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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-20, 11:41

Sooooooo November is almost here again, and November is (of course) National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. (It's really international. Interplanetary, even, if you're, y'know, in space.) The challenge? Write 50,000 words of continuous fiction in one calendar month. Who would be crazy enough to attempt such a daunting task?

Your 2010 NaNoNauts:

arteggio, who will be writing about superpowers (awsum)
Capella, who will be writing about werewolves and dinosaurs (double awsum)
Robo, who will be writing about werewolf robots in the FUTURE! (triple awsum)

Anybody else wanna give it a go this year?

A major component of NaNoWriMo is the local meetups, where shell-shocked novelists can offer each other their support in person. Another major facet is the official NaNo forum, which is always good for plot dares and word-count boastings. But I thought it would be cool if we also had a thread here. So.

I've done NaNo in three of the past four years and even though I haven't "won" yet (this year!!!), it really is crazy fun. Good luck everyone!

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-10-20, 12:52

Thanks for the reminder! I'll give it some serious thought... Hopefully can come up with something to write about...
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arteggio
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Within
 
2010-10-20, 18:22

So, while we wait away the days...

What type of writers are you? Do you intend to plan any of your story or just write it as it comes?

I've happened to try both. For me, the non-planned story had no critical plot and after 30,000 words was going nowhere.

With the experience of one well-written novel, I've learnt I'm the type of writer that needs to figure out and plan major plot points, maybe forecast exactly how I want a few important scenes to go, then weave all those together like garland on the branches of a Christmas tree, which worked well for me last time. (I think the fact that I've taken over 10,000 words of plot, character, etc notes and know much of them by heart helps this method work for me.) One of the biggest thrills was when I had light bulb moments where parts of the story just connected out of thin air and brought the plot together. I really can't wait to write again.

And while we're at it, what's everyone's favorite software and hardware to write with?

Scrivener is irreplaceable for me (and from the AN chat it sounds like for some of you too ). I use it for the nanuscript and for long-term things like character profiles, while I use TextEdit to track more dynamic notes next to the manuscript. As for hardware, I like using the old PB G4 15" in the house (wonderful keyboard) or the iMac G4. Not too much you can do but type with those things. An iPad will also join the writing arsenal soon.

Robo, I know you own an iPad. Have you done any serious typing on it? I'm wondering if I might have to connect my BT keyboard to get some serious words accumulated. I'm a great touch typist, so maybe I could teach my fingers the iPad's layout. It'd be nice to touch type on it. . .without physical feedback.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-20, 20:13

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio View Post
Robo, I know you own an iPad. Have you done any serious typing on it? I'm wondering if I might have to connect my BT keyboard to get some serious words accumulated. I'm a great touch typist, so maybe I could teach my fingers the iPad's layout. It'd be nice to touch type on it. . .without physical feedback.
I've typed some of my lengthier posts here on it. It works really well. But for "serious" writing, you just can't replace Apple's excellent keyboards, which is why the new MBA is so tempting. Ahem.

I have the BT keyboard, but I actually keep it paired with my Mac mini most of the time (like now). I don't usually bring it with me when I bring my iPad places, but then again I don't usually novel-write on my iPad either. I suppose that might change when November starts, haha

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
Send a message via AIM to Capella  
2010-10-20, 20:21

I'm a detailed planner, and I've been spending all of October focusing on building a world (still nameless) for the story to take place in. I prefer to have character sheets and outlines, as well as an encyclopedia-like reference book. Unfortunately, this document is currently really heavy on the encyclopedia and really light on the character sheets and outline. All I know about the book's content is that it involves a cross-country venture, a settlement camp, and (wizard) werewolves versus tyrannosaurs.

When it comes to software, I'm a Scrivener devotee. (Actually, it's why I switched back to the Mac last year from a really excellent gaming desktop; I write more than I game (ideally) and it was a good trade. Mostly.) Scrivener really helps me out when it comes to organizing everything the way I want it and not chasing 15 text documents all over the place. I want to upgrade to 2.0 but that might need to wait till I'm not financially hanging on tenterhooks.

"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras
twitter ; amateur photographer ; fanfiction writer ; roleplayer and worldbuilder
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-20, 20:31

I guess I'll reply to the rest of your post, too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio View Post
What type of writers are you? Do you intend to plan any of your story or just write it as it comes?

I've happened to try both. For me, the non-planned story had no critical plot and after 30,000 words was going nowhere.

With the experience of one well-written novel, I've learnt I'm the type of writer that needs to figure out and plan major plot points, maybe forecast exactly how I want a few important scenes to go, then weave all those together like garland on the branches of a Christmas tree, which worked well for me last time. (I think the fact that I've taken over 10,000 words of plot, character, etc notes and know much of them by heart helps this method work for me.)
I'm kind of in between. I'm a very visual person, so I see "scenes" I want to write, and then I sort of link them together (sometimes clumsily). I normally have a pretty good idea of what the story is about, and where I want it to end up, but as of yet I've never done the concrete outline thing. I do make lots of notes, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio
One of the biggest thrills was when I had light bulb moments where parts of the story just connected out of thin air and brought the plot together.
Isn't that the greatest feeling in the world? That's what I write for, really. That genius feeling where two unrelated ideas "match up" or collide and you're like, wait a minute, this totally works!

Every once in a while I have one of those prewriting, but I find I have more of them in the thick of it, many words in. You think it wouldn't be that way. I wonder why that is?

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio
I really can't wait to write again.
Then don't! I'm going to get some non-NaNo writing done before NaNo. At the very least, I'm going to get the writing snippet I owe tori from the "Words" thread done this month.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio
And while we're at it, what's everyone's favorite software and hardware to write with?
My favorite hardware would be the new 11" MacBook Air.

My favorite software? Scrivener, Scrivener, Scrivener. I should probably name a character Scrivener one of these days. I love that app so much, even though I only barely scratch the surface of its features, due to my not-super-outlining thing.

Maybe I'll outline more this year.

I also love uni-ball Vision 207 Micros, and Moleskine cahiers.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Xaqtly
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2010-10-20, 22:17

I wouldn't be able to do it. Last time I wrote 50,000 words, it took me about 2 months. I don't have the drive and I'm not prolific enough to write 50k words in a month, as sad as that may be.

Maybe someday when I don't have a day job any more or something.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-20, 22:21

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xaqtly View Post
I wouldn't be able to do it. Last time I wrote 50,000 words, it took me about 2 months. I don't have the drive and I'm not prolific enough to write 50k words in a month, as sad as that may be.

Maybe someday when I don't have a day job any more or something.
Aww.

You could always bend the rules and set a goal that's lower, like 30,000 words, and still join in on the camaraderie. That's what my sister always does.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-10-21, 00:16

well my dad's in... he sorta has one foot in the door of retirement right now so has tons of free time, which he's spent the last few months on reading ALL of shakespeare. Yes. ALL. And he's been taking local college courses on writing and public speaking.

anyway, since he's in, I'm in. Still need an idea though

as for how I write... I haven't really done much to be honest. about a half dozen short stories for school that were all written in a few hours because I would wait until the day before (or the day) they were due. And a few weeks ago I've started a daily journal that I've been lazy about and it's about a 3-days-a-week journal... so yeah. Maybe I'm in over my head. or maybe I'm in for the adventure of a lifetime....

haha just had a vision of one of those new iMovie trailers

One Man...

One Month...

One Book...

The Adventure of a Lifetime!

with action shots of me at my computer or at a desk writing by hand in between, one of me weeping, another one with my hands triumphantly in the air like that mercedes commercial...

yeah....
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arteggio
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Within
 
2010-10-21, 08:03

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capella View Post
Unfortunately, this document is currently really heavy on the encyclopedia and really light on the character sheets and outline.
My document is pretty much that way too. Once I developed my character sheets I've just sort of left them behind, but as long as I can reference a character's birthdate somewhere, I think I'm good with keeping a casual relationship and 'feeling' them through the story.

As for outline I'm going to stick with the three act structure: three acts, where the end of the first act, the middle of the second act, and the end of the second act are the disaster events that move your story further toward the climax at the beginning of act three, then the rest of the third act is the denouement. Has anyone else given their plot structure thought? Someday I'll be risky and not use this.

Is it sad that we who have some writer in us can't afford one writing software upgrade?

Anyway, wizard werewolves will be interesting. I'm sort of surprised it hasn't become its own thing these days, like Harry Potter joining Team Jacob.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Isn't that the greatest feeling in the world? That's what I write for, really. That genius feeling where two unrelated ideas "match up" or collide and you're like, wait a minute, this totally works!
Althought it's great, this is just some greatness on the side. Personally, I write for the emotion. Not over-sentimental OMG I love him! cry my eyes out stuff, just. . .visceral emotion that comes about naturally in life.

Quote:
Every once in a while I have one of those prewriting, but I find I have more of them in the thick of it, many words in. You think it wouldn't be that way. I wonder why that is?
I forget how many I had while writing (I remember one big one), but recently I've been having a lot while anticipating this story. For me, staying up for a few hours, lying in my cozy bed within the darkness of the night, helps immensely to imagine 'big things'. If my mind's too active to sleep, I might as well do something productive. It's sort of like meditation.

Quote:
Then don't!
I wrote a small short story a few days ago, but it can't compare to what I'm really looking forward to writing. And I can't even start it before November 1st! More time to outline it I guess.

Quote:
I also love uni-ball Vision 207 Micros, and Moleskine cahiers.
I'm not sure what size mine are, but I have these same pens. (They're the squiggly-S Signo model, yeah? ) I also have a pocket Moleskine, but in general I find I can't write long amounts of things on paper. I can type super-fast with my eyes closed — not so much on paper. Maybe I should learn shorthand.

Quote:
Originally Posted by evan View Post
he's spent the last few months on reading ALL of shakespeare. Yes. ALL.
This seems like a very rewarding thing to do in one's lifetime. I read a novel about every three weeks, so it'd take me forever...

Quote:
Still need an idea though
My advice would be to stay up a few hours, lying in your cozy bed within the darkness of the night.

Maybe you could write a novel about people writing a script for an iMovie '11 trailer.

I'm horrible at keeping journals too. Usually I'd write in it every day for a week, then forget one day, pushing it into oblivion. If you get excited about what you're going to write 50,000+ words for, you won't have this problem though.
  quote
evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-10-24, 15:52

my dad's trying to talk me out of it because of other priorities like "school" and "law school applications." This week I'm doing a trial run of trying to fit in 2-3 hours of writing a day (short stories, no work on a potential novel ) so we'll see how everything fits together.

also, need inspiration for novel. i have a few ideas for short stories that I'll write this week and maybe something will click and one of those could develop further but otherwise I got nothin... and only a week left!!
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-24, 17:35

Quote:
Originally Posted by evan View Post
also, need inspiration for novel. i have a few ideas for short stories that I'll write this week and maybe something will click and one of those could develop further but otherwise I got nothin... and only a week left!!
The official NaNoWriMo forums at nanowrimo.org are always good for inspiration. Some forums have a tradition of "dare" threads, which are good for a laugh, too.

If inspiration doesn't strike before NaNo, don't worry about it. Just work on one of those short stories and link it to another, somehow. The main point of NaNo is to break out of the endless pre-writing and to get people actually writing. You can smooth it all out in December.

I'm thinking about changing my story from werewolf robots in the FUTURE to a swashbuckling sea pirate adventure. But maybe I'll be able to have both?

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Wyatt
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
 
2010-10-25, 13:09

Robo, I sense a Back to the Future tribute story in your near future. Make it so. [/mixedreferences]
  quote
Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2010-10-25, 13:53

I challenge anyone to write a Minecraft-inspired story since that game has no plot.
  quote
Xaqtly
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2010-10-25, 15:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post

I'm thinking about changing my story from werewolf robots in the FUTURE to a swashbuckling sea pirate adventure. But maybe I'll be able to have both?
Eureka! It's a story about swashbuckling robotic sea werewolves from the future who play minecraft! On a boat! And it would have a twist ending - they all rust!

NOBODY WOULD SEE IT COMING.
  quote
arteggio
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Within
 
2010-10-25, 16:54

The 2.0 trial version specially for NaNoWriMo is out — it runs until December 7th.
  quote
evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-10-25, 17:54

Quote:
Originally Posted by arteggio View Post
The 2.0 trial version specially for NaNoWriMo is out — it runs until December 7th.
wow this program is great! I actually did some on-paper writing last night with some random ideas that I can transfer into the program . I'd heard good things about scrivener but never actually used it...
  quote
Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2010-10-25, 19:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xaqtly View Post
Eureka! It's a story about swashbuckling robotic sea werewolves from the future who play minecraft! On a boat! And it would have a twist ending - they all rust!
Look down. Look up. Your time machine is now diamonds!
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-10-31, 16:13

So, uh, is anybody else going to have to flip a coin at midnight to decide, um, viewpoint?

  quote
709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2010-10-31, 16:19

*flip*

From the robotic sea werewolves' viewpoint.

ZOMG I'M SO EXCITED!
  quote
evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-10-31, 23:16

it begins... (15 minutes ago, I was doing laundry!)
  quote
Bonn89
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
 
2010-11-01, 08:02

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad View Post
I challenge anyone to write a Minecraft-inspired story since that game has no plot.
Challenge taken.

I'm no writer, but the idea of NaNoWriMo intrigues me. I'm a good writer when I have to be, so it'll be fun to write just for the hell of it.

I'll probably only end up something pathetic like 5,000 words, due to writing ability and subject matter, but it will be fun all the same!
  quote
Wyatt
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
 
2010-11-01, 08:22

I really wish I had time to do this. A couple of years ago, I got up to about 15,000 words before running out of steam. The story just wasn't layered enough, and I got tired of trying. It didn't have the legs it needed for 50k.

Twitter: bwyatt | Xbox: @playsbadly | Instagram: @bw317
  quote
Bonn89
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
 
2010-11-01, 08:30

If anyone cares to see how one might go about writing a story about a game with no plot, here's the trick: Make up a plot!

Here's a hastily written, crappy plot outline for my Minecraft short-story, typed on my iPhone into Plaintext (which will probably be my main way of writing).

Quote:
A character named @Boy is a 26 year old person in real life, living with his girlfriend, @Girl. @boy is a rather intense gamer, and one day discovers Minecraft. @boy's addiction to the game, spending countless days playing, often well into the morning hours, seems to be putting a strain on @boy and @girl's relationship. Little does @girl know that, despite what may seem a failed relationship, @boy is planning to ask her to marry him.

@boy spends one night on his computer until the early hours of the morning, not playing Minecraft as @girl may think, but rather looking up various diamond engagement rings. After finding what felt like the perfect ring, @boy joins @girl in bed, a smile on his face.

The next morning, @boy rushes towards the local jewelry shop before work. He has never felt happier. @girl is the one, and he knows it. Running full out, as not to be late for work that morning, he rounds a corner and sees the sign for the jewelry shop up ahead, just across the road.

As @boy stepped in to the road, his mind too set on the goal of getting the diamond ring, a vehicle blew trough the intersection. The vehicle struck @boy, and all goes black.

Later, @girl arrives on the scene to learn from emergency response personal that @boy is alive, but will be taken to the hospital for extensive surgery. Post surgery, @boy is revealed to have slipped into a coma. @girl cries over his motionless body, tucked neatly under the sheets of the hospital bed. All she remembers is the one last word her boy had muttered when she had come across him after the accident:

“Diamond.”

@Boy then proceeds to wake up as a new character, The Man (who is the Minecraft character), as a new Minecraft map is generated into existence. Not knowing who he is, where he is, or what his surroundings actually are, @Boy/The Man begin to do what anyone else in Minecraft does: survive.

All the while, The Man is driven by an inner desire, a hunger, to dig into the earth. Why? Diamond. That's the only reason he can come up with. and it doesn't make much sense, but then again... this whole world doesn't seem to make sense...
Little note, I may actually end up calling my two real-life characters Boy and Girl, for simplicity.
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2010-11-01, 11:37

Quote:
Originally Posted by St Bonney View Post
Little note, I may actually end up calling my two real-life characters Boy and Girl, for simplicity.
It'll be like Noby Noby Boy! <3
  quote
Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
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2010-11-05, 20:50

How is everyone else doing? I hit 10,000 words tonight, which means I'm one-fifth of the way there. And I'm still in chapter 3. And the protagonists haven't met each other yet. I foresee the possibility that even if I hit my word count, my novel won't be anywhere near actually done, much less ready for editing in December.

"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras
twitter ; amateur photographer ; fanfiction writer ; roleplayer and worldbuilder
  quote
Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2010-11-06, 12:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capella View Post
And the protagonists dinosaurs haven't met each other yet.
tftfy

amidoinitrite?
  quote
rampancy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick
 
2010-12-02, 00:43

Bump. It's really awesome to know that there were some fellow AppleNovians doing NaNo. It's a shame I didn't get to know some of you on the NaNo forums. Last year I was really active on the forums, especially for my region -- but this year I was kind of feeling burnt out, especially since writing my novel took a lot of energy out of me.

This year I became a rebel Creative Non-Fiction Writer, doing a story loosely based on my relationship with my girlfriend, a truly remarkable young woman who's pretty much my polar opposite in every imaginable way. We've endured a lot, but we've stuck by each other, and writing a story about that seemed like it would be really therapeutic for me in that I could work out and work through some of the frustrations I'd been holding inside me for so long. It turned out being really hard for me, remembering some of the times where our relationship nearly didn't make it...but my girlfriend learned a lot about what I was feeling, and really encouraged me to keep soldering on, in spite of how I felt.

Sigh. I don't think I'm going to do a memoir next year. I've been bouncing around an idea in my head about a "reverse Zombie" story, set in a world where being "undead" is the norm, and the zombies are faced with an outbreak of The Living.

...or maybe I'll just go off the deep end and do that Harry Potter-Matt Smith Doctor Who story I've been fantasizing about. :P

PS: Has anyone taken advantage of the discount for Scrivener 2.0 for NaNo winners? Does anyone have any thoughts on Scrivener 2 over Scrivener 1.54?

"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice."
- Mahatma Gandhi
  quote
evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-12-02, 01:24

Well I failed spectacularly

I really wanted to do it but I'm taking four intense classes for my major and I realized that there was no way I'd have time. That being said I am going to write over winter break, just not anything approaching a novel. I'll save it for next novembeard

142 words!
  quote
Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
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2010-12-02, 09:15

I failed out on it too. It helped teach me how easy it is to make writing part of your routine if you try, but I also ran into the problem of "pressure to perform like that hits straight on a particular problem of mind", and I ultimately capped out because stressing my mental health when I've been doing so well wasn't worth it.

"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras
twitter ; amateur photographer ; fanfiction writer ; roleplayer and worldbuilder
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