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*
davidemanuelnelson says:
I have used November to focus on my writing. Maybe ratchet up the production a little.
But I’ve never tried to get a whole draft finished in one month.
Slow and steady wins the race. I hope.
Dave
Dadswithoutballs.com (yep, that’s the name of my blog. It’s less scandalous than it sounds.)
October 26, 2015 — 1:02 PM
gryvon says:
I’ve been doing NaNo off and on since about 2004, though all my pre-2011 data seems to be missing on the site. 🙁 I have won a few times, and come close many more times. I think it’s good for novice writers who need the motivation, but November is suuuuuch a bad month for it with the holidays and college kids are super busy this time of the year as finals loom. I stopped once I started getting published since then every month is novel writing month but I’m thinking of doing it again this year just to motivate me to finish a novel I need to do heavy, heavy rewrites and edits on.
October 26, 2015 — 1:14 PM
Sean Burnside says:
I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2012 and this will be my 4th year. If you are not a full time writer and thus do not have a good writerly process, NaNoUpdate can help you to see what might be required: building a WPD standard, making sacrifices ov you free time, etc. For me, it given me the confidence that I can write 1700 words a day and still go to work each day and remember my wife exists.
October 26, 2015 — 1:15 PM
Erica Lindquist says:
I did NaNo three times and finished, but I don’t do it anymore. I NaNoed when I was first learning to write, in order to force myself to produce wordcount, which was hard for me in those days. Now that I know I can do it, I don’t tear my hair out to have a new project ready to go in November. But it was a really useful exercise at the time and I always cheer on my firends who participate!
October 26, 2015 — 1:18 PM
Anne Lippin says:
50K down with a YA project and suffering from a motivational deficit. I’m hoping NaNo can provide a helpful framework.
October 26, 2015 — 1:33 PM
lisacle says:
I wrote my first full-length novel during NaNoWriMo 2013, and got really excited about NaNoWriMo 2014, but washed out halfway through. I think I fell victim to “second book syndrome,” or that’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.
I am torn about doing NaNoWriMo this year. I have an idea ready to go, but I’m currently working on my first co-written novella and I’m not completely certain we’ll finish up this week. I’m worried that if I try to finish up one project while starting another, I’ll wash out again like last year. I may have to see how this week goes before I can commit.
October 26, 2015 — 1:33 PM
Aaron Jeffries says:
I’ve been an on again/off again participator. I think I’ve tried five times for sure. I failed in each instance.
I am participating this year. I had a YA story fall to me and I can’t wait to get the series started as even slashers need to go to school to learn.
October 26, 2015 — 1:44 PM
Anita says:
I am doing Nano for the first time this year, never done it before, and I’m planning to write a historical novel which is also a Southern Gothic. I’ve plotted and outlined and I’m going to try to see how it all goes 🙂
October 26, 2015 — 1:46 PM
T Hammond says:
Good luck– and don’t get discouraged. If you’re in the US, you’ll find family stuff over Thanksgiving can interfere with your flow. Work through it and you’ll do great!
October 26, 2015 — 2:59 PM
Laura J. Quinn says:
I have mixed though mostly positive feelings about NaNoWriMo.
NaNo 2012 was the first time I actually finished a WIP. The year after that I did it again (with junk novel #4, meaning I wrote two more full-length pieces inbetween).
In 2014 I had a baby at the start of November so writing’s been a little on the back burner for the better part of a year.
I’m definitely planning on doing it again this year. Doesn’t matter that I have a dissertation to finish, jobs to apply for, and an unholy host of other things to do. Writing is my sanity, and NaNo is the prescription.
It’s a wonderful exercise, and the community is pretty wonderful, if mostly inexperienced. Obviously it has its flaws, but I’m willing to overlook them, if only for the sake of feeling the rush of the “competition” and the joy of every wanna-be writer word-smithing their pants off.
To me, NaNoWriMo is a celebration of writing until our fingers turn into bloody stumps. And it was the start of my habit of writing 2K+ words a day. Every day.
LET’S DO THIS, HOSS!
October 26, 2015 — 1:50 PM
Rachel Marie says:
I love a previous commenter’s idea of doing 50K’s worth of short stories! I was on the fence about NaNo, because it’s still a challenge for me to finish a short story confidently, so I think I’ll use that genius idea and do 50K of short stories! Excited now!
October 26, 2015 — 1:52 PM
Amanda June Hagarty says:
I think once upon a time there was a NaShoStoMo. There seems to be one for all writing types lol. NaPoWriMo. WhaMemWriMo is the local memoirists version in Whatcom county. lol
October 26, 2015 — 7:40 PM
decayingorbits says:
That’s my plan for this year — a group of short stories based around a central theme. Maybe add in a Novella to the mix also. Good luck with yours!
October 27, 2015 — 6:09 AM
writing, writing, words words words. says:
This is the first year I’ll be doing it and I’m doing it to move my ass past the fear that if I sit in the chair longer than two hours I won’t have anything else to say. I’m writing short stories so I’m going to finish as many as I can and also use the time to generate and tease out the particulars of new material. Not looking to write a novel.
October 26, 2015 — 1:54 PM
April says:
This is like my 4th or 5th attempt and I just can’t seem to get it done. Something always comes up or I just simply run out of steam. I’m thinking that maybe I need to go into it with an actual outline or something this time. We’ll see how that goes.
October 26, 2015 — 1:55 PM
T Hammond says:
Don’t get discouraged. An outline works great (although, I am a pantser writer, so my outlines only work until my characters start dinkinging with me *sigh*. I seriously wonder who’s in charge). Keep at it!
October 26, 2015 — 3:02 PM
Anduriel says:
I’ve attempted Nano for a few years with little success. But this is the first year that I won’t be a student, so I’m hoping without the addition of homework it’ll go a little better.
I’m going with a brand spankin new idea, for the heck of it. Scifi, outer space, a couple rogue AI, and a plot to take down a tyrannical government. Should be fun.
October 26, 2015 — 2:01 PM
Ayliesha Harris says:
I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo twice now. First when I was thirteen, and failed miserably. (I was WAY in over my head.) The second was just last year, at the age of sixteen. That time, I beat it, though the story’s actually on hold because I’ve decided there are a few things I’d like to change about it. This year I’m working on a rewrite of a story I’ve written roughly seventeen chapters of already that I feel I could have done MUCH better. (It was a side project, something to use as practice. It originally didn’t have much plot, so everything was very sloppy and didn’t have much of a build-up. I’m hoping to do it better justice.) Now that I’ve grown a bit as a writer, and have gotten more serious about the craft, it’s gotten much easier than it was for my anxious little, thirteen-year-old self.
I actually started a blog this summer, and have been blogging my tips over the past month. They’re not so much NaNo survival tips as they are writing tips, but I just focused on topics I saw people asking about and worrying about: outlining, character development, world building, etc. I know my word doesn’t really count for much, and I’ve still got a lot to learn, but it was fun to get it out there, and I’ve gotten at least a few messages from people saying it helped, so HEY. #WorthIt
Now the question is, Chuck: are YOU taking part in NaNoWriMo? Only God knows what sort of dysfunctional brilliance would come of that.
October 26, 2015 — 2:17 PM
Eric says:
I’ve done NaNo every year since 2010. I find it’s a good way for me to crank out a first draft that I can spend the rest of the year editing. Though more often than not I’m going back to edit something from a previous year.
For me, the community is a huge part of why I keep doing NaNo. I keep up with writing and related things throughout the year so I don’t “need” a dedicated month to stay productive, but the energy of writing with a group of people who all have the same goal of writing as much as possible keeps that process exciting and gives me something to look forward to each year.
Needless to say, I am participating this year, and I’ll be writing the fourth and final book of the series I’ve been working on for the past six years. (I’ve also started a couple of other series, but they’ll have to wait their turn.)
October 26, 2015 — 2:19 PM
Marie says:
I’m in! First time, total noob. I’m doing it because I love anything that forces me to stop editing/rewriting and gets the word count up. Even if the words aren’t brilliant. From writing non-fiction, I know that having a first draft is a wonderful thing! Now to try it with fiction — I think this’ll be fun!
October 26, 2015 — 2:19 PM
jadefalcon14 says:
Last year was my first and I’m gearing up to do it again this year. This time I’m doing the novel as a learning piece, so I can go all out and not worry about who will see it (as no one probably will – right to the trunk with ye!) I liked having the deadline to get something done and I learned not to be fussy and revise to death. That was what stopped me before, so not stopping to revise or come up with the perfect passage let me actually finish my first complete draft!
I’ve talked some of my friends into doing it this year too – gwhahaha!
October 26, 2015 — 2:24 PM
Elaina M. Roberts says:
This will be my 4th or 5th year and I was successful for all but last year. This will be the first year I attempt to write a new story while doing major revisions on an existing one, along with travelling for a week out of state for the holidays. No pressure at all, right? I enjoy it even when I don’t make it. I like the social aspects of the community and participate here and there in small bursts. it’s fun and gives me the accountability I sometimes need to put words on the screen.
October 26, 2015 — 2:32 PM
David Baur says:
In order of the questions as posed above:
Did it last year.
Loved it! Hit the goal and then wrote another 50K in the month or two after. Still revising that one. My ending sucks, but I think I found my way out of that particular darkness recently. NaNo helped me focus and gave me concrete goals. It helped me understand how important outlining is for me and also what KIND of outlining helps me, specifically. I’ve continued to apply what I learned last year with varying degrees of success.
Doing it again this year.
Writing something of a spy thriller. Probably gonna have a touch of some spec fiction elements, but it doesn’t strictly NEED them as I’ve outlined it so far. I just think it might be more fun that way. The idea reminded me of “The Bourne Identity” (the movie version, at least), but only in a loose way. I’ve got similar stuff in terms of questions around identity and wondering who you’re really working for and why.
October 26, 2015 — 2:34 PM
gypsyharper says:
This will be my fourth year participating. I have “won” only once out of the last 3 years, but I had a blast all three times and still got a lot of writing done even if it wasn’t a full 50K. I love the atmosphere of NaNoWriMo – the energy, the devil-may-care attitude, the write a whole bunch of stuff and see what works later mentality. It’s the only time of the year I actually use Twitter because I love NaNoSprints (and I actually got some really fun ideas by using the sprint prompts last year).
I have no idea yet what I’m going to write this year, but I am hoping this will be the year when I continue writing furiously after November is over (and maybe actually do some editing on my NaNo projects as well).
October 26, 2015 — 2:41 PM
Scot K says:
I’ve never done it before. Researching it now since I had no clue what this really was. Sounds like a good time to bust my cherry there.
October 26, 2015 — 2:46 PM
Matthew (@ThewTheSlightly) says:
I think I’ve participated four or so times. A couple of those were during Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place in the summer. I’ve only completed it, or “won,” twice. The first time I hit the word count but the novel wasn’t finished (and I still haven’t gone back to that one though I want to), and the second time I hit the word goal and finished the book (that one got edited down to a novella.) Each time I’ve participated, even the ones where I didn’t hit the goal, I’ve really enjoyed.
I’m usually a panster, and go in blind. But this month I’ve been working on an outline/worldbuilding leading up to NaNo. We’ll see how it turns out.
October 26, 2015 — 2:50 PM
T Hammond says:
I’ve participated the last few years (although I’ve never finished the projects in the same month– who can write so much during the Holidays, anyway?). My first book was started when I participated due to my niece challenging me, and I finished my book a few months later. This year, I have a book due (2nd of a trilogy) to my editor in January, so I plan to complete the 50k minimum.
Follow me, and apply the peer pressure LOL (I’m still working on the blurb, but focused on a deadline for book 1, so I’ll tweak it next week). I’d love to follow the progress of other Wendig fans.
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/msthammond/novels/posse-the-dragon-gods
October 26, 2015 — 2:58 PM
adrianapridemore says:
I’ve done NaNo for two years now and I’ve finished both years. Last year was a real push because of other commitments I ended up having to write all 50K in 16 days. It was nuts but I finished. I like it because it is such focused writing time. But November is a busy month and it gets really hard with kids and school schedules to get all that writing done.
October 26, 2015 — 3:14 PM
Danny Knestaut says:
I did it back in 2012.
It went swimmingly. I “won,” even though it’s difficult to look at that second novel and think of anyone in possession of it as a winner. But what NaNo did was take the fear out of writing a novel production-style. It made me get comfortable with sitting down and writing because the words need written whether I felt like it or not, whether I had the time or not. It was a great, exhausting experience in which I learned to shed my fear of running with the novels.
Three years later, a 50k month is a miserable month for me. I’ve never been big on community (too many people), and I’ve found I don’t need arbitrary deadlines to make me produce. But I’m doing NaNo again this year, after a three year hiatus, because I just finished a draft in October, and I’m now ready to start a new novel. Also, my editor is hosting a few NaNo write-alongs, so I thought participating would be a way to show some support for her (beyond paying her invoice). For this NaNo, I’ll be cranking out the third book of a sci-fi trilogy.
October 26, 2015 — 3:18 PM
Elizabeth says:
This is going to be my first year. I have a setting, characters, and most of a story in mind. Little ideas and insights keep bubbling up in my mind. Yesterday morning I was lying on the couch, recovering from a sleepless night caused by wicked food poisoning, when my eyes landed on the title of a book in my bookshelf, and suddenly I had the solution to a problem that had been bothering me for days. I’m enjoying this part of the process and looking forward to the writing part with equal parts fear and excitement.
October 26, 2015 — 3:26 PM
C. Lee Brant says:
This is my first one. I’ve been a pantser in the past, but that was over a decade ago, and I’m trying to complete an outline this week. I’ve been plotting a bit in my head, created a rough map, created some character charts, figured out how “magic” works, studied quite a bit of apt mythology.
I’m writing a novel about a late-twenties bi-racial half-Finnish protector spirit who lives in the hypothetical, near-and-alternate-future metropolis of Greater San Francisco (based on real attempts by SF in the early 1900s to be the Manhattan to a bunch of boroughs, which would have included southern Marin, northern San Mateo and eastern Alameda counties) along with her friends (a witch from Trinidad, a Mayan healer and a Javan demon). They join an open call to find a missing man.
Emilia is generally a protector, but after her grove of trees was destroyed and turned into a mall, she’s been a total dumpster fire, using her powers to find missing people and things in order to obtain just enough money to pay the rent and dial out for some takeout. Both her team and those who hired her are in for more than they reckoned, though, when it turns out another party is also seeking the man–only they want him dead. Fending off bounty hunters and assassins, Emilia needs to figure out why the missing man is wanted and who he should be given to once he’s found.
October 26, 2015 — 3:29 PM
Shannon Haddock says:
I’ve done it the past three years.
The first year I enjoyed it and discovered, hey, I CAN finish something longer than a short story! I also learned that if writing something longer than a short story totally pantsing it is not, for me, a good plan. A subplot completely took over.
The second year I used it to finish a novel I was already writing and enjoyed it a lot. My typing speed increased; my daily word count increased; it was all around a good experience.
Last year, I failed for various reasons, the biggest of which was that I said “I can write 5000 words a day, so I can take several days off without it being a problem”. I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to tempt fate like that.
Last year I also didn’t enjoy it as much, partially because I kept letting myself be drawn into arguments with people advocating that there is only one proper way to write . . . stupid shit, like you MUST write every single day, even if your parent just died or you’ll never be a “real writer”, and you must never, ever use adverbs because they’re always a sign of lazy writing, and you must only have characters that score below a certain threshold on a specific Mary Sue test . . . and partially because I feel like the Nanowrimo community isn’t a very good fit for the professional author who still hasn’t quite mastered their craft, like too much of the advice people give–regardless of your question–is tailored for people who haven’t ever even tried to write a novel before.
This year I’m not doing it for two reasons: 1) my lack of satisfaction with the community last year, and 2) I’ve discovered I can consistently write 35,000 words a month without stressing about it. Shaving half a month off the time it takes to write a first draft isn’t enough of a gain to deal with the amount of stress trying to get that additional 15,000 words would cause me.
October 26, 2015 — 3:32 PM
Amanda June Hagarty says:
I have done it before. My story Little Lacey (a modest success on Wattpad with almost 200,000 reads and still ranking #253 in fantasy last week, almost a year after it was completed) was my very first NaNo in 2102. Then 2013 was a bomb because I tried to use Nano to edit Little Lacey and that went nowhere fast. 2014 was great. I got over 50 k words but no ending in another fantasy story. I have a feeling that story is going to be 100k+ before I get an ending. But for 2015 I am starting with something new again since that seems to work best. This one will be a steampunk science fantasy and this time I have plotted out the mofo completely. This morning I wrote the final plot points of an 11 page outline. I have an ending. I should be able to reach it. Feeling good. Feeling pumped. Oh and at the same time I will also be doing final edits on Little Lacey to get it publish ready by the end of the year. But that’s no problem. I seem to accomplish more when I am at my busiest. It’s like I don’t leave myself time to procrastinate, so I just get sh*t done!
October 26, 2015 — 3:51 PM
Stacey says:
This will be my first NaNoWriMo though I did Camp NaNo in July. That experience resulted in 20,000 words of my first novel. I hope with this next challenge it will net me my first finished draft of my first novel. I’m going to aim to meet the goals each day but if I don’t meet them one day I’m going to not feel bad about it and get back to it the next. I want to enjoy the process (as much as this cry and whine and love and obsess and hate the process) as much as I can.
October 26, 2015 — 4:09 PM
Kastil says:
I’ve participated in NaNo since 2007 and will again this year. I plan on doing a second in a YA series or at least the first very rough draft. Then it will collect dust as my muse wanders to yet another idea. I stop once I reach 50k or so. That’s the goal and I have too many other projects going on and I’m pretty burned out by the end of the month.
October 26, 2015 — 4:11 PM
Christopher Robin Negelein says:
NaNoWriMo is more like excuse to write like a fiend month. I’ve never met the benchmark, but I’ve either gotten much further along a current project or started a new project in Nov.
Last’s years NaNoWriMo was more like NaNoWri(Month before and after Nov.)Mo.
October 26, 2015 — 4:12 PM
Kristi S. Simpson says:
This will be my third year. I’m doing it to get back into the habit of writing every day after life pissed on my hard earned schedule this year. I don’t want to lose my mind over the word count but I do want a high word count on every day that I do write. I lost the first year, won the second and this year I hope to be satisfied with however much I get.
October 26, 2015 — 4:16 PM
Renea Cheri says:
Its my first time this year, joining the fun out here in sunny Hawaii.
To prep, I’ve been using Chuck’s advice on Outlines… I would classify myself as a “Pantser” but I’m going to give the formal planning process a whirl so I can meet the NaNoWriMo goal – and also to get away from my bad habits of constant re-writing and overthinking.
My story is a YA Urban Fantasy/Steampunk mash-up about soul-searching – literally speaking. It will actually be my first novel, so I am very nervous… What if it turns out I’m actually a crummy writer?!?!? Oh, the crippling self-doubt.
I, like most of us, have a ton of life to manage outside of writing – day job, family, beach time – so I am hoping I can stay focused and really get this 50k done. If I make it, my wife promises to reward me with a new computer! Motivation!
Good Luck everyone 🙂
October 26, 2015 — 4:29 PM
Modern Authors says:
This will be my fourth year. I love NaNoWriMo because it keeps me more focused than any other time of the year. I work best with a deadline approaching and since I’m an amateur, NaNoWriMo is the best way to get an external deadline. And believe it or not, the stuff I pump out during NaNoWriMo, with that deadline looming is actually *better* than the stuff I put out the rest of the year. I intend to win this year.
October 26, 2015 — 4:31 PM
Club Lighthouse Publishing says:
I did it many years ago and won my first year and will probably enter this year….thanks for the heads up.
October 26, 2015 — 4:45 PM
zamaxfield says:
I participate in Nanowrimo. Sometimes I get the 50K in sometimes I don’t. It’s festive and fun, though, so I always enjoy it, and I assume I’m better off than if I didn’t do it. I like the community, I like that we all embark together, and I enjoy seeing other people having fun doing something I find fun too. I’d like to do more write ins, but I have the attention span of a…wait. That was shiny.
October 26, 2015 — 4:58 PM
mlhe says:
NaNo-ed in 2009. Had a root canal during (three separate dental appointments). Wrote a novel and got about 52,000 words. Left four chapters undone. Wrote novel for the purpose of knowing what it means to write a novel so that I may better assist clients who come to me for editing.
Writing the novel was fun.
The root canal was awful.
Figuring out what to do with the novel afterwards–except for having had the experience–is moot.
Because publishing these days makes as much sense as shooting craps and expecting to pocket one million readers. Um. I mean dollars. Wait. I mean both.
My best wishes to all writers who participate in NaNoWriMo 2015! Have fun!
Don’t have a root canal.
October 26, 2015 — 5:29 PM
Coffee2words says:
This year will be my third go at NaNo. I failed the first time, won in 2013, skipped 2014 and will be writing a horror story this time. I find it good to get the creative juices flowing and it really forces my inner editor back into her cage, there’s no time to spend preening over the perfect word, you have to hammer out 1700 words a day and it feels so good to do just that. In a world where we’re all constantly busy doing things, it’s nice to set aside the time and just go for broke.
October 26, 2015 — 5:31 PM
Libby says:
I’m girding my whatevers and giving it a try this year. I’m aiming to knock out some (maybe even 50k) words of rough-as-a-badgers-arse draft for my detective novel in a fantasy setting. My success criteria is ending with more words than I started, only minor mummification of my guts from all the tea and no new twitches.
October 26, 2015 — 5:42 PM
Samantha Bryant (@mirymom1) says:
I played in 2013 and 2014. The 2013 novel is out on submission right well, and has garnered some interest, so it’s doing well. The 2014 is waiting for me to get back to it and give it the attention it’ll need to actually be a finished piece. I’m going to play this year, too, writing the three-quel in my Menopausal Superhero series, working title Face the Change.
Since I balance a day job and family life alongside my writing aspirations, I value NaNoWriMo for the jumpstart it can give a project. 50K is well above my usual word count for month I teach during. It won’t complete the book by any means, but it will speed the process. I also value NaNoWriMo for the way it forces me not to overthink things or let myself fall into research rabbit holes.
October 26, 2015 — 5:45 PM
Jenni Cornell says:
Third year. Won the first two. It works for me, but I am spending a lot of time studying how to edit, and joined a really good writers group to help along the way. Will not be publishing mess in Dec on Amazon. It just keeps me moving forward. Hope to speed up the editing as I learn more.
October 26, 2015 — 5:51 PM
Todd Moody says:
I think this is number 6 for me. I love the vibe and the excitement of NaNoWriMo. I won the first year and drove my wife crazy, but now I don’t sweat it. I just relax and write, and if I win that’s cool, but the writing is the best part. I’ve finished one of the books I started for Nano and it’s ready to publish. I love using NaNo to work on a new idea every year.
October 26, 2015 — 5:55 PM
msmarianna says:
It will be my first time doing NaNoWriMo. I’m using it as a bit of an experiment:
1. to write daily, because currently I don’t, which I’m fine with but I am interested to see if anything will change/ improve. I’m a novice so I really, really hope so;
2. to write quickly- something else I don’t do. I consider myself much like a marathon runner- I write for 8 hours in one go. As opposed to a sprinter or middle distance runner- short spurts, hard and fast;
3. to write in the style of free flow- and see what happens to the story;
4. to hit 50k words which would be the shizzle!
October 26, 2015 — 6:17 PM
Jana Brown says:
I’m participating, though more because I just finished the outline for the next book I’m writing anyway and want it done by the first week of December. 🙂 So it’s a matter of timing more than specifically answering the nano call. It’ll be fun anyway. 🙂
October 26, 2015 — 6:20 PM
Heather says:
This will be year 6 participating. The first year I wrote I failed horribly. And when people ask me about NaNo who are wanting to try it I use this example as “don’t worry if you don’t finish”. So I tried it the next year while working a job instead of going to college and I succeeded. Each year since I’ve finished earlier than the year before. This year my planning is behind, but I’m feeling comfortable with what I have and what I’m writing. I like my characters.
Fiance and mom both say I change during NaNo, but I’ve never been aware of it. I might focus less on other things, but that’s when I’m working on any project. Fiance has said before that he loses me during the month and he’s either calling November his gaming month or his own project month. Hopefully we can be at least almost finished moving before NaNo hits or that we can be moving in/moved in when I have a week off in November.
To anyone wanting to try it, just do it. Join the NaNo site and lurk around the forums and make friends and have fun.
October 26, 2015 — 6:59 PM
amariesilver says:
I’ve done NaNo twice and won both times, but, because I still haven’t finished either book yet, I’m dedicating this year’s NaNo to revising one of my projects. And I solemnly swear – mostly to my cat – that I will finish the first round of revisions in 30 days.
October 26, 2015 — 7:10 PM
Shae says:
I have been unsuccessfully trying to do NaNo every year since I was 13-14 (so only 10 years or so of misery) There’s something that draws me to it, and only just this year do I feel like I will be able to finish.
My novel has a fantasy setting, and the story is about my main character growing into villainy.
October 26, 2015 — 7:30 PM
Emily Louise says:
I’m doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and I AM FREAKING OUT. I am an over-achiever, a rule follower, and I’m competitive, so I fully expect to make it to 50,000 words, because if I don’t I might implode.
October 26, 2015 — 7:30 PM
wildbilbo says:
This will be my first time having a go at NaNo; and Im interested in seeing how close I can get to the 50k.
I’m not really working on a novel, rather I’ll be working on a bunch of Weird Fiction short story ideas that I’ve been accumulating over the past year (apparently it still counts as a ‘collection’ = ‘novel’ :))
Good luck everyone!
October 26, 2015 — 7:40 PM