NaNoWriMo 2008 - Post NaNo Depressions!

I sure hope that you are right. I am getting more and more apprehensive.

What if I start posting here and I can't finish the story?

I have an idea where it should end, and I know what I want to say, but I don't know if I can pull it together. There seems to be a formula for the story:

[Exciting beginning] + [character development 1/2 of story] + [something something something ?????] + [ending] = story.

It's the something something something that has me worried.

 

The blindness I have down- I can pull from my own experiences, down to not being able to drive and how annoying it can be at first. But I'd like some arc that pulls it all together, and I'm not sure how to bring that in. I think if I play with the first scene some more and get that planned out, some more of the pieces will fall into place. I hope...

Anyone know any battle/war/whatever that went on in the Dark/Middle Ages that could be used to explain why a family was completely torn apart?

I have this prince and a knight arguing in a library over something, and another (female, but they don't know it) knight slipping in and, er, stealing the thing they're arguing about.

Actually, hmm, idea...

Rambling has actually been very helpful for once.

 

You need to read Chris Baty's book, "No Plot, No Problem". You already have more than some start out with yet somehow come out with 50,000 words at the end of November anyway.

 

How about the Plague? I think that was around 1340-something in England. Maybe someone in the family (child?) died and various members are all blaming each other for not doing anything to prevent the death.

And I agree on No Plot No Problem. Very good book! I had to get my copy from Amazon UK though as no local bookstores had it.

 

Divapilot, it's perfectly fine to be nervous. Just don't let it overwhelm you (and visit the Nano Ate My Soul forum- you aren't the only one this nervous). Secondly, I wouldn't start posting until after you finish and have time to edit, because things can change a lot while writing, and there will be inconsistancies unless you have a very detailed outline. Third, this is my fifth year and hopefully fifth win. I have never outlined and just have an idea going in. Right now, you have more than I do.

I'm sorry- I didn't know you're blind, Alethia. I'm just used to answering questions on the Nano forums from other sighted people. (I was seriously considering becoming an Orientation and Mobility instructor a couple years ago, even though I'm photophobic, so know enough to direct people to some resources and mention things they may not think about.)

Hmm... battles... Which country? What part of what country? There's a lot of wars.... Ooh... How about the Crusades, if that isn't too late a timeframe?

I third NP?NP!- very helpful and inspiring. Speaking of which, I need to reread it before Nano starts...

 

20/1000-2000 (last I checked it was 1000, but it's been getting worse). So not a total, but yeah. In the realm of pretty dang blind. You almost became an O&M instructor? Cool. I had O&M this evening. And I'm photophobic as well. *grins*


The Crusades might work, though I was going for something maybe a bit earlier. I was thinking before battle of Normady, but I know very little about Medieval England. I need a prince involved, and a battle for the kingdom. I'm considering the battles that sprung up after King Edward's death, the one that eventually led to William of Normandy becoming King of England. But I need a prince- and the reason the battles sprang up in the first place was because Edward didn't leave a successor...

Then again, this is supposed to be YA fantasy, so I could probably insert a character in there, since the entire point is that the character is not around long, he dies in the first scene. I also need a sort of tie to King Arthur- not a direct tie, but a reason why a book containing Merlin would be in the library. I know the legends, of course, and I have no problem twisting the Arthurian legends to my whims. But the first scene involves three characters, two knights who have to make it out of there alive, and there has to be some reason they're all in the library crowded around, arguing, and one of the knights stabs the prince. Then they grab the book (containing Merlin) and make off with it. And the other knight goes after them.

I don't need a lot of details, but this entire tale is going to be explained (or at least partly explained) in modern times to my main character, and she'll be asking questions and I want there to be at least a bit of historical basis in there. Otherwise I'd just make up my own world and save myself the trouble of fitting it into history, you know?

I'll have to see if I can get a digital copy of the book. I always enjoy reading writing books, they can be quite interesting reads.

 

Just a note that the icons have been loaded. Go into the 'Change Your Icon' section of Options and you'll see the NaNo category there. DV loaded a bunch so there's plenty to choose from.

 

I've noticed that there are three from last year, they're fine and all but the one saying '2007' should probably go.

 

I didn't notice that. I'll mention it in MS but I know DV is busy getting Halloween icons up as well. It might be a while before they go.

Edit - I mentioned it for DV. Only the typewriter one actually said '2007'. Hopefully DV will remove it when he has time.

 

Hey everyone!


I'm really late reporting in this year cuz of DRL and not being aroud the boards much. But...

I'm doing NaNo this year again, so pleasr put me on the list!

Thanks!

 

The only thing left for me to do to get ready for Saturday is organize the brainstorming list of scenes I made, outline, and draw out a physical timeline for the plot (I'm very visual). I made an livejournal account just for this and it has all the character bios I made and an image of the family tree most of the characters are part of. Hopefully all of that will come in handy.

 

How bad would it be if you ended up not using any of this?

 

I'm so excited! I got really bored in International Politics on Tuesday and plotted out a lot of my story, so now I have plenty to work with come Saturday. Then I got bitten by an equally evil plot bunny today in that same class...

 

Thankfully I don't have any other plot bunnies running around in my head. But I do have a title now, so that's fun. Now I just need to write a couple of diary challenge updates to get me through November.

 

So - one day left (or less depending on your time zone). Does everyone have their notes/outlines/characters/plots all ready to go? Or are you like me - still just having a vague idea of what's going on with who?

 

It's nano-'een!



Thanks for the advice, nano-ites. I'll definitely hold off posting until I have something more concrete and edited.

Alethia, your ideas for the YA fantasy are wonderful! That sounds so cool. Is it possible to read people's work on the nanowrimo website? Do you actually post your stuff there? (I'm such a noob.)

 

Last year you could post an excerpt in your profile. I would think the same is true this year. (I think the limit is 10,000 words but I could be wrong. I know you can't post the whole thing).

 

Good luck, everyone. I'm probably going to do the mini-NaNoWriMo - which is writing a 100 words or more a day for the entire month of Nov. That will be hard enough for me!

 

I wish there was somewhere on the NaNo site where people could post, since those many of us writing original fiction will need somewhere else to put it. I can't wait to start wearing out my keyboard and drinking coffee by the gallon!

 

We have a TFN social thread in their forums - check it out here.

 

ACK! & YAY!!

I'm much more prepared than I was last year, but now that it starts tonight, I feel not prepared at all!! But I'm really really excited to start!!

Anyone starting at midnight? I'm probably going to but I won't write much at then or it will make no sense what so ever!
I was planning on writing most of the day tomorrow to get a jump ahead, but my dad asked me to help him with siding his house so now I have to do that most of the day tomorrow and Sunday. That really worries me!

As for posting your original work, there are several sites to do that such as Fiction Press which is a sister sight to fanfic.net, writing.com or you could just host it yourself if you wanted to at someplace like freewebs.

 

I'll start tomorrow. My day is fairly clear until evening once I go do my laundry. (I'll go early). Hopefully that will give me a jump on things. And the weather is supposed to be rainy in the afternoon so outdoor stuff will be out anyway.

 

I still need to outline, but I better hurry up. I'm planning on starting at midnight since I'm busy tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

 

I accidentally fell asleep at about 1pm, so I'll definitely be starting at midnight (just two and a half hours away now).

I don't have anything planned at all, like last year. The key is not to panic, just relax and start typing. With any luck it'll make sense and develop from there.

Also, if you're planning to publish this when it's finish I'd advise against putting it anywhere on the internet. I've heard that there can be some complications if you do.

 

Officially kick off time over here. Good luck everyone!