NaNoWriMo 2013

[SugarMeFingers]

Anyone writing a novel this November?
I've signed up for my first try!
I'm doing some planning and outlining at the moment and looking forward to starting.

How's the planning coming along? I just watched some youtube vids on story structure by dan wells that were really helpful.

That's part one if anyone's interested.

Just came on to see if there was a NaNo thread for 2013 and here you are!

Last year I did a YA thriller and this year am writing a whodunnit. Won last year (finished my 50, 000 on the evning of the 30th!) but haven't looked at my draft since I finished ,

My nano name is the same as my mn name.

Oh brilliant, there's some others out there! Can I join you? I haven't done NaNoWriMo before. I've written a few novels - two which will forever live in my sock drawer because they are AWFUL and one self-pubbed as a 75p ebook on kindle.

I'm about to write a sequel to the self-pubbed one - putting finishing touches to the plot at the moment, and NaNoWriMo happens to fall at the perfect time for me to start drafting. Bit nervous at the speed I'll need to write - the last book took me about two years to finish first draft

I am so impressed by those of you writing a novel with a baby. Total Scrivener fan here too. I wrote my last book in Word and the rewriting process was such a nightmare. I can already see how much easier that process will be...

SugarMeFingers that Dan Wells video was really helpful - thank you so much for linking!

Has anyone else made any resolutions to help you focus on drafting? I've changed my MN username (a tad obvious perhaps!) and made a resolution that I'm not allowed on any MN boards apart from this Creative Writing one... I get too addicted to MN. The username change means that I can't log into MN without writing the words 'I Really Should Be Writing' which will hopefully jolt me into remembering that I'm not supposed to be here! I don't want to dereg completely as I'd like to be able to drop in on this board when I've got my word count for the day.

I've done an outline by days in November - with each scene to write assigned to a day - about three or four scenes per day and the last scene scheduled to be written on 27th November leaving me room to frantically catch up... I have no idea if it's achievable though.

Mine's a thriller by the way - second book in a trilogy so it was semi-outlined already but since watching the Dan Wells video I've added a lot more structure.

Any other prep people are doing?

How much prep are you doing everyone?

I read a heap of books in the summer for research (I'm doing historical) in between drafts of my last, so there's that.
I would like to have the architecture of the book sketched out before I start, but I'm not sure it will be set in stone. Usually I have some key scenes and the ending figured out before I start but am not quite sure how it fits together.
I don't know what would happen if I had each scene planned. It might be that I'd end up with a much tighter, better novel, or I might find my creativity blocked. It would be interesting to see some time.

Have you anything published, Tunip? Struggling so much no with redrafting the last, I'm looking forward to forgetting about that and starting anew. I worry though that I'll become so engrossed with this one, my last will go out the window forever. How to avoid that? How to find time, with FT job, family, toddlers etc?

Just some short stories, a few years back.

I'm so looking forward to starting my next! If I have to come back to the old one (which will happen if I get any more good advice about how to improve it) I think it will just be a case of sitting down at my desk and forcing myself, if I'm not in the mood.

Turniphead1 - I'm wedded to Scrivener now. Sickness, health (should health ever befall me), for richer (should wealth ever befall me) for poorer... I type 70 wpm on my laptop - that's not going to happen on an iPad. I'd end up with some crazy autocorrect surrealist anti-novel! And I'd get frustrated when it finally starts flowing and I need to get the words out quickly.

If you're just getting into writing for the first time then just have some fun with it. There are lots of people on the NaNoWriMo forums who just seem to be having a great time by letting the creativity flow without censoring it. That said, I have outlined the hell out of my book for NaNoWriMo. But then I do have a specific book I want to get written. This will be my first time of writing to a strict outline and trying to write at speed and it's an experiment really.

TunipTheUnconquerable - I don't know what would happen if I had each scene planned. It might be that I'd end up with a much tighter, better novel, or I might find my creativity blocked. It would be interesting to see some time. - yeah that's what I'm experimenting with! I wonder what will happen... I do have almost every scene planned but with a tiny bit of 'wiggle room' for if I have an idea as I'm writing. I don't know if it will make it boring to read and dull to write or whether it will make it better structured for the reader and with me having a better idea of what I'm sitting down to write each day. Who knows... About to find out!

'If you're just getting into writing for the first time then just have some fun with it.'

I totally, totally agree with this.
The great thing about NaNo is that it encourages you to turn off your inner editor, which is why a lot of people who've never got through a whole first draft before manage to do it with NaNo.
Often people start writing and do a few chapters then they worry because it's not good enough or get stuck on what happens next and end up giving up. Putting the focus on merely turning out large numbers of words sounds like it will just result in crap, but actually it stops people from undermining themselves by being too self-critical. Then once you've got a draft down on paper you can figure out what's wrong with it and make it better.

8th year of NaNoWriMo. Had No Plot? No Problem since I was 19. LOVE IT. I tweet Chris Baty quite often too >.< SO glad to see a thread on MN.

I'm doing a lot of planning this year. It's my last year of degree and have an assignment due 28th Nov so need to concentrate more on that in last couple of weeks. I want to be clear what I'm writing for nano so I can get a good start.

I leave some room open for change as I get a lot of ideas while writing but I like to have some structure and an idea of important scenes.

I'm a huge scrivener fan and tend to have a loose outline of what I want to happen in each act and chapter.

I also recommend getting an internet blocker while writing, I'm terrible for deciding to look things up and then getting lost in a sea of wikipedia and before I know it 2 hours have passed.

I've just bought 'The Anatomy of Story' by John Truby, because Caroline Lawrence recommends it on her blog (and she always writes well about writing IMO). It's a screenwriting book - they're often good on plot.

I'm subbing my last one now. Not going to send off any today, though, because I was up too much of last night and don't want to risk making stupid mistakes.

Hi, great to find so many are signed up.

It will be my second year at nano but life is much busier this year, and I haven't done any prep yet. Am getting inspired by reading Chris Baty's No plot no action (or similar title) - he's the guy who set up nano and its a really inspiring book encouraging you to just get writing even if you haven't done the prep. And also watched some free creative writing videos on Openlearn, the Open University's free bit, which were really inspiring as prompts for writing.

Good luck to us all

Have just been for a run which has helped me think through my plot and character a bit more (now need to writ it down before I forget). Last year I only discovered NaNo in October and planned my book in a week. This year I only have the bare bones and on top of writing/work/toddler am trasining for a 15k smack bang in the middle of the month and heading away for another weekend in November - just hope I've left myself enough time!

Yay it's almost nano time. Not a clue what to write this year.

Does it have to be from scratch? I have a novel I've been writing for ten years and this could just be the kick up the arse I need to finish it. Studying in the final year of my diploma aswell as a FT job so not the best timing but there you go.

Had a few short stories published down the years but nothing major and I miss the writing vibe!

I have no idea if the official NaNo rules say it has to be from scratch, but you can make your own rules.
Using it to finish a long-procrastinated project is an excellent use for the general energy and vibe.

Great, this is gonna be fun! Actually more excited about this than studying which is a bit sad .

Inspiration dust for all! Will the thread keep going? Would love to see how everyone gets on.

24 hours to go and I have no idea what I'm going to write. Have had a couple of half-formed snippets of ideas floating around my brain for a while but real life has sadly intervened and distracted me from getting any further.

I still don't have a plot. I'd been thinking I'd have this week to do it but I kind of forgot it was half term.
I might just spend a day or two writing unconnected snippets of stuff before I actually go to page 1.
Mine's historical and I know what happened in her life but it's a question of where to start and finish to make it work as a story.

Oh God, I'm not ready for this, and so bloody busy!