NaNoWriMO 2016

[Zkribbler]

I'm curious, why is 75k the bare minimum for a commercially viable novel?

If I recall correctly, it has to do with marketing. It costs sales reps twice as much to market two short books as one large on, It costs less to advertise one long book thab two short books. As I understand things, the "golden spot" is about 120,000 words. Each book needs its own cover design, cover art, etc.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, is there any similarly established/popular/open competition, but about shorter stories?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

There is nothing in the NaNoWriMo rules that prohibit an anthology rather than one long story. They relaxed the rules about such things years ago. So if you wanted to write 5 long short stories or 10 short stories or 50 short short stories (about the length of the Iron Pen stories here) or even 500 drabbles, it's all acceptable.

Word count is what matters to NaNoWriMo. That's not to say that most people don't make the effort to make their stories good as well as the required length. And I did get an email from them about some sort of January activity that involves editing the story written in November (so people can take December to relax and get over Christmas).

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I'm incapable of making anything good.

 

[Zkribbler]

I'm incapable of making anything good.

I don't believe that for an instant.

 

[Zkribbler]

12/20/16. 34,500 words done. My best guess is that my story will end up at 40,000-45,000 words.

Later: The movie I'm parodying has two sequels. If I extend my novel to parody all three movies, then mathematically, 40,000 words * 3 = 120,000 words, which is the optimal number of words that agents and publishers are looking for.

Christmas Day: I hooked up my opening chapters with my ending chapters to make one contiguous novel. I'm at 37,500 words. There's still a few pot holes I have to go back and filling in, but I'll easily be done my New Years.

 

[Zkribbler]

I got involved with NaNoWriMo to get me to start writing again...which happened.
So here I am: 1 month late, 10,000 words under the goal, and I'm counting this as a win. I foresee a great career for me as a government contractor.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Well, the ultimate goal is to develop a habit for writing, so that worked.

 

[Zkribbler]

The movie I'm parodying has two sequels. If I extend my novel to parody all three movies, then mathematically, 40,000 words * 3 = 120,000 words, which is the optimal number of words that agents and publishers are looking for.

The closer a parody is to the original the better the parody works. In the past, I've written parodies that mimic the original work almost scene by scene. But not this time. My work wandered far afield, and thus was not an enjoyable parody. So I've spent the first half of January decoupling my parody from the original. It was a pain, like weeding crabgrass. But now I have a reasonably original work; there are just a few hints of the original movie.

Yes, I still have the skeleton of the movie, but that's okay. Next, I'll be using the skeletons of the plots of the sequels.to create a ~120,000 word novel.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The closer a parody is to the original the better the parody works.

Are you twisting the characters' names a bit, leaving them intact, or giving them new names?

Back in the 1980s/early 90s, I edited the local Star Trek society's fanzine. Two of us collaborated in writing a soap opera parody of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We had loads of fun writing for Third Officer Bill Biker and Helana of Troy (aka First Officer Will Riker and Deanna Troi). In our version he was the Third Officer because of what happened to the First and Second Officers. (Don't ask what happened to them; it was messy.)

 

[Mouthwash]

I've heard really good reviews about NaNoWriMo lately, but I don't fancy waiting another year. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[JohannaK]

there's Camp NaNoWriMos in April and July iirc

 

[Mouthwash]

there's Camp NaNoWriMos in April and July iirc

Anything going on... well, right now? Or within a week? I'm kind of antsy.

 

[Synobun]

Anything going on... well, right now? Or within a week? I'm kind of antsy.

Not unless you participated in the November NaNoWriMo from last year.

Nothing's stopping you from writing now by your own volition.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I've had some emails from NaNoWriMo, and they usually suggest taking January and February to edit things you've written during the previous event(s). As for my NaNo plans, I decided that now that I've proved I can do a hat trick (completing three events in the same year), I want to see if I can do that again, so I know it's not just a one-time accomplishment. I've already started prepping for the April event.

Another thing in one of the emails said something about people being able to track their word count year-round now, for other writing projects. I'll hunt that up ...

Here it is:

New year, new creative goals

Every new year comes with new opportunities. You wrote the first draft of a novel this past November... and now it's time to whip that draft into shape.

This January and February, during NaNoWriMo's "Now What?" Months, we're focusing on revision and publishing: providing tips from published authors, editors, and agents to help you reach even greater creative heights. Are you ready?

To help you on your revision and publishing journey, we're introducing goal trackers on the site!

Set a custom goal of words written or hours spent on a creative project, give yourself a deadline, then keep track of your progress... all year round.

Plus, our recently launched word-sprint tool is still live—and will be there for you year-round so you can kick off your 2017 writing with a burst. Set up a sprint for yourself, or invite friends to write with you!

I checked the site out and they've got a new goal tracker you can set up (I haven't, yet).

 

[Zkribbler]

Are you twisting the characters' names a bit, leaving them intact, or giving them new names?

The movie characters didn't translate well into a high fantasy world, and so I had the pseudo-brilliant idea of replacing them with Seinfeld characters. Postman Newman became necromancer Noman; Steinbrenner became Bierstein; Mr. Pitt became Mr. Phit. But as I say, the double parody was self-defeating.

 

[Zkribbler]

I've heard really good reviews about NaNoWriMo lately, but I don't fancy waiting another year. Is there anything else I can do?

Outline, outline & outline. Participants have an unlimited time to outline but cannot start writing until Nov. 1. I.only found out about NaNoWriMo in late Octorber and thus had no time to outline. I suffered for it.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Outline, outline & outline. Participants have an unlimited time to outline but cannot start writing until Nov. 1. I.only found out about NaNoWriMo in late Octorber and thus had no time to outline. I suffered for it.

There are two other NaNoWriMo events besides in November. The next one will run April 1-30, and is a Camp event. That means the participants may choose their own word count target, as long as it's a minimum of 10,000 words.

That's just 334 words per day, folks. I usually knocked that out in 20 minutes or so, and ended up going more than 5000 words over my target. Mind you, I spent the previous month preparing, with lots of notes and some kind of outline as to where I wanted the story to go (eventually).

 

[Zkribbler]

There are two other NaNoWriMo events besides in November. The next one will run April 1-30, and is a Camp event. That means the participants may choose their own word count target, as long as it's a minimum of 10,000 words.

I'm planning on participating in this. I have some characters for a far-future sci fi for whom I have maybe a half-dozen false starts. I never been able to get a plot to gel. Upon reflection, I now believe if I outline the plot first, things will go well.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It's March 1. Time to start serious prep work for April (I actually started doing that in December, but now it's time to really get serious about it).