Topic: Fingers on Fire? (Read 7612 times)

Barmymoo · « **on:** 03 Sep 2009, 09:02 »

It's been around a while now so most people have probably heard of it but November is NaNoWriMo and I thought it might be fun if a few people had a go at it (it might tie into Tommy's PocketJury website too).

Basically the premise is that you try to write a totally original and new 50,000 word novel during the month of November. It averages out to about 1,667 words a day which if you've planned well and have good ideas and an accessible computer doesn't take too much time out of the day. I've done it several years in a row now and managed it all but the first one. There are no prizes beyond a pretty printable certificate and of course the knowledge that you wrote an entire novel in 30 days.

It doesn't start until November but everyone who's been successful over several years says that it's a good idea to get planning well in advance. Personally I have no ideas at all, so even if you don't want to take part you could be the inspiration I need to get planning!

bbq · « **Reply #1 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 09:30 »

I'll give it a go.

Thomas Edison · « **Reply #2 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 09:33 »

Yussssssss.

bbq · « **Reply #3 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 09:56 »

I have a brilliant idea for a novel. I don't think it'll fit into 50,000 words though.

tania · « **Reply #4 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 10:06 »

this is a pretty wicked idea. if i have the time for this in november i'll definitely give it a go.

one double-spaced page in size 12 times new roman is about 275 words. 1667 words a day works out to about 6 pages or so every day. based on the amount of time i needed to write essays in uni, this is definitely doable if you can find about an hour or so every day to work on it, or a few hours every week. i think it would be really fun to see what everyone comes up with.

phooey · « **Reply #5 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 10:09 »

I'm not very creative, but no matter how busy I am, I find I still have time to procrastinate. Might as well use it doing something interesting.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #6 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 10:13 »

Sorry everybody, but I'll have to disappoint the world again this year. My task this fall is to get back into playing bass shape, but thanks for reminding me. Every year, I remember at the end of November, which is too late to encourage my friends who actually do write a lot.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #7 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 12:10 »

You don't have to limit it to 50,000 words, that's just the goal. Last year someone from my writing group hit over 80,000 (she writes incredibly fast). Also you can obviously keep going after the end of November if you want to!

A Shoggoth on the Roof · « **Reply #8 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 12:20 »

hey guys you know what would be fun? if someone wrote a beginning on day one, posted it, and then anyone that wanted to added onto the story the next day and posted theirs, and then the third day people could pick one to continue and do the same thing. I mean this is sort of a different idea but whatevr, it fits with the writing theme.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #9 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 12:22 »

That'd be pretty cool, but not as a NaNoWriMo novel so we could actually start one now. Good practice too.

Merrick · « **Reply #10 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 12:31 »

Dammit, I would, but I really have no time.

A Shoggoth on the Roof · « **Reply #11 on:** 03 Sep 2009, 13:06 »

yesss. lets do it. who wants to start it?

feerqeer · « **Reply #12 on:** 14 Sep 2009, 23:14 »

I popped into this thread because I just heard 'sex is on fire' at the store.

I'd like to do this, I tried to do a similar thing to this when I was younger, but gave up after the first day. I also started with the ending, and the ending was it was all a dream. Horrible but true. I would like to get on this, I've got some mind maps for handful of concepts, and 50 000 words is probably enough to get them all in there, the hardest part will be finding a way to tie them together. I might pull a Philip K Dick, with an alterego, a series of persona characters, and the autobiographical me character treading the middle road trying to work things out and playing reality to my fantasy.

"Every November, tens of thousands of people sign up for National Novel Writing Month and attempt to write a 50,000-word novel. Baty, the brains behind this competition, has produced an uproariously funny motivational manifesto so readers can get a leg-up in his race or in the larger publishing game. The key is to lower your expectations "from 'best-seller' to 'would not make someone vomit,' " says Baty, who maintains that stress and a deadline are important parts of writing. Aimed at the nonserious, with an emphasis on summoning creativity and having a life-changing experience, this original approach will appeal to anyone up for a challenge"

scarred · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 00:04 »

I always try and always give up after like a week.

It's tradition!

Zingoleb · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 00:07 »

And that's when you just write that everyone gets hit by a truck and dies, the end.

scarred · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 00:46 »

BRUCE WILLIS IS DEAD

Jimmy the Squid · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 05:04 »

I guess I will try to do this. Hopefully it will have better results than last years Novembeard.

snalin · « **Reply #17 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 07:19 »

If I just let shit flow, and have a kinda built up synopsis of what will go down, I might be able to do it. Or, well, I don't think I'll reach 50k, but all my creative writing thus far has just been short stuff, so I'm not sure.

Is it taboo to discuss what you want to write about?

Liz · « **Reply #18 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 09:09 »

I wish I didn't have school to think about. Can't be writing a novel when I have papers to write instead.

Maybe next year when I am not in school.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #19 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 09:15 »

This is happening Jack Kerouac Style.

bbq · « **Reply #20 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 10:10 »

No! I'm going to be on an exchange trip for a large portion of november.

Zingoleb · « **Reply #21 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 10:26 »

Quote from: StaedlerMars on 15 Sep 2009, 09:15

This is happening Jack Kerouac Style.

On one giant scroll?

Jace · « **Reply #22 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 10:31 »

I wish I could actually write a lot more/better.

Mostly when I try to write short stories, halfway through it degenerates into me typing whatever song is playing in the background, over and over.

20 jazz funk greats · « **Reply #23 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 13:13 »

note to self: start working on outlines.
i'm pushing myself into doing this even though i tend to write very very very slowly when it comes to creative things. hopefully it will go somewhere.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #24 on:** 15 Sep 2009, 14:19 »

Quote from: Zingoleb on 15 Sep 2009, 10:26

Quote from: StaedlerMars on 15 Sep 2009, 09:15
This is happening Jack Kerouac Style.

On one giant scroll?

Essentially.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 Sep 2009, 17:41 »

I've joined, I've been thinking about trying to write something lately. This will be something to make me worry if I don't work on it!

Barmymoo · « **Reply #26 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 01:25 »

I really need to work out what I'm going to write about in the next two weeks and get on some planning, because there is no way I'll have time after that. I might just cop out a little and write about me as I hope I will be when I am older. I mean, I have already thought about that a fair bit (and what is novelling if not self-indulgent hedonism?) and it will make a pretty good story since I want to be a nun and a parliamentary clerk and a mother and live on a boat and be a teacher and man am I going to be busy.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #27 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 15:08 »

So do you have to do a given number of words every day, or is it just get 50,000 words by the end of the month?

And fuck, outlining is the hardest part for me. But it is essential, so I really need to actually do it.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #28 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 15:11 »

You have to get to 50,000 words but it's sensible to aim for about 1,700 a day so that you don't have to rush at the end. If you aren't around half way at the end of week two you probably won't make it unless you have a lot more spare time at the end than the begining.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #29 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 15:16 »

I actually probably will, what with Thanksgiving break, but I'll aim for that anyway. At least it doesn't have to be 50,000 well-edited words, it seems like the goal is more to create a rough draft in a month (unless you are doing the Kerouac thing).

scarred · « **Reply #30 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 17:13 »

This and No-Shave November are the SAME MONTH. Ohhhh maaaan

Nodaisho · « **Reply #31 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 17:18 »

That makes it easier. The time you would be spending shaving you now spend writing.

Eris · « **Reply #32 on:** 19 Oct 2009, 17:52 »

I am trying to write today and I haven't written in ages and it is harrrrrrd.

I'm not going to be doing NaNoWriMo though, just wanted to let you all know that I am starting up writing again, because it is big news.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #33 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 02:58 »

I have had to take a year off school on account of being crazy, so I will actually be doing this this year.

calenlass · « **Reply #34 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 05:42 »

I did that, Khar. It turned out to be pretty nice! (Actually it was two six-month blocks, but still.)

Theriandros · « **Reply #35 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 06:33 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 03 Sep 2009, 12:10

You don't have to limit it to 50,000 words, that's just the goal. Last year someone from my writing group hit over 80,000 (she writes incredibly fast). Also you can obviously keep going after the end of November if you want to!

And then there's that one girl who wrote a million words in November and is planning to do it again this year. Blog here: http://kateness.wordpress.com/

Anyways, I myself have been failing at this for the last 2 years. That's not gonna stop me from trying again this month, as I actually have a good and complex plot (that's mostly ironed out) and I'm gonna go to my regional meetings and get a little support group thing goin'.

calenlass · « **Reply #36 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 07:00 »

I don't have any ideas for this, see, otherwise I could easily blow through 50,000 words. Maybe I should work on cataloguing D&D adventures.

Inlander · « **Reply #37 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 22:13 »

Oh hey, this will coincide nicely with me trying to polish off them . . . hmm, 15th? draft of my current manuscript and continuing to send it off to publishers.

I'm hoping to reduce it from 103,000 words to 100,000.

Darkbluerabbit · « **Reply #38 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 17:27 »

If I ever tried this I would probably just resort to really descriptive gratuitous sex scenes every couple of days.

BillyxRansom · « **Reply #39 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 20:08 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 03 Sep 2009, 12:10

You don't have to limit it to 50,000 words, that's just the goal. Last year someone from my writing group hit over 80,000 (she writes incredibly fast). Also you can obviously keep going after the end of November if you want to!

Some crazyperson on the Nano boards (at least once, if not more years than that) managed 10x the "required" amount.

That's 500,000 words.

That's a fucking fantasy novel at like Robert Jordan's (RIP) speed.

BillyxRansom · « **Reply #40 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 22:37 »

Quote from: scarred on 19 Oct 2009, 17:13

This and No-Shave November are the SAME MONTH. Ohhhh maaaan

HOLY SHIT IT ALL COINCIDES SO DAMN PERFECTLY SEEING AS HOW YOU WON'T HAVE TIME TO SHAVE.

pilsner · « **Reply #41 on:** 22 Oct 2009, 22:31 »

Jesus, it's called Mo-Vember people. Mo-Vember.

I will try to get my novel finished by the 14th. This will the give the rest of y'all an opportunity to make your novels 50,000 words of fictionalized lavish praise for my novel.

Also, Barmy, I'm virtually certain you are one of the few people on Earth to find writing a novel self-indulgent hedonism. The two most frequent metaphors I hear involve child-birth (e.g. time consuming, laborious, intermittently painful, but ultimately potentially rewarding) and taking a crap (same thing).

MrBlu · « **Reply #42 on:** 22 Oct 2009, 23:11 »

Quote from: phooey on 03 Sep 2009, 10:09

I'm not very creative, but no matter how busy I am, I find I still have time to procrastinate. Might as well use it doing something interesting.

Yeah, exactly what I thought.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #43 on:** 23 Oct 2009, 06:02 »

No one is forced to write a novel! It is a choice! It is like strenuous exercise: you may wish you were not doing it, you may be in pain, you might wish it would end, but you are doing it because you want to.

pilsner · « **Reply #44 on:** 23 Oct 2009, 08:35 »

Can you imagine if people were forced to write novels? Thousands of pale, unwashed, embittered souls tapping joylessly at their keyboards, unable to remember when they began or believe that they will reach a conclusion. It's basically World of Warcraft.

Theriandros · « **Reply #45 on:** 23 Oct 2009, 19:57 »

Quote from: BillyxRansom on 21 Oct 2009, 20:08

Quote from: Barmymoo on 03 Sep 2009, 12:10
You don't have to limit it to 50,000 words, that's just the goal. Last year someone from my writing group hit over 80,000 (she writes incredibly fast). Also you can obviously keep going after the end of November if you want to!
Some crazyperson on the Nano boards (at least once, if not more years than that) managed 10x the "required" amount.

That's 500,000 words.

That's a fucking fantasy novel at like Robert Jordan's (RIP) speed.

And the person I mentioned who wrote like a half-dozen manuscripts for over 1,000,000 words.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #46 on:** 05 Nov 2009, 07:02 »

Is anyone else actually doing this? I'm on 10,716 words atm.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #47 on:** 05 Nov 2009, 07:21 »

I wish I was doing it but I don't have sufficient time each day

That's a pretty incredible number for day five!

20 jazz funk greats · « **Reply #48 on:** 06 Nov 2009, 07:28 »

i am feeling pretty uninspired and am only at 3038 words so far bawwww urge to quit rising.

20 jazz funk greats · « **Reply #49 on:** 06 Nov 2009, 07:29 »

it kind of makes me feel like i don't know how to be funny or interesting or even coherent.

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Author Topic: Fingers on Fire? (Read 7612 times)

Zingoleb

Zingoleb