NaNoArghMo
Nov12009
So November crept up on me and I just realized that today I’m starting National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNo. The idea is to slam out 50,000 words in a month, no editing, no second-guessing, just WRITE the sucker. I have no idea if I can do this, but Lani wrote her first book this way (and then revised it and revised it and revised it) so I’m going to try starting the first Liz Danger doing this. I have high hopes, but it’s going to mean the November days will be just packed, since I’m doing NaNo in the mornings and writing AKMG in the evenings. Which reminds me, I’m never leaving the house again. I went to a conference and got completely knocked off my momentum for AKMG and now I have to get it back. But that’s okay, I’m typing until my fingers bleed until December. And possibly beyond.
So anybody else out there doing NaNo? More importantly, has anybody else out there done NaNo in the past? Any tips? Warnings? Encouraging sounds?
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64 Comments to 'NaNoArghMo'
On November 1, 2009 at 11:53 am Jean said...
Absolutely. NaNo’s a blast. I’ve been doing it since 2003. The key is to keep writing. Lots of stream of consciousness. You WILL need to edit later, but the idea is to get the words out. Character grocery lists are OK. So are visiting aliens. But, frankly, you don’t want too much of that stuff, because it’s a real pain to revise later. But don’t rule it out. The idea is to keep the fingers typing and the words flowing. Have fun with it. You’ll be surprised at what good stuff does stream from those flying fingers. (Well, maybe you won’t, because you’ve been writing for years and have probably experienced that before.)
On November 1, 2009 at 12:04 pm Stef said...
It’s my first attempt at NaNo, but I keep hearing Jean’s words over and over again. Just keep writing! haha Expect your first draft to be just that: a really crappily written first draft. the problem I’ve been having is not letting my flow get hindered by my internal editor. I am a notorious grammar Nazi, and it’s taking everything in me not to go back and edit the 1700 words I wrote up last night at the write-in. haha But I have made a vow not to edit a single thing until the month has ended, and I’m going to stick by that, darn it!
On November 1, 2009 at 12:06 pm Kate said...
I haven’t yet. Plan to do it in January because November is NOT a good month for me. I will be cheering you along though. I will be the pesky one who asks for word count updates. LOL. Have fun with and when you come up for air in December, I’m sure you’ll let us know what you thought of it.
On November 3, 2009 at 11:11 am Kate said...
So it’s day three. How is your word count coming?
Just fulfilling my nag duties.
On November 1, 2009 at 12:09 pm Marta said...
Liz Danger? More importantly, the FIRST Liz Danger? Be still my overly exited heart. And, no, I haven’t been into the leftover Halloween candy. Yet.
Of course, the possibility of a Crusie series does require a celebration, and we only had two kids on our doorstep last night, so there’s a lot of leftover candy.
On November 1, 2009 at 12:12 pm Marta said...
Make that my overly excited heart. ‘Cause when my heart leaves the building, I think I’m obligated to go with it.
On November 1, 2009 at 12:17 pm Tammy said...
I am going for it for the first time as well. Although I’m cheating a bit. I’ve had a project that I’ve been nipping away at, but not getting very far. Now I’m finishing the sucker… this month. I need the NaNo challenge because I keep going back and fixing and not finishing.
Here’s to November!
On November 1, 2009 at 12:17 pm Allie said...
I’m doing it for the first time this year. Generally I get annoyed with it because I’m aware of how much is fan fiction, and fan fiction bugs me. I always get this “Grrr, you people and your need to call yourselves AUTHORS. Go FINISH and PUBLISH something!” But this year we’re home with swine flu for probably at least a week, so why not? Maybe I’ll stop being a writing snob, and stop being so phobic about getting back to fiction writing. I’m also doing NaBloPoMo (blog posting) and I did that last year. That was fun, although a bit challenging to write significant amounts and not just a line or two about the latest book I’m reading. No tips or tricks, I’m afraid, but I’ll be glad to take some from the comments.
On November 1, 2009 at 12:23 pm robena grant said...
Good for you. I’ll be following along and checking in on your numbers and making sounds of encouragement.
Decided against it this year as I’m starting revisions on an old manuscript, plus finishing up the last five or six chapters of a rough draft. My only suggestion is to stock up on those Icy Hot packs for your lower back. After all that sitting the back can get awfully strained, or maybe it’s just me and I’m getting old. Older. : )
On November 1, 2009 at 12:55 pm Crystal said...
I’ve been doing it since 2004, and I’ve only managed to “win” in that first year. I guess once I knew I could do it, I had nothing more to prove, and doing NaNoWriMo became one of those things I would do for myself if I had the time.
I’m trying again this year, though, and I’m going to do something possibly slightly against the rules by trying to write the second half of the book I started in 2004’s NaNoWriMo.
My main tips for success are repetitions of the general guidelines for NaNoWriMo: Don’t think too hard. Have fun. Don’t worry about writing drivel, because you are definitely going to edit this later, and the rough draft is about trusting your writerly instincts and seeing what’s in your head.
When I write outside NaNoWriMo, I tend to make medium-sized edits as I go along, whether I’m disgorging huge passages or slogging along. With the NaNoWriMo I “won,” I absolutely did not let myself make any edit that would take longer than about 60 seconds. (I know I’ll notice those bits need editing later, and I can do it then.) And if I found myself thinking of deleting something because it will definitely go that way later, I tried to wrap up the babbling instead, and just move on to something that wouldn’t get edited out. My motto was: There’s no reason to spend time editing something unfinished, so first I need to finish something.
On November 1, 2009 at 1:12 pm Briana said...
I’ve done it for three years and “won” twice. And am not completely disgusted by either final product, though they need edited like crazy.
This year, I’m in the sidelines though. Teaching full-time AND working a second job is killer enough, without adding in NaNo-ing. But I kind of will miss it….I was thinking of maybe doing something smaller, like working on a kids’ book that keeps popping up.
Good luck and have fun with it!
On November 1, 2009 at 1:24 pm Eve said...
Congradulations! If anyone can do it – it’s you!
Also, there is something called, “Book in a month: the full proof system for writing a novel in 30 days” (ISBN 13: 978-1-58297-486-6). I found it very helpful in writing something legible and what came out as a decent first rough draft. It keeps you on track and is pretty easy to follow. Think of a game plan written for you by someone else – serves the purpose without the drudgery.
Also, Happy All Saints Day to all! May you always be protected and loved
On November 1, 2009 at 1:25 pm MJ said...
This is my fourth year to do NaNo, the first year I have an outline. The only book worth anything was the book I did last year, currently out on submission, but it wasn’t ready to go until April.
This year November is crazy, but I’m off to a good start.
On November 1, 2009 at 1:38 pm Louis said...
You will do it Ms. Jenny….and all the other writing in progress.
On November 1, 2009 at 2:00 pm Shangrila said...
Your blog title made me laugh! I am doing NaNoWriMo this year for the first time-actually hopped onto your blog to look up something you said about POV awhile back….you are crazy good to write 2 books, morning and evening! Hope the switch from one to the other helps to give the Girls in the Basement time to work on each piece.
On November 1, 2009 at 2:10 pm Jenny said...
2093 words this morning. First scene.
29 more days to keep this up. Argh.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:03 pm Merry the CB said...
I don’t mean this to sound critical, but I’m confused. I remember after the ‘12 Days of Trudy’ you concluded that the head-down-and-write method wasn’t one that synced with your style. Has this changed? Can the leopard change his shorts?
On November 1, 2009 at 6:00 pm Jenny said...
This is something brand new, short mystery novels written in first person, so I’m trying it for that. I don’t think I could do it for the doorstop third-person Crusies. Those suckers are complex. But first person with a mystery structure in short form (60K or so)? It’s worth a try.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:12 pm Sure thing said...
“I went to a conference and got completely knocked off my momentum for AKMG”
This explains the increase in blog posts!
I’ve never done NaNoWriMo, maybe I shoud start this year? It’s only 21.11 on 1st November here. I got time to get in day one… hmmm.
going off to ponder this a bit.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:18 pm Jennifer said...
I’m a homeschooling mommy, and some of the girls in our homeschool group do NaNoWriMo every year. Our babysitter, who’s 15 (holy cow, where did the time go?), has finished for three years in a row now. Most of the girls do finish- of course, they usually cut school work back to just 2-3 hours a day during November, leaving them a huge chunk of time to work on this. Also, since a number of them do it, there’s a peer pressure thing going on- talk about motivation!
Anyway, if 12-year-olds can manage 50,000 words and be reasonably lucid, I’m confident your novel will be a joy to read. Have a great time- we’ll sure have a great time reading the end product!! Liz Danger- sounds fun.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:22 pm MJ said...
Did it last year for the first time. May never do anything with the book I wrote, but the high carried me into writing my “real” project. This year, I’m in!
The community makes it fun.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:28 pm hollygee said...
I know that you’ve probably moved on from flamingos, but I saw these and thought that your writing would reap so much benefit from their inspiration:
http://www.tropicalbreezeforher.com/pinkflamingofuzzyslippers-15-cc.aspx
De bons mots.
On November 1, 2009 at 3:50 pm Cherry Honey said...
Welcome to the dark side, Jenny. This is my second year and, I hope, my first win. I didn’t reach out to any community last time and I think the vacuum is part of what tripped me up. I guess that would be my advice. Although you’ve got built in NaNo community in your house, so you probably don’t need that advice.
What’s your screen name on the NaNo site?
On November 1, 2009 at 5:57 pm Jenny said...
Jenny S. I’m not there much although I’m posting my word counts like a good girl. Some of the people in my critique group split off and made a temporary blog to post our NaNo writing so that’s where I am most of the NaNo time.
On November 1, 2009 at 4:19 pm Sara Darling said...
I’ve tried NaNoWriMo three times in the past and finished once. The thing that made the difference between finishing and not finishing in the past was how much I could reduce my other commitments. When I had a stressful more-than-fulltime job and lots of social commitments, it just didn’t work and that broke my heart. Once I got into a job that I could leave at the office, and let my friends know that I love them and would triumphantly return to the social sphere December 1st, it really did make all the difference. I had enough energy, physical and psychic, to complete NaNoWriMo without having a nervous breakdown or drinking myself into liver failure.
On November 1, 2009 at 4:19 pm Beki said...
I’m doing it again, though I don’t so much go in for the “community” aspect. I’ve got people around me and they get what I’m doing so they let me be while I’m doing it. I try to divvy up the word count and bear in mind that there will be no writing over Thanksgiving as I’ll be surrounded by siblings and there will be babies to hold which is more important than whatever Brandon and Honey are doing. 2000K per day should do fine. I also find that if I do NOT look back over what I’ve written, I can more easily move forward the next time I start up. no pesky editing of the day before really does help with the momentum.
Like others I’m thrilled with the very idea of a Liz Danger. Go you!
On November 1, 2009 at 5:34 pm Shari S. said...
Nanowrimo is a blast. This will be my 6th year to do it and my third finish, the dark years were grad school which left me with 3 unfinished manuscripts. Have fun.
On November 1, 2009 at 6:03 pm JulieB said...
I have done it three years in a row, but last year I didn’t upload any wordcount since it was my first year returning to teaching and I was stressed enough as it was. Last year, it was as muc about getting out to see mu local writers for me time more than wordcount.
I’ve never won. I don’t have any advice, sinc I’m pretty bad about putting my own time last on the list. But I am very optimistic this year. I’ve recovered from family deaths, returning to work and major, major house construction. I figure I deserve it, damn it!
I know you already have quite a writing community, but the local writing groups are really, very fun. I figure, if anyone will be thinking up new tips on getting a DLD draft down, it will be you.
Our group has collaged 2 years in a row now thanks to you. (The link from the other day was working last time I checked) One excercise that is a tradition in our group is to have a kick off dinner, at which time we eat, drink and draw our internal editors, then put them in a box to be closed away until the Thank God It’s Over party in Decemnber. Our group is 4 years old this year, and we have a word war with Perth, Austrailia, and France. (France is new, and we’re hoping the French start arguing about the rights of writers, and get drunk and forget to write. That’s our gameplan anyway.)
We’ve kicked Perth’s butt for 3 years now.
On November 1, 2009 at 6:04 pm JulieB said...
Huh. Sorry about the typos. I just got back from our meeting. Have the editor off.
On November 1, 2009 at 6:04 pm Office Wench Cherry said...
NaNo truly is Don’t Look Down writing, especially for those of us who don’t write for a living. The best advice is to have fun with it, see where the story takes you and if it’s 50,000 words of crap, well, who cares. Just because you make your living at this doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it. Welcome to the insanity.
ps. A man I’ve been friends with since high school is NaNoing this year, we’ve been talking about it on Facebook. Jerk has a plot, characters and everything and I’ve changed stories three times since breakfast.
On November 2, 2009 at 1:28 pm Sure thing said...
“Jerk has a plot, characters and everything and I’ve changed stories three times since breakfast”
Oh, I empathise with the envy. Am going green just thinking about it.:-D
On November 1, 2009 at 6:33 pm Stephanie said...
I’m doing it again this year. This is my kind of first draft writing so I love it. The fact that other people are crazy at the same time is just – well, kinda a plus:) I’ve only won one year. Last year I didn’t finish until January but hey, life happens.
My advice is to try to keep up each day and already you’re off to a great start. Have fun!
On November 1, 2009 at 6:51 pm Sharon said...
Who is Liz Danger and what does she do???And if you are writing 50,000 words plus 2 books, who is cooking for Thanksgiving and shopping for Christmas?? I just finished telling my husband that I am very tired of being the “Santa” every year=all the lists, shopping, wrapping!! Maybe I should write a book and give that to everyone this year-so what if it’s not edited!
On November 1, 2009 at 9:30 pm McB said...
Go for it! It will probably be good for freeing up the imagination. With young kiddies in the house you have probably noticed that they don’t limit the “what ifs” the way adults do. You will have a blast with it.
No, I’m not doing it; but as a reader with no ambitions to really writing, I think about it.
On November 1, 2009 at 10:14 pm Ericka said...
not being a writer, having to do that many words in a month (that wasn’t in a technical report of some sort…) would probably kill me, so no. but GOOD LUCK! liz danger???
On November 2, 2009 at 1:59 am Venus Vaughn said...
I decided to jump in the fray this year. It’s my first year at it. I got 1021 words done, then went dancing.
It’s a book that’s been in my head for months, so I know who my heroine is, but blocking the scenes is proving more thought-provoking than I anticipated. It’s a bit of a slow start, but I’m doing it more for the daily discipline of writing than anything else.
Good luck to you, wish me luck too
On November 2, 2009 at 2:07 am Judy Long said...
I never heard of NaNo before but now that I have I’m determined to do it. 50,000 words on the novel I have started. Scary… Gonna read all the comments & see if anyone has good tips.
On November 2, 2009 at 2:45 am Melissa Blue said...
I’ve signed up for NaNo since 2006 and only won last year. But last year I was determined to win. So before NaNo started I ironed out the plot. I knew the characters. I knew where they were headed. Once that happened the characters started talking. Now I worked full-time, and went to school part-time (not to mention I’m a single mom with two kids) so I stole every free moment I had to write.
But the key I think is that I daydreamed a lot. I visualized the scenes–sounds new-age-y doesn’t it? I let myself hear the dialgoue throughout the day. So by the time I sat down to write I was half-way done with my word count within an hour and I had other scenes already floating around in my head. So I wrote those too.
So, tips:
1. Daydream about the scenes you will write next.
2. Don’t edit, just write.
3. If you can start early. I had the biggest word counts on the days I started early. I’d might get 800-900 words in that first sitting, but I’d write throughout the day in short stretches. It added up.
3. If all else fails don’t use hyphens, fall in love with adverbs, write out very large numbers, ANYTHING that will keeping your fingers on the keyboard.
Good luck.
On November 2, 2009 at 5:58 am Diane said...
I love Nano. I’ve participated for 6 years I think, and made the 50k for the last 4 years. Last year I wrote 64k in November, and part of that I can attribute to a writing tool called Write or Die http://www.writeordie.drwicked.com. Last year there was only an online version, this year you can buy a desktop version and I’ve already made good use of mine. You type in your word count goal and time goal and you start typing, If you stop the screen flashes at you and plays horrible sounds until you start typing again. Best $10 I’ve ever spent. (Now if only I could find a similar tool to make me edit).
Happy Nano’ing Jenny.
On November 2, 2009 at 10:06 am tallis said...
I’m having a go again. Maybe this will be my year! Best of luck all.
On November 2, 2009 at 11:07 am Sierra said...
This is my first year doing it, and I’m going in with only the opening line of the story solid in my mind. I don’t know if I’ll finish, but I’m mainly using it as an excuse/reason to get off my tucchus and WRITE something. I haven’t in waaaay too long.
I know that my main problem will be my internal editor wanting to make it so perfect that it sparkles, so I’ll be fighting off the editing urge all month. I may allow minor edits when I can’t think of what to write, but only for ten minutes or so while I’m pondering. We’ll see.
If it all goes to hell and I’m tempted to defenestrate the laptop, maybe I can blame Jenny since reading her stuff always sparks that writing urge in me and that’s why I’m doing it this year…
(Okay, I can pretty much promise that won’t happen. More than likely, I’ll end up eating leftover Halloween chocolate and pouting temporarily over one of her books instead.)
Have fun, Jenny!
On November 2, 2009 at 11:37 am me said...
I did NaNo in 2007 and won then spent the next year rewriting it. I’m trying NaNo again this year (screen name: mewritebook) and already have more than 5,000 words. Not necessarily good words, but words nonetheless. It’s hard to just get it all out and edit later, because I’m obsessing about what I wrote and how I could change it or add to it and how crappy it is. But to get to 50,000, I can’t worry about crappy right now. Good luck to all NaNos!
On November 2, 2009 at 1:06 pm Meredith B. said...
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year, too. My mom and my best friend have been telling me to “write, damn it!” for almost a year, and I recently learned that my employer has to reduce my position to part time on a temporary basis in an effort to reduce costs. I have another part time job, and some savings, so I’ll probably be alright for a little while, but something at the back of my mind is taking this as a sign from God, so I’m going to try and throw the extra twenty hours a week into writing for a month, do NaNo, and see if I can just get into the habit of making time to write. That in itself will probably do me a world of good. And hopefully keep me optimistic!
On November 2, 2009 at 3:15 pm Bonnie C said...
I’m a noob this year, too. I wanted to do it last year but then… you know. Didn’t.
I’m actually very excited because I’m doing an idea that’s a spin on the very original idea for a manuscript I finished last year and is proving to be too broken to fix, much to my chagrin. Hopefully I will have better luck with this one… I got 1838 wirtten yesterday and am feeling strong.
Also I just figured outhow to use stickies on Macintosh and it’s been really fantastic to make quick notes and keep writing.
On November 2, 2009 at 3:40 pm TerriO said...
I’ve jumped into the fray for the first time this year. I need major motivation and the threat of humiliation to keep my butt in the chair. Managed to pull out 1676 words yesterday, but not sure how that’s going to happen on weekdays with work and kiddo and life in general.
Not editing what I have so far is harder than I expected. But I’m determined. I do see lots of frantic words going down over Thanksgiving as I’ll likely be behind by then.
Good luck and I’m interested in hearing more about this Liz Danger too. Oh, my only rec is to keep lots of chocolate on hand. But that might not work for others as well as it works for me. My tookus is going to be so huge when this is over.
On November 2, 2009 at 3:45 pm McB said...
I vaguely remember Jenny talking about Liz Danger before. There was a post about mystery novel cover art, I think, in which she talked about using some of the older ones as inspiration for a series.
On November 2, 2009 at 10:10 pm AlienEeeter said...
I’ve been doing it since I think 2003, but I’ve only won once. My advice is don’t forget to eat real food! Over thanksgiving I wrote 18,000 words in 4 days subsisting only on turkey and oreos and by the end of it I was so sick….
This year I figure I have to finish, since my boss had the good graces to lay me off last week. Plenty of time to write.
On November 3, 2009 at 11:00 am Meredith B. said...
So we’re in similar boats, then. We’ll write our woes away! I’m still in the shaky, emotionally fragile stage, but it helps to have a massive project to lose myself in, and problems to solve that are entirely fictional. Don’t you think?
On November 3, 2009 at 3:19 pm Sure thing said...
Oh, good vibes to both of you. Hope Great things comes of this NaNo.
On November 2, 2009 at 10:12 pm JudyM said...
I’m an old hand at NaNo. I’ve won a few and sputtered out on a few. This year, I’m geared up for it! My best tip for first-timers: try some 5-minute, 10-minute and 15-minute sprints, where you set a timer, put your head down, and FLY through the words. Also, if you hit a snag, identify the snag in brackets [like this] (for example: “…then Evelyn whipped out her [type of gun] and shot the lock off the door.” (grin) Good luck! Jump in! Enjoy!
On November 3, 2009 at 3:08 am Jenny said...
I’m loving it. No worries about rewriting or editing yet, just typing away like a happy little chimp in a room full of other happy little chimps (well virtual room). It really does take the angst out, although I do go back and rewrite it once because I HAVE to. But not more than once because then tomorrow is upon me and I have to produce again. Over 5000 words in two days so that’s good. At least it’s good until I go back and look at it all again.
On November 3, 2009 at 10:47 am Jamie said...
I’m also a NaNo-ing fool. I tried last year, when I first heard about it, but it was midway through November and right in the middle of finals for me. So I basically ended up with 10,000 words of backstory for the book I’m writing this year. This time, I’m going in armed with a timeline to help keep me on track. So far I’m on pace, but it’s only day 3. Wish me luck. I’ll do the same for you guys. BTW, I’m NaNo-ing under the name JamieD in South Carolina if anyone wants to add me as a NaNo buddy.
On November 3, 2009 at 6:13 pm Reb said...
Maybe you could do a 30 Days of NaNo blog series, Jenny? That’s prob a bit hopeful of me, unless it’d help keep you on track.
My commiserations to Meredith and AlienEeeter about your jobs. That must be really hard. I hope things work out well for both of both of you.
On November 4, 2009 at 12:20 am Jenny said...
I just reread the comments and realized people are talking about being able to NaNo because they’ve been laid off. I’m so, so sorry. Fingers crossed for you and toes, too. And good luck on NaNo, too!
On November 4, 2009 at 3:24 pm Meredith B. said...
Oh, well, I’ll be okay. Really, I will. I always have bookselling– I’m so darned good at it that anybody I’ve worked for before usually wants me to come back, as long as they aren’t on a hiring freeze. What kills me is that I had just gotten to the point that my boss didn’t own my nights and weekends, the way they do when you’re working retail. Now I’m going back to working retail to pay my bills, and I have to tell you that giving up the nights and weekends is almost as painful as the cut in pay. *sigh*.
On November 4, 2009 at 12:47 am lady t said...
Go Jenny. Good luck! This is my third Nano. I made it to 50K both years, but it was tough. Best tip I have is plan to write at least 2000 or more words/day…and don’t miss any days. Or get ahead of your word count early. I did not do this and the last week of November was crazy!
Other tips include: Read ‘No Plot, No Problem’ by Chris Baty, (Nano God). It has week by week tips and is very funny and helpful!
I have struggled with the no editing piece. Here’s a weird but valuable tip: I have learned to highlight the paragraph I can’t stand, go to the menu bar in Word to Format. Click on Font, and then check the box called Strikethrough. This draws a line through the stuff you don’t want, but doesn’t reduce your word count. And finally, those 15 minute sprints that Judy M mentioned are amazing! They just get me in my chair when I really want to clean the kitchen one more time!
I love meeting other regional Nanoers as well!
Good luck everyone. Happy writing.
On November 4, 2009 at 3:18 pm Meredith B. said...
Ohmigosh, Lady T, I can tell already that the “strike through” idea is going to be a salvation to me. Just the very thought of crossing out those lines made a weight lift off of my mind and my lungs expand! Put a line through it and move on… What strange things our minds are.
On November 4, 2009 at 3:55 pm Melissa Blue said...
Minds are strange. I made the mistake of going back to the first pages and reading them. Horrible, horrible dreck, but then I got to a page where the writer in me said, “There, that’s where it begins.” Now I’m fine, because I know there ARE some good pieces buried in the craptastic prose. It’s waiting for me to find it during revisions. All I have to do is keeping writing.
On November 4, 2009 at 11:48 pm lady t said...
Meredith, Yup, I love that strike through!
On November 4, 2009 at 4:06 pm Brussel Sprout said...
I’m a Nanogurl this year, 3 days behind, so this is a short post. Did it 3 years ago and it was a blast, and I hit 60,000. Yeah, it needed work…but it found an e-publisher, so hurray!
On November 4, 2009 at 5:58 pm Bob said...
Well, I hadn’t planned on doing it, but coincidence is that I started writing my new WIP on 1 Nov after a lot of time researching and outlining. So far in four days, up to 13k, so that’s looking good and still working away today as have not hit my goal for the day.
On November 4, 2009 at 8:30 pm Jenny said...
Bob? As in Mayer?
On November 6, 2009 at 8:45 am Lisa said...
This is my first NaNo too! Two of my friends talked me into it – one telling me I needed a hobby and the other saying – “do this…” I decided to create a blog to go along side it (should be up this weekend). I am writing every morning before work (I get to campus about 2 hours before I start – I find a quiet place – preferably without sleeping students – and I type away). My friend, who has done NaNo for years now – told me the key is to just keep writing and worry about editing (or if you have 5 different books started) in December. By the way – because of the 5 different books thing – I have decided to do a collage to help focus me – I borrowed that from one of your earlier blogs. Have fun writing this month! I always look forward to your new novels!
On November 10, 2009 at 12:28 pm Deborah Blake said...
I’m late chiming in because my desktop computer imploded and died, taking three writing days with it. (Sigh.) But I am doing NANO for the first time this year, and I’m up to almost 15,000 words on the new WIP. I might not have done it, but I was already aiming at starting work on this ms–just made myself hold off until I had my 25 page outline (its an urban fantasy, 3rd person POV) done. Good luck keeping up with both books!
The Chocolate Stalker