National Novel Writing Month

Any fellow writers here who are participating in National Novel Writing Month? It's a yearly competition that requires you to write out a 50,000 word manuscript in the month of November. This will be my ninth year doing this, and I am always looking for some fellow writers to connect with during the challenge. Here's the link to my profile if any of you are jumping into the fray - http://nanowrimo.org/participants/davidcorbin

Wow, impressive! And you've won twice, that is awesome! 

I would love to try my hand at this, but I seriously don't know how I would find the time. (Wow, what a lame excuse that is. But still.)

How do they check if you really wrote it this November anyway? I mean, couldn't a writer write for a whole year and then simply submit their work in November?
If these are really silly questions because I haven't googled anything on the subject yet, then please just ignore me.

ComiKate wrote:Wow, impressive! And you've won twice, that is awesome! 

I would love to try my hand at this, but I seriously don't know how I would find the time. (Wow, what a lame excuse that is. But still.)

How do they check if you really wrote it this November anyway? I mean, couldn't a writer write for a whole year and then simply submit their work in November?
If these are really silly questions because I haven't googled anything on the subject yet, then please just ignore me.

These aren't silly questions. The whole challenge is based on the honor system. There's no monetary prize. The prize is the rough draft of a novel in your hands by the end of November. To cheat the system is to cheat oneself. You aren't supposed to start the challenge with a preexisting novel either, everything should be written from scratch, with no editing for the whole month. The point is to write without self-consciousness destroying the workflow.

I have a friend that tries it every year and some years he fails, but at least he gets the start of a novel on the page. Even if you don't complete the 50,000 words by the end of November, you can always say you started something and then work on it throughout the year.

There's also Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place in the summer months, and it is more lax on the 50,000 word limit. In fact, you can set up your own word count goal, and even use the Camp to edit preexisting novels. Here's a link to that site if you have any interest in it - https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in

Ah, yes, I'm doing it this year, my 2nd year. I'm taking it easy, actually, I'm mainly using it as an incentive to sit down for 20 minutes or more and write. Get in the habit of doing it consistently.

This has been complicated by my computer crashing or something...I don't know what, but it's out of commission, on day 1. I'm very, very angry about this.

I have a friend who in the month leading up to it has been winding me up with the intention of participating, as if atoning for flaking out last year. He is so ridiculously impractical and unmotivated, he makes me look like a go-getter. All of a sudden, I can't get a hold of him since the start of November. As much as I've tried to tell him nano is about breaking through the barriers of excuses that he is so practiced at, I have this feeling next time I talk to him it's going to be another litany of excuses. I'm very angry with him, as well.

Desert Kris wrote:Ah, yes, I'm doing it this year, my 2nd year.  I'm taking it easy, actually, I'm mainly using it as an incentive to sit down for 20 minutes or more and write.  Get in the habit of doing it consistently.

This has been complicated by my computer crashing or something...I don't know what, but it's out of commission, on day 1.  I'm very, very angry about this.

I have a friend who in the month leading up to it has been winding me up with the intention of participating, as if atoning for flaking out last year.  He is so ridiculously impractical and unmotivated, he makes me look like a go-getter.  All of a sudden, I can't get a hold of him since the start of November.  As much as I've tried to tell him nano is about breaking through the barriers of excuses that he is so practiced at, I have this feeling next time I talk to him it's going to be another litany of excuses.  I'm very angry with him, as well.

I find it's hard to motivate others to do NaNo...most of the time. And if someone I know does agree to participate, they usually bail pretty quickly after leaving the starting line. I think NaNo is great even if you put aside the 50,000 word count goal, because whatever you get down on paper is still writing.  

I love NaNo! Once a year I need the excuse to just spew words onto the page without caring that they're rubbish, knowing I can sculpt it into a 'proper' first draft later... or, as has been the case, realise that the idea wasn't quite as spectacular as I originally thought.

This will be my sixth NaNo, check me out: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/uksteve

UKSteve wrote:I love NaNo! Once a year I need the excuse to just spew words onto the page without caring that they're rubbish, knowing I can sculpt it into a 'proper' first draft later... or, as has been the case, realise that the idea wasn't quite as spectacular as I originally thought.

This will be my sixth NaNo, check me out: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/uksteve

I just added you as my buddy on the NaNo site, Steve. Good luck with NaNo this year!

My 12 year-old daughter is participating. She's a little behind, though because she's been sick.  

jorowi wrote:My 12 year-old daughter is participating. She's a little behind, though because she's been sick.  

Is she participating in NaNoWriMo or the lesser known NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program?
http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

I've considered doing NaNoWriMo, but I seriously doubt my ability to churn out 50,000 words in a month. I'm a very methodical writer. I work slowly and it pains me to put down text that I know I don't want to keep. Plus November is a pretty busy month for me. If I ever felt like giving it a stab, I'd probably try the summer version, but I still just don't think it's something I'd be good at.

So...I just hit the 50,000 mark last night, meaning this is my ninth NaNo victory in a row! I'm pretty stoked about this year in particular, because the story that came out of the 50,000 words is invaluable to both of my book series, as it seems to be acting as a bridge between the two of them, wrapping up some of the open storylines from my Black Earth series and introducing readers to my Expired Reality series.

I seriously encourage anyone who has wanted to crank out a novel - or at least start the draft of one - to try out NaNoWriMo one of these years. Most of the time, people don't even reach 50,000 words, but at least they break the ground and plant the seed of their first (or second, or third) novel.

I officially hate you!

I'm planning to struggle my way to the 25k mark before bed tonight, safe in the knowledge that the story I'm writing may be better suited to a short story or maybe a novella - not sure it will ever reach 50k without tons of padding!

Having said that, the words are flowing quite well at the moment, so you never know.  

And seriously, congratulations David, it's always an achievement even after 9 years practice!

UKSteve wrote:I officially hate you!

We all do Steve!

But seriously... David is an inspiration (and an indictment) to us all!!!!  

Well it was touch and go for a while there, but after a frantic, brain bleeding, finger numbing (or do I mean the other way round?) final two days, I dragged my story over the 50k mark.

It's not pretty (I 'reviewed' it myself just for fun) - but I think maybe there is a shorter story in there that might be worth telling.

I think I need to dedicate the next few months to properly editing the six NaNo-quality novel drafts I now have lurking about my hard drive!

UKSteve wrote:Well it was touch and go for a while there, but after a frantic, brain bleeding, finger numbing (or do I mean the other way round?) final two days, I dragged my story over the 50k mark.

It's not pretty (I 'reviewed' it myself just for fun) - but I think maybe there is a shorter story in there that might be worth telling.

I think I need to dedicate the next few months to properly editing the six NaNo-quality novel drafts I now have lurking about my hard drive!

Congrats on winning NaNo, Steve! I'm sure there's some quality stuff in there that you can pull out and turn into a gem. My entire four-book Black Earth series came out of a short story I wrote when I did an anthology one year for NaNo. You never know.