Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Creative writing

Whether you enjoy writing sci-fi, fantasy or fiction, join our Creative Writing forum to meet others who love to write.

Original poster

NaNoWriMo - anyone up for it?

130 replies

Drybird2020 · 10/10/2021 09:43

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?

OP posts:
MartyHart · 21/10/2021 22:57

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel
Hit the buffers a little this week due to sick kids and stuff going on.
Planning to catch up over the weekend.
Hoping 2 days off will make me fresh when I resume tomorrow. Still doable but I am two days worth of word count behind now.
Quite happy that I've got this far though, surprised I have stuck at it.

AlbertBridge · 25/10/2021 11:25

hello -- I'm TOTALLY up for this. I did it once before, I think in 2016, and "won" by writing 50k words but didn't actually finish the book.I just stopped dead at 50k.

It was an amazing experience though. It sped up my writing no end.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 25/10/2021 13:47

I am considering it. I have an idea for a book which is creating a backstory for a well known character. I am studying creative writing and need to really work on my discipline of sitting down writing rather than sitting down thinking about writing.

Additionally, I know have a couple of thousand words of rough ideas so its going to keep getting in the way and bubbling up until I get it out of my head and on to paper.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 25/10/2021 13:48

I now not I know - editing and proof reading may need some work too Grin

Original poster
Drybird2020 · 25/10/2021 15:48

It's getting closer! Anyone done any planning?

OP posts:
LonginesPrime · 26/10/2021 07:30

Ooh, I'll join you too!

Just need to decide whether to focus on one of my half-finished projects or something new.

I'm usually a meticulous planner (and then get bored after having written a few chapters as I already know the story), but I think I might try to pants this one.

I do have a heavy memoir thing I've just started, but it's quite emotionally draining compared to the cosy mystery-type stuff I usually enjoy.

MargaretThursday · 26/10/2021 20:06

@Drybird2020

It's getting closer! Anyone done any planning?
Planning? What's that? Grin
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 26/10/2021 20:17

I’ve bought a packet of printer paper and some scented candles.
The candles are a nudge to make me stay at my desk because I can’t leave the room and leave a candle burning.

In terms of planning, not really because it’s something I have been thinking about on and off and attempting to plan for years and the whole point of doing NaNo this time round is to see what my subconscious comes up with. But I have jotted down quite a few snatches of dialogue in the last week.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 26/10/2021 20:19

I read ‘No plot, no problem’ and really liked it. It’s not so much writing advice as reminding you what the point of the process is.

Original poster
Drybird2020 · 28/10/2021 07:44

I like the scented candle idea! And thanks for the book recommendation.

OP posts:
Mayerhofen · 29/10/2021 11:30

Hi everyone, mind if I join you for this? Never attempted NaNoWriMo before so I could do with advice and encouragement from others also doing it. I have a vague idea for a character and the first half of a story, I'm hoping that my subconscious will kick in and fill in the gaps and plot for the second half.

PineappleSituation · 29/10/2021 11:35

I'm going to give it a go this year.

I've got a basic outline so far but might change it as I go along.

Original poster
Drybird2020 · 29/10/2021 12:17

@Mayerhofen I'm a first timer too! I have just finished my first novel, which took two years, so I hope to use this opportunity to get the next one off to a flying start.

OP posts:
Misprit · 29/10/2021 12:49

@Mayerhofen

Hi everyone, mind if I join you for this? Never attempted NaNoWriMo before so I could do with advice and encouragement from others also doing it. I have a vague idea for a character and the first half of a story, I'm hoping that my subconscious will kick in and fill in the gaps and plot for the second half.
Hi Mayerhofen, can I offer some advice? What you said brought back memories of way too many stalled projects of my own!

In your shoes I would take a small amount of time each session to think about plotting going forward, even just 5 or 10 minutes either before or after your actual writing. Personally, I would do it before, as that would whet my appetite to get the writing done. You'll probably have been thinking ahead in your mind in between sessions, so it could be as simple as turning those thoughts into a bullet list.

In my experience, if you completely shelve that in favour of 'seeing where the characters take you', you run the risk of just stalling at some point because there's nothing there. It doesn't matter if what you've planned changes in response to the characters though. The point is just to build some scaffolding before you get to an unnavigable ravine.

That's just something that's helped me. But other people may have different ideas.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 29/10/2021 13:11

‘That's just something that's helped me. But other people may have different ideas.‘

Yep, that’s not how it works for me. The ideas that emerge in the white heat of writing and get scribbled down at the end of the document are far superior to those I come up with through conscious planning.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 29/10/2021 13:21

If I get to a ravine I ignore it btw - just carry on writing from the next bit I am certain of. This is just a first draft after all. It generally becomes clear what the solution is once I have a whole draft in front of me and have put it away for a month because at that point I can step back and look at it in perspective.

Mayerhofen · 30/10/2021 14:43

@Misprit, that's probably very good advice. I am going to follow a basic 3 act plot structure with rising action and know roughly the word count where there need to be major / exciting events to keep the plot moving. I just don't entirely know what the plot will be! I'm sure I will wish I had done more planning by week 2...

Misprit · 30/10/2021 14:56

I found How To Write A Novel In 6 Months by Thomas Emson very helpful, but it probably depends on your genre. In fact, I found it so helpful I only read the first little bit of it, then set it aside to work on my own book. You can get it as a Kindle book if you're as impatient as me...

Cherrypi · 30/10/2021 18:55

Everyone getting excited? Just been to my local launch party over zoom.

TheABC · 30/10/2021 20:28

I've plotted out my three acts and I am about to draft my scenes (literally characters and bullet points). I don't have the luxury of time to sit and think and wait for the scene to gel each day ; I have to hammer out that word count between family and work. The scene sentence is there to orientate my mind.

I am looking forward to spending time in that world now. It's like an exclusive invitation to my own TV series where I get to hang out with people I love who are a lot cooler than I can hope to be.

Stuffthisstuff · 30/10/2021 21:27

I was thinking of giving this a go. Does everyone have it all sorted in their head beforehand? Do you try to write your word count first thing before the rest of the day's work takes over?

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 30/10/2021 21:36

There’s a vast variation in how much planning people do, and when in the day you find time to do it.

Stuffthisstuff · 30/10/2021 21:50

I've ordered 'No plot, no problem' to start me off! My problem is that I write all day anyway for work, so I suspect encouraging myself to do more will be the issue.

MargaretThursday · 30/10/2021 22:25

That's just something that's helped me. But other people may have different ideas.

It's not how I generally work best, but I think I am probably at the extreme end of pantser.
What I find best, and it works perfectly with Nano, is I write the first couple of days without a clue what is going to happen. The only thing I have an idea about is the main character.
By the second day ideas come fairly quickly, and I start spending each day planning and write a chapter in the evening. This does mean that my chapters often have a form of the day in: So if it's rainy, it rains, if I've had a run in with someone at work, they'll probably appear in some form, if I'm tired, the character will be tired etc.
Somehow it all comes together.

I'll have points where I think "oh, now that bit from earlier comes in" or sometimes something occurs to me later and I have to correct things I've written. Never been big changes.

Hippywannabe · 31/10/2021 07:43

I will join you! Signed up for it this week, have scribbled for years but only ever had a couple of poems published.
Did the OU Creative Writing course when it first came out but have drifted since then.
Have been doing the planning this weekend (last moment) and my original idea has completely shifted already.

Swipe left for the next trending thread