This will be my first year. I’m hoping the insanity of it all will crack my wicked writer’s block.
My problem is that I don’t have anything–no plot, no characters, not even a glimmer of an idea…nothing. I’m terrified. I’m worried that I’ll go in half-assed, get frustrated, and wind up less able to write than ever.
But…nothing ventured, nothing gained…right? Right?
Neither did I! First time I had a vague idea: I get annoyed by the whole magic in our world shtick—I’ve heard that in the new Scooby Doo shows the ghosts are real!—so I wanted a physcist in a magical world. Though not intended (or played out) as satire/parody, I thought the end would be a sword-in-the-stone bit where the main character pulls it out with a block-and-tackle pulley system. But once you have a first sentence, everything must follow logically, and it turned out to go really well.
One thing I did that made all the difference in the world, was when I had a great idea for a scene and I could picture perfectly how it would play out, I scrapped it and made the same plot movement with a different scene, just because I knew I couldn’t get it perfect. I wouldn’t have even made it out of the first chapter if I hadn’t hit on that idea right off the bat.
I think the very point is to go in half-assed and let the other stuff, like quality and art, fall by the wayside. You’re not looking to write something good, you’re looking to get down 50,000 words or more.
So, here’s an idea: a history dropout gets a job in a tiny, privately owned museum of unusual objects, and the museum is in a small, isolated—indeed cloistered—community; something is rotten in Denmark.
There you go: it’s a dumb idea and you don’t give a shit about it. I need 50,000 words by the end of November. 
You’re right, of course, and I keep telling myself that very thing. But…but…it’s so scary!
Say, not bad…but how about it’s a cathedral instead of a museum. And instead of objects they have, um, artifacts. Of some sort. And everyone in the community is a…a vampire!
Is that how you do it?
That’s exactly how you do it. Good job. 
I’ve done it three years, and won twice. But I think I’m going to sit it out this year. Have fun, novelists!
Hell yes it’s scary! But I know that by even trying, I’m accomplishing something, because I knew that I’d never be able to even try writing something like a novel! So, just sitting down at the computer and writing the first sentence was a victory for me.
Yeah, and I like the idea. You’re not invested in it, it’s pure fun, just start putting down words and see what happens. When you get a few thousand words into it, you’re going to ask yourself, “What the hell is this story about? Where’s it going? How’s it going to end?” That’s when, if you’re not a recovering alcoholic, you get two bottles of wine and drink them one evening while you’re typing.
You know all those utterly-idiot ideas you get when you’re drunk? Well, you might wake the next day to realize that your main character decided he’s going to seduce a vampire (sweet cliche reversal…if you’re drunk) and you’ve got two- or three-thousand words—increasingly incoherent as you get near the end—and you don’t have time to re-write all that! Make the most of it, fix the egregious errors, and press on under the fact that now you are stuck with this crazy-assed notion, everything must follow logically from it (no magic fixes), and you need to get to the goal by the end of the month.
It is so much fun. I’m totally ADD (non-hyperactive) and the only time when being inside my head isn’t like Dorothy’s ride through the tornado is when I’m really writing something for fun. (I think that’s why I often write huge posts to threads and then never return, the fun is gone out of it by then.) You can tell that I’m really excited.
You can totally do it. And if you only get to twenty- or thirty-thousand words? Cripes, that’s a lot of writing! You just made the impossible possible, and that’s totally cool.
FWIW, I do like that idea, because I can really, really picture a real-world analog. My sister’s & I went to St. David in Wales in November 2001; i.e., it was the off season. They have this huge, gorgeous cathedral, and a population of about 1,500. Everybody knows everybody. I can really imagine how that story would be compelling. Though I was thinking something screwy like Lovecraft, vampires work, too. Especially because…maybe you have to explain how they can feed off tourists without the authorities getting wise to what’s going on.
Listen to me gush. I’m not a writer; I’m just a goober. YMMV. But I think you can do it! And if you don’t finish, it’s no big deal, beause you gave it a good go and had fun.
Okay guys, you talked me into it. I’m in, chilly feet and all. Godspeed and good (bad) writing to each of us, every one!
(And thanks for the much-needed support!)
There’s also http://www.seventhsanctum.com/
Go to the Writing generator, click on one of the Story Inspiration generators, and see what you come up with.
I started a new book a week ago last Monday. Wrote 8 pages and realized I was struggling too hard with it. So I used that website and brainstormed for a while until I had another working plot idea (that actually bore little resemblance to what gave me the idea to begin with on the site). Started *that *book a week ago last Tuesday. I’ve written 48 pages of it so far. That’s the book I’ll be finishing. It’s the one that keeps sitting in my brain, so I know it’s a full book.
I’m in.
I’ll give it the ol’ college try. I’ll give it ‘what ho!’ and what for, see if I don’t!!!
Early mornings. I don’t need to sleep, I’ve got coffee and I’m not afraid to use it.
Really?! Sweet! Just get it done, and you can fix everything in editing!
I’m so friggin’ excited. I had a whole bloody new idea, and I almost scrapped my original one. I take that as a sign of cold feet, and I’m not sure what to do; however, my original has got a good world in which to exist, and some characters I already love, and some wicked mean characters I’d love to explore, so I think I’ll go with the first idea.
NaNo is so much fun.
I’m officially in. It’ll be interesting, what with sewing and trying to find a new job and trying to make Christmas presents and all, but what the heck. I’m in anyway.
Man, now I want to write a novel about an old cathedral and strange artifacts and humans seducing vampires. Damn.
It would be interesting to all treat the same basic idea & compare how they come out.
First year ever and I’m going to try this year. Wow, I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of years and have been too nervous to try. Here goes.
I attempted this last year and failed miserably. I’ll be rolling up my sleeves for a new assault this year. There seem to be quite a few people here that got their 50,000 words out. What I always want to know is what do people do with their novels once NaNoWriMo is over? Do you take a break and come back to them? Or do you spit on them and swear you will never look at them again?
I tried last year & gave up after a mere ~1,000 words. Here’s to ‘try, try again’
Never heard of this before.
May as well give it a try and ‘invite more spontaneous stupidity’ into my life.
Whoo boy, I’m in! Or I’ll try, anyways. I never accomplish anything without a firm deadline, so this is perfect for me (except in the fact that, you know, I’m not a writer…). Looking forward to it!