NaNoWriMo 2009!

[Mercenary Pen]

Half past eleven, Tuesday morning. Latest word count is 7280, and I'm trying to get even further ahead... considering that's only about 1300 words since midnight. Got a long way to go before I'd stand even the remotest chance of catching the australian cat though.

[Alarra]

I was never taught the 'two spaces after sentences' rule

[Mercenary Pen]

I was never taught the 'two spaces after sentences' rule

Neither was I, but then again, every english teacher I've had was more interested by far in teaching english literature than they were in teaching english language... So we learned about metaphors, similes, caesura, etc. to the point of monotony.

[Dragonrider]

Alteran, if you're reading this - I named a fat female cook after you. :smallbiggrin: Altera.

[Mercenary Pen]

Okay, word-counts everyone... The two people with the highest word counts have to run an entire lap of the border of their home country before continuing to write...

Okay, that is in fact overly ridiculous and vindictive, but then again, that's about par for the course.

But, regardless of that, I'm at 7,735 words, which translates so far as 2,578 and one third mean words per day and 644 and a half (roughly) mean words per page.

I'm on track for today already, having clocked up just over 1700 words, so I'm spewing semi-random numbers at you all whilst I work out where I'm going.

[Castaras]

Eeek, forgot to start this. But I have a story idea...lets see how I do. :smallamused:

Edit: Does anyone want to add me on AIM or MSN to do some word wars? Last year they were damn useful to me to keep my count up.

[Dogmantra]

Stupid Microsoft Office word counter cutting 200 or so words off my count.

It was really disheartening to have to reach 5000 again. Why can't the school use OpenOffice.org so that my word counts are the same? This does remind me I have to check the word count with the official counter. Is that available yet?

[cycoris]

I think my wisdom teeth may finally be coming in.

You can see a picture of it in the dictionary under "bad timing".

I'm sowwy. *hugs*

Yesterday was a really, really bad writing day, and I only just managed to make it to the minimum before midnight. Hopefully I can get a bit ahead again today.

...And I was mad for thinking that I could do 100K. But hey, the fact that I'm not gives me an excuse to write madly over Christmas break as well. :smallamused:

Also, I am jealous of all those people for whom beginnings are easy. I have draaaag mine out of my brain inch by inch, and then the rest of the book is relatively painless.

[Mercenary Pen]

Stupid Microsoft Office word counter cutting 200 or so words off my count.

It was really disheartening to have to reach 5000 again. Why can't the school use OpenOffice.org so that my word counts are the same? This does remind me I have to check the word count with the official counter. Is that available yet?

It's available in test mode, but comparing that against my Open Office word count, I lost about seventy words already...

[Dragonrider]

Okay, word-counts everyone... The two people with the highest word counts have to run an entire lap of the border of their home country before continuing to write...

It's gonna be Felix and me, isn't it? :smallfrown: I'd stop updating, but...I like seeing the bar graph rise on my author page... :smallbiggrin:

[Coidzor]

...I'm trying to think of how long that would take... As it stands, it probably would take 3 months at least of just the running action, so double that to include all the downtime and nomming necessary to do it.

[Mercenary Pen]

...I'm trying to think of how long that would take... As it stands, it probably would take 3 months at least of just the running action, so double that to include all the downtime and nomming necessary to do it.

Has to be said, I do- on occasion- enjoy being moderately evil and vindictive*

*As measured on a scale of 1 to SauronCruella DeVil

[Coidzor]

Wasn't it More Sauron XXX Cruella DeVill? :smalltongue:

So hallucinations of hallucinations are fun.

Especially when it's three of them imagining one another...

[Mercenary Pen]

Wasn't it More Sauron XXX Cruella DeVill? :smalltongue:

So hallucinations of hallucinations are fun.

Especially when it's three of them imagining one another...

Nope, just Sauron to the power of Cruella DeVil. Haven't you done statistical analysis of classic uber-villainy?

[Dogmantra]

It's available in test mode, but comparing that against my Open Office word count, I lost about seventy words already...
70 from 7000 is a lot better than 200 from 5100.

[Mercenary Pen]

70 from 7000 is a lot better than 200 from 5100.

Agreed. Having run the numbers quickly, I lost about 1% of my word count to this, whereas you lost getting on for 4% of yours to it.

[Stormthorn]

The month has only 37 days left.
My novel has 49,000 words left.

This aint going to work. I just have enough time left over after all the other stuff.
I would need to drop out of school. Or perhaps leave my job.

[Dogmantra]

Agreed. Having run the numbers quickly, I lost about 1% of my word count to this, whereas you lost getting on for 4% of yours to it.

The discrepancy between OpenOffice and NaNoWriMo is still reasonably large. I've lost 129 words from 6360. I think it's to do with the fact I have a lot of hyphenated words in there.

[Mercenary Pen]

The discrepancy between OpenOffice and NaNoWriMo is still reasonably large. I've lost 129 words from 6360. I think it's to do with the fact I have a lot of hyphenated words in there.

Could be, I also have a fair number of hyphenated words... I shall address this situation immediately- or at least as soon as I can.

EDIT: Have removed some of the less necessary hyphenated words, and regained about 19 words of my count.

[Dragonrider]

I don't use WriMo's wordcounter till I hit 50,000. Then I check to make sure they think it's legitimate.

Normally I just enter it in the little box. You don't need to use their counter till it's time to validate.

[Mercenary Pen]

I don't use WriMo's wordcounter till I hit 50,000. Then I check to make sure they think it's legitimate.

Normally I just enter it in the little box. You don't need to use their counter till it's time to validate.

Indeed you can. I've tried it both ways, and simply by doing it the second way, I discovered that my words were going missing... Which- I have now discovered was due to hyphenated words (at least in part).

[Stormthorn]

I dont usuasly write things with dialogue, and have never been taught how to do so.

Would a line end with:
"word word word," came the reply.

?

[Dogmantra]

I dont usuasly write things with dialogue, and have never been taught how to do so.

Would a line end with:
"word word word," came the reply.

?

Basic dialogue rules:
"Start a new line for every new person that speaks," said Dogmantra "and if you end with a comma, use a lower case letter on the 'said' or other such word."
"That's right! Though if you end with a full stop, make sure to use a capital for your next word after you close quotation marks." Replied The Man Rat God.
"That's pretty much it, actually!"
"Oh, and you don't need to write who's saying everything each time if you've only got two people, or it's obvious who's speaking. Makes it flow."
"Indeed it does."

Or at least, that's how I've always done it.

[Stormthorn]

Yea well, the scene only had one 'pregnant woman with someone grabbing her throat' so i doubt i need to label her when she asks to be let go.

And he does eventualy let her go. Eventualy.

[Deathslayer7]

and it starts. ^^ hopes people will constantly bring out the whipping stick of laziness to push me.

[Dragonrider]

Also, it's better not to use too much variation - stick with "said" unless changing it actually changes the action - "whispered" and "shouted" indicate volume, which is good, but it's really not necessary to use "queried" or "questioned" - "asked" is more unobtrusive. The purpose of speech tags is to be invisible.

[Ikialev]

I quitted writing this after those 3000.

[Coidzor]

So...

Is it what hath thy hand wrought, or am I messing it about?

[Dairun Cates]

Not even going to pretend to try this year. Being a Grad student and doing Nanowrimo where I'm from isn't just crazy, it's suicide. Our Finals start in the last week of November. Still, doesn't stop me from trying most years.


...But this year I REALLY REALLY do not have anywhere near the time or energy to try. I already have a 60 page paper on top of a bunch of other major projects due by the end of the month, and somehow I doubt the Roleplaying System I wrote up for a class counts as a novel.

Still, I love the month, and as soon as I'm out of school, I'm going to FINISH one of these.

I wish every last one of you luck.

And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. That's what National Novel EDITING Month is for.

[Eldpollard]

I'm not participating in this. I simply feel that I cannot write a novel, with my writing as it is, let alone in one month. I am, however doing the much easier blogging version. Where you post a blog a day for all of November. I can manage this, I did last year. I believe the acronym is NaBloPoMo (I may be completely wrong) and if you care to read it the blog can be found with this lovely and helpful hyperlink. (http://eldpollard.livejournal.com)
But I do wish all of you participating in this most hardy endeavour.

[Syka]

So approximately 1100 words in and I have dropped out. I was still persevering when it was just school work and work and film events.

But I just found out that there are internships for Southwest posted (finally). And the deadline is November 30th. Polishing an internship application AND everything else AND NaNo is just not going to work and let me keep my sanity.

And frankly, the internship is far more important. >> Sadly.

[Mr. Mud]

And frankly, the internship is far more important. >> Sadly.

Heretic! Burn at the stake!

But seriously, 'gratz on finding the internship, and all. Too bad NaNo won't work out. :smalltongue:

[Alteran]

Alteran, if you're reading this - I named a fat female cook after you. :smallbiggrin: Altera.

I am honoured. :smallbiggrin:

But if this cook dies a violent, brutal death, I'll be suspicious of your motives for naming her after me. :smalltongue:


Eeek, forgot to start this. But I have a story idea...lets see how I do. :smallamused:

Edit: Does anyone want to add me on AIM or MSN to do some word wars? Last year they were damn useful to me to keep my count up.

Yes, okay. My head start gives me a sufficiently unfair advantage for me to be open to word-warring. :smallamused:

I suppose I'll PM you my MSN address, I don't have it in my profile. Also, if anybody else here wants to war with words, I'd be open to one or two more. Friendly competition can't hurt (unless you are Dragonrider or Felixaar).

[Dragonrider]

But if this cook dies a violent, brutal death, I'll be suspicious of your motives for naming her after me. :smalltongue:

MUAHAHAHAHAHA. :smallbiggrin:

...She doesn't. Or, at least, if she does, I'm not aware of it. She's fairly minor - part of the background cast, the staff in the house of the protag's master. She's a gossip. She nearly let slip a big secret the master's employees aren't supposed to tell Jacklen. :smalltongue:

[Alarra]

Not even going to pretend to try this year. Being a Grad student and doing Nanowrimo where I'm from isn't just crazy, it's suicide.
I know how that is, I didn't even attempt it when I was in grad school. I would have died.

[Elan's Modron]

It's 2 pm here on Day 3 (California time) - an I'm happily chugging along at 8080 words. Nothing like the word count of some of our thread's posters, but still way way way ahead of where I thought I'd be. And I'm shooting for at least 10k before today is over.

This is my first NaNoWriMo ever, and I'm having a great time. Such hidden resources the brain has! Story upon story, and detail upon detail. Who knew?

Good luck, all!

~EM

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Well, here I am, into the third day, and thus far my fictional piece on world peace stands at a total of 7201 words, according to the current NaNo counter.

What's funny is that when I talk to one of my housemates about the "advanced" technology in my novel, I am usually informed that such things already exist on other forms. Like the "aim assist" bullets I gave the military...I was told "smart bullets" were on their way...somewhere.

Bah! My novel is not about the toys, but the countless other impacts that world peace would have. Most of said impacts end in "cal." Sociological, economical, psychological, political...I'm a "high cal" writer. :smalltongue:

Oh...and the closest I came thus far to using a Playgrounder in my writing was "Hellfirelover." I needed a pretty Irish lass for my story, and she's what came to mind. Dark hair, alabaster skin, green eyes... *bats eyes at HFL* Thanks for just being, "Lover." :smallbiggrin: I'm a BAD man!

[cycoris]

Bah! My novel is not about the toys, but the countless other impacts that world peace would have. Most of said impacts end in "cal." Sociological, economical, psychological, political...I'm a "high cal" writer. :smalltongue:


That last bit reminded me of the fact that writing for an hour burns 200 calories. :smallcool::smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

[blackouttwo]

Day 3.

42 words.

...Yeah, only just started, completely forgot about NaNoWriMo the first two days...

I need to do some catching up, excuse me. :smallannoyed:

[Mercenary Pen]

Have finally reached about 8200. This puts me on track for an even more writing-intensive day tomorrow, where I have even less to distract me from my writing than I had today:smallbiggrin:

[Stormthorn]

See, to me NaNoWriMo is valuable practice for writing a masters thesis. Although that is still at least 4 years off.

[Alarra]

See, to me NaNoWriMo is valuable practice for writing a masters thesis. Although that is still at least 4 years off.

Nano is much much easier than a masters thesis. :smallsmile:

[bluewind95]

I... I'm actually doing it this year! I'm at a solid 4295 words and counting! I'm a bit behind, my calculations say I should be at 5000 words today, but that's okay. I'll catch up.

[Mr. Mud]

See, to me NaNoWriMo is valuable practice for writing a masters thesis. Although that is still at least 4 years off.

You also have more than a month with a master's thesis.

... At least I hope you would. :smallbiggrin:.

[Cleverdan22]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but this is awesome: http://www.pvponline.com/

[Jacklu]

Jacklu can't seem to find it. Is it okay to upload a series of short stories as apposed to one long one? Cause I am finding myself able to write at least 2000 words of short stories daily easily. =/

[shadow_archmagi]

Ugh. It's going to be a month before I have a fleshed out enough idea that I can write anything at all.

Ugh.

I really wanted to do Nanorimo but if the last three days are any indication, there's no way I can manage 2k words per day.

[Stormthorn]

Jacklu can't seem to find it. Is it okay to upload a series of short stories as apposed to one long one? Cause I am finding myself able to write at least 2000 words of short stories daily easily. =/

Your still way ahead of me. Im working at a pace of 600 words a day. 1000 words or so short of where i need to be.
Although after i fail at NaNoWriMo i intend to finish the novel, just so i can say i finally finished something.

I know a chick who's three years into her unfinished novel. Of course, hers will probably be good.

[Alteran]

I'm having trouble making myself write, but when I do it goes quite well. I'm at around 5600 words now, my goal for the end of the day is 7000.

[Pyrian]

I know a chick who's three years into her unfinished novel. Of course, hers will probably be good.No, no. A good novel takes exactly two years to write. Any less, and it's not good enough yet, any longer, and it never will be. :smallbiggrin: Tongue planted firmly in cheek, here...

[Alarra]

Jacklu can't seem to find it. Is it okay to upload a series of short stories as apposed to one long one? Cause I am finding myself able to write at least 2000 words of short stories daily easily. =/

I'd say go for it, you're still writing new fiction and as long as Nano's getting you writing then it's meeting its goal.

[blackouttwo]

OK, so, end of Day 3 for me, and I've cranked out...a little under 900 words.

I need to get cracking. :smalleek:

[Alarra]

I'm pretty happy with my progress. 8754.

[Calinero]

Today is my first day of this year's contest that I have actually met the word goal of the day. Can you say 5085?

Yeah, not much compared to you 8k'ers out there, but I'm happy to be back on schedule. Going to try to get a better buffer zone up there first chance I get some free time without rehearsal for the school play. And college applications...ugggggh.

[Stormthorn]

Jacklu is changing his goal. Forget 50,000. I am going for submitting something every day. Regardless of length.

What is this "submiting daily" thing? You can do that?

[Alteran]

7053 words, huzzah! :smallbiggrin:

Time for some food, then math, then sleep. My goal for the end of this week is 20k words. That means I need to write 2k words per weekday, and then 3.5k on Saturday and Sunday. I'm not sure how much I can get done tomorrow, but otherwise I think it's doable. I may get closer to 18k or 19k, but I'd be quite happy with that as well.

[Jacklu]

1841 words. Woohoo. Oddly, NaNo's word counter seems to have added to my word count. Huh... Oh well.

[Trai]

6089 and I think it's my crappiest writing ever because I am about to pass out from how tired I am. I dread looking at it in the morning and resisting the urge to hit the backspace key.

On the other hand, I'm doing pretty well with my 2K a day goal, even if I did spend an extremely long amount of time on My Life Is Average today instead of writing. :smallredface:

[celtois]

So far I haven't managed to write I thing today, and I'm feeling like crap.
I'm probably going to half to cut classes tomorrow to vomit >.<

[Jacklu]

*hugs celtios* Don't kill yourself over it. Find something that works for you.

On that note, by doing this, tons of short stories rather than one big one, I have boosted my count to 2697. Just under half what it needs to be.

[celtois]

Not trying to kill myself, my shoddy immune system and my germ ridden school is doing that for me, :smallwink:

Hopefully I can get a bit of writing done today though... as soon as I stop procrastinating >.>

[Jacklu]

Okay, Jacklu wants to share. What I have so far (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7249685&postcount=1209) but with gray speech text so I could call it a ship and post it here on giant for people to see. Nothing else is changed so far.

[RobotPerfomance]

Well today has been much better for me than yesterday 4,423 total words now. Maybe I can actally do this.

[Stormthorn]

In the last 12 hours i wrote once sentance. Now im stuck on how to describe an ordinary day for a person who isnt a shut-in.

I am made of fail. (http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/fail-owned-parenting-fail.jpg?w=500&h=338)

[Jacklu]

*pets Storm* Don't beat yourself up. Same advice I gave celtois. Find what works for you and go from there.

[Dragonrider]

I learned today that I only have one class (9 am) on Thursday, as the prof for my long afternoon class is going to a conference. :smallbiggrin: It's going to be an AWESOME writing day.

[Flabbicus]

Well I do have a piece I like from Creative Writing which has a good premise for further expansion...

Count me (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/240322) in (at least until the fall term resumes). Let's see how this turns out.

[Jacklu]

I learned today that I only have one class (9 am) on Thursday, as the prof for my long afternoon class is going to a conference. :smallbiggrin: It's going to be an AWESOME writing day.

*whaps over the head with shovel* *hides body in the hall closet behind the coats* <.< >.> There. I've stopped her. Her word count mocked me. Mooooooocked meeeeeee. >.o

[TFT]

My time for tonight is up, homework. Day three word count: 2,637

Just a few thousand behind... Good thing I have a few extra days this weekend to write. :smallbiggrin:

[Xeluu]

Ugh. I'm also behind by about two thousand. Working two part-time jobs, plus full time college student, PLUS new puppy is not conducive to writing time.

On the plus side, however, I have Friday off, as well as most of Saturday. Writing crunch time go go!

Edit:
Feeling better now! I about an hour I easily wrote 900 words, and ended up with a scene I had no idea about until my fingers upon keys placed it on virtual paper for me.

[Mercenary Pen]

Okay, 8am day 4. Time to get to work... There's way too many people who are slightly ahead of me for comfort...

[Felixaar]

20k.

Poker!

[Mercenary Pen]

Ouch!

I just introduced a character, and he's significantly sharper than I thought he'd be, having seen through one of my senior intelligence officers within two minutes of meeting her.

Looks like General Harvey Welsh, or the "the old devil" as he's been known by those who've served under him, is going to be tough for me to work with.

In other news, I've passed 9k words.

[banjo1985]

Hmm, well into the 4th day and I have 100 words...moving home and relatives with swine flu don't seem to have helped much. :smalleek:

However, Banjo will persevere! 1000 words by the end of today and I'll be happy. :smallbiggrin:

[Mercenary Pen]

Hmm, well into the 4th day and I have 100 words...moving home and relatives with swine flu don't seem to have helped much. :smalleek:

However, Banjo will persevere! 1000 words by the end of today and I'll be happy. :smallbiggrin:

Luckily, I got the swine flu out of the way at the end of August, so I needn't worry about it any more. Anyhow, you'd better persevere, because the supremacy of British writing depends on you:smallbiggrin:

[Lioness]

I learned today that I only have one class (9 am) on Thursday, as the prof for my long afternoon class is going to a conference. :smallbiggrin: It's going to be an AWESOME writing day.

Wait. You mean you're getting that insane word count, and you still have a life?!?
Yikes. I need to type faster.

On a happy note, I broke 10K! 2 days early! Today I wrote 4K. I'm really getting into it, because the introduction's just gone, and now I'm into the actual story thing. The only reason I'm stopping is because I'm really tired and mum told me to go to sleep, and I want to get up really early to I can catch my boyfriend's bus, brag to him, and then gt to school early for more writing time!

I'm addicted!

Oh Noes.

Oh yes, as an aside, I am proud of my spellchecker. It recognises 'noes' as a word ^_^

Wheee

[Mercenary Pen]

However, since DeeRee and Felix are still impersonating each other, that means they have to swap word counts... with everyone else

[Blayze]

He might have meant 5%. That would make it 100,000 - twice the minimum but definitely doable.

No, no -- one million. I've given myself thirteen months in which to do it. That's twenty times your normal NaNo in thirteen times the time. :P

[banjo1985]

No, no -- one million. I've given myself thirteen months in which to do it. That's twenty times your normal NaNo in thirteen times the time. :P

You sir, are quite exquisitely mad, and I love it. I doff my hat to you sir. Makes me proud to be English! :smallbiggrin:

[Dragonrider]

However, since DeeRee and Felix are still impersonating each other, that means they have to swap word counts... with everyone else

I was gonna say...ours are pretty much interchangeable when you account for the time difference. :smalltongue:


Edit: scratch that - I'm a day behind and I'm STILL beating him. :smallbiggrin:

[Mercenary Pen]

I was gonna say...ours are pretty much interchangeable when you account for the time difference. :smalltongue:


Edit: scratch that - I'm a day behind and I'm STILL beating him. :smallbiggrin:

Nope, each of us gets the sum of your two totals, each of you gets the sum of everyone else's totals, and I'm gonna give the order to everyone else to stop writing and win the easy way sometime soon [/evil vindictive and totally unrealistic plot]

[banjo1985]

The supremacy of British writing remains intact - I've just hit 1000 words, after writing 700, deciding to do something different and starting again. Not bad while I'm at work. :smallbiggrin:

[Raz_Fox]

I broke 5K this morning. Then I fixed it.

Casual worldbuilding and describing daily life is interesting, but I'm worrying if the opening's too slow and mundane, even with a trickster in the mix.

Must... persevere... until big action sequence...

[Mercenary Pen]

I broke 5K this morning. Then I fixed it.

Casual worldbuilding and describing daily life is interesting, but I'm worrying if the opening's too slow and mundane, even with a trickster in the mix.

Must... persevere... until big action sequence...

Yeah, mine feels like it's building a little too slowly... considering I'm almost at 10k without having sprung the action yet.

[Cristo Meyers]

The supremacy of British writing remains intact - I've just hit 1000 words, after writing 700, deciding to do something different and starting again. Not bad while I'm at work. :smallbiggrin:

Better than my less than 100...

Well, 3650 if you include all of the salvage from the first Fears draft, but still...

[Mercenary Pen]

Better than my less than 100...

Well, 3650 if you include all of the salvage from the first Fears draft, but still...

Is this salvage words that were written before November 1st? Because if so, even if they were written for a previous WriMo, I wouldn't feel comfortable counting that as legitimate effort.

But in other news, the supremacy of British writing against anything short of DeeRee and Felixaar continues... I just broke the 10k barrier.

[Elan's Modron]

I just hit 10k too. :smallsmile:
And I have hours and hours and hours of writing time still to go here in California: not quite 10 AM on Day 4.

[Dragonrider]

But in other news, the supremacy of British writing against anything short of DeeRee and Felixaar continues... I just broke the 10k barrier.

I iz famous? O.O

:smalltongue:

Guys, I'm getting up at six o' clock every morning so that I have time to do this. I also have an outline that I made a month and a half ago (thought it's being heavily edited).

It's not supremacy, just ridiculous amounts of effort.

[Cristo Meyers]

Is this salvage words that were written before November 1st? Because if so, even if they were written for a previous WriMo, I wouldn't feel comfortable counting that as legitimate effort.

But in other news, the supremacy of British writing against anything short of DeeRee and Felixaar continues... I just broke the 10k barrier.

Nah, this isn't a serious effort. With getting laid off and just now starting a new job there's no way I can make a serious attempt at this without giving myself about a year's worth of stress compressed into a single month.

[Mercenary Pen]

I iz famous? O.O

:smalltongue:

Guys, I'm getting up at six o' clock every morning so that I have time to do this. I also have an outline that I made a month and a half ago (thought it's being heavily edited).

It's not supremacy, just ridiculous amounts of effort and experience

Have just made a slight correction to demonstrate the difference between ye and I (apart from the fact that you write rather faster, keep at it for longer and I'm barely up by 8am).

[Lioness]

I just hit 10k too. :smallsmile:
And I have hours and hours and hours of writing time still to go here in California: not quite 10 AM on Day 4.

:D

I hit 10K at 10pm on day 4

[Alarra]

Yeah, well...I hit 10k at 3pm on day 4, so nyah! :smalltongue: hehe.

[Dogmantra]

I meant to hit 10k today, but I don't think I'm going to manage it. If only there hadn't been that quiz at school, I could've got in another hour of writing and been refreshed and ready to write again this evening. I'm at around 8.5k, which is only another 1k since yesterday.

[Mr. Mud]

So, I pumped out another ~3.6k this morning (yeah, before school. Me and DeeRee share a strategy it seems :smalltongue:.) and Have gotten another 3k after school.

I'm, like, a sentence from 10k! :smallbiggrin:

Another score for the Americans, MerPen :smallamused::smallwink::smallbiggrin:.

[Mercenary Pen]

Another score for the Americans, MerPen :smallamused::smallwink::smallbiggrin:.

It wasn't me who started this whole British Supremacy thing, it was Banjo1985...

But it does mean that I need to actually get my plot back on track and sped up sometime soon.

[Mr. Mud]

It wasn't me who started this whole British Supremacy thing, it was Banjo1985...

But it does mean that I need to actually get my plot back on track and sped up sometime soon.

'Twas jesting. And yeah, I should get back to my story too but... Nah :smalltongue:. I wonder if this thread is detrimental to some peoples progress... :smallconfused:.

[Dogmantra]

Another score for the Americans, MerPen :smallamused::smallwink::smallbiggrin:.

I can't let you crazy 'mericans win. I can't. WRITING POWERS!
GO!

Maybe I'll come up with another useful word-padding character like Just Plain Ol' Jim who happens to be an elephant. A talking elephant. That has a psuedo-major role and seems to be a Chekhov's Gun dispenser.

[Mr. Mud]

I can't let you crazy 'mericans win. I can't. WRITING POWERS!
GO!

Maybe I'll come up with another useful word-padding character like Just Plain Ol' Jim who happens to be an elephant. A talking elephant. That has a psuedo-major role and seems to be a Chekhov's Gun dispenser.

Ol' Jim the elephant? The war elephant :smallamused:.

[Mercenary Pen]

I can't let you crazy 'mericans win. I can't. WRITING POWERS!
GO!

Maybe I'll come up with another useful word-padding character like Just Plain Ol' Jim who happens to be an elephant. A talking elephant. That has a psuedo-major role and seems to be a Chekhov's Gun dispenser.

Presumably named Jim because it's short, allowing you to write it quicker, saving you time which you can use to write more words. I don't really work quite like that. For one thing, I frequently use rather longer vocabulary.

[Dogmantra]

Presumably named Jim because it's short, allowing you to write it quicker, saving you time which you can use to write more words. I don't really work quite like that. For one thing, I frequently use rather longer vocabulary.

Not really. It was just the first odd name for an elephant that came into my head. I'm a bit rubbish at coming up with names, and the name Jim's been in my head for a while, so I wanted to use it. Just like I want a character called Jimmy (short for John).

[Mercenary Pen]

Not really. It was just the first odd name for an elephant that came into my head. I'm a bit rubbish at coming up with names, and the name Jim's been in my head for a while, so I wanted to use it. Just like I want a character called Jimmy (short for John).

If I remember rightly, Jimmy's usually short for James...

Anyhow, at 10.7k, I feel like posting another, smallish excerpt, because one of my characters has had a bad day:


Jason Stone was having a bad day. He'd managed to miss his first- supposedly early- bus, and had thus ended up arriving three quarters of an hour late for work on a day when he had been due for a meeting first thing. On top of that, he'd been assigned the difficult task of fielding phone calls from his bosses ex wife, who was in the middle of custody proceedings for their children, and was the sort of person who felt it was her inalienable right to phone him up at all hours of the day to harangue him- needless to say that the seventh time he had to tell her that he wasn't there, despite the fact that Jason could see him behind the glass panels that separated his office off from the rest of the floor, he did blow his stack just a little. Needless to say, after that particular incident, he was called in to be told off by the same boss he had to pretend officially wasn't there any time his wife called, despite the fact that she'd taken the time to call him at home and found out he wasn't there either, each and every time.

If that wasn't bad enough, there was also the fact that he managed to submit not one but two important reports significantly late, slowing down the business of other, more important people within the company, managed to insult the head of human resources over lunch without meaning to- and within her hearing- causing her to glare at him and walk off in a huff with a look that said 'just you try getting the holiday dates you actually want now' and accidentally shredded an important invoice.

[Moofin Bard]

So guys, you need to talk me out of something. I'm thinking about dropping out of NaNoWriMo. School is weighing heavily on me and I'm just not feeling my novel. But some part of me still really wants to do this.

[Mr. Mud]

Finish you're thoughts you have now, then give it a rest for the night. And maybe tomorrow afternoon. Then, get typing :smallbiggrin:. You can flunk out of school any month, but NaNo only comes once! :smallwink:.

But seriously (sup4r srs1y, in fact), don't drop out. It's the best feelnig in the world when you finally finish :smallbiggrin:.

[Mercenary Pen]

So guys, you need to talk me out of something. I'm thinking about dropping out of NaNoWriMo. School is weighing heavily on me and I'm just not feeling my novel. But some part of me still really wants to do this.

There's always the fact that if you don't keep it up, if you're anything like me, you'll regret having not tried to see it through until the end later on.

[Dragonrider]

Have just made a slight correction to demonstrate the difference between ye and I (apart from the fact that you write rather faster, keep at it for longer and I'm barely up by 8am).

A point. This is my seventh novel. :smalltongue: I really should work harder to get one published...I think that with some editing at least two of mine are possibilities but I have hopes for this one, too. Getting an agent and then a publisher is just a LOT OF WORK.

[Moofin Bard]

Well I'll keep trying I guess. It'll be hard during the week but I'll catch up during the weekends.

[HellfireLover]

Google Docs gives me 5193 words, NaNo's word counter widgetty thing gives me 5095. *makes a sour face*

I didn't write at all yesterday, since I was all worn out from work (oh work... what things I could accomplish if not for you...)

And a good chunk of what I have written is explaining what the semi-scientific magic telephone is... :smallsigh:

[Dogmantra]

If I remember rightly, Jimmy's usually short for James...

The joke is that Jimmy is longer than John. And it makes no sense.

[Silence]

Still at 2k. Ugh...

[Mercenary Pen]

Google Docs gives me 5193 words, NaNo's word counter widgetty thing gives me 5095. *makes a sour face*

Check whether you've been using hyphenated words, because they get counted as a single word by NaNo's word counter- though that's not the only issue affecting my word count discrepancy (I don't know for certain what any of the rest are).

[Dragonrider]

I am now more than halfway - and I just hit 100 pages!

Not through the story; I'm guessing the story will finish out 70-100k. It feels like it isn't even close to half played out yet, given that my outline is seven pages double-spaced and I'm barely finished with page two. This is where things start heating up, though, so I think I'll eat up outline faster.

[Mr. Mud]

I am now more than halfway - and I just hit 100 pages!

Not through the story; I'm guessing the story will finish out 70-100k. It feels like it isn't even close to half played out yet, given that my outline is seven pages double-spaced and I'm barely finished with page two. This is where things start heating up, though, so I think I'll eat up outline faster.

DeeRee, If you break 100k words by this time next week, I'll come to [location] and buy you ice cream.

EVERY. DAY.

[Trai]

I'm upping my word count by explaining how my pizza-place-employee character is making pizza dough in detail. Thank you, Wikihow.

If my novel does nothing else, it will make someone hungry.

[Mercenary Pen]

I'm upping my word count by explaining how my pizza-place-employee character is making pizza dough in detail. Thank you, Wikihow.

If my novel does nothing else, it will make someone hungry.

I hope that your pizza-place-employee isn't actually hyphenated (if you're using that term), otherwise you're losing 2 words of potential count, every time you use it by comparison with pizza place employee.

Also, just made 11k before midnight.

[Mr. Mud]

I hope that your pizza-place-employee isn't actually hyphenated (if you're using that term), otherwise you're losing 2 words of potential count, every time you use it by comparison with pizza place employee.

Also, just made 11k before midnight.

Damn you MerPen, I'm 1k behind you. Let's see if I can beat you my my midnight :smallbiggrin:.

So DeeRee verus Flexx?
Me versus MErcenary (sorta?)

We should make a tournament bracket, or something :smallwink:.

[Mercenary Pen]

Okay, I'm gonna set my alarm and turn in now. Hopefully, I will be up at about 6am GMT to take you on... Considering my current rate of writing progress, I'm going to shoot for 60k words bare minimum by the 30th (because 70k might be a bit touch and go).

[bluewind95]

5K by Open Office's word count. Obviously not counting chapter titles.

I got a fever, though, slight, but still it's clouding my mind. I'm going to fall behind again. I... need... to catch... up... :smallfrown:

I think my style has improved a lot since I first started writing. And I'm having no problems using an old idea, since I hadn't really materialized it.

[Jacklu]

Blarg. This is why I don't like reading this thread. I feel good about having managed 500 words today and I show up to people bragging about finishing the 50,000 by the end of the week. You all suck*.

*and by you, I mean me, cause I suck. Incredibly.

[Trai]

I hope that your pizza-place-employee isn't actually hyphenated (if you're using that term), otherwise you're losing 2 words of potential count, every time you use it by comparison with pizza place employee.

Also, just made 11k before midnight.

Nope, not using that term hyphenated :smallsmile: I can see why the NaNo software counts everything hyphenated as one word though-- it does make sense. It technically is a couple of words joined together into one word, though it is frustrating that it diminishes the word count.

I'm on 7492 now. I have to top 8333 to be ahead of the daily average. Still pounding away...

[Stormthorn]

My mondays and Wedsdays are from 6AM to 6PM all about getting up, getting ready for class, going to class, and coming home.

If im lucky im back by 5:30 instead.

Of course, I also have essays and homework.
And i require more sleep it seems than all my classmates.

This needs to change. Perhaps i should take up coffee.

[Dragonrider]

For those of you unhappy with your wordcounts, I would please like to direct you to this lovely blog post (http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/04/nano-tip-no-4-word-count-is-not-everything/) by young adult author Justine Larbalestier, who will be doling out NaNoWriMo advice every even day this month. (Her husband is Scott Westerfeld; he will be doing odd days).

[Trai]

8488. I have now succeeded in making myself want some of that pizza dough my character was making. Dammit, Liam.

[cycoris]

For those of you unhappy with your wordcounts, I would please like to direct you to this lovely blog post (http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/04/nano-tip-no-4-word-count-is-not-everything/) by young adult author Justine Larbalestier, who will be doling out NaNoWriMo advice every even day this month. (Her husband is Scott Westerfeld; he will be doing odd days).

Thanks, hon, for making me feel better about having written absolutely nothing at all yesterday. Maybe I can catch up over the weekend. :smallsigh:

[Coidzor]

I was gonna say...ours are pretty much interchangeable when you account for the time difference. :smalltongue:


Edit: scratch that - I'm a day behind and I'm STILL beating him. :smallbiggrin:

But can you do anything with your ... (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=258).? :smalltongue:

[celtois]

Sigh I'm at a cross roads I have another 2200 words left to fill before I'm done the first part of the book, but, I have two ways to fill it.
Make it a week of military training, engineering, character development and hides some important plot stuff in there\

Or

Blow through that week quickly and spend the rest of the chapter in space doing.... who knows what before the first big fight.

Advice would be great

[Elan's Modron]

Sigh I'm at a cross roads I have another 2200 words left to fill before I'm done the first part of the book, but, I have two ways to fill it.
Make it a week of military training, engineering, character development and hides some important plot stuff in there\

Or

Blow through that week quickly and spend the rest of the chapter in space doing.... who knows what before the first big fight.

Advice would be great

For NaNoWriMo? My advice would be- do whatever will be the most fun for you, whatever has the most tang and zip and juice. Screw 'proper plot development' for now. You can do all that next month. For now- just write whatever will have your writing (/typing) hand/s moving the most fast and free.
My two copper pieces...

[celtois]

Well one will likely be awful to write and read, slow and boring. Pretty easy to write mind you

The other will leave me hanging today while I try and figure out what to do from there

I guess the week in gruesome detail is the winner >.>

[Elan's Modron]

As for me, I'm at 11k words, and I'm rapidly approaching the end of all the plot stuff I had in mind, initially. I mean, I'm writing a middle reader over here (i.e., a chapter book for kids, ages circa 8-11), and it's not like I was ever intending it to be a very looong book.

So maybe the story will start to get really insane from here on out- as I just continue typing typing typing, without any clue as to where I'm headed. And I'm just gonna strap my seatbelt on, and go with it.

It's a little scary, but what the hey. If I were a purely rational person, why would I be doing NaNoWriMo?

[Jacklu]

-_- Jacklu is wondering why this takes place in November. Really, this is the worst possible month for this. I'm looking at another five reports in the next two weeks alone. It sucks having to write 3000 words for school then go home and have another 4000 expected of me. Soon to be even more. v.v I feel like just quitting at this point. I have to really ask myself why I even decided to try. I really wish I hadn't, cause then I wouldn't be so disappointing with myself.

[Elan's Modron]

Well one will likely be awful to write and read, slow and boring. Pretty easy to write mind you

The other will leave me hanging today while I try and figure out what to do from there

I guess the week in gruesome detail is the winner >.>



Yeah, I'd say go with whatever keeps your hand moving for now. While you're typing out the nitty gritty, it'll leave your subconscious free to concoct whatever IS going on out there in space. And who knows- even in the more boring description, I'd say there will be at least one throwaway line or detail or character quirk or something, that will end up opening up a very unexpected new avenue for your story...

[Alteran]

Instead of writing anything at all today, I did a lot of math studying and thought about different possibilities for pie-making. The first one was necessary and so can be excused, but I feel like the second was a pretty blatant attempt at procrastination on the part of my subconscious.

And now I want pie. :smallfrown:

[Dragonrider]

But can you do anything with your ... (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=258).? :smalltongue:

I don't like you.jkjkjkjkjkjkjk but seriously that's annoying.
Also I am never throwing away my outline. It's a real gem. Scribbled all over....

[Coidzor]

Also I am never throwing away my outline. It's a real gem. Scribbled all over....

I don't know what that has to do with the comic I uploaded though. Outlines are perfectly fine. :smalltongue: It was gloating over wordcounts before the endgame that I was saying was silly.

And yes, I know you don't like me. I cry myself to sleep every night over it. :smallfrown:

[Lioness]

Today I was attacked by a plot bunny :(

It struck me as I walked past a petrol station. Could make some sort of pretty cool steampunk thing with it.

But go away because it's nano time!!!

[Trazoi]

Ugh, my first attempt at NaNoWriMo could be going better. A few days in and I'm still stuck at under 1000 dreadful words. I decided to try taking a madcap webcomic idea I had and just jumping in and writing it in prose form, but it's not working at all; this really doesn't work as a novel. I'm debating whether I should spend a few days actually plotting the thing out, picking a different idea, or bailing and taking my time with the plotting with an eye to writing it up in the script writing month sister event to be held earlish next year.

[Jacklu]

4537. If you haven't noticed yet, the pattern is: 1: Complain to thread about how much I suck, ect... 2: go away for a while. 3: come back and update with a few thousand more words than before.

Now sleepy time for me.

[celtois]

Well I'm almost not behind now... almost.. just 480 words behind. Silly two bad days for writing in a row. I did a total of 1000 words in two days >.<

[Felixaar]

I was gonna say...ours are pretty much interchangeable when you account for the time difference. :smalltongue:

Edit: scratch that - I'm a day behind and I'm STILL beating him. :smallbiggrin:

You'll cop out faster than me, though :smalltongue: you're like a cheetah, but I'm an energizer bunny.




Guys, I'm getting up at six o' clock every morning so that I have time to do this. I also have an outline that I made a month and a half ago (thought it's being heavily edited).

It's not supremacy, just ridiculous amounts of effort.

As much as I'd like to say it's all just because I'm awesome... DR is right. It's because this month, I live and breathe writing. The train, my lunch break, I've even balanced my laptop on my palm while slowly typing with one finger on the way down the stairs.

[Lioness]

You'll cop out faster than me, though :smalltongue: you're like a cheetah, but I'm an energizer bunny.



I'm a slow and steady train. Choof Choof

[Mercenary Pen]

You'll cop out faster than me, though :smalltongue: you're like a cheetah, but I'm an energizer bunny.



As much as I'd like to say it's all just because I'm awesome... DR is right. It's because this month, I live and breathe writing. The train, my lunch break, I've even balanced my laptop on my palm while slowly typing with one finger on the way down the stairs.

Yeah well, some of us don't have the advantage of a laptop though. I'm coming into my second wind though. Too bad I had to spend a healing surge to get there.[/4E]

[Felixaar]

Ha, sorry. I don't mean to down trod the efforts of anyone else - after all, theres no one way to write and not everyone does so at the same speed or gets as many words out of as many hours. There is, also, the chance that though I love what im doing, people will think it's utter junk. That little part of us all that made NaNo irresistible, to me, is what defines a writer... but that's just me, and I'm bonkers.

[Mercenary Pen]

Finally reached 13k. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll be achieving a record-word count today, considering that I have work between 5 and 11 this evening (and being a convenience store, even if I had a laptop, I couldn't just keep writing between customers)...

[Blayze]

8k words, chapter one finished. When the Big Bad is the future self of one of the main protagonists and he's messing around with time paradoxes in order to mess with the life of his past self while still maintaining his existence, things get confusing quickly.

On the other hand, it makes for excellent chapter padding.

[Mercenary Pen]

8k words, chapter one finished. When the Big Bad is the future self of one of the main protagonists and he's messing around with time paradoxes in order to mess with the life of his past self while still maintaining his existence, things get confusing quickly.

On the other hand, it makes for excellent chapter padding.

Watch doctor who any?

[banjo1985]

Hmm interesting, got an email pep-talk from Jasper Fforde today, author of the Thursday Next series of books. I wonder if he ever tried NaNo...

Just going to try get an hours writing in at work now, see if I can make up some of the time I lost by not starting until yesterday. Not having a computer set up at the flat yet is killing me. :smalleek:

[Raz_Fox]

I hit 7K in the face last night, and I'm still in the cozy little starting hometown. I have no idea how this will turn out, but maybe I was a tad underestimating when I made my outline...

Also, this is fun! I know I've said this before, but the hell that one goes through trying to reach the word count for the day seems so worth it once you reflect back on the day.

Felix, you are a superhuman cyborg writer; if I tried to write like that all month I'd burn out like a Christmas candle.

[Mercenary Pen]

Just reached 13.5k roughly. Got another couple of hours before I need to get ready for work, so I suspect I'll have 14k by the end of the day.

[Deathslayer7]

a little under 1k myself. Hard to find the time to write. I usually only like writing in the evenings, but that's also usually when everyone is calling on me.

[Dragonrider]

have written disappointingly little this morning. I instead spent an hour a) plotting my schedule for the rest of the semester (writing down when to read what for which class) and b) fiddling with my outline. It now looks like this:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t3/soggypoptart/100_8856.jpg

Paper covering the fact that there's acne all over my face because I've been writing instead of putting on makeup to cover it. :smallwink:

[RabbitHoleLost]

So, its, what? The fifth day of NaNo?
And I'm just now starting to write something?
Good gods.

[FireFox]

So, its, what? The fifth day of NaNo?
And I'm just now starting to write something?
Good gods.

You're not alone on that. >.<

[Dogmantra]

Hey, I need some help!

I cut bits of my story inadvertently, and I'm now going far too fast. I need a minor arc for two protagonists aged 12 and above. Anything goes. I'll work it in somehow.

I will pay you:
One virtual cookie.

[potatocubed]

They steal a car which has a dead body in the boot.

[Dogmantra]

Oh, that's good. Oooh! And I can make the dead body the corpse of the man who shouted "beware the ides of March"!

AND HE CAN COME BACK TO LIFE!

That is nowhere near the most unusual thing I have planned. They steal the car because they need a vantage point to watch from. Excellent.

http://thinkgardner.com/img/virtual_cookie.jpg
Ignore the funny little man

In other news: 10 000 words! HUZZAH!

[Alteran]

I want to write at least 3000 words today, to make up for the lack of writing yesterday. Still, I'm demoralized by the fact that the last bit of dialogue I wrote really doesn't work at all. :smallannoyed:

Urge to edit...rising...

[Mercenary Pen]

I want to write at least 3000 words today, to make up for the lack of writing yesterday. Still, I'm demoralized by the fact that the last bit of dialogue I wrote really doesn't work at all. :smallannoyed:

Urge to edit...rising...

I have written at least 3000 words today, so I'm currently on day 9's writing at 14,010 words.

*conceals cage of deranged cannibal psychics who will eat anyone daft enough to edit their work during NaNo*

Nope, I haven't got anything to deter would be NaNoEdMo competitors...

[Mr. Mud]

I just toppled 13k. Nice writing Mercenary :smallbiggrin:. You're a quarter done, with most of the month left.

[Mercenary Pen]

I thought I did rather well...

With the friendly competition between us, is it worth swapping profile page links so that we don't need to keep posting word counts quite so often?

If so, mine is here. (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/511401)

[Mr. Mud]

I thought I did rather well...

With the friendly competition between us, is it worth swapping profile page links so that we don't need to keep posting word counts quite so often?

If so, mine is here. (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/511401)

Well, my NaNo name is one I'd rather keep anonymous from the playground (Yeah, I'm that ONE guy who used his real name... :smalltongue:).

But if you really must have my author's page, I'll consider PMing it to you.

[Trai]

A thing that is bothering me:

First Chapter: 2,809 words
Second Chapter: 3,370 words
Third Chapter (so far): 2,487 words

I spend about two days on each chapter (usually stopping in the middle). I have eighteen chapters. The word count for each chapter is usually decently close. But eighteen chapters does not divide into nice, even two-day chunks. Damn it.

[Dragonrider]

A thing that is bothering me:

First Chapter: 2,809 words
Second Chapter: 3,370 words
Third Chapter (so far): 2,487 words

I spend about two days on each chapter (usually stopping in the middle). I have eighteen chapters. The word count for each chapter is usually decently close. But eighteen chapters does not divide into nice, even two-day chunks. Damn it.

Keep writing after NaNoWriMo ends. :smalltongue:

[celtois]

Lack of a person to compete against among other factors. (One hand in a splint, feeling uninspired etc.) is conspiring to make we write slowly.

If someone, who is also struggling along with Nano would like to compete with me for words per day that would be great. If not I'll pick some one and compete against them anyways. :smallwink:

[Trai]

Keep writing after NaNoWriMo ends. :smalltongue:

Perhaps. The OCD in me is bothered by this, haha. I'll probably figure out a way to make it work-- the book's divided into the three months of summer, and the August chapters will probably be longer than the July ones will.

Yesterday, I made myself hungry writing about making pizza. Today, I will do the opposite by putting my first sushi experience into a flashback for one of my characters. Still not a sushi fan...

[Mercenary Pen]

Well, my NaNo name is one I'd rather keep anonymous from the playground (Yeah, I'm that ONE guy who used his real name... :smalltongue:).

But if you really must have my author's page, I'll consider PMing it to you.

Alternatively, just select me as a writing buddy on their site, and I can do the rest. I can refrain from adding you as a buddy on my end (thus keeping you from appearing on my evil little list of writing people) but I still have a link I can check.

Seem fair?

[Mr. Mud]

Okay, I'll (strongly) consider it :smallbiggrin:.

Hmm... Maybe I could somehow transfer my word count to another user (I just created one, named Mr. Mud)

I'll see what I can do, then get back to you.

[Dragonrider]

Oh, and also...all of my chapters are about 4,000 words. I'm kind of worried that's a little long. But at the same time, it breaks the action up all right, so I think I'll probably just stick with what I've got.

[Mr. Mud]

So, basic plot of my book.

A man, is locked to the floors, in a dark metallic room. There are no doors, windows, or anything else that could otherwise be sued to escape or communicated with the outside world. Just the man, the cuffs and anchors tying him to the ground, and the flickering light.

Eventually after discussing the philosophy behind, he goes delirious, and then [Not yet, not yet, wait 'till it's published] :smalltongue:.

The delusions are the real meat of the novel. Anyway, thoughts?
I was surprised I milked 13k words out of that, too :smallbiggrin:.

[Dragonrider]

I just did some Googling and realized that the average children's novel is 30,000-50,000 words. :smalleek: Then I started googling all my favorite childhood stories and realized that the majority of them - maybe ALL, except Harry Potter - are under 90,000 words.

Whaaat?

When did I miss this memo?


Edit: I feel better. Diana Wynne Jones is often longer. Butbutbut - eek! This story is going to be a MONSTER-size middle grade novel! And it's not gonna break 90k!

[Mr. Mud]

I just did some Googling and realized that the average children's novel is 30,000-50,000 words. :smalleek: Then I started googling all my favorite childhood stories and realized that the majority of them - maybe ALL, except Harry Potter - are under 90,000 words.

Whaaat?

When did I miss this memo?


Edit: I feel better. Diana Wynne Jones is often longer. Butbutbut - eek! This story is going to be a MONSTER-size middle grade novel! And it's not gonna break 90k!

Most regular novels range from 50k at the BARE minimum, to 125k, right? I know Shogun, and like every Wheel of Time exceed this, but still :smallamused:.

[Mercenary Pen]

You could always re-jig your story come time to edit it and try selling it as two or three books DeeRee- if only so that the little children don't need massive bags to take it to and from school and/or the library.

[Dragonrider]

Most regular novels range from 50k at the BARE minimum, to 125k, right? I know Shogun, and like every Wheel of Time exceed this, but still :smallamused:.

Yes. But that's adult - in adult, it's really hard to get anything under 70k published.

[Mr. Mud]

Yes. But that's adult - in adult, it's really hard to get anything under 70k published.

You can always just cut out all the articles and conjunctions. Who uses those, anyway :smalltongue:.

Also, MecP, I requested you.

[Mercenary Pen]

You can always just cut out all the articles and conjunctions. Who uses those, anyway :smalltongue:.

Also, MecP, I requested you.

Didn't find your request or whatever, but I tracked you down the hard way with the new account. Thanks muchly.

[Mr. Mud]

Didn't find your request or whatever, but I tracked you down the hard way with the new account. Thanks muchly.

Oh okay, Gotcha. And you're welcome! Word Count updates, though, will still be tracked first on my main, then updated at the end of the day to my alt. If this becomes really inconvenient for you, I'll try to update simultaneously.

[Mercenary Pen]

Oh okay, Gotcha. And you're welcome! Word Count updates, though, will still be tracked first on my main, then updated at the end of the day to my alt. If this becomes really inconvenient for you, I'll try to update simultaneously.

I suspect I can cope with that. Trying to win twice perchance?

[Mr. Mud]

I suspect I can cope with that. Trying to win twice perchance?

:smallwink:. This is only ONE of my alts.

Disclaimer: To all who read only this post, and the one before, I am not cheating NaNo. :smalltongue:

[Calinero]

I am started to feel the first doubts of this writing season. I find myself more and more uncomfortable with the idea of creating my own fantasy setting, as I run into more details that I had not previously considered. It's so much more involved than I had anticipated...plus, I'm not sure how good a grasp I have on my main character, and the mystery he's solving is lacking a key detail or two. Still, gotta continue writing. I might not keep up to quota tonight, but I'm in for a long car ride on Saturday. Should be plenty of time to catch up, if necessary...

Note: watching TV while writing is not a good idea. Very distracting.

[Felixaar]

DR - maybe you should try doing the Stephen King method when you edit this time - you remember? Second Draft = First Draft minus 10%. Doing your usual "add another 20K while editing" might be ill-advised.

[Trai]

10,210! One-fifth of the way through! *does happy dance*

[Alarra]

My goal is 3k per day, ending with about 90k words.
I'm currently sitting at 14,256, so not so far off of my goal for the end of day 5, and I should be able to make up some this weekend, ideally.

[Raz_Fox]

Well, I'm 700 words below quota. However, watching Spirited Away with the family was worth missing a thousand words. I'm going to have to make a thread about that movie in the MD forum once I get the use of my senses back tomorrow morning. IDEA FODDER HO!

Must... write... more... tomorrow...

[celtois]

Currently down more then 1200 words, I really need to find time in my days to write. That or get a time machine and use it to make time to write.

[Raistlin1040]

Rai has 7000 words. Rai also is pleased that he's taking the 'Salem's Lot approach to writing and doing pages and pages of exposition on the characters before any real plot. 7000 words in, and only 3 of my main characters have been seen on-screen, 1 has been mentioned in passing, and the other hasn't even been mentioned.

[Alteran]

I'm currently at 8,341 words. Above quota, but still quite a bit lower than my goal of 10k. Well, I'm aiming for 11.5k tomorrow!

[Jacklu]

Well, Jacklu is more than 5,000 short of the daily goal. Weee. :smallannoyed:

[cycoris]

Well, Jacklu is more than 5,000 short of the daily goal. Weee. :smallannoyed:

*hugs*

It's okay, I'm behind as well, due to an onslaught of school and being ill. But that's what weekends are for, right? :smallsmile:

And my novel seems to have morphed into straight fantasy. The thing's definitely taking on a life of its own. First it goes all 3O on me, and then it gets all screwed up when I try to poke fun at it. Ah well, at least my characters aren't taking themselves or each other too seriously...yet. If they try to go all wangsty on me though, I may have to bring out the big guns, otherwise known as "Burn! When in doubt, burn them all!" :smallbiggrin::smalltongue:

[Jacklu]

Sick, school... we are twins! :smallbiggrin: :smallwink: But sadly Jacklu's weekends are nine hour workdays, so I doubt I will make it up between now and Monday. Oh well. I plan on plugging along at any rate.

[Lioness]

I'm 2000 words past todays word limit, but I don't think I'm going to get a lot of time to write today. I'm cleaning up the house

[Mercenary Pen]

I'm 2000 words past todays word limit, but I don't think I'm going to get a lot of time to write today. I'm cleaning up the house

That's okay, we're all going to lose words here and there... Except maybe DeeRee and Felix... I suggest you borrow some of theirs to help make up the numbers.:smallwink:

[TFT]

Let's see, I'm at about 4,000. I only have about half the words I should have typed right now.

At least part of it is because of a writers block, and another part lack of time. Now that I have a four day weekend, I will actually have time to devote to writing. I also did get past the writers block today. :smallbiggrin:

[banjo1985]

I'm at just over 2000 words, which I'm not too displeased about as I'm only able to write at work, and even then only for the last two days. I'm planning to get some serious writing done Sunday as Saturday I'm setting up the home computer.

I don't think anyone should despair at this point, the weekend is where a lot of people can catch up if they're a little behind...or way behind like myself. Go for it! :smallsmile:

[bluewind95]

I'm behind a ton by now. Sick and school too. Also a character I will really need isn't taking form in my mind. It better come to me, and quickly. Otherwise, I'll have to be slave to the keyboard to have any hope of catching up.

My characters seem to be taking a life of their own. Characters are doing things differently than how I intended them to act. It's an interesting thing to see.

[Mercenary Pen]

Looks like my story's paying me back for having written 3k yesterday, because I've barely reached 15k despite getting a couple of hundred past 14k yesterday.

Nevermind though, the writer shall prevail! *grabs story in a headlock and proceeds to throttle it*

[HellfireLover]

Not progressing well. I am well behind target, because work is killing me, I have a damaged eye, and I'm genuinely just exhausted and in need of a holiday.

Some cheese to go with the whine, please.

Must really try to knuckle down to it tonight and bash out a few thousand words of overly dramatic tripe. I'm going to have to kill someone very soon, and I don't want it to lack dramatic impact.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Uber-behind because I'm dead-tired and was sick untill yesterday. And still dead-tired. And I'm going to a fair tomorrow. >.>

I'l try to get a couple of K in on sunday.

[Mercenary Pen]

Just 15.3k today by the looks of it, with work again 5-11pm to stop me taking it further. Will see if I can't get back on track tomorrow though.

[TamerBill]

Alright, I'm gonna give this a crack. I'm five days late, but when's that ever stopped me? Progress so far: 1300 words in two and a half hours. Denham Tales (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/600176) will see the light of day before the month is through.


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/TamerBill/DenhamTales.png

[Elan's Modron]

I hit 14k last night- and am shooting for a total of 17k today. Have already used up all the content I originally had planned- so from here on out its sheer improvisation.

Okay, Subconscious Mind- get cracking!

[HellfireLover]

One doctor's visit later: I have to stop using the computer completely until my eye clears up. :smallmad:

Doing this by hand is going to kill me.

[cycoris]

One doctor's visit later: I have to stop using the computer completely until my eye clears up. :smallmad:

Doing this by hand is going to kill me.

:smallfrown:

Is there a way of turning the screen off, or dimming it down, so that you can still type?

[FoE]

Haven't written anything since Monday. Had to work, and had lack of motivation.

Like usual, am put off by lack of quality in writing and my crappy hero.

[Weimann]

I've not written anything since last post, largely depending on:

1) A lack of motivation due to not editing. Stuff doesn't get done. Dialogues are hideous.

2) A severely increased workload at school.

Due to number 2, I will have to put NaNoWriMo on hold until things settle down, which should leave me with (hopefully) about ten days to do the best of the situation.

Yeah, I won't win this year, but I can go down fighting.

[HellfireLover]

:smallfrown:

Is there a way of turning the screen off, or dimming it down, so that you can still type?

Unfortunately, my 'dear' husband has taken the laptop off me (he's neglected to remove my phone though, hence my continued presence at GitP).

It's kind of awkward with these piddly little keys though; might have to admit defeat.

[Dogmantra]

Up to 12134 words according to the NaNoWoCo (this is my new name for it, it stands for "National Novel Word Counter"). Which means that I have 12133 words according to Microsoft Word. I am so curious as to the one word that it thinks isn't a word.

[Dragonrider]

Home stretch, baby.

[Pocketa]

I would do it this year, but I've got SAT Chem to study for.
Next year, I'll have college apps.
Then I get college.

So maybe in 7 years time.

[TamerBill]

Well, for me Day One of NaNoWriMo has just come to a close. I've gone from 0 to 4'457 words today, which is not too shabby. If I can keep this pace up then I should be able to make up for the lost time. Aardvark the Mighty will have his story told.

[Dragonrider]

I would do it this year, but I've got SAT Chem to study for.
Next year, I'll have college apps.
Then I get college.

So maybe in 7 years time.

Heh. If it's not one thing, it's another. :smallbiggrin: There'll ALWAYS be something - you should just go for it. College apps aren't the big deal everyone makes them out to be - just a bit of a hassle.

...especially if you were like me and only applied to three colleges, then went early decision to one and canceled the other apps. :smalltongue:

[Helanna]

Okay, I'm going to have to write 10,000 words over the weekend to get all caught up. Shouldn't be too difficult if I focus, but still, I'll have to focus . . .

Also, I ran out of exposition to write, so . . . now I actually need something to happen. And I really have no idea what I should do.

Aaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh. I just feel like I'm completely out of all inspiration.

[Dallas-Dakota]

The Shovel of Death, it will help you.

[Mr. Mud]

Just dinged to 15k! I'm gaining on your MerPen! I'll update my NaNo eventually, but either the bandwidth of the site is really small, or my computer's internet is really slow. *looks at the book of Murphy Law*. Probably both. :smallbiggrin:.

[Dragonrider]

I just need to write one more chapter tonight and I'll have won.

Not that I'm counting my chickens before they hatch or anything. But it looks like this is NaNoWriWee and the rest of November will be NaNoEdWees......

[Mercenary Pen]

Just dinged to 15k! I'm gaining on your MerPen! I'll update my NaNo eventually, but either the bandwidth of the site is really small, or my computer's internet is really slow. *looks at the book of Murphy Law*. Probably both. :smallbiggrin:.

Just reached 15.7k, gonna try and make 16k before I turn in. As I said earlier, I haven't done well today... I'll be re-doubling my efforts tomorrow, just to regain lost ground... and yes, NaNo's site seems to really slow down in the afternoon/evening for me- probably because North America and Europe are trying to use the site at the same time.

[Mr. Mud]

Just reached 15.7k, gonna try and make 16k before I turn in. As I said earlier, I haven't done well today... I'll be re-doubling my efforts tomorrow, just to regain lost ground... and yes, NaNo's site seems to really slow down in the afternoon/evening for me- probably because North America and Europe are trying to use the site at the same time.

Yeah. And probably some of the Asian Continent as well. Tokyo, never sleeps.

Also, just to best you, I'm planning for 16.5k tomorrow. And then taking the weekend off (for the most part) to get ready for "Hell Week" (I'm try and press out 33k in one week...)

[Mercenary Pen]

Yeah. And probably some of the Asian Continent as well. Tokyo, never sleeps.

Neither do Hong Kong or Singapore from what I've heard.


Also, just to best you, I'm planning for 16.5k tomorrow. And then taking the weekend off (for the most part) to get ready for "Hell Week" (I'm try and press out 33k in one week...)

Well I'll probably fall behind if you get anywhere close to 33k next week, but I'm hoping to be somewhere between 18k and 20k by the end of tomorrow.

[Dragonrider]

Also, just to best you, I'm planning for 16.5k tomorrow. And then taking the weekend off (for the most part) to get ready for "Hell Week" (I'm try and press out 33k in one week...)

It can be done.

Seriously, guys. With planning and with sustained typing and lack of food or sleep, you, too, can go crazy.

[Mr. Mud]

It can be done.

Seriously, guys. With planning and with sustained typing and lack of food or sleep, you, too, can go crazy.

Really DeeRee? We can achieve You're level of crazy? In ONE week? :smallwink:.

[Mercenary Pen]

It can be done.

Seriously, guys. With planning and with sustained typing and lack of food or sleep, you, too, can go crazy.

I will readily admit to be being crazy, but I'm a somewhat slower and less-focussed typist, my story needs regular thinking time to bring everything together, and I haven't got the ability to put the rest of the world to one side whilst I do this. So , whilst I have already gone crazy, I have done so differently.

[Dragonrider]

Really DeeRee? We can achieve You're level of crazy? In ONE week? :smallwink:.

I started to say that one week is nothin'...and then I realized that I wasn't actually disproving your point at all.


@Mercenary Pen: That's why I'm SO glad I outlined. SO SO SO SO SO. I may have changed more than I kept, but whenever I get stuck for something, I just have to look at it and say "Okay, that's what happens next. What am I gonna do to get there?"

[Mr. Mud]

I started to say that one week is nothin'...and then I realized that I wasn't actually disproving your point at all.

Wahoo for CraZzZiEs itp! :smalltongue:. How much mor,e do you have left DeeRee?

[Dragonrider]

Wahoo for CraZzZiEs itp! :smalltongue:. How much mor,e do you have left DeeRee?

I'm at 47,110. I'm fairly certain I'll hit 50k tonight and I'll finish the novel up tomorrow and possibly the next day.

Then it's on to the edits.

[Mr. Mud]

I'm at 47,110. I'm fairly certain I'll hit 50k tonight and I'll finish the novel up tomorrow and possibly the next day.

Then it's on to the edits.

You think this one has publishing potential? Also ,the cover art is really cool :smallsmile:.

[Dragonrider]

You think this one has publishing potential? Also ,the cover art is really cool :smallsmile:.

Thanks!

I'd like to think it has potential, but I can't be sure until it's more polished. Also, until my mum reads it. She's kind of my gauge. Oh, and since it's aimed at a middle-school-ish age group, I need my twelve-year-old brother to give it a go as well. I'll probably get it printed for him as a present...I've kind of been writing it with him in mind.

[Mr. Mud]

Thanks!

I'd like to think it has potential, but I can't be sure until it's more polished. Also, until my mum reads it. She's kind of my gauge. Oh, and since it's aimed at a middle-school-ish age group, I need my twelve-year-old brother to give it a go as well. I'll probably get it printed for him as a present...I've kind of been writing it with him in mind.

I see. Thats a lot of ink, to print that though... :eek:. Given you have to print it for you mom, at least. My parents are both too baffled by the computer to actually scroll down the page and read via a word document... :smallsigh:.

[Dragonrider]

I see. Thats a lot of ink, to print that though... :eek:. Given you have to print it for you mom, at least. My parents are both too baffled by the computer to actually scroll down the page and read via a word document... :smallsigh:.

Mum's a writer. She doesn't have any problem reading on the computer.

But I actually meant, like, print as a book. I don't know if they're doing it this year, but in '08 there was a deal where for $11 or something this one company offered to print people's NaNoWriMo Novels (working with the WriMo folks). I might do it this year, just to have. It's not real publication or anything, it's just to have a printed copy.

[Coidzor]

Yes, I believe Lulu was one such entity that had a deal on producing a proof of the novel to check over a hard copy to ensure there were no left over typos and such and to check for printing errors.

[Jokasti]

I just started, and I think I have a great idea.
Just wanted to post, and say I have no idea how any of this works, other than the basics and that I'm 9000 words behind.
:smallbiggrin:

[Alarra]

Hey Mud, Have you set MD as your home region on the Nano boards so we're getting credits for your words? :smallbiggrin:
Also, you know we have something like 20+ write-ins in various places in the state each week, you should come to some of them.
I usually go to...Columbia Monday and Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night, Glen Burnie Tuesday and Thursday morning, Towson, maybe, Saturday afternoon, Annapolis on Sunday afternoon, Pikesville Monday night and Laurel Tuesday night, if I'm not working.

[Mr. Mud]

Hey Mud, Have you set MD as your home region on the Nano boards so we're getting credits for your words? :smallbiggrin:
Also, you know we have something like 20+ write-ins in various places in the state each week, you should come to some of them.
I usually go to...Columbia Monday and Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night, Glen Burnie Tuesday and Thursday morning, Towson, maybe, Saturday afternoon, Annapolis on Sunday afternoon, Pikesville Monday night and Laurel Tuesday night, if I'm not working.

Hm, I'll have to look into this. This Annapolis one is right up my alley (literally). :smallbiggrin:.

[Trai]

12,005. I still can't figure out which of the time zones on the page is EST.

Edit: Never mind. 'Tis fixed and I am now in my proper time zone.

[Jacklu]

6,556 down. Just about 5,000 short of the daily goal. Still chugging along. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

[Dragonrider]

I almost was just gonna leave this alone and not announce it to the world....

But I fail at that.

So....

I win. :smallbiggrin:

[Deathslayer7]

1,177 words and still typing at the moment, but now that I look at it, I'll be hard pressed to push myself to get 50,000, but I'll try. The fact of it is, I'm not bothered if I don't reach 50,000. I just want to write this since the idea formed in my mind.

[celtois]

7600 and nearly at the end of chapter three, I may still make this though it's getting further away by the hour..

[Alteran]

I almost was just gonna leave this alone and not announce it to the world....

But I fail at that.

So....

I win. :smallbiggrin:

:smalleek:

Your writing prowess astounds me. Well done!

Personally, I just pushed over 1/5 of a win. 10.5k words, and I'm probably done for the night. If I can pull it up to 17k over the weekend, I'll be very happy with myself.

[Jacklu]

:smallsigh: Dun take this personally, but Jacklu isn't going to be returning to this thread again. Congratulations to everyone who does well and encouragement to those who are struggling, but it really does kill me to struggle as much as I do with this and see so many people having no trouble at all keeping up. v.v Sorry again.

[Alarra]

I got bored and cranky after about 800 words tonight, I'm about 3k short of my goal for the day, but perhaps I'll come back to it a bit later.

[Dogmantra]

But I actually meant, like, print as a book. I don't know if they're doing it this year, but in '08 there was a deal where for $11 or something this one company offered to print people's NaNoWriMo Novels (working with the WriMo folks). I might do it this year, just to have. It's not real publication or anything, it's just to have a printed copy.

I haven't read it over fully, but I seem to remember seeing that Amazon's people will print a free proof, plus let you get it onto Amazon. I'm not sure about who keeps the rights, though.

[Felixaar]

I almost was just gonna leave this alone and not announce it to the world....

But I fail at that.

So....

I win. :smallbiggrin:

That's it. Next year she gets a handicap. I'm thinking either tie one arm behind her back or make her write with her toes.

[Xeluu]

I feel a bit better about how I'm doing now.

I started the day with 3,507 words and just ended it with 6,304. I wrote the last 2,797 in about two hours. Work has been killing my writing time, and I was lazy and didn't feel like writing this afternoon.

Luckily, I also have tomorrow afternoon open to write, and my characters just took themselves in a direction that I should be able to get another few thousand words out of in the very least. It also just gave me the idea of how I'm going to lead the story into the main event. :D Woooo~

[Lioness]

Congrats DeeRee. I don't know how you do it, but you're pretty amazing.

Me, I'm at a mere 13.4K. I might get it up to 16 this weekend, I'm hoping to, but I doubt it will happen. I'm not home much

I wonder if they'd let me plug my laptop in at work?

[Mercenary Pen]

That's it. Next year she gets a handicap. I'm thinking either tie one arm behind her back or make her write with her toes.

This is when she still beats you next year, despite typing with her toes:biggrin:

Anyone got a particular soundtrack for their writing efforts at the moment?

For me it's been the album Smash by the Offspring, and occasionally the cover of "All along the watchtower" produced for the Battlestar Galactica remake.

[Lioness]

Anyone got a particular soundtrack for their writing efforts at the moment?


Yeah...my boyfriend gave me a whole lot of music from a game called Nehrim. It is really pretty.

Also free music from here (http://milkman-dan.newgrounds.com/) us really pretty too.
Very good for fantasy type stuff.

[Trai]

This is when she still beats you next year, despite typing with her toes:biggrin:

Anyone got a particular soundtrack for their writing efforts at the moment?

For me it's been the album Smash by the Offspring, and occasionally the cover of "All along the watchtower" produced for the Battlestar Galactica remake.

Congrats DeeRee!

I name my chapters after songs, so making a playlist is usually my form of drafting. I listen to my playlist while I'm writing, or I just listen to whatever's on my computer-- a lot of soundtracks. I just got the Glee soundtrack, so that's in heavy rotation right now, some Ingrid Michaelson and Kate Voegele, and pretty soon the new live album by The Killers that will be arriving in the mail next week.

[Raz_Fox]

My word count: it's OVER NIIIIINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND

10k, to be precise. I seem to get all my writing done in the evening - I can struggle all day to get out 1000 words and then punch out another thousand in an hour before I go to bed.

It's weird.

EDIT: ALSO my "chapters" are horribly lopsided. "Chapter" 1: 13 pages. "Chapter" 2: 3 pages. BUT IT TELLS THE STORY SO WHATEVER.


EDIT PART DEUX: Abney Park, Okami Soundtrack and whatever catches my fancy.

[Dragonrider]

I have a playlist of 40 songs. About half of them are about trains. Because, uh, my story's about trains. There's "A Bad Penny" and "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens; "Nullarbor Song" by Kasey Chambers; "Breakdown" by Jack Johnson; "Another Train" by Artisan.

Then there's the stuff that's just on there because it suits the mood. I have a LOT of Cat Stevens (because every single playlist I have made within living memory has had a lot of Cat Stevens) and then some Mika, Pirates of the Caribbean, Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea, music from the movie "Once"...

I have every song on it about memorized.

Some seem to come up more than others, though. "Foreigner Suite" is 18 minutes and twenty seconds and even though I know it doesn't work that way, I can't help but feel that it gives it precedence for that reason.

[Raistlin1040]

I have almost 11 thousand words.

On the subject of music, my Zune has about 2000 songs, so I just shuffle and casually skip to a song that I want to listen to. Recently it's been Oasis, Nightwish, The Beatles, The Cure, David Bowie, 80s Synth (Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Falco, a-ha etc.), Marilyn Manson, The soundtrack from Wicked, and the soundtrack from Rocky Horror Picture Show, for the most part, though sometimes I just leave it to shuffle to whatever, since I'm on a writing roll. I also switch it when music is mentioned in-text. So there was a part where I was listening to just Electric Light Orchestra, a part with just Alice Cooper, and a part with just Ozzy Osbourne.

[Dogmantra]

My playlist is mostly comprised of They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton, with a few out of genre covers of the children's popular music of today. Of particular note is Always the Moon by JoCo who gave me the inspiration for the plot in the first place.

[Jokasti]

My word count: it's OVER NIIIIINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND

10k, to be precise. I seem to get all my writing done in the evening - I can struggle all day to get out 1000 words and then punch out another thousand in an hour before I go to bed.

It's weird.

EDIT: ALSO my "chapters" are horribly lopsided. "Chapter" 1: 13 pages. "Chapter" 2: 3 pages. BUT IT TELLS THE STORY SO WHATEVER.


EDIT PART DEUX: Abney Park, Okami Soundtrack and whatever catches my fancy.
My first chapter is like 5 words, so don't feel bad. BUT IT SETS THE SCENE SO WHATEVER.

[cycoris]

My first chapter is 5,700 words, and only 18 (printed) pages. Apparently I write reeeaaally long paragraphs or something, since 5,000 usually evens out to just around 20 pages. I don't know if this is something about which I should worry or not. :smallconfused:

Now, off do to homeworks so that I can write all afternoon. :smallsmile: