Anyone doing NaNoWriMo 2020?

[OrangeCinnamon1]

I have a novel outline (romantic) and am just filling out bits and bobs...character development etc. I should be extremely well prepped for November so considering giving it a go. Anyone else ? Hoping for a realistic 900 words plus a day.

I’m really enjoying the prep for this, have such an amazing idea for a book - the problem will probably be motivation to keep at it when my writing doesn’t live up to the same standard as my ideas.

How’s everyone else doing, planning much or planning to just write it?

I'm in  I have a 70k novel to write and also gonna try to do a novella a week in the evenings to push myself.

I have a basic idea for the novel (a dark dystopian romance, book 2 in a series) but nothing plotted. I'm a "make it up as you go along" writer.

For software, I was a big fan of Scrivener but recently changed to Dabble. It syncs across devices which is handy for getting an extra few hundred words in on your phone. Also has a dark mode which is a godsend for nightshift writers, and a nice goal-setting feature that tells you exactly what you need to write every day.

The most expensive subscription ($15 a month IIRC) gives you Pro Writing Aid built in which I really like.

Dabble sounds brilliant @themental exactly what I need, I’ll try the free version if poss. Thank you!

I’m glad you’re here because I’ve gone from ‘is 2000 words a day really realistic?’ to ‘thank fuck I’m only aiming at 2000 words a day I’ve totally got this’ 😅

I’m doing 2000 words a day for twenty days each on three characters each narrating their version of a simple chain of events through which a mystery emerges that we probably won’t resolve. Haven’t got much detail yet maybe that comes when I edit it in December?

I can’t find Dabble in the App Store?

@Ylfa google "Dabble Writer". It's a web based app, but you can add shortcuts to the app on your desktop / tablet / phone so you can also work offline. It just syncs to cloud when you get online again

Yes!!!! Got it!! Thanks themental 😀

I’m doing it this year too. The book I did it with last year is out on submission now so I need to distract myself by plunging into a new project. I’ve done some planning but not as much as last time, so fingers crossed.

My aim is a first draft of the whole thing, which I think will be 50-60k, as my first drafts are always very lean.

Good luck everyone.

I'm in. If not this year when? I've tried this several times. Last completed it 2009 I think before kids. Not tried since the new website. Going to try a live chat tonight.

How is everyone feeling about starting on their novel tomorrow?

I'm feeling like I've still got huge chunks of the middle that are very much unplanned, which makes me nervous! Hoping that this month will help me move away from the fear of writing without planning.

Enthused (but it's easy to feel that the day before). I usually start at midnight for an hour. I have the first Chapter plotted, but after that I have an ending to aim for and a few waypoints. The rest will be made up as I go along, but I'm comfortable with that - my writing style is to throw words onto paper and then later to work out what's worth developing and what needs to go.

At the moment the month looks clearer than usual (finished all my OU study for now) but that could easily change. I might go look on the NaNo forums and see if there's any crawls I fancy to push the words along. ponders if the 10k day is something I could do this year

I've decided I will-it looks like there might be lots of spare time this year if lockdown happens! (hospitality manager)

I've got a hugely long running fantasy I write bits off from time to to time, so I'm going to write another episode of that. I know where this bit is going.

I’m so looking forward to this, everything is already planned out in such detail - not my usual approach to anything, but it’s been an extraordinary year. How convenient is this impending month long lockdown for others? It will suit me pretty well. Mood though ☹️ it won’t be a very cheery read when I’m done writing it!

This will be my 9th year.

How's it going everyone? I'm up to 1179 words.

Well done! 1851 here, it took me four hours from 5am to 9 😮 I’d like to pass the 2000 line by the end of the day. Hope I get faster as there’s also an OU course needing a couple of hours each day. And work. And animal care.

It’s also not particularly readable yet but it’s a start!

I'm doing fairly well. I wrote just over 1k after midnight and have been writing on and off all day.
It's rubbish, but no one other than me reads it so it doesn't matter.

I've got just under 1700 words so far.

I'd like to try and get ahead a bit if I can. I have a tendency to fall behind in the 2nd week and find it hard to catch up again.

I'm enjoying writing a covid free world. Anyone joining in with their local group? We've done two zooms.

Hi, can I join you? I have tried and failed at Nanowrimo before, but feeling more motivated this time around, plus I am still working from home, so in theory can write on my lunch break. My downfall has always been the fact that its my DC's birthday, so I always feel I have missed the beginning and failed before I begin. I have made my peace with that this year! I did join my local group on Discord, but they are SO chatty I think I might need to leave.

How do you all write around children? I work full-time, but WFH at the moment. Evenings feel too much like family time and my kids aren't in bed until after 9, when I am past thinking about anything. I am hoping to do 6-7am each day, and maybe 45 mins on my lunch hour.

Writing round children isn't so much of an issue now that my youngest is 13yo.
But I do remember the first year I did it, I did a lot of early rising with my youngest, setting him in front of his beloved Red Arrow dvds and writing until the older ones were up.

I do write quickly though. It's the editing that takes forever for me.

Depending on your typing speed you can do several hundred words in an hour, and short bursts are probably better that a single long plod. Get into a word war on the NaNo forum - pick your best available time. I usually do 20 mins. but this year seem to be doing 30 mins. Don't worry about the other people's word counts (some are incredible) but try to beat your personal best each time. Make the word count the goal and not perfect prose.

Also how old are your children? Old enough to ask for a few minutes (even 15-20, but probably longer depending on age) to do some writing during the evenings. I think it's a valuable lesson that children see parents doing a hobby and model work/life balance. Even as preschoolers mine would generally give me a few minutes if I'd say 'Mummy's on a word war for 10 more minutes'. (There's a standard rule that they can always interrupt me for blood, pain, sick, poo, wee, fires and flooding). Then I give them full focus when I'm done. Maybe set up a NaNoWriMo time just after dinner? It's just for one month. Same thing at weekends. Mine are 9 and 11 and my NaNo writing times are built into their year. You could suggest they write (or draw/colour imaginatively) with you. Watch the children disappear...

The other thing I do is when I'm writing is I picture the next scene I want to do before I write. So when I'm washing up/doing school run/lying in bed etc. So when I come to write I have it all as a picture and just have to get it down.

So I started just after midnight, and wrote the introduction-y bit.
Then when I woke up I thought about the first scene. When I could picture it, I came down and wrote it in around a couple of hours. Then I made lunch and dug the potatoes up-and sorted out the next scene while I did this. Then wrote the next bit this afternoon.
It does mean that the scene has a bit of a tendency to have the weather/activities/thoughts that are happening round me.

Sometimes things pop up which surprise me when I'm writing. One of the characters I love most popped up with no preparation, and he always made me smile when I was writing.

The only thing is it makes me terribly vague. Thankfully dh is very good at picking up and he doesn't even seem to find it irritating. 🤣

I don't know what is coming next exactly, so I'm going to wash my hair, read what I've written so far and imagine what is happening next, which I'll write tomorrow.

I also tend to try and get ahead at the start, and always write a little, even if it's just a couple of sentences, so I feel progress is always being made.

Fascinating how differently we all approach the same challenge. I really have to get it done first thing in the morning immediately after I wake, it’s just the best time for me. I only hope I get faster at it. Had another go at it at this other end of the day and I’m really pleased with it! 2100 words ✅

And I love Dabble so much