Anyone joining this year?

[Prince of Spires]

I'm going to give it a try. See how far I get.

Simple math suggests that I don't have enough time in a day to get the 1.667 words I need. I manage about 500 words an hour (if I know what I want to write at least). And between a full time job, 2 kids and a small semblance of a social life I won't have the 3.5 hours a day each day I would thus need to get there.

So I'll split up the goal in two. I'm aiming for 30.000 words in November as my main goal. 1.000 words sounds manageable. I'll still keep the 'official' 50.000 word goal as a stretch goal. Just to see if I can make it. But it's nice to also have a realistic goal.

Is anyone else going to try? And what's your approach?

 

[blondie.k]

I'm going to try but still working out how to approach. Probably by chapter or by how many words I need a day/week.

 

[Yora]

I'm international.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I'm international.

So am I But that doesn't stop me from joining in on the fun

Though I guess iNaNoWriMo would be a more appropriate name...

 

[Yora]

Well, I am actually finalizing a concept for a fantasy story right now...

 

[Firefly]

I'm planning on it. I have a couple ideas I've been playing with lately and I'm not sure yet which one I'm going to commit to, but I've spent far to much time planning lately and not nearly enough writing, so SOMETHING is going on that page November First no matter how ready I feel.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Well, I am actually finalizing a concept for a fantasy story right now...

Come one, join in on the fun. You know you want to... And what's the worst that can happen? Even if you don't hit the goal, you'll still have written a lot. Which can't be a bad thing I think.

I've spent far to much time planning lately

I'm wondering how much planning I should be doing. I usually pants my stories. But the longest one I've written is around 20k words or so. Which is still some distance from the 50k of NaNoWriMo. So I'm wondering if I should put some more thought into it before starting. What are peoples experiences here?

 

[Yora]

The types of stories I like the most are usually 8,000-16,000 words, though I often think they could be a bit longer. So my plan is to write three connected stories. Maybe it will be just two, possibly only one. But either case I should have something to show for at the end.

 

[Pemry Janes]

Thought about it, but I'm already busy writing one story and putting those finishing touches on another.

 

[Chronodendron]

Yes.
I wrote most of my first novel last year and hope to finish the second one this year.
Feel free to add me to your buddies list (same username).

 

[Yora]

How does this actually work? Anything beyond not starting to write before November and showing people what you got in December?

 

[Firefly]

How does this actually work? Anything beyond not starting to write before November and showing people what you got in December?

-Sign up and set up your project on the NaNoWriMo website so you can record your word count each day. (This is THE MOST motivating thing for me, it's so much fun seeing your graph go up every day)
-Nanowrimo will send you pep talks from famous authors and encouraging messages every day on your account
-If you want you can talk to people on the Nanowrimo forums, and I think there are also constant word sprints going on on twitter. I haven't done either of these so I don't have much to say about them.
-Some regions also have organizers who set up live write-in events where you can go to a local library or bookstore or something and work on your project with a bunch of other writers. (Never been to one of these either)

That's basically it, as far as I can tell. But I've always been kind of a hermit during Nano so there could be more I just don't know about.

I'm wondering how much planning I should be doing. I usually pants my stories. But the longest one I've written is around 20k words or so. Which is still some distance from the 50k of NaNoWriMo. So I'm wondering if I should put some more thought into it before starting. What are peoples experiences here?

I'm still trying to figure it out. Usually, I'm more of a headlights writer who only plans a few scenes ahead at a time and only has vague ideas about what happens later in the story, but that has tended to break down the longer a story I try to attempt, so I'm trying to plan out more beforehand this time. I think a lot of my problems previously came from not understanding my conflict, character goals, and stakes well enough, so I'm focusing on that currently, but I won't really know if it's enough until Nano is over, so we'll see.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Yes, I'm starting a new novel (of a new series) this November, so good timing. Trying to get my ideas together before the beginning of November.

 

[Ban]

I'll be writing a lot and often as my project has managed to take a hold of me. I'm not a big fan of counting words, because stress is the enemy, but I'll be joining in spirit at the very least, if not in practice if I luck my way into it.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I'm not a big fan of counting words, because stress is the enemy, but I'll be joining in spirit at the very least, if not in practice if I luck my way into it.

That's the spirit.

For me the aim is not so much making the 50k words. But rather see if I can push myself to write each day. The 50k if I get there will be more of a consequence of that then the other way round. But having some external motivation always helps. And I have a project in my head that I think will be big enough to need at least 50k words. But if at some point during the month I run out of things to say (I'm a firm believer in stories being as long as the want to be) then I've got plenty more projects lined to up take up some words.

 

[Tom]

I might participate this year. Past experience has taught me that I tend to get burnt out by NaNoWriMo, but I'm too stubborn to give up on it. Last year my own personal goal was just to write as much of my project as possible. Even though I got nowhere near 50k, I was happy with what I accomplished. I think this year I'll go at it with a similar approach.

 

[Firefly]

Aaahhhh, its so close now! Two days...

I'd say my goal is to force myself to draft. Word count goals are helpful for me in that way because they're something concrete that shows I've actually been working on the hard parts of a project, not just tiptoeing around the edges with the easy bits, as I have a tendency to do. And to generate a bunch of material so I have something to edit after Nano is over.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I still have a lot of research I'd like to do (about 10 books to read, plus other stuff relating to the characters' areas of expertise) but I'm getting closer. And I need to work out the ending too.

 

[Yora]

I barely have any idea what story I want to write. I have one very vague concept that could be a story, and I just might have to go with that.

 

[Chessie2]

I'm participating this year. Here's my profile link should anyone desire to buddy up: NaNoWriMo

This will be my fifth time doing NaNoWrimo. I've won twice. It's always a fun event to join and I enjoy the write-ins at my local library. I would encourage others who are participating to find community somehow throughout the month, whether it be irl or online. The NaNoWriMo page hosts events throughout November to help keep writers inspired/encouraged. It's a good time and beneficial for writers in general.