National Novel Writing Month 2005--Who's In?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

November is almost upon us, and with it comes National Novel Writing Month. Thirty days, fifty thousand words–it doesn’t have to be good and it doesn’t have to be finished, it just has to be fifty thousand words.

Last year, I whipped through it with almost fifteen thousand words to spare, but I was writing a story I’d been thinking about on and off for almost ten years. This year, I’m not so lucky, and I’m anticipating a great deal of pacing around my house, chain-smoking and calling my characters nasty names for not doing what I want them to do.

Who among you will join me in my sweet, sweet misery?

2

I’m so in on this. :smiley:

3

Do you have any idea what you’re writing yet? I’ve got about half an outline, but something tells me that come November 1st, I’m going to be writing about something completely different.

4

Me! It’ll be my fifth year. I’ve won every year so far, so I’m hopeful for this year.

5

I’m in this year. I was tempted to write a sequel to my historical zombie epic poem, but instead I’m going to finally write a screenplay that I’ve been kicking around for almost a decade.

We start with a montage of Greek frescos, pottery, so on, featuring centaurs in various poses. Narrator-with-deep-meaningful-voice goes on about how in the ancient past, the centaur was a force for good, for justice, for blah blah blah, but they no longer exist, etc, etc.

Then, you see, there’s this guy, twentysomething, Jack, whatever, raising his kid brother Johnny by himself because their parents are dead or whatever. Unimportant! We’re focusing on the big picture here! This guy, Jack, has a nice truck. I mean a REAL nice F350 or something. Johnny turns 15 or so and wants to learn how to drive, but Jack (I’ve got to come up with a better name - ideas?) is reluctant. Eventually he gives in, and we cut to a scene of Johnny behind the wheel, Jack coaching him on what to do.

When SUDDENLY an EVIL BLACK TRUCK comes up from behind and flashes his brights and honks, and Johnny panics! Oh no! Jack tells him to pull over, let the guy pass, don’t get involved in an argument on the road, be a safe driver, and so on, but the EVIL BLACK TRUCK starts ramming them from behind! Johnny panics some more! Their truck is pushed into an intersection and blindsided by an 18-wheeler!

Jack wakes up in the hospital covered by a sheet up to his armpits. A doctor is in the room with him as he comes to. Jack says, “Doc, doc, where’s Johnny, what happened” and the doctor tells him to relax, take it easy, you’re badly hurt, but Jack won’t accept that. Where’s Johnny, he demands! The doctor says, “I’m sorry, but Johnny is dead.”

NOOOOOOOO! Camera pans back, pathos, ethos, logos, this is an Oscar-winning moment.

The doctor says, “But wait, there’s more, you’ve been very badly hurt. We weren’t able to save your legs.” Jack doesn’t care, he’s sobbing into his hands, Johnny’s dead. The doctor continues, “…but we were able to do THIS.”

He throws back the sheet, revealing that Jack’s torso has been grafted onto his truck. He’s become a modern-day centaur… he’s become CEN-TRUCK. And he goes off and fights crime and stuff.

I see two, three movies out of this, easy.

6

And I thought last year’s Zombie Proletariat Revolution couldn’t be topped … oh, how wrong I was. :smiley:

7

I’m in this year - it’s my first year. I have the names of my main 2 characters, but that’s about it.

8

This looks really cool-I’ll think about it!

9

I’m not sure. I was planning write one this year, but I still haven’t done all the research I need for where I am in the story. I was hoping to be done by the end of the month, but that’ starting to look less and less likely.

10

Personally, with the way my life’s been going, I’ll be lucky to make National Short Story Writing Month (which, btw, is Smarch), but what the hell. I’m in.

11

I’m in. Haven’t really planned a thing, but I never do, and I’ve done it successfully twice so far.

12

I’m in! I’ve got two ideas, but I wrote about a page of the first a couple of months ago. Does that disqualify it, or can I write it over?

13

I’m in. I’ll be trying to finish what I started last year, because I really do believe in it. Although I’m not going to wait to November to try to kick it into high gear.

14

Is there any penalty besides public ridicule and self-loathing for failing to finish?

If not, then I’ll try my hand… err, keyboard.

15

I’m in.

This year, I have a plot idea. It isn’t a particularly good plot idea - but it’s an idea (as opposed to last year when I had 150 pages of characters running around not really doing anything.)

This year, they have something to do for at least the first 1000 words.

16

I’m in. This will be my third time- won one, lost one, and this year is the tie-breaker.

17

Nah, and the ridicule isn’t even that bad. :wink:

I don’t think so–last night, just to get it out of my head, I wrote one scene from my NaNo. I didn’t save it, I just needed to write a little bit of the characters so I could be sure I had a handle on them.

18

I’d love to take part, but I probably wont be able to justify it until I graduate–November it always a busy month at school, and although I’m a lazy arse who puys everything off until the last minute, I can’t justify starting something that is guarateed to either not get finished or take up too much of my time (and thus induce even more stress) during that period.

19

This is a great idea. I’m in, or at least I’ll give it a shot.

One question though, do we the Teeming Millions get to read any of the finished results (aside from our own?) Do the finished magnum opi get posted online, or become downloadable so that we may enjoy the results of our furious typing?

Cuz half the fun of banging out a novel, even a hideous, hastily-written one, is the joy of people reading it (or so I imagine!)

20

I hear you there. I have the same problem. IF NNWM were in december, it would be much easier for me, because I’m on break for most of that month.