I’m in. It’s my first year, so I’m writing the story that’s been in my head for, oh, about 30 years or so. My outline is 3 pages and growing everyday.
For a warm-up, I did some fanfic, and it went to 27,000 words, so I think I can do it. I’m dying to get started, but I’m going to keep to the letter of the law, and I’m being very careful that the outline doesn’t get too detailed.
Several people where I work are also doing it. Last year, I gave the guy who introduced me to the idea a Nano Rhino, as a reward for his finishing.
My guess for **Priceguy’s ** first sentence: “Sorry!”
Okay. I’ve decided to do this daring, extravagant thing! This is the best possible time in my life to see where this leads. I knew, I just knew, that something wonderful like this would come my way, totally out of the blue.
This community has brought me so many gifts in such a short time. I’m so grateful to be a small part of it.
Would it be completely cheating to work on a story that 2 pages of already exist? :o (Say if I made my goal 50,500 instead of 50,000?) I don’t think I could come up with something brand new between now and then that I’d care to attempt to devote 50,000 words to. And I do mean attempt: I tried in 2003 and got to 20,000 words before running out of steam. sigh.
I think (and hope) nobody cares about that stuff. Last year, I started writing my story a week early. I already had the ideas, what was the point of waiting til the stroke of midnight on November 1?
Have you ever put on your favorite music and danced alone in the house? Are you a professional dancer?
Do you sing in the shower or in the car? Are you a professional singer?
I think NaNoWriMo has the same spirit. By removing the internal critic, we’re given the chance to write wild and free, and experience the joy and surprise of it all. I have no aspirations of becoming a professional novelist, but I do appreciate the kick in the ass to try something I’ve always believed I had no right to attempt. It’s like running a marathon to experience the dedication required and the exhiliration of pushing oneself to the limit - even if you walk to the finish line or leave the race due to a twisted knee.
I have no plot or outline or characters in mind. I’ve decided not to use myself up in these October days by stressing or worrying or outlining. I see the value in free association and accessing secret corners of my mind. On November 1 I will start completely from scratch, and test the limits of my imagination, humor, and carpal tunnels.
Plus, it’s a damn good excuse to buy the PowerBook I’ve been craving (defecting to the Other Side, no less).
Moderator speaketh: There was a similar thread in Cafe Society, but it only had a couple of posts. Arguably, this topic could fit either forum, and I’ve decided to leave it here and close the other one.
(I’m primarily posting this so we don’t have another moderator coming along later and moving it.)
Yeah, I will give it a shot this year. I already have a few pages written, but since I’m not going to have access to a computer over Thanksgiving weekend, that will make up for it.
Mine’s going to be about a cattle rancher who’s immortal. He defends his stock against Hercules, runs away from Roman Creditors, becomes one of the settlers of the American wild west, and so on. It won’t make sense but I’m just going to have fun with it.
