NaNo 2014

[Emily Logan]

I know it's early-ish (although, if you plan on ml'ing, better get those apps in!) to be posting for NaNo 2014, but I was just wondering

Who's planning on NaNo'ing this year?
Do you NaNo every year? Will this be your first?
Is any one planning on ML'ing? Or hoping to?

I'll start.

I'm Emily Logan (that's my NaNo user handle as well). Except for two years when I was simply not able to wrap my head around NaNo due to extenuating life circumstances, I have NaNo'ed every year since 06, when I discovered NaNo was a certain time every year. (I'd heard of it the year before, but didn't know the ins & outs; like, it happens during November.) NaNo is like a writer's holiday to me. I have no responsibilities to drag me down, like work or school, and challenge me to work around those issues. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.

I've MLed once before, in 07, right before life got in my way. When I was able to come back, I found the guidelines for MLs had changed and I was unable to apply; by the time I discovered it, it was after the dead line. Then we had an ML (for a year any way) and I haven't been able to apply again yet. (No ML last year.) I just finished my application and can only hope they'll accept my application. Since I haven't been too involved in the world in the past few years, one can only hope. Maybe the fact that I've MLed once and won twice (of 6 times *sharp inhale, crossed fingers*) will help. I want to be of service if I can. The most important thing to me, though, is that I at least participate, even if I'm only responsible for myself.

[aliveatnight]

It's something that I've been thinking about doing, and it'll be my first time if I do. What is ML'ing?

[Emily Logan]

Municipal Liason. It's the leader/s of your area. Mine is a bit unorganized. Last year, we didn't even have an ML. I would like to see NaNo succeed here.

Haha. I may be the newbie on this forum, but our roles reverse when discussing NaNo. That's ok; we're all new to something sooner or later.

So glad to hear you'll be joining us! If you don't have a story yet, no reason for concern. The best time for dreaming is in October; then you quickly write down what you can. I wouldn't recommend non-fiction for NaNo. It's more geared towards fiction books. No editing! Not a lot of research time- 50k words are the ultimate goal between midnight November 1st to midnight November 30th. Preperation work is allowed during October, but not a word in the book can be written before November 1st.

[popsprocket]

I think I've outgrown NaNo.

As elitist as it'll sound, the crowd on the nano forum is a bit... well they're a fair way below the level of 'good' writers.

[Emily Logan]

Oh, so you're a published author! Gratz pops. What books have you written? Are they on the best seller's list?

[J Anfinson]

Did it last year for the first time and lost* (didn't help that I started like 8 days late) but it was fun and I did get more words down that month than I ever have in a month before, so I'm sure I'll be giving it another go. Must fight the editing demons this time...

*Final word count ended up being about 14,000.

[popsprocket]

Oh, so you're a published author! Gratz pops. What books have you written? Are they on the best seller's list?

Now, now, I didn't say it with the intent of offending, it's just an honest opinion.

[Emily Logan]

November isn't for editing, pops. Don't be so quick to judge. Books have actually been published out of NaNo. Water for Elephants being one of the many popular NaNo books. (And that one was made into a movie! Right quick, considering NaNo just started in '99.)

Here's a few more.

11 NaNoWriMo Books That Have Been Published
14 Published Novels Written During NaNoWriMo

I'm not trying to be smart, pops. My apologies if I offended. I'm just curious who's interested in NaNo. If you don't want to participate, that's your choice. I'm just concerned a statement like what you said originally could damage someone who's loosely considering NaNo. I want to be encouraging, not discouraging. NaNo is one of my favorite events of the year. Only a rotten life event was able to keep me from it.

J, I didn't win my first year either. But it was a learning experience; I learned what worked and what didn't, and I did eventually win a couple. I've seen a few who've won every year; but that's not every body. Don't let that fact discourage you. Do it every year, fight for every word and reach that 50k. You'll get it. Believe in yourself.

Let me tell you a little secret that's helped me. There are various groups throughout the internet- FB, Twitter, local (online) group chats, etc that get together for the purposes of writing as a team (each with their individual projects, of course, but working at the same time). I think the number one most important thing that has helped me to succeed is getting involved with these groups for the soul purpose of... WORD WARS! You can do it by yourself or with others. The point is to write as many words as you can in a limited time frame and see if you can beat that score. You can also try to beat others' scores. It's really challenging and helps you pound out that book quickly. There are also writing buddies on NaNo; I don't know much about them. I've been all about word wars.

Also, as I have said previously, NO EDITING DURING NOVEMBER. Planning is for October. Writing is for November. Editing is for December and after. There's another site that does NaNoEdMo- National Novel Editing Month in March (looking it up; found hiatus for 2014, but they expect to return in 2015). Waiting til March gives people time to breathe and relax from the marathon in November. Remember, every failure teaches you how not to accomplish your goal and gives you an idea of how to succeed. How many times did Thomas Edison "fail" the light bulb? It likely won't take you that many times to succeed at NaNoWriMo, but the point is, each "failure" teaches you something. Good luck and have fun!

[PiP]

Hi Emily,

In answer to your questions...
Who's planning on NaNo'ing this year? I'd like to but it really depends on other commitments.
Do you NaNo every year? Will this be your first? I've only participated in the NaNo Challenge once (2012) and I completed it.
Is any one planning on ML'ing? Or hoping to? No, I'll hopefully receive some support with a group here. Last time I worked with a group of bloggers and we all posted the word count widget to our blogs so we could monitor progress.


Good Luck with your ML application.

[bookmasta]

I think I've outgrown NaNo.

As elitist as it'll sound, the crowd on the nano forum is a bit... well they're a fair way below the level of 'good' writers.

This. However, everyone needs to be begin somewhere.