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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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NaNoWriMo 2016


Just two more weeks, and the writing madness will begin.

Are you in?

I'm going to kick off with it, but it remains to be seen how much I can do. I've been fighting exhaustion for practically the entire year, so adding NaNo to my daily chores might not work out.

Anyway, I do welcome NaNo for one very, very important thing:

Writing without abandon. Writing without genre restrictions, plot concerns or character development. It's how I write best, letting the story develop under my hands. And I tell you, I have only rewritten one novel out of more than a dozen. I don't do rewrites. My story-telling works that way.

It's not for everyone. And if you prefer to plot, that's perfectly okay. But you'll miss the entire point of NaNo.

Have fun!

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I am committed, even if I am not ready if you know what I mean. Meeting the characters involved in a NaNo writing attempt is always a fun part of the NaNo challenge for me.

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I think nobody is every really ready for NaNo. emoticon

I hope I can manage. I'm pretty much exhausted as it is, running my blogs and my FB group. So adding 2k words to my day might be... challenging.

But that's what NaNo is all about!

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I wonder, could NaNo be the world's biggest "monthly challenge?" I know there are several hundred folks in the DFW chapter but only a handful ever complete the challenge in my part of the world.

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I think they probably say how many complete NaNo in a given year somewhere. And they also have other challenges throughout a year - editing month, script writing month, etc.

It's certainly a big one, but I have no idea what's going on in sports, eating and so on.

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I am going to count myself as a winner. There is no realistic chance for me to get to the 50k word mark but the object of the challenge is to get people to commit to writing something and on that point I have succeeded. emoticon

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


In my FB group for writers there is someone who went with a 5k word count, as well. I think she's at 10k now.

 emoticon

Seriously, you are a winner.

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


LibreOffice says I have 5381 words at the moment. That is easily the most I have ever committed to paper since leaving school! I keep going back and forth between adding new scenes and editing old scenes to try and hit the perfect balance before the first "crisis" manifests itself. I know I need to add one other scene where Cindy finds Mona after Mona's fainting spell so that will most likely be the scene to get me at the 6k word count.

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


It all sounds good.

There is no one perfect way to write a story. I like doing what you do, write a scene, go back, tweak it, fix anything in the beginning, and then write more.

In NaNo, I forced myself to go faster (and left notes to myself in the story, love the comment function in Libre Office), but that'll make editing a bit more difficult.

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


Congratulations Firle on actually winning the NaNo challenge this year! emoticon emoticon emoticon

There are so many science areas needed for my story that I am positive I will have to do some rewriting once I get to the stage where beta readers and editors are involved. For example, I just used up 2 hours on the Internet doing some research on some scenes where James Logan plays a major role. The first bit isn't very big, it just sets a stage for later. Now I can go back and edit the dinner scene because now I know what James has to do and it provides more meaning to the scene. emoticon

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Squire
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Registered: 11-2005
Location: Whoosher House
Posts: 710
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


 emoticon Way to go.





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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


Rick, that's awesome.

I love to witness how you grow into your story, in a way. It's great.

 emoticon emoticon emoticon

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- Firlefanz

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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


So I didn't even get close to winning the NaNo this year but what I did accomplish is very different.

I proved to myself that even after decades of doing nothing but outlines I can still put words on paper consistently.

I discovered that I really do have a story and that characters can surprise you.

I found out the best time for me to try and write something on my story.

And much more.

After my first dash to get words on paper my word count went way down. There were days when I just barely managed 100 words for the whole day but they were essential because it kept me working on the story.

Habits do grow, my word count is rising, I did not reach my "Jack London" goal of 500 words per day but I did get to 402 words per day when it is all averaged out.

Editing and rewriting don't mean I messed up, it just means I figured out more in the story and have to get the extra information on paper.

Some things get put in a story as a kind of "post-it note." Those notes have to be removed once the proper place for the information is reached in the story.

So all in all, I am happy I decided to try and I am very happy I decided to try and do the NaNo online here. Just knowing that someone else was watching over my shoulder was a huge motivator to do something every day, even if it was just 100 words. emoticon

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


 emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon

This is actually huge. Very important, much more important than the actual wordcount. You learned how to be a writer.

So congratulations!

 emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon emoticon

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- Firlefanz

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Knight

Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 1356
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


Congrats, Firle! And Rick sounds like you learned a lot about your writing habits which is awesome!
I started with the goal of getting my novelish story done and then everything hit and I discovered I can't write while stressed. So now my goal is to keep my life as stress free as possible so I can write. emoticon

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I'd procrastinate now, but it would be easier tomorrow.
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The Reeve

Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 2474
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I had dreams about my story last night! I can not remember any of the details but I think that means my mind is working on it at the subconscious level even when I am not at the keyboard. It is a little weird...

I am doing my best to add at least a little bit each day. If nothing else those smaller bits help remind me to keep going. emoticon

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Lady of the Land

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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Re: NaNoWriMo 2016


I love that you're dreaming about your story, Rick! You bet, that's your subconscious working out bobbles in it.

Trying, I'm sorry you had so much stress. Yes, that can kill the writing mind. emoticon emoticon emoticon
I do hope you'll find your way back into it.

My mind is still full of my Dragon Warrior story (I edited it a bit more), but mostly it's fuzzy feelings. Which stop me from creating more background. I want to understand the villain a bit more, and add depth to it, but the story is resisting the idea. It begins to feel like a teaser for a much bigger thing...

And I keep thinking of a story I read a while ago, Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion. It's a masterpiece, starting out with a broken man coming "home", looking for sanctuary, and it grows and grows and grows into an epic story involving gods and the entire kingdom - all told in close third person narrative, from a single point of view.

I keep wondering how to write such a tale, and I suppose it's not possible without plotting it out ahead. And I wonder if my new tale is simply a piece of such a bigger story... (not that I'm comparing myself to Ms. Bujold).

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- Firlefanz

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