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Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Akatosh on Mon 27/10/2008 09:17:00

Title: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Akatosh on Mon 27/10/2008 09:17:00
I'll just save myself some work and quote Stu who started a similar thread last year:

"It's that time of year again.
Is anybody going to be attempting it this year?

For anybody who doesn't know NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month and is held from November 1st - 30th and the idea is for participants to try to write a novel (well 50,000 words) in that space of time.

It's a great creative exercise though and I reckon we should all have a go and talk about it in this thread.

http://www.nanowrimo.org (http://www.nanowrimo.org)"

I attempted entering last year, but a PC crash got in the way... well, that, and the novel was shitty anyway. Let's see what it'll be like this year. So how about you?
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Tuomas on Mon 27/10/2008 09:25:29
I've got some medical issues holding me back that month, and then there uni, which takes a lot of my so called free time. but because I failed last year, I'm going to give it a shot again! At least for the inspiration it gave me last time.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Stupot on Mon 27/10/2008 09:31:49
I've failed drastically two years in a row now and I have kind of lost interest.  Plus I also have uni now... bloody education getting in the way of creativity  :P
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: nihilyst on Mon 27/10/2008 11:12:38
I've only reached 25,000 two years ago, but it nonetheless sufficed for finishing the story. Unfortunately, November is not a good month for me for writing so much.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: DanielH on Mon 27/10/2008 11:56:44
I'm considering it, but like most people, November is a bad month. I have mock exams beginning at the end of november, so I have revision, English coursework, IT coursework, Welsh coursework, French coursework, and History coursework, as well of trying to make time for my game, of course! ;). I'll give it a shot though, sure. I'm just going to try and get everything I can out of the way by Nov. 1st.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: voh on Mon 27/10/2008 13:17:41
Two failed attempts, but I've made it my personal goal to get twice as far as the previous year every attempt at LEAST. So that means that this year my personal minimum goal is 12.000 :)

I'll see how far I get.

I'm also considering organizing a smaller version of NaNoWriMo, 10.000 words in 14 days, somewhere in March. Anyone who's into NaNoWriMo interested in something like that?
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: DanielH on Mon 27/10/2008 14:32:00
Quote from: voh on Mon 27/10/2008 13:17:41
I'm also considering organizing a smaller version of NaNoWriMo, 10.000 words in 14 days, somewhere in March. Anyone who's into NaNoWriMo interested in something like that?

A Nano-NaNoWriMo? Or a NaNoWriFort? Sure, depending on what's going on then. There may or may not be the time, It's too early to tell.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Mon 27/10/2008 16:09:14
If I can think of a topic on par with last years' I'll enter. 
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: The Suitor on Mon 27/10/2008 17:30:42
I am participating this year for my first time.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Moresco on Mon 27/10/2008 18:23:01
There's no question I could do this, but I don't know how great it would turn out. :/ But it still seems like an interesting idea....never heard of it until now.  I'd consider doing it but I'm recording fourteen records this year starting in December, have to finish PQ2, and I really should take the trash out.  ;]
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Baron on Mon 27/10/2008 21:25:21
I'll be back again this year -I have meticulously planned my schedule around it by wrapping up most of my other projects to cut down on distractions.  The bar I set last year was pretty low (16,000 words), due to the fact that we moved houses right in the middle of the month -there's no place to go but up for me.  I'm shooting for the 50K of course, but I will be happy if I can double last year's total.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: voh on Tue 28/10/2008 03:58:28
theRedPress, you don't have to worry about the quality. The unofficial subtitle of NaNoWriMo is 'No plot? No worry!' (also the title of a book about how to approach and subsequently write a NaNoWriMo 'novel' written by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty).

The point is to just write - leave the editing behind for a while and just get the damn thing done. It hasn't worked for me the past 3 attempts I've made, but I'm going to at least use it as an excuse to get some writing-related stuff done.

Do it your way. Set the bar lower if you want, go for 25.000 or even 10.000 and you'll see that once you're in the groove it just comes naturally. Logically speaking, it's 1700 words or so a day. I've found that during a regular writing session (by hand) I write around 1000-1500 words, so it IS possible. I think I've just been jinxing myself with what seemed like an insurmountable amount of words.

The fear is wrong. Just do it :)
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Jared on Tue 28/10/2008 07:21:16
Yeah, WHY is it November? Is it purely for the alliteration? Because for anybody going through a tertiary course (Like I have been for the past three frigging years) November is the worst possible time of the year to be spending all your free time (such as it is) on somethink like this. This is bottleneck time, people!

*Sigh*

I'm of the [possibly deluded] opinion that my first attempt, Time Paradox with Extra Salt is an unfinished masterpiece. But I was in the middle of a crippling depression at the time, so I can't write with the same hate-fuelled authorial voice. But, hey, it could become an AGS game one day...
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Nacho on Tue 28/10/2008 07:22:20
Since I have an important exam in November, I will do NaDeWriMo...  :)
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: voh on Tue 28/10/2008 12:06:44
Since it's National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo's an abbreviation of, it's already implied that the month November was chosen fairly randomly. At first it wasn't even November. I think their reason was that the weather was usually shitty where the founder and his friends are from and they needed something to do or something ;)

It's like 24 hour comics. There's an international 24 hour comic day, but me and my friends do it when we feel like it.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Eggie on Wed 29/10/2008 20:35:44
I'll give it a go but i really don't think I can pump out the words fast enough.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Akatosh on Sat 01/11/2008 15:44:46
Alright... so it began today. I'll try and see if I'm more successful than last time. Wish me luck... I'll need it.  :P
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: The Suitor on Sat 01/11/2008 19:04:31
Good luck, Akatosh. I started as well!
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: nihilyst on Sat 01/11/2008 19:05:41
I try to continue writing on some unfinished projects. But I'll be happy if I reach the 20.000.

Good luck you all!
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Sat 01/11/2008 19:05:47
I haven't started yet because I'm still recovering from the release of my game.  I'll probably start in a couple of days, hopefully.
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Stupot on Sat 01/11/2008 20:40:43
I'm not gonna bother lying to myself this year, haha
Title: Re: NaNoWriMo '08
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Tue 04/11/2008 22:09:19
Yay, I started a book called The Pumpkin Snatchers!  It will be the ultimate Halloween kid-fantasy (or something)!