NaNoWriMo - The Official November Support Thread!

[Cehrabehra]

Greetings fellow writers! Are you ready? I am!
It is almost 8am here and I am about to start writing my first words. SO EXCITED!!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

It was a dark and stormy night....

 

[Cehrabehra]

Okay I sat down for 30 minutes and wrote 577 words. I have to go to a painting class. If I keep up this pace I only have to write for 4.5 more hours today to meet my goal. lol - I wish I didn't love this painting class so much.... I could keep going!

And it wasn't a dark and stormy night, it was, "One fine day in spring, for it was fine like any other day in spring that was sunny and with little wind.... "

 

[Cehrabehra]

omg this is so hard!! I am not having a hard time writing WORDS but even though I had my whole story pretty much decided, trying to figure out the order to tell things... and VOICE, goodness I never thought about that, I mean I had but I just assumed it would be natural and here I am telling the story in a way that never crossed my mind and characters have developed professions and I'm finding I need way more people involved in this story than originally thought.... I guess I am going to try to write out everything as it is coming and then add stuff in. Is that normal?

 

[Liane]

I guess I am going to try to write out everything as it is coming and then add stuff in. Is that normal?

Yes.

And don't worry about what is "normal" anyway, it's all about what's fun and natural for you.

As an added encouragement/inducement to our PS participants, I'm debating whether to offer to read and crit the first 5 pages of people's completed (and, post-November, edited) NaNo projects (totally optional! only if you want it, and only if you feel ready!), but I'm not sure whether that's something anyone would be interested in or whether it's logistically feasible given the difficulties of exchanging contact info on this board (although I'm not hard to find, so that part shouldn't be impossible). But I'll throw the idea out there in case anyone wants to gently discourage me or, conversely, thinks it's worth doing.

 

[dragonfly411]

I won't get to write until tonight. I'm still brainstorming somewhat.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I am loving this so far. Want to see my beginning?

"The light on the trees was fading, slipping down past the swaying branches and covering the landscape in brilliant pinks and reds. At the edge of the cliffs, poised above the fast-flowing river, two particular trees stood out, their ancient roots extending down the steep slope to touch the water. Their height was unmatched by any nearby foliage, the width of their trunks combined longer than a house. They stood so close together that barely a sliver of dark forest could be seen between them, the smooth bark creating a slight S-curve that stretched up to disappear into the branches.

As the sun went down, the light fell on these two sentinels, and for just a moment, there was a flash of light in the crack between the wide bases that shone like a diamond."

 

[dragonfly411]

Monkey - I love it!

 

[Haven]

YAYAYAYAY for all our PS WriMos! I'm so excited that we have a PS community!

My school had a write-in this afternoon so I went to that and wrote the first 893 words of my book. I got a shooting pain in my left wrist for some reason, I think it was because my chair was too low, so I only ended up typing for about 40 minutes total.

And can I just share that I am SO PROUD of my students--24 have signed up to do NaNoWriMo this year! 24! We made up half of the write-in this afternoon. I was really a proud teacher at that moment, I have to say.

I was really nervous about being able to dive into NaNo because I've been writing another book for months now, but I'm already very involved with my NaNo book, so that's good.

I'd love to read a brief synopsis of your books, if anyone's interested in sharing. I'll come back and post mine once I'm home for the evening and have some time to write it out.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I haven't started yet!!! I will tonight when I get back home from the gym though!

Congrats to everyone who started writing today - way to go!

 

[Clio]

My eldest daughter (age 13) and I are both doing it. I've got about 800 words so far today.

 

[Liane]

Great start, MonkeyPie.

Haven -- I'd love to post a synopsis for my project but, alas, it's not a NaNo, so all I can do is sit on the sidelines and cheer.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I discovered Google Docs and that I can work on my book from anywhere with internet. I am loving it! I am at almost 3k words now

 

[Cehrabehra]

I hit almost 1800 words yesterday but I fell short of my 2500 goal. So my goal for today is to get to 5k. We'll see... I haven't started writing yet, I have been doing more research. I wish I could narrow down WHEN my story is to the nearest century. All I know is it is somewhere between 1100-1700. The "medieval" cut off is around 1500 and I think it would be easier to set it prior to that but historically it may be more interesting to have it in the 16th or 17th century.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I hit almost 1800 words yesterday but I fell short of my 2500 goal. So my goal for today is to get to 5k. We'll see... I haven't started writing yet, I have been doing more research. I wish I could narrow down WHEN my story is to the nearest century. All I know is it is somewhere between 1100-1700. The "medieval" cut off is around 1500 and I think it would be easier to set it prior to that but historically it may be more interesting to have it in the 16th or 17th century.

That sounds so interesting! We should find a place to post our work so we can share it

 

[Haven]

Oooh Cehra, your story does sound interesting!
I set a 2,000 word per day goal for myself but that is already proving to be difficult and it's only 9:30 PM on day one!

I just got home from work so I'm going to continue what I started writing today at my school's write-in. I'm really excited to get back into my story. This is also going to prove to be a nice distraction from a few things that are causing me emotional turmoil right now. I love writing!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Oh Monkey and Haven, I'm glad you think it sounds like a good idea - it's actually a romantic comedy with some dark bits set not in england or ireland but in spain, and probably france, possibly italy. I am so in over my head but I am enjoying myself, that's all that matters right? lol

 

[Cehrabehra]

Ugh - I really love my story idea, I love it more and more as I learn things that so enhance the story - but this story needs a better writer!!!! I have too many ideas but they're all very visual and I don't know how to describe them in a way that reads like a novel. Should I juts let myself write like a screenplay in places just to get the ideas out? I have a strange "voice" so it could work... but at least I would get it out of my head.

 

[dragonfly411]

I got close to 500 words yesterday. I'm hoping to get to at least 2500 tonight.

 

[Liane]

Should I juts let myself write like a screenplay in places just to get the ideas out? I have a strange "voice" so it could work... but at least I would get it out of my head.

1. Yes.

Do whatever it takes to get the ideas out.

2. No, it isn't going to "work," in the sense that it is 99.999-to-infinity% likely to not be immaculate, publisher-ready prose. But that's okay. You aren't trying to write publishable prose (or shouldn't be, anyway).

Today's NaNo link (lots o' profanity, for those troubled by such things):

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2010/11/01/nanowhonow-nanowrimo-dos-and-donts/

I agree with much, but not all, of what's said there. This paragraph, however, is particularly worth highlighting:

In Fact, Do Think Of This As A Very Powerful Outline Or Story Bible

Write this draft like it’s a very deep, intensive outline, story treatment, or story bible. Yes, yes, it’s still a novel, and it’s still a technical draft of your novel — but with the kind of haste and waste you’re going to make churning through this work, you might find yourself better served looking at the end result as a clumsy “first go.” This means it makes a truly excellent and highly-detailed preparatory tool. You take this draft, you finish it, you find the mistakes and mis-steps, then you rewrite the whole d-- thing with a deeper devotion toward all those fiddly bits that make a novel truly great — character, dialogue, action, theme, mood. Oh, yeah, and plot. If one thing is going to get its head lopped off on the altar of haste, it’s plot. So, for now? F-- plot. Just write. This is your outline, after all. A really big, really robust outline.

So don't worry about getting everything perfectly "right" this go-around. Treat it like a zero draft (because it is, or will be, a zero draft or part of a zero draft at best). If you decide that you want to continue the project after NaNo is officially "over," you can go back and fill in the gaps and polish up the rough bits later.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I'm at 2847 this morning. Go PS NaNoWriMo!

 

[Haven]

Woohoo WriMos!

I'm at 5,309 words right now. It's strange because this book is going so much faster than my other book. I really think I'm the type who needs a serious, pressure-filled deadline to get things done.

We now have 30 WriMos signed up at my school! I'm very excited. Our next write-in is Thursday, and I'm very excited to attend it!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Thank you Liane, that link addressed exactly what I am feeling (or thinking) in a few ways. I really appreciate your words of encouragement! I think that it is very generous of you to offer to look over some of the stuff when all is said and done, though I wouldn't want to post it here...

Years and years ago I wrote a story in a high school creative writing class and got a C- on it. The only comment she had was that it was too repetitive. I thought it was brilliant, myself. Everyone I'd read it to thought it was clever and cute. The repetitive stuff was intentional. This was an assignment that she FINALLY gave us free reign to write whatever we wanted, so I *did*. Imagine my surprise when reading a book to my kids years later I saw one that did THE SAME THING. Pisssed me off all over again. My point to telling that story is that she couldn't appreciate the voice I used in my story so she marked me down severely for it. That has left me a little wary of one person's opinion, particularly about voice. Voice is a funny thing, I really hadn't ever considered myself having a voice until Nov 1, 2010 lol But there it is... granted I'm not using an intentionally repetitive style for this, but I don't think I can not write in a quirky way.

Now I know why I loved tale of despereaux so much...

 

[Cehrabehra]

Yay you guys on the word counts! I need some writing buddies - I have none!

 

[Cehrabehra]

A word about dialogue...

Some books have more of it than others - I'm finding it hard to write dialogue. Not hard to write it exactly, but hard to NEED it right now. Is dialogue something that typically gets done more toward the end of the process or do some people start with it? That was rhetorical really, of course SOME people do. More specifically - what are YOU wrimos doing?

 

[MonkeyPie]

I tend to be overly descriptive, with dialogue thrown in. But I read so much that often when I repeat a conversation in my head, it goes something like, "And then she said..." like I am reading a book lol. So dialogue is not really that hard for me. I don't have much of it yet, but I will later in my book.

I'm at 3569 words right now, and still working on it for about another half hour tonight. "Booking" right along!

 

[Liane]

Thank you Liane, that link addressed exactly what I am feeling (or thinking) in a few ways. I really appreciate your words of encouragement! I think that it is very generous of you to offer to look over some of the stuff when all is said and done, though I wouldn't want to post it here...

Oh good, I'm glad it helped.

I get maybe a little over-enthusiastic when the subject of books/writing comes up. To put it in PS terms: it's like when one of your friends expresses an unexpected interest in shiny rocks, and all of a sudden it's all omg we can totally talk shop!!! which, uh, can threaten to get overwhelming when actually your friend was just casually wondering whether it would be reasonable to ask for diamond studs as an anniversary gift. So I'm trying to rein that back.

I'm more than happy to look over a five-page sample if, after NaNo comes to its end and people have had time to thoroughly revise and edit their projects (thoroughly! let me stress that "thoroughly"!!), a PS'er decides that they want to consider the next step of moving from hobby writing to writing for publication (which is an entirely different animal, and a much meaner one). If and when that stage comes, my preference would be for people to send it via email rather than posting excerpts here.

Like I said, I'm dubious that it's something people here are particularly interested in, but whatever, if dangling that rather wrinkly and smallish carrot helps lure anyone to the finish line, it's there. Until I think better of it, anyway.

 

[Haven]

A word about dialogue...

Some books have more of it than others - I'm finding it hard to write dialogue. Not hard to write it exactly, but hard to NEED it right now. Is dialogue something that typically gets done more toward the end of the process or do some people start with it? That was rhetorical really, of course SOME people do. More specifically - what are YOU wrimos doing?

I write the dialogue as I go along.

That being said, everyone has a different process. This is my seventh year teaching creative writing, and I cannot stress this enough: Whatever your process, it is a-okay. It doesn't matter what anyone else does, as long as what you do works for you.

You know that, of course, but I've learned it's something people often need to hear.

And your teacher who just wrote one comment on your piece of writing? That's ridiculous, and you were cheated out of the formative feedback that you deserved!

 

[Haven]

Liane--Thank you for your very generous offer! I'm considering joining my friend's critique group, but I'm very intimidated by them as they all met in a master's program in creative writing at one of the top universities in this country. I feel a bit, ah, unworthy in their presence. My friend has been critiquing my other novel for some months, and he says that I will more than fit in, but I am INTIMIDATED! These people are PROFESSIONALS! I'm just a teacher with a passion for writing.

Anyway, I will remember your kind offer and I will definitely take you up on it once I'm ready. Thank you so much!

 

[MonkeyPie]

I'm more than happy to look over a five-page sample if, after NaNo comes to its end and people have had time to thoroughly revise and edit their projects (thoroughly! let me stress that "thoroughly"!!), a PS'er decides that they want to consider the next step of moving from hobby writing to writing for publication (which is an entirely different animal, and a much meaner one). If and when that stage comes, my preference would be for people to send it via email rather than posting excerpts here.

Like I said, I'm dubious that it's something people here are particularly interested in, but whatever, if dangling that rather wrinkly and smallish carrot helps lure anyone to the finish line, it's there. Until I think better of it, anyway.

I am really interested in seeing what my work would look like "polished." I'll take you up on your offer Liane!