NaNoWriMo 2015

[I liek Squirtles]

It's definitely almost November. Are you planning on participating this year? Any ideas, or are you planning on making it up as you go?

[Superbird]

I will finish my story this time. I swear.

[Totodile]

I swear I am actually going to do it this year :/

I have some semblance of an idea, with a post-post-apocalyptic fantasy world where the standard teen girl rebel is actually the antagonist. It will be vomit, but I need to get some significant amount of writing done in my life so who cares~

[Sandstone-Shadow]

...I literally just logged on to make this thread! :)

I'm going to try. It's my last year of college, which is maybe kinda important, but I don't want to get into the habit of saying, "I'm too busy this year, maybe next year." I'm sure I'll always feel busy!

That being said, I'm going to shoot for a modified goal, because I do want to graduate, but I really want to make some progress on my story! I've been working on this story for years, and what I really need is to just write and make things happen.


For new people: http://nanowrimo.org

[Equinoxe]

I'm studying writing now, so there isn't really any way I'd miss it this year. I already have character profiles, a synopsis and some other stuff ready so I won't be just stumbling ass-backwards onto the keyboard with no sense of direction this time (at least, hopefully) :D

My biggest fear this time is, well, Fallout 4. "Luckily" my laptop won't be able to run it so I can only play during the weekend :Y

[Negrek]

Always! This year I'm hoping to finish a rough draft of my fanfic. I don't know how long that's going to be, exactly, but I'm guessing about 75k words.

Originally Posted by Totodile

I have some semblance of an idea, with a post-post-apocalyptic fantasy world where the standard teen girl rebel is actually the antagonist.

Sounds like fun! When you say post-post-apocalyptic, do you mean something dystopic? That's usually the setting used for that kind of YA novel, but I'm just curious because I wouldn't call a lot of them post-post-apocalyptic.

[Totodile]

Originally Posted by Negrek

Sounds like fun! When you say post-post-apocalyptic, do you mean something dystopic? That's usually the setting used for that kind of YA novel, but I'm just curious because I wouldn't call a lot of them post-post-apocalyptic.

I was thinking along the lines of "post-apocalyptic" referring to proto-societies being built among the ashes of advanced civilizations that have collapsed, with "post-post-apocalyptic" being a little further along than that (so that survival is easier by now, culture is redeveloping, and the different settlements are getting back in contact with each other, but the wilds are still dangerous and not everyone is sold on cooperating with other people). I'm kind of leery of calling it dystopian since nowadays that's associated with the old plot of "bad things are happening to teenagers because the government is eeeevil." The government here isn't evil, but it is flawed - the magical norms of the culture make it difficult for outliers to fit in. The antagonist does have legitimate gripes with these, but she's blowing them far enough out of proportion that she doesn't care about the collateral damage her crusade might cause. So I guess what I'm interested in is seeing a dystopia story where the violent overthrow of a government in a world trying to get back on its feet would be a bad thing.

/me putting too much thought into this

[opaltiger]

Originally Posted by Totodile

I was thinking along the lines of "post-apocalyptic" referring to proto-societies being built among the ashes of advanced civilizations that have collapsed, with "post-post-apocalyptic" being a little further along than that (so that survival is easier by now, culture is redeveloping, and the different settlements are getting back in contact with each other, but the wilds are still dangerous and not everyone is sold on cooperating with other people). I'm kind of leery of calling it dystopian since nowadays that's associated with the old plot of "bad things are happening to teenagers because the government is eeeevil." The government here isn't evil, but it is flawed - the magical norms of the culture make it difficult for outliers to fit in. The antagonist does have legitimate gripes with these, but she's blowing them far enough out of proportion that she doesn't care about the collateral damage her crusade might cause. So I guess what I'm interested in is seeing a dystopia story where the violent overthrow of a government in a world trying to get back on its feet would be a bad thing.

/me putting too much thought into this

As a big fan of dystopian fiction can I just say this sounds like a really fun subversion. :D

[Negrek]

Originally Posted by Totodile

I was thinking along the lines of "post-apocalyptic" referring to proto-societies being built among the ashes of advanced civilizations that have collapsed, with "post-post-apocalyptic" being a little further along than that (so that survival is easier by now, culture is redeveloping, and the different settlements are getting back in contact with each other, but the wilds are still dangerous and not everyone is sold on cooperating with other people). I'm kind of leery of calling it dystopian since nowadays that's associated with the old plot of "bad things are happening to teenagers because the government is eeeevil." The government here isn't evil, but it is flawed - the magical norms of the culture make it difficult for outliers to fit in. The antagonist does have legitimate gripes with these, but she's blowing them far enough out of proportion that she doesn't care about the collateral damage her crusade might cause. So I guess what I'm interested in is seeing a dystopia story where the violent overthrow of a government in a world trying to get back on its feet would be a bad thing.

/me putting too much thought into this

Nice! I think it would definitely be interesting to look at the consequences one of your classic teenage rebellions would actually have on society... usually it's treated as though the government is Bad, therefore rebellion = necessarily the best plan. (Are you familiar with the Dystopian YA Novel twitter?)

Originally Posted by opaltiger

As a big fan of dystopian fiction can I just say this sounds like a really fun subversion. :D

And do you happen to have any writing projects to admit to, mister?

[hopeandjoy]

What is writing????? We just don' t know.

(translation: I should but hahahahahahahaha i never do why do i even call myself a writer.)

[Byrus]

I'm hoping to have the next stage of my surgery in mid-November, so I'm not planning on trying for the full-thing this year. I'm just gonna concentrate on my own personal goals instead.

I think my main problem is that I have too many story ideas and keep switching between them. So I'm basically trying to force myself to focus better and concentrate on the one thing. I'm aiming to finish a couple of short stories centred around the same universe, then maybe aim to complete a novella.

I do have a lot of detailed bios on various alien species at least! Now the trick is to write an actual story with them without nerding out and info-dumping all over the place. :P

[Sandstone-Shadow]

Originally Posted by Byrus

I think my main problem is that I have too many story ideas and keep switching between them. So I'm basically trying to force myself to focus better and concentrate on the one thing. I'm aiming to finish a couple of short stories centred around the same universe, then maybe aim to complete a novella.

I used to do this! Except it wasn't so much "switching around" as it was "getting a new idea and never coming back to the old one."

I've actually gone so far the other direction and have been working on only one story for so long that I forget I have other ideas haha.

Originally Posted by Negrek

(Are you familiar with the Dystopian YA Novel twitter?)

This is wonderful.


One of my problems with my story is that, while I have general outlines and plans for what happens with the big picture, I don't have much for the small, everyday details of my main character's story. I know that she lives in a flock of birds (she is a bird) that hates magic, for instance, but I don't know what they do on a daily basis other than hate magic, and I don't know what my main character does on a daily basis other than like magic.

They say write what you know, right? I'm going to try to turn my everyday life events into hers. Say I trip and break my leg? Maybe she trips and breaks a wing. I'm sure I'll get a lot of boring story events that way (my life isn't very exciting), but at least I'll be able to start writing about their daily life and culture. I think it will be a lot easier for me to come up with a different culture by varying it from mine, rather than just trying to come up with a unique culture out of the blue.

Thoughts? Do you do anything similar, or different?

[Eta Carinae]

I think I'll try again this year. In 2014 I didn't even write a single word, which made me a bit upset in retrospect, so I'm certainly motivated. Also, I seem to succeed every three years, and my last victory was in 2012, so I'm in prime position to finish this time around!

That being said, I'm still getting acclimatized to university life and I'm not sure if I can handle more on my plate, so there's a good chance I'll drop out early. Additionally, I don't have any ideas I'm super interested in turning into full-length novels right now. I could probably come up with a starting point, but in 2012 I had no synopsis and ended up writing a story that I disliked by about the halfway point. So we'll see!

[qva]

I'm in this year. I'm going somewhere similar to Sandstone-Shadow, in which i write a dystopian-post-apocalypse novel that doesn't suck. Hopefully. Here's what i put on my NaNo page:

Let's see if we can write a dystopian post-apocalyptic novel that doesn't sound like an amalgam of painfully bad young-adult tropes (and maybe turn it into a manga if i like how it turns out).

The protagonist, Bertl, lives in a distant future's northwestern Europe, in an underground complex called "Altarrum" where all youths are tested at age sixteen on general knowledge. Those who fail the test mysteriously disappear, ostensibly to a place far away where they are better needed. Those who pass are sorted into various intellectually-based jobs depending on their test performance.

Bertl is at the top of his class, an intellectual giant unrivalled in Altarrum's history. As Valedictorian, he has full claim to any job he wants, and is heir apparent to Altarrum itself. However, his care-free, laissez-faire view on life changes when he becomes tutor to a young boy named Casimir...

[Sandstone-Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nira

I'm in this year. I'm going somewhere similar to Sandstone-Shadow, in which i write a dystopian-post-apocalypse novel that doesn't suck.

Oh, it's Totodile writing the post-apocalyptic one, not me. :) My story is about fantasy birds and their magic. My main character always creates magical flames when she sings - the songs are the spell-words, basically. But this is highly illegal and birds have been taken away for it, including her parents. She can't sing without making fire, but the corra bird culture revolves pretty heavily around song, so somehow she has to hide it.

Also, as the semester rolls along, I'm starting to doubt whether or not I should commit to NaNo... I really really want to write this November. But I don't know if I should - my classes and such feel like they need to take my full attention. Someone should talk me out of quitting - there's got to be a balance, right?

[qva]

Originally Posted by Sandstone-Shadow

Oh, it's Totodile writing the post-apocalyptic one, not me. :)

Ah, my bad!

Originally Posted by Sandstone-Shadow

My story is about fantasy birds and their magic. My main character always creates magical flames when she sings - the songs are the spell-words, basically. But this is highly illegal and birds have been taken away for it, including her parents. She can't sing without making fire, but the corra bird culture revolves pretty heavily around song, so somehow she has to hide it.

Whoa, this is actually really similar to something i was considering doing for NaNo a few months ago? I mean, all right, the only real similarity is fantasy birds with magical properties, but still! It's always cool to see an abstract magic concept like that, so i hope you'll consider revising it after you win this year and releasing it to the public! :o

Originally Posted by Sandstone-Shadow

Also, as the semester rolls along, I'm starting to doubt whether or not I should commit to NaNo... I really really want to write this November. But I don't know if I should - my classes and such feel like they need to take my full attention. Someone should talk me out of quitting - there's got to be a balance, right?

Do it! If you think writing all 50,000 words is too much, then shoot for a lower score, but you should definitely do something this year. If it feels like too much, take a break, but don't give up beforehand!

[Sandstone-Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nira

Whoa, this is actually really similar to something i was considering doing for NaNo a few months ago? I mean, all right, the only real similarity is fantasy birds with magical properties, but still! It's always cool to see an abstract magic concept like that, so i hope you'll consider revising it after you win this year and releasing it to the public! :o

Haha, that's funny! Fantasy birds with magical properties are pretty awesome :D I definitely want to publish this someday! I've been working on this story for years and I really do hope people like it someday when it's done!

(Also, "after you win" is SO super motivating. I need to think like that more often. Not "if" I win, "when" I win. :D)

Originally Posted by Nira

Do it! If you think writing all 50,000 words is too much, then shoot for a lower score, but you should definitely do something this year. If it feels like too much, take a break, but don't give up beforehand!

Thanks for the encouragement! Oh man. I feel like this is going to be a big (but not bad) personal challenge for me. Time management is not always my forte. But you're right. I can't give up before I even started. I'm going to do this!


Edit: Also, here's my profile if anyone's curious or wants to hold me accountable to writing.

[Negrek]

Hey everyone! I hope you're off to a good start on your NaNos. I... am not! Because I've been working like crazy at making up some pokemon-themed NaNo word widgets. Basically, in addition to counting words, they have a little pokemon on them that levels up and evolves the closer you get to 50k. For example, this is mine:



I was wondering if you would do me a favor and help me beta test them by making one for yourself (you need to have an account on the NaNo site to do that; disregard if you don't) and posting it in this thread so I can keep an eye on it and make sure it's updating properly along with your word count. I just want to make sure nothing's hideously broken about them before I actually officially announce them (to the like 10 people who would notice, but hey). You can click on the image above or use this link to do that.

Edit: Having caching issues that are preventing these from updating properly. Will fix it when I get home tomorrow; actually making them should work fine.

[Sandstone-Shadow]

These are fantastic! :D I would love to help test them:



Here's my NaNo one for comparison - it looks like it's working right now but I'll try updating (after I've written something, because I guess that's how it works)



Progress updates: I've written a few additional scenes for my novel now, and the first couple were really exciting to do because hey, I was working on my story and I knew something about it.

The excitement has faded a bit; this is what I'm usually fighting when I work on my story. Motivation comes in bursts. But, I need to get over that so I can keep up my progress.

[qva]

Oh my god, these are so cute!


Thanks a ton for making these, they're adorable. Do they update automatically, or do you have to regenerate each time your word count changes?