(Untitled)

[hazlewood]

Hi everyone! I need a break from work, so here is my introductory post. I'm Teri. I tried Nanowrimo a few years ago and failed miserably - I think I wrote 700 words. But after talking about it with Angela, and getting tips from Toby about how he handled the challenge, I've been inspired again. I have a vague novel idea anyway, and would like to

Comments

[cassaclyzm]

Technically it's cheating, but who the hell cares? It's all about the whole "actually finishing a novel" business. If you've got something to start on, go with it.

I actually sort of like to start with a clean slate - it's freeing, somehow.

[thecherrybomb]

i agree!

cheating schmeating!

[cassaclyzm]

Oh, and to answer your other questions - yes, I've done this before... this'll be my fourth time, and hopefully third win. (Yeah, year two wasn't a great one. Still got 30K words, though.)

Sometime over the next week I'm going to start working on a rough outline and character sketches. I have the VERY general idea of what the plot will be about and what the characters will be like, but that's it. I'm basically going to go point-form through where I think the story will go, once I have a bit more of the world figured out. Problems tend to resolve themselves for me well this way.

And come November, I'm going to type myself silly. I hope to get the thing finished in the first half of the month, actually - I'm in University for the first year, and I'll have an essay and a bunch of exams to study for at the end of the month.

[hazlewood]

wow, i'm impressed that you've done it in the past and that you're going to do it AGAIN.

did you ever do anything with the first 2 things you wrote?

[cassaclyzm]

I think it's going to kill me this year - before I was working full-time, but it's the kind of job that not only "ends when you walk out the door", but that occasionally afforded me some writing time during work hours. This year I'm working part-time, a shift that affords me NO free time (weekend evenings), and going to school full-time during the week. I'm going to have to time-manage like a mofo for this thing to work

[thecherrybomb]

i think you already know this, but i have done this once before and failed. i'm going to try to write 2500 words a day, knowing there will be some days when i don't write... i wasn't going to plot in advance but i think it might help a little.

are you plotting in advance? how are you going to do it? :)

[hazlewood]

i have ideas in my head for "chapters", which i'm treating more as short stories. i might get down the basic ideas on paper, just to nail them down and have something basic as a starting point. sometimes i find that even if seems clear in my head, it's muddled when i try to write about it...

i'm really looking forward to our first writing date!

[thecherrybomb]

so am i! so do you want to get together sunday night to plot and chat (and maybe cheat) or do you want to get together during the first week of november? either works for me. :)