OT: NaNoWriMo Anyone?
by Merope on Oct 27, 2011 7:57 PM PDT
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PrintI've been thinking about doing this for several years now, and well, this year seems like a good time. I'll either write a novel, or get a fulltime job offer Nov 2 making it impossible to write a novel so it's win win!
From the website:
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Sooooooo, anybody interested?
I double-dog dare ya!!
This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.
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I’ve tried a few times. Furthest I got was about 26,000 words.
Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
I call him gerald. he’s a pristine white handkerchief, though? nediB eoJ Joe Biden ‽ Joe Biden.
Oh shit, it starts on Tuesday? Not happening.
How is it already almost November??
Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.
I call him gerald. he’s a pristine white handkerchief, though? nediB eoJ Joe Biden ‽ Joe Biden.
By this time last year, it was already November.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 27, 2011 11:47 PM PDT up reply actions
It’s about 6 pages a day.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
Wow.
I’ve written about 55,000 words of new fiction this year. I’ve wanted to do NaNoWriMo, and I still do, but man do I need a much friendlier schedule to do it.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
I might try it this year
But I’d probably end up plagiarizing A Song of Ice and Fire big time.
"Campeones." - Andres Torres
Please follow my Twitter
by Murray, Present on Oct 27, 2011 9:57 PM PDT reply actions
Last year I went 36,000 words......
…but then, that novel was finished in January with just over 102,000 words. My first. Hopefully published soon.
I’m just about ready to go for this year. Gonna do some last-minute research this weekend. Some historical fiction this time around.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 27, 2011 11:20 PM PDT reply actions
Did you get an agent? Who’s your publisher?
I rhyme with freak.
by shanghaijim on Oct 28, 2011 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions
No agent...they're harder to get than publishers...
…right now, the only publisher I’ve got interested is an electronic publisher. I hope we’ll have a deal done by the end of November, because this book would do well in the early part of a year.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 29, 2011 1:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Considering Amazon’s play to cut out publishers altogether/become the publisher, I’ve been considering my options.
I rhyme with freak.
Don’t give in to Amazon, jim! They’re not on your side!
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 31, 2011 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions
I need to get this thing printed and selling while my dad can still see I haven’t been a complete waste of money and raising.
I rhyme with freak.
Well then for the next one, after this, spam the heck out of those small presses because they actually want people to read your book.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 31, 2011 2:32 PM PDT up reply actions
Gah. I’m sounding mean. I’m not trying to be mean.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 31, 2011 2:32 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm actually considering it
I wasn’t going to, but then I ruptured my Achilles tendon, and it’s looking like I’ll be on the 30-day DL out of work for a while, it’s not like I’ll have much else going on.
Not entirely sure what I’d write, though. I might just go with trying to hit the word count goal rather than try to complete a single thing.
I’ve thought about doing this, but there’s always been Thanksgiving with the family getting in the way. we’re not going this year, so it might be possible. But how could I give up all my reading and knitting time to writing?
Just play a Brandon or two, come on!
I’ve figured if I do 7-10 pages a day there will be time for days off. And writing, for me anyway is streaky like that. 20 pages in a day, up til’ midnight, then nothing for a day or two.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
I'm doing it
I try every year, but have never made it past 20k.
I actually wrote a first draft of a novel over the summer, and it came out to about 65k, and took me about two months. I’m in the process of editing it now for my mfaw grad project in december.
Mr. Flibble is very cross.
I’m hoping we can get at least 3 or 4 of us to do it so we can help each other out a bit.
I’m going to sign up on the website today, later.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
I'd be down for that.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 29, 2011 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Thinking about it
I’ve been kicking around my book all goddamn year and generally failing to make sustained progress; a group of people to yap with might be fun.
by Lies and Perfidy on Oct 28, 2011 12:47 PM PDT reply actions
Book help:
Who would you say are some “misunderstood” historical people? I’m reading a fiction book right now on Richard the Third that suggests maybe he wasn’t the awful monster history has made him out to be. I’m thinking of using this as an angle.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
Depending on your “angle”, I’m sure SOMEBODY thought Atilla was the Dean’s peanuts.
COMIN' ATCHA, FROM ANCHORAGE, ALASKA!
Fathaigh go mbuaimid!
Proud adoptive Father of Joe Panik. 2011 NWL MVP .
Job 1:14-15
Mr. Merope came up with Ché as someone who started out having good ideas… then went a little loopy.
Motorcycle Diaries was a good movie, I think, we saw it a LONG time ago.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
Look at Caligula...
He was a pretty well-liked emperor before he came down with an illness, and then all the crazy stuff started.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 29, 2011 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions
I've always been skeptical of the illness/insanity explaination.
He benefited initially by following an unpopular emperor and inheriting a robust treasury. Unfortunately, he blew through that massive financial surplus with public largess, spectacles, and make-work projects designed to buy popularity among the mob and the legions. When the money ran out, he put the squeeze on the equestrian and senatorial classes, who wrote the surviving histories and loaded them with libelous nonsense and exaggerations. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the money ran out right about the same time as the supposed illness. Also remember that we don’t really have any good contemporary sources on him. Seneca and Philo only deal with him obliquely, while Suetonius and Tacitus are writing nearly a century later (and all of them are biased by Caligula’s anti-Senatorial policies).
If it seems like I’m defending him at all, I’m not. He was a terrible emperor who had no idea how to manage the state effectively. It’s just that he more likely an incompetent spoiled brat rather than insane in any clinical sense.
VAE PVTO DEVS FIO
Oh, no doubts we should consider a limited number of sources being possibly tabloid-ish for the age. Other classical-period accounts are quite laden with what is generally believed to be exaggeration if not complete falsification.
On the other hand, your description could be quite simply adapted to be a metaphor for either of our last two presidents…
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 31, 2011 9:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Pretty much, yes.
On the other hand, your description could be quite simply adapted to be a metaphor for either of our last two presidents…
The politics of first century Rome (BC and AD) are such a fantastical train wreck that you can find analogs for almost any situation. It’s really quite astounding that it didn’t collapse into chaos.
VAE PVTO DEVS FIO
I finished twice (2004 and 2009) and did one in 2002 but didn’t get to 50K. It’s fun! If you have a lot of time to sit in front of a computer. For me the issue was never writer’s block but lack of time to do that and nothing else, for 30 days. Wish it was in March. Thanksgiving cuts out the entire last week and a half of November for me every year!
Still backing Notgardo, wheresoever he may wander. (Don't forget to wriiiite!)
Oh, but not this year
Too much going on — as usual. :)
Still backing Notgardo, wheresoever he may wander. (Don't forget to wriiiite!)
by tk on Oct 28, 2011 7:10 PM PDT up reply actions
How good are the speech recognition programs I wonder? Could somebody maybe dictate their story into a tape player/phone/mp3 device while driving to work and then have Mark Deros Dragon NS do the work?
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
My experience with speech recognition soft wear has bean underwhelming.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions
They are great at writing down what you say...
…and terrible at punctuating it. Having to say ‘comma’ ‘quote’ etc. etc. takes me out of my writing flow.
"The knowledge of the game is inversely proportional to the price of the seat." ---Bill Veeck. •Read My Blarrrgh...er, um....Comic. That doesn't really come across so well when said sarcastically. The Lunatic Fringe•
by BruteSentiment on Oct 29, 2011 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Agree about the bad timing
Ive considered doing it a few times, but November is prime final paper writing month for me. I can’t write a novel AND 60-80 pages of research reports.
VAE PVTO DEVS FIO
I’m gonna give it a whirl. The trick is settling on which idea. Currently I have three: One is about unionized (or just organized) homeless contending with organized crime in a modestly size city; one is historical, set in British Columbia during its gold rush period (particular emphasis on Chinese miners attempting to make a go of it there); last is a sci fi thing that I’m not going to bother trying to explain.
Andre Ethier: Gross-o-Matic 5000
-Adopted Giant: Dan Runzler
Yeah mine is kinda in that last category, I’ve been confusing the hell out Mr. Merope with it for the past week.
A pre apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy something or other.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
You could write a historical novel set in British Columbia during its gold rush period about Chinese miners who settled in the area in an attempt to make a go of it, but were forced out of work by an extraterrestrial crime syndicate with competing interests. The miners, now homeless, must organize in order to compete with – and ultimately run out – the alien threat.
And in the end, we find out that everything actually took place on a planet known as Tarsus III, and that the members of the extraterrestrial crime syndicate had reached the impoverished planet after traveling hundreds of thousands of light years from their homeworld… Earth!
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions
So what's your fiction about, smart guy?!
Andre Ethier: Gross-o-Matic 5000
-Adopted Giant: Dan Runzler
I’m writing a novelette about Dracula.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions
6oooh way to cash in on vampire-mania.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
I was into vampires before they were cool.
And I have proof.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 6:21 PM PDT up reply actions
It's true!
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Also, the Dracula in my novelette is neither young nor sexy.
Once more, coming to you by proxy.
by howtheyscored on Oct 29, 2011 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Books you wouldn't be without
What books do you refer to frequently when you are writing?
a dictionary / thesaurus naturally
I rely a lot on these for naming persons, places and things:
Star Names, their lore and meaning – Richard Hinckley Allen
Encyclopedia of the Gods – Michael Jordan [hehehe]
Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms – Donald J Borror
and this time out I’ve also got
Philip’s World History People Dates & Events
World Mythology – Roy Willis
A Dictionary of Philosophy – Antony Flew
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
No Plot? No Problem — Chris Baty (founder of NaNo)
Watership Down — just to remember the best writing there is!
Still backing Notgardo, wheresoever he may wander. (Don't forget to wriiiite!)
by tk on Oct 30, 2011 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I've never had much drive for prose.
And doubt I’d have the time to go for it in a month.
Adopted Giant: Mike Fontenot
He's like Grant, but fun size.
Occasionally, I tweet.
an epic 50,000 poem?
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
I do not have the time
But I will try to keep with the spirit, even if I can’t put out 50,000 words.
Proud father of Barry Zito. As long as he keeps throwing strikes, that is.
Yay 1000 words
I’m thinking Nov 1 is much easier than say Nov 19th though.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
No plot just plotz . . .
I’d be second-guessing myself every other paragraph. And getting in a couple pages a day? Sounds exciting though. Glad to hear about it.
Don't believe everything you think.
Fiction is harder than I thought
280 measly words.
Ron Washington really Britta'd that Series.
Please follow my Twitter
by Murray, Present on Nov 2, 2011 12:31 AM PDT reply actions
Don’t think, just write! Heavy editing and thinking about it is what the week between Christmas and New Years is for! This is only “get the words on paper month”.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
1230 now!
I’m probably not publishing this, because it’s basically a mashup of Breaking Bad, Glee, and Election so far.
Ron Washington really Britta'd that Series.
Please follow my Twitter
by Murray, Present on Nov 3, 2011 12:31 AM PDT up reply actions
high school
I think I’m building a little team, Seven Samurai style.
I found an amazing thing by Dan Harmon on “story circles.” It’s based loosely on Joseph Campbell and it’s a neat way to outline your plot. Basically, there are 8 steps.
1. You
2. Need
3. Go
4. Search
5. Find
6. Take
7. Return
8. Change
So if we take the Star Wars plot, YOU = Luke. He NEEDS to get off Tattooine. He GOES because stormtroopers killed his family. SEARCH = Luke learns about the Force from Obi-Wan. He FINDS the princess on the Death Star, but Obi-Wan is TAKEN from him by Darth Vader. But now Obi-Wan has become more powerful than you can imagine. Luke RETURNS to the Death Star and blows it up. In the process, he has CHANGED the war to the rebels’ favor, and the Force will be with Luke, always.
Sorry if this is old hat to you English majors, but I’m truly excited.
Ron Washington really Britta'd that Series.
Please follow my Twitter
by Murray, Present on Nov 4, 2011 12:39 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm a history major.
We spend most of our time debunking over people’s tidy narratives, and the remainder constructing our own.
VAE PVTO DEVS FIO
I’m at 5000 and hope to be at 10000 by the end of tonight, it’s the Mr’s bowling night so I’m here by myself. But it truly is craptastical. You remember that scene in Star Wars with all the Senators and the government bs and the filibustering, well yeah it’s horrid like that. Borrrrrrrrrrrring…. I’m just hoping it gets me in the habit of writing again.
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
I’ve been world building. I started writing and realized that I needed to backtrack and get some stuff settled before I sally forth. The opening scene doesn’t need all of that so much, so tonight I’m gonna take a break from the imagineering and focus on creating a scene.
Andre Ethier: Gross-o-Matic 5000
-Adopted Giant: Dan Runzler
scene scene
The opening chapter doesn’t need all of that so much, so tonight I’m gonna take a break from the imagineering and focus instead on creating a scene.
Andre Ethier: Gross-o-Matic 5000
-Adopted Giant: Dan Runzler
I really am going to put Lars’ idea into my story. Not that he’s the first one to suggest a spacecraft that sterilizes the insipid but my geneticist character will suggest such a thing, maybe tongue in cheek, maybe not.
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2011/11/1/2530817/the-giants-and-the-gold-gloves#81796116
Adopted Giant: Eddie I Have It Grant.
TSFGWTWS DESPITE Botchy, not BECAUSE of him.
i ain't done shit
Few hundred words. Woulda been more but I realized I’d lost the notes on my setting’s pagan religion and had to reconstitute them. I am the king of background details that will never be important.
Gonna try and at least wrap a chapter this weekend; female POVs are hard.
by Lies and Perfidy on Nov 4, 2011 6:58 PM PDT reply actions
They're just like male POVs, but about five inches shorter.
Which is probably why I’m also bad at them.
VAE PVTO DEVS FIO
that may be what's getting me
“i am writing from the POV of a person no more different from me than any of these other characters are different frm me, except this one (these two) happen to have a different set of genitals and potentially thus a different role in this culture i’ve semi-invented”’
maybe it’s the simplicity that’s giving me trouble
or maybe i’m just hella drunk and this insight is fake
by Lies and Perfidy on Nov 4, 2011 11:14 PM PDT up reply actions
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