# National Novel Writing Month 2005--Who's In? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099 "2005-10-20T16:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/201 "2005-11-12T23:10:58Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Just mention the state of the snow twice - probably him seeing it once at the beginning when it’s clean, then late in the story he notices that it’s been trampled on. As tempting as it is to spell things out for people, symbolism works best when you don’t force the issue by having the characters wax on about what it means to them but let readers figure it out on their own instead. That seems logical. Keeping it to a minimum I mean, and not dwelling on it, but that’s where I’m hedging undecidedly. Twice? That seems like not enough… I believe I’m thinking way too hard on this minor point and wasting time. I need to just get back to writing and let it work itself out in editing. Thanks for the advice 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/202 "2005-11-13T02:29:55Z")
If it’s any consolation, the subconscious mind works symbolically. You will be peppering your story with plenty of symbolism without ever intending it, if you give it room to work. I’m noticing that happening in mine a lot – you know: damn, wish I’d thought of that myself. Oh yeah, I did. 16K/50K ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/203 "2005-11-15T04:10:30Z")
Halfway! Halfway! Now back to your regularly scheduled thread. ---
**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 22, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/204 "2005-11-22T07:03:32Z")
Yippee! I plugged today’s wordage into the spreadsheet and it says I will finish on 11/29. Yay! Yes, I’m being silly. Hey, this is the first time I’ve been into the’green’ prediction range the entire month – all it took was three days in a row of 5000+ words each. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/205 "2005-11-22T15:46:20Z")
That’s quite an accomplishment! I hit 35,000 yesterday, and so am officially no longer 1-2 days behind. This weekend I’m going to participate in an inter-regional challenge, to boost word counts. If my wrists don’t give up the ghost before that. Doesn’t it feel good to see the end in sight? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/206 "2005-11-22T15:48:26Z")
I’m at 45K and totally running out of steam. But I can’t get this close and give up, so I shall persevere between Grandma’s on Thursday and doing my own cooking on Friday and Saturday. If all goes as hoped, I’ll hit 50 Sunday at the latest, and can spend three days making sure everything inside makes sense. I haven’t been paying much attention to that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/207 "2005-11-22T16:21:48Z")
I’ve broken 30k, but I can’t recall exactly what I’ve got. I keep getting up too late to save to a disk and do an official wordcount. (I don’t have online access at home.) ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/208 "2005-11-23T20:30:46Z")
WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 50,163!!! Of course, come Friday, I’ll probably edit away a thousand words or so, but I’m not done with the story, so I’ll have a little padding. Scooby Snacks and a nice merlot in the Winners’ Circle, just like last year. Somebody come keep me company! ---
**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 24, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/209 "2005-11-24T01:40:26Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! > 50,163!!! > > Of course, come Friday, I’ll probably edit away a thousand words or so, but I’m not done with the story, so I’ll have a little padding. > > Scooby Snacks and a nice merlot in the Winners’ Circle, just like last year. Somebody come keep me company! I’ve got a few more days, I’m afraid. Current count: 38445 ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/210 "2005-11-24T02:37:38Z")
Wow! Grats on the count, Draelin. And to everyone still in the game. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/211 "2005-11-24T23:47:11Z")
I can write the last 10,879 words by midnight Wednesday, right? Right?? I’m beginning to feel a lot like the little engine that could here. :o ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/212 "2005-11-25T01:39:53Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I can write the last 10,879 words by midnight Wednesday, right? Right?? I’m beginning to feel a lot like the little engine that could here. :o Sure, I’ve done that in a day before. (It sucked, but I did it.) Thankfully I only have a little over 3,000 to go this year. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/213 "2005-11-25T19:18:46Z")
Woohoo! 40,000! It’s like pushing through molasses up to my armpits, but I’m hanging in there. ---
**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 25, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/214 "2005-11-25T20:52:47Z")
> [@brightpenny](#): > > Woohoo! 40,000! It’s like pushing through molasses up to my armpits, but I’m hanging in there. Excellent! I’m on the cusp of 40k, but not quite there. I gave myself TurkeyDay completely off, of course, now I regret that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/215 "2005-11-27T02:23:56Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Excellent! I’m on the cusp of 40k, but not quite there. I gave myself TurkeyDay completely off, of course, now I regret that. ☹ I took yesterday completely off, thinking that getting up at 4am wouldn’t be conducive to coherent thought; I was probably right. 43,566 words down, 6,434 to go 🙂 ---
**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 27, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/216 "2005-11-27T05:39:08Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I took yesterday completely off, thinking that getting up at 4am wouldn’t be conducive to coherent thought; I was probably right. 43,566 words down, 6,434 to go 🙂 Well, I managed 3500 on Friday and 5000 today, so I’m at 47k and change. Surely I can do 3000 tomorrow. Of course, my story won’t be finished then, and I’ll keep plugging, but I think it’ll take some stress off to have officially ‘won’ a few days early. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/217 "2005-11-27T06:13:36Z")
I was good during week one, I did pretty well during week two. Then came week three - the week of, according to my status card, no writing. Well, not exactly “none,” but very, very little. So, I’ve been making it up. My shoulder hurts, my arm hurts, my wrists are beginning to hurt (and I have good typing posture, too). But I will push through, even if I have to have my character read Moby Dick outloud to a hard of hearing person who needs everything repeated multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/218 "2005-11-27T06:37:23Z")
I like your idea amarinth 🙂 I ran out of plot a few thousand words ago, so it’s been twists, reversals, and now earthquakes to keep this thing alive until 50K. 44,000/50,000: so close, but still molasses ---
**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 28, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/219 "2005-11-28T03:47:03Z")
52,430 Yay for me! Of course, my outline insists there are still six more scenes to write. Well, maybe I’ll get them done by Wednesday, maybe not, but either way I have WON. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099/220 "2005-11-28T11:22:52Z")
Bah. I had about 800 words’ worth of good idea at the start of the month, then too much r/t stuff hit the fan, so just as well I didn’t register and won’t get counted as a welsher. Maybe next year. I must have written half a million words for fun in my time so it shouldn’t be beyond the bounds of possibility. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-novel-writing-month-2005-whos-in/327099.md?page=12)