anyone registered for NaNoWriMo (starts 1 November)?

[ThresholdMum]

Hello

Have any other Mumsnet Bloggers registered for NaNoWriMo this year? For those who don't know, its a challenge for people to take time to write 50,000 words during November on that novel idea they've had for years but done nothing about (or 1600 words/day, each day). As they put it, to turn aspiring novelists into perspiring novelists, and by the end of November to have much of a first draft. Turn that blog to a book now.

Free to join, great helpful website, pep talks - and various tools like write-ins, writer buddies, etc. I'm doing it for the first time and keen to get Writer Buddies if you are already registered (ThresholdMum). Visit www.nanowrimo.org to find out more

ThresholdMum

I've got you added Onlyaphase

I'm still writing at the moment, just having a 15 minute break but am at 1372. I'm still wondering how in the heck a jobcentre advisor turned up in the middle of a hotel, armed with a vase while the hotel is surrounded by zombies. She's not even the main character

I suppose it's no weirder than having a main character who actually considered lobbing a Tampax at a zombie, a viable form of self-defence for a moment

Oh, and can someone tell me what Scrivener is? I'm using Word - is it much different?

Hi there, I am a freelance writer and I spend a lot of my time trying to drag nuggets of literary wisdom from a blank page - on my blog I have quite a few suggestions gleaned over the years which might help when faced with having to write from scratch. Good luck with the stories! Al

www.alandapre.com/blog

Scrivener is writing software Onlyaphase. I like it because it sorts everything into neat little subdivisions and you can use cards to keep all the chapters separate so that you don't have to scroll through one massive wall of text looking for a bit that needs changing :)

Thanks for the link AuthorAl :)

Sephrenia is this some sort of dream sequence you're in the middle of? What with the vase and zombies and everything?

No, I wish it was! MC is in a hotel and woken up to find zombies have surrounded the place (I haven't figured out a plausible reason for this yet) and is looking for things to use in self-defence. Here's the Tampax excerpt:

'Sally actually considered that for a moment. Could she use a box of tampons to distract a zombie? Maybe aim for an eye? She shook her head and smiled at the silliness of the thought. Knowing her luck, she?d just piss off the zombie even more. It?d be bad enough having a normal zombie after her, having one with a watery eye from where she?d lobbed a Tampax at it would be taking the ridiculous to extremes.'

I'm LittleMe on NaNoWriMo if anyone wants to add me as a writing buddy. I didn't get anything done yesterday but will be starting the next hour or so. Not sure how far I'll get this time as I have SO MUCH on this month but hey.

Hi *PetiteRaleuse" I've added you on NNWM. I'm having a blast so far this month, but often start off all enthusiastic and then tail off with projects so we will see.

Ha ha me too/// good luck with it.

This is quite interesting www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/30-nanowrimo-writing-tips_b41295

Great, thanks, has really motivated me to see so many others have signed up for it. Do link with me too, as I shall with you (ThresholdMum there too.)

I have to bow out two days in, alas! It's for a good reason though - a really great agent has emailed to say that they like my blog and would like to see some of the stuff I'm currently working on so I'm going to spend this month polishing up the first few chapters before emailing them off to her! :)

Good luck to all the other NaNoers! :)

Yay that is fabulous news!!!

Thank you! :)

She'll probably reject it once she sees what my fiction is like but it's nice to be asked. :)

Petite
that is interesting, thanks

MmeG
Congratulations. Hope it goes well

All right, I did it. I signed up. I've written 1800 words so far. They suck, but they're written!

I'm Tee2072 over there as well if anyone wants to be buddies.

I finally got the chapter that has been bothering me done, and it now leads on to tomorrow's chapter. Yay.

I finally got started last night and have 597 words now. Bit of catching up to do but I'm pleased that I managed to start.

Tee well done :)

MmeG That's really great! Hope all goes well for you

Mme I'm glad you got that chapter finished :)

Is anyone else happy they are writing, yet worried about the quality of the writing? I started thinking I could edit stuff. Now I am wondering whether it will be editable... Eeek. [sceptical]
Writing vibes to all!

I'm happy to be writing and every novel I have started so far has been stuck at the first page precisely because I have worried about editing... so this time I am just letting the words come and I'll worry about editing in December! Everything is editable, surely?

I've done almost 2000 words today so far, so I'm pleased with that. Not sure where the story is going yet but I've been working on a few characters and a starting plot line. It's going in a different direction to the start so I'm thinking I'll be changing a few things shortly.

I'm with you all on the editing dilemma! Some of the stuff I'm producing will only be fit for the bin, but I'm hoping some of it will be worth reading later on. I think as soon as I start looking at it critically I'll lose impetus and won't want to keep going.

I've done over 10,000 words this week, but plan only on writing during the weekdays anyway, and this means I have to do over 2,000 words a day to get to target. I'm actually really enjoying it, now I've taken pressure off myself to write perfect paragraphs, the story is really flowing out of me, and as is all based on situations and locations I know there aren't any pesky hold ups for research! I have found that the characters aren't behaving as planned, so the story is moving away from where I thought it would go.

Is everyone else enjoying themselves?

Yes! I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. I have a scrappy day today, so am going to write in short blocks around fetching children, dropping them off in different places and dog walking.
My story is set in London in 1901 and 2001, so obviously I'm finding the 2001 stuff easier to write about! The 1901 stuff has lots of 'blah, blah, blahs, italics and brackets!!