NaNoWriMo 2013

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ArchAngel
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So, I know several of you are already familiar with NaNoWriMo (and I believe have already participated before), but I thought now would be a good time to see which one of us will be trying it.

For those of you who have not heard it before, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and it's a one month challenge in November to write a full 50k+ word novel. Check it out if you are interested.

So, are any of you going to try it out this November? If so, post your profile up here so we can add each other as buddies, keep track of our progress, and encourage each other as things get hectic.
This would be my first time, so I look forward to writing with you guys.
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Hmm...interested. Don't know if I could do it, though.
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Sstavix
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I am certainly going to give it a go this year! I'm looking forward to getting back into it, after missing it for the past two years. My profile can be found here.
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Orodrist
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I've tried it for the last three years, probably not going to bother this time around.
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ArchAngel
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Oh, nice! You got a 3 year straight win. Nicely done. Any pointers for us just starting?
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Orodrist
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:p you missed the word tried, more like a 3 year straight fail
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ArchAngel
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Oh, that was for Sstavix. He got '08, '09, and '10.
Probably should have mention to whom I was replying.

So, Oro, any comments on why you didn't get it those 3 years?
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Orodrist
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Oh my bad, man haha.

I guess as I've (marginally) grown as a writer, I've found my greatest struggle was the lack of formal structure inherent in prose, which leads to a jumbled mess within 5k words that's more or less irrecoverable. Combine that with being highly self critical and I normally make it til about the 10th of the month before I hit the delete button.

That's probably why I've stuck to verse lately. Once I become used to a particular metre, writing in it becomes instinctual and I'm more capable of focusing on telling a story instead of disentangling a mess of paragraphs and tangents.

I mean I'm no master, by any means, but who is this days. *shrugs*
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do - Robert A Heinlein

Courage ~ Discipline ~ Fidelity ~ Honor ~ Hospitality ~ Industriousness ~ Perseverance ~ Self Reliance ~
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ArchAngel
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Interesting. I find myself probably on the opposite struggle. I'd have a hard time writing prose and verse, but I find the story architecture a lot more appealing. Granted, the last time I tried typing a story was maybe 20 years, so we'll see how this exercise turns out for me.
Anyhow, I guess it really comes down to personal preferences in mediums. Keeping prosing about.
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Sstavix
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ArchAngel wrote:Oh, nice! You got a 3 year straight win. Nicely done. Any pointers for us just starting?
The main piece of advice I have is to don't overthink it. Your writing isn't going to be perfect the first time out. In fact, it's probably going to stink. But that's OK. At this point, you're just generating the raw material. You don't like what you just wrote? Big deal - shrug it off and keep writing. You'll have the chance to revise and rewrite that portion when you get to the editing stage.

I view this kind of like sculpting. You have the potential to make something truly wonderful. But first, you need to start with a big, ugly lump of stone. That's what your 50,000+ novel is going to be at the end of November - that block of stone. It may not look like much... but you need to have that block of stone if you're going to shape it into something that you want to proudly show others.

Just keep writing. To meet the goal, you have to write about 1,700 words a day - which isn't too much, really. But push yourself, especially towards the beginning of the month. You'll find that real life tends to interfere - especially around Thanksgiving - so try to keep ahead of the daily goal as much as you can, when you can.

And finally, if you run out of things to say or have writer's block, just splash something random on the page and then determine how your characters will respond. One of my favorites is "And then ninjas attacked." It may not make any sense int he context of what you're writing (and you may want to vary it depending on what you're writing. For example, if you're writing a sci-fi, "Suddenly, with a crunch, the warp drive fell off and spun away into space.") But the approach will help you get closer to your 50,000 word goal and maybe make things more interesting to the overall novel.
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ArchAngel
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Oh cool, that's something good to keep in mind. Thanks!
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Sstavix
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Two days before the madness begins... who's ready to go?
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ArchAngel
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Totally not. Things have been crazy and scattered lately, but I'll give it the ol' college try.

You know, leave it off to the end of november and put in a couple all-nighters to turn in a sub-par piece.
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Orodrist
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ArchAngel wrote:Totally not. Things have been crazy and scattered lately, but I'll give it the ol' college try.

You know, leave it off to the end of november and put in a couple all-nighters to turn in a sub-par piece.
*fistbump*


I've been running prep work for a couple weeks but I know I'll end up doing the same.

50,000 words of Homeric dactylic hexameter here I come....
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do - Robert A Heinlein

Courage ~ Discipline ~ Fidelity ~ Honor ~ Hospitality ~ Industriousness ~ Perseverance ~ Self Reliance ~
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ArchAngel
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I've been doing some prep work as well, ala the Snowflake method, but not nearly as much as I'd have liked.
Orodrist wrote:50,000 words of Homeric dactylic hexameter here I come....
Epic.
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