Who's doing NaNo2008?

[shunoshi]

Actually, both names count as the same number of words. Ito might be the better choice with regard to word count, as it can be typed faster and, therefore, might be included more frequently.

Isn't word count determined by character number, not actual words (ie. 6 characters, including spaces, equals 1 word)?

[Kielaran]

Isn't word count determined by character number, not actual words (ie. 6 characters, including spaces, equals 1 word)?

From what I recall in reading the rules, words equal words. I thought they had their official wordcounter and I don't recall any talk of characters, though I could be wrong.

[shunoshi]

From what I recall in reading the rules, words equal words. I thought they had their official wordcounter and I don't recall any talk of characters, though I could be wrong.

Hmm, my word count could be off either way then, I've been using MS Word's word count and I'm fairly certain it uses character count. Good to know I guess. Adios contractions. ;)

[Crittias]

Hmm, my word count could be off either way then, I've been using MS Word's word count and I'm fairly certain it uses character count. Good to know I guess. Adios contractions. ;)MS Word (at least the newest version) does NOT use character count as an estimate of word count. It counts each and every word, as separated by spaces.

[Crittias]

For a list of primarily non-ethnic first and last names, folks may want to check out the name randomizer links available at NaNoFiMo: http://www.nanofimo.org/resources.html

[shunoshi]

MS Word (at least the newest version) does NOT use character count as an estimate of word count. It counts each and every word, as separated by spaces.

Really? I guess I'll quit making assumptions now. I thought character count was the standard. I guess I've been out of the loop for awhile now. :o

[shunoshi]

For a list of primarily non-ethnic first and last names, folks may want to check out the name randomizer links available at NaNoFiMo: http://www.nanofimo.org/resources.html

Oooh some nice links there and a nice place to turn to should I not finish NaNoWriMo. Hahaha. :D:(:o

[Generation ABXY]

Hmm, I’ve had a couple of bad realizations. First, looking at my word count for chapters so far, I realized even if I had managed to keep on target (which I haven’t, not by far), my novel never would have made it to 50,000 words, but at best (with a lot of padding) only 15-20K. :eek:

I don’t know how I underestimated the size like that, but it looks as though I’ll have add a whole other story on top of the one I already had. To make matters worse, I had scratch an entire chapter because it was based entirely around a tiny, factual error; I think I’ve found a way to replace it, though. :(

What do you guys usually do when (if it ever has) happened to you - go on without it, or trying and fix it then?

[Arphahat]

Hmm, I’ve had a couple of bad realizations. First, looking at my word count for chapters so far, I realized even if I had managed to keep on target (which I haven’t, not by far), my novel never would have made it to 50,000 words, but at best (with a lot of padding) only 15-20K. :eek:

I don’t know how I underestimated the size like that, but it looks as though I’ll have add a whole other story on top of the one I already had. To make matters worse, I had scratch an entire chapter because it was based entirely around a tiny, factual error; I think I’ve found a way to replace it, though. :(

What do you guys usually do when (if it ever has) happened to you - go on without it, or trying and fix it then?

It is hard for me to give any advice based on any specific event, but as you know from our PMs, my opinion is to not look back until you get to the end. Personally, I think I would try to just keep the bad chapter (and either try to work around the error, or make the error fact in my universe) and re-evaluate it during the revision period. Again, without know the exact details, it is hard.

Really, you want to avoid negative word counts at all costs. Keep in mind that people on the NaNoWriMo forums are adding all sorts of silly challenge plots and events to their stories to hit the word count, so anything that you've already written could probably stay, especially since it is likely far less silly.

[shunoshi]

What do you guys usually do when (if it ever has) happened to you - go on without it, or trying and fix it then?

I wish I had an answer to that one for you. I'm actually facing the opposite problem in mine. I'm behind, but looking at my chapter lengths I'm going to overshoot 50K by a LOT. I'm sitting at 8,501 words and am about 1/3 through Chapter 2. My outline has 13 chapters + prologue and epilogue.

I would probably pause for a moment and try to come up with additional subplots you can insert into the story. If you find 2-3 different subplots to weave in you'll hit 50K before you know it. Maybe find a way to add a new character to the mix. Something as simple as adding a new character could net you 2-3 extra chapters easy.

Just my $0.02.

[Generation ABXY]

It is hard for me to give any advice based on any specific event, but as you know from our PMs, my opinion is to not look back until you get to the end. Personally, I think I would try to just keep the bad chapter (and either try to work around the error, [/b]or make the error fact in my universe) and re-evaluate it during the revision period.[/b] Again, without know the exact details, it is hard.

Ah, yes, well I was a bit vague on the details because it was a little embarrassing. Let’s just say, people might have a hard time suspending their disbelief when they realize I’ve displaced an entire country. :D

Really, you want to avoid negative word counts at all costs. Keep in mind that people on the NaNoWriMo forums are adding all sorts of silly challenge plots and events to their stories to hit the word count, so anything that you've already written could probably stay, especially since it is likely far less silly.

Hmm, I don't really do much at the NaNoWriMo site, since I was having so much trouble at the start - I haven't updated my count since the first time - but I'll give it a look.

I wish I had an answer to that one for you. I'm actually facing the opposite problem in mine. I'm behind, but looking at my chapter lengths I'm going to overshoot 50K by a LOT. I'm sitting at 8,501 words and am about 1/3 through Chapter 2. My outline has 13 chapters + prologue and epilogue.

I hate you. :p

I would probably pause for a moment and try to come up with additional subplots you can insert into the story. If you find 2-3 different subplots to weave in you'll hit 50K before you know it. Maybe find a way to add a new character to the mix. Something as simple as adding a new character could net you 2-3 extra chapters easy.

Just my $0.02.

But, thanks for the thoughts, I'll see what I can do.

[Arphahat]

Ah, yes, well I was a bit vague on the details because it was a little embarrassing. Let’s just say, people might have a hard time suspending their disbelief when they realize I’ve displaced an entire country. :D


Whew... that could be tough... OK, no, we can get through this. Which country is misplaced?

If it is something like this:
There was trouble at the Canadian/Mexican border...

You might need to add in some sort of alternate world, country falls apart and is absorbed by other countries type of thing.

If it is more like this:
"Tim left the US and drove across the bridge, arriving in the UK..."
You might be able to swap out one of the two countries, depending on which one is more relevant to the rest of the story.

Or, you might have found a good way to add some filler chapters, adding the necessary trek between the two countries?

[Crittias]

Rather than hit the delete key on factual errors (large ones, at least) just insert a comma in your NaNo manuscript that says "I need to fix _______" You keep your word count and you keep moving forward.

I realized this morning that A) I need to add an entirely new character. And he must be introduced in Chapter One and spoken about in the other chapters. And B) I need my MC to have a COMPLETELY different motivation for his actions in some of the more recent chapters. I am NOT going back to fix either thing. Just a little note to myself that says, "Once you've completed the manuscript, make these changes."

Keep moving forward at all costs. When you're short on wordcount, throw a curveball at your MC. Good stories ALWAYS have curveballs somewhere.

[Arphahat]

So, I had today off, but did not do nearly as much writing as I had initially planned. Instead, after dropping my daughter off for school, I went back to bed and slept until about 12:30! I think the rest was worthwhile, however, since I have been routinely starting to write at 8pm after my girl has gone to bed and staying up until nearly 2am every night in my pursuit of writing this.

So, I should be able to finish my minimum word count, and hopefully push for a little more, too. I'm not too upset about it, since I am trying to pull further ahead of where I need to be and it isn't urgent that I do so.

I also wanted to share that I decided that having only two people excavating an archaeological site probably didn't make much sense, even if it was a fairly recent find. (Does anyone know how large those team are, normally?) So, as I've been working on my second pass, I added three new characters a couple nights ago.

I only bring it up because I thought you'd be amused that I didn't want to spend time thinking of names so I quickly discovered that they consisted of Ted, a professor from Kansas, Tyler, originally from Illinois and now one of Ted's students and Jon, from Portland. Congratulations, you are all now experts on various elements of archaeology. Except for Tyler, who actually looks like he will be Jessica's new love interest.

:)
(FTR, ABXY would have made the cut, too, if there was a name associated with the profile.)

[shunoshi]

So, I had today off, but did not do nearly as much writing as I had initially planned. Instead, after dropping my daughter off for school, I went back to bed and slept until about 12:30! I think the rest was worthwhile, however, since I have been routinely starting to write at 8pm after my girl has gone to bed and staying up until nearly 2am every night in my pursuit of writing this.

So, I should be able to finish my minimum word count, and hopefully push for a little more, too. I'm not too upset about it, since I am trying to pull further ahead of where I need to be and it isn't urgent that I do so.

I also wanted to share that I decided that having only two people excavating an archaeological site probably didn't make much sense, even if it was a fairly recent find. (Does anyone know how large those team are, normally?) So, as I've been working on my second pass, I added three new characters a couple nights ago.

I only bring it up because I thought you'd be amused that I didn't want to spend time thinking of names so I quickly discovered that they consisted of Ted, a professor from Kansas, Tyler, originally from Illinois and now one of Ted's students and Jon, from Portland. Congratulations, you are all now experts on various elements of archaeology. Except for Tyler, who actually looks like he will be Jessica's new love interest.

:)
(FTR, ABXY would have made the cut, too, if there was a name associated with the profile.)

No Ryan? I'm hurt. :p

[Arphahat]

No Ryan? I'm hurt. :p

Hah! Sorry! I was scrolling up through the page, clicking the profiles there and you had been away for long enough to be on a previous page somewhere. I'm sure as new characters are needed I would have gotten there, eventually. :)

Tell you what, you can be the director of the site, who is seemingly nice, but ends up being a manipulating bastard and the eventual villain. Sound good? ;)

[shunoshi]

Hah! Sorry! I was scrolling up through the page, clicking the profiles there and you had been away for long enough to be on a previous page somewhere. I'm sure as new characters are needed I would have gotten there, eventually. :)

Tell you what, you can be the director of the site, who is seemingly nice, but ends up being a manipulating bastard and the eventual villain. Sound good? ;)

Excellent!

[Crittias]

Great! I'm the geeky professor, while Tyler gets the girl. What a ripoff.

[Arphahat]

Great! I'm the geeky professor, while Tyler gets the girl. What a ripoff.

Yeah, but, uh, your profile... aren't you really a geeky prof? ;)

And, don't be too envious. Sure, Tyler might have some fun with Jessi, but it doesn't end well.:D

[Arphahat]

OK, reporting in with my final results for today.

No where near the crazy amount I had originally planned, I am almost at the half-way point with 24,286, with a gain of only 1925 today. At this point, though, I am ready to call anything over 1667 "win". My buffer is now at 948.

I am going to call it way early for tonight and get some game playing done! Woo hoo!

[Spectre-7]

Really? I guess I'll quit making assumptions now. I thought character count was the standard. I guess I've been out of the loop for awhile now. :o

Sort of. The traditional method for determining a "word count" was:
Count the number of characters in an average line
Divide the result by 6
Multiply that by the number of lines on your page
Multiply that by the number of pages (whole and partial) in your manuscript
= "Word Count"

The reason this looks so much like black magic is that it's not actually supposed to be a count of how many words are in your manuscript, but rather a measure of how much space your manuscript would consume when printed. It also wasn't exactly convenient for a writer to actually count how many words they'd written, so it was nice to have an easy system for producing a reasonable estimate.

These days, the answer is less cut & dry. Some folks will want a traditional, estimated word count, while others are beginning to ask for a literal word count (as produced by Word or any other similar word processor). Always be sure to check submission guidelines, and provide precisely what's asked. If the guidelines aren't clear, either ask someone, or provide both versions clearly marked.

Cheers! :D

[Generation ABXY]

Okay, I wanted to toss out one quick question to you guys: for a powerful male character, what do you prefer as a name, Isaac or Isador (or one of its variations)?

[Kielaran]

Yeah, but, uh, your profile... aren't you really a geeky prof? ;)

And, don't be too envious. Sure, Tyler might have some fun with Jessi, but it doesn't end well.:D

She has the clap, doesn't she:D

[Spectre-7]

Okay, I wanted to toss out one quick question to you guys: for a powerful male character, what do you prefer as a name, Isaac or Isador (or one of its variations)?

Personally, I'm not really convinced of either for a powerful male, but of course, mine is only one opinion. Isaac strikes me as a bookish, bespectacled sort of name, and I've alternately seen its meaning given as either he will laugh or god laughs. I don't always put a lot of stock in name meaning, but I think it's fun to think about when naming a character.

I don't have much of a preconceived notion about Isador, but my first thought was of the female form, Isadora, with which I'm more familiar. The meaning I found was gift of Isis, who was a female Egyptian god that was a mother, a sister, and apparently goddess of nature and magic. Again, this didn't strike me as a very natural name for a powerful male character, although it all depends on how you wish to portray him. Not having a particularly masculine name could be an interesting character wrinkle, for instance.

Anyway... yeah, I put too much thought into names. In the grand scheme of things, they're really just labels, and the most important things are that you like them and can stand to type them over and over (and over) again. ;)

Best of luck, and happy writing.

[Generation ABXY]

Personally, I'm not really convinced of either for a powerful male, but of course, mine is only one opinion. Isaac strikes me as a bookish, bespectacled sort of name, and I've alternately seen its meaning given as either he will laugh or god laughs. I don't always put a lot of stock in name meaning, but I think it's fun to think about when naming a character.

I don't have much of a preconceived notion about Isador, but my first thought was of the female form, Isadora, with which I'm more familiar. The meaning I found was gift of Isis, who was a female Egyptian god that was a mother, a sister, and apparently goddess of nature and magic. Again, this didn't strike me as a very natural name for a powerful male character, although it all depends on how you wish to portray him. Not having a particularly masculine name could be an interesting character wrinkle, for instance.

Anyway... yeah, I put too much thought into names. In the grand scheme of things, they're really just labels, and the most important things are that you like them and can stand to type them over and over (and over) again. ;)

Best of luck, and happy writing.

Well, I also usually put a lot of thought into character names, and I generally love for them to have small, often subtle puns. (Hey, I'm a children's writer.) This one does, too, given as it is in a mystery/comedy.

Oddly, I've never known an Isodora, but I have met a couple of Isodor (different spellings, IIRC) and they were both leathery old men. I like that one a bit because it is a little eccentric, but the plainess of Isaac may be a better fit here, just because it is so common; I'll see what the others have to say and then make my decision.

[shunoshi]

Okay, I wanted to toss out one quick question to you guys: for a powerful male character, what do you prefer as a name, Isaac or Isador (or one of its variations)?

Ryan.



:p



Actually, I've always liked the name Isador.

[Arphahat]

She has the clap, doesn't she:D

Well, it is a whore novel, after all. I still don't understand why it is such a popular genre. ;)

Okay, I wanted to toss out one quick question to you guys: for a powerful male character, what do you prefer as a name, Isaac or Isador (or one of its variations)?

When I think of Isaac, strong biblical references come to mind, specifically Abraham getting ready to slaughter him. I am mixed on Isaac, partly because biblical names always seem tough, but almost being butchered by Dad seems pretty weak. I do like the hard "ck" sound at the end.

Isador seems less common, and doesn't have the immediate connotations as Isaac. To me, however, just the sound of the name doesn't say "tough" to me. The 's' sound and the three syllables ruin it for me; it sounds like "Isa" with "dor" tacked on, making it feminine sounding.

The name also distracts me: how do I say it? Ees-a-dor or eyez-a-dor? I's a door? He's a door? All this occurred to me while looking at the name.

I guess, between the two, then, that I prefer Isaac.

edit: Hah, I was going to pull what Ryan did above and say "Andy"...hmm, did you know that the meaning of the name "Andrew" actually does mean "manly"? :)

[Crittias]

Yeah, but, uh, your profile... aren't you really a geeky prof? ;)I'm a geeky prof who has a way with the ladies...:cool:

Also, my MC's name is Isaac, so I'll vote for that. Of course, he's a geeky music conductor, sooo.....

[shunoshi]

Isador seems less common, and doesn't have the immediate connotations as Isaac. To me, however, just the sound of the name doesn't say "tough" to me. The 's' sound and the three syllables ruin it for me; it sounds like "Isa" with "dor" tacked on, making it feminine sounding.

The name also distracts me: how do I say it? Ees-a-dor or eyez-a-dor? I's a door? He's a door? All this occurred to me while looking at the name.


I think the main reason I like the name Isador is because I had a friend who used that name in World of Warcraft. He played a Paladin so the name always rings with a heroic tone for me. As an aside, we always pronounced it "Is a door". We always ended up calling him Izzy.

[Generation ABXY]

I think the main reason I like the name Isador is because I had a friend who used that name in World of Warcraft. He played a Paladin so the name always rings with a heroic tone for me. As an aside, we always pronounced it "Is a door". We always ended up calling him Izzy.

Which is the name of the character in the story, I just wasn't sure whether to make the full name Isaac or Isador (and the two people I know said it closer to the He's-a-door one); Israel was another choice, but, while stong, it didn't seem to fit.

It is only a small thing, mind you. I'm not hung up on the issue and waiting around to write until I decide, but I appreciate the input, guys.

[Crittias]

I posted a new excerpt today over on my NaNoWriMo profile (which you're welcome to peruse here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/102169), and I had someone tell me that my easy-reading style was Harry Potter -esque.

Move over, J.K. Rowling! I'm ready to take the world by storm!

:) Seriously, it was a super-nice compliment.

[Generation ABXY]

You do have a really nice writing style - it just sort of flows. From what I've read, I think I can safely say I'd buy THEME if it ever gets published (well, when I have two nickels to rub together, that is).

[Crittias]

You do have a really nice writing style - it just sort of flows. From what I've read, I think I can safely say I'd buy THEME if it ever gets published (well, when I have two nickels to rub together, that is).

If I ever get published, I'll make some signed copies available to the good folks here. That's a promise.

And thanks for the kind words. They're very much appreciated!

[Kielaran]

Thank goodness for Live crapping out on me today, since it gave me some much needed motivation. 2,315 words so far. Time for a break and then hopefully I will be back at it a bit later tonight.

[Arphahat]

OK, getting a much later start than normal, but I have at least thought about the areas I'd like to look at tonight.

Starting at: 24286, looking for a minimum of 1667, but shooting for 2386, which would put me a full day ahead of pace. Likely, I will end somewhere in between those two amounts, preferably after at least 2k.

[Crittias]

Good luck to you! In the past 24 hours I managed to put in over 6500 words. It's been a good weekend!

OK, getting a much later start than normal, but I have at least thought about the areas I'd like to look at tonight.

Starting at: 24286, looking for a minimum of 1667, but shooting for 2386, which would put me a full day ahead of pace. Likely, I will end somewhere in between those two amounts, preferably after at least 2k.

[Arphahat]

Good luck to you! In the past 24 hours I managed to put in over 6500 words. It's been a good weekend!

Thanks, and awesome job, but gosh darn you! I was quietly hoping I'd be able to catch you. I know... the geeky prof I think is going to meet an unfortunate end...

(err... in my novel, not in real life)

(err... not that you're a geeky prof in real life)

:)

Although, I didn't realize until just today that you've already won three times? Amazing. Is it easier after the first time, knowing that it is at least possible?

[VerseD]

I love playing with names for fiction. For my novel I'm using Robert Heinlein Cassidy for the main guy, Batu Ozan the Turkish sociologist, Yuli the angry Russian instructor, plus Helmut somewhere in there. I still have to come up with alien names, though.

I'm at 14,000 words today, and want to hit 20,000 tomorrow. Should put me on the road to success, and I have more than enough story left to tell.

I only bring it up because I thought you'd be amused that I didn't want to spend time thinking of names so I quickly discovered that they consisted of Ted, a professor from Kansas, Tyler, originally from Illinois and now one of Ted's students and Jon, from Portland. Congratulations, you are all now experts on various elements of archaeology. Except for Tyler, who actually looks like he will be Jessica's new love interest.

I always wanted to be Indiana Jones.

[Arphahat]

I'm at 14,000 words today, and want to hit 20,000 tomorrow. Should put me on the road to success, and I have more than enough story left to tell.


Good job! Keep it up.

I always wanted to be Indiana Jones.

Yeah, about that... it looks like you end up being framed for the brutal, unprovoked murder of Ted. Who knew Tyler was such a bastard? ;)

[Crittias]

Although, I didn't realize until just today that you've already won three times? Amazing. Is it easier after the first time, knowing that it is at least possible?It's definitely easier after the first time, for a lot of reasons. For one, you KNOW you can do it. Because you have already. It's amazing how empowering that is.

Also, you start to get used to your own quirky writing habits. I know what hurdles I'll likely face this year, and I've started to figure out ways around or over them. When things don't go as planned, I don't panic or anything, because I've been there. I roll with the punches, so to speak.

This year's story has been cruising along. I'm letting it flow a bit more than last year's NaNo, a story I kept under a tight rein. But that's because last year's story was a serious, somber affair much of the time. This year's is a bit more fantastical. I've had a tricycle chase through Central Park, and in the last two chapters I've added werewolves and the Silmarillion's Ainulindalë.

Fun stuff!

[Arphahat]

It's definitely easier after the first time, for a lot of reasons. For one, you KNOW you can do it. Because you have already. It's amazing how empowering that is.

Also, you start to get used to your own quirky writing habits. I know what hurdles I'll likely face this year, and I've started to figure out ways around or over them. When things don't go as planned, I don't panic or anything, because I've been there. I roll with the punches, so to speak.

This year's story has been cruising along. I'm letting it flow a bit more than last year's NaNo, a story I kept under a tight rein. But that's because last year's story was a serious, somber affair much of the time. This year's is a bit more fantastical. I've had a tricycle chase through Central Park, and in the last two chapters I've added werewolves and the Silmarillion's Ainulindalë.

Fun stuff!

Thinking about this makes me wonder:

For as long as I can remember, one of the first things I can ever seriously considering as a career when I was young was that of an author. As time progressed, my love of computers won out over my love of writing and my career followed that path.

However, I never fully dismissed my first job, my first dream of writing a novel. I am taking part in the process now, to be sure, but my interest really is in eventually publishing.

Have you pursued the possible publishing of any of your novels? If so, what were the results? It seems that after you've done this a number of times, you'd have thought about this option? I just have no idea what to expect with regard to "selling a book."

[Crittias]

Have you pursued the possible publishing of any of your novels? If so, what were the results?Last year's book was the first I'd written that was good enough for me to consider sending out. I did some research, however, and discovered that there's no way someone is going to publish a 50k novel. For one thing, sci-fi novels need to be 60-80k minimum, just because. For another thing, publishers and agents are well aware of NaNoWriMo. They know that, when they see a 50k manuscript, it's likely a NaNo effort. And that means its probably drivel.

So, I need to expand last year's story. The trouble is, I LIKE it the way it is. I don't want to pad it just for the sake of a longer story. I want to add content of value. And so far, I haven't figured out how to do that.

But yeah, I'd love to publish someday. This year's story is naturally going to be longer (I'm guessing 80k, we'll see) and I'll probably send it out eventually just to see what kind of reaction I can get.

[Arphahat]

Last year's book was the first I'd written that was good enough for me to consider sending out. I did some research, however, and discovered that there's no way someone is going to publish a 50k novel. For one thing, sci-fi novels need to be 60-80k minimum, just because. For another thing, publishers and agents are well aware of NaNoWriMo. They know that, when they see a 50k manuscript, it's likely a NaNo effort. And that means its probably drivel.

So, I need to expand last year's story. The trouble is, I LIKE it the way it is. I don't want to pad it just for the sake of a longer story. I want to add content of value. And so far, I haven't figured out how to do that.

But yeah, I'd love to publish someday. This year's story is naturally going to be longer (I'm guessing 80k, we'll see) and I'll probably send it out eventually just to see what kind of reaction I can get.

That's good to know. So, likely after winning this year, if I truly want to have something worth submitting, I should probably write another 50k. I was always planning on ending with something that needed some serious revision, but I didn't know what other things I needed to consider.

Fortunately, when I started I knew the ending I wanted to use and wrote that first. It was intentionally a cliff hanger; the main story was resolved, but some fairly important elements had been introduced that had not been addressed. I had some plans for what would need to be covered after that and thought that I would save it for sequels. Now, it sounds like it just may be that there is a blank page with the exception of the words "Part 2". :)

Hey, once the craziness of trying to churn out all these words is over, if you want assistance in looking for meaningful way to bump your word count for last year's novel, I'd be more than happy to give it a read with that in mind.

And now, for my nightly reported results:

I ended at 26361 words total, 2075 words written tonight, right about where I thought I'd be. This puts me 1356 words ahead of pace. Likely, my next big goal tomorrow will be to get to 1667 words ahead.

OK, night night. :)

[Kielaran]

Time for me to go to bed. I moved my total up 3,280 words today for a new grand total of 16,821. The only problem is that now it gets harder. I have a large gap that I need to fill now before my next subplot picks back up and I think it is going to be tedious. I would really like to get the same amount written tomorrow, though I doubt it will happen. Either way, I am still clawing my way back up to where i need to be :)

[Crittias]

Hey, once the craziness of trying to churn out all these words is over, if you want assistance in looking for meaningful way to bump your word count for last year's novel, I'd be more than happy to give it a read with that in mind.I may take you up on this offer. Thanks! And congrats on getting ahead in your word count! Being ahead of the curve always feels really good.

Time for me to go to bed. I moved my total up 3,280 words today for a new grand total of 16,821. The only problem is that now it gets harder.Everyone finds the 20s hard. Slog through it, and the rest will be smooth sailing!

[Spectre-7]

Last year's book was the first I'd written that was good enough for me to consider sending out. I did some research, however, and discovered that there's no way someone is going to publish a 50k novel. For one thing, sci-fi novels need to be 60-80k minimum, just because. For another thing, publishers and agents are well aware of NaNoWriMo. They know that, when they see a 50k manuscript, it's likely a NaNo effort. And that means its probably drivel.

So, I need to expand last year's story. The trouble is, I LIKE it the way it is. I don't want to pad it just for the sake of a longer story. I want to add content of value. And so far, I haven't figured out how to do that.

But yeah, I'd love to publish someday. This year's story is naturally going to be longer (I'm guessing 80k, we'll see) and I'll probably send it out eventually just to see what kind of reaction I can get.

Give it a shot anyway. If you get too hung up on what agents and publishers are looking for, you'll never submit, and that's a serious crime as far as I'm concerned. I suspect you've already discovered that procrastination is the writer's nemesis, and when it comes to submissions, the situation is absolutely no different.

It's true that 60-80k is preferred for science fiction, but if you've written a good book and it's the right length, someone will be interested. Also, don't quote me on this, but it appears that too short is often better than too long, especially where new authors are concerned. There's something to be said for being able to tell a story concisely.

Don't worry about the fact that it was a NaNo project, either. An agent will judge your writing based on your query letter, your synopsis and whatever sample they've requested. Greater than 90% of what they receive is drivel anyway, so I wouldn't expect NaNo to affect that much.

If you're truly interested in getting published, the sooner you can start submitting, the better. The process itself can be excruciatingly slow; some agents take their sweet time, simultaneous submissions are looked down on, and even the best author will have to dig through a mountain of rejections before hitting pay dirt. If you fail, you've lost nothing at all, but submitting is a skill all its own that takes some practice and effort to get the hang of.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound pushy, but life is kind of short. You'll always be able to find reasons not to submit if you look for them, and this is one situation where I firmly believe you have to let those little niggling doubts die in silence.

[Crittias]

Give it a shot anyway.You make some good points. I'll give the manuscript one more pass in December and then start sending it out. Why not, eh?

[Spectre-7]

You make some good points. I'll give the manuscript one more pass in December and then start sending it out. Why not, eh?

Glad to hear it. Cheers! :D

[shunoshi]

Quite the peptalk there Spectre. Shit, I may try and edit mine and send it out once it's finished after reading that. :D

[Spectre-7]

Quite the peptalk there Spectre. Shit, I may try and edit mine and send it out once it's finished after reading that. :D

May the power of pep compel you. May the power of pep compel you. May the power of pep compel you.

Oh crap. I think this means I have to stop procrastinating and put together another submission. Son of a...

[Kielaran]

Ugh. This is not going as planned. 2 hours has netted me 300 words. :(

[shunoshi]

Ugh. This is not going as planned. 2 hours has netted me 300 words. :(

That sounded like me yesterday.

Today is going a bit better. I wrote for about 1 1/2 hours this morning and put out 1300 words. Watched the shitty Vikings game and am ready to go back to the manuscript now.


I did get an excerpt of my first chapter (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=463) posted on the ol' blog; all comments are welcome!

[Generation ABXY]

I think Meg Cabot’s been spying on me.

I just finished reading her pep talk (the one they e-mail every couple of days), and she had me pegged when she described the jumping around bit – I was just telling someone the other day about how, for some strange reason, the stories that always seem to come easiest are the ones I am not writing. Hell, I even have a large milk crate full of stories, just like she described...in fact, that part actually wigged me out a little bit. :eek:

Anyways, there isn’t much new to report on my front. Instead of writing, I’ve been plotting – I think I’ve found some good events to fill-up ground that I’m going to be missing in the end – since my computer gave me a memory parity error and blue screened a couple of times this weekend. (Third time this thing has broke this year...I have horrible luck with computers.)

[shunoshi]

Well, I'm up to 11,627 as of now. I've put in two shifts at the keyboard today, finished off chapter 2, and have netted roughly 2400 words on the day so far. I need to average roughly 2600 per day in order to hit the Nov. 30th goal. I'll be the first to admit, it's going to be very, very difficult. The 6 days missed while hunting really hurt me. My prologue is 1129 words, chapter 1 is 5825 words, chapter 2 is 4666. This puts my novel on schedule to hit 70,450 words total, which means if I do hit the 50K mark on time, it won't be finished anyway. :(

I'm going to keep at it though. I'll take a break and try to put in another shift before bed. If I can push my total count on the day to 3500, I'll be happy. Any days I can push over the daily goal will help in the long run.

[Kielaran]

After banging my head on anything that I thought I wouldn't break, I finally broke through my block. I made 2126 words today, making my new total 18947.

I may still be behind, but I feel like I am gaining and if I can just make it to around 40k, I know my climax will boost my word total very fast. I can't stop thinking about it right now and will have it written completely in my mind by the time I get to it. :) Anyone else do that?

[Crittias]

Slow day. 1,161 words. But I'm just exhausted today, so rather than force it, I'm going to go to bed early, and hit the ground running tomorrow.

[VerseD]

I got a good chunk of writing done this weekend and am pretty happy with where I am. I posted three of the more technical parts on my blog (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=470).

I'm just now getting into the alien side of my novel about colonization, which always worried me. I wanted them to be barbaric in a very human way and also uniquely alien. More Dune Fremen than Stranger in a Strange Land Martian.

This will probably be the only science fiction I ever write, but it's been fun so far. It requires more creativity than normal fiction in a weird way, but I found the scenes that resemble ordinary life are the most vivid and interesting.

Fortunately, when I started I knew the ending I wanted to use and wrote that first.

I know my climax will boost my word total very fast. I can't stop thinking about it right now and will have it written completely in my mind by the time I get to it. :) Anyone else do that?

I did the same thing as both of you.

Originally I planned on writing this whole thing in the first person and chronologically, which has worked great so far, although some of the details might be a little superfluous. However I did come up with a perfectly climactic climax the other night and wrote it in a wild stream of consciousness spree. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to get up to it.

[Crittias]

Slow day. 1,161 words. But I'm just exhausted today, so rather than force it, I'm going to go to bed early, and hit the ground running tomorrow.I got pissed off by my earlier post and made myself write more. 1,743 for the day. NOW I can get some sleep.;)

[Arphahat]

Well, it looks like tonight looks like a little disappointing. I was distracted by our new toy, the Wii-Fit. To this point, I had been very good about neglecting video games in the pursuit of my novel. Once Mrs. Arphahat demonstrated her ability at the Hoola-hoop, there was no dragging myself away until she decided she was done. ;)

I'm still going to try to crank out some words tonight, but I don't hold a lot of hope, since I am starting at 12:20am.

[Arphahat]

Huh, that worked out much better than I expected. I was able to whip out 1016 words. I was pretty far ahead, so I only lost a little of my lead, putting me at 705 words ahead. Final word count: 27377

[shunoshi]

Ugh, bad morning for writing. I struggled with my intro to chapter 3 for a solid hour and only squeaked out just under 400 words. I'm going to have to try and shell out a bit while at work. I think the next two weeks are going to see a lot of writing and not a lot else.

[Kielaran]

Ugh, bad morning for writing. I struggled with my intro to chapter 3 for a solid hour and only squeaked out just under 400 words. I'm going to have to try and shell out a bit while at work. I think the next two weeks are going to see a lot of writing and not a lot else.

Yep, that was definitely yesterday for me. Stick with it and hopefully you will end up able to get a bit done while at work :)

[Crittias]

Ugh, bad morning for writing. I struggled with my intro to chapter 3 for a solid hour and only squeaked out just under 400 words. I'm going to have to try and shell out a bit while at work. I think the next two weeks are going to see a lot of writing and not a lot else.Shunoshi, where are you in your story? How many words? What's happening in your plot?

[shunoshi]

Shunoshi, where are you in your story? How many words? What's happening in your plot?

I just commited a cardinal sin of the NaNo is all. I wrote me chapter 3 intro and didn't like it. I proceeded to rewrite it about 4 times. It's the first time I've come across that problem, but I'm past it now. I jotted out another 600 words while at work and plan on going home and hammering out at least 1500-2000 more to stay on track. It's going to be a bumpy ride. :p

My lowly word count is on my avatar. I'm working through a bit of a mundane portion of my plot but it's necessary for major points in following chapters. Just a rough patch is all. I still plan on making my heavy 2600 word count for the day (which is what I'll need to hit 50K on time).

[Crittias]

I just commited a cardinal sin of the NaNo is all. I wrote me chapter 3 intro and didn't like it. I proceeded to rewrite it about 4 times. Ah, the deadly Edit Monster. Been there. Hard one to avoid. Glad to hear you're past it now!

[Arphahat]

I just commited a cardinal sin of the NaNo is all. I wrote me chapter 3 intro and didn't like it. I proceeded to rewrite it about 4 times.

Ah, the deadly Edit Monster. Been there. Hard one to avoid. Glad to hear you're past it now!

I think the rewrite can be OK, as long as you aren't abandoning words. For instance, I am "rewriting" my beginning, but am making sure that I expand every area that I touch. Depending on my mood, doing a rewrite sometimes is a faster way for me to generate words than writing something entirely new.

The moment you start throwing stuff away, however, means you are generating a negative word count. I know that there are things that don't make sense or that I really don't like in my novel so far, but my I don't delete unless I can replace the words with twice the amount. :)

[Crittias]

I think the rewrite can be OK, as long as you aren't abandoning words.During NaNo, "editing" and "expanding" are two very different things. I expand my story all the time. Every morning. I reread my most recent chapter, mostly to refresh my memory, but also to add extra color to paragraphs that might be lacking.

Expansion: good.
Edit: bad.

:)

[shunoshi]

Every morning. I reread my most recent chapter, mostly to refresh my memory, but also to add extra color to paragraphs that might be lacking.

You know, that's a pretty good idea. Not only a good way to flesh things out, but also a good way to get the creative juices flowing.

[Arphahat]

Huh, looks like I forgot to make my always entertaining starting post. I am sure you are all disappointed. ;)

At any rate, I didn't really deviate too far from my normal plans. Looking for at least 1667, but hoping for more, I ended at 29196, giving me 1819 tonight and bumping my lead back up to 857. I had hoped to hit 30k, but found a reasonable place to stop tonight. Tomorrow, I have a good topic waiting for me, so I should be able to rip through a good portion, hopefully.

Now, I have to comment: the desire to give up and not do this at the beginning of the evening is persistently strong. Always, by the end I am feeling good again, but even though my word count is high, much higher than I've ever achieved in the past attempts, it still is overwhelming to think about how much further there is to go. As long as I focus on the little steps, though, and try to block the big picture, I do OK.

Hmmm... *whips out calculator* if I can just boost my goal back up a bit, to 2600w/day, I should be able to finish before Thanksgiving. I am concerned that it will throw me off if I am not writing at my computer at home (at night). I think I need to start setting that as the minimum goal again. Man... whew... I can do it...

[Kielaran]

Last night I passed the 21k mark. It was somewhere just over 2000 words for the night. I was hoping for at least 2500, but I figure if I can keep this pace up and hit 3k per day on the weekends and over Thanksgiving, then I will finish up a day early.

So the new minimum goal is 2k a day and hopefully exceed that and try to get ahead.

[Ancalagon]

I gave up ages ago. This month has just been too hectic for me, theres too much going on, and to be honest I'm too stressed to fit a hectic writing schedule into my already stressful life. So, I'm putting it on hold, until after I've been on my 3 week holiday to sunny South Africa in December (yay!), and then surgery for a hernia in January (no!), but at least I get 2 weeks off work after that. So, first week will be spent recovering only, second week I'll probably start writing in earnest and carry on recovering.

[Crittias]

Hmmm... *whips out calculator* if I can just boost my goal back up a bit, to 2600w/day, I should be able to finish before Thanksgiving. I am concerned that it will throw me off if I am not writing at my computer at home (at night).Increasing your nightly pace is a good idea. I'd also suggest, either this year or in the future, that you force yourself to write in different places with different equipment. I write at home, at the office, at crowded coffee shops, etc., and I use whatever computer is handy. It's hard getting out of a routine at first, but once you realize you're not shackled to a particular room, or time of day, or piece of equipment, it really sets you free to write all the time.

[Arphahat]

Increasing your nightly pace is a good idea. I'd also suggest, either this year or in the future, that you force yourself to write in different places with different equipment. I write at home, at the office, at crowded coffee shops, etc., and I use whatever computer is handy. It's hard getting out of a routine at first, but once you realize you're not shackled to a particular room, or time of day, or piece of equipment, it really sets you free to write all the time.

That's not a bad idea. I was actually somewhat surprised when I had a Friday off and found it almost impossible to make use of. Sure, I was doing other things, as well, but I did have a big chunk of time at the computer that I normally don't have and wasn't able to make much use of it. The daylight was confusing me. I didn't realize just how finicky I had become. :)

[Arphahat]

Took a shot at lunch, hoping for 1k. Got in 371 instead, but am happy with any bonus progress.

[shunoshi]

Well, 1300 words down for the day, 1500 to go. My chapter 2 excerpt (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=479) has hit the blog pages as well.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

Well, I am going to say that I am bowing out. I started strong, but school is making this really difficult on top of a bunch of awesome art projects that fell in my lap.

Next year I will tackle this beast to the ground.

[Generation ABXY]

Next year I will tackle this beast to the ground.

Preferably while screaming, “Surprise Buttsecks!”

...you know, just to freak it out a little.



Even after this month is over (since I know I'll be behind), I intend to keep working on my story; no reason to see all this work go to waste. If I do it next year, I'll have to track down a simple word processor/electronic typewriter - computers are just too unreliable and overly complex for me rely on again. Plus, I like the sound. :D

[Aggort]

Heh, so I realized today. After reaching my 21,000 words I have added another 100 since. That was why I sat down to do those words that day I could. Luckily I am free tomorrow and one more day this week, we'll see if I can get it in. If not I'll be in for another long session before Thanksgiving, because then it's all family.

[Arphahat]

Well, I am going to say that I am bowing out. I started strong, but school is making this really difficult on top of a bunch of awesome art projects that fell in my lap.

Next year I will tackle this beast to the ground.

Aw, too bad! I know how that is, though; this is the first year I am really doing well, and it is partly because of my previous failures. I came into it this year, grabbing hard and repeatedly yelling "Surprise Buttsecks!" Really, it works wonders. :)

Well, 1300 words down for the day, 1500 to go. My chapter 2 excerpt (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=479) has hit the blog pages as well.

Go, go! You can do it!

Even after this month is over (since I know I'll be behind), I intend to keep working on my story; no reason to see all this work go to waste. If I do it next year, I'll have to track down a simple word processor/electronic typewriter - computers are just too unreliable and overly complex for me rely on again. Plus, I like the sound. :D

Finishing is finishing. Even if it isn't in one month, completing a whole novel is a huge accomplishment.

I don't know about typing it out, though; I'd be lost without being able to move huge chunks around as needed. Something you might consider is what I've been doing: I am writing my novel using Google Docs. Every night, I download a copy as PDF, so I have at least two locations that have my whole novel. Just a thought.

Heh, so I realized today. After reaching my 21,000 words I have added another 100 since. That was why I sat down to do those words that day I could. Luckily I am free tomorrow and one more day this week, we'll see if I can get it in. If not I'll be in for another long session before Thanksgiving, because then it's all family.

Good that you know yourself so well! Now, get cracking! I am in a similar situation, since Thanksgiving will make the completion of my novel tough, unless I get it done ahead of time.

And, tonight, I am going to disregard the words written at lunch and consider them bonus. Shooting for 2600.

Edit: And, here is an appropriate LOL cat for the month
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/7275/funnypicturescathaswritbc7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Aggort]

Good that you know yourself so well! Now, get cracking! I am in a similar situation, since Thanksgiving will make the completion of my novel tough, unless I get it done ahead of time.
I've been budgeting writing since I started as a kid, I can usually tell how many words I can write to an hour and how I might have to shift things to improve quality. Luckily, I have judged myself pretty well this month. Thanksgiving is what killed my NaNo two years ago, so I know what I must do this year.

[VerseD]

It's hard getting out of a routine at first, but once you realize you're not shackled to a particular room, or time of day, or piece of equipment, it really sets you free to write all the time.

Also try liberating yourself from the keyboard. Get a moleskin or a cheap composite notebook and you can write anywhere, anytime. It's not so good for a big project like a novel, but for a quick character sketch, exercise, or a few notes, the pen is perfect.

Thanksgiving is what killed my NaNo two years ago, so I know what I must do this year.

I really wished they picked a month instead of November for NaNoWriMo. It just doesn't work for people in the US. A lot of students have projects due before Thanksgiving break, then friends and family come into town for Turkey Day and there goes all those days off. After that the holiday season starts in earnest.

Now February, that's a great month to take time to write.

I'm at 18,000 tonight and going for a few more pages. I have a good idea where I want to take my story, and I'm hopeful about finishing this. Plus, I hate giving up. It's definitely going to give me a lot of restless nights at the end of the month.

[Arphahat]

Also try liberating yourself from the keyboard. Get a moleskin or a cheap composite notebook and you can write anywhere, anytime. It's not so good for a big project like a novel, but for a quick character sketch, exercise, or a few notes, the pen is perfect.

I have taken a couple of notes in a notebook and in my PDA depending on where I am and I have found it helpful.

OK, huge success today. I had planned on 2600 words per day. Today at lunch, I whipped out 371, which is measly compared to the 3134 I banged out tonight. Near the end, I was doing my adding and subtracting, trying to figure out how far I had gone, and several times I found that I was within 50 or so words of some milestone. I kept thinking I was done for the night, and kept returning because I knew I could get another 50 words.

Total words tonight: 3505
Grand total: 32701... hey, that is only 299 away from 33k...NO, bedtime! :)

[Crittias]

Total words tonight: 3505. Grand total: 32701Nice! Keep it up!

[Arphahat]

Another nice little bit at lunch today: 312

Recalculating, I have decided to really try to accelerate and push myself in the last bit here. If I can write 5700 words/day, I will be done Friday. That will give me the weekend to relax and take a break. After that, I might continue to try to bump my word count here and there, to fill in the story, but I think I am going to break until January before I start editing, revising and having others read it. Once Dec 1 rolls around, it is time for a break.

[shunoshi]

Wow, Arphahat. You're really cruising.

Yesterday could be considered as productive, but unsuccessful. I was able to throw down a little at work and end up with about 1700 words on the day, but last night was my Mom's 50th. I didn't get any more writing done for the day, so that put me about 1000 words short of my daily goal, yet again. As the days get shorter, every missed goal compounds into loftier ones the following day. My new daily goal clocks in at 2940 words and this doesn't calculate the lost time for Thanksgiving and the final weekend of the NaNo...which happens to be my best friend's bachelor party.

I think I've accepted the fact that I won't finish in time, but it doesn't mean I won't finish. December will see the end of my novel and hopefully time for a few edits and small printing for Xmas.

I can safely say that I have learned a lot about myself, my writing habits and limitations, pitfalls, and that I can finish a novel. I'll keep these all in mind when preparing for next year's run. ;)

On a side note, why the hell does NaNo have to be in November. Not only does it contain a major US holiday, but is the target for the majority of triple A game releases and is deer hunting season. Ugh. :mad:

[Crittias]

Crossed the 40k mark this morning. I'm guessing it's about the halfway mark for my story.

[Arphahat]

Crossed the 40k mark this morning. I'm guessing it's about the halfway mark for my story.

Awesome! You'll be able to stroll across the finish line.

Now, do you consider it victory once you hit 50k, or are you a stickler for needing a complete story to "win"?

[Crittias]

Now, do you consider it victory once you hit 50k, or are you a stickler for needing a complete story to "win"?
1. For NaNo, I consider 50k a win.
2. For every other NaNo, 50k was my wordcount and my storycount.
3. For this year, my ultimate goal (writing a solid, complete first draft by Christmas) completely supercedes NaNoWriMo. As far as wordcount it concerned, I'm more concerned with motivating the other writers in my region, honestly.

[Crittias]

Crossed the 40k mark this morning. I'm guessing it's about the halfway mark for my story.41,352 by day's end. Not bad.

[Arphahat]

41,352 by day's end. Not bad.

Nice!

I fell a little short of my "stretch" goal of 5700 and ended the day with a measly 3150. ;)

Only 14149 words remain. I don't think I'm going to get to the end by Friday, but I hope to finish by the end of the weekend. If I can keep pushing, the very latest I'll finish will be Monday, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at that.

[Crittias]

I'm still keeping my 2k+/day pace going. Today I wrote 2,054 words. Which, considering my day, is quite the accomplishment.

I got to my office today to find my office door wide open, my desk shoved against one wall, and a huge trash can sitting in the middle of the floor, collecting water that was steadily dripping from a broken pipe in my ceiling. My computer, still powered on, was spattered with muddy water, as was all of the paperwork on my desk. My keyboard was literally drenched in water.

Luckily for me, my wife works in the same building, and stayed home today. So I was able to borrow her office and computer. Needless to say I didn't stay at work very long.

I was a bit perturbed that I received no phone call or email to notify me about the issue, no call was made to tech services to shut down my equipment, and my door was left open for any student to just wander into my office), but I managed to rally and get my writing done.



Ah, November speedbumps. Part of the fun, right?

[Superman's Dead]

I'm still keeping my 2k+/day pace going. Today I wrote 2,054 words. Which, considering my day, is quite the accomplishment.

I got to my office today to find my office door wide open, my desk shoved against one wall, and a huge trash can sitting in the middle of the floor, collecting water that was steadily dripping from a broken pipe in my ceiling. My computer, still powered on, was spattered with muddy water, as was all of the paperwork on my desk. My keyboard was literally drenched in water.

Luckily for me, my wife works in the same building, and stayed home today. So I was able to borrow her office and computer. Needless to say I didn't stay at work very long.

I was a bit perturbed that I received no phone call or email to notify me about the issue, no call was made to tech services to shut down my equipment, and my door was left open for any student to just wander into my office), but I managed to rally and get my writing done.



Ah, November speedbumps. Part of the fun, right?

Rock Chock, sir.

[VerseD]

I posted another story excerpt to my blog (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=486). Fun stuff about learning a new language. An alien language.

So who's still trying to get to 50k by the end of the month? Or is it just Crittias and Arphahat, with me lagging behind?

I got to 26,000 words tonight. Going for 35,000 by the end of the week, which means a sad and lonely Friday night. I have a lot of friends coming to town to visit family for Thanksgiving, so I'm trying to free up time for next week. It's going to be an awful rush, but I'm in a damn good spot and optimistic.

Congratulations to Arphahat and Crittias for getting so far so quickly. I have a feeling you two are going to have a much more enjoyable Thanksgiving than most NaNo competitors. Sucks about the office though Crittias.

[Arphahat]

I'm still keeping my 2k+/day pace going. Today I wrote 2,054 words. Which, considering my day, is quite the accomplishment.

I got to my office today to find my office door wide open, my desk shoved against one wall, and a huge trash can sitting in the middle of the floor, collecting water that was steadily dripping from a broken pipe in my ceiling. My computer, still powered on, was spattered with muddy water, as was all of the paperwork on my desk. My keyboard was literally drenched in water.

Luckily for me, my wife works in the same building, and stayed home today. So I was able to borrow her office and computer. Needless to say I didn't stay at work very long.

I was a bit perturbed that I received no phone call or email to notify me about the issue, no call was made to tech services to shut down my equipment, and my door was left open for any student to just wander into my office), but I managed to rally and get my writing done.



Ah, November speedbumps. Part of the fun, right?

Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. :eek: Impressive that you didn't let it distract you from your noveling. Good job.

I, on the other hand, was finding my energy to be noticeably lower than usual yesterday, fighting to stay awake at work. When I put my daughter to bed at 8 last night, I decided to take a quick nap, too. Then, I woke up this morning. No words for me yesterday, but I, apparently, needed the rest. I'll try to make up for it this weekend.

I posted another story excerpt to my blog (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=486). Fun stuff about learning a new language. An alien language.

So who's still trying to get to 50k by the end of the month? Or is it just Crittias and Arphahat, with me lagging behind?

I got to 26,000 words tonight. Going for 35,000 by the end of the week, which means a sad and lonely Friday night. I have a lot of friends coming to town to visit family for Thanksgiving, so I'm trying to free up time for next week. It's going to be an awful rush, but I'm in a damn good spot and optimistic.

Congratulations to Arphahat and Crittias for getting so far so quickly. I have a feeling you two are going to have a much more enjoyable Thanksgiving than most NaNo competitors. Sucks about the office though Crittias.

Thanks! As long as I don't go to sleep before I start writing time, I should be in good shape. :)

I liked the excerpt, it really does capture the frustration of learning a new language.

Good luck with your words. The only advice I have is don't give up when it feels overwhelming and impossible. What really help me was making sure to get at least 1667 words. That way, at least I didn't fall behind an extra day, and it is easy to try to push for higher counts once you are there. Keep the optimism up!

[shunoshi]

So who's still trying to get to 50k by the end of the month? Or is it just Crittias and Arphahat, with me lagging behind?

I tried to fight the good fight but was K.I.A.

I'm still writing, when I get the chance. I'm sitting at a mere 15,200 words, but that's more than I've written in 15 years. I'll see this novel to the end, just not by December 1st. ;) I hand it to Crittias and Arphahat. This is a rigorous time table and you're both sticking to it. Great job!

No regrets for me; I think NaNo is a phenomenal exercise in discipline and is a great way to learn about your inner writer.

I'll be ready to try again next year for sure.

[Crittias]

I tried to fight the good fight but was K.I.A.

I'm still writing, when I get the chance. I'm sitting at a mere 15,200 words, but that's more than I've written in 15 years. I'll see this novel to the end, just not by December 1st. ;) I hand it to Crittias and Arphahat. This is a rigorous time table and you're both sticking to it. Great job!

No regrets for me; I think NaNo is a phenomenal exercise in discipline and is a great way to learn about your inner writer.

I'll be ready to try again next year for sure.I'm glad to hear you'll keep working on your manuscript. Maybe January 1st is a more realistic deadline for you?

I'm just making sure I write 2k/day, NO MATTER WHAT. That means writing on days where I don't feel like, don't feel inspired, don't feel well, etc., etc. Now that I've kept it up for 20+ days, I find that the idea of writing 700-1000 words is actually quite trivial. And my plan is to keep writing or revising every day, into perpetuity. Create a new habit and stick with it, y'know?

[Arphahat]

I tried to fight the good fight but was K.I.A.

I'm still writing, when I get the chance. I'm sitting at a mere 15,200 words, but that's more than I've written in 15 years. I'll see this novel to the end, just not by December 1st. ;) I hand it to Crittias and Arphahat. This is a rigorous time table and you're both sticking to it. Great job!

No regrets for me; I think NaNo is a phenomenal exercise in discipline and is a great way to learn about your inner writer.

I'll be ready to try again next year for sure.

It took me a couple of years to finally get into it right. Knowing what to expect and what will be hard for me made it easier for me to know where to focus my efforts.

I'm glad to hear you'll keep working on your manuscript. Maybe January 1st is a more realistic deadline for you?

I'm just making sure I write 2k/day, NO MATTER WHAT. That means writing on days where I don't feel like, don't feel inspired, don't feel well, etc., etc. Now that I've kept it up for 20+ days, I find that the idea of writing 700-1000 words is actually quite trivial. And my plan is to keep writing or revising every day, into perpetuity. Create a new habit and stick with it, y'know?

I was thinking something along a similar line, but I was going to drop the word total down to something that truly trivial and easy to me, something like 500 words. That way, I'll still have time for the other things I love (oh, TF2, how I miss you...) but I'll also still be producing something I feel is worthwhile.

[Crittias]

I was thinking something along a similar line, but I was going to drop the word total down to something that truly trivial and easy to me, something like 500 words.

Interesting idea, cutting the word count, but...I'm going to say, "No." You do not have permission from em. I expect 1,667 words a day from you, from now to perpetuity.

[Aggort]

What a day today. I passed 30k

[Arphahat]

Interesting idea, cutting the word count, but...I'm going to say, "No." You do not have permission from em. I expect 1,667 words a day from you, from now to perpetuity.

Aw man. Thought I'd sneak one by the prof. OK, I'll see what I can do. :)

What a day today. I passed 30k

Awesome! Keep it up!

[Crittias]

What a day today. I passed 30kSweet! If you write 2,222 words a day (plus the words "The End") you'll hit 50k by the last day!

[Arphahat]

I have about 14k left as I begin tonight. My hope is to knock the rest of this off this weekend, so I'll divvy the rest across the three days. I'm hoping for a (personal) record setting day of 4149 tonight, leaving 5k per day.

It should be doable, but I am running into the problem where I have most of the story pieces in place, and am trying to add missing details and trying to fix things that maybe don't make as much sense as I'd like.

I do have a place where I think I need to include some big piece because it doesn't flow right. And, I need to make the descent down the infested hotel more interesting, since I can see now that it is pretty uneventful.

OK, back to work.

[Generation ABXY]

I tried to fight the good fight but was K.I.A.

I'm still writing, when I get the chance. I'm sitting at a mere 15,200 words, but that's more than I've written in 15 years. I'll see this novel to the end, just not by December 1st. ;) I hand it to Crittias and Arphahat. This is a rigorous time table and you're both sticking to it. Great job!

No regrets for me; I think NaNo is a phenomenal exercise in discipline and is a great way to learn about your inner writer.

I'll be ready to try again next year for sure.

I want to second this post in every respect (well, apart from the word count, of course) - I won't make it now, but I intend to eventually and I also want to applaud every one who tried (especially Crittias and Arphahat). :)

[Arphahat]

Whew. OK, tonight was pretty good. I didn't get to the 4k+ I had hoped for, but I did get in 3150, bringing me to 39,001.

I need to average 5500 for the next two days to finish this weekend. As I normally spend most of the weekend with my wife and five year old daughter, it will be tricky finding extra time. It looks like my evenings can get my about 3k or so if I push, so I need to find time for an extra 2.5k.

My fallback plan is to rely on Monday and maybe Tuesday to finish up. But, I'd really like to crank this out and be able to say that I won already.

[Arphahat]

OK, OK... I'm up, I'm up.

Thinking about it, my strategy for today will include a little of what I was suggesting I would do on a daily basis, but multiple times a day. Since 500 words seems like not too much effort to me now, I am hoping that I can find a number of times during the day to take short breaks and whip out 500 words at a time. Rest assured that I will keep you all informed on how well that works.

[Crittias]

I was 5 minutes late last night getting my 2k for the day. Booo.
My goal is to finish my 50k by Sunday. I'm at 45,742 right now. If I pace things correctly, I'll get my 50,000th word at our weekly write-in, which would be fun.

[Arphahat]

I was 5 minutes late last night getting my 2k for the day. Booo.
My goal is to finish my 50k by Sunday. I'm at 45,742 right now. If I pace things correctly, I'll get my 50,000th word at our weekly write-in, which would be fun.

Hey, how are the write-ins? I've wondered about them, but really didn't have the opportunity to try to get to one. Is it easier to write when you are surrounded by others who are also trying? For whatever reason, the idea seemed like it would be distracting to me.

Just passed 40k with my second "500" burst. Hoping to get 2-3 more mini writing sessions in prior to my daughter's 8pm bedtime. It will be my only hope at finishing this weekend.

[Arphahat]

My mini-burst plan worked well enough, getting me a little over 1500 words during the day. I am starting the evening with 40561 and am hoping to get as close to 45k tonight as I can.

The problem I am encountering now is that most of the things I think I want in the story are there. There are opportunities to patch some things up and add details here and there, but there isn't one section that really needs to be expanded, so the words might come more slowly.

I think I am going to see if there is someplace I could wedge another subplot of sorts. There are things that I know need to be rethought and moved to more logical places; I've resisted moving them, but I might do so if I think it will help me see what else needs to be written, still.

A final note: I am amazed that I still have a strong desire to just quit, that thoughts of "there isn't any value to this and that it can't be done" still go through my head, even though I have less than 10k left before the end.

[Crittias]

Hey, how are the write-ins? I've wondered about them, but really didn't have the opportunity to try to get to one. Is it easier to write when you are surrounded by others who are also trying? For whatever reason, the idea seemed like it would be distracting to me.

They can be very distracting, or very fruitful. It depends a lot on the atmosphere that's initially established. Our Sunday write-ins have bursts of quiet writing, followed by bursts of socializing and cracking jokes. I don't attend them for serious wordcount expansion, I go to chat with other NaNoers and have a good time while I'm writing.

[Arphahat]

3,709 today, putting me at 42,710. I think the mini-bursts helped, but it is clear that I'm not going to finish by Sunday night. If I can hit 3645 for the next two days, I'll be done Monday.

It was tough tonight, until I realized it was time to start my third pass. I am now to the point where I can no longer avoid describing the landlady and how my protagonist went about looking for an apartment. The dinner party I glossed over now clearly needs to be described. All things that are worthwhile and add some depth to the story, but... let's just say it is no where near as much fun as writing about zombies attacking helicopters. :)

[Crittias]

All things that are worthwhile and add some depth to the story, but... let's just say it is no where near as much fun as writing about zombies attacking helicopters. :)Ah, so now your challenge as an author is how to make things like the landlady and the dinner party more fun to describe.

For instance, if the landlady is particularly unusual in appearance, might someone recognize her later in zombie form? That would add some interesting color to your story.

If the dinner party involved costumes or particular hor d'oeuvres, can they show up again in a later scene? A bunch of zombies in party hats throwing pigs-in-a-blanket at the survivors?

Have fun with every scene. Otherwise, what's the point?

[Crittias]

48,542 as of 12:51AM. Tomorrow will be my 50k day. Still a long way from finished, but 50k is gonna feel GOOD!

[Arphahat]

48,542 as of 12:51AM. Tomorrow will be my 50k day. Still a long way from finished, but 50k is gonna feel GOOD!

Congrats! Celebrate it!

Now that I am near the end, it is a cool feeling to know that I am going to win. Not that I might, but that I am, for sure, going to win. Interestingly enough, once I hit my routine and could calculate when I was going to catch up and pass the necessary daily average, I knew then that I was going to win. The rest of this is a formality. :)

Ah, so now your challenge as an author is how to make things like the landlady and the dinner party more fun to describe.

For instance, if the landlady is particularly unusual in appearance, might someone recognize her later in zombie form? That would add some interesting color to your story.

If the dinner party involved costumes or particular hor d'oeuvres, can they show up again in a later scene? A bunch of zombies in party hats throwing pigs-in-a-blanket at the survivors?

Have fun with every scene. Otherwise, what's the point?

Oh, I know. In fact, all along, the details of these situations have lead to revelations about the world of my story, and have provided good opportunities to expand on areas that weren't obviously related to the current details.

For instance, I wasn't sure what went on exactly at the dinner party, but discovered that there was a loud conversation between a couple of the supporting characters that supports some events that follow later.

It all is fun to write, but it is the point at actually deciding to write it that I don't yet realize that. :)

[VerseD]

I meant to get to 35,000 words today, but made the mistake of buying Left 4 Dead. Still, I got 2500 words out, which means 17,500 to go and about 2200 a day. I'm sort of resigning myself to the idea of finishing this story the last day. Besides, I always work better on deadline.

Pre-emptive congratulations to Crittias on getting to 50,000 words. You should definitely celebrate, because that's a big accomplishment. Now comes the hard part -- keeping the write-daily habit alive after November.

I liked the excerpt, it really does capture the frustration of learning a new language.

Good luck with your words. The only advice I have is don't give up when it feels overwhelming and impossible. What really help me was making sure to get at least 1667 words. That way, at least I didn't fall behind an extra day, and it is easy to try to push for higher counts once you are there. Keep the optimism up!

Thanks for the compliments and advice. I definitely took a turn for discouraged towards the beginning when I started late and in the middle when 50k looked overwhelming. It's nice to see everything come down to a manageable amount at the end.

[Crittias]

50,501. I'm actually short a few words for today's count, but I don't care. 50k, woohoo!

Tomorrow, however, I'm back to it. 60k by Friday.

[Arphahat]

50,501. I'm actually short a few words for today's count, but I don't care. 50k, woohoo!

Tomorrow, however, I'm back to it. 60k by Friday.

Yay! Awesome job! Congrats! Make sure you savor it, then get back to work! ;)

I'm not surprised that my goal of finishing this weekend didn't come to fruition: the word counts I was shooting for were much higher than I had been doing all along and I didn't see much way to increase it in the time I had.

At this very moment, I am at 44,792 and am going to get to 45,500 before bed tonight. 4,500 is outside of the range that I've been able to reach, but I know that 2,250 is very doable. I should be able to hit 50k EOD Tuesday (or Wednesday morning, since it tends to be pretty late when I finish most nights.)

[Arphahat]

OK, got to 45,514 (though NaNoWriMo.org annoyingly reports 45,456... I wonder how they calculate?) for a total of 2,804 tonight. One more strong day and the final day should be pretty easy, though I am going to try to get a couple hundred extra to offset the count discrepancy.

[Generation ABXY]

50,501. I'm actually short a few words for today's count, but I don't care. 50k, woohoo!

Tomorrow, however, I'm back to it. 60k by Friday.

Ah, congrats, Crittias! I was very interested in the story, so I'm looking forward to the final version; be sure to let us know if you do get it published. :)

Oh, and on my end, Dell finally managed to get someone here to fix my computer. No more memory parity fail(for now)! Any bets on whether or not I can cover the several thousand word deficit I have between now and Sunday? :p

[Crittias]

Any bets on whether or not I can cover the several thousand word deficit I have between now and Sunday? :pI'm sure you can catch up. Your deficit is entirely due to parity errors, right? :)

I forced myself to write 2k today. It would have been easy to give myself a day off, but that's a slippery slope. I could see myself completely falling off pace that way. So, it's 2k/day, no matter what!

I'll be happy to share the manuscript once I finish it and give a quick pass-through.

[Arphahat]

Any bets on whether or not I can cover the several thousand word deficit I have between now and Sunday? :p

I don't know your exact deficit, but if you hit find a groove, it can sometimes carry you a long, long way. Don't give up! Good luck. :)

I forced myself to write 2k today. It would have been easy to give myself a day off, but that's a slippery slope. I could see myself completely falling off pace that way. So, it's 2k/day, no matter what!

Showoff! :p Good job, as always!

OK, now for my nightly word count report: Started at 45,514 and really had to struggle and fight to get myself to even start tonight; I've been so excited about almost being at the end that it is disappointing when I remember, "Oh yeah, I still have to finish writing it."

So after pushing and really making myself do it, I was able to hit my goal of 2,250 words, and even ended with an extra 33 at 47,797.

I am almost there. Tomorrow, I will write the 2,203 words necessary to win(and then some, since the NaNoWriMo count cheats me out of several words, for whatever reason. So, probably closer to 2,300.)

There are still lots of places that could use some polishing, and that is what I am doing. Filling in gaps, expanding on areas that could use more details, etc.

When I hit 50k, I am going to take a break for Thanksgiving, then I am going to sit down and read the whole thing, from beginning to end. I don't know if this is unusual or not, but because of the way I've been jumping all over the book, I have not actually read the whole thing in order, and am fuzzy on some of the details.

I am sure there are things that I will need to move around, and after reading through and moving the pieces, I suspect it will uncover additional areas that could use polishing.

But, all of that is later. Right now, I just cannot wait to hit the big 50 so I can finally get to bed before 2am. :)

[Crittias]

48
Just validated my 50k wordcount. :cool:

[shunoshi]

48
Just validated my 50k wordcount. :cool:

Congrats!!! I'll be looking forward to trying to claim that prize next year. ;)

I'm still writing every morning, although at the more relaxed pace of 1000 words/day roughly. I find that I can easily accomplish this in the morning before work without much trouble.

Congrats to you as well, Arphahat, since your 50K is immenent.

[Arphahat]

Congrats to you as well, Arphahat, since your 50K is immenent.

Thanks.

Now to the report: I began at 47,797 words tonight with an odd goal of 2,203 words.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1122/nano08winnerlargefn5.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Finished with: 50,033

I feel so awesome that I don't know how to describe it. Relief, joy, satisfaction... just awesome. I can do anything, now. :)

[Crittias]

Nice work, Arphahat! Woohoo!

[Generation ABXY]

Thanks.

Now to the report: I began at 47,797 words tonight with an odd goal of 2,203 words.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1122/nano08winnerlargefn5.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Finished with: 50,033

I feel so awesome that I don't know how to describe it. Relief, joy, satisfaction... just awesome. I can do anything, now. :)

And a hearty congrats to you as well, Arphahat!

[Arphahat]

One biggest differences between this year -- where I actually made progress and completed nano -- and previous years -- where I barely started, or started too late to even really bother -- was participating in an active community.

Before, I was trying to do it by myself without any outlet for troubles and such: I had no one with which to commiserate when it seemed like my novel was stupid and I should just stop. This year, I had you guys in this thread; I wasn't really interested in becoming active in the NaNoWriMo forums and was thankful to have a smaller group that felt more personal.

Just having some place to toss out ideas and ask for suggestions was nice. My obsessing about my word count meant something when I knew that you guys could see it, potentially call me out on it if I stopped posting; amazingly (at least to myself) this was incredibly important for the last 10k, where I was wondering if I should even bother finishing.

So, thanks for the congrats, but more importantly, thanks for chatting with me and accompanying me on this little "journey." Your company made the experience more fun, and the winning more satisfying.

Now, here are some things that interest me. They are the sort of details that I like to read and are included in the case that they might be of some passing interest to someone else:

I wrote my entire novel in Google Docs. As a precautionary measure, every night when I was done, I exported it and saved the novel as PDF format on my computer (for whatever reason, it wouldn't save more than 16k words in doc format). The pdf's did help in one case where it looked like Google Docs had missed a save and I would have lost a couple sentences, but were mostly just there "just-in-case."

I have about 26 pdfs of my novel in different stages, so I can see the history of it. I also have the history function of Google Docs to see when and where I changed elements of the story. I could probably analyze this and look for patterns in how I write, and might do that later on.

While I was writing this in Google Docs and could work on it from any computer with Internet access, the only place I wrote was at home. With the exception of election night, where I sat in front of the TV and watched the coverage with my wife (as is our tradition) and wrote using my laptop, almost my entire novel was written on my desktop in our home office. I abandoned the idea of writing in front of the TV when I only had about 100 words to show for that evening. With the exception of about 3k or so words, all of my novel was written between the times of 8pm and 2am EST.

One of my motivating factors was my daily word count log. Starting at about 9k, I recorded my start value, my desired goal and total counts, my minimum goal and total counts, and then my final value. I would periodically update the final value ("current") during the course of the evening and would use calculator to see how close I was to each of my goals: this turned out to be a very helpful motivator. If anyone is interested, I've "published" the word count doc here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhcjsk3c_36fmq9b7s6

As I have mentioned before, I did not write the novel sequentially. I knew how I wanted it to end, so I wrote that part first: it was revised several times as things changed in the rest of the story. I didn't have a good feel for the beginning, so I ended up writing that much closer to the end. I did not have a timeline when I started. When I thought of events that would be interesting to include or make for a good story, I wrote about the event. When I had several of them, I had natural feelings about where it made sense for them to go and would cement them in place. Later, after I had the whole thing in place, I went back and expanded the "cement" with more details.

Right before finishing, I checked my word count like I frequently do. It was at 49,997. After I wrote the final blurb and hit the mark, I stopped immediately, though I intend to return and read the whole thing from beginning to end after Thanksgiving. I finished at about 1:10am, EST.

The last couple of days were surprisingly some of the hardest. I thought I had the whole story in place without any room for more detail, and I had a hard time getting myself going. The key to my success was consistency: I don't think I ever had more than about 3,800 words in one day, but writing every day eventually added up.

----------------

And, enough of that. What I want to know, now, is who is next? Who's still game? Time to push! It is really cool on this side of the finish line. Come, join us! *cheers* :)

[Generation ABXY]

Well, I won't be making it. But I'm hoping I'll still be able to find help from you guys even after NaNoWriMo is over.

Next year (whether we do it here once again or not), I'll make sure to plan this properly and well ahead of time - that is to say, nothing last minute and perhaps something in a genre I actually know. ;)

[Crittias]

Alright, I'll post my writing methodology:
I use MS Word. I've toyed with the idea of using GoogleDocs (I use it for lots of other things), but I don't always write at home, and the idea of not being able to access my manuscript if I don't have internet prevented my from making the move away from Word.

I save a different version of my manuscript every day. I archive the old files, back them up to other computers and thumb drives, and every 3-4 days I email the most current version to myself for another off-site backup option.

I write MOST of my story at my desktop computer at home. But I go to write-ins, and restaurants, and coffee-shops, and write. I also write at the office sometimes. I use FolderShare (soon to be MS Live Sync) to keep versions of my NaNo documents current on all of my hardware.

I listen to classical or soundtrack music when writing, or work in silence. No TV or other distractions at home. When I'm out and about, ambient noise tends not to bother me too much, or if it does, I just treat it as color for my attitude while writing.

I use Excel to track wordcount progress. The spreadsheet tracks daily wordcount, cumulative wordcount, how many words I'm ahead/behind, how many days I'm ahead/behind, and what my pace would have to be to achieve my goal, if I worked at a consistent rate from the current day forward. I set a 50k goal and a stretch goal (at the moment, stretch is 60k by the 30th).

It's been great posting here at CoG. I also took advantage of the blog feature as a motivational/communication tool. As a municipal liaison for my town, I end up posting A LOT in my regional forum. I feel like I've gotten to know, both online and in person, almost two dozen local writers this year. That was an unexpected benefit to leading the team, which makes me very happy.

Because I'm writing a longer story (70-80k I think), I've found that my ups and downs didn't align with most other writer's efforts. For instances, I'm finding the 50s to be troublesome. Most people don't write the 50s, so I don't have a lot of basis for why they're hard, or if it'll get better soon.


So, Arpha, you going to post or share your final product once you've read through it? I'd certainly be interested in how things turned out!

[Kielaran]

Congrats on making it guys.

Well, I won't be making it. But I'm hoping I'll still be able to find help from you guys even after NaNoWriMo is over.

Next year (whether we do it here once again or not), I'll make sure to plan this properly and well ahead of time - that is to say, nothing last minute and perhaps something in a genre I actually know. ;)

This is more or less my exact opinion as well. I will keep working on this one and hopefully be well of for next year, unless I decide to start a new novel in the next few months then I would bow out and keep working on my own.

[Arphahat]

Alright, I'll post my writing methodology: *stuff*

So, Arpha, you going to post or share your final product once you've read through it? I'd certainly be interested in how things turned out!

Thanks for sharing! I love the little behind-the-scenes details.

Once I've read through it, I suspect I find some big things out of place and not making sense. In the back of my mind, it is nagging at me a little. Once I rearrange things a little (before I go into full-out revision mode), I'd love to share.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

After this month, I'll have a semester free of school, I think I will try my own 50,000 word story in one of those months to try perfecting a methodology like you guys have. It would be great if their were several months a year that Nanowrimo happened, I'm really anxious to give it another shot.

Congrats guys.

[shunoshi]

It would be great if their were several months a year that Nanowrimo happened, I'm really anxious to give it another shot.

This is my thought exactly. November is a horribly busy month for me. I would love if they did a winter and summer NaNo. June would be a great month for it.

[Crittias]

It would be great if their were several months a year that Nanowrimo happened, I'm really anxious to give it another shot.I've done my own private NaNo before. I wrote 50k during the month of June while I was stuck in VA after my wife had moved to KS.

If you want to do it on your own, or with some small support from the folks here, I say go for it!

[Generation ABXY]

With so many people (myself included) on board with the idea, I suggest a new thread: NotSoNaNoWriMo. :D

[VerseD]

Congratulations on the victories Crittias and Arphahat, and thanks for the background info. It's always interesting to get a picture of someone else's writing process. I'm starting at 41,000 words today and going for 3000 for the next three days to finish in time. A little hectic, but definitely manageable.

[Arphahat]

Congratulations on the victories Crittias and Arphahat, and thanks for the background info. It's always interesting to get a picture of someone else's writing process. I'm starting at 41,000 words today and going for 3000 for the next three days to finish in time. A little hectic, but definitely manageable.

3k words / day is doable. You are so close. Go! Go! Go! :D

How did you do for today? Did you hit your mark? Don't give up!

Re: Everyone thinking about a different month for a private nano: I think that is a great idea! My entire support for this month was right here, so I think a small group is a possible motivation.

But, before you start planning for that, some of you are close enough where it might barely be within the realm of possibility to get it done. Abuse yourselves and try to get to the 50k mark, as unlikely as you think it is. November isn't done, yet. :)

We can talk about next month later. :)

[VerseD]

Turns out there's actually only 30 days in November. I didn't realize until I told my genius schedule to someone that Monday is December 1, not November 31. Whatever, it'll be done one day earlier.

I wrote 4500 words today and will do the same tomorrow. I'm at 45,500 words, have two chapters to go, and know where everything is going. It'll feel good to just write it and be done, even though I have a lot that needs to be edited, expanded, cut, etc.

Arphahat is right -- this thread is a great support network. It's helpful to bounce ideas around, hear how other people are managing the writing load, and get a kind bit of criticism every now and then.

Also, I wrote a creation myth for the alien Taurians in my story and posted it in my blog (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=513). Thanks again guys.

I suggest a new thread: NotSoNaNoWriMo. :D

CogNoWriMo?

[Arphahat]

Turns out there's actually only 30 days in November. I didn't realize until I told my genius schedule to someone that Monday is December 1, not November 31. Whatever, it'll be done one day earlier.

Yeah, oops! I was away for a couple of days and didn't realize when you posted exactly. It was only today that I realized that you were off by a day. Good for you in getting in the extra words, anyway!

[Arphahat]

Oh, and I've made a copy of my story after finishing it. I'm going to read through and edit and revise and such, but anyone who is interested in seeing how it looks right now can PM me their email address and I will add him or her as a viewer of the doc on Google Docs.

Heck, it might be inspirational to see how disjointed and contradictory a winning entry can be. :)

Edit: Also, I know it needs a lot of work, but don't hold back on the criticism. Don't treat it like a holy relic; instead, consider it something that won't be worth anything unless you rip it to shreds. :)

[Crittias]

Arpha, once you've given your story the first editorial passthrough, holler at me. I'd be happy to read it, but I know if I read it in-the-raw I'll get too caught up in little technicalities that are easy for you to fix but hard for me to ignore. After a quick edit from you, I'll be able to focus on more important things like characterization and plot elements.

[Arphahat]

Arpha, once you've given your story the first editorial passthrough, holler at me. I'd be happy to read it, but I know if I read it in-the-raw I'll get too caught up in little technicalities that are easy for you to fix but hard for me to ignore. After a quick edit from you, I'll be able to focus on more important things like characterization and plot elements.

Thanks, I'll definitely take you up on that! As it is, it really is a good example of how a novel doesn't have to be perfect to qualify to win, and I am having a hard time reading through without wanting to start fixing things. :)

[VerseD]

http://www.nanowrimo.org/sites/all/themes/nanowrimo/wordcount/nano_08_winner_viking_120x90.jpg

I passed 50,000 words and finished my first draft with 5 hours to go. It definitely feels good to be done, although I am noticing a lot that needs to be edited. Like the other winners have, I guess I'll say something about how I wrote.

I saw NaNoWriMo as an exercise and a way to improve my writing. I tend to outline everything about the plot when I write. For this novel, I wanted to stay fluid and in character, to practice storytelling and not organization. I wrote everything but the ending chronologically, starting at the beginning and figuring things out as I went.

I came up with a good idea for the climax halfway through and wrote it down, and the rest of the writing process I tried to steer the plot towards that port. It kind of limited where I went and I struggled with giving the main character a good motive, but I wouldn't end it any other way.

Writing chronologically does lead to problems. As I neared completion I realized that some earlier parts needed to be changed, expanded, or created to make the most sense and be the most suspenseful. That's something for the editing process, though, and I didn't let the inconsistencies bother me.

As for the writing itself, I wrote mostly at nights. I had a set goal every day, but sometimes wrote more or less than that goal. I went for at least 1600 words, but some days settled for as little as 300 if I didn't have much time. I wrote on my PC in my room and on a laptop around the house in Microsoft Word with tons of OCD formatting.

The last few days were a race to the finish. I had two days and 10,000 words to go, but I treated it as a challenge instead of impossible. Winning requires nothing more than determination and self-sacrifice, and it's a great way to improve your writing and produce something to be proud of.

Congratulations again to everyone who won, and good work to everyone who even attempted. Thank the Sun this month is over.

[Arphahat]

Awesome! Congrats! Woo hoo! :D

[Crittias]

Nice work, VerseD! Another one to cross the finish line!

I managed to hit my personal word goal of 60k today. I still have roughly 10-15k of story to tell, I think, so I'm going to keep at it until the story is done.

[shunoshi]

Congrats VerseD, glad to see you pulled through in the end.

I'm interested in reading copies of all of your manuscripts once you have the first edit done. I'll gladly pass mine around...when it's finally finished...it's going to take a bit yet. :o

CogNoWriMo?

Genius!

[VerseD]

I'd like to edit my story this month so its good enough to print. They have information on the free printed copies of 2008 novels on the NaNoWriMo Web site (http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/3140929).

CreateSpace, an Amazon.com Inc. owned company, is generously offering every NaNoWriMo 2008 winner a "free proof copy" of their 2008 manuscript. What this means: A free proof copy of your manuscript in paperback book form---just by following the instructions below. They'll even cover the costs of basic shipping to you.

To redeem the offer, you'll need a special NaNoWriMo winner's promo code. If you are a 2008 winner, you'll be able to collect your code on this page at noon, Pacific time, on December 3. We need to finalize the 2008 winner's list before we begin distributing the codes. To get your promo code, you must be an official NaNoWriMo 2008 winner, and be signed into the NaNoWriMo site. Once you are, your unique promo code will be displayed at the bottom of this paragraph starting December 3. Note that this code will not be used in the "referral code" box when setting up a CreateSpace account, but will instead be used after you've uploaded your manuscript and are actually ordering your proof copy.

As soon as you have your code, here's how you will go about using it:

1) Go to http://www.createspace.com/nanowrimo and create a free member account. If you already have an account, just sign into it.

2) Set up your title: you will be asked to fill in information such as title, author name, page count, etc. CreateSpace now has new tools to help you create a cover, format your text and complete your title!

3) Submit your title: make sure that your title's information is accurate and complies with CreateSpace's Submission Requirements.

4) When everything's uploaded and perfect, just request a proof copy and use the above discount code at check out. Presto!

After you receive your proof copy, you can then choose if you want to make it available to the public at large—everything from showing up for sale on Amazon.com to complete invisibility.

The one thing I want to know is if there's a time limit to when we can send in our manuscripts. I want to do as much editing as possible.

[Crittias]

I don't believe there is a time limit on the CreateSpace offer.

[VerseD]

That's almost worse. Now I'll never want to send anything in. Just one more read through...

[Crittias]

Uh...there's a 60-day trial period!! Yeah, that's it!

:)

Got another 2400 words written today. Resisting the siren call of L4D is challenging, but I'm doing a good job of interspersing my play time with writing.

[Arphahat]

That's almost worse. Now I'll never want to send anything in. Just one more read through...

Hey... get your shit done by end of December! None of this 60-day nonsense. ;)

Got another 2400 words written today. Resisting the siren call of L4D is challenging, but I'm doing a good job of interspersing my play time with writing.

Hey, hey, hey! It's over. Come on! Stop. *starts to walk away, looks back at clickity-clackity noise* No, really now! It's December! ;)

[shunoshi]

Resisting the siren call of L4D is challenging, but I'm doing a good job of interspersing my play time with writing.

Teach me how this is done, oh wise one. L4D and Gears 2 have full control over me. :p

[Crittias]

L4D games lend themselves to a relatively short playtime (roughly an hour or two, depending on whether you're playing campaign or versus mode). I play one session, then get back to writing. When I've written for an hour or two, I play another session.

[Arphahat]

From the site: This code is good until June 1, 2009.

So, it doesn't last forever, but long enough to get a reasonable amount of editing done.

[Crittias]

I'm getting close to the end of my story. I think it'll probably happen either today or tomorrow.

After I write the last line, I'll start going back through and patching the major plotholes. Once I've made those major changes, I'll probably start sharing it with anyone who wants to read/critique.

I also submitted my manuscript from last year for self-publication. I'm trying both CreateSpace and Lulu to see if their offerings differ much in terms of quality. I'll report back here when I have more info.

[Arphahat]

I'm getting close to the end of my story. I think it'll probably happen either today or tomorrow.

After I write the last line, I'll start going back through and patching the major plotholes. Once I've made those major changes, I'll probably start sharing it with anyone who wants to read/critique.

I also submitted my manuscript from last year for self-publication. I'm trying both CreateSpace and Lulu to see if their offerings differ much in terms of quality. I'll report back here when I have more info.

That's cool! Congrats on being so close to being done. And, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your self-publication efforts. I miss reading and writing about our daily writing efforts.

The more I think about my story, the less I think that it is anywhere near worth publishing in its current form. I've been having a hard time making time for reading through it, but from what I remember, it needs lots of help. I think I will read through, maybe make a couple of quick changes and share it, but I don't know that I will continue much beyond that (unless I am way off base and the feedback here tells me otherwise.)

[Generation ABXY]

I'm getting close to the end of my story. I think it'll probably happen either today or tomorrow.

After I write the last line, I'll start going back through and patching the major plotholes. Once I've made those major changes, I'll probably start sharing it with anyone who wants to read/critique.

I also submitted my manuscript from last year for self-publication. I'm trying both CreateSpace and Lulu to see if their offerings differ much in terms of quality. I'll report back here when I have more info.

Awesome, Crittias! Good luck with all that, and I look forward to seeing what you'll have shaped the final product into.

As for my own NaNoWriMo project, it is officially on the back burner; who knows, after another year of stewing on it, maybe I'll pick it up again next November. Either way, the lure of PRE was just to great, and so I've started applying the lessons of this little exploit to it (mostly that means taking every side story I cut for being superfluous, and putting it back into the story).

[Crittias]

Ding!

First draft, at 70,913 words, is now done.

First line(s):
Isaac raised his hands up over his head, baton pointed towards the ceiling. He could feel the sudden quiet fill the hall behind him, the collective intake hundreds of people holding their breath in anticipation, each of them waiting for him to begin. In front of him, the members of the orchestra were also poised and ready. The room was his to command.
Last line(s):
Isaac stared at the floor. “It’s just…” he swallowed, looked up. “It’s just that, you won’t be able to ever hear it.”

Emily smiled at him. “Isaac, I told you once before, I don’t need my implants to hear your music.” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. Then she reached up and placed her own hand on his chest. “I hear it. I hear all of it. Everything. Right here. Clear as a bell.”

Isaac nodded at her. “Then let me play for you.”

And he did.

[Generation ABXY]

Ding!

First draft, at 70,913 words, is now done.

First line(s):
Isaac raised his hands up over his head, baton pointed towards the ceiling. He could feel the sudden quiet fill the hall behind him, the collective intake hundreds of people holding their breath in anticipation, each of them waiting for him to begin. In front of him, the members of the orchestra were also poised and ready. The room was his to command.
Last line(s):
Isaac stared at the floor. “It’s just…” he swallowed, looked up. “It’s just that, you won’t be able to ever hear it.”

Emily smiled at him. “Isaac, I told you once before, I don’t need my implants to hear your music.” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. Then she reached up and placed her own hand on his chest. “I hear it. I hear all of it. Everything. Right here. Clear as a bell.”

Isaac nodded at her. “Then let me play for you.”

And he did.

Oh, I'm all a-tingle. I must read this. :)

[VerseD]

Congratulations on finishing your first draft Crittias. 70,000 words in five weeks is not bad at all.

[Crittias]

I have Fallout 3 sitting on my desk.

The shrinkwrap, however, has not been removed. And I will not let myself remove it until I finish my first edit and get this manuscript out to my first wave of readers.

Talk about motivation! :)

[Arphahat]

I have Fallout 3 sitting on my desk.

The shrinkwrap, however, has not been removed. And I will not let myself remove it until I finish my first edit and get this manuscript out to my first wave of readers.

Talk about motivation! :)

That is a smart idea, and the right amount of motivation. Probably much easier to continue in that frame of mind than to stop and try to restart. I am having a hard time pulling myself away from all the fun things I like to do long enough to even read my story. And, the longer I do this, the more I am convinced that it isn't worth reading/editing. I'm hoping to use this Friday to get through mine.

[shunoshi]

And, the longer I do this, the more I am convinced that it isn't worth reading/editing. I'm hoping to use this Friday to get through mine.

Bah! You've made it past the difficult part and now you're going to quit on the easy part of reading/editing? This, sir, is crazy talk. Remember, "you" are your toughest critic. Read, edit, distribute, let us decide if it's worth reading. ;)

[Crittias]

An unrelated update: I received a proof of last year's novel, The Emancipation of Bartholomew Benson, in the mail today from CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/). It's not perfect (I screwed up some formatting and I'm going to increase the font size) but it's still THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER RECEIVED IN THE MAIL. It's my book! In print! WHOA!

Kudos to BrassGecko (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/member.php?u=86), who was nice enough to create the artwork for the cover. It's the best part of the book, no doubt.

I'll take a picture or two and post them later.

[Crittias]

Here are some pics of the proof:

57

58

59

60

[shunoshi]

Hot damn, that looks sweet! :D

[VerseD]

Nice book Crittias. That looks damn good.

I have Fallout 3 sitting on my desk.

The shrinkwrap, however, has not been removed. And I will not let myself remove it until I finish my first edit and get this manuscript out to my first wave of readers.

Talk about motivation! :)

I have a similar motivation. I had Fallout 3 on my Xbox 360 and then it red ringed. Now I have no choice but to edit for the next two weeks. It's pretty cool.

[VerseD]

And, the longer I do this, the more I am convinced that it isn't worth reading/editing.

The writing may be the most time-consuming part, and the editing the most tedious, but I think letting people read and criticize your work is the hardest part of writing.

Nevertheless, you should definitely let people read your story. They'll tell you what works and what needs to be repaired.

[Crittias]

I forgot the back cover:

61

[Arphahat]

Crittias, that is awesome looking! Very, very cool.

The coolness of Crittias' book plus the on-the-mark comments from you guys combine to make me really want to finish this. I want something that cool. :)

[Crittias]

Alright, first edit is now DONE.

So, who wants to read it? If you're interested, just send me a private message here, or email me at ted.boone@gmail.com

Please specify if you have any formatting preferences (single vs. double-spaced, Word document, PDF file, whatever) and I'll do my best to accommodate everyone.

I'll be looking for any and all feedback, the more the better. If you just want to read it for fun, that's fine, too. I'll trust that whoever reads it will keep it confidential on my behalf...unless you have a good friend in the publishing business!! ;)

[Arphahat]

Alright, first edit is now DONE.

So, who wants to read it? If you're interested, just send me a private message here, or email me at ted.boone@gmail.com

Please specify if you have any formatting preferences (single vs. double-spaced, Word document, PDF file, whatever) and I'll do my best to accommodate everyone.

I'll be looking for any and all feedback, the more the better. If you just want to read it for fun, that's fine, too. I'll trust that whoever reads it will keep it confidential on my behalf...unless you have a good friend in the publishing business!! ;)

I sent you a PM. I'd definitely like to read your story. Don't worry, I'll make sure my criticism makes you cry. ;)

[BrassGecko]

An unrelated update: I received a proof of last year's novel, The Emancipation of Bartholomew Benson, in the mail today from CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/). It's not perfect (I screwed up some formatting and I'm going to increase the font size) but it's still THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER RECEIVED IN THE MAIL. It's my book! In print! WHOA!

Kudos to BrassGecko (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/member.php?u=86), who was nice enough to create the artwork for the cover. It's the best part of the book, no doubt.

I'll take a picture or two and post them later.

You are too kind! I AM really pleased with how it looks though. :D

I'm looking forward to finally reading this story, that blurb on the back cover has had me intrigued for weeks now.

[Crittias]

You are too kind! I AM really pleased with how it looks though. :D

I'm looking forward to finally reading this story, that blurb on the back cover has had me intrigued for weeks now.

I need you to read this year's story and design a cover for that as well. Rather than suggest something, I might just have you read the story and see what you come up with. A challenge, woohoo!

[Arphahat]

I need you to read this year's story and design a cover for that as well. Rather than suggest something, I might just have you read the story and see what you come up with. A challenge, woohoo!

Oooh! You up for doing this for me, too, Gecko? I'd totally say nice things about you if you did.

[Generation ABXY]

PM'ed you as well.

Also, the book looks great. That's the sort of thing you should carry around all the time, waiting for people to ask you about it. Then you can say, "Oh, just a little book by...ME! Ha, ha, suckers!" Or something like that. :p

[BrassGecko]

I need you to read this year's story and design a cover for that as well. Rather than suggest something, I might just have you read the story and see what you come up with. A challenge, woohoo!

Oooh! You up for doing this for me, too, Gecko? I'd totally say nice things about you if you did.

That's definitely doable! Send me your stories when you're happy with them, and I'll see what I can come up with. Same terms for credit and design use apply, as mentioned in my blog entry. (Just mentioning it to have it said, not because I think either of you would be jerks about it!)