / 50,000
Jul 2, 2008 - 08 15
Okay. *deep breath* I still have a few months to think. I'm just not sure how I'm going to do this. Is this normal for NaNo newbies?
Absolutely. The first year I did it, I signed up late and panicked that I wouldn't be able to come up with a plot AND 50,000 words by the end of the month...so I dredged up a story I was 10,000 words into and worked on that. I got maybe 2,000 words into it because I had too much of an interest in it...in twenty days...so definitely don't do that.
But it's okay to be nervous. Everyone gets nervous about planning. Once you get writing, it's a hell of a lot easier.
----------______
Anyone else already plotting their NaNo for this November?
NaNo 2006 - participant - Painted Wings and Giants' Rings
Screnzy 2007 - participant - No Time to Cry
NaNo 2007 - participant - Sing Me a Riddle
Screnzy 2008 - WINNER - God Bless the Broken Road
NaNo 2008 - ??? - My Country-Western Life
50,508 / 50,000
Jul 2, 2008 - 15 24
I haven't been writing much, but it just occurred to me - today's only the 2nd of July. I could totally do a JulNoWriMo - there are only 30 days in November, so the 1667 words/day count is still relevant.
Of course, I have another project I'm supposed to be working on, but...I love NaNoWriMo, and summer is perfect (I have a lot of free time at work). I think I will. Plot etc. tonight, start writing tomorrow.
Dear lord, I think I'm insane.
----------See Girl Write: the life of a college writer, trying not to flunk out.