s/o nanowrimo???

[dancer67]

I have been dying to get started on writing a book. But what I am trying to understand about this site, is what exactly do you get for your efforts? A certificate? Is that it?

 

And what if you want to write a book about your life, and how it might help others. Kind of like the book "A Child Called It". Can you write something in that kind of genre?

 

Do you get your work published?

 

I looked all over their site, and it is quite overwhelming. I know this starts November 1st.

[Georgiana Daniels]

You get the satisfaction of having written 50,000 words. Most people do it only for fun. Yes, some have gone on to find publishers for their work, but that is not the norm.

 

Oh, and you get a blog badge that announces you as a winner!

 

I use it because I have a specific story I'm wanting to write as a follow-up to my last book. Many writers use NANO to jumpstart their word count and provide additional motivation. It all depends on what you're looking for. It's a great place to be with like minds who want to pound out those 50,000 words.

[Food4Thought]

For some of us who have spent *years* of our lives saying that we would like to "someday" write a book, completing those 50,000 words for NaNo can be life-changing. I wrote a novel last year. Then I finished a screenplay. It convinced me that I am a writer because I can write, and it helped me see how to work writing into my life *now* instead of *someday.*

 

If you joined and wrote non-fiction, you would be what they would call a NaNo Rebel on the site. The main goal is fiction/creative writing and letting loose all that creative energy. But 50,000 words as a NaNo Rebel still means you win. You don't get anything. Just the satisfaction of knowing you can, and the encouragement of other people doing the same thing. :)

[dancer67]

I joined. It asked what the novel was about, I just put "other genre". At this point, it is really just fiction. But no category. I am not really sure how to categorize it. Not yet anyways.

 

I knew what I wanted to write about. But it is tough getting it down into words. I will need a lot of re-writes after this is done, and that is IF I make the 50,000 word count.:lol:

 

I have about 450 words as of now. I have a long way to go.

 

If nothing else, like you said, I have been wanting to write for a while now, but just never did it. Weird how I just came across someone's post about this today.

 

I am still not really sure how it all works, or how to make friends with others there. But in time, I am sure I can figure it all out.

 

It is a great challenge for sure!!

[IsabelC]

On the site, it lists "Memoir" as an allowable genre. Now I know a memoir isn't exactly the same thing as a life story or an autobiography, but it's pretty similar. So I'd say if you fancy writing non fiction, just go for it. Sure it's not a novel, but it's still a pretty darn good achievement.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I don't think I would *want* there to be a bunch of extrinsic rewards. Those would take away from the intrinsic ones.

 

There is a forum for "rebels" who are writing books that aren't considered fiction of one genre or another.

 

Quite a few people have gotten published. They did considerable work after the month. The month allowed them to have a major rough draft though. If you want to go that direction, you most certainly may :)

[dancer67]

On the site, it lists "Memoir" as an allowable genre. Now I know a memoir isn't exactly the same thing as a life story or an autobiography, but it's pretty similar. So I'd say if you fancy writing non fiction, just go for it. Sure it's not a novel, but it's still a pretty darn good achievement.

 

I didn't see this, where is this located on the site?

[anneofalamo]

all I know is for 45 minutes there was complete silence as my 4 kids (3 of which hate creative writing) scurried words onto their paper. They are writing with pen to keep from erasing and can't wait til 2pm for nanowrimo, they exceeded their word goal counts by double yesterday, so they are all pretty excited.

That is a prize in itself.

I am doing it, so I can say I did it..one day, maybe it will be published, I like the idea for the book, and now I can at least have the skeleton for it!

[Saille]

As others have said, for me it's the community that is the draw...the sense that I am participating in a crazy, marathon event is a huge motivator where otherwise, I might psych myself out or allow life to interfere. Plus, it's a lot easier for your family to get on the wagon when you say, "It's just a month." I love watching all our progress bars and daily stats, I love write-ins (have you looked to see if there's a group in your area yet?), I love the way I obsessively tailor my Pandora stations to feel like a soundtrack for my story...I just love it.

 

It is...wonderful. Fun, exciting, friendly...I get a big kick out of it. It's empowering for me, and watching last year empowered my kids to try it this year. Their plots are sort of amazing. Totally worth it, for me. I'll likely donate this year, since the proceeds help to run the site and also help pay for the Young Writers Program, which is really excellent.

[sunriseiz]

all I know is for 45 minutes there was complete silence as my 4 kids (3 of which hate creative writing) scurried words onto their paper. They are writing with pen to keep from erasing and can't wait til 2pm for nanowrimo, they exceeded their word goal counts by double yesterday, so they are all pretty excited.

That is a prize in itself.

 

 

I just figured out what this is and that they have a young writers version. I think my DD would love this, but I have no idea how many words is a reasonable goal for her. Did your kiddos choose their own word goal? I want it to be challenging, but doable iykwim.

 

TIA!

[Garga]

Dancer67,

 

Back in the 90's a guy and his friends joked about how when they were older they'd all write books. The guy got to thinking, "Why not write books NOW?"

 

So, he set a goal for himself and his friends. "Let's write a 50,000 word novel in a MONTH!" They all thought that was a pretty cool idea (they were in their 20s and single...)

 

About 200 people started this challenge that first year, but only about 5 finished it. However, the original guy who started it still loved his idea, and decided to keep doing it year after year. He wrote a book about it (No plot? No problem!) and started a website. Currently, hundreds of thousands of people in many countries around the world participate and thousands finish their word count.

 

Over the years he's developed some tips to help you along the way. For example, the 50,000 word novel in a month is NOT supposed to be any good. It's really just an exercise in playing with words and creativity.

 

If you really want to have a good novel come out of this, you have to consider this 50,000 word month to be a VERY rough draft. You are NOT supposed to be editing this book during this month. This month, you just write, write, write, and you're allowed (even SUPPOSED) to be writing very badly.

 

The only point of NaNaWriMo is just to get your creative juices flowing. The only reward is to sit back on your heels and say, "Shooee! I did it!"

 

If you want to publish your book, wait a couple of weeks and re-read your book. Then go from there with editing it and rearranging it, etc.

 

 

Hope that helps clarify for you what exactly NaNoWriMo is (national novel writing month.) Everyone does this during the same month for solidarity and to give each other tips. It's just for fun.

[Saille]

I just figured out what this is and that they have a young writers version. I think my DD would love this, but I have no idea how many words is a reasonable goal for her. Did your kiddos choose their own word goal? I want it to be challenging, but doable iykwim.

 

TIA!

 

There's a chart in the teacher resources part of the site, with low, medium and high goals set out by grade level. They may be on the low side, though. I wouldn't say my dd7 has been a prolific writer before, but I set her word goal at 600, and she's got 165 on day two.

[sunriseiz]

There's a chart in the teacher resources part of the site, with low, medium and high goals set out by grade level. They may be on the low side, though. I wouldn't say my dd7 has been a prolific writer before, but I set her word goal at 600, and she's got 165 on day two.

 

Thanks. I checked out the recs. I don't think my dd is terribly prolific either, but she writes letters to grandparents in the range of 40-50 words I would guess, so 100-300 (as they suggest) doesn't seem so challenging. 600 is probably better. Even though I want it to be a challenge, I want it to be a goal she can meet as she is easily frustrated by falling way short of a goal. Thanks for the help and tell your dd "good job"!

[Irene Lynn]

My daughter and her friends get a big rush out of it! They plan their plots and characters and draw their characters a bunch before getting started. Then they have a kick-off party, stay up until midnight and start writing furiously. My daughter loves reading on the NaNo site. She has learned so many things and has been introduced to all sorts of people there, who all want to write. She has learned a tremendous amount through the process, like what makes a good character and what sort of writer she is. She and her friends all read each other's books and they each have different strengths and discuss them. They are sort of a female Inkling group. The older one is a sophomore in college on her way to becoming an English Professor, the other one will start college next year with the goal of teaching high school English and drama, and our daughter plans to start college next year for a Creative Writing degree. The other two girls attended the same school and both let their Honors English teacher read their novels, which they had gone on to finish, not edit, after NaNo was done. The teacher said they were the best stories she had read from any of her students. She strongly encouraged the younger one to refine her novel. This teacher talked the principal into agreeing to purchase at least 24 copies of this book, when it was finished so that she could assign it as reading to her future classes. This friend is just finishing it up. Our daughter was one of several people, who was asked to read it and offer suggestions and corrections and point out inconsistencies. Our daughter has also helped this girl with formatting the whole book with page numbers and page headers and creating cover designs as well as doing it each year for her own copy of her NaNo. This is all above and beyond a heavy school load. Just a great learning experience.

 

In the past 3 years, if you were a winner, you got the privilege of getting your own copy of the "book" for free. You do have to format it so it will work with their system. My dd is very proud to have 3 of her own novels sitting on her bookshelf. One got all the way to 120K words.

 

You do get a certificate, but the experience and the copy of the novel have been far greater rewards for my daughter.

[sunriseiz]

My daughter and her friends get a big rush out of it! They plan their plots and characters and draw their characters a bunch before getting started. Then they have a kick-off party, stay up until midnight and start writing furiously. My daughter loves reading on the NaNo site. She has learned so many things and has been introduced to all sorts of people there, who all want to write. She has learned a tremendous amount through the process, like what makes a good character and what sort of writer she is. She and her friends all read each other's books and they each have different strengths and discuss them. They are sort of a female Inkling group. The older one is a sophomore in college on her way to becoming an English Professor, the other one will start college next year with the goal of teaching high school English and drama, and our daughter plans to start college next year for a Creative Writing degree. The other two girls attended the same school and both let their Honors English teacher read their novels, which they had gone on to finish, not edit, after NaNo was done. The teacher said they were the best stories she had read from any of her students. She strongly encouraged the younger one to refine her novel. This teacher talked the principal into agreeing to purchase at least 24 copies of this book, when it was finished so that she could assign it as reading to her future classes. This friend is just finishing it up. Our daughter was one of several people, who was asked to read it and offer suggestions and corrections and point out inconsistencies. Our daughter has also helped this girl with formatting the whole book with page numbers and page headers and creating cover designs as well as doing it each year for her own copy of her NaNo. This is all above and beyond a heavy school load. Just a great learning experience.

 

In the past 3 years, if you were a winner, you got the privilege of getting your own copy of the "book" for free. You do have to format it so it will work with their system. My dd is very proud to have 3 of her own novels sitting on her bookshelf. One got all the way to 120K words.

 

You do get a certificate, but the experience and the copy of the novel have been far greater rewards for my daughter.

 

That is awesome! I am hoping my 7yo dd will have fun and surprise herself with what she can do!

[stephanier.1765]

I set my 14yo's low too at only 14000 and I was seriously worried about him even meeting that but he's almost at the 4000 mark on day 2. Now I worry he'll hit a wall and lose his will to finish.

 

I was wondering what mom's of other children we setting as word count goals. I'm glad I'm not the only one who went with a low number. They can always go over but they can't go under.

[Food4Thought]

I wanted to mention another thing to Dancer - make sure you set a "Home Region" on the site. Each home region has its own forum, and there may be local events like write-ins where other people doing NaNo get together to encourage each other. I ended up joining my local Writers Guild after last year - it was so fun to get involved with the other writers in my area (and I'm a total introvert, so it's not like I'm prone to enjoying meeting new people). You might want to check in to that if you want to get more plugged in on the site.

 

Thanks for all of you recommending word counts. I still haven't set one for DS. I was thinking 5000 words of dication, but now I'm wondering if I need to downgrade significantly. He easily did 7 pages for Script Frenzy back in April, so I want to challenge him without making it too hard. Hmm...

[6packofun]

My dds love hanging out on the site year round, too. They get ideas for characters and role play, etc. Hey, it's writing!!

[Veritaserum]

I just figured out what this is and that they have a young writers version. I think my DD would love this, but I have no idea how many words is a reasonable goal for her. Did your kiddos choose their own word goal? I want it to be challenging, but doable iykwim.

 

TIA!

 

My 5th grade dd set a goal of 5,000 words. Last I checked she had 2,000. She's a naturally creative writer and I love the little details she has created for her world. After every school subject she begs to know if she can stop and do NaNoWriMo. :)