NaNoWriMo 2006

[Debitt]

xD Dude, I need to listen to this podcast. Yay NaNoWriMos! *happy*

[Raiden no Kishi]

I think I shall have to try this next year, since the rules allow outlining and planning your story beforehand. I think I'll go for a crazy adventure like "How the Apocalypse Can Make You Lose Your Job".

.rai//

[Photosoph]

15,321. >:D Whooo~ Gotta hit the keyboard hard tomorrow, seeing as I'll be gone on Saturday. Boo.

Aw man; all the best, mate!

I think I shall have to try this next year, since the rules allow outlining and planning your story beforehand. I think I'll go for a crazy adventure like "How the Apocalypse Can Make You Lose Your Job".

.rai//

Sounds like a good plan.

That's cool, Mech; I think I should try to listen to those podcasts; haven't done so yet, but it'll be cool to hear the voices of some of my fellow CAA'ers. ^^

[Debitt]

Aww, danke Photosoph.

:3 Finished my words for today, aiming to start on tomorrow. Er, well, right now tomorrow is today. But you know what I mean.

[Photosoph]

:3 Finished my words for today, aiming to start on tomorrow. Er, well, right now tomorrow is today. But you know what I mean.

Actually... you confused me. o_O Are we talking timezones? Or have you gone from before midnight to the early hours of a new morning? @_@

[Debitt]

I finished my words for the 10th, but my the time I typed the post it was 12AM in my timezone, so technically it was the 11th. But I was calling the 10th "today" and the 11th "tomorrow" XD; Geez time = confusing.

[Photosoph]

Yes, I know what you mean. >_<
Speaking of time, I need to go to bed. I didn't write as much as I wanted today, but I wrote just about/just over/just enough for the day. I think I'll have to check ou the dares thread again for more inspiration. That thread's actually really fun. Even if you don't use the suggestions, you can get inspired by them!

*Is off!*

[Esoteric]

*sigh* It looks like everyone is having so much fun...wish I had time to write novel in a month, but I'd never get enough words. Longest thing I've ever written was around 32,000, and that was after a lot of revisions! Anyway, I'm rooting for you guys! Write write write!

[Photosoph]

Ah! An appearance of my buddy Esoteric!

That's a shame, but I know you need time to do something like this. There will be other years though; if you're free then, then it could be a good opportunity to splurge in your passion for writing! =^^='

Thanks for rooting for us; I'm sure we'll all do our best. I'll definitely try to! \(*0*)

[Felix]

'-'

._.

I hath fallen behind, and I don't think I'm going to be able to catch up.

1. I'm busy with other things
2. I've already gotten sick of my story
3. I was behind anyway

I'm still going to write, but I'm not shooting for 50,000. A solid 1,000 a day maybe.

[Debitt]

^-^/ Danke for the well-wishes, Esoteric! I know I'm going to be needing them today - I've caught up for my complete absence from the keyboard yesterday, and hopefully I can cover ground for today too~ ^-^

You can do it, Felix! I really don't think it's about reaching 50k, although that's what I'm shooting for. :3 It's about getting your ideas onto paper, and if you can do that you're still accomplishing quite a bit.

[Felix]

^_^ You're right! Thanks for the encouraging words! I'll try to continue, and who knows, perhaps I will catch up!

[Kawaiikneko]

yes! push on through the hardest week!

in case anyone did not get the encouragement note yet, I'm gonna post it.

Dear NaNoWriMo Participant,

Hi there! It's Chris Baty again. And if you accepted the challenge in last week's email, you opened a comfortable word-count lead right out of the gate, increased that lead in the first weekend, and are now sailing far ahead of pace, preparing to plunge into the 20,000s.

You are looking good, feeling great, and your back is slowly accumulating an array of "kick me" signs, placed there by your fellow participants as you sprinted past us. A few signs, though, are a small price to pay for victory. And you *are* going to be victorious. If you are a day or less from 20K, you have everything it takes to win, and win big. Keep it up. Don't slow down. We admire you, even if you made us feel so bad about ourselves that we had to put those signs on you.

But this email is not for those doing exceptionally well. It's for the rest of us---authors with underdeveloped word counts, overdeveloped novel-guilt complexes, and sensational procrastinating abilities. Because we are the ones who are going to begin having serious misgivings about this whole escapade in the next seven days.

Why?

Because it turns out we are too busy to do this.

Or because a crisis has brought some novel-eating turmoil into our lives.

Or because our stories are really, really bad, and we're wondering why we're sacrificing so much of our time to produce a consistently crappy book.

It all adds up to the fabled Week Two Wall---a low-point of energy, enthusiasm, and joie de novel that strikes most NaNoWriMo participants between days 7 and 14. This is when our inner editors, who largely turned a blind eye to our novel flailings in Week One, return to see how things are going. And their assessments are never kind.

The plot is draggy. The characters are boring. The dialogue is pointless, and the prose has all the panache of something dashed off by a distracted kindergartner.

If you're feeling any of these things---or find yourself starting to feel them this week---know that nothing is wrong. In fact, you're likely on track for a great NaNoWriMo. Just lower your head, pick up your pace, and write straight into the maw of your misgivings. If you are thinking about quitting, DO NOT DO IT IN WEEK TWO.

If you have to quit, do it in Week Three.

I'm serious.

Because if you quit in Week Two, you're going to miss an amazing moment---the moment when your novel begins to click. You'll miss a genius plot twist you can't foresee right now that will suddenly elevate your book from a distressing mess to a sort-of-tolerable mess. And then you'll miss the euphoric breakthrough that follows that twist, when your book improves itself all the way to not-half-bad.

Not-half-bad will make you scream, it feels so good.

And you know what? The more you write, the better it gets. So make it a priority to write in torrents this week. Allow your characters to change, and have change forced upon them. Follow your intuition, even if it leads away from where you thought your book was heading. And know that writing a novel is like building a car. Your only job this month is to create a clunky machine that will eventually move people from one place to another. If your beast rolls at all at this point, you're doing great. Pretty prose, snappy dialogue, brilliant metaphors---they're all part of the high-gloss paint job and finishing touches we put on *after* the body is built.

In December, we'll have nothing but time for adding flames to our hoods and airbrushing a majestic eagle or pair of sunrise stallions on the sides of our new rides. For now, the 20,000s are calling, and we can't get distracted by the small stuff if we're going to get there. In the challenging confines of Week Two, our books will truly be built. Characters will evolve. Plots will unfold. It's going to be difficult at times, but once we make it into (and out of) the 20,000s, everything gets much easier. And envious tales of our literary feat-in-the-making will begin circulating amongst our friends, family, and co-workers.

At which point, we'll probably find a note or two on our backs as well.

It'll be awesome.

Keep plowing onward, brave writer! Good things are coming. I'll be back next Wednesday for some thoughts on Week Three.

Dreaming about my airbrushed eagle,

Chris
NaNoWriMo
8400 words and counting

=] Now I'm off to listen to that podcast

[mechana2015]

Dog-gone-it... I wen't to upload tonight and I couldnt get onto NaNo's site to update. GEH!

[Photosoph]

Aw man; that's annoing. -__-

I'm still going to write, but I'm not shooting for 50,000. A solid 1,000 a day maybe.

That's still great, Felix; you don't need to reach 50,000 to get something out of Nanowrimo. And besides, I love your writing; so I'm glad you're not giving up. Keep pressing on, and I hope you get back to a place where you get excited about what you're writing.

[Debitt]

Broke 20k yesterday. Almost halfway there!

Today was a bit hard to write through, as it was mainly my main character getting moved from point A to point B. Here's hoping tomorrow is more entertaining.

[bigsleepj]

Looks like I should participate next year. Maybe.

[Photosoph]

Broke 20k yesterday. Almost halfway there!

Today was a bit hard to write through, as it was mainly my main character getting moved from point A to point B. Here's hoping tomorrow is more entertaining.

Congrats!
Argh, those times... yeah, getting characters from one point to another can sometimes be tedious. >_<

Definitely, BSJ; if you have the time and love to write, I'd definitely suggest trying next year. ^^

[Kawaiikneko]

woot KoDai! congrats!

I'm at 22k and grinding away.

[Photosoph]

Excellent! Keep it going, my word-grinding, cat-named amigo.

[Kawaiikneko]

And congrats on passing the half-way mark Soph =] 26k huh? I'll have to catch up.

[Photosoph]

Thanks! But remember, I'm a day ahead, so I need to try and keep a little ahead of you guys. Hope I can continue enjoying what I write.
My method so far is to try to write about 1,000 words in the late morning, then come back later and write about 500, then come back later and write some more to make up the day's word total. I find it really hard to sit down and write a lot at once. >_< It's hard enough doing the first 1,000 words in a sitting.

<Edit> Hmm... maybe I should get a LJ where I can post my story. I think it's cool that two of you have already done this, and then I could add the one whose journal is locked to my friends list so I can read your excerpts. ^^ Not sure if I will, though; I don't really like to post my work online in full view of everyone who comes along, and also aside from my story writing, I doubt I'd use an LJ much. So probably not.

[Kawaiikneko]

Yes!!! I'm Past The Half-way Mark!!! 25,168!

[Debitt]

^O^/ Go Kneko and Photosoph! I'm hoping to make it there tonight. 8D Only 1000 words off!

[mechana2015]

is anyone actually reading the story bits I posted
on LJ?

[Photosoph]

I've read two of your posts on your LJ that had your story, but I haven't checked for a while. Have you posted more?

Your LJ is the animeted Skier one, right? I'm checking that one now. ^^
Hmm... if that's one's yours, then I've read up to the most current entry: Unnamed Nano Novel, Pages 3-4

[mechana2015]

mmmkay

[Debitt]

^^ I've been scanning your chapters, mechana, but I think I'll do a mass NaNo reading at the end of the month

[Photosoph]

^^ I've been scanning your chapters, mechana, but I think I'll do a mass NaNo reading at the end of the month

Lol; I'll probably end up doing something like that too, if more of us end up posting our stories or something.

If you post more of your story on LJ, I'd love to read it, Mechana. ^^

[Kawaiikneko]

whew I didn't write at all yesterday and when I sat down this morning I thought there was no way I was going to catch up. Then inspiration came and I got 2500 words out in about three hours. *cheer* Not behind anymore.