rattfan | Nanowrimo

I'm going to have a try at this Nanowrimo thing. May be what I need to shake the brain loose...just not too loose.

I woke up an hour or so ago with the munchies and a strong sense that I needed to do something Now to make life more interesting. To move things on a bit. A bowl of Rice Puffs fixed the first problem; going online and signing up to kill myself next month is a step to the second. Somebody asked me today what I'd done this week and I couldn't think of anything much to say at all except that I'd done a lot of gardening, getting things in order. Which I have and that's not nothing but it still feels like treading water - or treading grass.

I'm constantly faced with people who want to tell me about their goals and what they've achieved lately and it makes me feel as though I've done zilch. Partly this is because I'm somewhat becalmed after my last trip. You could say I've done that, managed to get overseas and see stuff, personally witness the current events in the USA. I've sort of got the depression issue under control. I have to use the pills for now but I feel a lot better and am working on the writer's block thing.

I have only the vaguest idea of what I might write about. The website says outlines are ok. Do people use them or just jump in at the deep end?

If anyone's awake, feel free to respond :-)

Tomorrow I might go to the Midlands Markets to get some fruit and perhaps some plants for the front garden. Beyond that, I don't know.

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I recommend getting a copy of No Plot, No Problem, the handbook written by the Nano founder - we ordered it through our local library and it's brilliant. It deals with how to lay down writing without getting tied up in all those things that slow you down, and has lots of good tips.

I have actually read that, some time ago. I think I borrowed it from

chaosmanor. But yes, a reread may be in order. Shaking off my inner editor will be a killer.

I agree. No Plot, No problem is terrific. It's the Bible of NaNo.

NaNo for the New and the Insane, by successful novelist AND NaNo novelist Lazette Gifford, is good too in a different way, and it's a free download.

I once did NaNo, a few years ago. It was tremendous fun, I put on quite a bit of weight, and my sleep patterns went weird of necessity - but I had a ball, really. Lucky my hubby was totally supportive.

You need not to take it TOO seriously - it's a first draft, OK? Or in some cases part of a first draft, as the cut-off point is number of words, not completed novel (though you may go past that in the time if you wish, and can). If you need to write crap to get your number, or put in bits you would cut out of a for-real novel later, that's fine. That said, some people do write good novels via NaNo and find publishers and all.

You also need a cheer squad. Join the forums! And please put up a logo in your LJ and post your word count here so we can all barrack for you like mad.

I am not a novelist, nor do I wish to be. I just wanted the experience so as to better understand students who are. I was open to where it might lead, but it didn't lead to me embracing fiction. But I did enjoy doing it that once, and I'm sure the delightful insanity of NaNo is the only way I would have. I have the fondest memories, a crap novel in my bottom drawer (for which I personally have great affection) and an enduring passion for the Travelling Shovel of Death.

I just plunged in. I'm not an outline person - which is not necessarily a good thing, lol. But once I started, the thing pretty much wrote itself, and I was very proud that I completed both the novel and the requisite number of words in the time. Besides, it was a licence for lots of coffee and chocolate, two of my favourite things.

There's nanoljers here on lj, and plenty of them are doing pre-planning. I'm a jump-in sort, as witnessed by one of today's entries.

When I read through your archived entries I wondered why you hadn't done Nano before, since you are a friend of

chaosmanor ;-)

It is awesome. I managed to complete a novel at my 1st attempt, which was very pleasing. (The novel itself is of a quality I feel comfortable sharing with friends. With some editing/rewriting it could perhaps go further, but I haven't got around to that yet...) Unfortunately I didn't do very well on my 2nd attempt, but I have an excuse (being in hospital & recovering from surgery) ... Since then I've been studying, something which Nano made me realise I wanted to resume, which means that for two-thirds of November I'm preoccupied with exams. I do sometimes think of trying to do Nano after the exams, which would give me about 10 days to write 50,000 words, but in reality my brain is usually exhausted by then.

I have thought of doing Nano by myself during a quieter study-free month (e.g. January, July) but even though I'm fiercely independent & very introverted, I would miss the support of the web site & online forums, not to mention the local meet ups.

I haven't done it until now because until now I've usually been managing to write stuff on my own, albeit at a slower rate. I also type a LOT at work (court and other transcripts) and will clock up between 10,000 and 12,000 words in a day.

So I likely won't be doing much on work days but I've figured, there are four other days in the week, right?

Yeah, surgery would be up there as a good reason to slack off :-)

Yay! Join the Nano craziness.

~flails around helplessly~

I just signed on for another year. I'm working from an outline because I already wrote said outline for my Ozco grant (unsuccessful, of course), but I reserve the right to veer off if I get a better idea.

I've started to think of outline ideas now, since waking up and realising I hadn't dreamed the whole 4am signup thing :-) Probably it will be a YA novel, futuristic, set here in WA but as you say, I reserve the right to do a one-eighty on all the above if inspiration strikes.

Nanowrimo

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