NaNoWriMo

OMFZMOG! Don't EDIT!

Don't.

Come up with a theme, or a set of themes, and pack several stories around that. Maybe have the same set of characters in all of them but give each smaller piece its own narrative arc, like a serial or an episodic tale.

Consider using a few recurring motifs/symbols to go along with the themes, to give them some concrete form you can work with.

And then just motherfucking write.

You can edit when you're done. You can edit in December, making sure the whole thing works as a "fix up" novel in time for Christmas or New Year's.

So, yeah, "thread" later.

 

Come up with an arbitrary number and then do the math. For example: 10.

Write ten stories of equal length = each story gets three days of work = each story gets about 5,000 words

So that's about 20 pages per story, or 6 to 7 pages (just over 1,600 words) per day (on average).

Come up with 10 beginnings, middles, and ends in brief point form as a guide. Feel free to jump around like a little squirrel all you want. Don't try to write from beginning to end sequentially.

Just write.

/unsolicited advice.

 

I bet you some squirrel is going to get got.

 

The one piece of advice that I like is:

If you get stuck in the middle of your story and things just aren't clicking or coming together (you are simply stalled), drop in the most excruciating event imaginable right in the middle of the scene and force your characters to clean that shit up.

You have to be cruel to be kind.

No conflict? No story.

 

Holy shit!!! How is it now the evening of Nov. 2????? WTF? I haven't even done word #1.

 

CinnamonGirl and cynthetiq, you guys know you have to average over 1,600 words a day, right?

However, also remember that many who do "win" end up writing the bulk of those words towards the end.

You aren't alone.

I have just over 800 words.

 

well damn. I'm not any closer to writing anything than my outline. I just haven't had any time.

 

I hate NaNoWriMo. It forces me to write when I'm not ready.

So I'm doing my own thing. I have a good shell of an outline that I want to flesh out. At best, I hope to have a solid outline, right down to chapter outlines, by the end of November. After that, I will set a deadline to write the book by the end of February.

 

Well, I look at it from its intent: just write and put a novel together. Unfortunately, I'm too much of a perfectionist to be comfortable with doing it at the rate it suggests. It's not the kind of exercise I think would benefit me that greatly outside of: this is how to put a novel together. The time frame isn't important though. I'd rather pick one that I can work with and then learn how to put a novel together.

This is also why I tend to look at genre fiction for this kind of thing. A part of me still thinks I should go the route of a story a week for 25 weeks before attempting a novel. Maybe I'll try both concurrently: work on an outline for a novel whilst writing short stories using a more open/discovery method, as opposed to an outlining/structured method. That way I could see how I work within both modes and maybe learn what works best for me.

The stories could change up since they're smaller pieces. They could be of various genres, they could be mainstream literary, they could be experimental.

And all the while I could work on a novel bit by bit, maybe only on the weekends or something.

Though I think I'm motivated enough to work on something. It hasn't been that bad thus far.

As for having you look at stuff---perhaps some of the stories. The novel probably won't be worth it. It's more or less a structural exercise. It will probably be rife with cliches and pedestrian sentences.

 

Still nothing. Computer took a crap and I just have been too tired to install a new psu to see i that fixes it.

Work has also sucked out any energy I have to doing anything in the evening.

 

Yeah, this didn't happen. I do have this kernel of a book brewing in my head, based on my original ideas. The characters and some random plot potentialities keep cropping up in my head, but I haven't been writing much down. I need a better habit of notetaking.

Anyway, I'm going to take another crack at NaNoWriMo! I'm going to do some prep work in advance this time. I want to have a plot outline and chapter summaries, maybe one or two pages of notes. I'm going to tell myself to write crap. I need to write the crap out of my system so that I'm more encouraged to write on a regular basis.

I should make November a caffeine-fuelled month of just putting words to the page. It's about how many words I can do; everything else is secondary.

I'm going to start with a fresh idea. I'll take another crack at a phantasie. It's still close to my heart as far as writing goes. I think about writing other things and I freeze up. I could probably do sci-fi of some kind, but I think I'd feel a bit like a fish out of water there. I haven't read much of it.

Anyway...I'm just putting this out there. Is anyone else thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year? It's coming soon!

If enough people are on board this year, maybe we could convince cynthetiq to temporarily adjust the Mayan Armageddon clock to a NaNoWriMo countdown until November 1, and then one for November 30.