NaNoWriMo 2013

[The Great WTF]

I'm gonna be writing in order, as I've already got 3/4 of it plotted out in outline form and I never get anything done if I skip around.

[Grace Barton]

Huh, well I'm redrafting so my story's already set out in order. I could redraft in any old order but I'm more likely to remember what I put and where if I do it in order. I'm like, a third of the way through it, so I'll keep going like that.

[Tenebre]

In order. Always in order for me, I'd lose track of the novel way too fast otherwise, end up with a great jumble of plot and scenes.

The NaNo forums are a great place for writing resources as long as you don't use them to procrastinate (too much). Try the NaNo Tips and Strategies section. I'm especially fond of the Adoption Society. Also, the Office of Letters and Light blog has some fun resources. Right now they're doing a NaNo Road Trip series which has lots of suggestions for plot and character development.

[Guest]

I made a promise to myself not to change ideas after nano since I basically decided not to use my last plot (although bits of it might pop up later). I might shelf the other one though.

I think I might write mostly in order except the ending, otherwise I would never write an ending.

Oh god, it starts so soon D:

[Vanadis]

I write both the beginning and the ending, then whatever plot points in between and slowly weave everything together as I go.

As to writing resources... *unceremoniously dumps links into thread*

Traits of Human Consciousness
100 Character Development Questions
Character Traits (fill-in-the-blank form)
Character Chart

Five Act Scene
Tips For Creating A Compelling Plot
Stupid Plot Tricks
Choosing A Story Goal

102 Resources for Fiction Writing

[Purple Heart]

I attempted it last year...was very much a pantser. And it showed.

Yeah, didn't really get anywhere with it. Though, at least now I know, that planning in advance is definitely the way to go for me!

Therefore, I shall be using this November to plan ready for another attempt at actually writing in 2014! ^_^

The only problem I have...is what to plan. Whether to try and plan out the story I started last year, or to plan out the Sims story I've been wanting to write for ages :lol: OR to plan out the idea for a new story I got a couple of days ago!

Of course...I could always try planning all 3 - at least that way, should I run out of ideas for one, I can switch to working on one of the others! :lol:

[The B]

I found a CD I burned about six years ago with the drafts of some books that I was writing. Oh my gosh, the book I had been writing forever is TERRIBLE.

but the other was really funny and good, and made me consider revisiting and finishing it.

So now I dont know whether to write the book I was thinking of originally or going back to the good book from six years ago.

Help?

[Grace Barton]

My mum still keeps insisting I publish the story I wrote when I was seventeen. I'd been working on that story since I was twelve, and it was so amateurish. A sweet little story, but definitely an amateur effort.

I'd keep on with the story you're currently thinking of, tohuvabohu. After all, that story from six years ago isn't going anywhere and you can come back to it any time you choose. Otherwise that other idea will be running around in your head and you'll keep being torn. :)

[Tenebre]

I agree with Grace. Try starting out with a fresh plot and characters this year. The other one will wait and perhaps the new one will give you a fresh perspective on the old. I can never tell whether or not a novel I wrote was anything salvageable until I've written two or three others that help me step away from the first.

I'm panicking a bit because I committed to several much higher speed goals on the Beyond 50k forum and am now realizing that I've got to write both a novel and a comprehensive transcript of the past four years of my self-education in the beginning of November. I don't even have a plot and characters, much less the full outline I like to work with.

[filmbuff]

Yeesh. After seeing how experienced everyone is, I feel even more intimidated. I want to do it, I wanted to do it last year but couldn't, and I've been thinking about it for months, but I don't have a story idea or even characters, and I suspect that if I just start writing I'll hate what I've started and want to redo everything. So I probably won't do it.

[Tenebre]

Yeesh. After seeing how experienced everyone is, I feel even more intimidated. I want to do it, I wanted to do it last year but couldn't, and I've been thinking about it for months, but I don't have a story idea or even characters, and I suspect that if I just start writing I'll hate what I've started and want to redo everything. So I probably won't do it.

Don't be intimidated by us! Take it from someone who's been around since 2008 -- there's always going to be someone who's been around longer or made a higher goal than you. NaNoWriMo is meant to be a personal challenge so don't compare yourself to the other people doing it. We're not racing for a prize for the Longest-Time Wrimo or Biggest Word Count or Quickest Finish. We're here to support each other in a similar endeavor, cheering on each other's victories and commiserating at the hard bits (week two is notorious for being difficult). I don't have a story or characters either but that's not going to stop me and it didn't stop me the first year I did NaNoWriMo either. Yes, I do end up hating a great deal of my writing but that's not what counts. What counts is that I can hold up a book and say, 'I wrote this' even if no one is ever going to be allowed near it with a ten-foot pole.

Lock up your Inner Editor (that mean person within you that puts down every word you write) until the end of November and join us as we conquer novels together next month. Trust me, it's much more do-able than you think.

[Guest]

plaid this is my first year and Im pretty sure most of these guys are better than me too :p

I threw away my story idea for characters that I might end up throwing away right before November 1st rolls around. But I'm going to do what I can. Hell I haven't started yet and already I think I've figured out some new things that work for me and and I've changed the way I approach my stories because Im doing things I see other writers do. And it works.

Don't be scared, have fun ^_^

[Grace Barton]

I agree. This is only my second year doing NaNo. Last year I did it and only managed 4000 words! I was very disappointed. It's about finding a good rhythm and routine where you can get the most out of your writing. And like Tenebre said, lock up your inner editor. Many writers find this hard, I've discovered, myself included. I tended to edit as I go. But in Camp I decided I was going to completely ignore the editor and just WRITE. I didn't care how bad it was, whether it was jumpy or short in places, whether I changed facts and had to leave a note for myself to amend it later, or whether it just didn't work. You just keep on going. You have a goal, where you want to get to, and just write stuff that will lead you there.

You can always change everything and let the editor do its work after NaNo. It just has to take a 30-day vacation while you put some stuff down for it to edit. :)

You still have a few days left to come up with something, even if it's just a spark of an idea. You may end up writing nothing but rubbish, but from that rubbish you will learn about the characters you've created and possible an idea for the story that it will eventually become. :)

[The Great WTF]

I freaking hate tumblr with a fiery passion, but the family has requested and I obliged. So, yeah, here's my side-project for NaNoWriMo (as if I don't have enough to worry about) the Diary of Ash.

Now for my next thing to panic about: I need a freaking cover! I always hate doing these things.

[Grace Barton]

I need a cover too. I've been trying to find an artist to hire but none have the art style that I'm looking for. :(

[SweetieBot]

Yeesh. After seeing how experienced everyone is, I feel even more intimidated. I want to do it, I wanted to do it last year but couldn't, and I've been thinking about it for months, but I don't have a story idea or even characters, and I suspect that if I just start writing I'll hate what I've started and want to redo everything. So I probably won't do it.

Don't be intimidated by us! Take it from someone who's been around since 2008 -- there's always going to be someone who's been around longer or made a higher goal than you. NaNoWriMo is meant to be a personal challenge so don't compare yourself to the other people doing it. We're not racing for a prize for the Longest-Time Wrimo or Biggest Word Count or Quickest Finish. We're here to support each other in a similar endeavor, cheering on each other's victories and commiserating at the hard bits (week two is notorious for being difficult). I don't have a story or characters either but that's not going to stop me and it didn't stop me the first year I did NaNoWriMo either. Yes, I do end up hating a great deal of my writing but that's not what counts. What counts is that I can hold up a book and say, 'I wrote this' even if no one is ever going to be allowed near it with a ten-foot pole.

Lock up your Inner Editor (that mean person within you that puts down every word you write) until the end of November and join us as we conquer novels together next month. Trust me, it's much more do-able than you think.

I'm seconding this. My first year doing NaNo was 2009 - I jumped into it about two weeks before November first for the very worst reason ever - because I was going to a Harry Potter music festival during November and a bunch of them were doing it. I liked to write, but if it weren't for that initial push I probably would have been too intimidated to do it. I also spent my whole first year being too intimidated to go to write-ins and only managed to get myself to go to my region's Thank God It's Over party.

Yeah, what you're writing probably won't be pure gold, but that's not the point of NaNo. And honestly, I think my writing gets a little better every year.

[Purple Heart]

I've been getting too many ideas today for the new story I thought of...it's too early! If I'm going to spend this NaNo planning, I don't want to start getting the ideas until the 1st! <_<

[Fray]

Diving back into the forums just in time for NaNo! ^_^

I'm definitely going to try to win again this year, but it's looking kinda iffy since I'll be out of the country for the first week of November. Taking my tablet and keyboard with me on the off chance I actually get to sit down and write while I'm gone.

The Scavenger Court (woo I have a title again this year!)

Genre: urban fantasy

Theme: Escape, identity crisis, greed

Favorite character: tie between two of my side characters, İskender (a name collector/"Enforcer") and Gabe (a rehabilitated berserker fighter)

I'm rocketbat over at NaNo! :D

[The Crispy Mushroom]

I'm 80% sure I'm going to lose this year, 90% sure I'm going to rebel and work on the draft of a story I've already started, and 100% sure I want people to procrastinate with. :D Anyone here open to having online group writing / slacking sessions?

[NotAllHere]

Chiming in late here, but I only truly decided I was NaNoWriMo-ing in the last week. I'm definitely a pantser this year; though I usually go about half-and-half when I write. My username is 'serenadinginsainty' (was supposed to be 'serenadinginsanity' when I was typing it for registration, I misspelled and am now stuck with it)

I'm writing a horror/supernatural story that features a serial murder named Skitz. I think she's been killing my plot-bunnies because all of my ideas seem to keep dying out and leaving me stuck, but I'll get there! Skitz is demented more than insane, seriously amoral, and currently trying to escape an asylum. She wields a double-headed axe and has some magical gifts that center around blood.

Where this story is going I'm unsure, but trying. November is almost here, after all.

[Veritastar]

I feel stupid for not knowing or even bothering to look at what this was before. Now that I know I think I'll do it sometime in the future. I love to write a lot.

[Grace Barton]

There's always the Camps Starya. You can join in then. :D

[The B]

I think I've finally got my plot nailed down. I've been carrying around a packet of index cards held together with a ring and writing ideas on each one. Then I'll go back and sort them to write.

It's got all of the aspects I wanted - dreams, futuristic technology, time travel, aliens, gods, post-apocalyptic stuff, zombies, and an anti-consumerism, pro-ambition message.

Anyone else pulling a late night tonight to get it started?

[Grace Barton]

I had considered pulling a late night but I'm not so good with them. I'm an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person, and I get my best work done in the mornings. So I will be up at 5:30am to get cracking. Plus I have work tomorrow so I really need some sleep. XD

[Tenebre]

I'm probably going for a late night tonight, just long enough to get the day's allotted words in. I'm trying to finish in eight days so I need to get a really good headstart.

It doesn't help that I'm having strong eleventh hour doubts about my plot, though... It's refusing to be charted the way that I want it to be which is something I need it to do.

[Purple Heart]

16 mins till Midnight here...

[Drew Sol]

Decided at the almost the last minute (an hour to go for me!) that I'm actually going to do Nano this year. Zero thought has gone into it, so I'm referring to the "Characters for an Epic Tale" picture, and writing the Epic Tale. No idea how this is going to pan out yet but I guess I'm going to find out...

OH! I'm Drew_Solaert on the nano website if anyone wants to add me!

[The Great WTF]

I'm not even supposed to be on AVEN right now (yay for taking care of family) but I just have to say: I've still got six hours until midnight but I want to start already!

I'm going to go to the Vegas kickoff party tonight if possible. It's gonna be at my favorite sports bar/place to get hot wings, so I have to try on principal.

[Purple Heart]

I'm contemplating spending the first hour planning my new idea so I can focus on writing that properly this year rather than leaving it for next year...

[Tenebre]

I'm cursing the tiny amount of Halloween candy I ate. Apparently something artificial disagreed with me and now all I want to do is sleep it off... Still trying for midnight, though!

Bloodstained, I don't think it's such a bad idea to take the first hour to plan out your novel, as long as you don't get stuck in the planning mode and never get around to writing. Maybe plan out the first few chapters, write, sleep, then plan out the rest in the morning?