Last Knight Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Greetings, novelists! Since last year's thread (http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/52211-nanowrimo-2013/?p=792883) was pretty successful in terms of helping aspiring novelists remain motivated through the grinding task of assembling 50,000 words through the thirty days of November, I thought we should do it again this year. What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month is a yearly challenge to aspiring writers; to pen a (minimum) 50,000 word novel from start to finish, all during the thirty days of November! What do you get if you win? Self respect and a hopefully not too terrible novel (some* revisions required). *Okay, probably "lots" Who can join? Anyone! You and you and you most of all, Scarecrow! Wander on over to www.nanowrimo.org to read more and join - and look me up while you're there! http://nanowrimo.org/participants/last-knight Have you ever wanted to write a novel, but couldn't justify the time or effort? This might be your year! Come and take part in the insanity! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMelons Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 /curls up in a ball O_O its that time again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 /curls up in a ball O_O its that time again! IT IS AND I'M SO EXCITED 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGP Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I don't think I can manage that many words. Was it 50k characters or words? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 I don't think I can manage that many words. Was it 50k characters or words? Words m'friend, words. Works out to about 1,667 words a day, every day, for thirty days... which seems huge, until you realize that a) it's about an hour's worth of typing daily for an average to average-fast typist, and b) the resulting novel is actually more of a "novella". Most commercial novels are 70-100,000 words for their 200+ pages. (Your response was 15 words. You could totally do 50k!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGP Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I kind of hate NaNo because it teaches people some bad habits, but I still think about doing it every year. Maybe this year I will. Maybe maybe maybe. My Pathfinder game is a key obstacle, also, but I think we're operating infrequently enough it'll probably fly. Bad habits? Please explain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I kind of hate NaNo because it teaches people some bad habits, but I still think about doing it every year. Maybe this year I will. Maybe maybe maybe. My Pathfinder game is a key obstacle, also, but I think we're operating infrequently enough it'll probably fly.Bad habits? Please explain? Oh, uhm. I don't want to ruffle feathers, especially here in the thread dedicated to people's having fun with NaNo (I've blown up an Internet writing forum or two that way), but I find problematic the way it values dumping words on the page over putting necessary words on the page and how it turns writing into a once-a-year event. I'm a big believer in developing a healthy and productive approach to writing that leads to long-term success for the writer. NaNo, in my experience with it, too often seems to run the other direction, unfortunately. It reinforces a boom-or-bust approach. I guess the tl;dr version might be simply: Rome wasn't built in a day. Having said all that, there are exceptions of various sorts. And I really do consider participating every year, despite my issues with it, and am considering it again this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeySloth Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 (edited) Most published books see about 1/4- 1/3 of what's written dumped during the editing phase--so it's really not as bad of a habit as you think. The hardest part with writing is actually finishing a book from beginning to end and this is to help you to achieve that as, in all honesty, very few books that come out of NaNoWriMo are publishable without a lot more work--but that's really not the point. A lot of people get hung up making sure something's perfect the first time that they never can finish and this is just a method to help overcome that. But you are correct, you should move past NaNoWroMo and continue being productive year round to be a professional. Though there are also lots of people that just like the fun and challenge as well as the community aspect of it. To them it's no different then painting up a bunch of table top quality miniatures to play with friends. Edited October 20, 2014 by MonkeySloth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yeah, I've had this conversation too many times. I do hope people have their fun with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corporea Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I'm ready! I am writing book 2. I'm about done with Book 1 whch I started in February and am up to 206K words...which is probably why my painting time has suffered. Sigh. I'm listed as Corporea over there. I have been trying hard not to put words down on paper over the last few weeks to save up. I might explode. Yippee! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Yay! I get to be Corporea's first writing buddy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneO'Leary Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 9 days using the typewriter at his local library. Now Bradbury is the exception to the rule that one can't write well when writing fast. However Bradbury had been a professional writer for many years prior to that and was used to working against tight deadlines. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayushiseni Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 9 days using the typewriter at his local library. Now Bradbury is the exception to the rule that one can't write well when writing fast. However Bradbury had been a professional writer for many years prior to that and was used to working against tight deadlines. Ray Bradbury is the extra. It the amazingly good candy in an ordinary candy box. That candy that we eat unaware that it will be an extra and that makes us search for others of the same kind just to find out that the rest of the candy box is just common... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneO'Leary Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 9 days using the typewriter at his local library. Now Bradbury is the exception to the rule that one can't write well when writing fast. However Bradbury had been a professional writer for many years prior to that and was used to working against tight deadlines. Ray Bradbury is the extra. It the amazingly good candy in an ordinary candy box. That candy that we eat unaware that it will be an extra and that makes us search for others of the same kind just to find out that the rest of the candy box is just common... Bradbury made a big impression on me when I was young. His breakthrough story "I, Rocket" is still one of my favourite short stories. That was a serious Sci-fi piece, but the way he turned his phrases in that was beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 I can name* at least one (semi)professional writer who declines to do NaNoWriMo on the grounds that 50,000 words in 30 days would be too easy. Producing a rough draft isn't particularly difficult; making that rough draft smooth, is. *But won't. Bradbury is fantastic. Definitely in my top ten for sci-fi writers. And... I HAVE A STORY! *falls to his knees, weeps in joy and gratitude* And I can at least tangentially thank Mrs. Boot for it; it's a D&D campaign that popped into my head and refused to go away while I was trying to focus on novel ideas. When I realized that I could replace "player characters" with "my characters"... the bloody thing basically started writing itself. HOLY CRAP IS IT NOVEMBER YET I NEED TO GET THIS DOWN (Hope the pre-planning bits are going as smoothly for everyone else. ) And - an old subject, but a good one - what's your preferred writing software? I usually use Q10 (http://www.baara.com/q10/) which is a very bare-bones text only word processor that automatically keeps track of word count as I'm writing, and makes nice typewriter clicky sounds. It's also full-screen, cutting off the urge to play with anything else on my computer when I'm supposed to be writing - pretty handy, as I'm rather distractable. However, this year - since I've got quite a bit of planning and "modular" bits to the story, since it's coming from a rough birth as a D&D campaign - I'm trying a trial of Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php). SWMBO uses it in her writing and likes it; I figure I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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