nanowrimo (Photo credit: evilnick)
Ready or not, here it comes! I signed up for this after one of my blogging buddies (hey, Patti…yes, also named Patti!) completed it the last time around. I thought it sounded like a pretty cool challenge and a great way to get me writing consistently on my novel. I’ve been loosely outlining it for the past few days. Tomorrow I’m going to try to assemble all of the pieces so I can focus on writing starting June 1.
I think the fact that I’ve been thinking about this book for a long, LONG time should help me with the writing. I’m a little nervous about committing to this challenge. It consists of a lot of writing in one month, probably more than I’ve ever done in just a month. But challenges are good for me…there’s just something about challenging myself that motivates me to meet my goals.
I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to post the short stories I’ve been writing during the month of June. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I’ll have the rough draft of my first novel completed though…and that would be a huge accomplishment.
So…anyone who’s done NaNoWriMo, got any tips or encouragement for me? Were you able to complete the required writing for the month-long challenge? Was it…fun? I don’t know how fun it’s going to be, but I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge.
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Filed under: writing | Tagged: fiction, NaNoWriMo, Online Writing, writing |
Run4joy59's Blog 
This will be my first Camp NaNoWriMo. I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo classic twice and even managed to pull off a win once.
Words of advice. Hmmm. Write all you can the first week. The second week is the week of self-doubts and low word counts.
Interact with other NaNos as much as possible. They will be your first line of support and encouragement. In November we have local gatherings which are always fun. And now we are trying out cabins. Come to find out one of my cabin mates is also from my home town….what are the chances of that?
All in all….just write
Good luck
Great advice…cool about your cabin mate being from your home town…enjoy!!
I literally just blogged about this two minutes ago 🙂 Yes, I’ve done NaNo, and it was fantastic. I’ve attempted it about seven times, and finished four of those times. Two of my stories turned out really well, and the other two were meh. But it was always lots of fun! I get a kick out of logging on every day and posting my word count, not to mention there isn’t nearly as much pressure as you think, because you know that you’re supposed to be focusing on quantity, so you don’t feel quite as bad about the quality. Best of luck with NaNo!
Thanks for the advice…I’m actually looking forward to this!!
Try to keep up with daily goals, and if you can write more, do it. NaNo is a great experience. I’m cheering for you!
Thanks, Patti…I know you were rightfully proud when you completed the challenge!! I want some of that for myself!
I participated in November 2010 and 2011. I won neither. But in 2011 I held on longer than 2010 haha.
In 2011 I wrote on a story I was really familiar with, but it took off in the opposite direction, despite my planning and outline. Half way through I got stuck and couldn’t motivate myself anymore. Lots of lovely fellow NaNo’s helped me with suggestions and all that. I let go of everything, put myself in the story to help it along, let my characters get abducted by aliens, placed on an island where girafs are worshipped. -shrug- I didn’t get to my wordcount anymore though and at the end it flat lined.
Still I’m proud of what I accomplished and I wrote more than I ever had in a month, and I had a nice big part of story to work further on.
I’ll be trying it again in November 🙂
yep, doing the camp nano in june and maybe in august, then definitely taking part in the november event!! see if I can get a book finished…
Ah awesome 🙂 I wish you much inspiration and writing strength! I’m only participating in November really.
Thanks…just a question for you on your two previous NaNo experiences, did you use writing software other than just your basic word?
No not really? I used online writing though, so I could write wherever. I really quite like Yarny! It’s free for the most part and really basic, and “just right”? http://yarny.me 🙂
For NaNo 2010 I really only used word though.
For NaNo 2011 I went with PangurPad, which is like Yarny, only has a bit more options? For example PangurPad has formatting options. I’m not really sure which I like better, but right now I’m using Yarny for all my writing. And Yarny has an easy export options, so you can save backups on your own computer if you like.
I’ve done it twice, and pulled it off once. The time I failed, it was because I actually managed to give myself temporary carpal tunnel by typing too much and had to quit and buy a brace, so be careful about that. I used Google Docs, so that I could work on it anywhere, but I apparently had it open on one computer while working on it from another, and since Google Docs autosaves, it overwrote all of the changes I made with the original version. So be careful about that too, if you go that route.
The way I go about NaNo is I actually take a new project that I won’t be super invested in, something I’d never actually try to publish, so that I’m not crushed if it turns out horribly. Then I just use it as practice. I’m doing something different for CampNaNo this year, though (my first CampNaNo)–I’m actually going to try to hammer out a draft of my current novel project, Mettle. I’m pretty excited. My outline’s all put together and I’ve been doing tons of research.
My main advice is if it starts to really stress you out, stop. 50k in one month is a lot of work, and the first week it’ll fly by, but it can really kill you after awhile. It’s supposed to be fun, and sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. But the world won’t end if you don’t make your word count. It’s a personal goal, and if you even hit ten thousand words, you’ve accomplished something. However, that doesn’t mean just give up whenever it starts to get tough, because it will. And it doesn’t mean I don’t think you can win, because you probably can, and people do it all the time. I’ve done it! It just means don’t stress about it, and don’t let it get to you, and if it does become a major burden, let it go.
It’s so nice to hear from someone who has been there…ouch on the carpal tunnel tho!! And I had never even given it a thought that Google Docs would overwrite all of your changes…had to be frustrating for you.
I’m excited for both of us! Me, because, well you know, it’s my first time, how could I not be excited? You…because you’re getting ready to complete the draft for your project…in 30 days!!
Thanks for all of the advice…I’ll be checking in on you from time to time to see how things are going for you!
Awesome! I’ll keep an eye on how you’re doing, too. Good luck!
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