IT IS ALMOST TIME.
The time when we open the gates and human and novel run through the city streets, goring the unsuspecting while crushing the cobblestone beneath their stampeding hooves and feet —
Or, uh, something like that.
It’s NaNoWriMo — or one week from it.
National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated.
So, my question is:
Who has done it before?
How’d it go? What are your thoughts about it?
And then:
Who’s doing it this year? What are you planning to write?
ANSWER IF YOU DARE.
*thunder of hooves*
meagan42 says:
This will be my 7th year, and I’ve won twice. Going the dystopian route this time. Good luck to everyone that gives it a go!
October 26, 2015 — 9:11 AM
Anthony W. Eichenlaub says:
I’m not doing it this year and probably won’t ever. It doesn’t really fit with my writing style and I’ve never really needed the artificial deadline to keep me on pace. I’m absolutely positive that I could keep up, but I’d have to sacrifice time that is important to me (my kids would forget that I exist by the end of the month.)
I’m currently writing an Urban Fantasy and very excited about the progress I’ve already made with it. I’m roughly 20k in and the story is really coming together nicely. I think if I rushed the rest of it at this point I’d end up with a nightmare in revisions.
October 26, 2015 — 9:14 AM
Ed says:
I agree, i looked into NaNoWriMo when my friend first suggested it might be something i was interested in. I think as separate entity where you write a wacky, wild and largely irreverent story its works well. Yes i understand it shows us writers that 50,000 is not a lot when split into 30 days, but this is the old argument. Working style, Those who want to write 2000 words a day come hell or high water and those who take a measured approach. I fall into the latter. I’m 12,000 words into my book and yes 50,000 in 1 month would almost complete it…..but whats the rush? Its book 2 of trilogy why rush it. If i want to write on another project i can do in my own time and way. But to those who do partake; good on you and best of scribbling.
October 26, 2015 — 10:13 AM
John Bowler (@My140Chars) says:
I’ve done it the past two years. I got to 50k in 2013 but only 30k last year.
I had a good time with it both times, thought not reaching 50k last time was disappointing.
I think it’s great fun and an interesting exercise.
I’m doing it again this year, writing a cosmic fantasy with space dragons and pre-industrial interstellar travel.
October 26, 2015 — 9:20 AM
Mariah says:
I’ve done it and won it before. Last year was the first thing I turned out that I really thought was good. At least with the couple of months of very intense editing. I’ve done it on and off for I think 7 years or so? I didn’t really tell anyone about it before two years ago so I’m doing that more too.
I am planning on doing it this year, I’m taking a break from my one a month short story plan to work on a urban fantasy novel that is a second to one I wrote in one of the nano camps. The first one still needs a lot of editing but I’m not totally sure where I want the bigger trilogy arc to go so I’m writing book two then I’ll go back and edit til I bleed on one. Plus the motivation and support from the random internet is big to write in November which is good.
October 26, 2015 — 9:22 AM
Christopher says:
I’ve done it and completed it. This year I’ll do it but focus on finishing the second half of an existing project. There’s a lot of good energy that month with the online pump up news letters.
Tips:
#1: Schedule Time: It’s so easy to say ‘i’ll do it after work’ and then that becomes ‘i’ll do it after dinner’ and then ‘after i check my email’ and then ‘i’ll just double up tomorrow.’ Very slippery slope. The schedule is what helped me most.
#2: Outline of some kind, even just a ‘Scenes I Want List.’ That also helped me. I actually had too many scenes last year, ran out of time.
Good luck. You all rock.
October 26, 2015 — 9:22 AM
davidjmobrien says:
I’ve never done it before, but had thought of doing it this year. Unfortunately, though I have a story ready to go and it’s not going to be very long, I have a wife about to give birth and two novels to rewrite and an editor who swears she’ll have edits of my next book this week and pile of other shit that’s going to make it a no nanowrimo year for me. I’ll see how far I get into the YA novel I’ve started, but I doubt I’ll get more than 20k, even if we go over due! Good luck with it, though, folks.
October 26, 2015 — 9:24 AM
Cathy Ryan says:
Ive done NANO twice and July camp once. First effort, I learned how unprepared I was to write the story. I studied and practiced until NANO rolled around again and completed a first draft, learned so much about how to push myself to produce and keep on task.July camp, produced another complete first draft of a different story. I’m skipping NANO this year to focus on the rewrite and marketing stages.It’s a great program.
October 26, 2015 — 9:25 AM
mamadx2 says:
Yes, I’ve done it. I enjoy it a lot and I did really well last year. Well for me anyway. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing it again this year as I am taking a class again this year and it’s harder when you have a lot of commitments. If I do it, I’ll be revisit a story that I worked on before and make changes to and finish.
October 26, 2015 — 9:26 AM
Wendy Christopher says:
It’s a NaNoWriMoNono for me. Have never done it, and no plans to do it this year ’cause I’m already Wri-ing my third draft of my current No. Will I ever do it? Maybe if the stars align so that I just happen to be ready to start a new novel in the month of November… but otherwise. no. I don’t believe in scheduling an uber-burst of motivation by the calendar. 😉
But hey, diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks. Kudos to all those who are going for it, and the very best of luck and fun to you all!
October 26, 2015 — 9:28 AM
TheMildlyAnnoyedGreek says:
I’ve done it, but never completed it. The “Write a whole novel in a month” thing isn’t paired well with my pacing. It’s treated more as an annual competition to keep old friends writing and ideas flowing. I don’t anticipate winning this year (I never do, I like to take my time), but I do think the added focus will up the word count on my current project
Plus this year my fiancee is participating, so I might finally get more of that blessed free/quiet time that’s usually replaced with why-the-piss-are-we-going-to-a-farmer’s-market-we-just-spent-a-shitton-on-groceries mornings or I’m-going-to-watch-Netflix-and-keep-asking-you-questions-about-a-show-you’re-not-paying-attention-to evenings.
October 26, 2015 — 9:28 AM
Nels Wadycki says:
I’ve done NaNoWriMo twice (for real, and a couple times where I went in totally unprepared). The past two years I’ve gotten about 30,000 words out of it which is always my highest month of the year, so I’ll take it. I think it’s a great way to carve out big chunks of a project and really make some good progress. I know I can’t sustain the pace for the entire year, but it’s fun to just be totally heads-down focused on nothing but writing for a month.
I’m really shooting for 50,000 this year…
October 26, 2015 — 9:29 AM
Peg says:
This will be #6 and my last time participating for a while because I have five novels I am still rewriting from my previous “wins”.
I highly recommend it if you are not already writing daily and hitting goals. It turned me from an occasional writer who wrote when inspired to an actual writer who writes or rewrites daily and completes a word count goal. I feel like it’s a great cure for writer’s block and the euphoria of hitting your target word count was like a drug.
October 26, 2015 — 9:29 AM
Kacy Kazmierczak says:
I participated last year for the first time and managed to pants my way to 55k in just over 20 days. That story is still in revision, but being the idiot that I am, I’ve decided to up the ante this year and go for 100k in the month. With a bit of luck and work, I hope to have the first two novellas in a series drafted by December 1.
October 26, 2015 — 9:29 AM
Stephanie Cranford says:
Attempted: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 (Camp NaNo in April), 2015 (in a week).
Won: 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015/April.
The first year I had no idea how to write a novel. The second year I finished 50k and had no idea how to finish a novel. Life got in the way a few times in there, but by 2013 I had some clue. The little word count bar and the deadline are great motivators for me, which is why I did the April version this year. I’d have done July, too, except I help run a convention 4th of July weekend and I might have died, trying to do both.
Next month/week I’m writing a Regency with Boats and Magic, or so my profile says.
October 26, 2015 — 9:30 AM
Kit MacConnell says:
This will be my eighth year. I’ve had years of success and years of failure, but it’s always been a fun experience for me. The pace isn’t that fast for me, and I can typically knock out the daily word count in an hour or two, so the challenge is less the word count and more making time between “real job” and school. (Doing both of those full time might kill me, though.)
All in all, I do it for the company. I’ve met some of the most amazing people through NaNoWriMo–some of whom have become such dear friends, I wouldn’t know where I’d be without them. Adding a little friendly competition to something I already love to do just sweetens the pot.
I’m writing a fantasy that is loosely based off of the legend of Germelshausen, where a town is cursed and only surfaces every 100 years for 24 hours. I have had absolutely no planning time this month, so I’m going to have to rush through an outline over the next few days!
October 26, 2015 — 9:32 AM
bethbishopwrites says:
I did NaNoWriMo a few years ago. My schedule then was so that I had a large chunk of writing time every Monday, Friday, and Saturday. I was pretty good about sticking to those writing times, and that helped me stay on schedule. Near the end, I was just too busy with school to write. My brain was exhausted from studying and tutoring. I didn’t “win” by getting 50k words done in a month, but I did eventually finish the novel (around 70K words). This ended up being my first published novel (YA romance with a small publishing company).
I really want to do it again. I have outlines for three novels, two of which are actually fleshed out enough to be worth the trouble. However, I just don’t have the time this year. I have a full-time job as a professor, and that takes away from the large blocks of sit-down time I need to really write. Plus, I have the last novel in a series to finish writing before I start on anything else. Counting it would be “cheating,” as it is already up to 30K words. But hey, maybe this will be the push I need to get it done and submitted.
Good luck to all who participate, and remember, don’t try to query this novel in December! Spend some time polishing it before you send it to someone’s inbox.
October 26, 2015 — 9:33 AM
Tia RAGEFACE MCAVOY (@tiakall) says:
Done Nano every year since 2004. I’ve always won, but how complete the stories were and how usable they were has varied by year. It’s pretty much the biggest writing push I get during the year so I use it to get as many ideas out as I can.
This year I’m using Nano (and possibly part of December depending on how long these things run) to get out the first four books in a “classic”/geeky fantasy series about medieval police officers. I also have a backup project of a fanfic. And I have to get these done ASAP because there’s at least three other projects waiting in the wings, not to mention all the redrafts/edits…
October 26, 2015 — 9:37 AM
Vanessa says:
I’ve done it since 2006 (with a one year break because babies). I hit at least 50k every year and last year I hit 150k for the month (do not recommend, that way lies madness). I think NaNo is great for people who have trouble making regular time to write. That’s not something I have a problem with anymore, but I still love the community of NaNo (I’m an ML in my region) and do it every year anyway. Usually, I use NaNo to write the first draft (or entirely rewrite a really bad first draft, or finish off multiple almost-done drafts) and then use the rest of the year for revision and editing and planning.
This year I’m writing a YA fantasy, a sequel to my first book. It’s got a fire-proof girl and dragons. 😀
October 26, 2015 — 9:39 AM
fakedtales says:
This is my sixth (I think?) year doing NaNoWriMo. I’ve passed each time and only increased word count.
The first year I took the month off work, sat around with my thumb up my arse and barely passed by like, 600 words or so. Then I found out that my hometown, Brighton, has a community who meet in real life and online all over the place.
The next year I only took a little time off my day job and went a bit more focused, ended up at 70k and each year it kept getting better until my over 100k crazy person score last year. Here are some things:
Community and a support system really helps.
It’s quite sad when your family and flatmates say goodbye to you for a month.
Your life isn’t over. People talk about writing a novel if they can find the time. People who do write them can and this is the big test of that.
Failure is fine. 50k is your challenge and your prize. If you genuinely have to bail early then that’s okay, you have made words you might not otherwise have done.
Fear and ambition are great motivators.
This won’t be the perfect draft, but it’s a good way of getting *A* draft and the more you plan now, the less you’ll want to burn your draft to the ground. I really want to do that to my first book from NaNoWriMo.
Be careful of which program you use and the quirks they have. OpenOffice regularly cut a few grand off my word count which I only found out in year one at around 10:30 on the final night. I had to add in a scene to bring it back to what the NaNo site considered 50,000.
Again, community. If you don’t have a local one doing anything, find people online. Go on the G+ NaNoWriMo Community, just find interesting randoms on the main site. It seriously added a lot to my experience, gave me a ton of friends in the local writing community and introduced me to my girlfriend. So I think I’m a bit of an advocate for the cause.
October 26, 2015 — 9:39 AM
Lori Carlson says:
I signed up last year, but then my marriage fell apart right before November and I had to move back to my home state, etc… so I never even got to begin. In April of this year, I wrote a 46,000 word science fiction novelette during the A-to-Z Challenge and although it still needs some work to make it into anything like a novel, I plan to write a sequel to it with most of the same characters with a few new tossed in this year for NaNoWriMo.
October 26, 2015 — 9:41 AM
Aimee Ogden says:
This is my 6th time NaNo’ing; I’ve won 3/5 times in the past. Deadlines, especially external ones, are the best way for me to get things done, and NaNo is a great opportunity for that — especially with the sense of community. And the friends willing to check my profile’s word count and publicly shame me over it.
Last year’s effort also taught me that outlining is not my enemy; I had a much easier time writing from an outline than I’d ever had pantsing in the past (much to my surprise). This year I have an outline and a scene list too, not to mention far more detailed research notes, and I’m excited to get started in *heart palpitations* just six days!
October 26, 2015 — 9:41 AM
larryhogue says:
I’m doing it for the first time. I’ve always been in the middle of projects the past couple of years when I considered doing it. It’s the same this year, but NaNoWriMo seems to have changed the rule that you should start a new project on Nov. 1. I don’t really care if I write 50,000 words in the month. I’m mainly doing it to meet other local writers here in Lansing, MI. Went to the kickoff party last night, and met a bunch of enthusiastic, interesting people.
October 26, 2015 — 9:41 AM
Fred Loucks-Schultz says:
I’ve attempted it three times so far, mostly to see if I could get anything written at all, and every year I’ve hit obstacles. This year, my goal is simply not to give up, but to keep increasing the word count through the end of the month and develop the habit of keeping my butt in the chair, and my fingers on the keyboard.
October 26, 2015 — 9:43 AM
Paul Weimer says:
I managed it about 8 years ago. Got 52000 words done in November. It was absolutely shyte as a novel, but I managed the discipline and was proud of same.
October 26, 2015 — 9:45 AM
Mozette says:
I’ve seen people do it and have wondered what the hype is about… so this year, I’m thinking, what the hell? May as well! 😉
I have a book in me that I want to get out there.
October 26, 2015 — 9:45 AM
Jennifer Loring says:
I’ve done it several times but won for the first time in 2014, with the first draft of what became FIREBIRD. I sold the completed book in July (after eight months of revisions and major life events), it was published last week, and sales–especially in Canada–honestly blew my mind. So yay NaNo! 🙂 I’m doing it again to get the first draft of the sequel done, since my publisher wants the next book out by April.
October 26, 2015 — 9:48 AM
rjtheodore says:
Year 12 doing it, still working on the same story.. Really want this year to result in a near-final draft (need to stop major plot/character shifting). I’ve “won” every year but my third. I love to write knowing so many out there are writing in solitary solidarity with me…
October 26, 2015 — 9:49 AM
Josh Neff says:
I’ve done it off and on for the past 10 years, but in the last few years, I got overwhelmed with other life stuff and didn’t feel excited about what I was writing enough to keep at it. I’m doing it again this year and I’m once again going to make an honest effort to finish. I’m like Sisyphus or something.
October 26, 2015 — 9:49 AM
Fred G. Yost says:
Who has done it before?
Me! Twice before.
How’d it go? What are your thoughts about it?
The first year I petered out around 10k. Last year I hit 50 and completed the rough draft.
I liked that it forced me two write every day, and to not look back and not get stuck enternally revising one scene. However, I’ve tried several times to get that rough draft into a coherent first draft, and I’ve not made it past the second scene.
Who’s doing it this year? What are you planning to write?
I’ll be participating this year. I’m still torn between my lesbian-android-buddy-cop-drama, the first of an epic fantasy trilogy, or a Texas-gothic-noir thriller type thing. I’m most prepared for the buddy cop one, but it’s also the one I’m most afraid of not being able to write well. (I don’t think I’ll be any better at the others, I just don’t mind them not being as good)
October 26, 2015 — 9:50 AM
Bronwen Fleetwood says:
I think this is my… 10th year of consistently NaNoing? Fifth as a local organizer (Municipal Liaison).
There are a lot of pluses. It forces out a rough draft. The inner editor has to take a hike. You can meet other writers, online and in person. You learn about yourself, your story, and how you write (even if what you learn is that this is Not For You). And so on and so forth.
I find that no matter what else I’m working on the rest of the year, fall is now NaNo Season and I look forward to it. I begin to structure my tasks around it, and toward it. ‘Well, I have this new project. I’ll get a first draft out during NaNo.’ It’s even better than a new school year, because no one goes to school anticipating at least 50 hours of work with great joy.
You who are about to write, I salute you! You can do it!
October 26, 2015 — 9:51 AM
Crislyn M. says:
This is my fifth or sixth year, I have one twice. I’m a big fan, this kind of thing is very motivating for me. Last year I tried to do two novels, I completed one at 50k and got to only about 10k on the second. This year I’m trying the same.
Both times I completed a novel I had at least a partial outline completed, so I know that in order for me to succeed I need at least SOME sort of outline. I’m a little worried this year because I do have a partial outline for both but only an ending for one.
This year I’m writing a fantasy with the main story being the revenge quest of the protagonist and the second one takes place in a post-apocalyptic world populated by monsters.
October 26, 2015 — 9:52 AM
Lynn C-H (Goth Kitty Lady) says:
I started doing NaNo in 2009, and that win ended up being my first published book – I’ve won four more times since then, and one of those just got finished this year. I also try to do at least one session of Camp NaNoWriMo every summer if I can. I’m crazybooklady over there if anyone needs more writing buddies or just some encouragement.
October 26, 2015 — 9:53 AM
Joe Turner says:
I did it a few years back, mainly as an exercise in discipline, and to prove I could do it. I did it. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought. I hit the 50k word mark, but I never finished the story. I feel it helped me understand what was necessary to produce, and also, what can be achieved in a short amount of time with effort and consistency. I’d recommend everyone to try it once, but I won’t be doing it this year, or for the foreseeable future.
October 26, 2015 — 9:55 AM
Brittany Constable says:
This will be my sixth year and hopefully my sixth win. My social circles, both meatspace and online, are heavily dominated by NaNo, so it doesn’t really make sense for me to skip out. (Even my friend whose husband is battling cancer and just got out of the hospital is participating.) And I’ve gotten some promising drafts out of it; even the ones that turned out to be total shitshows had really good concepts that totally didn’t exist before I was forced to sit down and make them exist, so I can now wrestle them into something presentable.
This year, I’m actually rewriting last year’s mess of a draft. I think I actually have a plot for it now, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s a time travel story, but I think the bulk of it will take place in colonial Singapore.
October 26, 2015 — 9:55 AM
Dan Schwent says:
I’ve attempted it nine times and completed it seven times. I’ve already found it to be a worthwhile experience, regardless of the level of crapitude of the finished product. I’m planning on doing a crime book this year.
October 26, 2015 — 9:58 AM
Chris says:
Did it for the first time last year, hit 50,000 on exactly the last day, and thought, this thing isn’t even half finished. Just under a year after starting, I have a ~150,000 third draft of that book, and have already made significant progress on the second book of what could be a trilogy. Planning on dedicating this year’s NaNoWriMo to an even larger dent in that second book, but won’t be too upset if I don’t hit 50,000 this time. Not in the same place life-wise as I was last year, especially in terms of the day job.
That first book was the first project I’ve taken to “completion” in a long while. Really looking forward to seeing where the sequel takes the characters and me!
October 26, 2015 — 10:02 AM
Keffy says:
I started participating in 2002, so my NaNoWriMo account is now older than a decent chunk of the younger participants.
I “won” every year from 2004 to 2009, and then sporadically between 2010 and 2014, though I always tried.
The novels I “won” with have not yet been finished, really, except for the one from 2009, which became a completed draft a few years ago, but hasn’t been cleaned up and sent out because I’m chicken.
I feel like the point is, for those people who do NOT write quickly and/or have trouble with writer’s block, to learn how to power through that even if you don’t feel like it because: DEADLINE!
I dropped off after 2010 due to a variety of things — depression, which sucks, and moving to Seattle from the smaller community I was in (where I acted as a municipal liaison for four years). Seattle had the disadvantage of an ML who lived well outside of the actual city, and who didn’t really understand how to support events in the city, or even how travel distances inside a city work (traveling 5 miles to an event in the suburbs where everyone has a car is easy, traveling 3 miles in a city when you have to take 3-4 buses because there’s no direct route from your apartment sucks).
That said, the community that I found through NaNoWriMo has included several friends who have also sold stories at the professional level, and we’re still really good friends.
Cons: if you get discouraged by bad fiction, welllllll… you’ll have problems.
Some of the wordcount fluffing techniques are really stupid.
Pros: Have a novel idea that you have wanted to work on but never did? Great time to experiment for a month.
You can find a bunch of writers in your area. Some of them might even be interested in the same kind of stuff you are.
You might find some of the stuff you give up to NaNo was a pointless waste of time anyway.
As an adult, you will always be busy, so learn to write when you don’t have time = good skill.
Failure isn’t really failure if you at least started your book.
NaNoWriMo people are extremely encouraging, and sometimes it’s nice to not get the WRITING IS GRIM AND HARD message.
It’s nice to be around a bunch of people who like books and writing.
It’s fun.
It’s good brain exercise.
That said, it IS geared more toward amateurs than pros(as are most of my comments on it). But, you know, for people who don’t write a ton, and just want to write for fun, and/or want a kick in the pants to PUT WORDS. ON THE PAGE/IN THE FILE, there are worse ways to get it.
Every year, there are always people who are trying to write their magnum opus. But it’s also awesome to be in a room of several dozen people of ages ranging from mid-teens to their 60s, all writing different things. I’ve gone to first meetings where some of the people are working on memoirs, others are writing romance, some are writing hard SF, and others are like WHOOO YEAAAAAH TIME FOR MY EPIC HARRY POTTER FANFIC.
FOR THIS YEAR: I just realized that I missed the kick off party this weekend (frankly, me scheduling anything at this point is ridic with the whole trying to get a PhD in genetics thing going on.) I am still on the fence, though I did dust off and log into my account. The problem is basically: what would I write about? Is there any point? Shouldn’t I be cleaning up the older draft of a book and pretending it’s worth sending out? etc etc etc.
October 26, 2015 — 10:04 AM
powerjacob says:
I tried doing the camp earlier in the year and failed due to my lack of preparation (No real outline, no real idea where the story would go, and so on), and I only went in half heartedly. This time I feel I’m better prepared even if I don’t reach the 50k goal I should have enough written, and have developed a routine to write, which is something I’m lacking at the moment. The problem I’m facing at the moment is I have two stories outlined and need to choose which one to go with. We will see.
Good luck everyone!
October 26, 2015 — 10:09 AM
Christy says:
This is my third year participating in NaNo. It’s certainly an interesting month of ups and downs. 🙂
October 26, 2015 — 10:10 AM
jmvandenberg says:
I’ve been doing Nano for nine years. I write plenty all year long, but I love the commitment and camaraderie of writing 50,000 words in November. Usually I have a plan of what I am going to write, but this year I am truly pantsing it. I’ll start writing on Nov. 1 and let the ideas flow. I have several WIP that involve outlining, and I am looking forward to freewriting 1,667 words first thing every morning. If anyone wants to be my Nano buddy, my user name is Lady Jay. Good luck to all my fellow writers.
October 26, 2015 — 10:15 AM
conniecockrell says:
I entered the 2011 Nano and won it and every one since. I see some commenters have done Camp Nanos and failed. Me too! Preparation is the key. Also, not having travel commitments. I have a few speaking engagements and a trip to Laughlin in the middle of the month. Those might throw me off, it remains to be seen. Either way, I love the enthusiasm we all have as we prepare for the month and during the writing each day. I love how we just write, write, write. I have to admit each time I participate, it reinforces my daily writing habit. That’s the goal, to learn to write, daily, with joy and abandon.
October 26, 2015 — 10:15 AM
Jeff Davis says:
I won in 2011, failed in 2013, didn’t participate last year, and I’m ready to get to it this year. I never understood the whole, “Let’s sit in a room and write together!” mentality, but I’m going to compare progress with a few friends as the month goes along.
October 26, 2015 — 10:19 AM
Lady Evergreen says:
I did it last year, and barely completed it (50,008) but this year I’ve got it outlined and I am READY! (I hope)
I’m planning on doing a fantasy about a girl with a demon inside of her 🙂
October 26, 2015 — 10:20 AM
writerprincess8 says:
I’d never heard of NaNoWriMo until 2013 when I gave it a shot and surprisingly won with 62,000 of a draft done. I ended up finishing the draft (something I don’t do often) by the middle of December. I was pretty pleased with myself.
Last year, on the other hand, didn’t go so well. Life changed and November ended up being a very busy month for my wife and I. Our son Dorian was born on the 22 and taking care of my Lady and my first son kind of took precedence. I was disappointed to only manage about 24,000 words.
Right now isn’t much better either. We’ve just moved cities, living with relatives until we can find jobs and get a place of our own again. If I do give it a shot again this year, I’ve also got to decide between several different novel ideas that are rattling around in here.
I know I’m running out of time to decide but we’ll see what happens. Maybe this year will be better than that first. That’s what we reach for, isn’t it?
October 26, 2015 — 10:20 AM
broadnibcreekstudio says:
Did it last year with some success, and I’m doing an adapted version this year – not really a Nanowrimo, but a GetYourShitTogetherandStayFocusedWriMo. My idea is to use November as the final push to complete my YA novel by committing regularly to planting my butt in a chair and hands on the keyboard and PRODUCING, no matter how tempting it is to find ANYTHING else to do besides produce writing.
October 26, 2015 — 10:20 AM
reggielutz says:
I’m knee deep in projects, so no Nano for me this year. I have done it in the past, though. It was incredibly helpful in terms of hitting goals and finishing stuff, and it helped me learn to work faster, particularly the first time I did it. The biggest benefit of Nano, I think, is that you have EVIDENCE to show others that there is a Big Important Thing that you are doing, so it strengthens the ability to shut the door on other things and prioritize writing fiction. Uh, which I should probably go do right now…
October 26, 2015 — 10:20 AM
Gerald Hornsby says:
On ‘old timer’ here. Up to know, I’ve attempted 11, and ‘won’ 10. You could say I’m pretty hooked by the whole thing.
We have a very strong local NaNo group here in Essex, UK, which runs all year round, and are fantastic for mutual support.
Once again, I shall be attempting a political thriller. And what I need to do is to not just aim for 50k, but for a more respectable 75k for a first draft. I have too much writing hanging around on my hard disk, not doing anything. This one needs to get out there.
October 26, 2015 — 10:25 AM
Maggie Maxwell says:
I’ve been doing it since 2010 and haven’t regretted a year. On top of getting be back into writing after a six-year case of writers block, Nano’s gotten me a handful of WIPs, friends a plenty both local and online, and a sense of community and fellowship. I love it, and I wouldn’t dare miss a year. I usually do a Camp as well at least once a year. My goal this time is to rebel and finish two of those WIPs so maybe next year I can finally get off my tush and get some submitting going. It’s kinda sad not doing something new this year, though. But I gotta finish what I start eventually.
October 26, 2015 — 10:27 AM
writerchick says:
Yup, I’ve done it before. A couple times. Didn’t see it through to the end. Because writing is so hard. Right? It was back then anyway. I mean jeez, who could write that many words in such a short period of time?
Yes, doing it this year. I’m going to write the 2nd book of a new series (1t draft of course). I look forward to it. This time around I have concrete and very specific goals. And hitting the words, just isn’t as hard as it used to be. I look forward to meeting a few new writer buddies and just having fun with it.
Best of luck to everybody who is jumping in. Hope to see you there.
October 26, 2015 — 10:29 AM
Ridley Kemp says:
Two fails for me, but I’m going back this year significantly better prepared than in the past. Sure, it’s an artificial deadline, but all writing prompts work that way. This is just a really, really big prompt, isn’t it?
October 26, 2015 — 10:30 AM