NaNoWriMo 2011

AnimalOfAnarchy

Anybody doing it?

For all of those who don't know what it is, NaNoWriMo stands for 'National Novel Writing Month' and it happens every November. Basically, the challenge is that you have to write a novel that's around 50,000 words in a month. It starts on November 1st and ends November 30th.

I've participated three times and done it twice but I've lost the novels because of my computer playing up. This year, however, I'm doing the smart thing and keeping my book on a USB

So, anybody else doing it? Could use this as a motivational thread. My name on there is DudeDazz, befriend me and I'll add you.

NaNoWriMo website

Hope to see some of you on there.

AnimalOfAnarchy

Nobody?

Billy Goodgun

It's a goal of mine to do it eventually, but definitely not this year

I studied the creative writing module at the Open University last year, and am doing their advanced creative writing module this year.  What with a full time job and other commitments, I don't have the time.  But I'm thinking of going on to do a Creative Writing MA, at which point the whole NaNoWriMo thing seems like the perfect way to get a huge kick-start, at least in terms of word-count and bare bones structure.

" first drafts," and all that.

Good luck!

Theydon Bois

Its sounds quite mercenary, but its not meant that way, but what does the writer get out of it?

AnimalOfAnarchy

A challenge and a completed book. I write books (just as a hobby, nothing else) and Nanowrimo helps me concentrate on it and sometimes even helps me get past my writer's block as well. It's just a bit of fun.

Theydon Bois

I have been wriiting for a long time, entirely based on the Dungeons and Dragons campaigns I have been playing in over the last 15 years, and one campaign was approximately 120 chapters long, and the one I am playing in now is another 30.

This was something I wrote for my background story for my character, a Dwarven Cleric called Grassy Knoll....

...I would love to do this, but just cant commit!

AnimalOfAnarchy

Yeah but even if you can't complete it, at least you'd have the beginning of a story. It's quite good for that, I must admit. I think I've worked it out and if you write at least 2,500 words a day, you'd reach it.

Billy Goodgun

I think it works out as 1,667 words per day.  Quite manageable, if you're disciplined.

I think the idea is not necessarily to have a finished, publishable thing, but instead just to get people writing, being creative.

Provided you hit 50,000 words, you'll get a certificate to say you completed NaNoWriMo.  You should also have something that may be very, very rough, but that with some more development work, hard editing and elbow-grease, makes a novel.  In short, the goal is to get a skeleton structure for a more polished piece of work.

More than anything else, it's a kick up the bum for anyone who's ever wanted to write a novel.  It's a promise of sorts, a commitment to writing.

If you really want to get published, the long road starts with NaNoWriMo.

(of course, there are other ways to make yourself write!)

Theydon Bois

....for me it would need to be something like Waterboarding