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Old 10-23-2018, 10:15 AM   #16
Graham
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So, NanoWriMo anyone?
Well, I was going to...

I've got 20,000 words of specific backstory scenes written, an interesting starting situation, a setting, a possible ending, and a couple of (I hope) compelling characters, but I've hit a Moment of Doubt.

I've realised that of my two characters it's the other one that's the protagonist, as the story revolves around her and not the viewpoint character I originally had in mind, but due to the situation she has limited agency.

While this doesn't kill the novel it does make coming up with a plot that's sustainable harder. I've triaged a list of 44 plot ideas down to just one that a) can escalate with unavoidable consequences, b) has a 'ticking clock', and c) ties into the character's inner need for change, but it's left me feeling unsatisfied.

Some of my bigger ideas fell by the wayside. It feels as though I need to let this one simmer for a while longer, so I may have nothing ready for NaNoWriMo.

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Old 10-23-2018, 10:43 AM   #17
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Graham: Are you sure that you're not just procrastinating? Playing with plot ideas is fun, but you can spend forever doing it. Maybe make a very rough outline then begin writing. It doesn't have to be perfect first time. If you don't like it, you have something to change and work with. If you decide to throw it away and start again, well, you will have been writing for a month. No time spent writing is wasted.
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Old 10-23-2018, 08:29 PM   #18
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It's that time of year again. I'll probably get started on nano at the beginning of November and see how things go. I really want to finish a first draft, which is like pulling teeth!

There was a literary week in B'ham recently; I attended a workshop regarding "The Gothic" in fiction. While in the 'powder room' I mentioned nanowrimo to a woman who'd been sitting near me during the workshop, asking if she'd be participating. She looked at me as though I'd asked if she was going to play in a sandpit, or do finger-painting! Seemed to regard it as beneath contempt.

I realise many of the participants are teenagers writing poor YA fiction, but I'm sure that's not universally the case.

So, NanoWriMo anyone?
Don't mind if I do. I plan to try anyway. I'm no teenager though I have been told I don't look my almost 48 yrs. I agree that talking about it can give someone an incentive to actually try. I have a facebook group if anyone is interested. Let's do NaNo
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Old 10-23-2018, 09:16 PM   #19
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crich70: I joined your FaceBook group, then got out of there quickly. FB is a labyrinth it's so easy to get lost in.
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Old 10-24-2018, 02:59 AM   #20
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Graham: Are you sure that you're not just procrastinating?
I can procrastinate with the best of them but I don't think so in this case. My recent word count is up near NaNoWriMo levels. I've written 25,000 words of first draft short fiction/scripts during October so far, with another 18,000 words of notes and exercises. (I'm lucky to be enjoying a sabbatical from my IT work at the moment.)

So, it's not that I'm avoiding writing, it's more that I've got overwhelmed with this particular idea.

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Playing with plot ideas is fun, but you can spend forever doing it.
Very true.

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Maybe make a very rough outline then begin writing. It doesn't have to be perfect first time. If you don't like it, you have something to change and work with. If you decide to throw it away and start again, well, you will have been writing for a month. No time spent writing is wasted.
I need to get a bit of distance from it, so I'm going to ignore it this week. Early next week I'll take your advice and see if I can shape a rough outline.

Failing that, I'll still do NaNoWriMo but as a rebel and aim to get 50k words of short stories or screenplays out in the month.

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Old 10-25-2018, 12:40 AM   #21
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Hi.

I've been wanting to do Nano for a while, but Oct-Nov is the busy time of the year at work. I think I'm finally going to try it this year; I have an idea that has been tumbling around in my head for about a month, and I feel I ought to start working on it or else I'll forget it. Not sure what to expect of such a crazy deadline.
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Old 10-25-2018, 04:37 AM   #22
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Hi.

I've been wanting to do Nano for a while, but Oct-Nov is the busy time of the year at work. I think I'm finally going to try it this year; I have an idea that has been tumbling around in my head for about a month, and I feel I ought to start working on it or else I'll forget it. Not sure what to expect of such a crazy deadline.
If you can find time to put an outline together, that really helps with NaNo. It gives you a scaffold so that when you sit down to write you're not wasting time searching for what comes next, which is vital if you're also trying to fit in a full-time job.

If you've not done it before it would also be worth a few practise sessions over this weekend. 1,667 words a day is harder from a standing start and it's disheartening to be behind the goal from the outset.

The two previous occasions that I've done NaNoWriMo I've been between contracts, like I am now, with a lot of spare time.

I am in awe of people who manage this while also working full-time, but many thousands of people do achieve it. Respect!

Graham
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Old 10-25-2018, 10:23 AM   #23
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That's great advice, Graham. I tend to write flash fiction in the weeks running up to nano. This helps to tune the writing senses and practise keyboard skills.

dakini (love the avatar) Nano is a great way to tune out the internal editor: you have to keep pushing forward and ignore anything you think could have been done better. The only year I succeeded to 50k I used the software "Write Or Die" coupled with an outline written in Word's Outline View. W.O.D keeps you writing by triggering different levels of punishment (depending on the setting) if you stop writing. The screen begins to turn red, then horrible sounds play. Or, in extreme modes, it begins eating your words. So you have to keep writing until you've written your word/time target. That internal critic doesn't stand a chance!

Have fun.
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Old 10-26-2018, 01:28 AM   #24
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crich70: I joined your FaceBook group, then got out of there quickly. FB is a labyrinth it's so easy to get lost in.
The internet itself is a vast maze of links that can swallow up hours of your personal time as you navigate it.
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Old 10-26-2018, 01:29 AM   #25
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Hi.

I've been wanting to do Nano for a while, but Oct-Nov is the busy time of the year at work. I think I'm finally going to try it this year; I have an idea that has been tumbling around in my head for about a month, and I feel I ought to start working on it or else I'll forget it. Not sure what to expect of such a crazy deadline.
There are also two times earlier in the year for Camp NaNoWriMo. Truthfully I think any month could be a NaNo month if a person wants it to be. Good luck.
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Old 10-26-2018, 01:32 AM   #26
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If you can find time to put an outline together, that really helps with NaNo. It gives you a scaffold so that when you sit down to write you're not wasting time searching for what comes next, which is vital if you're also trying to fit in a full-time job.

If you've not done it before it would also be worth a few practise sessions over this weekend. 1,667 words a day is harder from a standing start and it's disheartening to be behind the goal from the outset.

The two previous occasions that I've done NaNoWriMo I've been between contracts, like I am now, with a lot of spare time.

I am in awe of people who manage this while also working full-time, but many thousands of people do achieve it. Respect!

Graham
One of the simplest outlines I've ever heard of is a 4 step process.
1) Write a premise. "I want to write a novel about...."
2) Write an opening paragraph
3) Write a closing paragraph
4) List down chapters say 1-25 and then write a sentence or two next to each number about what happens in that chapter to get the story from the opening to the closing paragraph.
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Old 11-01-2018, 04:54 PM   #27
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Well, I've made a start on the first chapter. I took a fresh look at what I have for the novel and teased out a rough outline.

This is going to be interesting and a little scary. With my first two NaNoWriMos I had very detailed outlines to work from, with a fair bit of setting material, but hardly any character work done in advance. With this one I've spent a solid chunk of time writing character backstory but there are large parts of the plot that still need to be figured out.

While I know how this starts and I've got a fair idea how it ends, I've only got a cursory idea of how I'm going to get there. Hopefully I can beef up my outline over the next week or so.

Good luck, BookCat, crich70, skb, and dakini, if you've decided to go for it.

Graham
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Old 11-01-2018, 05:56 PM   #28
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Managed to write 1,671 today, which is just over the official quota. Considering I went to bed late last night and have spent the day fighting sleep, that's not too bad. Generally, it's good to get ahead as much as you can in the first week, the second week always causes a slump.
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Old 11-02-2018, 04:33 PM   #29
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I've kind of finished one of my WIPs. Total only about 2000 words at this stage though. I was happy with that until I realised that, as these short stories are sort of part of a series, the edits I made to the "finished" one actually require a new story before the finished one. So, number of WIPs...the same.

Still. Onwards!
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Old 11-02-2018, 08:29 PM   #30
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skb, take what you can get. Any forward progress you make has to be counted as a worthwhile. (IOW: Think positive! )


All, don't forget to have some fun. It can't be all about the word count. Good luck.
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