NaNoWriMo 2006

[Eran of Arcadia]

Good luck. And name a minor character Fleebmat Stigbool.

I think I will, although I will spell it differently.

The good news: after months of anticipation, the day has arrived!

The bad news: my computer is in the shop and I don't have home internet access yet. But both should be fixed shortly and in the meantime I will ask my roommate if I can start on his computer.

 

[Elrohir]

It's started!

Unfortunately, my story idea didn't come to me until Sunday, so I'm a little lacking in the planning department. 600 words in, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

Well, if I can get 10,000 words, then I'll be greatly pleased - that's about 9,000 more than I've managed to get to before!

 

[Yuri2356]

If I spliced some posts on the forum togeather, and added some connecting fluff, I could probably hit 10,000 rather quickly.

Either that, or just start something fresh that's set in my established universe.

However, I'm quite occupied as it is for the month of November, so I'd have to take this up annother day.

 

[puglover]

Well, I'm not specifically writing for the NaNoWriMo, but I am writing a novel. It's the third of a trilogy of fantasy novels. The last two were 65,000 words apiece, but I'm only 3,000 into my current project.

 

[Pasi Nurminen]

Well, I'm not specifically writing for the NaNoWriMo, but I am writing a novel. It's the third of a trilogy of fantasy novels. The last two were 65,000 words apiece, but I'm only 3,000 into my current project.

That's cool, have you made any effort to get published? I'm curious because I'd like to know more about the publishing process.

 

[puglover]

That's cool, have you made any effort to get published? I'm curious because I'd like to know more about the publishing process.

Yeah, I've made some efforts. Just recently, I sent a query letter to an agent at Writer's House to get his representation, and he said he'd like the first 50 pages. I've been really blessed so far, and I'll have a reply from the agent in another two weeks or so.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I finally started yesterday, after getting my computer back. 3564 words in about 2-3 hours. And now I realize I am not all that good at writing - my dialogue is terrible, I think. but NaNo is about quantity, not quality, and I can worry about fixing it later.

 

[Pasi Nurminen]

I'm good at writing but terrible at dialogue, so I keep it to a minimum when I can.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

It is to be expected that my dialogue is bad - it is in real life as well, apparently. I just need to think out what people really say in my head before I write it, but now I am in a hurry so I don't. And it occurs to me that I don't have all that much of a plot. But it's okay - today I will do a huge chunk of backstory all at once.

 

[puglover]

It is to be expected that my dialogue is bad - it is in real life as well, apparently. I just need to think out what people really say in my head before I write it, but now I am in a hurry so I don't. And it occurs to me that I don't have all that much of a plot. But it's okay - today I will do a huge chunk of backstory all at once.

I go to this website for writing advice. Maybe the articles can help you too.
http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/index.shtml

I finally started yesterday, after getting my computer back. 3564 words in about 2-3 hours. And now I realize I am not all that good at writing - my dialogue is terrible, I think. but NaNo is about quantity, not quality, and I can worry about fixing it later.

Whoa. That's a lot of writing. I'm awful at writing for speed. I normally get in a mere 500 words every day.

 

[Azash]

Not in NaNoWriMo, but I'm participating in Wizards of the Coast's annual write-up, as well as some short-story competition for Fennoswede youth.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Okay, my home computer finally has internet access. So now anyone who follows the link in my sig can read an excerpt from my book and see my mad l33t skills. Of course, I just realized that what I posted is the boring backstory that makes up the first chapter. (I ended up swapping the first and second chapters - the backstory started out in chapter 2.)

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

So, would anyone like to read my excerpt and tell me what they think? I am not so much interested in the quality of the writing as in the quality of the ideas. And like I said, this is Boring Backstory Central here (although I had to cut some out to make it fit) and the 'tension' I describe will be driving the plot.

 

[puglover]

So, would anyone like to read my excerpt and tell me what they think? I am not so much interested in the quality of the writing as in the quality of the ideas. And like I said, this is Boring Backstory Central here (although I had to cut some out to make it fit) and the 'tension' I describe will be driving the plot.

Sounds like a fine enough backstory (first contact is cool) but your excerpt doesn't really say where the plot is going, or even who the main characters are, so I'm afraid I can't give you a good critique. Could you tell me what you plan to have happen next?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I don't know the next step. In fact, I need to figure out what I am going to write today. I will go further into the war, through the eyes of generals on each side (who will become far more important as the story progresses) and delve into US politics, to show the problems the country is facing. I will introduce a movement that will attempt to bring reform to the country.

I may change the exerpt later. What I have now, I wrote yesterday and originally intended as the second chapter, until I realized it madea lot more sense to switch it with what I had as the first chapter. Since this introduces some of the main characters (but also has redundant backstory), it may be more useful.

But of course, all those years writing history papers for college came back to me last night.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Update:

I have been a little behind lately. Tonight, however, I managed to get about 3700 words in - my highest total yet - without a lot of struggle, in about 2 and a half hours. If I can keep a pace of about 2300 words a day for the next 16 days, I can do it. I somehow managed to avoid CFC - my biggest obstacle to staying focused - the whole time.

 

[Pasi Nurminen]

I'm 12,000 words in, but I'm shooting for around 100,000-125,000 words as 50,000 is absurdly short for a novel and I actually have ambitions of getting published.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

So do I, but I figure if I can get 50K this month that is a good start. I will get the rest after(I am going to go all the way to the end of the novel, and flesh it out/edit it later).

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I only got about 800 yesterday, but I got about 3500 today, and so now my pace is exactly 2500 words per day to finish by the 30th.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Another 3K today in just 2 hours (including break of half hour). I can do about 1K in a half hour under the right circumstances, so I have a good shot. I will do a little more now, then maybe a few thousand more tonight. I passed the halfway point!