NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month: 50,000 words, 30 days. Can you do it?
317 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Steam-Pixie;51263269]I'm inspired to write about my experiences with mental illness... But I don't want others to think that I'm copying 'Reasons To Stay Alive' by Matt Haig :/[/QUOTE]
Don't care about what people think if you wanna write a book you write it. -snipped last bit dont even bother comparing your work to other people just write coz you enjoy it-
ok tag me up fam im writing
Also, this isn't really a big thing, but in the OP, there's another users entry on the same line as mine
Again, not really a big thing, but it did irk me a little
Alright fuck me I'll give it a go again this year
On behalf of the toxxers
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKzaZor_x7o[/media]
Whelp, just threw away my plot since i couldn't get it to work. Time to think of something else.
-snip-
As for what I'm writing, I will be giving the folder a [url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6VQikQbdZQnN2xDVXRtUkM4aVU]public share link[/url]. AKA you can see the progress of everything.
Fuck it, sign me up.
I did this one year, was very stressful and rushed, probably churned out the most embarrassing things I've ever written in my life. I finished though!
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/UJsgVYz.jpg[/IMG]
Honestly, I was planning on writing a summary of the novel, with character details and the like, but there is really no point. Everything is to be explained well enough in the novel, so a summary would serve no purpose. It's a fantasy novel with a focus on strong characterization, so if you are into that sort of thing, give it a gander once it is finished.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;51278424]I did this one year, was very stressful and rushed, probably churned out the most embarrassing things I've ever written in my life. I finished though![/QUOTE]
My first novel, Onward Still, had used the word "Fuck" more than 100 times because I needed sentence enhancers
Does it have to be fiction?
Could you say... do 50,000 word technical document / reference / book?
[QUOTE=nuttyboffin;51278777]Does it have to be fiction?
Could you say... do 50,000 word technical document / reference / book?[/QUOTE]
As long as it's 50,000 words, you can write about anything.
[QUOTE=nuttyboffin;51278777]Does it have to be fiction?
Could you say... do 50,000 word technical document / reference / book?[/QUOTE]
Script, autobiography, porno, or just 50k words that you like, just reach your goal you're good
Fuck it, i'll give it a go.
I probably top out at about 20,000 words a month in any given attempt but fuck it I want to do it
I need a fucking goal
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51278880]Script, autobiography, porno, or just 50k words that you like, just reach your goal you're good[/QUOTE]
So tempted....
Currently starting / moving through the beginning of my second year HNC project.
Maybe next year.
I wonder if 50,000 words could be written on 'the generic Light Switch'.
[QUOTE=Linkuya;51278555]
Honestly, I was planning on writing a summary of the novel, with character details and the like, but there is really no point. Everything is to be explained well enough in the novel, so a summary would serve no purpose. It's a fantasy novel with a focus on strong characterization, so if you are into that sort of thing, give it a gander once it is finished.[/QUOTE]
Well, blast it. Over dinner with another fellow the conclusion that we came to was that it is healthy to have a summary, or character details, something that can grab readers in. Truth enough, I conceded. So, here it is.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/UJsgVYz.jpg[/IMG]
The tale takes place in the Kingdoms of Melandria. In his great castle town of Lotheith, King Redain enjoys the reign of a competent and just King - but a great deception creeps through the soil of Melandria. Beasts of the lands, monsters and dark creatures grow bolder and more cunning, and the neighboring Kingdom of Alamaer grows more hostile towards Melandria, encroaching on their lands.
The following is a sampling of some of the characters in the story - none of these characters, however, are the protagonist. All are human.
Ilenir Wulfric - Tell, slender, gaunt man, with raven locks spilling over his shoulders. No older than 40, but appears older than he looks. A member of the King's secretive service of Depthweavers. As a Depthweaver, he is incredibly close to the dead, and channels the spirits of the recently deceased as power that the Depthweavers wield.
Gregor Lain - Knighted at the young age of eighteen for actions not his own, Gregor Lain wishes for nothing more than to serve King and Country any way he can, even if he unsure of himself and the true intentions of those around him.
Aurelie Trist - Farm Hand of twenty years old, Aurelie was forced out of her childhood town when in a time of crisis, the power of elves radiated from within her. The citizens of Bellega cast her out, as Elves and magical arts are vehemently despised by many men.
Siegfried of Westford - Proud Knight of the Kingdoms of Alamaer. Siegfried, sent from the King of Alamaer, traveled to Melandria in order to seek an audience with King Redain. Strong of spirit and of heart, aged at 34, Siegfried befriends most he meets.
This is all I'm going to detail. Hope it piqued some interests for those who mentioned wanted to see it.
Can't figure out where to take either of my story ideas. I've been trying for days.
Anyone have anything that might help?
[QUOTE=Monkah;51281601]Can't figure out where to take either of my story ideas. I've been trying for days.
Anyone have anything that might help?[/QUOTE]
Well, what's the problem specifically?
In terms of the ideas, can you not figure out what happens [I]next,[/I] or can you not figure out what [I]should[/I] go next?
Or is it something else? Are you having trouble getting a whole story together?
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;51281757]Well, what's the problem specifically?
In terms of the ideas, can you not figure out what happens [I]next,[/I] or can you not figure out what [I]should[/I] go next?
Or is it something else? Are you having trouble getting a whole story together?[/QUOTE]
I guess it's a mix of all three. I have a general outline of settings, characters, etcetera-- but I don't know how to make it into a comprehensible + entertaining story.
Oh fuck I've been seeing the phrase NaNoWriMo and I've been assuming it was just some shitty anime everybody's into recently. Now looking into it and finding out what it actually is I'm interested but it's only one day away from the start date. I would have to 100% write it as I go, 0 planning. My only hope is to write a nonsense plot and pitch it as a bold new form of non-linear avante garde story-telling
[QUOTE=Monkah;51281770]I guess it's a mix of all three. I have a general outline of settings, characters, etcetera-- but I don't know how to make it into a comprehensible + entertaining story.[/QUOTE]
Well, something easy might be to take all of those pieces and just see how they fit together.
I don't mean that to be patronizing. Think of it like this. You have a world, you have some people you want in that world, and you have some places you want to go. That's awesome. You've done like, 60% of the work that goes in to planning a story.
That's the part that's missing though, the story part.
So, maybe throw out whatever compelling reason you had in mind, whatever arc or narrative or whatever, and just find a place to start.
Say you have a character, John. You know everything there is to know about John, and you know that [I]you[/I] want him to be in New York City, specifically. You have a character and a setting.
From there, find a story to tell using those pieces, that will hopefully link up with your other pieces.
Figure out how the shittiest day in John's life starts off, and what happens after that. Figure out why it's someone else's fault, or why it puts John in direct conflict with someone else, like Jane. Explain why John has to travel somewhere else to fix the problem that's making this the shittiest day in his life, and how he does that.
Then, just find what you need from what you have to get you to the next thing you [I]want[/I] in the story. When you run in to a place where you need something to get you somewhere else, step back, and think of something you can invent, introduce, or bring back up from earlier (this last one is the best one, since it means your story won't bloat with random details and ideas) to get the story moving again.
Even if you're a very rigid structuralist, or if you're like me and you like to write loose and fast, this should help you create a plot for your story arc to follow. After all, every story needs a beginning, middle, and end. At the very least because reading it would be hard, otherwise.
[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;51281809]Oh fuck I've been seeing the phrase NaNoWriMo and I've been assuming it was just some shitty anime everybody's into recently. Now looking into it and finding out what it actually is I'm interested but it's only one day away from the start date. I would have to 100% write it as I go, 0 planning. My only hope is to write a nonsense plot and pitch it as a bold new form of non-linear avante garde story-telling[/QUOTE]
A lot of people haven't been doing much planning. Some only have a basic premise and are going from there.
I, personally as a writer, absolutely suck donkey balls when it comes to coming up with 'what happens next', so for the first time ever I've tried planning out my shit in advance. Not going so well.
[QUOTE]Figure out how the shittiest day in John's life starts off, and what happens after that. Figure out why it's someone else's fault, or why it puts John in direct conflict with someone else, like Jane. Explain why John has to travel somewhere else to fix the problem that's making this the shittiest day in his life, and how he does that.[/QUOTE]
Okay, so that gives me a beginning and an end. Those each maybe can be 5000 words. Where do I actually put, I'unno, the actual 'story' part? How do I make it entertaining?
[QUOTE=Monkah;51281820]
Okay, so that gives me a beginning and an end. Those each maybe can be 5000 words. Where do I actually put, I'unno, the actual 'story' part? How do I make it entertaining?[/QUOTE]
Okay, I get what you're after.
So, let's keep using the example of John.
John's day starts. He's in a bank, and someone's robbing it. Maybe it's a very famous New York Bank. [Here you have the beginning, the premise, the set up.]
Some stuff happens. [This is the story, you write this part.]
John realizes that, because stuff happened, he has ten million dollars in bearer bonds. Bearer bonds are important because anyone carrying them, [I]bearing them,[/I] can cash them with no questions asked. Therefor a lot of people want those back from him, and won't be nice about getting them. Maybe John's even a little greedy, like we all are, so he wants to cash them himself. [This is the problem. If you're particularly academic, it's [I]the conflict.[/I] This is the reason there's a story at all, as opposed to say, "then John turned over the money to the FBI." That could even be it's own element of the plot, that is, what's keeping him from doing that. Like he has cancer, Walter White style.]
Some more stuff happens. [This is more story. You also write this part.]
John is now on the run, currently hiding out in Tokyo, Japan. He realizes, after a particularly close-shave with an assassin, the only way he'll be safe is if he fakes his death. [This is, depending on how you look at it, the climax of the story, or the second act of three. It shows that the [I]denouement,[/I] the portion of the story that resolves all of the problems that have been set up so far, is about to take place.]
Some more stuff also happens. [Keep writing, you have to explain everything that's happening between these big, plot critical points.]
The end happens, whatever it is. [This is where the reader sets down the story, and hopefully feels like it fulfilled them in some way. Either it was fun, or funny, or cathartic, or thought provoking, or so on.]
You see all those parts where I said, "stuff happens?" That's the story. That's the characterization, the world building, the detail. That's [I]the story.[/I] You write those parts, and fill them with moments, ideas, words. If you're a good writer, those, "stuff happens," moments connect each of those bigger ideas to each other. If you're not great, they still do that but it feels [I]off,[/I] perhaps disjointed, or rushed, or a plot hole opens up. That's fine, that's not what NaNo is about. NaNo is just about getting all of that stuff, between [B]John was at the Bank on Monday,[/B] and [B]somehow things turned out okay for John,[/B] getting all of that on the page.
At this point, what I'd really recommend is that you pick up a book you've read, any book so long as you know what's in it, preferably one you [I]like,[/I] and you just 'take it apart.' From start to finish. Figure out how that author filled in the space between the big, simple ideas with smaller, interesting ideas, and figure out why you liked the way the author did that.
If you really know the book, the process can be pretty quick. The first Harry Potter book, for instance, pads a lot of it's 'runtime' with Harry's "fish out of water"-esque experiences of the wizarding world and what it's like. It's pretty easy to break down how Rowling managed to get a pretty simple idea (Destined boy beats evil wizard) to expand outwards in to a novel, that itself would expand outwards in to a multi-book series, that itself expanded outwards in to a literary world that people are still actively building upon.
Beyond that, I can't help you, because your question walks the dangerous line of, "how do I write well?"
You can't answer that question simply, and at the end of the day only you can answer it for yourself. It's big and complex and crazy and dumb. I can't just say, "well have some snappy dialogue and a car chase." That's not a well-written, entertaining story. That's snappy dialogue and a car chase. That's the reason why I believe the best way is to go to an author you like, an author you believe writes well already or wrote well in the past, and study their style so you can get a feel for what they did that made you feel that way, so maybe you can make others feel that way too.
I think I'm going to try to write at least part of several different things, so if i can't think of an idea for one, i can move to another. So it'll make writers block harder.
[QUOTE=Monkah;51281820]A lot of people haven't been doing much planning. Some only have a basic premise and are going from there.
I, personally as a writer, absolutely suck donkey balls when it comes to coming up with 'what happens next', so for the first time ever I've tried planning out my shit in advance. Not going so well.[/QUOTE]
When in doubt, someone walks through the door waving a loaded -weapon- around. Good luck.
[editline]I WAS SENT HERE. I HAVE ARRIVED.[/editline]
Also, put me in the writer's section of the discord yo. When I crash and burn I want to lament it to all of you.
One of us, one of us.
Two more days! I'm nearly done with the outlining process. Also, I work at our university's writing center and myself and several other coworkers are going to be hosting NANOWRIMO workshops and group writing dates. I'm really excited for this upcoming month!
If I write 50k words this months, that'll put my novel to 90k words (I've already written 40k, I know it's against the rules but I really need a kick in the ass to finish it), which hopefully will be enough to finish the entire story.
Synopsis for my novel:
[quote]The search for his daughter bring Gerald to a city on a mountain, Nagorzé. That is the city that his daughter had visions about, the city that she drew about. However, the problems in the city might make his search more difficult than it already was.[/quote]
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