NaNoWriMo

[Geordie]

Do you love to write? Do you want to take up a challenge - and write a novel?

I plan to join NaNoWriMo next month. I hope to write 1700 words every day so that I can write a novel. This would be my first year.

This is where NaNoWriMo is based at.

I plan to write a novel on a growing up tale of a boy who has to battle his own identity and societal challenges. I will not make any mention of autism, but I hope this will put people with autism in a positive light just as my favorite story, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time'.

Probably to add to the number of words, I will add my own observations on sports, politics and international affairs. But mainly, it will be about the boy - roughly based on me

 

[Judge]

I plan to write a novel on a growing up tale of a boy who has to battle his own identity and societal challenges. I will not make any mention of autism, but I hope this will put people with autism in a positive light just as my favorite story, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time'.

Writing such a screenplay would be welcome too. Just a thought.

 

[ghoulbler]

That sounds cool - I'd read it.

I've always thought about doing it, but I don't have enough going for me, plot-wise. I've always wanted to write a book that talks about gender roles, mental illness/disorders, and kind of "finding oneself" though not in your typical, overused way. It'll be a little bit confusing, as in, you won't know what's real and what's not.

I have the feeling of the book, it's just not a tangible enough idea for me to actually write anything. Maybe I'll think about it some more and actually do NaNoWriMo? Maybe.

 

[Licorice]

I write at my own pace every month of the year, but may be a NaNoWriMo participant this time. A few friends on another forum are doing it, and I think it would be interesting to compare and help each other along. I have been a little slow lately, and the last thing I want is to wind up as one of those people who talk a lot about writing but never have anything to show for it. :unsure:

 

[wyverary]

I am thinking about doing fanfiction this year, as it would at least give me some ideas as to characters and plot. I have such a hard time creating places and characaters from scratch in my head that everything tends to fall on its face, so maybe it would be good to take that tack this year.

 

[Licorice]

I am thinking about doing fanfiction this year, as it would at least give me some ideas as to characters and plot. I have such a hard time creating places and characaters from scratch in my head that everything tends to fall on its face, so maybe it would be good to take that tack this year.

A NaNoWriMo fanfiction would be a nice addition to the collections online. Many of them are very short or unfinished.

 

[IContainMultitudes]

I'm thinking of giving it a try. The library here is having some NaNoWriMo "Write-in" events, I may go check out one of them even if I'm not that serious about reaching the 50,000 word goal by the end of the month. I've currently got kind of a heavily Arabian Nights/Jorge Luis Borges/Magical Realism-influenced thing in mind that I've done a little bit of preliminary work on, that could be what I try to turn into 50,000 words somewhat resembling a novel.

This article might be worth a look if you're thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo (contains NSFW language):

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo ? terribleminds: chuck wendig

One helpful thing that this writer points out is that there are other writing challenges out there that may be more your speed, like this one:

A Round of Words in 80 Days | The Writing Challenge That Knows You Have A Life

 

[Geordie]

This article might be worth a look if you're thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo (contains NSFW language):

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo ? terribleminds: chuck wendig

I'm still planning my story, so I've got two more days or so

Anyway thinking of it, only 200 books get published out of a 10-year history in NaNoWriMo. Sounds scary!

Probably writing a book takes a longer process - even my favorite 'Gone With The Wind' takes years to finish - 3 years. And you can write a book that has a huge impact forever

Yesterday, I told my parents, 'I want to join NaNoWriMo' and they say 'write our story! Readers love to listen to the past'. And at the same time, they said, 'it's better you've got a job. Writing is a high-risk career with a high rate of failure', in which they are right. Only 200 books ever get published in NaNoWriMo - though 20% of participants do indeed finish their 50,000 word stories.

If you can do it and you slog it out, you can write 50,000 words

So what are the millions of stories for? Just merely a passion for writing? Or some portfolio building stuff that enables people to get into MFAs?

Maybe I thought too much. It's just merely a start.

 

[Licorice]

I'm still planning my story, so I've got two more days or so

Anyway thinking of it, only 200 books get published out of a 10-year history in NaNoWriMo. Sounds scary!

Probably writing a book takes a longer process - even my favorite 'Gone With The Wind' takes years to finish - 3 years. And you can write a book that has a huge impact forever

Yesterday, I told my parents, 'I want to join NaNoWriMo' and they say 'write our story! Readers love to listen to the past'. And at the same time, they said, 'it's better you've got a job. Writing is a high-risk career with a high rate of failure', in which they are right. Only 200 books ever get published in NaNoWriMo - though 20% of participants do indeed finish their 50,000 word stories.

If you can do it and you slog it out, you can write 50,000 words

So what are the millions of stories for? Just merely a passion for writing? Or some portfolio building stuff that enables people to get into MFAs?

Maybe I thought too much. It's just merely a start.

I think it's mostly for the fun of it, as many people who enjoy writing don't necessarily want to be published or to pursue it as a career. It feels good to complete a 50,000 word draft.

 

[wyverary]

I have decided against doing it this year. I have been working on a different, non-fiction project, and I would rather focus on that. But I would love to keep up with what everyone here is doing this year!

 

[Geordie]

I think it's mostly for the fun of it, as many people who enjoy writing don't necessarily want to be published or to pursue it as a career. It feels good to complete a 50,000 word draft.

True. As what Margaret Mitchell's husband would say, 'can't you write a book instead of reading thousands of them'?

Ooops.

I have decided against doing it this year. I have been working on a different, non-fiction project, and I would rather focus on that. But I would love to keep up with what everyone here is doing this year!

I'd love to do this, come December

 

[Geordie]

My first few words:

"It is 8am, and Pat is still in bed.

Pat dreads waking up in the morning. It is a warm Saturday morning in sunny, tropical Singapore, where the Sun shines for all year long so long as it does not rain. In the early morning, the warm rays of the Sun seemed to scratch his whole body."

I am gonna name my main protangonists after my best homie and bro Aillas, and also a very common Irish name that goes with Pat - who else but his funny sidekick, Mike?

 

[IContainMultitudes]

After a few false starts, I've built up some momentum on a writing project. I don't really have much of it planned out, I think it's going to be one of those things where I just kind of have to put one foot in front of the other and see where it goes. I also don't know if it will be a short novel or what, I have a feeling I'm going to be doing kind of a "lite" version of the NaNoWriMo challenge where I don't worry about the word count that much (Starting a couple of days early is probably kind of cheating too, but what the hell).

 

[robertwnielsen]

After a few false starts, I've built up some momentum on a writing project. I don't really have much of it planned out, I think it's going to be one of those things where I just kind of have to put one foot in front of the other and see where it goes. I also don't know if it will be a short novel or what, I have a feeling I'm going to be doing kind of a "lite" version of the NaNoWriMo challenge where I don't worry about the word count that much (Starting a couple of days early is probably kind of cheating too, but what the hell).

Hey, if they don't *know* that you're cheating...

I actually had a friend suggest that I write the second half of Armageddon's Clock for NaNoWriMo...I was like, "That won't work. You're supposed to start from scratch on Nov. 1, not 300-plus pages into a project!"

I do have three other novel ideas kicking around in my head (two centering around conspiracy theories/assassinations again: Bobby Kennedy's and Martin Luther King Jr.'s, and then another "what-if" historical novel. "What if" the private at Opana Point on Dec. 7, 1941, who called in the warning about the "large formation of planes" heading in had been taken seriously, and intercept fighters had been launched to investigate?

Unfortunately, I don't have near enough information researched to start any of those ideas out tomorrow.

 

[Judge]

Hey, if they don't *know* that you're cheating...

I actually had a friend suggest that I write the second half of Armageddon's Clock for NaNoWriMo...I was like, "That won't work. You're supposed to start from scratch on Nov. 1, not 300-plus pages into a project!"

I do have three other novel ideas kicking around in my head (two centering around conspiracy theories/assassinations again: Bobby Kennedy's and Martin Luther King Jr.'s, and then another "what-if" historical novel. "What if" the private at Opana Point on Dec. 7, 1941, who called in the warning about the "large formation of planes" heading in had been taken seriously, and intercept fighters had been launched to investigate?

Unfortunately, I don't have near enough information researched to start any of those ideas out tomorrow.

How about a novel about the last prisoner who died in Spandau Prison? And all the governments who don't seem to want anyone to know who he really was.

I had an English college professor who stumbled onto this subject while doing research for his doctorate. He was granted prestigious research access to some of Britain's most important archives. Yet when officials discovered the information he was examining, he was quickly escorted off the premises. He went on to specialize in Russian/Soviet history.

I recall an entire class hour in which all we did were to discuss the possibilities of why Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland, what happened in the interim, and how different he seemed at his Nuremberg trial five years later.

 

[robertwnielsen]

How about a novel about the last prisoner who died in Spandau Prison? And all the governments who don't seem to want anyone to know who he really was.

I had an English college professor who stumbled onto this subject while doing research for his doctorate. He was granted prestigious research access to some of Britain's most important archives. Yet when officials discovered the information he was examining, he was quickly escorted off the premises. He went on to specialize in Russian/Soviet history.

That might definitely be interesting. And it would give me something that I haven't ever researched before. (I've mainly focused on things like the Cuban Missile Crisis, both Kennedy assassinations, etc.) I can always put it in the "to-write" file.

I recall an entire class hour in which all we did were to discuss the possibilities of why Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland, what happened in the interim, and how different he seemed at his Nuremberg trial five years later.

 

[IContainMultitudes]

How was Day 1 of NaNoWriMo for everyone? I wrote mostly gibberish for about 10 minutes, but at least it's something. I'm at 1,467 words now, what is your current word count?

 

[Geordie]

My current word count is around 6,100 words. I do consider myself as focused in writing, so long as I plan and write the message.

Own time, own target, yeah?

 

[Judge]

That might definitely be interesting. And it would give me something that I haven't ever researched before. (I've mainly focused on things like the Cuban Missile Crisis, both Kennedy assassinations, etc.) I can always put it in the "to-write" file.

I recall an entire class hour in which all we did were to discuss the possibilities of why Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland, what happened in the interim, and how different he seemed at his Nuremberg trial five years later.

Yeah, it's a fascinating story to speculate over. The consensus being that the British actually took Hess' plea for an armistice seriously, with the thought of declaring war on the Soviet Union to defend Finland. And that the NKVD was fully aware of this, having kidnapped and murdering Hess, only to replace him with a double.

While the Russians didn't want anyone to know what happened, the British were even keener to keep a lid on it all. Right up to where they had Hess murdered rather than to be released from Spandau Prison for humanitarian reasons so many decades later.

Of course the weak point of the entire story is that no surviving leader of the Third Reich was ever willing to corroborate any of it from their perspective. Leaving only that Hess was operating on his own, having lost his authority within the party and desperate to recoup his status in Hitler's inner circle.

 

[Licorice]

How was Day 1 of NaNoWriMo for everyone? I wrote mostly gibberish for about 10 minutes, but at least it's something. I'm at 1,467 words now, what is your current word count?

I finished my daily goal of around 1,600 yesterday and am halfway there for today. Slow and steady, and hopefully I won't burn out midway through.