This is a place to tell us your word count, your horror stories, your success stories, get advice, give advice...whatever you need to get you through. You can join whether or not you are already a part of the NGAS (or some combination of those letters) group. The only requirement I can think of is that you need to be insane enough to think you can write a book during the month of November. If you haven't done it before, it is so much fun!! Here is the link:
When you are ready, let us know something about what you are going to be writing--genre, synopsis, or lack thereof...
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited October 29, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited October 31, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 03, 2008).]
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[This message has been edited by gobi13x (edited October 30, 2008).]
i have a few story line ideas, but they keep changing. an outline eludes me. i really just feel sort of overwhelmed from lack of experience and technical know-how. any advice for someone who is so new to it all that they aspire to the novice level?
My goal is to write a fantasy that doesn't turn into a "save the world" type story. I have a tendancy to let that happen, and I wanted to try something new. Unfortunately, one of my characters decided to have a cool talent and is just begging for a colossal amount of trouble for himself. We'll see what happens.
The idea is to get 50,000 words on paper (or screen), so just write.
Write the ending first, if that is what is clearest to you.
Write some of the middle.
Then write a possible beginning.
Write another possible beginning.
Write another ending.
Write something for each of the ideas you have, and, if you get ideas on how to put them together with other ideas, write that, too.
Just write.
The one thing you shouldn't do is edit.
Now it has to go back on the shelf while I come up with something else to write. Hmm...my issue is I've selected a protagonist, a genre, a milieu, but it's space and thus she'll be able to go to lots of different planets...haven't decided what kind of overarching problem to have her solving or the inciting incident. This is the stuff that always hamstrings me. Argh!
i was stressing a bit last night over this particular issue. i, too, have a protagonist, characters, a setting, even names, but no problem to be solved (overarching problem?) or conflicts, events...or even story line i guess.
not editing along the way will be a struggle for me, im such a perfectionist that it will nag at me the whole way. hopefully resisting the edit urge will be liberating.
im dreading the start of this and at the same time wanting it to start so bad im yanking my hair out.
When you catch yourself starting to edit, use one of my favorite tools (one that is often misused to bad effect):
PROCRASTINATION!
Tell yourself you'll fix it later. And have that later be after 30 November.
If it will help, you can put something like FIX THIS LATER in the text whenever this happens. The more you do it, the easier it will become to procrastinate the editing, and the less you will have to insert FIX THIS LATER into your writing.
in the past i have just put in a "?" to tell me to check on it later so as not to lose the flow of my thoughts, so i will be using the 'fix this later' suggestion.
thanks for the help - i really appreciate it.
tempest
This will be my third time. Each time, whether doing Nano or any other writing project, I panic and think the same thoughts. I have no idea what's going to happen. I barely know who's involved. But I'm beginning to trust in myself, and know that that's okay. It's okay if you don't know what your story is, what your plot is, or even who your characters are. You can figure this out as you go along. New ideas will come to you. Characters will develop their personalities organically. Trust your instincts, and see what happens. It's an exhilirating way to write. Though it doesn't work for everybody, think it's worth giving a try, once. You might surprise yourself with what you come up with.
Also, persistence is the key to victory. Write every day. Don't fail to get you 1,667 words done. If you happen to miss a day, catch-up. Having to rely on 10,000 word days in the final moments of November is a sure way to fail. A good suggestion - get 1,667 done tonight, after midnight, before going to bed. Then, get another 1,667 done tomorrow. Bam - you're already one day ahead. Stay that way or extend your lead, if you have the opportunity.
And, in the pits of despair, when you've written your cardboard-characters-of-litte-or-no-redeeming-quality into the darkest of corners and can't think your way out, wave your author's wand and have them escape without seeing it. Do as Kathleen said - don't necessarily write in sequence. Or, in utter emergencies (like I had with my western novel last year) it's not an unforseen occurence to have an asteroid strike the planet your characters are on, wiping out all of civilization. Meanwhile in an alternate universe, a second story continues....
Jayson Merryfield
I worried about neglecting Odal's Story for an entire month, so I chose a NaNoWriMo project that may help me in my current WIP. Odal's family has lived on Earth for at least eight generations, and that gives me plenty of material. I intend to write the history of Odal's family, which influences but does not appear in Odal's Story. I feel so clever.
I really like the idea about not necessarily writing in order. I have an outline now but different parts of my outline are written at different levels. So I don't really have anything consistent from beginning to end, but I do have lots of scenes outlined. So I think the approach I'm going to take is to write a lot of scenes and then maybe in my off Nano time, assuming I have any, organize them into some coherent flow.
To add entertainment to the month, the nasty pinched nerve in my neck is acting up. So I cant type very much and write using a dictation program, this should be interesting. LOL
Has anyone else noticed that the nano site is very very slow!
Ah, well I think I will go now and ice my arm.
Leslie
---Start Example: Halloween Special---
Joe Bob Bones [!1FillerName] lay [!2CheckGrammar] half-buried in the grass [!3MayNeedMoreSceneSetting]. He'd been half-buried for nearly a decade already, according to his aging once-lover, Susan Heart. Even as his body decayed, his thoughts and ability to talk remained. Did the Wizard Harry know what he was doing when he killed Joe Bob's body? Joe Bob didn't know, and he had stopped caring long ago.
---End Example---
All I need to do is track the note number I'm on, so when I check my word count, I can subtract that number. The "[!" gives me a combination I can easily search on after November 30.
[This message has been edited by aspirit (edited October 31, 2008).]
My progress page is http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/ProgressReport/419881
I'm in the SLC area, so I'll be at the kick-off event tomorrow. Will I see any of you there?
My NaNo month writing plan:
I’ve managed to save up some holiday, so am off work for sixteen days, at work for fourteen. On my off days, I plan to write at least 2000 words each day, which will leave me only a little over 1000 words to write on the days I am at work.
On work days, I plan to get up early, try to write a few hundred words before I leave for work.
When I get home, I’m going to write, instead of play games.
I plan to stay up tonight and get something down after midnight, which won’t be difficult since its Halloween and I HAVE to watch a horror movie with my daughter, which will undoubtedly give me nightmares and I won’t sleep anyhow.
I also plan to neglect my two teenagers(a little), the housework, and maybe food occasionally.
This year will be harder for me, as the last twice I have done this I wasn’t working. I won both and don’t want to fail this year. Also, I know I’m going to have a couple of days in there somewhere where I probably won’t get much done.
1,667 words look like a huge task when you’re sat there at the computer with none written for that day, which I why I think of it like this: It’s sixteen blocks of one hundred words, and it doesn’t seem so daunting. So, one hundred words, I can do that in two or three minutes, say for example, if I’m watching a TV show, I can do that during the commercial break. Watch one one hour show, you’ve got almost five hundred words there. You may even find you’ve suddenly got a block of three or four hundred words and you’re missing your TV show.
Another suggestion is to take frequent breaks, take a walk around the garden, have a snack, do a little bit of house work. You’ll find suddenly you’ve got a spark of inspiration and have to rush back to the computer, then you’ll write another three or four hundred words, maybe more. By now, you’ve probably got 1000 words.
Those of you who can write at work, do so in your lunch break, and you’ve got another few hundred and you’re almost at your target. Once you hit the twelve to thirteen hundred mark, the end is in sight and it becomes easy. If you’re on a roll, you might even go over the daily target.
Of course, another idea might be to not take it all as seriously as I do! I love NaNo, and very soon am going to take that one sentence I’ve had in my head now for over a week and turn it into a novel, though right now, after the first scene I have planned, I don’t know where I’m headed yet.
Most of all, enjoy it! I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s stories of their NaNo progress. Good luck all!
[This message has been edited by darklight (edited October 31, 2008).]
The thing that was most helpful to me was OSC's book about writing SF/F. I would read a page or 2 out of that book and then just daydream about my world and my characters, and it sparked so many ideas that 50,000 words hardly seemed to be a challenge. On the down side, I'm not sure my body ever recovered from how little sleep I got last year. I don't think I can do it again.
If you get too hard up for an idea, there's always the nano shovel...
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited October 31, 2008).]
Jayson Merryfield
i wrote a bit last night, mostly getting acquainted with characters. they're some interesting people. now, what to do with them.......
its such a relief to be able to finally sit down and just write.
I just put my word count to date in the box above the validator, that bit works.
Jayson Merryfield
unwritten, that did it!!! **she shouts while happy dancing**
i knew there had to be some simple thing to do, im just not clever enough to figure it out on my own.
thanks so much guys!! i have almost 1600 words. this day is looking good
thanks again!!
I don't think I've been this happy in months.
I love working under pressure.
2,557 words today! I won't have time to work on it tomorrow, so it's nice to feel like I'm caught up anyway.
Melanie
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 02, 2008).]
I also have decided to post a day's synopsis on Twitter http://twitter.com/lesliedow
Each day with my word count.
Anyone else on Twitter?
Leslie
Work is going to severely eat into my writing time. I'm also a bit worried about that Halloween candy. May have to pitch it after all...
Meanwhile, I'm just past 2200 words. Remarkable given that I have very little clue where I'm going. I need a mystery for my story, though. Some kind of puzzle/problem for the MC (age 11/12) to solve... Her father is a starship captain - big spaceship, as big as one of those huge cruiseliners (and then some.) Gotta work on that...
So, I woke up at a quarter past seven, did the usual morning stuff, wrote about 150 words and had to call the council because my duaghters taxi firm was no longer taking her to college and I needed to know who was. They told me, I took my son to college, got home thinking I'd have some time to write. On the off chance, I called a friend of my daughter who is on the same taxi as the one she was supposed to be on, to be sure she was being picked up. The driver had no idea he was picking her up.
Back on to the council I went, told them. They said they'd get in touch with him and get back to me. By now, I have to go to work in seven minutes. Eventually they got that sorted and off I went, with no more words on the page.
I'm home now, and ready to write. If only I wasn't going to the supermarket with my daughter soon. That usually takes a couple of hours. I'll get a bit in now, and maybe get back to it around seven thirty.
Hope it's going well for everyone.
Hope everyone's doing well!
Can I get added to the list at the top? My NaNo username is blue_phoenix86 .
What's it about... good question 
. I decided to start 'blind', and not plan a single thing. It's hard, but I'm enjoying it. There's an excerpt on my profile if you're curious.
I spent like an hour today just clicking on usernames, just to see what their sysopses / excerpts were like. It's really interesting to see what so many different people are coming up with.
I wonder what my synopsis says. It's hard to know since I can't seem to get on to the website. I keep losing patience and thinking I'll try again later. If I have a synopsis it must be from last year.
Keep me posted on how it goes starting out without planning anything. Maybe I'll try that next year. It sounds exciting--opening up your mind to the thrill of the unknown...
darklight--you are already past 8000 words?? Wow! Today has been a disaster for me too. Last year I offered to be PTA president at my school since no one else would volunteer. My only catch was that I would not plan the huge craft fair in November because November is my Nanowrimo month. I wanted nothing to do with it. Guess who is in charge? The only upside is that it is on Saturday, at which time my life should settle into normal chaos again. Still, I don't want to get behind on my word count, so I'm in their pushing. I'll announce my word count tonight, at which point I hope it won't be quite so abysmal.
Melanie
{/grumbles}
Poor NaNo severs 
.
I just wrote the word 'discussion' instead of the word 'successor'. I have no idea where that came from.
Well, I'm a bit behind where I want to be, but I'm plugging along at 3754 words. I just finished chapter 1, and tomorrow I'll plunge into chapter 2.
Happy writing!
Melanie
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 03, 2008).]
I still have no idea where my plot is going, which is a bit of a challenge, and laugh at the idea that there's something called chapters in this thing. I just don't quite write that way yet. They will break naturally into chapters eventually, but right now it's all one big lump.
I'm trying to keep other mid-grade fiction works in mind (I'm aiming for that 5th-8th grade level, ala Chasing Vermeer and Peter and the Starcatchers) so I can keep the writing style simple and direct enough. In a way, that makes it easier, in another way that makes it harder.
We'll see how tomorrow goes. Have to vote, maybe go see friends (they may get put off in service of meeting my nano goals) and do a big work meeting (living in fear that there'll be 2+ hrs of work in my inbox in the morning meaning I can't do any of those things in the AM.) Sigh. Tiring week.
Maybe this will force me to stop pre-editing and just write.
You probably are nuts, but it's a good kind of nuts. Good luck!
Melanie
This is turning out to be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what I come up with next. I keep telling myself I'm going to edit the heck out of it later. I hope I don't get so sick of it that later never happens.
Today was a rougher day for me in the writing world. Not only did real life keep intruding, but I wasn't sure what I really wanted to say. I'd been mulling over the first chapter for such a long time that I didn't have to think about it much, but the second chapter was very fuzzy. However--if I sit at the computer and start typing, the words will meld themselves into a story. THAT is the great lesson of Nanowrimo.
I finished at 5067 words. Not stellar, but not too far off the mark either. And now my bed is calling...
Melanie
i'm really enjoying writing, its mostly been backstory, i hope to actually find some forward moving plot soon.
You know how I said in an earlier post about splitting the daily amount into sixteen blocks of one hundred words? So, as I was at home yesterday, I decided to crank it up a little, and do sixteen blocks of three hundred words, starting at eight a.m., ending at midnight. The net result was: Sixteen blocks of three hundred words plus 1,972 extra words, giving my a total word count for the day of 6,428 words.
All that plus the usual daily stuff, plus being witness to a traffic accident litterally inches in front of me, becoming irate on the phone because the superstore wants to keep my son's almost new computer for two weeks, just to find out something I ready know; it's broken. Freaking out over a HUGE spider in my living room, and thinking, around nine p.m., that my head was going to explode.
Believe me, I am never doing that again.
For the rest of the week, I'm working now until friday, I'm settling for a nice and easy 1,000 words a day.
How's it going for you all?
Two issues are hampering my progress, other than my inability to let BS remain on screen. Firstly, I know little about the setting. The story starts in colonial Pennsylvania and remains in the area while progressing to modern day. I've only been to Pennsylvania once. Secondly, I've realized the story is about sex and death... Worse, my husband joked that I'm writing alien smut. I'm now wondering what's wrong with my subconscious.
If anytime during this month you need a break and want to discuss 19th century rural Pennsylvanian life, please email me. I would also love external reminders that I said I would not attempt to publish the story and so should not worry about how it reflects on me as a person or writer.
Yeah....
I haven't been able to jump around in the timeline like some people suggest. But I have been able to turn off my internal editor, or at least mostly.
I think I'm going to go back tomorrow and work on my outline a bit more. Since I'm a bit ahead of where I thought I would be at this point.
I'm worried that the week of Thanksgiving is going to throw a wrench into all of this. I just found out that we are hosting all of my in-laws. That's going to mean 15+ people for Turkey and that's just the relatives, will probably pick up a few more stragglers. We do every year. It's not that I mind, I like having people in the house, but it will make writing hard that week.
Has anyone thought about strategies for Thanksgiving?
Leslie
As for Thanksgiving, my not-so-well-thought-out-plan is to dictate into my cheap mp3 player during my 10 hour drive and then type it out like a mad woman when I get home. I am almost hoping I can reach a point where I can skip this plan for something better.
LAJD & darklight - you guys are really dumping it out there! I'm jealous! Good job!
aspirit - I don't know how much I'd be able to help with 19th Century rural PA life, but I went to undergrad in PA - Millersville in Lancaster county. Amish country.
About Pennsylvania--I'm sure you could find some experts if you ask in the open discussions section. I've got relatives there, so I've been there many times. I'm not sure if I'm an expert, but if you have any questions, I'll have an answer(no guarantee that it's the right answer of course.
Sadly, I'm not an expert on alien smut, so you're on your own with that one.
LAJD: This week has been crazy hectic for me. Thanksgiving should be much calmer. My rule for this week has been that I stay up late and get at least 1300 words written, no matter how long it takes me. Sometimes I just want to cry at the thought of doing it, but as soon as I start I remember that writing is the FUN PART of life. So my advice is: force yourself to write even if you don't really feel like it. It'll be the best part of the week.
Melanie
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 05, 2008).]
Leave in the old one. Use your word processor's "strikethrough" feature to mark the text for deletion. Your word counter will still count the words. After all, you did write them during National Novel Writing Month, you're entitled to claim them, even if you never want to see them again.
Remember, it's all about getting words on the page. I don't look back at what I've written much except to figure out if I've said X about something before or to look up the name I came up with for something. I also then try to copy that stuff to a list i have at the front of the document that's the basics for the world I've created. That actually adds to my word count over the days, so I have a two part word counting spreadsheet. One half I enter what I can tell I wrote (from where I left off last time to where I left off this time) and the other is where I just put in how many words my word processor claims the document has.
Meanwhile, I'm only at 7400 words which is a little behind. I'm finding it really slow going this year and I know it's because i did virtually no prep work. As soon as my day job slows down enough that I can breathe and not be so panicked about getting my word count in, I will go back and do some more brainstorming for scenes and conflicts. It'll help me keep from staring off into space as I wonder what will happen next or wonder if there's any way I can possibly escape this scene without barfing on it. 
And in other news, I have already had the opportunity to use some of the Hatrack Utility Belt's Handwavium Pellets (tm) - fantastic for filling in those places that you know require research but you'll never get your word count in if you stop to research. So I sprinkled some on a first aid situation and poof! I'll deal with that later!
Good luck to everyone.
[This message has been edited by gobi13x (edited November 06, 2008).]
Don't let my word count fool any of you. Even though I'm doing okay -- far better than last year's "loss" (I may have an odd-year NaNo Curse!) -- I'm still having a devil of a time of it.
My excerpt is posted. I have no idea where some of that came from. My muses delivered it more or less that way. But that character in the excerpt -- what a stage hog! I can't get him to shut up to make room for anyone else. He's not even the MC.
(Make me explain some other time why his stallion -- a male horse -- has a female persona within it that seems to reside also within Sethuur's head. Truth is, I'm not yet sure. Just kind of came that way and I'm running with it for now.)
I started out with a beginning and an ending, and I had a decent idea about what would go in the middle to drag the two together into a novel, but my characters aren't giving me their full cooperation yet. Things are slipping slightly askew in a few places and may require much editing later.
But the words are coming -- maybe not super easily, but they are coming -- and I'm just going to have to tuck my chin to my chest and blunder on.
Oh, yeah, that's kind of the idea in the first place, huh?
(This post was prepared under the influence of copious quantities of an unregulated caffeinated substance. The management takes no responsible for any rambling, duplication, or nonsensical alliteration.)
I guess persistence is the key though. Hopefully a few hundred will become a few thousand without too much more effort. Keep it up, girl!
Jayson Merryfield
I finally got some time to work on my novel during the day! I had an hour an a half before my son needed to be picked up at preschool, so I went to a nearby library and wrote the whole time--with only one foray into a calvin and hobbes book. I was really picking up steam, and I looked at the clock and I was 10 minutes late! Yikes.
annepin, couldn't you write one little word? That's how books are written, you know.
I was trying to think of something we could do to boost our word totals. We can't really do a one hour challenge, because we're not all on-line at the same time. I think we could all use an energy boost. Does anyone have any ideas?
A word war? A midnight rally? (What is a word war anyway?)
Melanie
edited to say: Sorry. It's been a particularly long day, and I'm in a pretty goofy mood.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 08, 2008).]
But yay! I've got 2184 words! And yes, they do make sense. At least to me, and right now, that's what matters, right? Okay, how far behind am I now?
You are catching up with me, if that makes you feel any better. Will you be able to work on it during the week? or is work just too brutal?
I had to take a few days off to finish up some other major projects and then to recover. I'm hoping my kids will give me a while to write today (no school...) I can dream can't I?
On the positive side, I'm feeling excited about my story again.
Melanie
I'm home alone tomorrow and am going to give myself another mini challenge, though nothing as severe as last Tuesday. Then I'm home from Firday to next Wednesday so hope to get another big chunk written.
Anyhow, I've just put my MC in peril, and he has a dangerous time ahead of him. I'm hoping that will perk me up a bit.
Hope everyone's word counts are going up nicely.
i added about 2000 words this morning, and hoping to add some tonight after the kids go down. that would put me way behind instead of desperately behind.
It sounds like most of us are still plugging along. Tomorrow I really need to figure out the specifics about the next few scenes so that I don't stare blindly at the screen like I did today (until I decided to skip ahead).
Keep up the good work! 12000 words, here I come!
Melanie
Meanwhile, my personal writing hell for the day is that my characters' only reactions to one another seems to be to laugh. Uh, really? That's the best I can come up with. Pathetic! If anyone wants to suggest some alternatives I'd be forever in your debt.
What other stupid things do you find yourself doing in your WIPs? Last year I figured out at some point that I was always having my MC notice things, instead of just writing them. I write third limited, deep immersion POV, but that doesn't mean that every thing that happens in the world has to be expressed through the MC noticing or seeing or sensing things. I can say "The wall was white" instead of "MC noticed that the wall was white." Oh boy, that was a mess! 
So the rest of you, spill. What are your bad Nano habits??
I wrote 1,104 words in one hour, and yes, probably much of it needs to be deleted, but I actually had fun. If I can write this many words in an hour, I might be able to salvage this contest. I was feeling mightily discouraged, but now I'm pumped! That puts me at 11,916 words. I am sure I can get past the 12,000 mark before I go to bed. Tomorrow's goal is 2,500 words.
There really is some magic in turning off your inner editor. Now, if she'll just stay off until I catch back up.
Melanie
I did very little planning before Nano started, and this is my first one, so I have nothing to compare with. In the future, I might plan more. But what I like about this approach is knowing since I had very little to go on at the start, I am not as picky about how things have to be. My writing is crap and I know it. I am happier with certain story elements I am coming up with on the fly than I am the writing.
I have probably used the word "that" an astronomical number of times. "Already" has found its way in there quite a bit too, or at least I was noticing it a lot tonight. My MC is a clutz. I think he got knocked out three times and fell down twice in the first three pages. I will fix that - in December.
Good job Samj - and who cares, at least something is happening *to* your MC! Mine has things happen around her but she doesn't do much other than follow along. Gotta fix that, send her on an adventure. Toodeloo!
im sure when i learn about POV, true character development, adverbs, cliches, and all the other "good writer" stuff, i'll cringe and hide under my computer desk. but for right now, who cares.....
yesterday i only had an hour to work before i collapsed, but i did get in around 1000 words. i plan to make up some of my word count today.
in the back of my mind i sincerely hope that there is some quantity of salvageable stuff in what im writing.
good luck everyone
quote:
im sure when i learn about POV, true character development, adverbs, cliches, and all the other "good writer" stuff, i'll cringe and hide under my computer desk. but for right now, who cares.....
That was the beauty of last night. I made myself ignore all that stuff and just write, and to my liberating surprise, it wasn't half bad. I may be telling parts of the story that I'll cut out later, but at least they're getting on paper, and out of my head.
quote:
just so you know, my inner editor is in Tahiti.
My inner editor loved that idea, and wonders if there might be a spare hammock she could curl up in. All she needs is a spot to set some books and a good looking waiter.
I am at a point in my story that my characters have to go on a journey, about eighty miles, by foot. But nothing really happens on the journey, it's what happens when they get there that matters. Can I just skip the journey and go to when they or arive, or do I need a paragraph or two about the journey?
I know it doesn't really matter because its NaNo, but until I get over this, I'm stuck and can't take the story forward.
A few thousand words ago, I thought I wasn't going to have enough material to complete the story, now I don't know how I'm going to fit it all in. I realise with this, the story doesn't have to be complete, just have to have 50,000 words written, but if I don't finish the story, I probably wouldn't for a long time, if at all.
Louise (31,000 words in and ready to collapse. I need to sleep!). And need to learn how to spell.
[This message has been edited by darklight (edited November 12, 2008).]
"The journey was long and arduous, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Josephina and Lornal found themselves at the foot of Mount Desolate 3 days later with considerably lighter packs and downcast attitudes."
I had a couple of slow days, but I am back now and rolling.....I have had a serious lack of inspiration and then I looked up and saw a bunch of crows rattling away in the trees and realized that they were in the story and were spies....
8)
Really, just high on life...
Leslie
[This message has been edited by LAJD (edited November 12, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by gobi13x (edited November 13, 2008).]
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behind where I want to be, but still ahead of where I thought I was going to be.
Anybody else writing in a non-linear manner?
Thanks all for your great advice by the way. I left the journey, added a sentance or two in the next scene referencing it and carried on. Now I have another problem. I've gotten to a section I know is going to be difficult to write, and at the moment, am finding every excuse not to sit down and write it. But on the upside, my house hasn't looked this clean and tidy in a while.
I had a plan and a target for the next few days, get to 45,000 words by the end of Tuesday, I'm back at work Wednesday, but I can't see that happening with my current output. Oh well, it's been nice to have a day chilling out. I'll give myself a kick up the backside tomorrow.
Hope its going well for all.
I used it tonight and output more than I have all week. I'm not writing anything in order, I didn't make an outline beforehand so I'm just winging it. I'm typing everything that comes to mind -- editing is for later.
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I don't know how much I'd be able to help with 19th Century rural PA life, but I went to undergrad in PA - Millersville in Lancaster county. Amish country.
Sjsampson, thank you. I'm currently unsure of the exact location of the story, so I'll replace location fillers later. I'm considering Lancaster county for its population diversity at the start of the 1800s, though Cumberland county contains more of the physical features I'm looking for. I'll remember you as a SME.
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I've been replacing paragraphs too. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing a little bit of that, as long as you don't go out of control. This year, I let myself go back and read what I just wrote and then do ONE edit--skipping things that don't have any bearing on the story and that are annoying enough that I'm sure I'll catch them later.About Pennsylvania--I'm sure you could find some experts if you ask in the open discussions section. I've got relatives there, so I've been there many times. I'm not sure if I'm an expert, but if you have any questions, I'll have an answer(no guarantee that it's the right answer of course.
Sadly, I'm not an expert on alien smut, so you're on your own with that one.
Unwritten, good advice. About PA, I'm making progress by researching on the internet and excluding the details that come from actually being on location. I figured I need to leave some research for December's rewrite. Happily, sex is a bigger deal in the scenes I wrote the first week; now I'm deeper in romance, friendships, and political activism.
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BIG HINT to the paragraph replacers:Leave in the old one. Use your word processor's "strikethrough" feature to mark the text for deletion. Your word counter will still count the words. After all, you did write them during National Novel Writing Month, you're entitled to claim them, even if you never want to see them again.
KayTi, I thought that might be cheating. I'm now following your suggestion when removing a paragraph or more. Thank you!
[This message has been edited by aspirit (edited November 15, 2008).]
I wrote 442 words in twelve minutes. In two sessions AND copied and pasted them to my WIP and corrected the few spelling mistakes!
Me thinks I'll be using that again.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 15, 2008).]
I never got the nag popups when I was using it because there was a short term goal and the count down clock that gave me an adrenaline rush.
I'm way behind on NaNo but I'm not discouraged. It's my first time to even attempt a novel let alone a novel in a month. I keep writing as I can and if I get to 50k by the end awesome, if not I'm not too upset - it's all a learning experience.
I am beginning to envy the people that planned ahead. I have no idea what is going to happen next...