Who's doing it this year?
What previous years have you done it?
What's your strategy (Outlining before hand? Starting completely from scratch?)

For newbies, nanowrimo stands for "National Novel Writing Month." It's a challenge to write a "novel" of 50,000 words in the month of November. It might sound silly, and certainly it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it can also be fun and exhilarating. Official details are posted on their site.

Me, I look at it as novel seeding. I usually start out with some kind of germ, which begins to take form in October. By November I usually have something to work with, and then I let 'er rip. By the end, I have a rough draft, ready for revising.

I've done it for three years now, the first time in 2003. I also met my now husband at one of the after parties, so there's a special sweetness to the event for me.

What's my stratagy? Last year, I didn't even have an idea of a story two days before it began, the day before I came up with a first scene and it started from there. I have so many ideas for stories but nothing concrete. I don't tend to plan anyway, so I'll probably just start 1st November and see what happends.

Forget my GPA (ha) and social life (HA!), I'm going for it.

My strategy is to not plan our outline very much, and just write and see where it gets me. I usually have a rough idea of where the story is headed to, but I love so very much being surprised by what my characters do throughout the book. I've learned to treat my characters as separate people with their own motivations/desires/etc, that are completely outside of my control. They just run amok and do what they do.

sounds like it could be rather fun to me to try to wright a 50000 word novel.

meg.stout

And JeanneT - uh, OK. But 50k IS salable in certain markets (Children's and YA fiction, for instance). And much of the point of Nano isn't to sell the resulting manuscript anyway. You should read up on it, the guy who started it just wants to get people WRITING. Isn't that good enough?

I was part of it last year, but was unable to do any writing due to illness. This year it is all for proving that I can do this.

My straegy is that right now I am using Ywriter to do basic outlines for the scenes so I have ideas of what is where when I start writing. I also have bio basics for my main and secondary charries.

I see 50k in a month as a way of getting used to writing under pressure. Writers do that when facing a deadline. It also helps with setting a writing routine.

My nick on the site is KaliAngelKat if anyone wants to buddy up.

While Chris at NaNo advocates it as an opportunity to write a novel from start to finish in a month, I always just write my 50,000 words and continue on to wherever the novel ends (usually about 80k). I've never "ended" a novel at 50k. What some people do is write until they reach about 40-45k, and then, if they want to say they "finished" their novel, they skip ahead to a point close to the ending and just finish it off from there. They fill in the blanks when they re-write it.

And if anyone is deciding not to do it because they don't think they have time for it, think about this: I'm only able to write about three hours a day. 5 at the very most. Once you're on a roll, you can get through the 1667 words per day quite easily. And what I find to be the key is, during the first week, while you are all psyched up, get through as many words as possible, to make a little store for later, when things might not come as easily. Also, start writing at midnight on Nov. 1st, and go for as long as you can. You'll get twice the writing done in one day, because after you wake up, it's a whole new writing day .

http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/137421

Here's my profile if you want to add me as a buddy:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/137104 .

There are still aspects of the govt to finish hashing (although I have most of it defined enough.) I have to come up with a religion that is unique to the planet (since religion was not something brought to the colony, it just happens at it always does). Then there is the type of humans that show up from outside the colony.

Still, having a decent grasp of the main entity that drives the initial plot...that does help a good bit.

Nano Profile

My NaNo Profile

50,000 words is only 1,667 words per day. It means you have to get the internal editor off your shoulder. It's fun and exhausting. Also, December is National Finish Your Novel month. So . . .

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/88875

Has anyone started a group on the NaNo Boards?

I was in a "word-war" with a buddy last year. I'd write until just before midnight and post the numbers for that day, and then I'd continue beyond midnight for a bit.

Meanwhile, my buddy would go to bed thinking he had a slight lead on me only to wake up and find himself a couple thousand words behind me again! While it was funny to confound him like that, it did succeed in motivating him to not slack off.

Also, where mrmeadors mentioned going like gang-busters in the first week to build a cushion towards the doldrums in the middle is really good advice.

Okay, I think I added everyone that had links here. Kings_falcon, i can't find you...

Can't wait.