NaNoWriMo

[Robin]

So who's doing NaNo this year? What are your goals?

I will try to keep myself from editing along the way.

[bcomet]

Oh, I am sooooo in.

[HillaryJ]

Is it sad that my number 1 goal for NaNoWriMo is to not eat all of the Halloween candy I have stockpiled before NaNoWriMo even begins? Oh Swedish Fish, I can hear your haunting siren song...

[Margo]

I signed up, but I'm not sure how much I will get done with an incomplete outline. If I get my outline done and turn out 20K quality words, I'll be really happy.

[Hillsy]

I'm having a crack at it this year, as much to force myself back into the habit of writing as anything else. Not plannign a full novel, but the fisrt bit of an Epic Fantasy.

I'm aiming for the flat 50K, which will be hard enough with 3 games of football (Soccer - I'm a UK boy) a week, a twelve hour work day, and Fable 3 landing on my doorstep this morning. God bless insomnia.

[Heather B]

I'm all signed up and (sort of) ready to go. I'm aiming for the 50K but if I get it, it will be in the ballpark of a miracle.

[poptart]

Me too!

Good luck to all!

[Claudie]

I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and shooting for the (horribly high) goal of 200,000 words. I may stop posting during the first week. Don't worry. ;)

[Margo]

...and shooting for the (horribly high) goal of 200,000 words...

[speechless]... 0_o ...[/speechless]

[Claudie]

I know. I am risking my sanity here. I somehow managed it last year, however, and I like to think I'll have two first drafts by the end of the month.

Well, no. Let's not call them first drafts. Let's call them NaNo drafts. They get to be called first drafts after the first pass. XD

[Jen P]

HI folks - yes, I've bought the t-shirt, so I'm in too! I wasn't planning on joining in until I read the NaNoWriMo posts this week, and became re-inspired to use it as motivation, like a writing boot camp. I first signed up in 2008 but didn't actually do it - this year I am more determined. (same book!) Whilst I don't aim for the 50K as such, if I can make a good stab at 500 good words a day that I can use later I will be thrilled. I have 3 children aged 4 and under, one is part time in school, and I have a small home business, so I always put my writing last. This month will be THE month I get words on paper for the story that has been with me for 3 years and I've never got properly started. I write longhand, which surprises even me, since I am a Mac fan and always connected on the laptop, but I find I am a better writer on paper. That's part of the reason I doubt I will do the 50K as I'd need write up time too, but if I get a good stab at the whole story I will be thrilled. Is anyone else writing longhand?

[One of the Mad Ones]

I'm on the fence about officially signing up because I find it nearly impossible and often a terrible choice for me to turn off my inner editor while writing: I sometimes feel too loyal to what I've written to revise without lots of second-guessing and frustration. My first novel took a year and a half to complete, and it's been another 5 months since then that I've been revising it, so I don't know that the actual spirit of NaNo is right for me -- the whole quantity over quality thing. However, when I have ideas flowing, I can write like it's a full-time job -- not having a full-time job helps -- so I'm using it as a source of motivation at the very least. I'm by no means a plotter when it comes to long works, but since my project is a novel-in-stories, I'm taking a stab at knowing the full picture before I start, and having 13 different ideas means I can switch back and forth when I get stuck. This whole thing is basically an experiment for me, but I'm excited to try it.

[Margo]

I'm on the fence about officially signing up because I find it nearly impossible and often a terrible choice for me to turn off my inner editor while writing.

And I don't intend to turn off my editor. I've written several complete novels and novellas already. I don't need to push to finish. I already know I can finish. I'm using NaNo as the literary equivalent of jumper cables. I seriously doubt I'll make 50k, and I'm good with that.

[bcomet]

Several stories inside me competed, but one rose above. It is aching-aching to get out, to begin, to get started
and I now see the wisdom of holding off until the stroke of the starting hour. In the waiting, the germination, albeit difficult,
is exquisite too. A story rising, pushing, reaching to be written.

[Margo]

Is anyone else writing longhand?

I wrote my first two novels and two novellas longhand. It was hard to switch to a computer, but I'm a better writer on a PC because I type fast and can keep up with my thoughts better on a keyboard. I couldn't go back now because of stress injuries to my wrists. If I write four or five sentences with a pen or pencil, my hand and wrist hurt too much.