NaNoWriMo

Stupot · Sat 20/10/2007 04:08:13

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.

I'm going to have a go... although I don't think I even reached 2000 last year.. hahaha.

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

What-say-you?

http://www.nanowrimo.org

Evil · Sat 20/10/2007 04:33:03

I've tried to do it before. I reached about 10,000ish, maybe more. I know Phil Reed does it every year, but he's in the middle of a few projects already, so he might not. I thought about doing it again this year, but classes keep me busy.

Maybe there should be a AGS Novel thing to keep people motivated.

Nine Toes · Sat 20/10/2007 06:18:30

Quote from: Evil on Sat 20/10/2007 04:33:03
Maybe there should be a AGS Novel thing to keep people motivated.

That's a pretty darn good idea, but I think that may fall by the wayside as well. One of those, "Eh, screw it" things. Heh.

This whole thing kinda sounds fun. I think I might give it a try... I haven't clicked the link yet, but I think I could do it.

Erenan · Sat 20/10/2007 07:03:37

I've participated in NaNoWriMo three times now and have yet to be a winner. Each time I got somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 words when I lost my steam and stopped. That was when I was unemployed and single. Now I have a full time job and a wife. Does that increase or decrease my chances?

Nacho · Sat 20/10/2007 09:10:06

How many pages usually are 20,000 words? I might join... Does if matter if I do it in Spanish?

voh · Sat 20/10/2007 11:33:08

THe goal is 50.000 and you can write in whatever language you want. The main point about NaNoWriMo is that it isn't a contest, so it's all up to you.

Got to 13.000 last year. Going to try and breach 20k this year

Andail · Sat 20/10/2007 12:06:43

Quote from: Nacho on Sat 20/10/2007 09:10:06
How many pages usually are 20,000 words? I might join... Does if matter if I do it in Spanish?

I guess you mean 50,000 words, in which case it's about 80 pages of normal 11pt text.

Nacho · Sat 20/10/2007 12:11:57

Ooops, sorry. Yeah, I meant 50k. I have a page, only 79 left!

Andail · Sat 20/10/2007 12:32:19

Quote from: Nacho on Sat 20/10/2007 12:11:57
Ooops, sorry. Yeah, I meant 50k. I have a page, only 79 left!

Just use ctrl-A, ctrl-C and ctrl-V and repeat 79 times!

Stupot · Sat 20/10/2007 14:58:25

Quote from: Nacho on Sat 20/10/2007 12:11:57
Ooops, sorry. Yeah, I meant 50k. I have a page, only 79 left!

You're not supposed to start on it until Nov 1st, but I guess no-one will find out if you have a head start...

Nine Toes · Sat 20/10/2007 16:24:04

...Unless, of course someone casually stumbles across this thread on this forum and busts you, CHEATER!

Akatosh · Sat 20/10/2007 17:01:32

Dependant on how my different Drown-In-Work-And-Still-Manage-To-Slack-Around schemes work out, I might take a look at it. Because, after all, what matters is quantity, not quality, and if there's one thing I'm good at, it's long, tedious, over-stuffed sentences.

Stupot · Sun 21/10/2007 03:08:02

I'm going to have a go, but I'm not the sort of person who can just write... I'm someone who edits as I go... some people say that's a bad habit, but I just say it makes the rewrite easier. Unfortunately this makes me a slow writer, so hitting 50,000 words in 30 days is night on impossible.

Thats 1666 words a day... considering I've been given 3 weeks to write a 1000-word short story that seems like a hell of a target. But target's are there to be aimed at, so I'll definitely start it.

nihilyst · Sun 21/10/2007 17:36:24

I made 20,000 words last year, but I don't have the time to participate this year.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 21/10/2007 20:32:02

I might enter this competition (I missed it last year) since I have a few novelle-sized ideas swimming around and have already written a few full-length novels. Vampire Umpires in Space!

Tuomas · Sun 21/10/2007 21:06:47

That's around 1800 words a day... 12700 a week. I think it's possible. with this average, and the time I have for planning, I think I might just try achieving this. All I need now is a plot. The most annoying thing is, that the Finnish language uses less words than most.

rubywaves · Mon 22/10/2007 15:58:05

Quote from: Stupot on Sun 21/10/2007 03:08:02
I'm someone who edits as I go... some people say that's a bad habit, but I just say it makes the rewrite easier. Unfortunately this makes me a slow writer, so hitting 50,000 words in 30 days is night on impossible.

Same here, but I'm slowly weaning myself off the backspace key when I'm writing the first draft of anything. The result is crap, but it's better than being stuck on the first draft for months at a time.

I find that it's better to write an outline (and then revise the hell out of it) before even writing the first draft, but I miss those days of making up the plot as I went along. I think I'll give this a shot.

Akatosh · Mon 22/10/2007 16:29:08

49,966 words to go, people!

/EDIT: Please tell me it doesn't actually say 'prouldy'. Bah, damn it.

voh · Mon 22/10/2007 17:52:43

What part of "National Novel Writing Month" don't people get?

The point is to write from November 1st until the 30th, not before, and not after

Baron · Tue 30/10/2007 17:47:27

Two days before the starting pistol fires a mysterious -nay, baronial! - figure tosses his hat -er, helmet into the ring. If only he could stop using dashes -his -prose -might -be -legible! Of course since legibility has taken a back seat to word-quantity this is the perfect contest for him! "See you at 50 000!" he taunts his fellow protagonists, before floating away in a zeppelin made entirely out of dreams and half-finished manuscripts. He's mad, you see -MAD!!!!!