NaNoWriMo Support 2012
 

Last year we had a NaNoWri Mo suppport thread, so I thought I'd start off this years. Anyone planning on joining? If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, it's a novel-writing challenge done on the honor system every year.

gardenerjoy described it well last year, so I'll just quote her:


I'm a NaNoWriMo rebel this year (I'd never heard of it before, but someone in the NaNoWriMo group on Ravelry (a fiber arts crafting website) introduced me to it (anyone who is bending or breaking one of the "rules" of NaNoWriMo, but not the spirit of them. The most common form of rebelling seems to be doing what I am - finishing a started work. Though most rebels (me definitely) will only count the words we actually write during November (so I won't count any of what I've already written).

So anyone else participating this year?

I'm making the same plan this year as last year - trying to limit my posting on 3FC during November to reading and writing in this thread and PM's (Hope I have better luck with that this year than I did last year).

Something new for this year, I've decided to reward myself with a mug, t-shirt or maybe even the hoodie or some other prize from the NaNoWriMo gift shop.

If I get my 50,000 new words, I'll get a mug or a t-shirt, and if I not only get the 50,000 words but also have a completed first draft by the end of the month I'll maybe get the hoodie (or a mug and a t-shirt).

I will be entering again this year.

I also did Camp Nanowrimo in August, which was a lot of fun because you shared a virtual tent and campfire with four other writers. I finished the novel I started at the November 2011 Nanowrimo. It still needs editing but that will have to wait. It is cyberfantasy and a lot of fun.

This year I intend to write a very different, mainstream novel. I usually aim for 140,000 words in 14-16 chapters so if I do complete the 50k it is a good start and if I do the whole thing... well, goody. A lot of folk do reach the 100+ count in the month and I can do up to 8k a day if I immerse.

The book I have planned needs research. I have been doing it and every snippet I uncover is just the tip of the iceberg. I have to change the focus a little or I will need a degree in chemistry and I do not think that November will be sufficient time! I was also going to write in the first person. I have always taken the safe option and written in the third person so this will make life interesting.

However, also, this year I decided to learn German and French and the courses begin on November 13th. I am at the sharp end of a cluster bout and genuinely exhausted but at least the attacks are less intense and more shadowy at this stage and I am getting more sleep.

Good luck with it!

I did it a couple years ago. It was fun! :) Don't know if I'll have the time to do it this year, but I DID introduce it to my school!

We're having some of our students take part and while I think 50,000 words is WAY too much for a sixth grader, I think they can still get into the NaNoWriMo spirit!

Good luck everyone!

I've done it 3 years (this is my 4th) and I won for the first time last year.
I'm really excited about it this year! It's really time-consuming, but I want to do this professionally so it's great practice!

Best wishes to everyone doing it this year!

When I found the CampNano I was really excited, because for me, every month can be NaNoWriMo. Really I have no excuse for not making every month NaNoWriMo (because I'm on disability and have a lot of time on my hands), except that the comeraderie really does help me be more productive.

The one thing I have to be careful with (that I'm already experiencing just taking plot and research notes) is that I end up in severe pain from sitting too long without moving enough. The first year (I think it was) that I tried to participate I only made it about ten days in before aggravating an old herniated disk injury in my back (and ended up on stronger pain meds and muscle relaxers - which was not conducive to writing - at least not anything that would make any sense).

I was just about to make a thread, then I saw this. I did nano in 2010, but had to quit halfway through because I was falling behind in uni. Last year I was busy and sick, so I'm looking forward to doing it this year. I'm also really busy this November, but I've decided dangle it as a carrot. I'm only going to be allowed to work on it once I've done a significant amount of university work. I decided I was going to start at midnight tonight if I got a lot done today, and so far it seems to be working.

I'm doing NaNo again this year! If anybody wants to be writing buddies track me down, I'm alenahope on the NaNo boards.

OH MY GOSH, I just signed up yesterday after seeing a flyer in Starbucks! So glad to see this thread!

Might give this a try, haven't done it before. :)

I stayed up till midnight last night and started. Got a little over 1,000 words.

Busy day! But I managed just 1468 words, though I suspect I will rewrite them tomorrow. I am Sinoia for Nanowrimo.

Good luck all.

PS this is my brief. It would be great to see yours!

Your novel title: Bin Day
Link to the author's profile page: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/sinoia
Genre: Mainstream
Region: Germany
Brief synopsis:

(While distressing in this is based on truth)

Some children in old West Loram live in stolen wheelie bins. They are the product of neglect, of abuse and the progeny of drunken, brutal parenting. They are hungry, displaced, afraid and despairing and they cannot stay at home, they slip through the slats of the social welfare system and they are often drunks and drug addicts, some as young as six years old. They are not reported because their families do not care, or do not wish to compromise their child allowance payments. It is a relief to the parents when they go because they cannot afford to feed and house them and the children are difficult to control.

It never occurred to Dee that this sort of thing happened and especially not on her doorstep. When her bin is stolen, her call to the council opened her eyes. A boy called Daniel introduced her to the **** of the lost children. She tried to help them and then her bin was returned and the nightmare truly started. It held the emaciated body of an eight year old boy.

(ps Oh - interesting that one word is starred out is is just h e l l, the opposite of heaven)

I love NaNoWriMo! I'm not doing it this year (I have a number of household projects that MUST GET FINISHED and am afraid that it would negatively impact my weightloss given the other things going on). I didn't do it last year, for other reasons. But I love it and will follow all y'all and root you on.

Sinoia, your plot makes me sad. Which is good! Means you are off to a good start.

I wrote 1600+ today. Hmmmm. This might actually turn into something.

I made it to 2k words today and I might try to get another 500-750 written before going to bed.

best tip for the first timers: get ahead the first week because the second week is rough.

I'd love to be able to finish the 50,000 words this year. I always seem to peter out well before the end of the month, however, as I never seem to become gripped by my plot. I love the idea of writing but the execution is lacking.

Still, as I have finished uni for the year and have no other commitments apart from working 3 days a week...It might be easier than past years when I was also trying to write assignments and study for exams.

Thanks. Perhaps it is sadder than ever because it is true. I honestly had no notion or even considered that such things happened and it has preyed on my mind for about seven years. I met a lost child, I did not know at the time and, later, when I learned about him I suffered the most terrible remorse. I did not help him at the time when I could have. I need to write this book and I will get it published so that perhaps other people will recognise the lost kids and do something when it is possible to make a difference.

I do not intend it will be a weep-a-page though. Even lost children laugh and play. I want to love them but it is a little like loving aliens, they live in a different space under different rules with different communications.

I still really want to see other folks briefs, I love the imagination and wonder of people writing.

Sinoia - Wow, that almost made me cry here at work! Very powerful!

So glad to see so many people participating!

I got about 5,000 words yesterday! I don't know how many times I've tried to start writing a novel and never made it past a few hundred words. It was just flowing yesterday. I hope I don't fizzle now!

So far about 1,000 words. Need to increase the pace if I want to make 50,000 by the end of the month.

I must admit I am struggling this year. I am on 3390 words so on the count but, boy, it is bad writing! I know we are supposed to just keep on trucking and get those words out no matter what but the temptation to go back and edit, or even start afresh is almost overwhelming.

To me, 1,000 good words is far, far more valuable than 3,000 bad ones.

Let's keep going and see where we end up!

I got to 6600 words yesterday. So I didn't get nearly as far along as I did the first day. I just decided I need to write even if I'm not 100% loving every word I put down. I guess that's the whole point thought right? This is probably why I usually don't ever get past 2 or 3 pages, so I'm really glad I decided to do this!

I'm dropping out for now :(. I've written about 1,000 words so far, but I've got an assignment due on the 5th and I'm struggling to keep up. I'll start up again on the 5th and hopefully will be able to catch up :).

I'm a nano rebel, too, for the same reason. I want to continue working on the book I was working on last year. I'm having a hard time getting going on it though. I feel like the weight loss goal is taking a lot of my attentions, plus work, two kids, my bf, two dogs, housework, and four gerbils. Oy. But I need to start making more time for it. I don't think I'm prioritizing it as highly as some other things, but I would love to make more progress on my book.

I'm so glad to have found this thread (while procrastinating writing my own.. haha). I'm only at 3,000 words so far, and I'll be away for four days around Turkey day, so I really need to get going!! I'm sitting at a coffee shop and hoping to get a few thousand banged out tonight (I tend to write fast and edit later, which I guess is good for NaNoWrMo purposes...) This has been on my bucket list for about 10 years so it's time!

How is everyone doing?

Doing great (I think).

I've been keeping two documents. One for the main novel, and another for what I've called "bits and pieces" this includes the outline I had written before NaNo (about 20,000 words total which I can't count toward my NaNo totals).

The bits and pieces document has 115,000 words in it. So, I've more than met my 50,000 word requirement.

However, the novel document itself hasn't hit the 50,000 word mark.

My goal is to have a first draft by the end of November that's coherent and complete enough that I'll be comfortable to hand it over to hubby and sisters for reading/critiquing.

Fantastic, Kaplods!

I stopped writing and continued researching. Like you I have a research/bits and pieces file that runs over the 100k mark but no draft. The fact is that I chose the wrong book for Nanowrimo but I still need to write it. It does not feel like a labour of love, more like an obligation now and, the more I look into it and speak with children's charities and welfare associations, it is something that should be written. I want to write it in a way that people will read and it feels a little overwhelming right now.

I have had five books published and they all seemed easy ... this one is really testing me. I wish I could just put it down and it will go away but I am drawn to it.

How is everyone else doing?

It's late in the game - but any updates on how you all did with Nanowrimo? Any completed novels out there?

I didn't make my 50,000 words, and didn't finish my novel, but I did get further than any other Nanowrimo. I'm hoping to have the first draft wrapped up by the end of this month.

kaplods - yeah for you!!