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NaNoWriMo is over, but the writing don't stop

UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
edited December 2013 in Social Entropy++
National Novel Writing Month!

That magical month in which we try to distract our internal editor/critic long enough to spew 50,000 words of dubious quality into our word processor of choice, and then never showing those words to anyone ever. Well, that's how I understand it anyway. You might have different ideas. I've done this 4 times now, and failed miserably every time, but I love the idea of it so much I keep coming back, because this year will be different.

Someone posted this in the confessions thread and it blew my mind a little bit. I am going to read it every morning from now until November 30th, or until I see it when I close my eyes, whichever comes first.
“What nobody tells people who are beginners - and I really wish someone had told this to me... is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

- Ira Glass

Now, in the time honoured literary tradition known as "plagiarism", here are some resources to help plan for November, courtesy of one @Quoth over in The Writer's Block (which is a totally cool place filled with people who seem intimidatingly talented but are actually quite friendly)
Quoth wrote:
Links:

WdC prep: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1951946-October-Nano-Prep-2013-Calendar
NaNo Blog: http://blog.nanowrimo.org/
NaNo Forums: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums
NaNo Forums - Writing 101: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101
The Snowflake Method: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php
Worldbuilding Questions: http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/
The Art of Dramatic Writing - Premise: http://www.writerswrite.com/fiction/egri.htm
Jim Butcher - Story Skeletons: http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/1308.html
Harlequin writing guidelines: http://www.harlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=538&chapter=0
The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot: http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html
How to write a novel in three days: http://www.wetasphalt.com/content/how-write-book-three-days-lessons-michael-moorcock
Fun plot generator: http://fictiongen.inky.me/
Seven steps to the perfect story: http://www.the-cma.com/news/seven-steps-to-the-perfect-story

Stuff from Chuck Wendig's blog, which is generally not suitable for work due to saucy language:

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/09/25/25-things-you-should-do-before-starting-your-next-novel/
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/01/17/25-things-writers-should-start-doing/
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/05/14/25-things-you-should-know-about-outlining/
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/09/14/25-ways-to-plot-plan-and-prep-your-story/
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/11/27/how-chuck-wendig-writes-a-novel/


So what's up, SE++? Who's doing this? Do you know what you're doing yet? Do you have any tricks for getting your own internal critic out of the way and just writing?

We've got 17 days until we need to shut up and write, for now let's chat.

UnbrokenEva on
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Posts

  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    I have nothing planned again this year. Last year I think I hit 500 words... I'm such a Slacker.

  • EtchwartsEtchwarts Eyes Up Registered User regular
    I've tried to do it the last couple of years, but I've never gotten very far.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    2009-09-22-554fiction.gif

  • Bluedude152Bluedude152 Registered User regular
    I might try to write a story based on a failed tabletop game I tried to run over in the Gloss thread

    I doubt I will make it to even 1000 words but it should be fun

    p0a2ody6sqnt.jpg
  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    I should really do this

    I should really do this

    but it is so hard to not be apathetic about writing

    CYpGAPn.png
  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    My wife has talked me into trying this this year, mostly because last year she had no peers to share her travails with while she tried it. So we're both going to attempt this together.

    I'm incredibly stubborn and driven to finish things I've started or attempted, so I'm slightly terrified of this, especially given I've not ever really tried my hand at creative writing in this manner.

    Pretty much all of my writing experience is worldbuilding and adventure design for roleplaying games, and that LP linked above, both of which I think of as being very different kinds of writing. I really have no idea if I'm any good at this.

    Although that Ira Glass thing @Fearghaill post makes me think that yeah, I'm a perfectionist with high standards i won't be able to meet, but that's the point.

    X-Com LP Thread I, II, III, IV, V
    That's unbelievably cool. Your new name is cool guy. Let's have sex.
  • Crimson KingCrimson King Registered User regular
    you forgot the elements of style

    every link in the OP should sneakily lead back to the amazon page for the elements of style

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    I decided I wasn't going to do this this year. Because I've tried and failed three times and I know I'll just fail again and I'm sick of failing at everything.

    But then a friend text me today to ask if I was doing it, and then I saw Fishman's post in the confessions thread, and then I saw this thread, and now I'm thinking eeeeehhhhh maybe I'll give it one more go.

    No ideas yet though. Thinking of retrying one of my past ideas but that might just make me get bored quicker.

    Btw Fearghaill the thread title gave me a good laugh.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    you forgot the elements of style

    every link in the OP should sneakily lead back to the amazon page for the elements of style

    nah, that's for December. If you're worrying about perfect grammar, you're probably doing NaNo wrong.

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited October 2013
    I'll say this right now so maybe people won't do it.

    A novel written in a month is going to be bad.

    Unless you are some kind of literary savant that has been blessed by the witty ghost of Shakespeare and no less than five of the nine muses, whatever you write for NaNoWrimo is probably going to be shitty. The purpose of NaNoWrimo is not to produce quality work, but to produce any work. It is to force you to actually write, because something you can't write well until you write in the first place. It puts you under the gun and gives you a hard deadline so you are writing practically every single day in November. If all goes well, you will simply get used to writing every day, and it'll become a habit after NaNoWrimo ends. That's the whole goal: to get you writing EVERY day. Because the only way to get good at something is to practice, practice, practice.

    So please, for everyone's peace of mind, do not come in here bemoaning that you would do this if only you didn't suck at writing. Everything written for this event is going suck. That's expected, and you can opt not to do it if writing isn't really something that thrills you. However, if you aspire to do writing, then this may be something you should get in on. It's another exercise to help you improve and, while absolutely not necessary, if you want to make writing Your Thing and you're not writing a whole lot, then this is a good way to get on that wily horse.

    Sterica on
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  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    I'm fucking doing it this year

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    I'll say this right now so maybe people won't do it.

    A novel written in a month is going to be bad.

    Unless you are some kind of literary savant that has been blessed by the witty ghost of Shakespeare and no less than five of the nine muses, whatever you write for NaNoWrimo is probably going to be shitty. The purpose of NaNoWrimo is not to produce quality work, but to produce any work. It is to force you to actually write, because something you can't write well until you write in the first place. It puts you under the gun and gives you a hard deadline so you are writing practically every single day in November. If all goes well, you will simply get used to writing every day, and it'll become a habit after NaNoWrimo ends. That's the whole goal: to get you writing EVERY day. Because the only way to get good at something is to practice, practice, practice.

    So please, for everyone's peace of mind, do not come in here bemoaning that you would do this if only you didn't suck at writing.

    Can I do it, but come in here on a daily basis and bemoan that what I'm writing is shit?

    Brovid Hasselsmof on
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    No, you will come in here and laugh at the masterful mess you have created.

    It's like filming a movie in a month. You can only stop to appreciate the B-Movie you are creating.

    YL9WnCY.png
  • EtchwartsEtchwarts Eyes Up Registered User regular
    Yeah I've never written anything in NaNoWriMo that I thought was that great

    My last one had some nuggets of promise, though

    Like the sudden twist that Bigfeets were actually a race of inter-dimensional beings who were the guardians of humanity against supernatural threats

  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Yeah I've never written anything in NaNoWriMo that I thought was that great

    My last one had some nuggets of promise, though

    Like the sudden twist that Bigfeets were actually a race of inter-dimensional beings who were the guardians of humanity against supernatural threats

    What do you mean "twist"

  • EtchwartsEtchwarts Eyes Up Registered User regular
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    Yeah I've never written anything in NaNoWriMo that I thought was that great

    My last one had some nuggets of promise, though

    Like the sudden twist that Bigfeets were actually a race of inter-dimensional beings who were the guardians of humanity against supernatural threats

    What do you mean "twist"

    Do you have something you want to tell us Grey Sasquatch

  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    Yeah, I think I might be able to write, but I don't expect to turn out an epic NYT bestseller during NaNo.

    I'm aiming for a kind of pulp rote-by-numbers that might not stand in too poor a light when put next to the glorified fanfics that are pop culture EU novelisations.

    Star Wars, Star Trek, videogame universes... oh dear.

    Or maybe I should just find some weird as-yet-unserved niche erotic lit kindle publishing thing.

    X-Com LP Thread I, II, III, IV, V
    That's unbelievably cool. Your new name is cool guy. Let's have sex.
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    I have one idea I really like but it's a proper story that requires research and planning and shit, and I've found I'm too attached to it to let myself write fast and loose as NaNo requires.

    So instead I think I'm going to write about a surprisingly civilized post-apocalyptic Canada, with magic and superpowers.

  • Crimson KingCrimson King Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    you forgot the elements of style

    every link in the OP should sneakily lead back to the amazon page for the elements of style

    nah, that's for December. If you're worrying about perfect grammar, you're probably doing NaNo wrong.

    bullshit

    grammar and composition are the foundation of all good writing and the first thing you should work on perfecting

    and it is far easier to write a lot in a short timeframe if you understand the principles that guide your work and don't have to be constantly guessing at shit like word choice and sentence structure

    learning this stuff off by heart is not that difficult and makes the writing process infinitely more fluid

  • EtchwartsEtchwarts Eyes Up Registered User regular
    For a while I've been trying to get my "Sherlock Holmes Solves Murders Committed By Harry Potter Wizards" fanfiction thing off the ground

    But I actually want to try to do that for real, so it's not suitable for NaNoWriMo

  • NeoTomaNeoToma Registered User regular
    edited October 2013
    Your title is: “The Neurodroids”

    In a leather-clad Atlantis, a young farm boy with dreams stumbles across a time-traveling soldier which spurs him into conflict with forces that encourage conformity, with the help of a sarcastic female techno-geek and her closet full of assault rifles, culminating in the land restored to health.

    Man I'd watch the HELL outta that movie

    NeoToma on
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    I was joking, mostly. I have a pretty solid grasp of grammar fundamentals, but I stand by my assertion that for someone who doesn't, and wants to participate in NaNo this year, now is not the time to learn. This isn't about writing well, this is about writing at all, and getting in the habit of forcing yourself to write every day.

  • ASimPersonASimPerson Cold... and hard.Registered User regular
    One of my favorite things on the Internet is a contest where you try to purposefully write a bad first line to a legit novel. So whenever Nanowrimo rolls around, I always think of this winning entry from 2003:
    Thirty days left, forty nine thousand nine hundred eighty seven words to go.

  • OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    I'm not gonna be able to do this this year, because I'm gonna be on a cross-country road trip to wackiness

    But damn it, I'm gonna try and write some kinda words that month

    God help me, I'm gonna at least try and get partway to the word count goal, even if it's not all on a single story

    signature-deffo.jpg
    PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    Today's google doodle of Katherine Mansfield, the most famous and respected author born in my city who achieved all of her brilliant success before dying at the age I am now, is not at all intimidating or distressing.

    X-Com LP Thread I, II, III, IV, V
    That's unbelievably cool. Your new name is cool guy. Let's have sex.
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Fishman wrote: »
    Today's google doodle of Katherine Mansfield, the most famous and respected author born in my city who achieved all of her brilliant success before dying at the age I am now, is not at all intimidating or distressing.

    I guarantee she too thought the first book she wrote sucked.

  • PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    Those are some terrific resources

  • MadEddyMadEddy Creepy house watching youRegistered User regular
    I have neither job nor school right now, so I guess I have no excuse not to finish this year.

    ruby-red-sig.jpg
  • Dongs GaloreDongs Galore Registered User regular
    maybe I'll try this

    people have said I write p good

    I think I'll try to give my proudest forum contribution the 50,000-word treatment it undeniably deserves

  • YaYaYaYa Decent. Registered User regular
    I did this for the first time last year and succeeded!

    well, I mean, I hit 50k, and didn't touch the novel again even though I was only like halfway through the story

    but I did the 50k dammit

    I'm gonna actually do a script this year, so I might drop in and give you a script progress report, but good luck to everyone going for their 50k, it really is all about shutting up and sitting down

  • OghulkOghulk Tinychat Janitor TinychatRegistered User regular
    If I wasn't already working on a novel and preparing my short story for the Keene Prize submission in January, I'd do this. Discounting all my schoolwork of course.

    I mean, I wrote an 87k manuscript last June/July in I think about 5 weeks? And a 55k novel in 14 days last spring.

    If I didn't already write 3000 words a day this'd be a good exercise (because really, the hardest part is to sit down and just fucking write).

    For those of you who want to do this, here's what I recommend:

    "Fuck it, fix it in post": you're shit will be terrible. It will be worse than shit. Here's shit:

    <>

    and here's you
















    down here.

    It will be terrible, but that's what editing is for. Hell, I'm working through a second draft of my manuscript and it's still not a completely readable copy. I'm hoping the third will be, but even so. It's what the editing process is for.

    "Start slow": work a goal into your routine. One sentence. One paragraph. One page. 500 words. 1k words. 2k words. 3k words. Etc. At my highest points for the first draft I wrote 6k a day, but those were the absolute highest points. Start small, start slow. Let the story come to you, let it build up in your mind until you spend the majority of your day thinking about it, planning it. Let it work its way into your mind until the only thing you think about as you fall asleep in bed is what comes next.

    I find listening to music helps with the creative process. Imagination and what not. Also looking out the window, staring and taking in what goes on outside and writing out the words in my head that describes what happens. The trees swaying, the leaves falling, the rain dripping over the escarpment of the apartment across the street, etc., etc.

    Hopefully this helps.

  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    I'm doing this this year and so is @The Betman

    and I will tox myself and allow any moderator to change my name to WHATEVER THEY WANT if I don't hit 50K

  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    @Blankzilla is doing this too

    FUCK THIS, NO WAFFLING ALLOWED, THIS IS THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRODUCTIVITY, MOTHERFUCKERS

  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    OH GOD

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  • CheeselikerCheeseliker Registered User regular
    I'm doing this

  • NeoTomaNeoToma Registered User regular
    Hmmmmmm. I think I might do this.

  • Professor FuzzlesProfessor Fuzzles Not a furry, just sayin' FuzztopiaRegistered User regular
    I hit just over 200 words last year, I think I will get that out an start again, turn it from homoerotic horror into something else, possibly still homoerotic or horror, I not sure I can run with two ideas at the same time.

  • DJ EebsDJ Eebs Moderator, Administrator admin
    I've started and failed this thing like, eight or nine years running at this point, might as well keep pushing that boulder up the hill

  • DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    Maybe I will give this a try. I don't know. I feel like I write without any uniqueness to my prose. My prose feels more boring than bad newspapers. I actually wrote a few chapters of a thing back in the summer, but I guess I would technically have to abandon that stuff and start completely fresh to enter the actual NaNoWriMo thing.

    I haven't finished the game, but GTA5 has me sort of wanting to write about old friends who aren't friends any more. Maybe old band mates.

  • DJ EebsDJ Eebs Moderator, Administrator admin
    there really aren't any rules to the nano thing other than "write 50,000 words" because the only real prize is having done it

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