This week: no flash fiction challenge.
(Don’t worry — next week, we’ll be back!)
This time around, feel free to use this post as a general one-stop shop for discussing NaNoWriMo — and, even better, if you’re so willing, to link us to your wordsmithy in the first week. Show us what you’re writing! Doesn’t start till tomorrow, of course, but you can still use this as a crossroads for sharing conversation, content, difficulties and progress reports.
If you’re in — say hi!
Go forth and rock.
Mozette says:
I tried NaNoWriMo… and didn’t get far.
Actually I didn’t like it very much.
So, I didn’t take part again.
October 31, 2014 — 11:01 PM
Mark says:
I told my brother I was going to WIN NaNoWriMo this year.
He looked at me with contempt and slapped me in the face with a haddock.
Part of it stuck to my face but most of it went all over the kitchen.
The part that stuck to me made me believe I could do it…
Uhm, win NaNoWriMo, that is.
October 31, 2014 — 11:49 PM
tedra says:
I believe you can do it good luck.
November 6, 2014 — 1:16 PM
tedra says:
How many words have you written down so far?
November 6, 2014 — 1:19 PM
Multitrickpony says:
Hi. I’m in. First year. First novel. First 900 words done this morning India time.
Am usually a short story writer so trying to produce a novel is potentially gonna be a surreal as well as a new experience.
Story is about a woman’s journey from UK to India with a dollop or two of whiskey thrown in. Here’s hoping it makes some sense come Nov 30th, coz right now the looooonnnnng barrel of this 50k word gun looks terrifying………
Good luck fellow NaNoWriMos
November 1, 2014 — 3:34 AM
tedra says:
Hi. I used to dread short stories. Even in school, my shorts would be at least two pages and spilling…lol. I did that with my second attempt at a novel and I think thats why it failed. It was supposed to be a relatively short fiction about a girl coming if age(fantasy nonetheless. I am a fantasy writer). I tires to make it longer because more and more stuff kept popping up. Now though, I realize I didn’t need all that extra stuff inside my story like back story, and histories of dragons and why is she allergic to milk and the story on how she found out she was allergic to milk…..lol. What I’m saying is, have fun, back story your way into later. Just tell the parts that concern your heroin and fill in the rest later. Good luck with it all. Don’t stress. Don’t give up. Good luck.
November 6, 2014 — 1:28 PM
cajetane says:
First time I’m participating, and I will be working on an established wip. It’s the first draft of a sci fi novel. I’m almost 40 000 words into an estimated 100 000, so I just may finish this sucker if I stick it out. Just gotta still pass uni, manage kids, life etc but secretly, I want to see what I’m made of. Let’s do this. User name is Cajetane.
November 1, 2014 — 4:20 AM
Sylvia Mcivers says:
Hi! SYlvia here!
Also doing a wip – it took almost a year to write 60K, and I hope to do the next 50K in one month. I must be crazy.
So glad to know I’m not the only crazy!!!!! (<– note 5 exclamation points. According to Terry Pratchett, that is a sure sign of an unbalanced mind.)
November 3, 2014 — 5:11 PM
Sylvia Mcivers says:
searched for Cajetane, not found.
November 3, 2014 — 5:21 PM
maniacmarmoset says:
So, I don’t know if I can really say I’m doing nano this year. I did it last year and this November I am keelhauling the everlasting suck out of that manuscript so it’s ready for querying. I will spending all this November with my pissy anti-heroine, her cyborg superhero sister and their poor desperate dad. Sledgehammers and exploding barns will be featured.
November 1, 2014 — 9:08 AM
Mike Douton says:
My birthday is December 4 which was a finish line goal I made months ago. It was pretty reasonable back in June. Based off my outline, I estimate my godpunk UF will be about 90k and I’m sitting at 29k. My NaNoWriMo Mod is really 61k/36days. I started yesterday and I’m 700 words behind already =D I have a toddler so it makes planning tough.
But today I’m going to hole up in my office (Starbucks) all day.
8 hours on one coffee yo!
November 1, 2014 — 9:11 AM
ellenbest24 says:
I am doing it pants style and got 2500 words down this morning. I am pleased with my progress so far.
My work is set in 1960/75 rural England, it’s Womans fiction (I hate that! ) three generations historically correct ( please God! ) A story of struggle shame secrets and lies.
If I told you more I would have to kill you… or maybe I haven’t written it yet. 😉 good luck everybody.
November 1, 2014 — 9:14 AM
ellenbest24 says:
Oh! I am getting worried that I may be one of the older ones (at least in my region) taking part… I am not ageist but most seem to be students or sixth formers. I hope they still want buddy and meet up. :-/
November 1, 2014 — 9:19 AM
conniecockrell says:
There are a lot of adults, Ellen. Check out the forums. There’s a spot for all of us. Good luck with your project.
November 2, 2014 — 3:17 PM
ellenbest24 says:
Hi Connie, thanks for reply. 🙂 I have seen lots of ages but not a mix in my region. I dont know how people make time for forum chat, I admire them. I am in the zone and loving it just now… hope it keeps going. Two days with 8000 in the bag. My brain may have emptied though?
November 2, 2014 — 9:54 PM
MakeLifeMemorable says:
I’m in! Im aiming for 50k out of 75k this month for a YA contemporary. It’s a sorta kinda inconvenient time as I’m 71/75k done on my current WIP so I’m going to do both, dammit. Finish WIP 1 and smash WIP 2
November 1, 2014 — 9:39 AM
Hannah says:
Fourth (? fifth?) Nanowrimo. Only won once: November is not a good month for me. Still the Day Job and other Life Stuff has meant this one project has been stopping up my brain for 3-4 years, so I’m going to use Nanowrimo to 1) write every day 2) exorcise my brain of the project.
Good luck everyone.
November 1, 2014 — 9:40 AM
Sydney Gael says:
Aww, Chuck…
That was an awesome PepTalk you wrote on the NaNo website. Thank you! Glad you’re helping out this year.
November 1, 2014 — 10:06 AM
Baby June says:
I agree! That was a fab pep talk. Totally revved up to do those donuts in an empty field.
November 1, 2014 — 11:17 AM
UrsulaV says:
This year I’m writing an interactive fiction game rather than novel, using the Twine engine. We’ll see how it goes!
It’s NaGaWriMo, which I believe is the great serpent who watches over text-based games.
November 1, 2014 — 10:22 AM
ktbenbrook says:
I’m in, yet again. This time though I’m outlining, rather then pantsing. Or at least just pantsing, sections with a goal of hitting the next section of the outline.
Doing a fairy tale retelling/reimagining, by smashing together two popular fairy tales with a common theme.
doing well so far:
Once upon a time
yada, yada, yada
and she lived happily ever …. ooooh ouch, that’s going to leave a mark.
November 1, 2014 — 11:53 AM
tedra says:
You and I may have some things in common here. What’s your username? Mine is worsscansingtoo. I would really love to peak at your story. My current WIP is about an old fable with the boogieman.
November 6, 2014 — 1:33 PM
Penquillity says:
I’m in. I am so in that I encourage others to go all in, then keep them motivated throughout the month with corny weekly regional emails.
Jeannie (quillandink in Nanoland, regional ML)
November 1, 2014 — 12:12 PM
tedra says:
I put in your UN but couldn’t find you.
November 6, 2014 — 8:22 PM
Honey Apostos says:
I just signed up for Nanowrimo. I wonder what I’m thinking, I think I should check the bed to see if my brain leaked out and is hiding in my pillowcase.
November 1, 2014 — 12:15 PM
tedra says:
Lol. You’re fine. You’re cool. You’re brain is indeed intact, though dripping so watch out for that. I’ve done NaNo for three years. It takes practice for some, for others its breeze. Its not scary. This is something that you love doing. So keep doing it, even if your word count isn’t what you’d like it to be.
I was about to get discourage when id realized id only written 4,188 words so far. On day 6. Then I said, well at least I have I a blurb now. And then I came to Chuck’s blog and got encouraged by all the people who are doing it to. We can only take it one day at a time and do our best. And encourage others to keep going. I hope this reaches you when you need it. Good luck.
November 6, 2014 — 1:43 PM
Jessica says:
I’m out. This would have been year three for me. But the last two years I haven’t even come close to winning and I’m sure I wouldn’t have this year either.
What I would have achieved is a lot of stress and disappointment and a dread of the writing process. I would feel like I had failed in not achieving this (admittedly crazy) thing that I had set out to do.
So instead I’m trying something different this year. I call it writing.
No word count goal, no stress. Just writing when and as I am able. If it feels good. If it doesn’t feel good. If it makes things feel better.
Just writing.
I’m sure I won’t come close to writing a novel. But I’ll write something on some days and at the end of November I’ll still be looking forward to picking up my pen.
I think that (for me) that’s the real “win”.
Good luck to all the Wrimos here! May the words be with you.
November 1, 2014 — 12:24 PM
bassplyr5150 says:
Good for you. Same here.
November 3, 2014 — 1:19 AM
tallian says:
I’m in this year! Up about 1700 words in two hours on my WIP that I’m hoping to finish this month. Sequel to my first book, an urban fantasy about the four horsemen and various other gods. User ID is akuzenski. Excerpt posted.
November 1, 2014 — 12:43 PM
tedra says:
Oooh, that sounds good!
November 6, 2014 — 1:50 PM
storyteller5 says:
This is my second year. Last year I “won,” even though a dear friend committed suicide halfway through the month. That was tough. The last thing I wanted to do was write, but I kept going, and actually accomplishing something made me feel better. AND I got an awesome book out of it.
NaNoWriMo is hell for me. But the end result makes it worth it. This year, I’m writing a horror novel for adults: After being trapped in one of China’s ancient ghost cities overnight, a tourist returns home with more than he bargained for.
Good luck, fellow writers! If you want to be buddies, I’m KickboxingWriter.
November 1, 2014 — 1:46 PM
ZonieMama says:
“After being trapped in one of China’s ancient ghost cities overnight, a tourist returns home with more than he bargained for.” — Sounds great! I’d read it, and I’m not a big fan of horror.
November 2, 2014 — 8:27 PM
ellenbest24 says:
finished for the day I am happy with 4196 words so far and I am loving it. booze bath and bed I think.
November 1, 2014 — 1:53 PM
brennancm says:
I’m in. This will be my 5th year. “Won” all years up to now, for a certain value of the word “won.” Most recent previous novel my be worth something after I finish the revisions. You may ask, “Why haven’t you finished revising it yet?” to which my only reply is “shhhh.”
Had a swell time writing this morning and got 3100 words. Writing episodes within one enormous story arc, so I can always skip around if I get stuck. Less stress. We’ll see if it all ends up amounting to anything. If you want to be my buddy on the NaNoWriMo site, my handle is Cee-Bee.
November 1, 2014 — 5:38 PM
L. N. Holmes says:
I am participating for the first time this year! Here is the synopsis for my novel:
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/l-n-holmes/novels/alexa-of-wonderland
November 1, 2014 — 5:57 PM
conniecockrell says:
Good luck L.N. Holmes.
November 2, 2014 — 3:14 PM
L. N. Holmes says:
Thank you! 🙂
November 2, 2014 — 3:15 PM
Melinda Davis says:
Here is the link to my blog. I’ve posted my first day’s work in it. I don’t think I’ll be doing too much of that, but it’s been a blast so far. So here it goes. Shameless self promotion alert. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mschaotica
November 1, 2014 — 6:17 PM
mwebster76 says:
On the premise that writing something that is meant to suck might free a writer from the pressure of both writing 50,000 words in one month and making those 50,000 words “good,” I am leading a trashy romance novel challenge on my blog at writeontheworld.wordpress.com. Feel free to stop over and suck at this with the rest of us!
November 1, 2014 — 6:45 PM
mwebster76 says:
Oh, and I’m about 10,000 words into my own pile of suckery, so this just might actually work!
November 1, 2014 — 6:47 PM
angelacavanaugh says:
If you keep up that pace, you don’t need a month! Good job.
November 2, 2014 — 1:15 AM
leedunning says:
Pausing just long enough to check in. 2,999 words so far today.
Just added you to my buddies, Cee-Bee!
November 1, 2014 — 7:22 PM
Terri Herrington says:
This will be my first novel. All I’ve done until now is write for myself – journals, blogs, short stores and a few of Chuck’s flash fiction challenges. I’m ready to see if I can write something other people might enjoy reading. My NaNoWriMo moniker is Terrimmxv. See you in the trenches.
I started out writing an outline today, but it was total crap. So I’m starting over from scratch. I’ve got about 5 more hours until the end of day one to grind out something worth it’s space on the page. I’ve got all my Chuck Wendig writing books, including the new one “30 Days in the Word Mines”, a glass of red wine, a chocolate bar in case my sugar gets low. Here goes nothing. Later.
November 1, 2014 — 8:29 PM
Terri Herrington says:
Managed to hammer out 1,631 words last night, right before midnight. Whew! Day one, DONE!
November 2, 2014 — 12:30 PM
Fatma Alici says:
I’ve done several Nanowrimos over the last few years and won. At the beginning of this year I had no plans to jump in. But, with life forcing me to drop writing for several months I need some way to kick myself in the ass. I’ve had some minor writing triumphs this year. I fear if I don’t do something I’ll fall back on my laurels and make no more progress.
November 1, 2014 — 11:00 PM
conniecockrell says:
I’ve seen your work in some of this blog’s challenges, Fatma. You write beautifully, please don’t give up.
November 2, 2014 — 3:13 PM
Fatma Alici says:
Not planning too, after writing everyday in Nano I should be back on track. Thanks for the encouragement!
November 2, 2014 — 8:20 PM
ellenbest24 says:
Ditto! You really mustn’t give up. You must percyweer . 😉 loads of luck.
November 2, 2014 — 10:12 PM
angelacavanaugh says:
After much debate with myself, I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. But I’m not going to stop working on my other projects, which include polishing a full length novel, writing 3 more books in my Sleep Saga serial project, and possibly doing a second draft on another story. Maybe I’m crazy?”
So here’s my story:
After the End
“A mismatched group of teens must come together to figure out how to survive after life as they know it, as well as most of the population, is destroyed by a biological weapon. Unbeknownst to them, they haven’t been left unchanged. The biological weapon has made them something more than human. But there’s another side to the evolutionary coin, and they’re being hunted by it. They must form new alliances and put aside old prejudices as they race against time to save one of their own as he threatens to turn into a murderous subhuman.”
I figure if done well, it’s something I could actually revise post NaNoWriMo and make something out of. It hits a lot of markets: Young Adult, Apocalypse/Post-Apocalypse, Superhero, Zombie… oh, plus I like the idea lol 🙂
November 2, 2014 — 1:08 AM
Samantha Wilding says:
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year for the first time, and I am SCARED TO DEATH of it. Which means it’s important–really important. I’ve never been this scared of anything creative except for live music performances, and those were important too.
….how do I live through this? How do I actually make myself finish this? How do I stop the panic?
November 2, 2014 — 4:16 AM
terribleminds says:
Don’t panic.
It’s NOT that important.
We put the world on the shoulders of our stories and, by proxy, us.
And that’s unfair to us, and to the tale we’re telling.
Your work is important, and so is you’re writing.
But, I always advocate the strange advice of: “care less.”
Just enough to feel a reduction of pressure. To drop off some of the baggage you have accumulated.
— c.
November 2, 2014 — 6:54 AM
stephen says:
I’ve tried the past two years and did not finish. Going for it again! Never give up.
November 2, 2014 — 6:59 AM
Libby says:
Every year I ponder NaNo and every year I come to the conclusion I just can’t do it. With a full time and physically demanding job I can just about scrape together the energy to do some writing most evenings. But eleventy zillion (or whatever it is) words in a month just isn’t going to happen and the inevitable failure would be bad.
November 2, 2014 — 8:25 AM
angelacavanaugh says:
You never know until you try. My job is also physically demanding and can leave me mentally drained. But writing is something that you have to do to do. No excuses. And even if you don’t make it to the finish line, hopefully you will have gotten into the habit of writing. And maybe you will have started something that you can continue to work on into the future. I say give it a go! The worst case is that you won’t make it, and hey, who needs to know but you if you’re worried about it? The best case, almost unlimited. 🙂
November 2, 2014 — 6:41 PM
Libby says:
I’ve made myself some different writing goals instead because I just don’t need the inevitable failure. It’s a fine line between not even trying because you might fail and realising that a goal isn’t realistic for you.
November 3, 2014 — 1:38 AM
conniecockrell says:
This is my fourth time and I love the energy created. Of course I should be writing 1 – 2K words everyday but for some reason this month and the associated Camp NaNos really get my blood, or uh, my words flowing. If anyone is interested, this is a link to this year’s novel. Excerpt is the 1st chapter, raw and unedited. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/conniecockrell/novels/mystery-at-the-fair
Good luck to all of you who are trying it for the first or umpteenth time. If you aren’t participating, thanks for cheering the rest of us on and good luck with your current projects.
November 2, 2014 — 3:11 PM
lisa says:
Nanowrimo day 2: i figure out that if i write “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” 167 times, i can hit my daily word count, no problem.
First timer. Horror novel.
November 2, 2014 — 4:37 PM
bassplyr5150 says:
This made me laugh. Keep going
November 3, 2014 — 1:21 AM
underastarlitsky says:
I’m doing something totally different this year. In that i’m taking a break from writing my usual Steampunk, set in my Steampunk universe, and instead doing something different, fresh, fun (for me): superheroes. Even though we haven’t got to the superhero/parallel universe part yet, in the beginning. Here’s my Nano page with my vague synopsis and the Excerpt is my first 1,667 words (unedited, unpolished).
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/arrawyn/novels/the-not-so-fantastic-four
November 2, 2014 — 7:26 PM
ZonieMama says:
Told myself I’d do NaNoWriMo LAST year … didn’t write a single word. Yikes!
So this time, I’m not “doing” NNWM. Instead, the month is for working through my 1st novel. The original idea began a couple years ago, as a short story for a contest. Being a natural “pantser,” I then added more and more until – 50k+ words later – YUCK!
Then, early this year, I started learning about STRUCTURE and PLOTTING and PREMISE and CONCEPT. Way to feel like a freshman in English 101 all over again. (This former high school English teacher can’t outline *ahead of time* to save her soul.)
At last (after half a year of many distractions including a detached retina) I have a concept/premise and a plot structure.
Here’s the premise: (or is it concept? still haven’t got that straight… ugh.)
***
A rigid code protects the ordinary human kingdom against the encroaching world of mages, demon centaurs, goblins, and worse, but the young heir of a regional governor defies the law to bond with a gypsy orphan hiding magical abilities, plunging them into conflict with dangerous enemies both seen and unseen.
***
(They meet as children before the novel begins; as teens a romance develops; problems in the form of family, demon-hosting centaurs, and mages separate them for 10 years; and they reunite as adults to finally discover and confront an enemy who’s been the source of most of the troubles plaguing them their whole lives.)
(Not feasible? I’m not listening, LaLaLaLaLa! *squirts ketchup on pristine white tablecloth*)
My goal for NNWM is to start at what I hope will stay the beginning (Did I mention learning that “Prologues Are Evil”??) and write through the entire story. The challenge is using some of the existing narrative, while adjusting it for consistency, but still avoiding my natural tendency to over-edit, because after all this will actually be the 1st draft.
Wish me luck; I’m gonna need it!
PS – sorry this is so long… 😛 Guess I needed to vent it. Thanks for the venue, Mr. W. !
November 2, 2014 — 11:20 PM
David says:
Not this year for me. I only learned about NaNoWriMo last year through Chuck’s blog. I’ve always written short pieces and have started several long works that never went anywhere, so I thought that the event would be beneficial torture. Unfortunately I was in the middle of a three year commitment to an organization and had no chance to participate. I finish that commitment at the end of this year.
Which means next years NaNo is already at the top of my goals.
Good Luck to everyone huddled in writerly seclusion this year.
November 3, 2014 — 1:30 PM
Sylvia Mcivers says:
Sylvia here.
I did nano once before, and it loved getting words onto the page.
Then it took a while to clean up the manuscript.
Queen Esther saved her nation, because the king really liked his parties.
What was it like to live in party-central? Wine, women, annihilation!
I’m at nano as Sylvia McIvers.
November 3, 2014 — 5:17 PM
tedra says:
Hi! So I lied about putting my blurb here on the same day as my first post. Sorry.
November 6, 2014 — 2:30 PM
tedra says:
I had to make a lot of changes in the blurb of my book but the story has changed so much. I didn’t realize that I had made such drastic changes but I think for the better. Here it goes. Follow me on NaNo would you?? @ wordscansingtoo
He hangs at the end of my images like white spots when breaking free from a dark room.
His voice slides over my skin like velvet and hides me inside his warmth.
He comes and disappears leaving me waiting like a hopeless addict.
At the end if the of the day, I really don’t know what he wants. Or what he does. I do know that when the blackouts come, he is there. When my hands are bloodied, he is near.
And when I am scared the most, he may be me.
November 6, 2014 — 2:35 PM
Samantha Wilding says:
I just needed a place to be stunned for a second.
My NaNo, that I was so terrified to write (and still am), is at 16,000+ words. The goal as of yesterday morning was 8,000+. I don’t know how this happened. I think one of the tricks that’s been working for me is never leaving the end of the manuscript on a completed sentence, forcing me to
(See how irritating that is? How badly you need to fill in the rest? I’ll scratch the itch: …pick up where I left off the next day. That gets the ball rolling, that first little nudge, and usually that’s enough to get me started.)
The novel is called The Devil’s Violin. It’s about a band, Ash Tree Lane, on their first regional tour of the Midwest–but one of the bandmates isn’t who she says she is, and she didn’t exactly come by her fiddle by buying it in a pawn shop. Now they’re on the run… and all hell is about to break loose.
My user ID on NaNo is MizBlackCrow. Come play with me!
November 6, 2014 — 2:47 PM
Alex Penland says:
Currently using NaNo as a little motivation to write something new. My blurb from the site: “The customers of bookstore The Kettle Black find themselves on an adventure when hunky space miners mistakenly abduct the building. During their voyage to Planet Zink, it’s up to employees Clara Delaney and Isaac Rowe to convince the miners not to process the samples they took of Earth: failure could mean the end of the world as we know it!”
Excerpts are up on my site.
November 19, 2014 — 9:35 AM
Jay says:
Loving your blog! Wish I’d found it earlier but so much internet, so little time, yeah?
I started a new book, titled Verloren, for my NaNo novel. It’s a continuation of a series I’ve been working on since 2006. I really got a kick out of your ‘Why It’s Important To Finish Your Shit’ post, particularly the porking round with a new novel when the old (or four others in my case) are wandering round.
Anyway, my NaNo novel page with synopsis and two excerpts:
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/soluzek/novels/verloren-673915
November 27, 2014 — 10:34 AM