Get Your Write On - The NaNoWriMo Thread

[maudmac]

NOTE: Since it looks like we have a few wrimos around here, I've changed this from the 11/1 - 11/2 weekend thread to the NaNo thread.



From the NaNoWriMo site:

Quote:

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What is NaNoWriMo?



National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.



Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.



Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.



Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.



As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and -- when the thing is done -- the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.



In 2002, we had about 14,000 participants. Over 2100 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

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It's only a few days in, so it's definitely not too late to get started if you want to participate in this. You'd just have a tiny bit of catching up to do.



The best of luck to everyone writing a novel this month!



My original post below.

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Being a neurotic perfectionist, it's not often I allow myself to fly by the seat of my pants, free to fuck up as badly as I care to.



This month, I'm flying, fucking up, and I'm going to have The Time of My Life doing it. Oh, yeah. Sweetness.



I'm writing a novel. A whole novel. This month.



Because it's National Novel Writing Month! And NaNoWriMo is all about just doing it. To hell with "Oh, no, it's got to be perfect!" To hell with even "Oh, no, it's got to be good!"



Just...write. That's all. 50,000 words (175 pages) from 11/1 to 11/30.



I've known for a looooong time that what I needed to do to be successful and happy was to let go of my internal insistence on nothing less than absolute perfection. What is perfection, anyway?



So, Kittens, what do you need to let go of to finally be able to get your paws on your bliss? Or do you already have your bliss snuggling against your neck right now?



I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend full of snuggly bliss or whatever it is you most need right now. Kittens!

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So up on your feet. Up on your feet! Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none. We’ll just take it like it comes. One day at a time, one day at a time.
-- "One Day at a Time" - John and Nancy Barry

Edited by: maudmac  at: 11/4/03 10:35 pm

[Caoilin]

Good luck to you, Holley, on the novel. I sometimes think I would like to try my hand at writing one, despite my complete lack of knowledge/training. But then I realize that instead of wanting to write a novel, I'd much rather have written one.



Giving myself a chance to fuck up has been a revelation in my art. I was forever unhappy with my results until I realized that the creative process is the pursuit of perfection, not the attainment. It's wonderfully freeing. I think I'll work on incorporating that into the rest of my life.

[BytrSuite]

Woo, good luck with your novel, Holley.

Are you going to lock yourself in your room til you get it done?

It would be cool to wriite a novel, I think.

________
"Oh, good! I was hoping to add theft, endangerment and insanity to my list of things I did today."
"Ah! You, too?"
(Stitch laughs delightedly)

[justin]

I don't have an answer to Maudmac's question but I'm also taking part in the month of insanity that is NaNoWriMo.



I've never been much of a perfectionist but my biggest problem has been motivating myself to write. So having a tight deadline to stick to should help with that.

Anya in a wimple...I'd pay full admission for that. Gods Served And Abandoned - by Antigone Unbound


You know the worst thing about people in a relationship? The fact that they're in a relationship. - Hilda Spellman

[Mrs Vertigo]

Ohh maudmac I wish you the best of luck and beg of you to post the novel when it's done. It sounds like such a wonderful experiment, this NaNoWriMo.



Me, I could never write unscathed by perfectionism… but that's not what I'm worried about. What is annoying is my academic perfectionism. And the terrible, terrible stress that comes hand in hand with it: "just what exactly are going to do with your life if you don't have a Master degree in at least 3 languages by the time you're 25?!?!"

I love my long lost Jewish little-potato twin. In a prison way.

[maudmac]

Thanks for the cheerleading, y'all. Often, just hearing a "good luck" is really inspiring. Especially at a time like this.



justin! A fellow wrimo! I wish you the absolute best. How's it going for you? Are you at the point now where everything you write, even like a post here, you're thinking, "Damn, this isn't going towards my word count!"



I'm currently obsessed with my word count and I hope that now that I've seen that it's not as hard for me as I'd thought it was going to be (so far, anyway), I'll back off that particular obsession. After two days, I feel that my characters very much have lives of their own and all I'm doing is taking notes as I follow them on their journeys. I trust they won't let me down.



I'm curious, Caoilin, justin, any other creative types, do you have any irrational superstitious rituals or good luck charms or something that you use? I have a Lucky Shirt I wear only when writing and I kiss it when I put it on and take it off. It cannot be washed during November. It summons creative energy from the cosmos and channels it into my head. No, it really does!

---

So up on your feet. Up on your feet! Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none. We’ll just take it like it comes. One day at a time, one day at a time.
-- "One Day at a Time" - John and Nancy Barry

[Tempest Duer]

Suuuuure it does.



I think I'll write a novel too.

I believe in the madness called "now."

[Populnaeus]

Hi all!

I'm so glad to see that some Kittens are gonna take the plunge and write at a frantic pace in Nov. My friend emailed me about it on Halloween, and now I'm committed to writing this thing! Good luck to everyone writing.

Jennifer

[Anne860]

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one engaging in this lunatic endeavor. I'm not doing so well since I just found out about it, but hopefully I'll at least get a decent word count. The main problem when I write is my inability to find the rhythm of the story, usually because I'm too caught up with worrying about whether my work is good enough or not. I'm hoping that being forced to just write something, anything, will help me relax.



Good luck to ya'll. I look forward to reading the excerpts from your masterpieces.

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -- Mark Twain

Edited by: Anne860 at: 11/3/03 11:47 pm

[justin]

Quote:

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How's it going for you? Are you at the point now where everything you write, even like a post here, you're thinking, "Damn, this isn't going towards my word count!"

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Not yet, no. Actually if procrastination were an olympic event then I'd have a shot at the gold medal

Quote:

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I'm curious, Caoilin, justin, any other creative types, do you have any irrational superstitious rituals or good luck charms or something that you use?

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No but I should probably get something. My writing could use it. Again I say



Good luck to everyone else who's taking part.



I reached the 10,000 word mark today

Anya in a wimple...I'd pay full admission for that. Gods Served And Abandoned - by Antigone Unbound


You know the worst thing about people in a relationship? The fact that they're in a relationship. - Hilda Spellman

Edited by: justin at: 11/4/03 1:57 pm

[Tempest Duer]

Gaah, I'm only at 2500. But hey, I've got an outline!

I believe in the madness called "now."

[willowsgirl]

50,000 words eh? And there I was worrying that I wouldnt be able to write my 12,000 word dissertation for uni!

Its quite a challenge, so I wish all the kittens who are taking part lots and lots of luck!

Im considering joining you, but seeing as Im having trouble getting the words down for my fic, I doubt Id do much better with this!



willowsgirl xx

[WebWarlock]

ACK!



I just wrote 130,000 words and now you want me to do it again???



Well. I JUST got word that I have been named to a new project. And soon as I can, I'll be blabbing about here. (xita. This IS the one we talked about! shh! for now.)



Any way. I do have another project due soon. Not as exciting, but I am finding it a lot of fun. Yeah it's another game book, but hey, that is what I do now.



Good luck all! Can't wait to see your stuff in the stores or online.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan

[xita]

Ooh, yes good luck to all! You can do it!



And Tim, ooooh, yay!

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[Tempest Duer]

Luckily, I made the decision to type my rough draft instead of writing it by hand like I do my fanfic. Boy would my hands be tired otherwise...

I believe in the madness called "now."

[DaddyCatALSO]

Have to remmeber this for next year, too much good and bad stuff on my mind this go'round.



My big problem with trying a novel is instead of moving it forwrd from the beginning I jump ahead to doing the chapters with the sex scenes and then keep rewriting those. Between Kira the good witch and the previously untouched Sir Harold, I can never get poor Dowager Queen Elaine out of her bedchamber. And since at least 3 pwoerful factions are trying to keep her 6-year old son from claiming the throne when he's of age and she wants to get busy and stop them, Elaine's probably very mad at me by now. And since characters often take on a life of their own, I don't know what revenge she has planned for me next time I try doing something with her.

[maudmac]

Wrimos! How's it going?



I'm at 20,079 right now and pretty blissed out about it. I had a crisis and fell into a pit of despair at around 10,000. Um, and then again at around 13,000. I fell a few thousand words behind and I felt lost and stupid and incapable.



I'm on a roll now, though, and puffed up full of ideas and determination and all that crap. I can't write fast enough to keep up with my characters.



What y'all writing about? If you'd care to share, that is.



People keep asking me what my novel is about and I honestly don't know what to tell them. It's not necessarily about anything, really. It's about a bunch of things. I guess it's sort of about survival and recovery, but I kind of think that if you boil most novels down, you'll find that's what they're about. Or it could just be that I'm drawn to that kind of novel.



It's kind of...I guess sad, really. But, okay, it wasn't long after I knew I wanted to be a writer that I read On the Road. I was pretty much drowning in teen angst at that point in my life, and I felt nothing if not completely trapped, so the wanderlustiness of it appealed to me. And I desperately wanted to feel the "ecstatic joy of pure being" of which Kerouac spoke. Anyway, the point of all this is that I learned that he'd written the entire book in three weeks and all these years, that's stuck in my head as an impossibly high and unrealistic goal. And since I've filled my life with impossibly high and unrealistic goals, I used that fact to convince myself that I was a loser. Time and time again, when I'd try to write something, my inner asshole would throw that fact at me, encouraging me to abandon all hope. And I usually did.



But, for real now, three weeks? Pfffft, I could so do that. I know this now. I hate that it took me about fourteen years to learn it, but, well, better late than never. Kerouac was a fucking asshole anyway.



Ah, the folly of applying other people's stupid-ass fucking standards to yourself. That's just gonna fill you - mind, body, and soul - full of bitterness and despair and self-doubt and all manner of bullshit that you don't need.



Wrimos! I hope you're all doing well and I'm looking forward to hearing how it's going.

---

So up on your feet. Up on your feet! Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none. We’ll just take it like it comes. One day at a time, one day at a time.
-- "One Day at a Time" - John and Nancy Barry

[justin]

I've fallen a bit behind since I've only written 16,000 words. But I'm not at work tomorrow so I'm going to try to catch up a bit then.



My story is called "The Race For Alpha Centauri." and is basicaly about the race between Earth and Mars to make the first manned flight to Alpha Centauri.

Anya in a wimple...I'd pay full admission for that. Gods Served And Abandoned - by Antigone Unbound


You know the worst thing about people in a relationship? The fact that they're in a relationship. - Hilda Spellman

[WebWarlock]

Wow, a lot of these sound really, really cool.



I am cheating. I am using a book that I had a contract for, so I can't mention the name yet.



But I am at a little more than 24,300 words. Which is good, cause that puts me at my targeted 2,000 words a day. I have been busy.



BTW, I REALLY, REALLY can't wait to talk about this one.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan

[BytrSuite]

Woo, looks like you guys have about 12 full days of writing left. Hope you're all going strong and having fun.



I'll do this one of these years, I think, just not this year, heh.



Good luck to you all.

________
"Oh, good! I was hoping to add theft, endangerment and insanity to my list of things I did today."
"Ah! You, too?"
(Stitch laughs delightedly)

[maudmac]

Thanks, Kathy!



I'm almost to 33,000 words now and it's becoming increasingly obvious to me that I'm addicted. It's like a drug. My novel doesn't suck insane amounts of ass! Yay!



I hope my fellow wrimos are doing well.



My Lucky Shirt's magical properties have done a pretty good job so far of keeping it from smelling, too.

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i got a dance ain't got no steps  /  i'm gonna let the music move me around

[sprhrgrl]

I have so much respect for all of you. I tried nanowrimo last year and dropped out after about a week. I procrastinate too much for life (as witnessed by this post. I have a tinytiny 500 word paper that needs to be finished before class. I've written 701 words to my lover and that note isn't near finished, but I haven't started my paper. Grah.



But yes. It's great that you have support from the wonderful Kittens too. . . Again so much with the luck giving, and I hope you never get to this point ->



At least not too often.

Sweetie, I'm a fag. I been there. - Tara (Dead Things shooting script)

A muscle cramp? in your. . . pants? - Tara (Older & Far Away)

I can scramble an egg, I won't eat it but I can scramble it. - Amber

Edited by: sprhrgrl  at: 11/20/03 2:57 am

[maudmac]

Okay, my Lucky Shirt was getting pretty funky. Who knew cosmic creative energies smelled?



So...it's an extra good thing that I finished my novel today.



And on Thanksgiving. Now I have a reason to like Thanksgiving.



I'm deeply blissed.



For me, this novel is finished, but I'm coming away from this experience knowing that I have so many more novels in me.



I hope everyone else doing this is doing well. And that none of you will ever doubt yourselves, no matter what month it is or what it is you want to do.

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i got a dance ain't got no steps  /  i'm gonna let the music move me around

[Urn of Osiris]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I must say I envy your accomplishment. I've written and rewritten to a whopping 15 pages. I would have loved to get the undistracted moments to just get this story out of my head. Perhaps I'll trickle it into December, that's a much slower month.

Urn of Osiris

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." Flavia Weedn

[xita]

urnie, December is a slow month? Hee, lucky you! Good luck and don't worry about the editing till you finish it!



Yes, congratulations Holley! I know you worked hard and were uber committed to getting it done.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[BytrSuite]

Woo! Congratulations, Holley!



Now that you're all addicted and stuff you should write another one that you finish on Christmas.

________
"Boogers are true."

[justin]

Congratulations to everyone who has managed to finish.



I've still got another 7,500 to write over the weekend

Anya in a wimple...I'd pay full admission for that. Gods Served And Abandoned - by Antigone Unbound


You know the worst thing about people in a relationship? The fact that they're in a relationship. - Hilda Spellman

[xita]

Ooh justin you are close, you can do it!

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[maudmac]

Thanks, y'all! Having people cheering for me really helped a lot.



I am soooo addicted now! I can't wait to write more.



Urnie, yeah, I think the spirit of NaNo is pretty much just about getting the writing done. Whenever you do it. To hell with editing and rewriting and such until you have a first draft finished. It's been soooo liberating to turn my Internal Editor OFF and just write, write, write. I learned that, when you do it that way, there really are no obstacles at all. Get to a point where you're stuck? No problem, just keep writing. Don't stop, don't think about it, don't worry about whether it makes sense for your plot or your characters. Just keep going. Just write...something, anything. With that mindset, nothing is an obstacle.



Go justin! Go justin! Go justin! You can do this. I know you can write that much in the next three days. You won't be alone in that mad dash for the shore. I'm cheering for you!

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i got a dance ain't got no steps  /  i'm gonna let the music move me around

[FlyingPoppy]

I actually managed to finish mine this morning. I aimed for just over 50,000 words and came in at 50,135.



Having never really written anything of this magnitude before, or in fact much at all since I was in school, I spent most of this month wondering what the hell I was trying to do, whilst not telling anyone that I was doing it. I was sure the words would dry up and I would fail. A couple of days ago I was miles behind, but somehow managed to get things flowing again and write just over 9,000 words to finish this morning. Despite everything, I'm filled with the feeling that I could do anything right now.

Life can suck, but at least there's chocolate - Cicca