# NaNoWriMo Warm-Up Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762 "2010-09-14T19:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/61 "2010-11-01T17:51:16Z")
For those of you who twitter, my beloved @FakeAPStylebook has a NaNoWriMo acct: @fakeNNWMTips. Their first tip: " Remember: ‘The Cat in the Hat’ could be 50,000 words if you use enough adjectives to describe the hat. " ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/62 "2010-11-01T17:51:46Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Well, I wrote 1100 words this morning. About not much. > > WriteOrDie really works for me - that was in half an hour. It better not cut into your Lexulous time! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/63 "2010-11-01T18:18:23Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Their first tip: " Remember: ‘The Cat in the Hat’ could be 50,000 words if you use enough adjectives to describe the hat. " This is something I’ll have to keep in mind. I tend to write to brevity rather than loquaciousness (loquacity?). I’m having second thoughts about doing this this year, even though I’ve spent the past month revved up. I got my butt kicked by my trip over the weekend, and every time I think about trying to write this week I cringe. I might need to get a late start and let the next couple of days go. That’ll be tricky, but I think I can manage it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/64 "2010-11-01T18:28:58Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > It better not cut into your Lexulous time! 😉 Oh, no. Job and family will probably suffer, but not Lexulous. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/65 "2010-11-01T18:34:23Z")
Decided not to do it. I WILL get my bandits-as-vampires-in-Habsburg-Serbia paper in submission shape, though–or die trying! ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/66 "2010-11-02T01:35:05Z")
Wow, I can’t even log in to the darn site, it’s so slow! Oh well, will try again later! ---
**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 2, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/67 "2010-11-02T01:44:10Z")
I can’t get into the Scrivener site (literature and latte) either. (I’ve found a new bug I wanted to post about.) Clearly the internet is crumbling beneath the awesomeness of the 130,000+ Nanoers! ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/68 "2010-11-02T01:55:54Z")
I gave up on the NaNoWriMo site, and am just on irc now. I need some inspiration! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/69 "2010-11-02T02:05:38Z")
> [@Clockwork\_Jackal](#): > > Wow, I can’t even log in to the darn site, it’s so slow! Oh well, will try again later! Always happens the first few days. Calms down a week or so in when people start dropping out and slowing down. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/70 "2010-11-02T15:23:49Z")
I’m at 2,404 words and roughly 5/6 of the way through chapter 1. Keep it up, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/71 "2010-11-02T17:56:19Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **Le Ministre de l’au-delà** > > This seemed like a good place to throw a shout out over our own SDMB Short Fiction contests. I’m hoping to run another one in October, if anyone is interested in a warm-up. > > Well, October has come and gone, but if you’re planning on one for December, I’ll look forward to it! My apologies to all of you; October turned out to be way busier than I’d planned. Now I’m home again, I’m hoping for a Poetry Sweatshop in late Nov., and a short story contest somewhere in Dec. Cheering you all on in the NaNoWriMo!! ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/72 "2010-11-02T18:50:06Z")
I’m giving it a go this year. The biggest problem is that I have no idea how to take the story in my head and get it down. First person point of view? Third person? How the hell do you make dialogue sound not shitty? That kind of stuff. So right now it reads like a Hardy Boys or Tom Swift level of writting. Sucky. But I do like the Write or Die software. It’s much easier to divide it up into 500 word chunks during the day. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/73 "2010-11-02T20:02:22Z")
I’m having a very good start. I don’t know what is going to happen nor where the plot will end up. Or whether I’ll get stuck after whatever happens next. But I’m enjoying these first few thousand words. ---
**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 2, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/74 "2010-11-02T20:06:37Z")
I’m doing poorly. I got nothing written yesterday, but I should be able to make it up this weekend. Got about a hundred words written before work. I wish the Nano site wasn’t so screwy, although the forums aren’t that helpful really - there’s too many threads and hardly anybody answers them. I’m considering starting a ‘ask a random question for your nano’ thread here… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/75 "2010-11-02T20:38:38Z")
I’ve got about 2k words so far…been a slow second day… Should be able to get the other 1300 words to stay on schedule before the end of the night, though. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/76 "2010-11-02T20:40:38Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > First person point of view? Third person? Third person. For beginning writers it is superior to first person in every way. > [@](#): > > How the hell do you make dialogue sound not shitty? Loads and loads and loads of practice, but of course that’s not very helpful for a Nano. One piece of advice that someone once gave me was to say things out loud. If you’re writing a conversation and you know the content of what your character is going to say but not the wording, just say what you’re thinking out loud, and that will get the words into a reasonable order. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/77 "2010-11-02T21:01:53Z")
Well, I’m 4400 words in and it’s not what I wanted at all. Where I thought the story would go is completely different from where it originally was intended. On the plus side, it’s 4400 words in and I’m figuring it out now. I think I might just have a way out of the corner I’ve painted myself into. The hardest part was really getting started into the meat of the dinner. I’m writing a sequel to the Qu’ran but using a first person story as a candy-coated shell to the person who’s getting the relayed new Qu’ran to them. I had a party planned that got cancelled because I was stalling big time on getting to it. Well, that actually gave me some new avenues on where to go. It’s pretty much crap so far, but it’s 4400 words of crap. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/78 "2010-11-03T01:47:39Z")
I’m around 4100 and it’s going okay. This year I decided to depart from my usual historical fiction and went for horror. The only problem is that I really only know there is going to be “something” scary for “some” reason but haven’t really figured it out yet. I’m going to kill off a random stranger so will have to figure it out shortly. We have an active Nano group here, and went to a fun Kick-off party on Halloween that involved tons of food (potluck) and watching the premiere of The Walking Dead. If any of you have been hesitant about going to any meetups, I would encourage you to try it at least once, it has been worth it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/79 "2010-11-03T05:24:48Z")
I have 6,497 words so far. That’s more than some people have…but a lot less than a lot of other people have. On Monday I was at around 3,000 words or so, and I remember going “hot damn, I’m totally past the recommended daily goal! I am so awesome and ahead of the game!” Then I went to the NaNo forums and saw that most people were at about 6,000 or higher. Goddammit. Oh well, it’s my first NaNo. Baby steps. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762/80 "2010-11-03T05:44:24Z")
Don’t let the outliers get you down. 😛 I’m forcing myself to make chapters short…bits that would just be section breaks last year are serving as chapter breaks, just because having almost half the book being a single chapter was a bit embarrassing when I finished my (non-winning) attempt last year… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanowrimo-warm-up-thread/553762.md?page=5)