NaNoWriMo Group Hangout
 

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Reserved.

Yeash, I'm in it and can be found as Kakushigo. And now to see about that 6,000 word marker I have.


(Those who are familiar with the name, yes, it was my cousin's account. She never used it so I got it.)

Not at all Steam.

I'm flying by the seat if my pants, learning things as it pops up so I'll be no help for helpful websites.

Yes, I have. I think I may end up changing it but currently I have a novel going.

I am currently clawing my way through NaNoWriMo. (user: wordybee)

I think this is my worst year since I started doing WriMo in 2005.

Absolutely nothing is coming easily for this one. I mean, usually I at least have some level of verve for the first half of the month, then it gradually wanes until I'm forced to stop at around 30,000 words or so. This year I can barely decide if my "plot" is enough to actually write about.

It's frustrating. :/

I've known about NaNoWriMo for years, but I've never even considered attempting it. I am a frighteningly slow writer -- most of the time due to a lack of motivation to work, but also because I'm an obsessive "architect" when it comes to planning a novel. I need to spend months or even years outlining the plot and ironing out any issues that crop up before I even consider putting pen to paper. I'm also hyper-conscious of word-choice while I'm writing, which slows me down even more.

I do speculate sometimes on what would happen if I disconnected myself from the internet, took away any distractions, and just left myself with writing to occupy myself, since I do waste a lot of time deliberately not working on things. I just know for a fact there's no way I could write a novel in a month. 50,000 words in a year is good for me.

And, no I've never actually completed a novel (well, one, but it doesn't count because I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote it). I'm 50k words into one right now, 20k into another, and have a trilogy on the back burner simmering, but they're all a long way from finishing.

Speaking generally as a writer (I'm much better at talking about writing than actually doing it) I really don't see much promise in the exercise of writing a novel in one month (not that 50k words is really a novel...) There's really not much of a chance of anything good coming out of it, and working at that pace will leave a nightmare of editing behind. I understand the sentiment of getting in the mode of writing every day, and I do think that's a good thing, but I also think it's a waste of writing time in most cases since the finished product has a very low chance of being satisfying to anyone, least of all the writer.

(In case it isn't obvious, I do not at all support the "just write" mentality. Writing is a craft, one that talent is only one aspect of. And like any craft, time and care are rewarded. Rushing isn't a good idea. But, I suppose NaNoWriMo has always been about quantity over quality, anyway.)

And I can babble endlessly about this (English major/Creative Writing minor). Going to stop myself now. :p

Edit: Also, if find some of those tips you linked to rather questionable. I very much advise to *not* turn to RPGs for inspiration for a plot. Even in the context of absolutely-needing-a-plot-and-I-can't-come-up-with-anything, that strikes as a terrible decision. RPG stories, for the most part, are not compatible with the storytelling required for a successful novel. Such books are almost inevitably the lowest common denominator of (usually) fantasy literature and aren't going to impress anyone worth impressing.

(I know that makes me sound like some ivory tower elitist, but I swear I'm not. I actually have a huge problem with "literature" and prefer fantasy above anything else, but only because I have faith that the genre can be more than what R.A. Salvatore makes it to be.)

I have a friend who is trying this, and I would love to give it a shot next year, if I have time.

I think you're sort of under the impression that people write these books and think they're perfect and try to send them off to publication, but they don't. The point of NaNoWriMo is to finish something; "ready for publication" isn't really a factor and everyone who participates in NaNoWriMo is well aware that what they've written isn't ready for outsiders to see. No matter what an author does, he or she is going to need editing - full, every page with a fine-toothed-comb editing. There's little difference, really, between changing one or two misplaced commas on a page and changing an entire sentence. You (or your editor) will be looking at that page anyway, so why not?

This month isn't actually any different from any other time during which a writer attempts to write a novel. The only real difference is that the success rate of completing something is up significantly, even if that something is only the first step in a long, long process.

In my experience, the first draft will always be crap, regardless of whether it's taken thirty days or thirty years. That's what first drafts are for. Even if someone edits as he or she goes, it's still probably going to need more editing in the end.

More than anything, I think that NaNoWriMo helps considerably for those who have never written a book in their lives. It lets them figure out how they should start things, how they should pace things, and how to tie everything up in the end. Yes, they could probably, eventually, some time in the future, complete a novel and figure it all out then, or they could spend a NaNo month writing what will ultimately be a "test novel" and figure it out a whole lot sooner.