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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: blue moon on June 08, 2006, 07:14:55 PM
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Anyone else a NaNoWriMo junkie? This year will be my third NaNo. I've already started kicking around ideas, when I'm not working on editing/completing my 2004 NaNo.
What do you think of the screenwriting challenge? I'm interested to try it, just because it's a completely new area for me.
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I tried last year, but life, career, etc got in the way.
We'll have to see how things are going this year.
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I tried last year for the first time, got the story finished but was nearly 20,000 words shy. I'm trying to edit it to flesh out the parts I felt were really thin *but* I dunno....
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Last year was my first year and I'm going to do it again this November. I made my 50,000 words and even finished the book in time to get my free copy from Lulu. I've been editing it. A few friends have read it and had nice things to say about it. One of them is helping me edit.
I tend to procrastinate and keep checking over one or two paragraphs obsessively. Nano helped free me from that, at least for one month. It wasn't great prose, but it was an actual story! My characters seem realistic to me and they made their way through a plot of sorts, with a beginning, middle and end. My characters did stuff! They changed and moved forward as a result of that stuff! ;D
So many people want to write a book, and of these only a small percentage even try. And of those, an even smaller percentage actually finish. Even if nothing more comes from it, I have the satisfaction of knowing I wrote a book.
Thank you, blue moon, for mentioning the screenwriting challenge. I hadn't been on nano's site for a few months and I might have missed it. I think it's a great idea. They won't have it ready until next year though, but I have enough commitments for this year anyway.
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I've done NaNo for four years in a row, with "wins" my first and last year. Lack of passion for my storyline swamped me the second year, and dealing with the fallout from my mother's October death took me out the third year.
Of course, I've never actually finished the content of a novel, just met my 50,000 word quota.
Once in awhile I'd like to go back and work on my first year's effort, but I still can't figure out how to finish it. In fact, one of my biggest problems with writing is that I can create a great set-up, but I can never figure out how to resolve the issues that I raise. It's like committing a crime but not being able to solve the crime later on.
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Once in awhile I'd like to go back and work on my first year's effort, but I still can't figure out how to finish it. In fact, one of my biggest problems with writing is that I can create a great set-up, but I can never figure out how to resolve the issues that I raise. It's like committing a crime but not being able to solve the crime later on.
I have similar problems... I get good beginnings, good endings, but no middles. Everything I write turns out about novella-length. I'm too "concise," people tell me... Must be the scientist in me. I spend most of my life trying to fit a word count limit.
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I tried for the first time last year, and my honeymoon got in the way :)
I'm planning to try again this year, though. I've got a different idea and everything. I'm doing charts, timelines, chapter summaries, all kinds of prep without writing prose.
That's how I avoid not having endings. I know roughtly where my stories are ending before they begin. That's not to say I haven't changed any endings, but I had somewhere to aim at.
What's the setup, SharonBrown?
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I've done it twice and both times, I made the deadline and then kept going til the end of the story. I've since edited and polished my 2004 nano into a presentable novel, and I'm shopping it around now.
My first novel took me ten years to complete the first draft (lots of time off and time to learn). My second took a month. Go figure.
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I'm a five-year-NaNo. FEAR ME! I finished 4 out of 5 years, too. (The one year I was waylaid by a new long-distance boyfriend and lack of a laptop. I made sure I got a laptop by the next one.)
Last year was the first time I finished a plot within 50,000 words. Usually I hit the goal before the story ends. I haven't done anything with my novels, though. Hard to work without NaNo...I've been trying to do a novel this year and I really petered out in the middle. *sigh*
I don't know if I'll be able to do this year's NaNo. There's likely to be a WHOLE LOT of drama blowing up in my life around that time of the year, which makes me nervous. I'll still sign up, of course, but I'm nervous that I'll even get time to do anything between other people needing me to be their life raft. *sigh*
I think it's nice that they are doing a screenwriting version, but since getting into Hollywood sounds like a hair-ripping PITA careerwise, I have decided never to try my hand at screenwriting. (There's REALLY no hope of getting it published then, eh?)
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On a screenwriting note, the first draft of Scream was done in a weekend, and both my scripts I did for college were done in a month.
If you're interested, look into books by Syd Field and Joe Straczynski.
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last November was my first year to try. I didn't do so well. But it did get me into the habit of writing every day. yeah me.
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I also tried NaNoWriMo for the first time last year, and got about 2/3 of the way before a semester project for one of my classes threw me out of whack. But I'm rarin' to go this year. I'm not sure about the screenwriting, though. Not really my style.
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I'm not sure about the screenwriting, though.
I'm not much for trying new things, but I figure I'll give it a go. I think we've got until next year sometime to make up our minds.
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I'm not going for the whole screenwriting thing, but I plan on doing WriMo for the first time (that's right, a n00b!) this November! Very excited- any tips?
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Lock yourself in a room with a computer. Do not let anything disturb you for thirty days.
But seriously, a good thing to do is to tell your friends and family what you're trying to accomplish, and get their support. It's a lot less painful when they know why you're ignoring them.
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I'm one of those people that has signed up, but never actually managed to do the challenge. *Sweatdrop* I'm going to this year, though! Thanks for mentioning the screenplay thing they've got going this year... I never would have known about it otherwise. I writing screenplays is actually easier for me, mostly because I love dialogue and listening to people talk, but I can't figure out how to describe what the characters are doing as they speak. I see everything going on in this perfect movie in my head, and it's hard to describe how someone's pacing around the room without having adverbs all over the place. :D
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I'm not going for the whole screenwriting thing, but I plan on doing WriMo for the first time (that's right, a n00b!) this November! Very excited- any tips?
Like AA, take it one day at a time. Concentrate on writing 1667 words just for that one day. Never, never think about 50,000, even on the 29th day.
Tell yourself every day that you're writing crap. If you have to, start writing bad prose on purpose. Once things get flowing you may forget yourself and come out with something terrific! ;D
Advice from a one year participant/winner. ::)
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I plan on participating this year. It'll be my first year. I'm excited. And worried. I hope that classes aren't so busy that I can't make the 50,000 word mark (but then I am taking organic chem... so i may be insane enough by the time that November hits that I'll be running without sleep).
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Three-year NaNo veteran, just won for the first time last year. Not to say I've actually finished the story itself. But hey.
I am definitely participating this year. Even though it's my first year of college. Uh, yeah, this is gonna get interesting.
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I'm a NaNoWriMo virgin. That status will change this year though. ;)
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Well, it's Oct 1st, which means the official run-up to NaNoWriMo has begun. Anyone plan to participate this year? I've been poking my way through an outline, and hope to be ready to roll Nov 1. Believe it or not, this will be my first story with supernatural characters!
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Thanks to this thread - I remembered hearing about this and decided to check the site. Looks like a good way to kick myself into writing something that size! lol
For the past few years, I've let text based RPG's be my main creative outlet. It means I'll get out several thousand words a week sometimes and I have a couple fans here and there (which is always lovely for an amateur) but... my ambitions to ever write something novel-sized and of my own creation entirely were left behind ;)
Thanks for reminding me and... I'm afraid I've contaminated two other guys. November is going to be a poor month on our side of the RPG world, LOL
Athanasia
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I've just deleted two comments, terroja's initial troll and the response to it.
Two things:
1. Keep it civil, or find a new home.
2. Don't feed the trolls. Just report them to us.
Ashton
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On one hand, calling the WriMo project stupid shouldn't be equated with calling anyone's dreams stupid...it's a project designed to get people to write, not the end all be all of writing.
Unless you're Piers Anthony, in which case a book a month sounds about right.
On the other hand, asking if you're the only one with enough sense is a bit on the insulting side, terroja. Tact. Taaaaaaact.
Personally, I'll not instrested in this project, because there's no way in hell I'll be able to turn out anything remotely decent that quickly. Sadly.
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Ten four, guys. I'll try to leave the modding to the mods from here on in. :)
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I've been trying to figure out what NaNoWriMo meant for a couple of months (darned acronyms), and finally had the great idea to google it (after a couple of months). I have to say, it sounds really cool, I tend to write quite slowly as a general rule, putting painstaking effort into the wording of everything, and while it might sound nice, I have trouble getting anything done. This sounds like it might be fun to try, try to change some of my habits. And heck, I lose nothing by trying (except perhaps sleep, sanity, personal relationships, grades, health... you know, the small things in life).
*sighs* I actually kinda wish I could start right now, cause I'm rather hyped about the whole thing... but I'll wait as I'm supposed to.. I'll just work on another story of mine instead.
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You could always set your own timeline & go at it. ;)
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[quote author=Mickey Finn link=topic=234.msg16554#msg16554 date=1160684998
On the other hand, asking if you're the only one with enough sense is a bit on the insulting side, terroja. Tact. Taaaaaaact.
It was meant to be insulting. Tact is not a trait I possess or aspire to possess.
But for the sake of your authority, I will attempt to fake it.
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[quote author=Mickey Finn link=topic=234.msg16554#msg16554 date=1160684998
On the other hand, asking if you're the only one with enough sense is a bit on the insulting side, terroja. Tact. Taaaaaaact.
It was meant to be insulting. Tact is not a trait I possess or aspire to possess.
But for the sake of your authority, I will attempt to fake it.
Thank you for making this easy, then.
As you display no repentance for what you did, and in fact a ringing contempt for the community standards, you can fly your "I'm an asshole and I don't care" flag somewhere else.
You're banned.
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I could set my own timeline. But I'm afraid that if I do it will end up on the wayside of other things, I'm thinking that doing it this way will get me to do it. I tend to be a "eh I'll do it later" type of person.
So, I'll wait and do it then, finish up my current story first, and hope it gives me the impetus to do it all. ;)
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I'm participating this year and I can't wait! ;D Like blue moon I'm plotting out the outline of my story, and it's driving me nuts that I can't write on it until November 1st. I've decided to try to convince my friends to come along for the ride to distract myself from the fact I can't start writing , and so far I have one that will and one that is considering it. :)
Is there going to be anything special set up in the Author Craft board for NaNoWriMo participants, out of curiousity?
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Well, you guys can post stuff if you want to...is there anything that would actually help besides posting? (I'm not a participant, I don't know these things.)
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Well, you guys can post stuff if you want to...is there anything that would actually help besides posting? (I'm not a participant, I don't know these things.)
*Shrug* I was just thinking along the lines of creating a thread for participants to keep our NaNoWriMo related ramblings in to annoying the heck out of the sane people on here during November. ;) Would anyone object to me or someone else starting one? I don't think we need anything fancy like a child board, but just a little NaNoWriMo participant thread might be nice. :)
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I would object on the grounds of... hrm... *tries to think of a good reason. Umm... I object on the grounds that I didn't think of it first!
But no, in seriousness it sounds like a cool idea, I have no objections.
It might also be cool to exchange NaNoWriMo names, because I know you can look in on other people's stuff there (what they post for you to look at, how they're coming, etc etc).
I'm um, Belial over there as well... I don't like to have to remember too many login names.
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On the creation of a Nano place on this board, etc - great idea :) And thanks to the mods for being willing to host it.
I'm practically all set to go but the waiting has proved interesting. It got me to do preparations, I don't usually prepare. It also got me to read a couple books on writing recommended in another thread. I'm not sure I'll remember all the "do's & don'ts" (and I don't agree with all of them - but if there were only one good receipt, all writing would taste almost the same). Having some of them in mind will be an improvement though :)
My NaNo ID is Babylonia. The boards are so busy I'm sticking to my regional one so far and it's not English speaking for the most part. But I'll write the novel in English. I've become used to doing all my creative writing in English and that's the only language any friend who cares has in common with me. :)
Athanasia
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I just found out about NaNoWrMo today. My sister actually sent me the link. It seems pretty scary but I'm gonna try it. I think. Maybe.
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My NaNoWriMo name is Tersa. I don't like remembering a lot of login-names either. ;D
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You can just use this thread...or create a new one every time a new one starts.
Unless I'm missing something ;)
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I'm blue moon over there, too. I scanned through the Writing Groups and Clubs section, and discovered that we don't have a thread. So I started one! We can yammer to our hearts' content over there, and easily track everyone's progress. Here's the link:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7220&start=0#forumpost116915
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Didn't learn about it till it was too late last year. I'm already registered for this year. That also means don't expect to see much of me around the forums during November.
I went throught the "I'm going to a writer" phase a few years ago and then just stopped (life, job and all that). Over the past year, I've met a bunch of creative people that have inspired me to start writing again.
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Coincidentally, I finished a through draft of the current work in progress this past weekend, so I'm having great fun telling everyone that November will be the only month this year I'm not working on a new novel.
[ Nothing published as yet; one finished manuscript submitted - first-contact Utopian SF novel - and another that's getting a final pass-through before the end of this month and then being submitted somewhere else - lost-colony SF novel with generally medieval technology but bits of higher tech sitting around, sort of fantasy with SF underwear. ]
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OK, WriMo's let's start some word count bragging. It's still early but best of wishes to everybody. And remember if you get stuck this month remember What Would Jim Do? WWJD? Wait that one's been taken.
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Okay, Grogtard, you need to tell me how to get a NaNoWriMo sig like yours. Did I just over look it on the site, or did you or someone else make it custom?
[Edit] Never mind, I found it. ;D
Good luck, all!
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I'm Stitch over on NaNoWriMo.org. Up over 7000 words here on day 4.
Debbie
aka Stitch
How do I get the counter to work?
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This is my first time doing NaNoWriMo!!! With both my weekends taken up so far, and thursdays being a day I can't right on due to circumstance, I'm not 25, 552 words on day 14! In order to compensate for my lack of weekends and and thursdays, I'm doing 3500 words a day. I have 1500 left to do today, and I'm procrastinating... Why is the internet so shiny????
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Anyone out there still NaNoing? Anyone starting to wonder if they're going to finish in time? My word count is just over 30,000 right now, which means I need to do about 5000 words a day to finish. Eep!
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I did it and I've already won!! But I still have a couple of hundred words to go to finish the story. :P
Stitch
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I have about 3500 words to do today, a close brush with a virus set me back about a week :(
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Yippe, I made it with only 8 hours to spare. Now it time for some serious unwinding and World of Warcraft. ;D
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I made it too! Although the story isn't over yet... yay... now I get to edit, re-write and accept criticism!
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I didn't win this year, sadly. :( I'm still continuing the story, though, so all is not lost. If I just hadn't tried to research, I might have made it. But probably not.
Ah, well. There's always next year. In the meantime, I get to work on Angelic Rhapsody all I want. ;D
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*resurrects old thread so she can post*
I finished too and 'won' 51k+ but again story not finished, since that's just a novella size really. One day when I have a lot more free time, I will finish it and polish it up enough for people to read it. lol Hopefully before the next Nano starts :p
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;D 2-time WriMo participant... Sadly, neither completed, though I'm still working on the one I started this year:) Maybe 2007 will be the one I finish? *wicked grin*
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I just heard about it this last year. I used to do alot of writing in high school and then some in college, but i just haven't felt like for writing anymore. I've been thinking that maybe doing something like this would re-invigorate my desire to write.
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I tried for it, and horribly failed.
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I did nanowrimo this year, more as a joke than anything else. My friend that challenged me dropped out at about 1,000 words, but my story kept flying out of my fingers, and I managed to finish by the deadline. Now, after adding 33K words, I am shopping for agents.
I was a little intimidated by the writers that sailed past with 100K words in a month or more. I work full time and have a 3 year old son, but mananged the 50K. Maybe it would be easier if I had heard about it more than a week before, and had done some prep work...
I am looking forward to next year's nano!
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This year (well, last year now) was my first attempt, and sadly I didn't make it. I had been doing a lot of writing at work, then work got busy, and a bunch of other stuff came up. I think after I got a day or two behind I got down, then I got stuck on a plot point that wasn't working (I didn't have a plot, basically) then figured ah well. Turns out I was past the halfway point and probably could have made it, but it was a first try and I'm not too bummed I didn't make it.
Now I don't even like the way I introduced the plot, so I'll have to change that, eventually. I'm still working on the story, here and there.
My best friend's done it several times, but I'm not sure if she's ever made it.