Anyone here?

There's already a lot of talk about NaNo over on Twitter. How is everyone here doing this year?

I keep telling myself that I;m going to do this but I never have the time.

Really wish I could finish up at least one of my really bad fanfiction works. The Kim Possible- Daria cross over was one I was looking forward to writing but never could get into it.

Sadly, I think I may skip NaNo this year. I'll be inching up on my due date and I'm not sure I can get ready for baby and write a novel at the same time. Maybe I'll dedicate the month to editing one of my previous efforts instead.

I'm admitting that I'm taking a year off of NaNo this year. After last year's emotional and intellectual drain, I needed a year to relax.

I still on the fence post about participating as well.

Interesting that so many of you are considering not doing it this year!

I was less inclined to do it last year, but I still did. I have some material set up for this year, so I'm looking forward to it.

My younger sister got written up on it a couple of years ago:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3139879

:D

I'll be doing it this year. I did it last year for the first time and had a lot of fun with it, so I'll give it a go again.

I skipped it last year, due to work demands, so I'm looking forward to getting into it this November. I don't actually have content planned yet, but that never stopped me before.

It's gonna be my first year doing NaNo so I'm hoping I can manage to juggle writing time and university without becoming an exhausted, babbling mess ;)

GOOOOO NANOERS!! *cheers*

Last year I bowed out after lots of frustration and anxiety. Unfortunately, writing in general has become more of a stress-inducing chore then it should be for me, so this year I'm skipping NaNo.

Many of my friends are already hyped up about it, though, so I'll be cheering everyone on!

The site is up and going for the year. We've less than a month to go, and things are starting to look crazed and fun again. I hope the rest of you are getting your story ideas lined up and ready to march out and do battle!

I wasn't going to do it this year due to personal issues, but reading everyone's posts about it is making me long to participate once more, but then I think about the added stress and decide yet again I'd better not, but it's just SO MUCH FUN! and you meet the most wonderful people! and winning is such a rush! so maybe I will after all.

On the other hand...

I missed it last year and will try to get in this year -- don't have much in mind but I feel so left out when I don't do it. Also, it's a nice way to put off editing chores for another month.

#14

The trick is to remind yourself that this is just for fun, and there's no reason to stress over it. If you happen not to reach 50k by the end of November, it's not going to ruin you as a person or a writer. On the other hand, if you joined in, had fun, talked with people who made you feel good -- then it has a defininte benefit.

Any writing you happen to do is just a nice addition.

I'm very much looking forward to it, as I wrote more during last year's NaNo than any time before or since. I didn't "win" last year and I'd be surprised if I did this year, but it's still really valuable for me to do.

Last year I bowed out because I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist halfway through November -- but in the first half of the month, I actually got a lot of writing done! I have not been writing regularly since then, and keep meaning to try and get into a regular writing schedule before NaNo. We'll see . . . I will probably give it another try this year.

I've changed my mind and will be participating after all. I'm so excited now!

Hey, VictoriaPL! I'm excited for you!

I'm still wavering ~ if I manage to think of any good ideas between now and the end of October, I may just jump in the water. As Zette says, it's so much fun!!!

There's just no way I can resist the allure of NaNo. This year, I'm writing a science fiction novel called "The Harps of Venus." Check out my synopsis over here.

I can't resist the lure, either. I'm signed up. I have no spare time to write, but I'm signed up. Now I just need an idea.

>21 richardderus: Richard, I just went to the NaNo site and asked to add you as a buddy there--on that site, I'm known as LittleDoe (I was born during hunting season).

So, why do all the females have to be destroyed? And what does this mean, psychologically, about you?!

A part of me wants to try a fluffy-cutesy story this time, but that's really not my usual style, and I failed miserably last year when trying to write out of my usual genre.

And I already decided I wasn't doing NaNo! The excitement, it's catching!

I still have so much work to do to edit/polish my 2008 NaNo, though. I think I'll use the NaNo-excitement to work on that.

>23 ejj1955: Okay, Elizabeth! ETA: I sent a Facebook friend request to you, too.

Well now, see, that little twist is going to come for a very simple, basic, obvious reason...and lemme tell ya it will cause HUUUGE tsunamis of response when it leaks into the public awareness! ETA again: Not DESTROYED! No no no! Eliminated, and there is a huge difference. No concentration-campage, no phenotypicidal murder gangs, but rather...wait, that'd be telling....

As to what it says about me...well, I hate women with a vibrating Day-Glo orange passion, of course, and can think of nothing more delightful than a world without them! But that being self-evidently a Good Thing, as Martha wouldn't say in this world, I suppose I needn't belabor the point.

>25 richardderus: Yeah, that's what I figured. Must be annoying to have so many of us cluttering up LT!

25: *bursts out laughing* A good laugh was exactly what I needed right now, so thanks for that!

So, fine, I did it. I signed up again.

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to write.

>28 Storeetllr: Yay, Storeetllr! Maybe we can do some more word wars like last year?

Oh, yes, that'd be great, VictoriaPL. But first, maybe you can help me figure out a plot. lol

Y'all are a persuasive bunch. I told myself I was taking a year off NaNo and now I'm throwing my hat in for another year, as well.

And Storeetllr, I'm quite lacking in the plot department too. You're in good company and hey, we still got almost three weeks to think, think, think...

Yay elbakerone!

Almost three weeks. Yikes! Okay, well, I tossed & turned last night for hours trying to think of a plot. Truth. Can't keep that up for very long. I'm feeling just exhausted today! :)

If you're really hard up for a plot, retell a story you enjoyed from the other point of view. Like Gregory MAguire does with fairy tales!

Whenever I feel bereft of a story, I open the newspaper to a random page and put my finger down on the page. If it's an ad, I write about someone who sees the ad, and his life is changed because it answers a desperate need, or the ad designer gets fired/out of trouble with the client, etc etc.

You could also check out the Adopt A Plot! thread in the NaNoWriMo forum. I was pretty stuck on finding a plot for this year's Nano until I found inspiration there - now I'm trying to narrow it down from 7 completely different ideas.

>34 blue_windchime: I had never heard of that thread! Which forum is it in? But what a fantastic idea for a thread.

My favorite is the adopt-a-villain thread.

> 35 If you go to the main Forums page, scroll down and look for the Adoption Society (I think its catalogued under Tips & Strategies). The Adoption pages have a TON of different "adoptable" items like plot, opening line, book title, etc. Happy hunting! :)

>37 blue_windchime: Cool! Thanks!

I tried the Adoption threads but I only like writing historicals so got bored reading through all the other ideas that just wouldn't work for that. You're right, though. There are TONS of ideas for plots!

And there's always Seventh Sanctum (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/).

Historicals? May I make a suggestion, then?

*EVERY*one has read myths about Zeus's infidelities, and Hera's irritable responses to same. NO ONE to date has done this from Hera's perspective.

Most people have heard about the Great Richard the Lion-Hearted, Crusader and Hostage. (And LOUSY King.) But nothing is really and for sure known about his Queen, Berengaria. She was a Basque woman who saw her husband once or twice, it would seem, then *piff* vanished from history after he dies at 40. She was, maybe, 21-22.

What happened to her?

Ugh. I said I wasn't doing NaNo dangit! The Adoption threads are waaayyyy too tempting. So. Many. Ideas!

Maybe just a mini-NaNo? Hmmm.

Interesting ideas, Richard! Not sure I'm up for all the research on the Richard and Berengaria thing, though the Zeus/Hera thing sounds interesting.

So I found another website that looks like it may be able to help with plot ideas: http://www.squidoo.com/nanowrimo-writing.

Heather19 - I know, I said 'no' as well and look at me. Resistance is futile!

I continue to resist!

But for how much longer, gilroy? Hmmmm? Do you really believe you'll find the strength to resist all the fun and exciting experiences we'll continue to post about on this thread?

Mwahahahahaahaha

Just a quick note -- I have the NaNo for the New and the Insane ebook available for free again this year:

http://www.lazette.net/FreeStuff/NaNo.htm

People who have done NaNo a few times have still found it helpful (thus the 'insane' part).

Thanks, zette! I know it helped me when I participated in my first NaNo, and I've gone back to it once or twice since then.

So it looks like a lot of us are repeat offenders around here. ;) Anyone jumping in for the first time? What's everyone's NaNo history?

This will be my fourth year and even with three "wins" under my belt I really can't believe I'm doing it again. Year one (2007) was my brilliant idea that turned out to be not so brilliant; year two (2008) was what year one's brilliant idea should have been (and was the story I most enjoyed writing); year three (2009) was everything that didn't fit into year two and thus became its sequel.

And it looks like year four is my year to try something completely different...

Great question Lisa!

I am also a fourth-year participant. 2007 I wrote a noirish murder mystery. 2008 was a YA novel, a sequel to a book I loved as a kid. 2009 was a thriller.

This summer (after watching the whole season of Defying Gravity in a week's time), I thought I would write a space book but it turns out I'm writing a fantasy - something my husband might like to read. There will be no dragons or orcs but there is a quest and a princess and just a touch of magic.

This will be my.... 8th year? Seriously? Wooooah. My first NaNo was 2003, although my first WIN wasn't until 2004. Out of those 8 NaNos I've only won 4 times.

Before my NaNo-wins the longest story I'd ever written was just shy of 30k, so NaNo has definitely helped me with stamina and making my stories longer. However, it's also gotten me frustrated wondering if I can write anything besides erotica/drama/action. Last year I tried a plot about a horse... Barely got 3k out of it. The year before I tried a bit of fantasy, with an alternate world with unicorns and dragons, and gave up after 2k (and ended up winning NaNo with my tried-and-true erotica).

>Storeetllr - Seventh Sanctum is awesome. That's where I got my plot this year, when I was stuck.

This will be my fifth, non-consecutive NaNo, though I have yet to make it all the way to the finish line.

This will be my fifth year, made it over the 50k line the first 3 years, bombed last year, and so far this year not even a whiff of an idea for a plot. Oh, well, that's how it was with the first two, both of which I think are good enough to go back and rewrite them with an eye toward submitting/ePublishing them.

It would be nice, though, to have an idea before Nov. 3, do a little research, write a brief outline. You know, like published authors do...

This is year seven for me, first win in 2005...hoping at last to have another win this year.

>45 Storeetllr:

I decided to actually celebrate my birthday this year, rather than be buried in noveling. :> So I can continue to resist until at least November 11.

It looks like I'm one of the only Nano newbies here! *gulps* I'm hoping I can give it a good go since my planning is going pretty well so far although the middle of my plot is a bit sketchy in my mind :S

LadyViolet: First time I did nano, I heard about it on Oct 28 and signed up the next day. I had NO plan, NO ideas. I still managed a win. You will do fine, if you just let yourself write!

What majkia said. My first time, I actually didn't even have an idea for a story until about the 3rd of 4th of November. Talk about writing by the seat of your pants!

Really, you'll do great ~ you just have to stifle the Evil Inner Editor and let 'er rip. I had to buy myself an AlphaSmart so I can't see further back than a couple of lines prior to the one I'm writing; otherwise I'd be editing rather than getting in my word count.

Had an idea pop into my head. I;m debating on it....

This will be my second NaNo; I wrote about 20K words for the first. I'm definitely not a "pantser"--I need to plan and outline and know where I'm going.

My first attempt was a historical mystery; my second will be a fantasy/sci fi/space opera. I think it will be much less research-driven, though I am wondering about FTL drives for spaceships . . . one school of thought says they are a scientific impossibility.

Hi, ejj1955. SF seems harder to me than historicals. All that world building! :)

60 --

And for me, I have always wanted to write historical fiction, but the amount of real-world world building to get it right stops me. That and the problem I've had deciding what era I would even want to write about, let alone who or what or where. (grin)

Science fiction I sometimes easier because you are building on today and can twist it and grow it in any direction you like. There is a lot of work still, of course, but getting the facts right for something you create is easier than getting it right from a number of history books. Though, I'm amused to say I have several thousand history books and only a hundred or so science books in my personal library. I'm sure there's something wrong with that.

For instance, you might decide (as I have in one series of sf books), that aircars are now used both on earth and on any off-world settlements where they are practical and where the economy allows them to be built or imported.

That's easy enough. But then -- what happens to streets? Do they revert back to the narrow footpaths of medieval times, wandering without any plan? What does that do to the layout of a city? Wouldn't it be more practical for aircars to land on roofs most of the time?

If you have settlements on several worlds, how do they communicate? How long does it take them to communicate?

But questions like these are just the trimmings. They can affect some of what happens. (If communications between worlds is slow, no one can expect outside help very soon.) However, the story is not going to be about aircars and communications: It will be about people. In the end, even the hard sf writer (who does spend considerable time and work on the science aspects) must still write a story about people. Even when they are alien people, there has to be some connection human readers can understand (if they're the POV characters, anyway).

So, in the end, it's all just about people and the choices they make. The settings affect those decisions, but no amount of world building for historical fiction or science fiction is going to make a really good story. And those good characters are hard to come by! (Back to my work on trying to do it!)

>61 zette: I've read so much history and historical fiction over the years that I find writing historicals is easier for me, though I admit to having done sometimes extensive research into certain periods, i.e., the late Roman Republic, late "Dark Ages" (or post Roman Empire, whatever the preferred term may be), as well as Regency and Victorian England. The details of any given time period can be fascinating, and using them in a story to create mood or tension or a character's motive gets me high.

Perhaps I just don't have enough imagination to create my own worlds, like you and other speculative fiction writers do. I love to read sf/fanatasy, but thinking about the possible details and how they work together with story makes my brain ache. I'm just grateful for writers like you who loving doing it and can provide me with great sf/f stories. :)

I was going to hold out and not do it this year - I've done it seven years and never gotten more than 15000 words out of it - but then I had an idea for a story that would be *perfect* for NaNo (low-stress, fun formulaic plot, very little research needed, not something I'm overinvested in that might make me freeze up, really want to write) and I *have* been getting a lot more writing done this year than previously...

I don't know, my brain may just be on autopilot that late October is the time to start latching on to a new novel idea. :D

I started NaNoWriMo two years ago but suspected I would have to abandon ship due to other commitments(i.e. I had papers to research and write for a Master's degree) and that's what happened. Last year, for the same reason, I didn't even get on board in the first place. But I've been saying since then that I would do it this year.

And now I might chicken out. I am getting performance anxiety. I don't think I've ever completed writing even a story, so what am I doing gearing up to write a whole novel?!

I just have to remind myself it's just for fun, it doesn't matter if it turns out to be not much more than drivel...it's just an opportunity to write a lot within a fun setting.

I started plotting a few weeks ago while I was riding on the back of my boyfriend's Harley. I have a skeleton plot and main character to work from.

I'm going to give it a whirl!

>59 ejj1955: Elizabeth: FTL is a scifi convention by now, and it's still a contrarian SF writer that doesn't use the concept with no explanation or apology.

An idea that I have toyed with, that you can adopt and use with my blessings, is that "dark energy" and "dark matter" are in fact able to be harnessed to slingshot space travelers from place to place. Hell, the physicists who're talking about this stuff sound more like metaphysicists and shamans than numbers guys. Why not use this blissful moment of ignorance to co-opt their thinking for art?

62 -- It has nothing to do with lack of imagination. It is all about inclination and the things that draw a person to writing. I've read a lot of history, but not a lot of historical fiction. I have read a great deal of science fiction ad fantasy, and it just happens that sort of thing appeals to me to try and write, too. (And TRY is the important word here! LOL)

65 --

Science fictionis all about 'what if' and not always about 'what is' accepted anyway. If a person can imagine something and make it work within the framework of their sf (or fantasy) universe, there's no reason not to give it a try and see what interesting story a person can come up with.

I think this may be why I'm identifying this particular story as sci fi/fantasy, as I'm planning to use plenty of fantasy elements (e.g., telepathy) as well as the whole FTL drive that I still don't know how I'm going to explain. I'll cheerfully adopt Richard's dark matter/dark energy plan if I can explain it (or gloss over it!) without sounding like a complete idiot.

One of the ironies of life is that I enjoy sci fi but have less grasp of science than nearly any other subject that is of any interest to me.

68 -- Ah, the fun world of what is considered sf and what is fantasy . . .

Telepathy would normally be considered a science fiction trope, unless the ability is created by a spell or magical power of some sort. It all comes down to how it is done. And since FTL is no more possible at this stage than mental powers of the mind (without magical, outside enhancements), you can consider both to be sf.

I was reminded (in a tweet by JohannaHarness) of something zette wrote called It's Just a Phase about Phase Drafting (pre-novel writing). I hope you don't mind, zette, if I mention it here and post the link: http://www.fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%2015/phase.htm

I'm going to give this method a try for my NaNo novel this year, especially since I actually have an idea for my story ~ 2 weeks prior to November 1! (Usually I come up with my story idea on or after the first.) I can start working on the phases now and then will have better than an outline to use when drafting my novel on November 1.

Well, that's the plan, anyway.

I'm on the fence, I have many work commitments, but that's the point isn't it? To do now what we always put off. I've never written much outside of school and blogging, but I have a few ideas in my head, might as well give it a go!

>70 Storeetllr: Storeetllr, thank you so much for the link! And zette...well, that's just about the best thing since sliced bread!

>71 brianjungwi: Every year, Brian, my wife sighs mightily when I announce I'm off to NaNo. She hates it. My planning help for Thanksgiving goes to zero, though I do still cook most of the meal. Actually, I would think having work commitments would *help* structure your 1,667-word-a-day writing schedule. The only problem then is energy, and that's why the good goddesses invented caffeine!

72; I worry about the energy! Plus I feel Ill have less reading time =(

When taking on the task of writing a novel, all book-reading can be seen as "research". *wink* That's how I justify it anyways!

#70 --

Glad to see it mentioned at all! LOL

There is also a version of it in NaNo for the New and the Insane, the free ebook I give away each year for NaNo people.

The trick is always to adapt this sort of thing to what works for you. Some people will find the general idea good, but won't want to do that much detail. That's good. Just find what works for you!

>73 brianjungwi: You could always make leisure reading a reward for getting in your daily word count.

It could work. Personally, I seldom get to my daily word count but instead write like a madwoman on the weekend and then I'd be too exhausted to do much reading. But for more disciplined types who love to read...

76 --

I've always set my goals low and then had the pleasure of going over them. Setting them too high and not being able to make them most of the time would just get depressing for me, even if I did catch up on the weekend.

If I were you, I'd just have a weekly goal instead of a daily one.

Weekly vs daily goal-setting seems really doable for the busy-life writer.

I actually have a monthly goal that averages at least 1 k a day and an absolute minimum daily goal of 500 words. I usually do much more than that, but having those kinds of goals in place makes it easier for me during the times when I am very busy.

Yes, I do the weekly goal system: 12,000 words per week. That way I'm pretty much on target by November 30. Unless, like last year, I crash and burn somewhere along the way.

Sounds good to me. Good luck!

Zette - I skimmed most of your guide last night, very helpful! I want to sit down and give it a proper read this weekend.