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.

this is harder than it looked
doing this is a brilliantly justifiable diversion from actually writing :D

8000 :) This YA stuff is much easier to write than heavy-going political feminist dystopia! Strange that..!

I'm not finding the YA that easy... I can never hit the right balance between too adult and patronising. I'll persist though!

Chapter 2 started today. Only 2058 words total but that 2058 more words than I thought I'd do! Already every single part of the book has changed from my plans, except the MC names and the genre.

Onwards and upwards!

I've been having some time out in shoe shops, have work stuff coming up which practically demands some kick ass boots

Julia - out of interest how is this a diversion 'from actually writing'? I'm pretty sure I'm writing stuff :D

It's totally cool to just have fun with it, Nano is a really good laugh in the right community anyway, but I'm definitely going to see my project through to submission after this :) (then probably realise I hate it a week later)

That balance is something you can tweak later, though.

I have totally channeled my 16 year old self. A bit too much. There are things coming out that I thought I'd blocked out, and it's not even autobiographical. May need to edit a lot of that out!

10K words. The fastest 2k ever written?!

Sorry to hear about your mc, Engels. I hope your appointments were okay today.

I'm still just about keeping up. I've done a little over 7,000 words so far, but should get more time later tonight after The Mentalist has finished.

I've passed the 10k mark but I'm already starting to dislike my story! I need to move it in another direction to keep it going, it's just sounding daft at the minute.

My characters just seem to want to sit around talking all the time when I want them to do something but I can never think of what. I know what I want them to do eventually but getting them to that point is the problem.

Of course the easiest thing to do is probably skip that bit for now, go to the next bit and then come back to the problem areas but I just keep hoping something will come to me and I won't need to.

Sorry to hear that Engels, I hope you're ok.

Well lots if you are going great guns!

I haven't started. My LO has completely changed her breastfeeding pattern and style so I have less time than I thought. Also reluctant to start something longhand. Tried my laptop bought in January again and it is sooooo slow! Am going to abandon it.

Excuses excuses!

Alotta - look for the minimum number of steps it would take to get them where you want them to be. Or just take them straight there and scatter in explanation of how they got there as and when feels right.

Rollermum - you could always set yourself another goal that is less ambitious in your circumstances but still worth doing, like 25k or 10k. If by the end of the month you had the first 3 chapters that would still be good, right?

Hi only just heard of NaNoWriMO on another thread, I'm late and disorganised but very tempted.
I've been trying and failing to finish a YA book which is a combo of novel and technical info...sounds weird I know but think it could be good. Would that be acceptable do you think? Does anyone check up on content or is it a kick up the backside a motivational tool?

There's no check on content, it's just for motivation. Technical/novel YA sounds really intriguing!

No one checks, so just go for it!

Pure NaNoists would say you should always start a new project. The idea is, I believe, that if you're less invested you're more likely to write crazy amounts without thinking too hard - and it works. But if you don't want to start something new (I didn't), then Nano's a great motivator anyway.

Thanks! I will definitely go for it then, it's been practically done for YEARS but I'm too hopeless to finish it and too chicken to send it off to anyone.
I'll do this and then my New Year resolution will be to submit it.

Maybe next year I'll do something new...

Thanks Tunip, I've gone for a brief summary of where I'm trying to get them so now I can just write the more exciting part. I'm just too impatient really.

Not too impatient.
If it's boring you it will bore your reader. Ditch the boring and cut to the chase.

hi everyone, hope you all enjoying writing your novels! I hit 10k yesterday and my total is now 10437. This is the most i have put on paper ever! I'm really enjoying it tho and am now trying to get my toddler to sleep so I can do some more. I'm writing fantasy, what's everyone else doing? :)

Thanks Tunip - you are right. I will go for 10k. Progress not perfection!

Sugar I am writing sci fi which is unusual for me.

I've tried my laptop again and it was better though still infuriatingly slow! Also figured I can type one handed if not too worried about caps - autocorrect helps a lot. Whoop!

Toomuchtea, are you writing historical?

I've just passed 2000. It took me ages to get started because as well as research, I had specific plotting issues due to the sort of historical I'm writing. My last one was 'made up people involved in real historical events' and this one is 'real people in real historical events'. So first I had the problem of how to make a coherent story out of the mass of stuff that happened to my main character, and now I'm constantly having to stop and check where people were at different times.

It's kind of tricky NaNo-ing historical, because the research slows you down. But OTOH that's precisely why I need to do it, because otherwise there's too much temptation not to start till you've read just one more book and then another and then another....

Humph. I looked at my calendar and realised I need to write 3k a day (because I never get anything done at weekends due to dh's penchant for days out) and now I'm panicking and can't concentrate....

I've fallen behind too - poorly myself and DD last weekend so a slow start. Currently only done 5k words - some of which I'd already written since this is a novel I've already started ten years ago. But I'm making changes as I go. It's been ages since I wrote anything so the wheels in my head are a bit creaky still.

I'm also writing SF Rollermum

I think I worked out that it needs to be about 1.6k words a day in order to hit the target, think that's right? Trying not to focus on the word count though as that distracts from the writing process - think you need to do the same Tunip. Just enjoy and go with the flow.