Counting down to 2011

75 days to go. Is anyone else coming up with a case of nerves? I discovered that I'm a plotter, at least as far as NaNo is concerned. Months of thinking about the year's novel, tons of notes, and I still wind up the night of October 31, wondering if I have what it takes. Going for my third win this fall.

I am definitely not a plotter. I have an idea, which I'm only now beginning to flesh out. But plot, not!

Sadly, I'm still debating if I return to the rat race this year.
Took last year off, might extend that vacation, depending on how other writings go.

I am working on an idea I hope to have ready by November. I've started writing up reports on the progress here:

http://zette.blogspot.com/search/label/Project%20Water%2FStone%2FLight

(The first report is below the second one)

I also need to do outline The Wrath of Bunny Hopper, but I think tht one will be pretty easy to do. I hope.

I've been thinking about blogging the development of this year's novel, but haven't figured out an approach yet. Beside, I'm just a wee bit afeerd of giving too much away. I don't worry about someone stealing my ideas because any idea can be developed in hundreds of different ways. I'm still trying to balance building readers anticipation for a novel by putting it online, and overdoing the exposure. One thing about blogging, though, it helps me think through problems that have me stuck.

My blogging is going to go through the pre-work up to the outline phase. I am not listing everything, but still enough (I hope) to draw attention to the work. When I get to the outline, I'll probably mention a few bits, but not the overall story.

I'll have to take a look and see how you're doing it. I don't want to add one more "this is what I'm doing today" series of posts to what's very soon going to be a flood of them. I have NaNoWriMo on my Wordpress tag surfer, and NaNo posts are picking up very quickly. Of course, the majority are about having just signed up and wondering if that was crazy, or urging other people to sign up.

Well, here we are less than two months to go, and I'm still debating. :>

I have two possible ideas, but I don't know if I could pull them off for NaNo right now.
Suffering through a few writing issues, including a writing room with no electricity. Wish I had a manual typewriter right now...

Gilroy, I've had an Alphasmart for several years, and even though I don't use it very much any more, I've been thankful more than once that I didn't give in to the impulse to sell it. Electricity goes off? Carry on writing. Computer dies right in the middle of NaNo (yes, that happened to me last year)? Carry on writing. I wrote about 10,000 words on my Alphasmart and downloaded them to my computer when I finally got it back (after NaNo was over). Luckily, NaNo does provide for emergencies, and I got my wordcount validated and got my purple bar.

Of course, any laptop will keep you going, but the Alphasmart runs on batteries and it's cheap. eBay is always full of used ones.

I've decided that since every year I attempt to write a novel and get hung up on the worldbuilding, this year I'm going to square the circle and attempt to write a 50,000 word nonfiction treatise on worldbuilding. (Perhaps if I get very lucky I'll get hung up on writing a novel instead!)

OMG, Melannen - I was thinking of doing exactly the same thing! I find that for me, worldbuilding / character creation is at least as creatively satisfying as writing the story set in the world and had wondered if I put my personal thoughts / methods I've developed on this aspect down on paper, if it would be of use or interest to anyone else. I've also been playing with the idea of turning all these notes into an RPG setting.

Now a little over a month out. Writer's area is being prepped with extension cords and power strips. Think we have a donated generator this year, in case of inclement weather.

The winner's lounge is stocked with comfy couches.

My cheering cart is prepped, as is the stock of red bull and chocolate (milk, dark, and white!).

I'm missing something...

Did you remember the kibble for the plot bunnies?

They are feasting as we speak. :>

I'm still thinking about it.

I did have fun with it last year. Though, the novel I finished still needs A LOT of work. - But I have an idea for it's sequel!*!

I enjoyed the experience last year and felt I learnt a lot.

Gilroy, I enjoyed your trolley visits last year and greatly appreciated the hot towels!

I have currently become addicted to nanowrimo. I successfully made it through 2 years and this year i'm gonna do a fan fiction!

Right now i'm working on the disclaimer for it

Just sitting here on the sofa, exhausted after a long day at the office, eating a late supper (with my parrot Nickel who always waits for me before she starts eating her own dinner) and thinking about nothing much when all of a sudden into my tired brain popped the words, "Oh, my God, it's a month to NaNo!" So I came over to the Group, thinking I might be the first. Hah. You guys have been way ahead of me ~ for months, I see.

No idea if I'll participate this year. Like gilroy, I took last year off after 3 crazy great NaNo won-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth-at-the-last-possible-moment purple bar Novembers. Part of me longs for the excitement and adrenaline rushes and long exhausting writing sessions and great WriMo camaraderie and massive doses of coffee and chocolate, while another (saner?) part of me is telling me that this isn't the year for it because of a killer job and some other issues I'm dealing with. Well, I have 4 weeks to decide. Four weeks to come up with a story idea. Four weeks to do a quick outline. Four weeks... Yikes!

I'll be nanoing again this year. Oddly, I find it relaxing. And besides, I can tell the old man to "LEAVE ME ALONE I'M WRITING!" and he almost listens to me! :-)

Last year was a *complete* flop for me, since my elderly auntie was in her last months on earth...not one word of a very good idea written...but she has Passed to Her Reward so I'm at a loose end.

What better, more logical thing to do than sign up to write a novel in a genre I've never attempted (historical fiction) about two real people who spoke a language not my own (Italian) and work in an industry I don't understand (opera)? Oh, and the idea came over to me and smacked me on the nose while I was looking up an unrelated topic on Wikipedia. Luca Antonio Predieri forced himself onto my computer screen while I was looking up Stephen Hawking's actual academic title (Lucasian Professor of Mathematics).

I'd say any detailed prep is now, at 16-1/2 days out, out of the question, but I can get the plot of the story and some dialogue done during NaNo. This will be fun!

>19 richardderus:

What better, more logical idea indeed.

(I think it's awesome, actually.)

Thank for the encouraging words! I hope it will be. Awesome, that is.

Oh, Richard! That's a great idea, and I love the way it came about. In my experience you don't need detailed research for NaNo so your plan is perfect!

ETA The deep research can come after NaNo, but a little knowledge of the time period and locale is essential. It's difficult to save a story that's based on something that is completely out of the realm of possibility for a specific time and place. Believe me, I know that from firsthand experience.

Erk! 16-1/2 days? Oh, no, sorry. It's now 15-1/2 days, I guess. I better get on Google and start looking around for a story idea.

>22 Storeetllr: It's difficult to save a story that's based on something that is completely out of the realm of possibility for a specific time and place. One word: Italics.

:-P

Still making up my mind, but you enthusiasts have just about convinced me.

Good luck with your historical fic, Richard. If I got an idea like that, I would give it about two seconds thought, and drop it like a hot potato. Way too much research required for someone as lazy as I am. The research for my upcoming novel has been the daily news, and I've absorbed what I need through osmosis.

#24. Look at NaNo this way: any amount of words you write is a win! There are that many more words you've put down than you had before.

I have a friend who will, doubtless, have his 50K words in the first week. He writes in English and it is his second language. I've stopped trying to compete on # of words or speed. I just write and enjoy myself.

>24 golux1: Sage advice in #26, golux1. There are the NaNo purists, cheerless lot as purists so often are; and then there is an entire category winked at, loved, and recognized by the NaNo PTB called "NaNo rebels" who aren't aiming for 50K words, who are writing nonfiction works, who are writing poetry (!), who are in short doing exactly as they please with the basic structure of NaNo.

It's the friendliest, most accepting place there is for writers. I hope you'll do it, and I hope you'll love it.

>25 C_S_McClellan: Wait, wait...let me guess...it's the "lair of ancient kraken discovered" story, right? ;->

>26 majkia: Well said indeed!

All good points, folks, maybe I will. I did Nano in the rebel category last year and wrote a memoir -- great fun, but I think I feel a novel coming on....

Don't say Kraken around the plotbunnies. They fear being stuck in another At World's End disaster...

>28 golux1: Yippee!

>29 gilroy: LOLOL

And always, always keep this in mind:

>27 richardderus: Actually, the bigest aspect of NaNo Rebels are those who are going to work on a story that they've already started and see if they can add at least 50k to it rather than starting a new novel on November 1.

There have always been people writing other than long fiction in NaNo, though I think the novelists still out number them. The number of words you write(when starting a new novel, not continuing one) has never been a factor in NaNo except to reach 50k. Writing more than 50k doesn't make you a NaNo Rebel, though. Many of us take the challenge to mean write a NOVEL which may be well more than 50k. I have done this for ten years now and I'm going for my eleventh win.

*hopes the dry cleaner doesn't mess up the pleats in the cheerleading skirt this year*

I've decided that I'm going to remain a cheerleader this year. I'm trying to find a different challenge for myself, though one that doesn't stress me out completely.

>33 gilroy: Aw, sadness that you won't be stressing with the rest of us, gilroy. On the other hand, you do look cute in your pleated cheerleader's skirt, plus you always bring such yummy treats (and libations) to the writers' lounge.

>31 majkia: And you can always kill someone off. That's always fun.

>32 zette: I'm one of those who stop pretty much at 50k whether the novel is finished or not, but only because I am usually so far behind that I barely manage to get over the finish line with a huge push on the last day.

>23 richardderus: lol

#27 - "Wait, wait...let me guess...it's the "lair of ancient kraken discovered" story, right? ;->"

Richard, I'm one of those cheerless purists, I'm afraid. No kraken for me. Climate change, devolution of democracy in the U.S., the struggle for survival. But I'm perfectly willing to cheer on the NaNo Rebels.

Climate change, devolution of democracy in the U.S., the struggle for survival.

Ooo, I *love* screwball comedies!

I can't imagine *how* this happened: I went to the library to get some books on the major areas of ignorance in the novel I'm writing, and came home with 9 huge tomes of over 500 pages!

I've been working hard trying to recruit teen writers to try their hand at writing. I finally came up with an idea for my own YA novel. Suffice it to say I am furiously studying dolphins and their interractions with humans so I can add some true situations to my story. I'm stoked now.

I feel like I haven't plotted enough...

Everyone's process is different, of course, but it's probably just jitters.

I came up with an idea! I've been doing a quick Google search to find the ideal time period in which to place the story and have found some fascinating stuff! I plan to have one of my characters be an actress, and another an early photographer, and for part of the time they will be British ex pats living in France. I am looking at the mid- to late-1800s.

>36 richardderus: Libraries are dangerous places.

#39 -

For NaNo, there is not such thing as not plotted enough.
Of course, it also depends on the type of writer you are.

To borrow terms from Branden Sanderson and http://www.writingexcuses.com/:

Writers fall on a continuum of Discovery Writer to Outline Writer. The Discovery Writer just sits and writes, dealing with things as they appear, while the Outline Writer is the exact opposite, planning each step before they put a single word on the page.

Me, I fall toward the discovery writer, but I need some guidance for longer pieces. I know someone else who couldn't keep a character within an outline to save her noveling hide. :>

Figure out what works for you and follow that advice. Others can help but they are not necessarily your "got to do this" guides.

Suddenly, I see a blog post coming on...

ETA for spelling

I dare not plot too much for NaNo. I've learned over the years, well, for all my writing, that I have no control over the characters I create. They begin to take on their own personalities and there is no making them do something. So, I do a basic plot. start, several plot points along the way, and the ending. What happens in between is anyone's guess. If I try to force things to follow an outline I waste time fighting with my characters.

>43 majkia: Yeah, what she said.

My best writing (from my perspective) has started with a scene, then I write to it and, when I reach it, from it to the end. It does help to know what the ending is going to be and sort of how the story gets there, but too much plotting... Well, truthfully, I've never done enough plotting for it to be considered "too much." Or outlining. Research is another story, as is character development. I love to research. In fact, I could do research the entire month of November. lol

ETA I'm doing research now and hope to have the basics by Nov. 1. It helps that I'm taking the rest of the month off.

#42 I really dislike those arbitrary divisions. It isn't even a continuum. You can be an outliner (though I don't do "outlining" until I already have a ton of notes and the story is taking shape) and have plenty of space left for discovery. I consider myself a planner, not an outliner, because the story and the characters are more important than setting up a structure they're supposed to fit into. I'm using Lazette's Phase Outline method this year, and it really isn't anything like what most people would consider an outline.

#46 -- I agree. It's like poeple want things to be one way or another, and as with everything else in life, outlining is rarely that simple.

Also, this idea that you don't have 'discovery' when you write if you use an outline is kind of simplistic, too.

I think I'll do a blog post tomorrow.

#46, 47

I was really simplifying things from three podcasts. I honestly did just borrow a lot of their description from the podcast itself.

Though I never said there is NO discovery when you write. Some people just plan more than others.

#48 -- Oh, okay! That's better.

For my part, the outline is barely the start of the 'discovery phase.' I couldn't imange the story as already told in those few brief notes. It isn't until the characters step in and begin to live that the real story and true discovery begins. All I have before that is a set of stage directions. Those directions save me from having to focus most of my attention on the 'what happens next' question, and this-- in an odd way -- allows me more room to explore.

I guess I should explain my idea when it comes to a continuum. To me, it never reaches zero at either end.

In this context, everyone has some plan when they sit to write, even if its just a character idea in their head. But from that same stand point, even the greatest outline doesn't give you every twist of the muscle or nod of the head. You may have the entire play out of character concept on a page, but until the character steps into the situation, they are just a concept.

I hope that clarifies my thinking better...

ETA for spelling

#50 -- Oh yes, that's good. It's very much how I feel about it, too. I don't always outline (especially for shorter works), too. So it's not like things always work one way and that way alone. I believe in adaptation to fit the work you are writing.

Downloaded the beta version of Scrivener for Windows and am in love. It is making it so easy to plot. I am actually doing an outline!

>52 Storeetllr: w00t!

I just watched this YouTube video of an adorable little girl singing her NaNoWriMo song, "NaNoWritis" -- it's too cute to miss!

Once more into the volcano that is NaNoWriMo! Itching to get started :)

MGP

My characters are already in full cry. One has completely rebelled and is making me really angry. He's the best friend who's actually the worst nightmare and no one sees it except me. GAH

lol. mine are behaving until the 1st. They're sneakier than yours.

*vibrates with envy*

Am at a NaNo Prep Meet-Up at a restaurant down the street from me. About 6 WriMos are here, researching and writing outlines and talking about writing. Later is the Kick-Off Party at a local Mexican restaurant. We (L.A.) expect lots of attendees, so the restaurant is letting us use all three of their patios, and may I say it's perfect weather for a late-afternoon outdoor bash ~ hot and sunny with not a cloud in the blue blue skies! Margaritas here I come! (Oh, as to my outline, characters, and plot: it's shaping up to be seat-o-pants writing for me again this year. I can't even decide on names for my protagonists. Grrr.)

OK, I've given in to temptation and signed up. I have no characters, plot, genre, you name it -- nothing! Wish me luck?

Good luck, golux1. Remember this is for fun!

I don't know how I'm supposed to think about writing when my household is in full Halloween-mode, but tomorrow is another day, and I'm set to go.

@59 Go for it & good luck!

MGP

Re: Getting ready for NaNo at Halloween, I wonder if that's why Chris Baty seems so preoccupied with zombies....

okay its officially December 1. i am curious to know who was able to complete.

I did a fan fiction and ended nanowrimo with 76183 words. and i am sooo taking a break

who's with me?

I won NaNo but am no where near the end of the book.

Ditto ^65. In fact, I am almost at the halfway mark and am thinking of calling this "Part 1: Paris" and doing "Part 2: London" for next year's NaNo.

Heh congrats you two.