NaNoWriMo - anyone up for it?

[Drybird2020]

Would anyone like to join me here for a NaNoWriMo support and encouragement thread? I have just finished my first novel and am submitting it to agents in batches. I think a month focused on something different would do me a lot of good!
I have had a nose around the NaNoWriMo website and am about to start working through the preparation tasks- a bit late according to the official timetable but I already have an idea, rough plot, and characters.
Going to need plenty of ☕🍪🍰 to help it along.
Anyone else having a go?

I might do. I am finishing off a job that needs a draft by tomorrow and final edits by the end of the month so should be free in November but today I am not in a place where I can think about it. I am on such a roll with this job it might be a good moment to build on that.

I will! I actually started on 1st October as I have stuff going on in November that means I wouldn't get to do it then.
I'm 17k words in and still feeling pretty good.
I've got my daughter checking my word count each day to keep me honest. And I have to pay her fifty quid if I don't make 50k words by the end.
It's really been liberating as I'm terrible for writing 3I words and then endlessly picking over it so not making any further progress.
I've just been cracking on saying I'll fix it later.

*3k words

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

I might do. I am finishing off a job that needs a draft by tomorrow and final edits by the end of the month so should be free in November but today I am not in a place where I can think about it. I am on such a roll with this job it might be a good moment to build on that.

Good luck! Crack on and let us know how it goes.

Me! I'm going to rewrite one of my earlier stories.

@MartyHart

I will! I actually started on 1st October as I have stuff going on in November that means I wouldn't get to do it then. I'm 17k words in and still feeling pretty good. I've got my daughter checking my word count each day to keep me honest. And I have to pay her fifty quid if I don't make 50k words by the end. It's really been liberating as I'm terrible for writing 3I words and then endlessly picking over it so not making any further progress. I've just been cracking on saying I'll fix it later.

Great strategy, I'm sure your daughter will hold you to it! I'm hoping for the same benefits, I do exactly the same and agonise over the last section. I'm hoping that a month of bashing it out will help me get over that. Which genre do you write in?

I might give it a go this year, used to always do it as a teen as like pp I tend to endlessly agonise over chapter 1 and never get any further

Count me in. I am on the plot structure for my second book, in preparation for it. Thankfully, the world and characters are already fleshed out...

Historical fiction, the temptation to go down a research rabbit hole is very strong sometimes but I'm just bashing away right now.
Have booted my inner critic to the sidelines, she can edit it next month.

I'm up for it. Won last year. No idea of a plot yet. May make it up as I go along.

@Cherrypi

I'm up for it. Won last year. No idea of a plot yet. May make it up as I go along.

That's my normal method!

Ha ha! I read a book by one of the founders called No Plot? No Problem!
I'm very much a make it up as I go along writer. I'm not writing about real historical figures although certain real events will intervene at times.
I've tried outlining in the past but I don't feel it helps me much.
I've really enjoyed the first week so I'm hoping my enthusiasm doesn't wane.

@Drybird2020 thanks for starting this thread! I hope to join you but am in the middle of revising my first novel so not sure I’ll have enough time to plan beforehand. I do have a rough idea of the characters and plot and like you feel it’d be good to work on something else for a bit so will see. I’ll keep an eye on this thread in any case!

I managed to make the 50K last year, but my book still isn't finished as I hit a major plot issue (all my heroine's problems were solved by other people and not the result of her own actions). I might have another try this year, but we're having building work done, so it's probably rather optimistic!

I loved 'No Plot? No Problem!' - it's a great read.

Yes NPNP is very good and doesn't waffle too much.
Urgh had a rough couple of days with it, basically a lot of procrastinating but I powered through this afternoon and got back on track somewhat. The stuff I wrote yesterday was a low point but I have my word count where it should be and I'm sticking to my mantra "you can fix it later"
Feeling quite pleased with myself tonight.
@ColdColdWinter I'm in a similar spot. My heroine has been a bit passive so far but she's about to take matters into her own hands at last!

Checking in properly.
Can’t decide what to do- whether to go for the one I have a whole plot for or a different one that I have been wanting to write for years but that would be more a case of letting go and seeing what my subconscious comes up with.

Hi, I'm glad there's a thread for this. I've never done NaNoWriMo before and tbh don't really want to sign up properly on the website, but I fancy the discipline of the goal so I'd be totally up for a support thread here.

I have a plot pretty much in place in my head and began writing my novel earlier in the year, but other things intervened and I stalled about 7000 words in. In the meantime, I've had a bit of a crisis of confidence about whether to continue as planned originally or whether to rework from the beginning writing in the 1st person instead of the 3rd. Hoping to try a few things out and then make a decision about that between now and the end of the month.

Feels like I've been pissing about not writing this book for too long now, so setting myself this goal is a bit make or break tbh.

I write crime fiction. What's everyone else up to?

How’s it going Martyhart?

Hi Misprit.
I write historical, mostly Tudor.
This NaNo I am going to have a go at the time travel book I have been wanting to write all my life. I don’t have a whole plot or answers to quite a few of the important questions a time travel book throws up so I am going to be doing a lot of letting go and trusting my subconscious will come up with answers.

That sounds like an interesting variation on what you've written before @TheCountessofFitzdotterel. And a great exercise in letting a different level of your brain/mind take over a bit if you're used to researching and plottting in a more rigid way.

What you just said about the time travel book I have been wanting to write all my life has resonance for me. I feel like the pandemic has been a bit of a kick up the pants to get on with the projects I've 'always wanted to do' and at the same time always kept putting off. I think I haven't wanted to sully their perfect potential by dragging them into the harsh light beyond the writing process (which is a common feeling, I'm sure) but recently I feel very impatient with myself for what now seems like silliness.

I'd love to join you please. Every year I hope to do it, but never do, so I would really like to push myself. I have written on and off over 30 years, but never written the novel I'd like to. Looking forward to hearing how you're all getting on.

Hi @Greengrotbag

What kind of writing have you done in the past, and what kind of novel are you planning?

Hi Misprit, short stories, poetry and a short screen play for an OU course. I'm the Queen of writing courses 🙈 I'd love to write a proper novel, I guess it would be literary fiction. I need to start thinking of an idea, I've a few swirling about.

lol, I did the OU script writing course ages ago. Courses are good, especially for losing your reluctance to churn it out regardless of the appearance of the muse, but there comes a point where they're just another displacement activity. I know I'm guilty of that anyway!

You're absolutely right Misprit, I love any kind of course, but I never continue on afterwards. Hoping to break that cycle.