NaNoWriMo 2010

[GeoffC]

I'm sure I'd have more than I have if I didn't keep going back over the previous days' words - and re-writing them ....

[crich70]

I'm currently up to 7,365 words. Only 1,017 words to get down today to keep on schedule. Course I have a rough outline of basic scenes for just the first 6 chapters. May slow down as I work my way through that point.

[Joseph Mitchell]

I got through NaNo last year by steadfastly refusing to go back and edit the last paragraph, else I'd be wasting half my time and half my words. Just acknowledge that it's not perfect and keep writing. Drop in a note to yourself to fix it later if you must. Editing is next month.

[DavidRM]

If you ever feel you should rewrite a long block of text from scratch, I recommend you strike it (apply strikethrough format) and leave the block in there.

This is Nanowrimo. You wrote it. It counts. Even if you plan to scrap it.

And who knows? You might appreciate keeping it later on.

-David

PS I *hate* deleting any word I've ever typed...

[crich70]

Lock the editor in a cage and forget about him til at least Dec. 1st. It's the only way to get to the finish line on time.

[jaxx6166]

Yay! There's a fire in the writing forum again. I love NaNo. Congrats on everyone for sticking it through the first week. By my calendar, we should all be around 11,500 to keep in the game. As of last night, I'm sitting at around 22k, which is good because it finally lit a fire under me to forget perfection and just write Ashes. I hope to have it done before Thanksgiving. Mostly, I'm doing the slow chug on my workdays for the 1667 and going to town on my off days and lodging around 12k/week. I've realized though that there's no way I'll have this done in the 50k, its going to probably end up around 75k. Hopefully I can do it, all my plot line was pretty much thrown in the gutter, as was the first three chapters I had written prior to NaNo.

Now, I'm mostly doing a discovery write based on common sense and logic

I'm also finding that this is turning into more of a Y/A than my usual gritty stuff, which should be interesting because I've never written this genre and haven't read it in years.

[jaxx6166]

Anyone want to play the excerpt game?

First couple paragraphs from your NaNo..throw it up in all its original ugliness, or beauty, whatever. =)

Spoiler:

Spanish moss swayed from the cool breeze, making the tiny tendrils dance in the otherwise stale air. Sweat poured down my back from just below the high collar to the crevice between my shoulders. I shook it off like a wet dog, finding no luck and no relief. Autumn was supposed to be the cooling season, a chance for the heat of the long summer to finally burn its last blaze and give me some kind of break from the relentless inferno that last summer had been.

But none was to be had.

Ashes floated on the wind, twisting grey specks that landed on my nose like new fallen snow. Woodsmoke hung heavy in the October stagnancy.

It wasn’t just the wind carrying the foul odors of war, it was in the faces of the haunted people that milled about in the noon sun. Gaunt, drawn faces in tight scowls, eyes wide with fright and the tremors of dread.

How much longer? Soon. A lot sooner than I thought. Branches from the lone oak swayed gently, leaves fell to the ground, mixing with the ash in a contrast of dead earth and dried up salvation. Clockwork machines drifted up into the heavens, large watch faces made the time impossible to avoid.

Brown air belched from the guts of a nearby robot. It clanked in time with the footfalls of a forgotten people. Coal eyes turned to meet my wandering gaze and I felt my face flush red with embarrassment. Did it catch me staring?

[crich70]

Not my 1st paragraph, but where we 1st learn about the main character anyway.

Spoiler:

As she went about her chores Monica thought to herself about how lucky she truly was. She had been orphaned as a young teenager, and after her stay in the government orphanage she had found herself with few prospects that really appealed to her. There were government grants to further education, but at the same time they didn’t cover all of a person’s expenses, and jobs had been scarce due to fluxations in the economy. Then she had seen the ad that had brought her to the marketplace. It had promised an end to financial troubles, troubles that were all too real to Monica. The catch of course was that the applicant agreed to waive their basic rights, and not just for a short time. It was a permanent waiver. She had debated with herself on whether or not to do it over a long weekend, and had finally come to the decision that anything was better than the limited life she had at the present. She had only hoped that whoever her purchaser was that they would be kind.
As it turned out it hadn’t been that simple. Not everyone it seemed was right on a phycological level for living the life of a slave. There had been an almost endless (or so it seemed to her) set of tests to take before they were satisfied that she was a good candidate for the program. Then there had been the wrapping up of affairs to take into consideration. In a sense it had been like she was dying and was setting her last affairs in order. She had sold most of her worldly possessions and handed over the funds they had garnered to defray the costs of her training. The basic paperwork of her life had also been catalogued and set aside. Property didn’t need bank cards, social security #’s or any other such identification. Everything that was needed was encoded into her own unique DNA sequence. You could change your face, but your DNA always remained the same. It was the ultimate form of identification, immune to counterfeit of any kind. That and a set of self replicating molecular chips which a special scanner could detect would identify her within a few short moments. There was no going back when you became a slave. No changing your mind.

[kennyc]

Of interest to this thread I think:

A NaNo-Tech Cure for Writer’s Block

by Henry Cribbs

Interviews with successful NaNoWriMo authors S.A. Bodeen, Simon Haynes, Kathleen Kaufman, James R. Strickland, and David Niall Wilson.....:

http://redstonesciencefiction.com/20...-november2010/




.

[crich70]

Interesting. Thanks for posting the link kennyc.

Originally Posted by kennyc

Of interest to this thread I think:

A NaNo-Tech Cure for Writer’s Block

by Henry Cribbs

Interviews with successful NaNoWriMo authors S.A. Bodeen, Simon Haynes, Kathleen Kaufman, James R. Strickland, and David Niall Wilson.....:

http://redstonesciencefiction.com/20...-november2010/




.

[DavidRM]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Of interest to this thread I think:

A NaNo-Tech Cure for Writer’s Block

by Henry Cribbs

...

OT: Hey! I know him!

He's one of my first readers. Known him since...hmm...2007, I think.

Go, Henry!

-David

[crich70]

How is everyone who is doing NaNo coming along in their word count tonight? I'm at 14,170 at the moment myself.

[DavidRM]

Originally Posted by crich70

How is everyone who is doing NaNo coming along in their word count tonight? I'm at 14,170 at the moment myself.

I clocked 16K words today. Very excited. I've been keeping a 2K/day pace so far this month. My goal is to keep that up all month and hit 60K by 30 Nov.

-David

[GeoffC]

I slipped to a daily total of 400 yesterday - but I'm still well above target.

A snippet ..

Spoiler:

Tensing his body he arched his back and started to lunge forward to throw the container into the water. In the split second before release an arm interrupted his movement and a man knocked the container.
It was too late, Tom had put a lot of energy into the preparation of throwing the container and, despite the intervention, it sailed out away from them. It snagged on the netting about 10 yards out.
Tom railed against the man, lashing out with the full force of one leg. He felt the impact and the obvious sensation of a bone shattering on impact with his foot. The frustration that had been hidden inside him, since the last attack, came out and he hurled the man away from him.
He ran eastward.
Quickly.
Leaving his backpack.
Leaving his container.
Leaving his dreams.
Behind.

[kennyc]

Great job everyone!