This is topic New column: Drop and give me twenty chapters in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
Drop and give me twenty chapters

Once again it's time for all good men and women to set aside whatever secondary interests might be filling their time -- work, family, personal growth -- and write a whole book in 30 days. And this year, I'm here to help you.

I've written previously about National Novel Writing Month ( www.nanowrimo.org ), when otherwise sane people pledge to craft a 50,000-word novel during November. From its inception in 1999 when 21 maniacs decided, 'what the heck, let's write a book,' to this year when over 37,000 people have signed up already, "NaNoWriMo" has grown in leaps and bounds.

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This is actually in reference to me volunteering to be the ML for my area this year -- writing 50,000 words in a month not beimg enough pressure, apparently -- but I had to remove references to that lest my column be a conflict of interest. FYI.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Yeah yeah. Heard it all before.

Seriously? Yep, I'm one of those 37,000 certifiable insane people. I'm starting from scratch - character and plot development, nothing more - and writing an entire novel in November.

I would volunteer to be a rep in my area, but so far, I seem to be the ONLY person in Sri Lanka signed up. Not even my writer husband will join me.
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
So? Be the ML for you! Organize kick-off parties, weekly meetings, helpful phone calls. Give yourself little pens and cute writing pads. Keep track of your progress as compared to the other local writers, i.e. you.

And, most importantly, be there for yourself. It really helps.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Hmm. I wonder, would they let me?

I also thought the MLs were supposed to be veterans. This is my first year. I wanted to do it last year, but I wasn't on the internet, so no go.
 

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Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
 

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I have thousands of plot ideas I'll never use, largely due to legal injunctions, and I'll be happy to share them. Your main characters stuck in a rut? Have them swallowed by a 75-foot, land-going, space manatee that works for a defunct cold war spy agency and speaks only in Latvian show tunes. Ha! Your readers won't see that coming, will they?

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
Whoo hoo! This means I made it over a full year with Hatrack, because I remember you writing about this subject LAST year! yay! (although I don't know if at that time I yet realized that you were the columnist himself)

Farmgirl
 

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Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
 
The fact that I'm too lazy to search for the actual Hatrack thread about this does not bode well for my entry. But I did sign up. So beginning November 1, all my hatrack posts will bear the following sig:

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Confront me if I haven't written my 1,666 words today.

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Have them swallowed by a 75-foot, land-going, space manatee that works for a defunct cold war spy agency and speaks only in Latvian show tunes.

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@#@#$@#$ you stole that from me. It was the central piece in my Virgilesque epic poem.
 

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Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
 
Oooh, Virgilesque. Is that like Dangeresque but dressed in a sheet?

I just realized my junk mail filter probably ate the activation email. I wonder how hard this is going to be to straighten out.
 

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Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
 
I'm going to do it. pooka is my guiding light and Chris my inspiration.

eeeeep. Is this always this scary?
 

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Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
 
I've been poking around the site and it's pretty humbling to note how many people apparently don't finish. Like less than 10% I think. You have a better chance of death while summiting everest.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I think I might do it..
I might develope one of the 5 or 6 novels I want to write...
Encourage me
I am afraid...
*does not think I am good enough to be a writer*
 

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Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
 

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Many run, or dive out closed windows.

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Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
 
Syn, you just gotta grab the brass ring. You can't die on Everest until you try to climb it. I wonder if my validation email came yet.
 

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Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
 
I signed up, too. *wants to be one of the "In" (sane) crowd.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!!!!!

Now drop and give me 2000 words!

All you need to do is write 7 pages a day and it's done. That's no biggie.

I'm doing it on the "how fast can I possibly finish the @#$#@!! thing" track. My personal best writing day ever was 65 pages. It was insane, and my head hurt. I'm frankly surprised I recovered. And I've done 150 pages in a week over at Book in a Week, so in theory, this should be no big deal.

So, who's all in? LET'S GO, PEOPLE! START PLOTTING! GET YOUR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT DONE! LET'S GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!

(I think my hubby might lock me up in a rubber room. He's looking at me funny. )
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I got a few things I can develope...
It's just...
That I lack confidence in some of my writing.
I ought to wait until I am 30.
 

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Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
 
If you take that attitude, all you'll be in a few years is a tween who spent their tweens wishing they were 30.

(Is the tough love working or do you need something else?)

P.S. What I'd like to know about you is why do you work in a grocery store? You're obviously very smart. You could go straight autobiographical and it should be interesting. By the way, what are people trying genre wise?

[ October 20, 2004, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: pooka ]
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
I think that, if you want to write, you ought to write and not wait until . . .

you're older
you've finished school
you've gained some "real" life experience
you've got time
you're married and have 2.x kidlets
you're smarter
you're wiser
you're <insert excuse here>

If you want to write, then write. It's only through writing that you become better, and if you wait twenty years to start writing, you're still going to have to go through that same learning curve, so why not tackle it now and start developing your writer's voice? And have a lot of fun in the process.

Just my 5 Rupees, adjusted for inflation.

I'm a total sci-fi gal. My favorite everything is sci fi. I grew up on sci fi. So, guess what genre I'm writing in?

That's right. Political satire.

Yeah, sci fi. I'm writing sci fi. Pretty much everything I write is sci fi, so it makes sense to continue in sci fi. Plus sci fi is more fun than anything else.

Did I use the phrase "sci fi" enough times in this post? Did I? Did I? Huh? Huh?
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
*coughy laugh* Rupees!

It was the only job I could find at the time. I had been out of work for a whole year.
It's so hard to find a job without a car and experience.
But if I don't quit my job soon I'm going to get fired.

I want to do fiction and do something in which i rant about being a music drunk at the same time.

[ October 21, 2004, 12:10 AM: Message edited by: Synesthesia ]
 

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Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
 
I'm so looking forward to nanowrimo this year - it may be my last year for a while since this time next year I'll be in school.

I have a new idea for a YA fantasy, and I'm just going to relax and have fun with it.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 

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*coughy laugh* Rupees!

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It was the only job I could find at the time. I had been out of work for a whole year.
It's so hard to find a job without a car and experience.
But if I don't quit my job soon I'm going to get fired.

I want to do fiction and do something in which i rant about being a music drunk at the same time.

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A job to live is important, too. But still, find some time to feed the writer demon.

Write! Write! Write!!!
 

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Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quidscribis, have I mentioned how much I enjoy having you back at Hatrack?


Good luck to all the writers!
 

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Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
 
I did pretty well last year... I got to 30,000 before my will to write left me.

Bernard, unfortunately, shall not be participating with me this year, so I plan to use him as my editor.

And I already have the plot--it's a jumping off from last year's. If any of you wish to read my novel this year (which will be a bunch of short stories), I plan on posting them in a LJ so lemme know and I'll give y'all the address.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
rivka, you're so sweet. And no, you didn't mention it. Until now. But I'll let you mention it as often as you like.

Have I mentioned how much I love being back at Hatrack?

NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 1500 WORDS!!!!!

Oh hey, if you think I'm obnoxious now, just wait until NaNoWriMo actually starts!

Okay, gotta get back to plot development now. And yes, I am one of those writers who *must* have a plot to work from. Curse my husband, he goes straight into writing with nothing else done - no plot development, no character development, no world building, nothing. Curse him! Curse him, I say!
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Cool. Rupees makes me think of Hindi music and I LIKE Hindi music.
I have a ton of characters that go through my head pretty much most of the day...
I love making up characters, but writing about some of them, especially the ones that are older than me is not easy.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Have you watched any Hindi movies? If you like the music, you'll love the movies because . . .

In a typical Hindi movie, which would be, oh, 2 1/2 to four hours long, if they cut all the singing and dancing out, would be typical Hollywood length.

And the Hindi movies are strangely addicting. I saw my first one shortly after I arrived here, and have watched many more since then. And I enjoy them thoroughly. My favorite actors include . . .

Sharukh Khan - who's in almost everything
Amitabh Bachchan - who's in everything else
Hrithik Roshan, who was recently in Koi... Mil Gaya, a cross between Flowers for Algernon and ET. First ever Hindi sci fi movie.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I like Kajol a lot. She has been in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Ghabie Kushi Ghabie Gam (sp) which I really like a lot.
Both of them have nice songs and 3 of the same actors.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 

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I like Kajol a lot. She has been in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Ghabie Kushi Ghabie Gam (sp) which I really like a lot.
Both of them have nice songs and 3 of the same actors.

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my fried brian

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quote:

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Courier-type font, about 12 point size, double spacing, and one-inch margins would give you roughly 250 words per page.

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And it makes for easy math. So that's what I go with.

That way, 50,000 words equals 200 pages. While brain numbing, it's not impossible.
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
Dunno if it helps or hurts, but some examples of books clocking in around 50,000 words or so:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Hitchihiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Generation X: Tales of an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
It doesn't.

Even though NaNoWriMo is for 50,000 words, I'll be going for more than that, most likely. Like, perhaps, 70 or 80 thou. Dunno, just a thought.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I wonder what they mean by previously written prose...
I have about 3 or 4 things I'd like to develope, but I don't know which one and I wonder if I should just rewrite this first story altogether or just add to it... @_@
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
The idea is that you should avoid using this time to complete something already begun. Start fresh, with nothing more than notes or an outline ahead of time.

That said, there's no real rules, you won't get banned or anything if you do otherwise, and winning is up to you.

[ October 31, 2004, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
*nervous as all hell*
 

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
 
I worded that badly. What you consider "winning" is up to you. As far as NaNoWriMo is concerned, 50,000 original words in 30 days is winning. If you use the month and "only" finish up a novel that's plagued you for years, I'd say it worked for you...
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Winning for me equals getting over that whole, "Oh my goodness I must write this over again beause it is so crappy 5 year olds and birds could write better than me I suck I suck I suck."
I would like to finish something..
If I finish 3 or 4 things I will reward myself with sushi.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 

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Winning for me equals getting over that whole, "Oh my goodness I must write this over again beause it is so crappy 5 year olds and birds could write better than me I suck I suck I suck."
I would like to finish something..
If I finish 3 or 4 things I will reward myself with sushi.

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Then that's what you do - whatever will get you over that whole "my writing sucks" feeling.

I started writing for a magazine about a half year ago. I was assigned an article, and I sweated over it. I thought it was terrible, but there was a deadline, so I had to submit it. I figured I blew my only chance to write for this magazine cuz my stuff was that terrible. The phone rang, and it was the editor. I was expecting him to yell at me because he was so unhappy with me. It turns out that he thought my article was pretty good and he wanted to compliment me on it.

The moral of the story? Sometimes we, as writers, especially when we're starting out, have absolutely NO PERSPECTIVE AT ALL on the quality of our work.

That's number one.

Number two. Let's say for a moment that what you wrote wasn't that great. Well, who cares? It's a first draft. First drafts are supposed to suck. Well, that's not entirely true. First drafts are merely supposed to exist. First drafts are where we get the bare bones, the ideas, the story down. It's during editing that we clean it up and make it look all pretty.

Almost all writers have to edit their stuff heavily. Most of us end up snipping out entire paragraphs and chapters because they're so dreadful. A lot of us end up tossing our first manuscript into a closet because we can't bear it seeing the light of day it's such drivel. Welcome to the club.

It's only by writing and writing and writing some more that we get better and better and better at it. And then we get even better by editing and revising and editing some more. And then we get even better by asking others to critique our stuff. And we get even better by critiquing other people's stuff. And we work on it, and work on it, and we get better. Becoming a good writer is a process, not an event.

In other words, Syn, it's not you. It's pretty much all of us. So cut yourself some slack, relax a bit, and have fun with writing. That should be your prime focus. Have fun.

We're rooting for you.
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Thanks
Dmitri is like that with his singing. *hearts*
 

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Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
 
Crap, this starts in 45 minutes for me. Shoot...

But hey - that's most of the fun of it, right?
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
i already started, though I cannot access the page now >.<
 

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Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
 
I ended up signing up... one hour thirty six minutes for me...

Good luck all!
 

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Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
 
Well, I'm in. No, I didn't just decide to do it; I signed up a week ago, at least. Less than three hours till start time here in my time zone.

This is a bad time to do this...election on Tuesday and I'm a precinct officer, so no writing that day, and then I'll be exhausted the next day from working fifteen hours on Tuesday. But I'm doing it anyway. And, I'm scheduled to be out of town over Thanksgiving weekend, so I'll have to finish before then. Aaarrrggghhh. Oh, well. No time like the present, and all that.

Just because I'm scared spitless of doing this is no reason not to do it.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Sometimes, the best reason to do something is because we're scared spitless.

You can do this!!! Write write write!!!
 

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Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
i wrote a little bit of this story
i don't know how approach it exactly so I'll do it in a piecemeal sort of way
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Piecemeal works. Do whatever you have to to get started. Play with it. See where it leads. But most of all, have fun with it.

By the way, where I am, it officially started twelve hours ago.

And I haven't written a single bloody word yet! AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 

 

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