Thanks, sobocin! I've been using 750 words for a couple of months now and it's really increased my confidence that NaNo will go much more smoothly this year. We'd love to have you if you decide another 917 words is doable for you.

Welcome, Jelbelle! A psychological thriller sounds great to pull you through the month! I'm working on a paranormal romance. My NaNo name is WriterJoy.

kaplods: that sounds like an excellent plan to retell a story from a different viewpoint -- you should learn a lot about your characters and plot that way. My brother was telling me that he recently read some Larry Niven stories that were retellings of his old stories from new viewpoints.
I'm glad you're joining us because last year you were an inspiration to me.

Speaking of viewpoints, I started yesterday to do a plot outline for just one of my characters and it helped me identify and plug some holes with new scenes. I'm going to try that with a different character today.

I've had two short stories of mine published before, but can never finish a novel. I always start them: outline, notes, everything, but something always happens to get me stuck. I think I will try it, though.

Serval87: Welcome! I started probably a dozen novels and never got beyond the research and a chapter or two. Doing NaNoWriMo is the only way I have ever finished a draft of a novel, complete with beginning, middle, and end! I highly recommend it as a way to get to The End (nowhere near perfect, but done!).

I toasted some pine nuts for a dish last night and, then, went ahead and toasted all the pine nuts and all the pumpkin seeds that I had in the house. I like them in salads. I probably have enough pre-toasted now for every salad I'll eat in November!

kaplods and gardernerjoy: I added you both to my buddies list on Nano =) looking forward to hearing more about your pieces!

gardernerjoy: I think it will be a compelling change from what I'm used to it ^_^ hopefully it will keep me involved enough to let it all unfold. I'm usually a literary genre buff, I also like romance a lot, I include it just about everywhere. A paranormal romance sounds awesome, good luck with it!

Thanks, Jelbelle -- I put you and kaplods on my buddy list, too. I can't wait until November 1 when I can watch the word counts of my buddies start building!

Yesterday's prep for NaNoWriMo project was stocking up at Whole Foods. The goal is to not go to Whole Foods at all in November. Besides that it's not terribly convenient and, therefore, uses a lot of time, it's also a fairly challenging place for my healthy eating. My devil voice says "It's Whole Foods -- it's healthy stuff!" Of course, a lot of it is, but not all of it, and certainly not in the quantities I used to eat. I don't want to be there when my resistance is weak either because I am frustratingly behind in my word count or because I'm all caught up and feel I deserve a break. So, I've got enough organic ketchup, soba noodles, and tempeh for the duration!

Ooh, add me! I'm heathermccauley (so original, I know!)

Still don't have a good idea of where to begin, but I've been kicking around some characters in my head for some time.

Originally Posted by fatmac:
Ooh, add me! I'm heathermccauley (so original, I know!)

Still don't have a good idea of where to begin, but I've been kicking around some characters in my head for some time.

I added you! =) A character is a good start, you still have a couple days to mull around with it.

i made a decision- i'm doing it. i have an outline started and i'll be writing up some character sheets in preparation- i will be ready come the first. hopefully i can maintain this year! definitely will be more prepared.

Originally Posted by lizziep:
i made a decision- i'm doing it. i have an outline started and i'll be writing up some character sheets in preparation- i will be ready come the first. hopefully i can maintain this year! definitely will be more prepared.

Glad to have you on board =D we're all gonna need the extra support and encouragement =P

I can't wait! I'm itching to get started, but I've forbid myself from jumping in yet. I'm so exciteddd for this plot!

Hi everyone! Funny I should see this here. My username there is WolfGrapes.
I've got my novel mostly planned and my main characters ready; super excited about November 1.

I'm so glad to see our group growing...hello to everyone just deciding to try this, it's going to be a fun adventure. My name is Purplefirefly on NaNo (yeah I just use the same name for everything), add me to your lists and I will go through and add those who have given a name here.

Originally Posted by kaplods:
I even worked out three distinct subplots that mesh really well with the story line. Subplots and foreshadowing usually don't come easily to me, and when I've tried to write them in the past, they've been (or seemed to me) pretty lame.

I am the same way! Foreshadowing and subplots have to come naturally as I write or I don't feel they really blend well or they stick out and aren't smooth with the rest of the story. So, I am usually just writing and hoping the subplots present themselves at some point. I usually end up going back to particular points to add in foreshadowing when I realize chapters later it naturally fits...that's okay though as it increases the word count.

Originally Posted by Serval87:
I've had two short stories of mine published before, but can never finish a novel. I always start them: outline, notes, everything, but something always happens to get me stuck. I think I will try it, though.

I am the same. I love writing short stories but the novel is much harder for me to sustain to the end. This is our year. We can do it!

Quick question out of curiosity: what do you guys do with your nano novels after November?

Welcome fatmac and lizziep and Layri! This is going to be fun!

Purplefirefly: I've written two NaNo novels and I haven't even looked at them since November 30th of the year I wrote them. But, number 2 was light years better than Number 1 so I have high hopes that number 3 will be good enough that I might want to try a second pass at it.

Jelbelle: I can hardly wait!

I'm going to spend some time with my brother this afternoon for some plotting. I've got a great big hole that I want to see if I can plug with some scene ideas today.

Originally Posted by Purplefirefly:
Quick question out of curiosity: what do you guys do with your nano novels after November?

I submit them into the Amazon Contest in the spring. Even if you don't win, it's a great way to get editor feedback!

Jelbelle - what is the Amazon contest? Do you have a link to it?