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50,000 word challenge for March - National Novel Writing month

Fodwocket

Minstrel
Not sure if this was the right place to post this, so feel free to move the thread.

Anyways, if you're not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it's National Novel Writing month, and it occurs in November - the aim is to write a 50k word novel in a month. I had no time for it last year (laziness gripped me in what time I did have), so a few friends and I have decided to do it again in March.

Just thought I'd let you guys know, in case anyone wanted to join in ^_^ We have a little spreadsheet for tallying words and such, should be fun!

Cheers,
Alanna
 

Kelise

Maester
The more people who join Alanna and I, the more likely we're all to stick to our goals and get some writing done. We can cheer each other on and such ^^

As it's not NaNo, we could always have different goals, if your goal is higher or lower than the NaNo standard. I suppose most here would already have their March set in plans?
 

Behelit

Troubadour
I'm interested in the details of how it works. Perhaps you could link me to an external website that explains the rules.

Is the "national" in regards to Australia? How does that work if you aren't a citizen of Australia?

How does one adhere to the deadline? Couldn't you very well start working on an outline+ before November?

Thanks.

Note: I do believe this is the most appropriate category for this thread.
 

Kelise

Maester
NaNoWriMo - http://www.nanowrimo.org/

It's 'national' wherever you are, or that's what the mods at NaNo say - who are based in the US - because the event really is international now.

We're only using the general idea for March though :) We're basically challenging ourselves to write 50,000 words on what we're already working on. We're not using the site (it's only available in November currently) but like NaNo, it's a self challenge. You can work on whatever you like, in whatever way. Just write 50,000 words. (For NaNo, you're supposed to start a new project, but not everyone does. After all, there's no prizes. The only prize you get is what work you do, so if you're happy with what you get done, that's that's all that really matters after all!)

Basically, we're just doing that, and we're going to cheer each other along and keep each other on track. That's it, really. Our goal is 50,000 words in March, and we hope to get a few others interested so that it's more fun, and more of a friendly competition ;)
 

Legerdemain

Troubadour
50,000 in March? I'm game, let's start a thread or something, eh? Maybe within the Showcase or whatever... BD, Juice, Behelit, ideas?
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Note: I do believe this is the most appropriate category for this thread.

I concur, as it doesn't quite fit anywhere else.

So... those who are interested can use this thread to express their interest and/or public commitment to this challenge, as well as the frustrations that may follow.

Something else that you may consider doing is updating your signature to show a running tally of your word count. That could prove helpful in keeping the motivation going.

If there's enough interest, we can temporarily make this thread a "sticky," so that it will stay at the top of the chit-chat forum throughout the month of March. I can also post an announcement about this in the News & Announcements forum, and direct folks to this thread.

I'm also renaming this thread to make its subject matter more obvious to the uninitiated.
 

Fodwocket

Minstrel
Thanks for renaming the thread, good idea ^_^

And yay this is sounding like it's going to be fun, thanks for joining us with such enthusiasm and sharing the idea. And the sig idea is great, it shall be done!
 

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
I know of someone in the UK who runs a similar thing in April, called April Fools, where you set your own goal for writing. But April this year is kinda a busy month for me, so March could work better. If I can work out the kinks in my planned novel before, uh, Tuesday, I might give it a shot.
 

Kelise

Maester
The April is also Script Frenzy, where the same people who run the actual NaNoWriMo run an event where you write 100 pages of a script. I find it awesome for writing a novel in script form, to plot out scenes and direction of a novel ^^

Glad you're all joining us :D March will be awesome.
 
I'm in! Timing is right for me to crank out a draft. I'm not sure if I'll do 50k, or something else, but I'm definitely up for the challenge!

I haven't done Screnzy. Maybe someday... but I just enjoy the novel format so much, it would take some heavy convincing to get me to do it. :)
 

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
Oh it's March now isn't it? That came quickly. I'm gonna have to bail on the challenge. I've got an assignment due in two weeks and another one due at the start of April, and I need to bring my marks up a little. Good luck to all those going for it though.
 

Kelise

Maester
Yup, it's begun!

Just when I got Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Pokemon comes out in a week, Script Frenzy Prep (for those who work for the site) begins, and I have a convention I'm working at in a month... WOO! What better time ;)
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Ok, sorry I double posted! I'll post any updates on my word count and such here instead of the other thread.

Good luck!
 
Oooh, some of you are started already?!!

It's still Feb. here in West Coast USA, so I have a whole night to wait! (I'm not one for staying up until midnight.)

@Phil the Drill: I'm glad you found this thread; I was going to direct you here for March!

Happy writing!
 

Legerdemain

Troubadour
Good luck everyone! I've gotten to a pretty good start so far today. I hope to get about a dozen pages done today, and edit down... should I count pages I've written, or eliminate words when I edit?
 
should I count pages I've written, or eliminate words when I edit?

Good question! I suppose it is up to you! (I know that's not much help, is it?) You could keep track of both, tallying total pages and then edited word count.

I'm editing as I go, and only counting what I keep on the page after editing. 753 words so far today. Not Nano-speed, but it usually takes me a few thousand words to get the juices flowing, so I'm not too worried.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I'm working on multiple things at once, so I am having trouble keeping up with word count. Suffice to say I did some writing today. Some on a "blog-o-novel" I'm doing that everyone can see. If you want a link, let me know and I'll send you the link. It's pretty silly.

On top of that I'm working on various other stories. Not sure which one I'm going to focus on as of yet. So I'll give a concrete update when I make a concrete decision. Or I may wing it!
 

Kelise

Maester
I only got 700 or so words, my head just wasn't in it. I'm using an excel spreadsheet to keep track of my words - it tallies them up and such. I think there's ones out there that are made for multiply projects, where you can add your total daily words in each project column, and it adds it up for you? :)
 

Mythos

Troubadour
I'm going to try and participate. I just got a story idea that I hope get the rough draft done by July at the very latest. This should help me get through the first part. I probably won't write 50,000 words, but I will try to set my goal for at least 35,000.
 
The official standpoint of NaNo when I competed last year is no editing. Sit down and write. Doesn't matter if it's utter fecal matter coming out of your keyboard, just get it down, you can always polish it up later. Of course that is NaNo itself, since this is an independent challenge, you can do it however you like. Good luck to all of you who are competing.
 
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