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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2019!/November 2019 Word Race!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Briannakin , Oct 17, 2019.

  1. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    It's getting colder and creeping up on the end of the year, which means it's almost time for that mad dash to write as many words as possible! It's...

    [​IMG]

    What is NaNoWriMo?

    At its most basic definition, National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo aka NaNo is writing a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November (That's only 1,667 words a day!). Many people get so much more out of it, some people don't, it's really up to you what NaNo is about. Many people don't even write a novel, they are rebels and write short stories, or work on an old project! You'll be doing it along with hundreds of thousands of other crazy people, so don't worry about being alone in your insanity!

    NaNo is not about writing the next best seller (though it has been known to happen) or writing the perfect story, it's all about the writing. Repeat after me: "It's all about the writing." The goal is to get it all out there, get your ideas down and don't worry about editing, grammar or plot holes... those are things that can be taken care of once the writing is done. This is a rough (sometimes very rough) draft. I'll say it again, it's all about the writing.

    If you should decided to take on this challenge, I promise you this: you will write some utter crap so go ahead and turn your inner editor off now or it's going to be a long month. But in writing impetuously, you may find that giving yourself the freedom to just write -without worry- results in some truly amazing prose!


    How do I participate?

    You go to the NaNo website and sign up. Then starting at midnight November 1st (and no sooner!) write your heart out! You can write in a notebook, on your computer, heck, you could write on your walls, just as long as you don't write the same word over and over again!

    Don't forget to check out the official NaNo FAQ.



    I've signed up, what do I do now?

    Well, you can start outlining your story, make your characters, do some research, but remember, no actual writing until November 1st! Any words written before November 1st (in your time zone) don't count toward the word count. If your more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer you can check out the forums at the official NaNo site and discuss pretty much anything with your fellow Wrimos and discuss the process here with your fellow JCers.


    [​IMG]


    I know the muse won't cooperate, should I even try?
    Do you really know that? Really?
    Give it a shot! Even if you only make a few hundred words, that's more than you had at the start of November! Maybe other people cheering you on will help inspire the muse to keep it going! Remember, it's not really about the word count, it's about the writing!


    What Do I Get If I Win?
    Absolutely nothing!! [face_party]

    But you get the satisfaction of knowing you wrote 50,000 words in 30 days! We know for some people that's nothing, but for most people, that's incredible! And you have the start to a novel, or an epic fic, or several stories that are ready to be edited and posted!

    But also the NaNo people make some shiny web badges so you can show off to the the internet how awesome you are! There are also a few companies that give you discounts or something free when you win so I guess technically you could win something!


    If you've read this far and decided this isn't for you, just remember you'll never make it if you don't even attempt it. Many, many people don't make it to 50,000 words but there's still a lot of adventure and fun along the way!

    Still not convinced? Tried it before and it's not for you? Feel free to keep tabs on this thread and cheer on those who are participating. We will take all the cheering (and caffeine) we can get!


    So you've decided to tackle the challenge?

    Awesome! Welcome aboard! We should have a lot of fun!

    [​IMG]
    If you plan on participating, post here and we'll add you to the list of participants. As the month goes on, make sure to tell us your word counts so we can cheer you on and update the list! If you have a different name on the NaNo site, let us know so we can friend you.


    Let's start with a bit of discussion!

    Discussion: Let us know if you've participated before and if you've won. Feel free to share any advice you have! Do you know what you are going to write? Fanfic? Something original? Do you plan or are you more of a by the seat of your pants kind of writer?


    November Word Race

    Edit: We're also making this a Word Race, so you don't have to try and meet the 50,000 words of NaNo.

    It's going to be very simple, set your own goal for the month of November and then try to meet that goal!

    To sign up, post that you intend to participate and what your goal is, be it daily, weekly or for the month!
    Don't start counting your words until November 1st at midnight in your own time zone. Counting your words stops at midnight November 30th in your own timezone.
    Every few days (or even every day!) let us know how you are doing. Please post your new words and your total words for the month. If you are doing a daily or weekly goal, you can certainly tell us how that's going!
    If you need a little motivation, you can ask for that too! We'll be here cheering each other on for the month.


    Discussion for the word race part (mostly the same): Do you know what you are going to work on? Are you starting something new? Finishing something old?
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2019
  2. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Participant List

    Briannakin (Goal 20,000 | Progress: 8,529)
    brodiew (Goal 7,000| Progress 3,896)
    devilinthedetails (Goal: 6,000 | Progress: 6,000)
    Findswoman (Goal: 2,000 | Progress 4,259)
    Jedi_Lover (Goal: 10,000 | Progress: 50,000)
    Kahara (Goal: 5,000)
    Kit' (Goal: 5,000 | Progress: 1,051)
    mavjade (Goal: 1,500 | Progress: 511)
    Mira_Jade (Goal: 30,000 | Progress: 12,313)
    Pandora (Goal: 5,000 | Progress: 7,047)
    Raissa Baiard (Goal: 3,000 | Progress 7,849)
    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha (Goal: 2,500 | Progress: 2,717)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 1, 2019
  3. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Note: We mods have decided, like last year, to combine the NaNo thread with the ever popular Word Race!! To sign up, simply post your own personal goal for this month and lets all motivate each other!!
     
  4. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    As much as I'd love to do the full NaNo, I know there's no way the muse will cooperate with that right now. She's being very shy, or more like gone into hiding. Also I've got some big changes happening IRL starting in November so who knows how that will translate to writing time.

    But since it's mostly my muse I'm worried about, I'm going to set a low goal and if I end up looking like I'm going to get close then I'll adjust it upward. Right now I'm thinking I'd be ecstatic with 1,000 words, but I'm going to set my goal at 1,500 for the month to be a little bit of a stretch in what I think might happen.
     
  5. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I'm not going to do it this year - October has just been stressful for me and I want a quiet November. I will say that the website has been upgraded over the last year. Personally I don't care for it - I think it makes stuff harder to find and it takes longer to load for me.
     
  6. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    For me, I have no idea what I'm doing (what else is new?). I'm basically in this weird limbo in life where I'm waiting on the results of my dissertation (and won't get them back till mid-late November) and I don't have a whole lot going on in my life. So if there ever was a time for me to push for the full NaNo... this is it.

    On the other hand, my elbow isn't fully healed yet and my muse... I think my muse is hiding wherever Mav's muse is. Either that or it got left behind in the packing process. I have some vague ideas and the one I like the most is kinda cheating (but productivity is productivity). Basically I'm thinking about '50 shades-ing' my West Wing short story series and making it into original fiction. There probably wouldn't be a lot of re-writing required, but there would be some backstories I would want to change up so I would do a fair bit of writing new stuff. But even that idea isn't grabbing a hold of me. I'm tossing around an original idea but I'm even less enthused by it.

    Anyways, I think I'm going to set a personal goal of 20,000, but at this point, I'd be happy if I got half way.
     
  7. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Okay, I could use a kick in the shebs to stop procrastinating and write more consistently, so I will sign up with a goal of 3000 words.
     
  8. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Woohoo! It's great to see this up and going. Hopefully this November will see productive muses and high word counts for all. [face_love]

    I'm going to set the lofty goal of 30,000 for myself - which theoretically should be feasible with about a thousand words per day - but I will be more than happy if I write half of that. Or even a third, honestly. :p I just hope that I can find my muse from wherever she's been slumbering - it seems that she too has been AWOL with Bri and mav's muses 8-} :oops: - and be reasonably productive. I have a whole WIP folder that needs to be cleaned out, and I would love to tie up as many loose ends as possible before the new year. So . . . we'll see! [face_mischief] :D [face_dancing]
     
  9. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I think I'm going to make November a read-a-thon. Quite a few books I want to read are out this month and I now have a backlog. Anyone else feel like doing that? We could keep lists of what we've read and what we read it on (i.e. paper back, Kindle, etc). I usually have at least two books on the go at once (one for daytime, one for evening).
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2019
  10. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Woohoo, the word race is back! [face_dancing] Count me in—I think I'll do my usual goal of 5000 words over the course of the month.
     
  11. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Oooh, SQUEEEEEEEE! Awesome talents have signed up. :* [face_love] Sign me up for 2,500 words. @};-
     
  12. Pandora

    Pandora Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2005
    I have done nanowrimo in the past (and in 2011, I made my personal goal of 20,000 words, with time enough leftover to toss in another 1000ish words after it) but after trying it for too many years, I finally accepted that it wasn't working for me at all, and I was done. 2011 was a lucky fluke--usually I barely managed 1000 words. I deleted my profile on the website c. 2015, and never looked back.

    But a word race I can do, and I could use one right about now. I have progressing stories galore that needed to be finished yesterday. I shall be realistic and set a goal of 5000 words.
     
  13. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Great to see you on board, @Pandora! :)
     
  14. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    Never participated in a word race before but there has to be a first time for everything, right?

    I'll sign myself up with a goal of 6,000 words for the month of November.

    I've finished all my current WIPs so I'll probably end up writing multiple oneshots this month to meet that goal or maybe even begin another WIP if I'm feeling really ambitious since we all know I'm a oneshot girl normally.

    Good luck to everyone who is participating! =D=
     
  15. Pandora

    Pandora Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2005
    Thanks, @Findswoman!

    ----

    "Fasten yer seatbelts..."

     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2019
  16. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Only a couple hours left till we start! How are we all feeling? Hyped up on Halloween candy?

    My muse has (slowly) begun to emerge from whatever box it was hiding in. I've been busy (probably why the muse is appearing) but I've kinda been working on a random old vignette. I still have no idea what I'm doing for this word race, but I might just be working on random things. Productivity is productivity I guess [face_dunno]
     
    Kahara, Mira_Jade and Findswoman like this.
  17. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    @Briannakin I definitely think I'll be working on random things to complete this word race, but productivity is definitely productivity, and it's better to write something than nothing.

    On that note, I wrote my first random thing, an Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon oneshot where they discuss the existence of ghosts. It's somewhat in honor of Halloween. So I've completed my first 980 words. Yay. [face_party]

    For inspiration right now, my mind is kind of going to spooky things in honor of Halloween and an autumn or chilly type atmosphere, but my brain might move onto more thankful and warm ideas as Thanksgiving approaches, or it might travel in a random, unpredictable direction since my muse is an eternally fickle creature.
     
  18. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    I have a story that I have been working on and I got writers block. Maybe doing Nano will help me. I probably won't get 50,000 new words, but 10K would be nice. Of course it is a L/M story.
     
  19. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Yay! Huzzah for words, @devilinthedetails - it's great to see your muse being productive already.

    And 10k words of a L/M story from one of our resident L/M experts sounds absolutely perfect to me, @Jedi_Lover - I can't wait to see what you come up with! [face_dancing] =D=

    As for myself, today I was able to sit down before work and I cleared my first 2k with 2,713 words on an actual chaptered story. :eek: :p I am personally thrilled by that progress - my muse hasn't had the brain power for longer pieces since the springtime. 8-} :D Let's hope the inspiration keeps up! [face_dancing]

    Here's to loquacious muses for all this November! [:D]
     
  20. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Well, Darth Real Life kicked my moose’s posterior today, so I didn’t even meet my minimal daily goal of 100 words met. Total words:0 :p
     
  21. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    1400 words. I figure if I just write, write, write even if it is rambling nonsense, I hope I can later edit together a cohesive story.
     
  22. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Muse was being a bit non-focused today (I was also feeling kinda sick and dealing with some real life stuff), but it gave me a new story to work on, which was nice (though I'm not sure if it will ever see the light of day). All in all I got to 622. Maybe 20k was a bit lofty but I am so glad I decided against the full NANO.
     
  23. Kit'

    Kit' Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Can I sign myself up for the word race? Might be a tad foolish seeing as it's term 4 (end of Aussie school year) so lots of marking, reporting and making stuff to help get kids through assessment but what's the worst that can happen...?
     
  24. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    One thing I've done in past Nanos - if I get a cold or something like that I write about it with great description - it's good for a few hundred words..
     
  25. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    You absolutely can! I sometimes find the more I have to do, the easier it is because when you have the time to write, it may be the only time so you may be more apt to actually do it.

    If you do want to join, let us know what goal you are going for and we'll add you to the list.