National Novel Writing Month

[Melalvai]

Who's doing NaNoWriMo?
So far I've made my writing goal both days!
My novel is roughly the plot of Lolita in a Dungeons & Dragons setting. I haven't ever actually read Lolita so the real plot is: a 150+ year old dwarf instructor at the School of Sorcery falls in love with his 16 year old human student.

[Cynedra]

I'm doing it and it is seriously cutting into my bicycling time. I've also got my 6 year old son working on a Young Writer's Program NaNoWriMo.

[channlluv]

Me, me, me! I'm writing a chapter book series I've been noodling with for a few months. It's time to get it on "paper."

Woohoo!

Roxy

[tangentgirl]

Shoot I keep wanting to do this! I have a big work deadline in the middle of the month and can't, but maybe I'll do NaNoWrHALFMo? NaShoStoWriMo? Worst case scenario, NaBloWriMo...but that would blo.

Good luck everyone and have fun!

[tangentgirl]

I haven't ever actually read Lolita so the real plot is: a 150+ year old dwarf instructor at the School of Sorcery falls in love with his 16 year old human student.

Humbert Humbert will never be the same, just after reading *that* sentence.

[Melalvai]

I actually got ahead! 34K. Just over 15K to go. The first 15K went really fast, but I think the last 15K is going to be harder, because I made a point of writing all the easy stuff first. Now when I sit down to write I don't necessarily know the plot in as much detail, and I've written all the scenes that were vivid in my head.

My daughter has done this for the past two years. Even though last year she started off the month getting hit by a truck and for a few days she was typing with a cast on her left arm. She could still wiggle her fingers so she kept writing once she could get up and think. It slowed her down but it didn't stop her.

What was really cool is that I had sent a message to the organizers telling them that she might not make her goal because of the wreck, figuring they might send her an encouraging get-well-soon email, and they mailed her a little package with buttons and stickers! It was so sweet and it really brightened her day.

I don't know if it was because she did make her word count (30K for the Young Writer's Program) despite the hurdles, or what, but I think she inspired a lot of other people to do it this year. My husband and I are both doing it, a friend of ours, and both of her grandmas started.

Of that list, I'm the only one on track. My daughter has been far too busy with district band auditions and the school play. My husband and our friend are trying. They probably won't make the 50K but they've both made progress. My mom dropped out, she didn't like where her novel was going and went back to working on another book she & I started last year. My mother-in-law hasn't made much progress. Her house got destroyed by a tree limb and she's living out of hotels while it gets repaired.

Guess I'm on overachiever. Still I think it's cool that she inspired so many people to do it. And I've been having so much fun with it! After this month, I plan to edit it and post it somewhere in an easily downloadable format. Then we'll see if it's any good!

[grey]

My niece did it last year - and completed it. This year she and I both haven't had the time, plus we both have parts of plots in our heads but nothing completed. Hoping when I see her for Thanksgiving next week the two of us can help each other hash out what we're doing - and we're thinking we'll create the same goal for ourselves in January. No holidays, and no huge tests for her yet that month.

[shootingstar]

I didn't even know what the acronymn meant until today.

Obviously I'm not a novel writer-attempter. If I wrote anything that was creative and personal, it was poetry. Long ago.

Kudos to you folks!

Blogging fills my need. As you know, too easy since pics fill the writer's laziness at times.

[lph]

Struggling with writers block? Write in http://writtenkitten.net and get rewarded with a picture of a kitten every 100 words!



I'd try it at work except I bust out laughing at the first picture. Very very cute.

[Melalvai]

Awwww!

[Red Rock]

I've been thinking of writing something. I do not know what. I'm more of a nonfiction type person. I have always had a hard time "getting into" fiction. I have read many "how to" books on writing and the process.

I have thought about my life. But I think my life is boring. Nothing more or less than what all of TE members go through on an everyday basis. Work, eat, sleep, exercise and repeat to keep self sane and able to pay bills. I have thought about taking one part of my life and then writing about it. Like an activity??? But I have not done anything "fun or exciting" in a long time. Or mabe I have, I just have to think about it.

One of these days something will come to me and I can actually start the process.

Red Rock

[Melalvai]

I've been thinking of writing something. I do not know what. I'm more of a nonfiction type person...I have thought about my life. But I think my life is boring...One of these days something will come to me and I can actually start the process.

Some author (sorry I forget who) said that the first 100,000 words you write...throw away. So you may as well go ahead and write about something interesting to you to get that first 100,000 out of the way. If your life is interesting to you, it'll probably be interesting to someone else.

I've really lost my mojo. Is this one of those things where the closer you get to the goal the harder it is, like magnets of the same polarity? The first week, I wrote so much I was several days ahead. Now I'm not keeping up and while I haven't fallen behind, I'm slipping back. It was so easy when I knew exactly what the plot was and where it was going! Well, I still have a week left. I might make it!

[Red Rock]

Thanks Melalvai for your input. I can see how this whole writing thing can take some discipline for sure. In the books that I have read, I remember someone saying to write the 100,000 words and starting something interesting. That is a lot of writing.

Red Rock

[Melalvai]

Well, I did finish it. I really slowed down at the end. My problem was, my story had ended before I hit 50K words. I kept going back through it and adding a little here, a little there, and finally I was within 800 words-- so I dropped a time traveling alien into the middle. Literally into the middle. (My husband read it and said "The time traveling alien has to go.")

It felt like cheating, but oh well, I made it!

I actually posted my first draft here. If you have the patience & time to read it, feel free to give feedback (positive or negative). I have plans to completely re-work Part II. My husband has given me several suggestions where he thinks I need more, and so I think it'll end up longer than 50K even without the alien. (It's a fantasy story. The alien really doesn't belong!)

I do plan to work on it more. I sort of wanted to do that right away but I made myself wait. I'm making myself wait until the break, at least, if not after, but I'll probably start back on it after we're done traveling.