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Calling Writers and Authors! (NaNoWriMo 2017).


Ricki

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Oh man!

I didn't know that this NaNoWriMo existed. This looks like a lot of fun!

I've also been meaning to get back into writing — I've been finishing up books that I've long-gone abandoned, and it's getting me all hyped to get things moving with my own ideas. I wanted 2017 to be the year I actually started writing original stories.

My writing style has been on the wobbly side, so doing this consistently might help me discover my "writing voice"! I've been meaning to find that voice for a long time, so this sounds just wonderful!

 

Would love to know more from people with experience though. ;w; /

After reaching the goal, is there some sort of prize to be won? Or is it just more of the satisfied feeling that you've completed your goal in that short time-span?

Do you put your story up on NaNoWriMo or is it more like a tracker and place to discuss with others? owo

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Aw, I missed both this year. Well, technically the July one isn't over yet, but I can't be bothered with rushing a project in three days. I usually remember the major one in November, since that one gets more attention and promotion. Plus, for some reason, I much like the uncontrollable word minimum factor, not sure why. I know it sounds crazy, because you'd think it'd be better if you could control the word count the way Camp allows you to do, but nope, not for me. Maybe it's the challenge of being forced the 50K word count. Either way, I'll try a Camp project one day. Good luck to everyone who's still participating, only a few days left. Happy Writing! :) 

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Oh wait... I thought it was November, so I've missed it :lol:

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sea-lemon: Nope. Camp NaNoWriMo is every April and July, and you can set your own word goal for those, while the major NaNoWriMo one is every November, and that one is a forced 50K word minimum. I hope this helps! :) 

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Also I want to say again that you don't have to necessarily do "NaNoWriMo" itself. You can use the idea as a way of giving yourself a boost to do it. That's the crux of it all! :) 

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Yep, I forgot to mention that. Thanks, Ricki! It really is great practice, and it's perfect for adapting to general writing deadlines, especially for publishers.

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Ahhh ok, I didn't realise Camp was a separate thing! 

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Yep! It's awesome, too. You can set whichever word goal you'd like from 30 and up, so it gives members more leeway versus the major November one. :)

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Titchwithpitch
On ‎28‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 3:51 PM, fkfeliz said:

Aw, I missed both this year. Well, technically the July one isn't over yet, but I can't be bothered with rushing a project in three days. I usually remember the major one in November, since that one gets more attention and promotion. Plus, for some reason, I much like the uncontrollable word minimum factor, not sure why. I know it sounds crazy, because you'd think it'd be better if you could control the word count the way Camp allows you to do, but nope, not for me. Maybe it's the challenge of being forced the 50K word count. Either way, I'll try a Camp project one day. Good luck to everyone who's still participating, only a few days left. Happy Writing! :) 

I'm always better at the November one XD I think for this exact reason. usually I start camp and get distracted. Finished it this year 31 pages of planning because ineever plan so a double challenge. Looking forward to November though! :D I'm gonna be a Co ML this year too!!

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Oops - looks like I found this thread a bit too late to join either camp. That leaves me no choice... NaNoWriMo it is!

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time traveller jedi

I'm in the nano young writers programme XD. I did camp this july but I lost, and I'll do nanowrimo again in november 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Ghost of AVEN

I've wanted to do NaNoWriMo for a while, and hey, my birthday is in November, so yay! Any one here done NaNoWriMo before?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am doing NaNoWriMo this year! :) Unless my studying for my MT course is backed up...in which case NaNoWriMo will just become another way to procrastinate, which is bad. To bed, now!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/27/2017 at 3:34 AM, Ghost of AVEN said:

I've wanted to do NaNoWriMo for a while, and hey, my birthday is in November, so yay! Any one here done NaNoWriMo before?

I have done NaNoWriMo twice. I succeeded in getting to the 50k mark both times, however failed to fit beginning/middle/end into the story (50k seems to leave me in the middle of the plot.) I'm going to try again this year, I really need to set a goal, and make a plan this October so I'll be ready for once during November. Last year I was sick the entire month of October (it was awful, I love Halloween and I was too ill to go trick-or-treating with my niece, and it was her first time.) 50k is challenging, but doable. Are you going to commit to it this  year?

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PerhapsSomeHotCocoa
On 9/23/2017 at 9:32 PM, Liffey said:

I have done NaNoWriMo twice. I succeeded in getting to the 50k mark both times, however failed to fit beginning/middle/end into the story (50k seems to leave me in the middle of the plot.) I'm going to try again this year, I really need to set a goal, and make a plan this October so I'll be ready for once during November. Last year I was sick the entire month of October (it was awful, I love Halloween and I was too ill to go trick-or-treating with my niece, and it was her first time.) 50k is challenging, but doable. Are you going to commit to it this  year?

Congrats! Did you finish your stories after NaNo? Also, any tips for those of us going into it for the first time?

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On 9/29/2017 at 10:48 PM, PerhapsSomeHotCocoa said:

Congrats! Did you finish your stories after NaNo? Also, any tips for those of us going into it for the first time?

Gosh, I wish. The one was a hot mess, and I didn't feel like re-writing it. I'd tried a different genre than usual, and I discovered I didn't really like it, but I guess that's what Nano is for. The second one, I didn't have any prep time for, I ended up super sick the end of Sept, and the entirety of October last year, so I pants-ed it hard. I ended up changing things a bunch of times (without ever editing back- because Nano) and so the beginning half would need an entire re-write. I still have hopes for it, and even consider re-doing it this year.

 

As for tips for first-timers, here's what I've learned:

-Figure out a writing schedule. (Everyday? Every other day? Only on weekends? and figure out how many words you need to write for that schedule to make the 50k) I suggest everyday, for me skipping one day of your word-count is doable if need be, but two starts becoming a mountain.

-If you're active on Twitter- follow Nano (and it might be Nanosprints?) They'll give you a time goal, and you'll race against other Nano participants to get as many words in. If you have a competitive nature, it could help you get a lot of words done!

-Plan ahead. Even if you're a 'pantser' have a bit of a plan going into November. Even just a brief outline of major events can keep you from the dreaded writers block- which you absolutely don't have time for during Nano.

-DO NOT ERASE. Don't like that sentence? Fine. Don't backspace. It can be edited out later. Keep writing, don't look back, don't edit. Editing is for later months. Nano is for getting as many words as possible down. You earned those words. Keep them.

-Try to ensure more free time (Maybe that means making meals ahead of time and freezing them, maybe this means being a little less social)

-If you have to do research, try to do it ahead of time, you don't want to get trapped on the internet searching up blood spatter patterns for two hours, that's eating away at precious writing time. (Also names, because I'm the worst and have definitely lost hours trying to find the perfect name for a character.)

-Caffeine is your friend- also, what is sleep?

 

Good luck <3

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  • 2 weeks later...
time traveller jedi

I'm planning my novel and i'm excited, yay

 

On 04/10/2017 at 7:35 AM, Liffey said:

Congrats! Did you finish your stories after NaNo? Also, any tips for those of us going into it for the first time?

I didn't finish it because of lack of planning. I worked on it during camp nano 2017, but it was so messy that I couldn't figire out where the plot was going anymore... that's why I'm planning everything this year!

I did nano once (in the young writers programme, because I'm under 18, lol. we have a separate site from the adults, and we can choose our word count goal), and camp twice. My tips would be: 

- plan. even if you don't like planning, keep some notes to guide you when you're writing. 

- split your daily word count goal into smaller sessions, so it doesn't feel so overwhelming (instead of writing 1k words at once, split it into two or three parts, for example)

- don't read what you've written until nano ends. the goal is to write a lot, not to write well. 

- join the nano forums :). writing is a lonely activity, so it's nice to have a community with similar interests to support you.

- take care of yourself. drink lots of water, exercise, take care of your hands and wrists when you're writing (watch your posture!), get enough sleep. nanowrimo is meant to be fun, not to damage your health. and, even if you don't make it to 50k, you'll have more words and more experience than before, and that's super valid! 

happy writing! 

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I am in! More writing is more practice! And I can use this for my home course from the writers academy!! Just to get me started, and help me write more than I do now! I love to finish a manuscript at the end of my course, which ends in december of '18... so yeah I'll join!

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whimsical_dragon

Ooo I finally found you guys (Wrimos)!

 

I've done November NaNo six times since 2006, and have done Camp six times. I've indie-published a few novellas that started as NaNo projects, and have a novel that will be indie-published in the next month or so (FINALLY! I have been working on it for years!). For November, I am writing the sequel to that latter novel.

 

If anyone has NaNo questions, hit me up. If you want to be NaNo buddies, my NaNo profile is here - add me as buddy and I can add you back.

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whimsical_dragon

My tips for those new to NaNo:

 

Prep what you can, but this will vary for different writing styles and different life stages. I can't write with an outline, and I write in worlds I have already built, so I spend my prep time making food that I can just heat later, so I can have more time to write in November.

 

Don't stop at 1667 words (daily par) if you're inspired to write more. The cushion will help for the slow days.

 

Butt in chair. You can't write unless you're writing. Make time for it somehow. Schedule it if that works for you. Make it a habit.

 

Reward yourself for meeting goals (a piece of cake for every 10K?). If you use habitica (which is awesome btw), join the NaNoWriMo participants guild.

 

Don't edit. Lock up the inner editor. Fix the mistakes later. 

 

Connect with other Wrimos. Use the forums. Go to a local write-in if you can. Meeting other people who are also doing this crazy thing will help with both accountability and inspiration.

 

Around the end of week two or mid-week three, you will want to give up. You will hate your story, you will hate writing, and everything will suck. THIS IS NORMAL. Don't give up. Take a day or so away if you have to (this is where that cushion helps) but don't give up.  That said, if you TRULY hate your project to the point where you just can't face it, start a new one, and add the word counts together. As long as you wrote it in November, it's countable.  Join the Rebel forum and give yourself the Rebel badge. 8)

 

Have fun with it and try not to stress too much. A lot of people feel like they have failed if they don't meet that 50K goal. If you write even one word, you have one more word than you did in October, and that's more than some people even attempt. If you don't "win" but you establish a daily writing habit, that's awesome too. 

 

Good luck everyone!

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whimsical_dragon
On 8/27/2017 at 0:34 AM, Ghost of AVEN said:

I've wanted to do NaNoWriMo for a while, and hey, my birthday is in November, so yay! Any one here done NaNoWriMo before?

My birthday is in November too! NaNo is a fun way to celebrate. :)

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TheLittleRabbit

I wrote my first 50k word long novel last year... Only I was sick in November so I did it between December 25th and January 21st instead >.> I pantsed it, and it was a disaster but was also the first 50k word long novel I ever managed to finish a first draft of, so I've definitely participated in Preptober this time around.  Unlike most of my other novel-attempts though, this time around I totally don't feel like I need to try to force romantic relationships onto my plot-- That was one of the problems with my last novel, I think.  I started off with the idea that "These two people are going to fall in love" because that's how these types of stories are supposed to go.  About 20k words later I realized that their relationship was mutually abusive and so I derailed the plot and got my main character to leave her even if it meant the tension in the 3rd arc was wrong and anticlimactic and the ending was unsatisfying.

 

So I have an outline for my new novel, but I'm kind of worried because I have a lot less free time this time around and work has been leaving me so drained I've been having 1-2 excessive sleep marathons a week lately.

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I keep telling myself I'm going to get ready during 'Preptober' but every year I fail to do so, and this year has been no different. I've got a week to get it all together- I'm so screwed. Maximum pantsing!

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TheLittleRabbit
Just now, Liffey said:

I keep telling myself I'm going to get ready during 'Preptober' but every year I fail to do so, and this year has been no different. I've got a week to get it all together- I'm so screwed. Maximum pantsing!

You could still do a week of prep :P  That's still enough time to throw together a rough scene list and hopefully avoid the biggest of plot holes.  But if you want to be a pantser, then by all means, do it.

 

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Whee!!! I'm planning on doing it this year (I was unable to do it last year due to moving). I'm so excited about (hopefully) getting my story at least draft-written!!! <3 <3 <3

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About one week left! I'm pretty excited. I've been planning this one since Christmas. I'm just afraid that I won't get much done because I have school and I procrastinate a lot. That, combined with the fact I'm writing a script instead of a novel, is the reason why my goal is about 3,000 words instead of 50,000.

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theperksofbeing

I decided literally yesterday to do this one - thankfully I've been prepping for the novel I'm trying to draft for this NaNoWriMo for a while now. I don't have an outline because I don't work well with outlines and I'm a little worried about school stuff getting in the way, especially in the last week of November, but even if I don't hit 50k this'll still be good motivation for me to get a first draft of my book done/mostly done

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Yay, NaNo! It's such a fun opportunity, and I use it to hash out ideas and materials for better versions. I'm seriously considering participating again this year. I won 2015 but failed last year, so I want to see if I can make it this time. I don't think I'm going to focus on it being an actual novel, though, and just write. I did that last year, and I only managed a couple of thousand words or so. I sort of did in 2015, but not as strongly, and I barely made it at 52.5K words in 29 days. So brutal! Last year, I also had other stuff going on, so I was definitely more distracted. This year seems to be as free and open as in 2015, so I'm hopeful!

 

I wish the rest of you luck if you participate! :D

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I've never done NaNo before but I signed up about a week ago. I finally want to give myself the freedom to write the book I've always wanted to write. I've been prepping for a week and I'll continue to prep. I'm not sure how successful I'll be but even a few thousand words is better than nothing. And I'm writing what I want to write instead of what I think I should write so I think I might be a little more motivated. Anyway, I'm super excited! :lol:

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^ I totally agree, and it's a great feeling when you write what you want to write. I write a lot of merfic, and that's nowhere near as popular as vamps and weres, but I love it, nonetheless, and that's what should matter. I hope you do well on your first try, but at the end of the day, you're right in that a few thousand words are better than nothing. :)

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