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I know this is a bit early but I have always wanted to do this challenge and this is the first year where I believe I will be able to do it. I'm so excited I have been starting the early prep stages now, mainly trawling the internet to find how other people prepare. So my questions for all of you are:
I have a novel I started and left a few years ago, I know this one really well and could restart it and blitz it in November, I have another I have always wanted to write, or I could try to think of something completely new and different. What is best for getting the most out of Nano?
What do you usually do to prepare?
Who is up for it this year?
Comments
Yes, I will be doing it again. 5th year this time :)
That is amazing, what do you tend to do with the finished works? Do you revise them straight away or do you leave them for months?
Last year I managed 71k during NaNo but I still needed to add another 20 or so...so I just carried on business as normal :)
Might be go totally bonkers this year and try for 100k :D
Haha I bet you could do it too, if I remember you ripped through the competition last year!
I suck at padding later
I'm hoping to attempt this in November too. I'm booked on a weekend stay during that month at the same venue where I did my Arvon course last year. The idea is that we arrive Friday, enjoy an evening meal and talk by a guest writer (TBC) and then shut ourselves away in our rooms until Sunday, only coming out for meals and to socialise, should we wish to.
I'm going with a friend I made at Arvon so I'm really looking forward to it. I just have to come up with an idea for a novel before then, plan it, and be determined to stick to the schedule for the rest of November. Scary concept moving from flash and short stories to such a large project!
But writing that amount in what is left of my normal day was pretty difficult. I needed to find a whole day in the middle to write loads and get ahead of schedule. Make sure you have nothing else planned for November - then just write. No time to re-read or edit. Good luck to anyone taking the challenge.
I'm thinking of taking part this year, even though my usual output of words is only about 500/hour and I have no chance of finding more than 3 hours each day to write. My plan is to work up to it over the next month, by building up a daily word count so that I can get into a proper routine (and hopefully get a bit faster at typing!) ahead of the starting gun being fired on November 1st.
I'm still undecided whether to actually sign up for the official site - do people find this helps? I can imagine it's good to see your progress bar stacking up as you go, but the prospect of all the discussion fora and pep talks and the like makes me tired just thinking about it. You don't *have* to get involved with that side of it, do you?
All I need to do now is decide what I want to work on. I have an idea for a fairly traditional story, but I'm also tempted by something more complicated - a set of interconnected stories, each involving different characters but set in the same small town. I like the idea of the variety offered by the latter, but the stop-start nature of writing a series of short stories might not be suited to something like Nanowrimo, where I can imagine it's best to work on something where you can build a lot of momentum to carry you through to the end.
Yes, or a nano official comes round to your house and beats you with a broom handle.
The interconnected stories sound really cool, and I think it may help if you don't have to write from start to end, and can just write the story you are 'feeling' that day.
Same as any site - get involved as much as you want.
It can be useful, when you're flagging, to talk so same minded people. It's no different from TB to be honest, just different people.
I should probably clarify that it's not that I don't want to talk to people on a nano forum, it's just that I know myself well enough to be wary of any possible distraction! Glad to hear it's not compulsory.
[quote=forget-me-not]The interconnected stories sound really cool, and I think it may help if you don't have to write from start to end, and can just write the story you are 'feeling' that day.[/quote]
I'm coming around to that way of thinking. I'm planning to use Scrivener rather than Word, so I'd be writing individual scenes in isolation anyway. As long as I can get a fairly detailed plan together before I start, it shouldn't matter that the structure is a bit more fragmented than a typical novel.
The boards have been wiped - the beginning is nigh!
One month to go folks! Just thirty-one days before we can tap away at those keyboards and scribble away in our notebooks...so the usual questions Are you new to nano, or an old hand? Excited about the prospect of getting started, or nervously pulling hairs out trying to come up with a plot? Do you have any idea what genre youll be writing or are you going to wait for inspiration to strike just before day one?
Wooooo, nano!
I'd be really interested to know how much planning people tend to do for this - do you have a vague structure, a rigid framework, or something in-between? Or is it just a case of starting on the 1st and seeing where the muse takes you?
I usually have a vague idea in my head, throw in a chaotic starter scene and see where it takes me. I try to plan as I go along...if that makes sense. So I'm always revising the plan as the month goes on.
Anyway, I've signed up now. I'm Danfango on there, too, because I don't want to use up all my creativity before I've even started...
My pantsing stuff generally comes out better than my planned stuff :P
KiPaMo is the Nano moniker. I don't usually get involved with the fora, or groups - I need all my spare time to write!
http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/nanowrimo-are-you-taking-part/
Since I managed the 50k last year, I'm thinking of setting a 75k goal this year... *gulp*
I'd say the forums are well worth it. Yes, they're a distraction, but I think they helped me to keep in the "NaNoWriMo world" in my head all month, which helped me to keep motivated. We have a chat room too, which is excellent for the much needed "word wars"!
Like br, I mostly just used the local forums last year, but that's because I'm not very good at the Internet and the thought of chatting with loads of strangers weirded me out (TB is my first venture into big forums since the age of fifteen, I think. Not as scary as I thought!)
Planning-wise, last year I worked on a novel I'd started at uni and having a plot outline already there really helped me to keep on task, so I'm trying to get a plot together for this year. Doesn't seem to be working yet though. I'm just writing loads of notes and not much else :(
I read a great article in Writing Magazine this month about alternatives to doing nano. It made me realise that I can still do a version of it, without beating myself up. That realisation has seen me, over the last three days (whilst my daughter's in nursery for 2.5 hours), downloading Scrivener, sussing out how to use it, putting together an outline for a story I'm genuinely excited about, and listing my characters, rough outline etc.
Bare bones I know, but something to at least start working with, especially as I have a weekend retreat booked in November giving me time to explore it further with no interruptions. If I only get down one or two chapters, I'll be a happy girl.
So, nano for me is a bite-sized version, but the motivation to start something and continue it afterwards - whether that takes weeks, months or years! It will be my first attempt at a novel (a fair leap from flash and short stories) but I'm willing to at least try - even if it is dismally bad and ends up in the bottom drawer. :-)
Anyone else used nano as a springboard, rather than a marathon?
I am planning a series of short stories to publish on kindle so my 50k will hopefully be 3 short stories :)
my oh has promised to do lots around the house etc so hopefully i'll be there at the finish line :)
Wishing you all the very best of luck - whatever the goal!
I did do it the other year and reach about 35k I think which I was happy with. It just takes some organising.
good luck everyone who's mad enough to be doing it :)
Don't Panic - http://www.stevenchapmanwriter.com/?p=1439 (take a breath, you can do it!)
i can't wait to get started, i want it to be here already pllllease :)
I know! In my head we're still stuck back in September.
fingers crossed to you all :)