nanowrimo?

J

Jester

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Original poster
so is anyone getting ready for this awesomeness?

i'd been working on my novel now for 3 years, and the last 2 years i've entered it into nano. the first time i just couldn't finish. D: was really hard the first time. second year, i was doing above and beyond my count! i was so excited, but then my computer program that had InDesign crashed, and then everything just threw a fit. D: some kind of virus corrupted a lot of my things. (i luckily had a backup copy in microsoft word, for that exact reason. you can never be too careful, man. never.)

so this year, after having my book in nano twice now, plus in between writing times, it's only got 67 pages left in it. nano takes 150, so i won't beat nano this year writing my book. that means, instead of being a rebel this year, i'm going to do nanowrimo the normal way!

what are your tools of the trade? did you ever beat it? are you a rebel writer?

my tools:

1. laptop
2. InDesign
3. soda! can't live without it. just can't.
4. lots of snacks.
5. cushions. (i don't have a desk, i have a table and since my computer overheats, it has to sit on something cool with the fan on it. so i hunch a lot, and my back usually drives me nuts by page 3 for the day.)
6. notebook for jotting notes, or plot ideas.

this is also the first year i'll be doing nanowrimo while having a job. (i hope. interview today, woot woot!) so i'm going to struggle this year with time, unlike when i was in college. does anyone have any tips on how to handle that?

;JLASKDFJSA i'm excited, yo!


* for those wondering, my book is 340 pages. it's way too long to be in nanowrimo and be completed. i used nano as a way to get progress in it FAST, and as a personal goal. which doesn't mean i technically would have won nano anyway, since i was considered a rebel writer. out of those 340 pages, 67 are left.
 
This'll be my third year doing it. Last year I didn't finish cause I got stricken with a case of the lazys. That really sucks though that your computer crashed. That's a nano-ers worst nightmare for sure. One of these day's I'd kind of like to give it a try on a typewriter. I know of a number of folks that do that back home and they say it completely changes up the experience. I think it'd be kinda cool to try.

First year I did a comedic version of the Tell Tale Heart and I made the count, second year I tried for a survival fiction after the bomb story that just lost juice 15k in. I've gotten to do it both employed and not employed and there's not really much difference. You can't devote the whole day to a word count, but you also get more varied input through the day to inspire you.

I don't know if I'd call myself a rebel writer, but I do tend to frequent bars and brewing companies with my laptop... so...

My tools:
1. Laptop
2. Plot formula outlines. Pretty much if a book or movie really hits me with a cool format, I'll sometimes outline the archetypes and plot devices that happen which drive the story and try to write using a similar road map.
3. A dusty Fedora. It's not really a writing tool, but it goes with me everywhere. It's currently sitting on my desk as we speak.
4. Sleep deprivation
5. procrastination
6. Last minute scrambles to make word counts.

But all the same! Good luck to you! If you want I'd be more than game to challenge you to daily word offs if you're looking for someone to pace you. To be honest, you'll probably beat me :P I'm terrible with word offs. Offer's standing though!
 
I always start off really wanting to do it. I get about a chapter in - and then suddenly realize November is the worst month ever for me trying to do anything that requires time, effort, and dedication. o___o I always end up busy with life in November because of family stuff and holidays. D: So I have never once even come -close- to completing!

Even when I cheated and just copy pasted all my RP posts from that month just to see if I posted a Novel's worth of content in a month! XD November dun work for me.


But I love Nanowrimo. 8D
 
It's sorta like a writers marathon. You just have to knuckle in and will yourself to complete it. It's pretty crazy when you do. You'll go through severe writers blocks and then get the rush of powering through them and tapping hidden wells of creativity. It's a hoot, I say keep trying. It's all good fun, you'll get it soon enough.
 
ooo, what's a word off? is that where someone posts a word, and you post a word similar to it? like

cake
bake?

what i normally do, is i'll take 5 random words, the VERY first words i think of no matter how ridiculous, and i force myself to write a paragraph story using those 5 words. some of the crap that comes out is wacky, but it gets you to laugh and loosen up. then on plot spaces where you're stuck, your brain can figure it out in some way or another. it's my way of getting my brain moving. another way is that i just start. no thinking, no plotting. just write.

often, i forget what i wrote. so when i go back to read over it, i'm like, "wtf, did i really write that? whoa." or worse, "omfg, what? WHAT?" XD
 
Nah, it's where you set a time and try to have the higher word count by that time. Like the time gets set for 9 PM. Both writers start writing, person A knocks out 230 more words than person B. Person A wins.
 
I am also a nanowrimo-er myself, and this will be my fourth year so far. I am not sure if I will manage this one because of university, life and all that stuff in general, but I will definitely try, for so far, no matter what life threw my way, I managed to complete it every time. I do not even know which one of my many plots I will use, but for future reference, here are my tools of the trade:

1.) Notes. Very important as they help me informed of the main plot.
2.) Music. I have a simply ridiculous amount of ambient music that makes for good writing material.
3.) Notebook and pen for ideas that jump into my head during lectures or when I am bored.
4.) Microsoft Word

Those are the tools I usually use for NaNoWriMo. I hope all of you that take part in this wonderful marathon will be able to complete it! Just remember: when in doubt, ninjas.
 
oooh. D: i type at 90 words per minute, cosmic. XD i can nail out 5 pages in 2 hours. i also typed for a transcription company and that made me even faster i think. XD i'd never had problems with papers in school. half the time i got it done in class, unless it was research and needed a bibliography. (hate those things! so hard to format.)

oh yeah i forgot that too! music. omg i need it. i can't sit in silence, and it can't be something distracting like a movie. D: it's gotta be music all the way. my favorite is goth metal, instrumental, or epic adventure stuff. XD
 
Holy sheeballs, you're a freegin robot. I totally revoke my offer, on a good day I'm half that fast.
 
This will be my forth year really trying at it, I've never managed to complete it, but that's because November always ended up the busiest month of the year ever the first two years. One year, when I told her what I was planning, my mom actually said, "So bother you everyday so you don't have time to write until the end of the month." She was serious. Last year I didn't get very far because my Uncle died early in November and after that I lost my motivation for a while.

Anyway my tools are:
1) Laptop with Microsoft Word
2) Notebook where I can jot down ideas that may or may not be used in the story
3) Music; I have a seriously hard time focusing on anything at all if I don't have music
4) Insane amounts of Dr Pepper
5) Sleep deprivation
6) and last but not least (and new to this list) my new pen with 4 different ink colors that Grim got me for my birthday. I like to colour code my hand written notes so this will make things easier. :D
 
haha, yeah cosmic, i won awards way back in high school for it as the top 3 fastest in my typing class. XD writing at home helped my speed after that, then working as a typist, and so on so forth. XD my speed gradually built over the years. it's insane now. i could technically get a job as a court stenographer if i wanted to go to school for it. XD the only reason nano is a huge problem for me is i have this problem where i can only write when i FEEL like it. and you gotta push to get through nano pretty hard. last year was doing good, until computer bitched out on me. DX and the year before, i just couldn't do it.

this year i'm starting from scratch. i decided i'm going to tough it out the traditional way. my novel wouldn't make it through anyway, it'd be finished before the end, which is satisfying, but also another disappointment and failure on nano. so i'm plotting it out right now, with chapter maps, and new characters, and all kinds of crap. a;sldkfja;sdlkfj i'm nervous as hell. every day that passes, nano gets closer and closer.

i also have an editing problem. i edit absolutely everything after every page. at least spelling mistakes. there's barely any of those in my book, after all those pages. XD and i don't get tired or inhibited by it either. i guess most people tell you not to edit because the point is to "get the story out" but the way i see it, i get the story out with QUALITY the first time.
 
I joined the site about a month ago out of curiosity and no matter how I look at it, I doubt I'll ever complete the challenge.
Truth is, I have tons of novel ideas, just not the muse to actually get them written out in a timely fashion.
I often want a boost of confidence by having others critique my work, and/or give me ideas for action portions.​
 
Yeah I know how that goes. I had to break that urge the hard way and I still have massive problesm with it. There are just times where you just hate what's coming out on paper and you can't really appreciate the good in it during the creative process. You have to learn how to turn off the edit needs and just run with an idea. I'm still learning how to do it well.

I remember one time on my first year I got so wrapped in a corner and I didn't know where to go that I didn't write a thing for 3 days about. Finally i broke that by just writing in a random T rex that burst through the nearest wall and just tried to make the crazyness work into some basic representation of a plot. It completely lacked structure but it got me out of the rut. My first nano was reeeeeally weird xD
 
before this book, i could only write 10 page short stories. and the longest story i'd written was 30 pages. i'm not kidding.

then all at once, i came up with my novel idea that i HAD to get down, i had to get the story. and now it's 200 some pages, with 67 left before it reaches 340 pages. just like that, bam. i think it was because it was based on a dream, so i actually SAW it, and was like, "oooo awesome."

nano, i won't have that luxury this year. ._. so i'm buckling down and doing a plot idea and chapter map so i know what happens where, and how many pages that chapter will be. i have all 150 pages mapped out over 23 chapters.
 
You plan each chapter down to exact page number? o__O
Teach me your ways! Seriously.. I just type off the top of my head to reach the next plot device in the story. > >
 
yes. this is exactly how my things work. i CANNOT write details for what happens in each chapter, but i will come up with chapter titles as a base. if i get to the chapter, and i'm not where the title recommends, i will simply change my title to match the direction i'm going. simple, quick, and easy. i write off the top of my head. whatever happens happens, except for the climax. that's the only thing i'm dead on about in a story. the rest is bs'd, and the story winds itself together as i go.

title - ""
plot - (over arching story) (two lines tops)
inner plot - (internal issues of characters) (just a smaller one liner of an inner plot problem, not a paragraph of every characters personal problems)
setting -

main characters -
supporting characters -
antagonists -

chapter titles:

(X) 1. broken groto - 8 pages - / illustrations (sometimes i draw the scene)
(o) 2. home base - 4 pages - / illustrations
so on so forth. the X and o represent a finished chapter, and a chapter i'm working on currently.

total pages -
total pages with illustrations -

and that's it. i work from there. i don't really have any specific plans otherwise. i write as i go, and i plan out my pages so i know exactly how many pages each chapter will have. i and i bs that too, because all i do is write in a random number between 4 and 9 for a chapter length. particularly important chapters, i will lengthen. i never go lower than 4 pages for a chapter. if i want to stay in a page range, like nano, and i add a page to a chapter later on, i remove a later page from a chapter that i hadn't written yet. it helps keep you knowing where your page range is. i planned my book at 300 pages. in the new format i'm using though, it switched things up, so it seems longer than that, but it's really not. it says 340, but only because the pages are smaller that i'm working with. so i had to expand.

if you want to see my books actual fully functional chapter map, i can copy and paste it here. it's not like it's in depth or anything.
 
Well seeing as I'm new to it, I don't know how they format and/or help you plan out writing each chapter, so I'll have to wait 20 more days I suppose to see if it's remotely possible to write in that fashion. I'll probably be going with a story I've already started that already has 2 chapters, close to 5000 words.
The only thing I try to stick to is at the very least,
having 2000 words per chapter. Once broken up, that makes 25 chapters to meet the nano requirements and that makes it seem less intimidating.. until I sit here and notice I've been sitting on two chapters, notes, climax and possible character titles for three or four months.. It's the filler I get stuck on.. I'm picky so I want it to be legitimate to the main plot without making it LOOK like filler. -.-
 
that's actually why i like coming up with it off the top of my head with just a basic idea from the chapter map to tell me where the climax and resolution are. if i plan literally everything and say, "this will happen in this chapter," it feels forced to me, and then it comes out awkward on paper. D: the amount of pages in the chapter i learned is about 3 pages in InDesign when i'm writing. now this one, i'm doing it in word. so i'm not sure. i've never used word for nanowrimo before. i know there's about 2k words involved for the amount you're supposed to write, so losing a single day puts you double the typing behind. D: i try to stain ON TOP actually. i overachieve, because then the next time i miss, i'm right on target. XD i'll be filling out a special thing for nano this year. this is more in depth than my book is, so i added a few more things to it. i'm going to work that out today, and then start making characters. D:
 
Do you often dream up neat things that spawn ideas or was this out of the blue?
 
I once had a dream that inspired an entire rp world, but no one took interest in it..
Sad thing too, because it was sci-fi and I'm usually NEVER interested in futuristic plots. :/​