Any one working on thier novel - Writers Forum

Kat · 01-30-2006, 12:19 PM

I finally came back to mine because I felt that my character really had a story to tell but boy is it a huge task to edit. I've probably cut 1/3 of it out just because it's crap. I usually edit each chapter as I go along so it seems like almost too much work. I think it might be better if I just start over again.

Pendulum · 01-31-2006, 04:42 PM

Yeah the thing is if you write for something like nano, you're going to end up with a whole lot of completely useless writing. Probably the majority of it. It's a good exercise for deadline writing and the like, but if you're finding it takes that long to edit it, maybe you should take the main plot lines and start rewriting it. You can always add in bits you liked from the other one.

white-wolf · 01-31-2006, 04:43 PM

Yeah, that's what I did -- started again. It was far easier than trying to make sense of the trash I wrote in November.

Whatever you decide to do with yours I wish you luck

bobothegoat · 02-01-2006, 07:25 PM

I actually ended up disliking my character, which I think is why I didn't finish it. Ah well.

valeca · 02-01-2006, 08:02 PM

Nope.

And I have no plans to work on it in the foreseeable future. It will probably languish in obscurity, only seeing the light of day when I want to relive my glorious defeat of Damien_Frosst.

I did re-write 2004's NaNo after finishing. It came out a completely different story. Who knows what round three will bring this November.

Kat · 02-02-2006, 11:16 AM

Well at least I'm not alone. I still have some very good parts that I will save, I suppose I write rather funny things when I am sleep deprived. One good thing came of it, got my family adjusted to my writing so they aren't pestering me so much when I'm on the computer.

Rico · 02-02-2006, 11:19 AM

If you write 50,000 words in about 3 days, 99% of it is guaranteed crap.

It's sitting on my laptop somewhere, but I haven't even opened it since November.

So, no.

bobwriter · 02-02-2006, 01:27 PM

I'm working on mine. I tell my friends that it will take me fifty three years to write my first novel and two to write my second.

I have about 900 pages of what looks to be a total of 1,100. I also edit as I go. Then I let a week or two go by while I work on newer sections and go back to what I previously wrote and re-edit. Something I should probably do with this post.

I keep thinking it really should be shorter (my novel--perhaps this post as well) but all of my readers (about fifty or so) keep telling me, leave everything in. I suspect a publisher will have little problem telling me what needs whacking.

My novel is historical fiction (Micheneresque I've been told) and would lend itself to being broken into a trilogy; who knows, maybe a three book deal with my first novel. Would'nt that be a kick!

Keep at it and let some time pass before rejecting the entire thing.

bobwriter · 02-02-2006, 01:29 PM

Duh...I'm new to this website, please forgive. I just noticed this was Nano site...so never mind.

Kira the wanderer · 02-16-2006, 06:14 PM

Yeah I hate my NaNoWriMo work. I had the characters playe dout in my head and some plot. Half of them didn't have names and I only knew the begining and ending to it. It was really bad. I like the idea behind it though and started giving it more a original plot and changing things a bit... so I recently restarted it. I'm not satisfied right now though even though its just a few paragraphs.

cryptika · 02-16-2006, 08:20 PM

I didn't participate in the "official" Nano. I did my own version earlier in the year, because a friend and I couldn't wait till November. I got my 50K and a lot of it is useless rubbish, but there is a story hiding in there somewhere, and I'm now working my way through it.

But, this story has been in the making for a few years now, so it wasn't a new, original, or straight-from-scratch piece by any means. I've been working on it for years without really managing to drive it where it needs to go, so getting the content down in Nano was a big deal for me, even if I have to rewrite the whole thing.

I'm working on the second half at a much slower, more careful pace, and once completed, I'll return to the beginning (I go back there now and again, but my focus is to just get the story out, right now) and work through the piece as a whole, rip it apart and put it back together.

literary_journal · 02-20-2006, 07:27 PM

I've been switching back and forth with about a dozen novels. I can't seem to concentrate on just one, because as I write I get inspired for another.

Phethean · 04-28-2006, 11:18 AM

I wrote my Novel and was surprised at how good it came out in view of things...then my son was injured, so it got put away for a few months.

I am revisiting it now and despite all the good intentions of NaNoEdMo - couldn't face it.

I am doinga 10K writing challenge until next Monday and will probably do another challenge next month to get back to creating some grist for the mill.

Having said that I am really proud of my embrionic novel, and it definitely has potential.

The main thing I got out of NaNo was the sense of adventure and an excuse to have guilt-free writing time. I had forgotten how good it is to write fiction and it is that buzz of freefalling I am looking to recapture.

Sorry about this novel... !!!!

The Hooded One · 04-30-2006, 03:44 PM

Well, I guess that is one of my greatest obsticles I can not write writing challenges. I feel they are a waste of my writing time when I could be working on my main novel.

I do feel however, that small writing challenges are a great help to most people's writing ability. I however check out the nano challenge. Though after a few thousand words I felt that it was a huge distraction from my actual novel.

Sincerely - J.C

tbs21 · 05-13-2006, 12:21 PM

i didn't participate in NaNoWriMo 2005, but i did wind up throwing my first novel into the back of my closet. (who knows? after three years i may go back to it and finish it.) i don't guess it really was a novel. i was about 1/5 of the way through it, when i threw my hands up in failure. i started on my second novel about two months later, which is the one i'm working on now. it's going way better than the last one, and i'm almost finished with it.