NaNoWriMo people -- I need your input, please

[msjones]

I want to do this.

I don't know where to start.

I see some of you writing about plot points and outlines. That is a bit intimidating. I wonder if there is a great site to get me started. What do you suggest?

 

I have a favorite idea that is more like a long short story than a novel. Could I really do this?? If you've done it, how was it? Did you love it? Hate it?

[jenn-]

Definitely start at the NaNoWriMo site. The forums there are a ton of help and inspiration. You can totally do this! Thousands of people do it every November. 50,000 words sounds like a lot, but it is actually the size of a novella, so maybe you could expand the idea of your short story just a little bit. You would be surprised how your story will take on a life of its own. We also have a social group here that will get busier as NaNo gets closer. NaNoWriMo social group

[msjones]

Definitely start at the NaNoWriMo site. The forums there are a ton of help and inspiration. You can totally do this! Thousands of people do it every November. 50,000 words sounds like a lot, but it is actually the size of a novella, so maybe you could expand the idea of your short story just a little bit. You would be surprised how your story will take on a life of its own. We also have a social group here that will get busier as NaNo gets closer. NaNoWriMo social group

 

Thank you! I just registered at their site and am waiting for them to send my password. I'm excited just from signing up!

[Gooblink]

I don't outline or plot anything. I don't even know who my characters (besdes main character) are going to be before I start. :) I'd use this time to scour the NaNo website, as suggested, and also to read, read, read your favorite authors in the genre you plan to write (if you know the genre. If not read your favorite authors, anyway.)

 

I'm excited, too. It's a lot of fun!

[AuntieM]

NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty wrote a book titled No Plot, No Problem. I found a copy at my local library. Very funny and helpful.

 

Don't worry, if there's one thing the month is not about, it's quality. Your story does not have to be good, or even make sense, especially if this is your first time around. Truly, the only thing you can do wrong is not get 50,000 words typed into your word document.

 

There are plotters (we are the ones upsetting you, I fear; trust me, we are compulsive but harmless) and there are pantsers (those who do nothing ahead of time, then sit at their writing spot on Day 1 and fly through the month by the seat of their pants). Part of me thinks the pantsers have way more fun...

[elegantlion]

 

There are plotters (we are the ones upsetting you, I fear; trust me, we are compulsive but harmless) and there are pantsers (those who do nothing ahead of time, then sit at their writing spot on Day 1 and fly through the month by the seat of their pants). Part of me thinks the pantsers have way more fun...

 

Pantsers here. I'm working on some serious edits of a novel and the editing pulls me out my creative mood. So during Nano I let my hair down. I throw my characters together and mix it up. It's amazing one of them usually takes over the story and the plot develops as I write.

 

I'm reading Alice's Adventure in Wonderland with ds right now, that should be a great intro into November. Lots of rabbit trails, weird characters, and nonsensical plot twists.

 

My first Nano was less about the story itself and more about finding out who I was as a writer. Could I reach the goal? What distraction got in my way? What was I really good at, hopefully you'll be convinced at some point in the month that your story is awesome. Don't worry, the next day you'll read it and think its drivel and want to start over. Can I physically type 1667 words per day? Will my family not implode because I'm not there 24/7? Did I remember to back up my file? Do I feel a challenge when someone I know has more words than me? Did I look at babynames.com when you only child is now 13 just so you can get character names? Did you sneak a copy of Writer's Digest off the bookstore shelf and look to make sure no one laughed at the prospect of YOU being a writer? Did you take your laptop to a coffee shop to write and feel an ounce of pride because the possibility exists that you could be a writer?

 

Lots of things happen in those thirty days in November. Some of them have to do with the amount of words you write.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

My first Nano was less about the story itself and more about finding out who I was as a writer. Could I reach the goal? What distraction got in my way? What was I really good at, hopefully you'll be convinced at some point in the month that your story is awesome. Don't worry, the next day you'll read it and think its drivel and want to start over. Can I physically type 1667 words per day? Will my family not implode because I'm not there 24/7? Did I remember to back up my file? Do I feel a challenge when someone I know has more words than me? Did I look at babynames.com when you only child is now 13 just so you can get character names? Did you sneak a copy of Writer's Digest off the bookstore shelf and look to make sure no one laughed at the prospect of YOU being a writer? Did you take your laptop to a coffee shop to write and feel an ounce of pride because the possibility exists that you could be a writer?

 

Lots of things happen in those thirty days in November. Some of them have to do with the amount of words you write.[/QUOTE]

 

 

I'm probably going to dive in. I think even just getting back my eye and ear for writing will be an accomplishment.

 

I'm sort of hitting the middle between an outline and nothing. I've taken a stack of 3x5 cards and have just been listing a bunch of things that might happen that could advance the plot. Things that when they happened to me or around me were emotionally charged. Or funny. Or made me have to change or confront something. I figure worst case, I'll pull a card and torture my characters with it.

[elise1mds]

I'm going to be somewhere in the middle. I've had an idea stewing in my head for years and have just never had the gumption to put it down. So I do have a rough idea of the general direction the work should go, but if I outline, I'll wind up tossing it out 1/3 of the way through anyway. It's an 'ish' thing.

[Mergath]

I'm a writer, though I've never done NaNoWriMo. As a rule, first drafts suck. The point is just to get something, anything, down on paper (so to speak). Usually, when you have a few great ideas but haven't mapped out an entire plot, you'll have a few moments in mind for your characters that you can't wait to write down. If I'm stuck, I start by writing those. It helps me get to know my characters better, and to get more attached to the book in general. If I've written those and I'm still stuck, it usually means that the ideas need a little more time to stew in my mental crock pot. :)

[min]

I've just joined the social group, and am looking forward to writing!

Min

[msjones]

Oooh...I'm getting excited just reading these posts! Writing is something that has sunk, sunk, sunk to the bottom of my list for years and years. I used to love it.

 

I kinda wish I could start tonight! I do have a story burning in my head -- it usually pops up while I'm cooking.

 

For the NaNoWriMo veterans, I'd love to hear about your experiences. How long did it take each day? Were you looking forward to the writing each day? Dreading it some days? Did your friends and family think you were nuts? Were you at all satisfied with the result or was the satisfaction all in the process?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I want to do this.

I don't know where to start.

I see some of you writing about plot points and outlines. That is a bit intimidating. I wonder if there is a great site to get me started. What do you suggest?

 

I have a favorite idea that is more like a long short story than a novel. Could I really do this?? If you've done it, how was it? Did you love it? Hate it?

 

I'm twiddling on an outline roughly set in the situation I'm in now, military family stationed overseas. As I was thinking of characters, I realized that while almost all of them are married, I'm not thinking of any husbands as characters.

 

It's not just that it is likely to be a story peopled with women. It's that the men are gone so much at work and at sea that I can't even think of a part for them in the story except for offstage actors.

 

Sad and telling isn't it?

[Gooblink]

Oooh...I'm getting excited just reading these posts! Writing is something that has sunk, sunk, sunk to the bottom of my list for years and years. I used to love it.

 

I kinda wish I could start tonight! I do have a story burning in my head -- it usually pops up while I'm cooking.

 

For the NaNoWriMo veterans, I'd love to hear about your experiences. How long did it take each day? Were you looking forward to the writing each day? Dreading it some days? Did your friends and family think you were nuts? Were you at all satisfied with the result or was the satisfaction all in the process?

 

If you're interested, last year I chronicled my experience on my blog. Here's the link to the articles. There's not an entry for each of the 30 days, but the articles are in chronological order.

 

http://www.gooblink.com/content/blogcategory/17/89/

 

I'll be doing the same thing this year, only both boys are going to be involved, as well. :)