And so it begins! NaNoWriMo 2013

[Uff Da!]

Peanut butter cups are a must.  A person can't write without peanut butter cups.

 

I read one of those Target junior edition novels yesterday.  It seemed to help my mind rest while giving me ideas of where to go with my characters.  (And it didn't take long to read)

[Tiramisu]

Peanut butter cups are a must.  A person can't write without peanut butter cups.

 

I read one of those Target junior edition novels yesterday.  It seemed to help my mind rest while giving me ideas of where to go with my characters.  (And it didn't take long to read)

 

That's a good idea. I keep thinking of my *favorite* author and I just can't measure up. OBVIOUSLY. Maybe I just need to pick up a fun piece of twaddle for a couple of hours. Nice and juicy pulp.

[Uff Da!]

That's a good idea. I keep thinking of my *favorite* author and I just can't measure up. OBVIOUSLY. Maybe I just need to pick up a fun piece of twaddle for a couple of hours. Nice and juicy pulp.

 

 

I wonder if anyone's nano story measures up to anything.  Mine reads like a five year old's narration.  :)  

[Tiramisu]

I wonder if anyone's nano story measures up to anything.  Mine reads like a five year old's narration.   :)

 

Looking at you siggy, maybe your novel is a five year old's narration! Or a six year old's! ;)

 

Sorry, I couldn't help it. Anything to avoid writing.

 

I've been emailing each day's work to my email account and sent one day's to dh by mistake. He asked if I sent it to him the novel to read and if it starts out with someone getting hit it the head. It was all very embarrassing and I went to bed discouraged.  :blush:

 

But I woke up to a lovely, sweet email from one of the people who was an inspiration for me to write it and I don't feel quite as bad now.   B)

[Uff Da!]

But I woke up to a lovely, sweet email from one of the people who was an inspiration for me to write it and I don't feel quite as bad now.   B)

 

 

Ahh.....  See, it's a sign for you to get at it again.

 

and as for this:

 

"Looking at you siggy, maybe your novel is a five year old's narration! Or a six year old's!  ;)"

 

As frustrated as I am by my writing style at the moment, the emerging skeletal story is the strongest I've ever stumbled through.  I am over the moon about that.  And best of all, it's written to be a read aloud to littles.

[elegantlion]

My novel reads like I need therapy. Which, for this year, is the purpose of my story. I wish I was kidding. It's really unclogged some other creative pores too. I make up silly songs during the day, and yesterday they were working well. I made up a song about my cat, Speedy.  :lol: Yeah, I'm weird. 

 

Anyway, I needed a distraction, so I started watching "Arrow" on Netflix. 4 episodes later :coolgleamA: ...I went to bed.

[Mom22ns]

I usually don't hit the Chat board, so I had totally missed this thread. My novel is going well, I'm just over 20,000 words in. Now for the bad news, in my plot outline, I'm about 80% finished. I apparently need a good subplot to come along and take this story by storm.

 

Maybe the real failure here is that I'm trying to lose weight and haven't eaten so much as ONE peanut butter cup. I think it totally explains my imminent failure.

[jenn-]

I am pretty sure my characters talk like a Disney TV show if it makes you feel any better and those are HORRIBLE!  I still have zero clue where this story is going, but my MC is about to start doubting her sanity (I think).  Still playing catch up.  At least as of yesterday I had an estimated finish date of Dec 14th instead of the 31st which is where I started.

[jenn-]

My MC just called someone else a little bug fart.  Now isn't that quality writing.  In my defense my characters are like 3 inch fairies so a bug fart is probably pretty bad in their world.

[Uff Da!]

I'm on WTM trying to switch gears from a tough day of parenting and think bug fart sounds like it could be a loving name for someone......

 

[Uff Da!]

We are almost half way through the month.  How's everyone doing?  I'm considering taking tomorrow off to rejuvenate and just relax.

 

Anything funny in your novels you care to share?

[jenn-]

I am still playing catch up. I hope to keep averaging 2500 each day. Unfortunately I know I have a harder time getting my counts in on the weekends (something about my dh staring at me while I ignore everyone gets to me).

 

Nothing super funny to report on the story front. My mc did start a rumor that sent her whole village into paranoid pandemonium to protect her love interest who is trying to protect the mc. Who knew fairies were so territorial?

[Tiramisu]

I've had two really good days, and though I'm still behind where I should be right now, things are looking more hopeful. 

 

I think I need to work on the intrigue a little more.

 

I can't think of anything outstandingly funny in my story, but what's funny to me is that my mc is becoming so attractive to me. Maybe that happens to people who do this stuff but this is my first time at it so it's interesting to me.

[Uff Da!]

nm

 

[Mom22ns]

Anything funny in your novels you care to share?

Something funny is really what my novel needs. It's a dystopian novel and is quite bleak. I'm not very funny, but I'm going to start looking for ways to inject some humor and lighten thing up!

 

I'm taking ds to test for his dricer's license this morning. If he passes, we may celebrate with a write in at Panera (his request) which would assure I'll hit the half way mark today. If he fails (again) I may be too depressed to write.

[elegantlion]

My novel is not humorous either. Last night I ended a scene that hit a little too close for home. I'd been in tears most of the day already for other reasons and the words flowed from that spot where it feels your soul is pouring onto the keyboard. It hit exactly the right tone I needed, filled of the insight into my character that had been missing. The majority of my story is messy, literary-wise. This scene fell into place perfectly. 

 

I plan on finishing this weekend, but I may be a huge mess afterward. This whole month has been very cathartic. I needed to get some of the cobwebs out of my head, shine light into those dark places. I have some huge things coming up and I need to be at my best. 

 

Ironically, what started out to be a story simply for me has turned into something that could be worth pursuing. 

[jenn-]

My writing today was boring and uninspired.  The only thing that really happened was my MC can fly again and she is destined for pain and suffering if she doesn't change her path (thanks seer for letting her know she needs to get out of town, too bad I have no idea what lays beyond the village).

[Uff Da!]

Maybe you'll get an idea when you sleep tonight.

 

I wrote today and killed off the character that was holding my MCs captive. For days, I've been thinking that this is the day she dies. This is the day I get to write that scene.  But no, she kept on going.  Now, she's finally gone.    

[jenn-]

Maybe you'll get an idea when you sleep tonight.

 

I wrote today and killed off the character that was holding my MCs captive. For days, I've been thinking that this is the day she dies. This is the day I get to write that scene. But no, she kept on going. Now, she's finally gone.

I am such a wimp. In all my nanos I have only successfully killed off one character.

[jenn-]

Oh! Oh!  Last night's post has inspired me to kill off my MC's father in a fire that she started.  Don't know if I will get all the way there today, but since the fire is already burning, I guess I might.  The guilt is going to make her confess which is going to get the townspeople after her and drive her to flee with the love interest.

[elegantlion]

Oh! Oh!  Last night's post has inspired me to kill off my MC's father in a fire that she started.  Don't know if I will get all the way there today, but since the fire is already burning, I guess I might.  The guilt is going to make her confess which is going to get the townspeople after her and drive her to flee with the love interest.

 

I've killed off 4 this year and that's pretty high for me. Well, except the one about the plane crash, that one only had 13 survivors. 

 

I have mixed feeling about the killings in general in writing. If it works in the story great. A story needs catalyst, a killing is a quick and easy way to allow our character to jump into action. However, that catalyst doesn't have to be death. I also think part of the Nano fun is exploring writing in ways you wouldn't normally write. 

 

I read your earlier post last night and it made me think about the "killing in writing". It's not wimpy not to kill off people. It's all in what you write and how you explore those characters. 

[jenn-]

I've killed off 4 this year and that's pretty high for me. Well, except the one about the plane crash, that one only had 13 survivors. 

 

I have mixed feeling about the killings in general in writing. If it works in the story great. A story needs catalyst, a killing is a quick and easy way to allow our character to jump into action. However, that catalyst doesn't have to be death. I also think part of the Nano fun is exploring writing in ways you wouldn't normally write. 

 

I read your earlier post last night and it made me think about the "killing in writing". It's not wimpy not to kill off people. It's all in what you write and how you explore those characters. 

 

This is very true, but the year I was writing about a terminally ill patient who was out on a journey with friends because he was terminally ill wouldn't die.  I liked the MC too much and kept finding ways to stall from finishing him off.  I never did get to the end of that story. 

[Sherri in MI]

I'm procrastinating working on my NaNo novel & saw this post for the first time.  I was excited the first day despite having absolutely no idea what I was doing. 

 

Son, who has been a NoNoWriMo winner for years, brainstormed with me & now I at least have a premise.  But I only have a few hundred words. 

 

I keep being very distracted and procrastinating.  I'm having sleep issues too & so am very tired.

 

November is a busy month with my son's & husband's birthdays & Thanksgiving & all!  I rather wish it was in January!  Nothing happens in January.

 

Surely I have left out some additional excuses!  :glare:

 

 

Just noticed I don't have a gravatar - maybe I should go take care of that now...;)

[jenn-]

I'm procrastinating working on my NaNo novel & saw this post for the first time.  I was excited the first day despite having absolutely no idea what I was doing. 

 

Son, who has been a NoNoWriMo winner for years, brainstormed with me & now I at least have a premise.  But I only have a few hundred words. 

 

I keep being very distracted and procrastinating.  I'm having sleep issues too & so am very tired.

 

November is a busy month with my son's & husband's birthdays & Thanksgiving & all!  I rather wish it was in January!  Nothing happens in January.

 

Surely I have left out some additional excuses!  :glare:

 

 

Just noticed I don't have a gravatar - maybe I should go take care of that now... ;)

 

I had to be firm with myself today.  I turned off the wifi on the computer.  I was sucked into the interweebs and I had to get started for the day.  Now football has distracted me, but I got 2200 words in before that point.  You can do this.  Even if you don't make it to the 50K by the end of November every word you put towards that story is one more word then you would have written otherwise.  Keep going!

 

 

[Uff Da!]

It's nice to "win" if you can but the bigger win is to write something and to do it when you can have support from other writers.  It makes a difference- having people who are enthusiastic about writing and going through the ups and downs of trying to get something out and on paper- it makes a huge difference to have that support.

 

I am staying on target for word count through sheer determination.  I took today to clean the house as its hard for some family members to be happy in wreckage, more or less for them to be supportive of my writing.   :glare:   We are out of peanut butter cups too.  That needs to be remedied. 

 

I am excited that story line #1 has taken me this far.  I want the majority of the novel to be that story line and, at this point, I will get at least 35,000 words out of it easily.  Storyline #2 is emotionally laden/heavy and may be more difficult to write.  

[jenn-]

I am getting desperate ladies.  In the land of make believe anything can happen and my fairy might just learn that she can talk to animals tomorrow.  This will be good since she is on a suicide mission and that would be a bad thing if she succeeds.

[Uff Da!]

Along the lines of getting desperate, the "Traveling Shovel of Death" still hasn't made an appearance in any of my novels.  It's a yearly nano dare and I don't think I'm going to be able to fit it in this year unless one of my characters attacks a rabid squirrel with the TSoD.  So sad.  

 

 So Jenn, if you get desperate enough, you could always throw in the Traveling Shovel of Death and have it do something.  :)

[elegantlion]

I ended with a  lovely epilogue and I am done! 50505 words. I may write more, but I think I'll read through it and let it stew in my brain a while, then lay it aside until January ( or May) to edit. 

 

I like the way it ended, which is unusual for me as I tend to want to write on and on about my characters. I feel like this story is told, wrapped up nicely in an epilogue (which is more for me at this point). 

 

Lots of editing ahead, but i might actually be pleased with this story. 

 

Now I have lots of my own school stuff to do, which is why I crammed to get this done sooner. 

 

Write on folks!

[Mom22ns]

Wow, terrific EL!

 

I'm a bit behind right now. Things were getting dull. I am in the process of creating a major blow up between MC and antagonist. It is going to take things in a direction I didn't see coming, but it needs to happen. I also need to kill a dog who has bonded to my MC, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. Wish I hadn't made that dog so similar to mine!

[Uff Da!]

Congratulation Elegantlion!

[Uff Da!]

The post above is an example of what constant writing and a lack of Reese's does to a person.  I can't even type "Congratulations" properly.

 

Keep writing 3rd weekers!  I was trying to think of something to do to celebrate milestones of WTM nanowrimos but am coming up dry.  

[Tiramisu]

I'm thrilled for EL, too!

 

I'm more behind then ever. Too many jobs to do over the weekend. Monday was a bad pain day. The first and worst in a long time. Today I don't have any pain but I'm feeling really lethargic. I haven't been taking my antihistimines and I may be fighting the virus that everyone else had last week. I hope I get feeling better and back into a groove soon.

[jenn-]

I'm thrilled for EL, too!

 

I'm more behind then ever. Too many jobs to do over the weekend. Monday was a bad pain day. The first and worst in a long time. Today I don't have any pain but I'm feeling really lethargic. I haven't been taking my antihistimines and I may be fighting the virus that everyone else had last week. I hope I get feeling better and back into a groove soon.

 

I'm right there with you.  I feel like my sinuses have been scrapped by sandpaper and then filled with concrete.  I feel a doctor's appointment is in my near future.  At least my character's suicide mission was a fail yesterday.

[Uff Da!]

:(  I'm sorry you all are feeling miserable.  We are finally healthy here (as in almost everyone in the house.)

 

I'm having trouble today.  I think I'll be writing the same thing over and over again from different perspectives until I figure out what's going on with the details.  It can't hurt the word count any but its like trying make a sculpture out of sludge.  

And I started tearing up while writing in the coffee shop today because I'm writing about kids coming home and homecomings in general make me weepy.  Can you imagine?  But then I think about those writers that need to act out their fight scenes- that has to make for some interesting coffee shop moments.

[Mom22ns]

I just passed the 40,000 word mark. This story has not gone the way I expected and I struggled in the middle as it took an unexpected turn. Now I have decided on an ending, made some notes and just have to figure out how to get from here to there in 10,000 words and 5 days. 

 

How is everyone else doing?

[Mergath]

I'm close to 45,000, so nearing the finish line!  I wrote almost three thousand words today because I want to be done by Thanksgiving.  Great job, EL!  I've been watching your word count in awe all month. 

 

As for the story itself, I love the first third, the last third is turning out to be too close for comfort to a psychotic reboot of What Dreams May Come, and the middle third is the lazy mush that connects the other two thirds. *sigh*  There's always editing, though.  Months and months of editing.  And inevitably, self-publishing. :p

 

My MC is driving me nuts.  Everyone else is great, but my MC irks me.  I think I wrote her too close to myself, so I can't step back and look at her objectively.  Oh well.  More editing.

 

Also, I have an ear infection, a sinus infection, and possibly also an abcessed tooth, so my family will be happy when I'm done with the thing and the associated stress and am no longer the Queen of Murderous Glares. ;)

[Uff Da!]

I'm playing catch up.  We had company and a recital which meant I was cooking and cleaning instead of writing.  I think it was good to take a break because switching to my second storyline (which is very dark compared to story line #1) is hard.  It's coming.  I'm finally "in" story line #2 and think finishing on time is possible if I get some quiet time.

 

Good luck everyone on the final push.

[Mom22ns]

We had company all weekend too. It put me significantly behind, but I've changed my mind on my ending and more importantly, figured out how to get there! I think a few solid hours is all it will take. I write somewhere around 1500 words an hour if I'm flowing well and now that I have a plan, that just means about 5 hours left. 

 

Of course I am cooking dinner for mine and Dh's families Thursday and I do need to do a bit of cleaning tomorrow to be ready... but still I can find 5 hours between now and Saturday - no problem!

[Uff Da!]

I wrote 7000 words today and made it to the 40,000 mark.  Uff da :P 

 

My last scene ended with an old man sprinkling homemade hard cider all over the lawn to keep forest animals off his property.  I think a scene that terrible is a sign to call it quits for the day.  Keep it up everyone. :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray: 

[AMJ]

Woohoo!  For the first time I COMPLETED NANOWRIMO!!!!  50,420 words!
 
Amazing how a last-minute crisis just before a major family-gathering holiday can not only rob one of the planned let's-finish-this-early writing time, but can go on to give the final inspiration to get through that pesky last 2000 words.
 
Hooray hooray hooray!  Who else has finished?  (I need to go back through this thread to go see.)

[AMJ]

Congrats, Elagantlion!!!!

[Tiramisu]

I'm not finished and I'm sure I won't. I've reached the 30,000's but then real life had to come first. I'm hoping to get some time in today and tomorrow, but dh invited a guest for lunch and tomorrow, all the family we didn't get together with is coming over for the day. It's not likely much will be accomplished but I'm not feeling too bad.

[Mom22ns]

Woohoo!  For the first time I COMPLETED NANOWRIMO!!!!  50,420 words!

 

Amazing how a last-minute crisis just before a major family-gathering holiday can not only rob one of the planned let's-finish-this-early writing time, but can go on to give the final inspiration to get through that pesky last 2000 words.

 

Hooray hooray hooray!  Who else has finished?  (I need to go back through this thread to go see.)

 

Congratulations!

 

I'm not finished, but I'm only 2500 words away. Shouldn't be any problem. I am actually in a really easy place to write and will probably finish as soon as my company leaves today.

 

This novel has some real highlights and some complete drivel as I wander aimlessly trying to keep writing while not really knowing where I am going. At least I am really enjoying the end.

[Uff Da!]

Congratulations AMJ!

 

I'm at the 2500 mark too and have run out of plot.  I spent last night researching for more topics to explore and then wrote the "traveling shovel death" into my story.  It was used to kill a rabid turkey and added a lot to the story so I think some good will come out of this desperate crawl to the finish line.  I also now have a friend hunting for some informants for me to meet and interview post November.  This is so exciting!

 

 

I've really enjoyed writing this year and part of it was having community in RL and online.  So glad to be on this journey with you all.

[Mergath]

I won!  Woohoo! *happy dance*  I swear to god, I actually teared up a little during the winner video, lol.  It was really kind of pathetic. :P

 

 

[jenn-]

Congrats to each and every one of you for making it to the finish line this year!  I bailed halfway through the month (right about the same time I caught up on word count ironically enough).  I had to force myself to start NaNo this year, and should have gone with my gut that said I just wasn't into this time.  Needless to say, I prioritized other things that I wanted to be doing rather than forcing myself to write for 3-4hrs a day.

[Mom22ns]

250 words. Yep, that is how much I need to write. But guess what? My story ended. Just like that. I could add another segment, but that would take a lot more than 250 words. I'm thinking Epilogue, but I'm going to have to think about it and write it tomorrow.

 

I did come up with a great little plot twist that got me through the last 5,000 words and took me exactly where I wanted my ended to be. If only it had taken another 250 words.  :svengo:

[Mom22ns]

I finished! 

 

An epilogue was just the thing. I just couldn't go to bed with 250 words left.

 

Yay!!! It's over!!!

 

[Uff Da!]

I have just under 1000 left and will probably try to sleep on it.  I'm trying to do outdoorsy tall tales at this point that can be stitched in later to conversations.

 

Congratulations Mergath and Momto2Ns.

 

And Jenn and Tiramisu for their valiant effort.  It's a marathon!

[Tiramisu]

Congrats to each and every one of you for making it to the finish line this year!  I bailed halfway through the month (right about the same time I caught up on word count ironically enough).  I had to force myself to start NaNo this year, and should have gone with my gut that said I just wasn't into this time.  Needless to say, I prioritized other things that I wanted to be doing rather than forcing myself to write for 3-4hrs a day.

 

Jenn, maybe we can be rebels together next year. :)

 

I like where my novel is going and finally got a clear picture of a neat plot that would take me to the end right when life got busy here. It won't take me too much to finish it but I just know I can't work while people are awake in my house. ;)