# NaNoWriMo 2011 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312 "2011-10-30T21:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/61 "2011-11-04T04:36:23Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Ah, try this one one for size: Your McGuffin is a set of missing pages from the journal of one Father Martin Matthias, a Catholic priest who stumbled across evidence that the Church was helping to cover up a terrible crime.(including the obligatory reluctant one, who may have been the leak) try to stop them. Nice! But I think I’ll let the RCC off the hook this time. Hmm. Since we’re in the New World, how about some Indian relic? With magical power, that can be used by the possessor, for good OR evil. Always depending on how you define it of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/62 "2011-11-04T05:14:21Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There’s this really creepy drawing on AOL sometimes. Monkey are like hanging off of each other. It makes me think of spiders too since their limbs are hanging all over. Make some Spider Monkeys that are literally part spider, part monkey, for your heroine and her ex to encounter. Sounds creepy…going in the notebook. Thanks! > [@Balance](#): > > Ooh, Appalachia is great for folklore and quirky characters. Manly Wade Wellman devoted a significant chunk of his career to the setting. And serpent cults are [something of a specialty of mine](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440833). Let’s see what’s rattling around in the Ball… > > The snake-handlers aren’t your garden-variety loons. They’re the degenerate remnants of a secretive Ophite sect that fled to the mountains long ago. Their belief in the Serpent as the bringer of the gift of knowledge has fallen into idolatrous veneration of snakes, but they still hold a clue to the location of the Apple: the primal source of knowledge. > > The clue’s meaning is obscured by the passage of time, of course, and your protagonists must seek out a wise woman who remembers the old landmarks. Her nemesis, a hoodoo man, learns of their visit and their quest, and sets out to claim the Apple for himself. He sends strange creatures after them and lays traps. > > Meanwhile, they become aware that they are being followed–even stalked–by _something_. Rustling in the bushes, marks left in their camp by night, and so forth. (Their stalker is a [Behinder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidebehind), a creature that can never be seen, because it’s always behind you.) > > The climactic confrontation occurs in a cavern under a serpent-themed mountain. The hoodoo sends his demons after them as they struggle to reach and open the chest containing their prize. The solution proves to be the markings left by the Behinder; they provide a guide through the traps and the key to the chest. > > When she seizes the Apple, your heroine suddenly knows the names of the demons, and the charms to take away the hoodoo’s power. (Whether this is in time to save her adventurer boyfriend or not is up to you.) Once the hoodoo is defeated, a ghostly serpent (an [ophidian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophidian)) uncoils from within the Apple and strikes her, taking back her borrowed knowledge. > > She still knows where the Behinder is, though–behind her, of course. He’s the last of the original Ophites. Contact with the Apple gave him the secrets to a long life, and his uncanny knowledge of precisely where people will look, but it also bestowed the bitter knowledge that he could not use its full power without being corrupted. With his people fallen to twisted mockeries of their former selves, he had decided to entrust the Apple to someone worthy to use it for good. > > Is she that someone? Only she knows. Beautiful! You ought to market this service to other struggling writers. Thank you. 🙂 > [@tanstaafl](#): > > Try here - [Seventh Sanctum](http://www.seventhsanctum.com/). Aha - awesome, will check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/63 "2011-11-04T05:45:48Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Nice! But I think I’ll let the RCC off the hook this time. Hmm. Since we’re in the New World, how about some Indian relic? With magical power, that can be used by the possessor, for good OR evil. Always depending on how you define it of course. 😃 Ah, wasn’t sure if you wanted to go for a supernatural angle or not, and I’d already trotted out a magic McGuffin in the previous post. Hm. The Finger of Halugra? No, that’s been done. Little-Eagle-Who-Gets-What-He-Wants’ shield? Not really suited to a thriller. Ah…the Ghost Dance, perhaps. With a twist, of course. A small faction of Native American activists–mostly young and hotheaded–are alarmed at the strident strain of racism rearing its head in the news. It hasn’t been directed at them, in particular, but they expect to be caught up in it. Indeed, one of them claims to have had a vision of great danger to their people, claiming that Wovoka’s visions had been true, but that he had been shown a time much farther ahead than he knew, and that time has come. He tells them they must recover the Ghost Drum, an artifact that was present at Wounded Knee, but was never played. It will call an army of spirits, truly bulletproof this time, to begin the war that will end the world. The young man with the “vision” is (or is controlled by) an evil spirit trying to stir up trouble, but the Drum will do some of what he claims, wrenching the dead from their rest and forcing them into battle. One of his would-be recruits, however, sees through him; he believes, but is horrified at the idea of treating ancestors like cannon fodder in a needless war. He–and any allies he can convince–set out to stop the evil spirit from getting his hands on the Drum. In the final confrontation, the spirit of Wovoka (who actually preached peaceful coexistence) blesses the hero and his efforts to prevent a war, and helps him banish the evil spirit. I don’t know. This is kind of touchy material to work with. A further complication is that most of the opposition aren’t actually bad guys; in fact, at least some of them will be the hero’s friends and relatives. That’s what came out this time, though. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/64 "2011-11-04T05:53:11Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Beautiful! You ought to market this service to other struggling writers. Thank you. 🙂 Tcha. This is the easy part. Actually doing the writing, _that_ is hard work. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/65 "2011-11-04T16:09:47Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Any of those tempt your fancy? Man, you are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/66 "2011-11-05T05:39:16Z")
So, word counts? How are people doing? Going to any write-ins this weekend? I’m at 6969 by the Nano count and 6984 by OpenOffice. I have ten pages done for issue one (I’m doing comic scripts), with the ending written, and seven pages for issue two. I’m looking forward to finishing issue one so I can write about ferrets robbing banks. _Yes._ Planning on going to a write-in Saturday afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/67 "2011-11-05T05:56:21Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > So, word counts? Heh. About 1200 words in this thread, not counting badinage. Fortunately, I’m only participating vicariously. 😃 > [@](#): > > I’m looking forward to finishing issue one so I can write about ferrets robbing banks. _Yes._ And they come with built-in masks! ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/68 "2011-11-05T06:24:53Z")
Well done to everyone in the thread who’s on track! I added a few buddies from your names here tonight and noticed that several were at 8K already. You’re ahead of the game, and that’s awesome! I didn’t write at all yesterday (the 3rd, that is) so I had to cram in some extra writing tonight in order to stay on target. I’m at 7257 according to the NaNo wordcount thingy, and a marginally more impressive 7302 according to Word. But of course the one that counts is NaNo. I do like their stats that tell you when your projected end-date will be. Right now mine is November 27… I should be so lucky! (Speaking of Nano technology, what is with the lack of progress bars/widgets? They need to get on the ball already, yeesh! I ended up using [this one from my community](http://www.epiguide.com/forums/view.php?pg=wesewrimoprogressbar) and adjusting the language (from WeSeWriMo to NaNoWriMo) as necessary. Already managed to get in a gory/creepy prologue and a brief sex scene, and we’re still only in chapter one. Still, I’m over 14% through and I haven’t gotten my characters back to the century to which they need to be traveling, so there’s gonna be some serious trimming necessary once this is over! (I find writing marathons encourage being lax about writing economically… especially since you want so badly to reach 50K that you end up padding sentences with repetitious language.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/69 "2011-11-05T07:11:05Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’m elfkin477 there too. Year 6 for me. > > A bit over 4000 words in, I’m already at the “I don’t know about this idea…” stage. This is early for me, it generally takes about a week before doubts set in and/or I change POV. I think I need to sit down and read over my local mythology notes (I did a ton of research for a story that went no where a couple of years ago, and I think it could be useful with creating the supernatural students rather than the fantasy characters they were once going to be) and start creating more secondary characters, or I’m going to get stuck real soon with only the protagonist, a fellow orphan, and a nun as characters in the intro. Well, now that I have another character in action (our protagonist has now met one of the the kitsunes) and three more picked out, I’m happier with the idea to the tune of 9200 words. I still have no idea what the major plot will be. I mean, it’s important that the protagonist learn that she’s just there as an example for the other kids, but they have to **do** stuff, you know? Maybe I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Or today. Dammit, why am I awake at 3 a.m. again? > [@choie](#): > > Already managed to get in a gory/creepy prologue and a brief sex scene, and we’re still only in chapter one. How about a creepy sex scene next? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![liberty3701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@liberty3701](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liberty3701)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/70 "2011-11-05T14:46:19Z")
I’m at 8,832. I probably won’t get to write much today because I’m going to a delayed trick or treating with my niece and nephew (their town got hit pretty hard by the Nor’easter last Saturday, hence the delay). So, anyway, I made sure to get ahead for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/71 "2011-11-05T16:25:33Z")
I’m well behind schedule at 4621, but I got nothing done yesterday because of other distractions. Working on catching up this morning. (Assuming I can quit browsing the Internet long enough to work… :() Problem is I’m in the “main characters are meeting for the first time” scene so there’s a lot of introduction and character description going on. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/72 "2011-11-05T22:06:11Z")
I’m well behind as well at 5500. However… I got sucked in by the Breeder’s Cup race today and I still have to walk to the store. Plus, I have to name the dog in my story. The name of the dog has held me back since yesterday morning :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/73 "2011-11-05T22:24:14Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > I’m well behind as well at 5500. However… I got sucked in by the Breeder’s Cup race today and I still have to walk to the store. Plus, I have to name the dog in my story. The name of the dog has held me back since yesterday morning :smack: The dog’s name is Ebenezer (assuming you don’t have any other characters named Ebenezer in the story, in which case, it’s Zebadiah). This has the advantage of being easy to use find and replace on when you eventually pick another name. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/74 "2011-11-05T22:28:39Z")
Guilt ridden, I keep saying I will start ‘today’. As of this ‘today’ I’m 10k behind. Still can’t add writing buddies, I just keep getting a ‘page not found’ error - and this is going from the link on their home page, so it’s not a spelling issue. At the moment, I’ve got two short story ‘hearts’ (the scene/line that will blossom into the whole) and they’ll be lucky to hit 8k for the pair… ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/75 "2011-11-05T22:30:28Z")
I’m at 11,144, and moving right along. I’m having fun writing, though I don’t think I’m getting things off the ground fast enough. I’m shooting for 100,000 words, not 50 (not all this month, though!) so I guess it’s okay that things seem to be moving a little slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/76 "2011-11-06T00:08:51Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > And they come with built-in masks! The issue is actually called ‘Bandit Masks’ because, y’know, _I have to_. And the cover is the White Knight getting attacked by ferrets, which probably isn’t going to happen in a literal fashion, but again _I have to_. I’m not sure how much I’ve written today since I haven’t typed it up (I can’t come up with long stretches of fiction on the computer). Most of it is for the porn story that wasn’t supposed to have much plot, but developed one anyway. Managed to squeeze another page into the preview issue of the White Knight, and added three more short, but important, pages to issue 1. And did laundry, and cleaned the bathrooms, and bought groceries. Yay me and yay everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/77 "2011-11-07T02:20:35Z")
When I woke up today I had about 3,500 words; I just put down the pen (figuratively speaking) and am relieved to say that I am now back on track with 10,133 words, according to the NaNoWriMo count. It was a bit much to do in one day, and if I’ve learned anything it’s that you just can’t let yourself get behind in this thing. You really have to write every, single day…which I guess is part of the point of it, right? Novel’s going pretty well. The characters are defining themselves, and if I’m still not sure _exactly_ how the plot is going to play out (even with some of the tremendous help I’ve received courtesy of this thread!) at least it’s kind of moving along. This is at once an encouraging and a humbling experience. Encouraging because hey, _I’m writing a book_! Humbling because it really makes you appreciate anew just how good professional writers are at their craft. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/78 "2011-11-07T03:36:55Z")
Managed 4,625 today, so I’m almost back on track at 9,750. That said, I’m amused at the wide discrepancy in how various programs track word count. NaNoWriMo’s official counter says 9,750. Google Docs (where I’m storing the thing) says 9,925. The editor I’m using says 9,957. Why such a discrepancy? How hard is it to count words? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/79 "2011-11-07T04:06:46Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > The issue is actually called ‘Bandit Masks’ because, y’know, _I have to_. And the cover is the White Knight getting attacked by ferrets, which probably isn’t going to happen in a literal fashion, but again _I have to_. Hey, it works for Squirrel Girl. Don’t underestimate the power of [a villain who can control small, furry animals](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9794522&postcount=6). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312/80 "2011-11-07T05:31:18Z")
I’m about 500 words behind. Wrote a ton Saturday, didn’t write anything today but got it typed up, probably won’t write much tomorrow. On the other hand, I’m going to have a writing buddy on Tuesday so we’ll see what happens. Went to a bookstore today and bought a bunch of reference books, among other things. Going to have to resist temptation to read them. (That’s mostly what killed today.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-2011/601312.md?page=5)