A bit early, but... - Page 2 - Writers Forum

silverwriter · 09-17-2006, 07:15 PM

Here, finally typed it up:

The NaNo Virgin’s Guide to NaNo

1. It doesn’t matter how you’re feeling at the time, when you’re smack talking, you’ll do everything better, faster, and might just write a second one while waiting for everyone else to catch up.

2. Don’t be intimidated by people who have completed their NaNos (on time, mind you). Go right for the “big fish.” The smack talk is half the fun.

3. Setting a goal for so many words per day is actually very helpful and might be more helpful than you think,

4. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your fellow NaNo participants; you never know just who might be going through the exact same thing you are.

5. Going along with number four: don’t be afraid to ask. About anything. From how to get over your most recent block in writing to just how many cups of coffee you can drink before it starts becoming detrimental to your health.

6. If you don’t want anyone to read your work, then no one will. Don’t worry about if others will like it. Go ahead and add those monkey ninjas.

7. The NaNo site where you register also has a forum. Look for the writingforums.com group and have some fun.

8. The NaNo site is also useful for hooking up with friends (other than WF people), posting a bit about yourself as well as a small section of your NaNo, checking out stats, and for turning in your word count as often as you want.

9. Everything is a balance. Sometimes life can overwhelm and take you away from you’re writing. Don’t stress. You get an icon if you finish on time, and it’s not as if you get punished if you don’t make it. (I didn’t finish last year’s NaNo until this past February.)

10. NaNo is a lot of fun all around. Don’t be intimidated by anyone or lose heart if you fall a bit behind. We’re all there because we love writing, love a hint of competition, and also like a challenge.

linimis · 09-25-2006, 02:47 AM

the idea really scares me. i'm not sure iv'e ever written as much as 50thousand words for one story. and in 30 days?

mayeb I should just leave it to the ones who know what their doing.

starpanda · 09-25-2006, 08:35 AM

Silver - thanks for the guide. i am already following some of your points.

Linimis - have a go...even if you don't finish, i think it would be a good learning experience, i know that's why I'm doing it...that and sometimes i need a good kicking to get into gear...

Starpanda

Hakeem · 09-25-2006, 08:41 AM

Starpanda, I think I'm a little bit ahead of you. Planned the characters, setting, plot, storyline, conflicts, ...etc.

How about... you?

starpanda · 09-25-2006, 09:03 AM

Hi Hakeem
Argh...I obviously need to catch up. I had an idea for a novel, based on a place in my home town (it's small but definitely wierd) - its about a retirement village that is built on the site of an old mental asylum and some strange occurances that go on there.

So far I have my main charcter, an elderly resident called Harry Jackson who wakes up in the middle of the night to see a dark shadowy figure standing over his wife. He is completely paralysed...

I'm thinking he believes its sleep paralysis (thanks for that thread guys and gals), not knowing that other residents and staff are having other strange things happen to them. its only when his wife dies does he think otherwise...

Thats as far as i have got...I have no idea where its going to go from there

Starpanda

kagechaos · 09-25-2006, 10:50 AM

So far I just have a shitload of characters ready (both main and secondary types) and a very, very basic plot.

valeca · 09-25-2006, 12:58 PM

I plan on intimidating silver the entire month of November.

Hakeem · 09-25-2006, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starpanda

I had an idea for a novel, based on a place in my home town

Grrrr... just like my idea.

silverwriter · 09-26-2006, 12:13 AM

I love you too, val.

linimis · 09-26-2006, 01:06 AM

it seems like all of you know what your writing about...and I have no idea, if I even do this.

that's a bad thing, right?

silverwriter · 09-26-2006, 02:03 AM

I know my characters, and to be honest, I only know them because I'm writing a forum NaNo.

No worries.

Besh · 09-26-2006, 03:05 AM

Well, I've just decided I'll sign up again this year. At least I'll have a little bit of time to plan, and I'm not sure how much I'll get done because it's around my exam time ... but it's all about havin' fun and stuff, right? It'll give me a chance to start a story I've been brewin'.

Selorian · 09-26-2006, 06:06 AM

I've been limiting myself on thinking about it until October 1st, but I do have a couple ideas.

I want to continue working on short stories to submit while working on NaNo. I also would like to give the NaShoStoMo concept a test run. So, what I may do is four short stories, each with an object or person that carries over into the others. The stories will be a bit longer than what they would be for NaSho, but it will give me a general idea, it'll give me my NaNo project, and it'll let me get four more short stories for possible submission somewhere.

Other than that, it is all on hold until Oct. 1st.

SilkFX · 09-26-2006, 11:34 PM

^^This is the first I've heard of NaShoStoMo. I like the concept and it sounds more doable for me than Nanowrimo this year...although truthfully I can't really do either since I'm supposed to be working on my thesis (four short stories).

Selorian · 09-27-2006, 03:35 PM

You haven't heard of NaShoStoMo (National Short Story Month) before because I haven't done it yet. This is a new project that we'll be launching next year. Some preliminary groundwork has been done and I hope that it is every bit as popular as it's inspiration, NaNoWriMo.