NaNoWriMo

[.Arrow.]

How would I add some of you as writing buddies?

If you're on the main website, you go to the profile of the person you want to add. On the same bar that says they're username and shows their profile pic are two links: Add as Buddy and Send NaNoMail. Just click on Add as Buddy and that should be all ^-^

I have chapter one done and am working on 2.
I never knew about this and then kept seeing people mention it so I checked it out. I doubt I'll get to 50k words but I'm farther than I was before I found out about nano.

In all the years I've done it I've never hit 50k, but it's still an awesome experience and it helps motivate you to get words down. So kudos for trying, regardless of how far you get ^-^

Is anyone here planning on doing the all-day writing marathon tomorrow?
I am to an extent. I do have post-midterm plans with my friends, though, so won't be quite all day.
I have a four day weekend as well, so I'm planning on getting a lot of writing done! Maybe I'll manage to make up for those three days I missed ^-^

[Vazchu]

I've just realized something... My story... This far I've somehow made it twice as long as it was the last time I wrote it... o: Odd, I never thought that could happen.

[Lady Aime]

Lost if you happen to read this, Don't give up! Keep writing!

Good on you everyone! We've gotten through week one! Keep on churning those words~

[littlemoosie]

-

[Dylan Klebold]

Okay I just don't even know right now...

I have been writing my story, in at about 9k or so words, and now all of the sudden I feel as if it is really terrible and just weird.

So I almost just want to start over with a plot I've been thinking of that I think is so much better. But then I would have to start all the way over and blahhh what do I do this thing is stressing me out. I really want to because my current story is bad bad bad but should I or should I not... I can't figure it out at all ;-;

Your story, I guess.

---

I'm catching up :D

Hopefully I'll reach 10000 words by the time I go to bed.

Only about 4000 to go...

linkie dinkie doo

[.Arrow.]

Okay I just don't even know right now...

I have been writing my story, in at about 9k or so words, and now all of the sudden I feel as if it is really terrible and just weird.

So I almost just want to start over with a plot I've been thinking of that I think is so much better. But then I would have to start all the way over and blahhh what do I do this thing is stressing me out. I really want to because my current story is bad bad bad but should I or should I not... I can't figure it out at all ;-;

The second week is always the hardest so I'm going to quote a pep talk from around this time last year by Chris Baty for you, 'cause you may benefit from it. Hopefully this helps you out ^-^
It's a bit long, but ah well.

You're watching a movie. And halfway through it, the hero crumbles.

He or she is lost. Surrounded by zombies or forsaken by love or separated from their favorite wookiee. They stare forlornly at the mess their life has become, hope fading that things will ever be put right again.

Screenwriters call this moment "the long, dark night of the soul." Every Hollywood movie has one because we love seeing our protagonists pummeled for a while before they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and head out to kick some ass.

NaNoWriMo participants go through their own long, dark nights of the soul halfway through November. If you haven't experienced one already, you will very soon.

I say this with certainty because we've spent a lot of time and money making the middle stretch of this year's adventure especially difficult.

We don't have the costumes or the makeup budget to send a convincing-looking group of zombies to your door. Instead, we've relied on smaller, cheaper things to demoralize you mid-month. We've convinced your bosses and teachers to heap projects on you at the last minute. We've gotten your family to pitch fits when you need to get caught up on your word count. Most insidiously, we've paid your novel's cast to stumble through their scenes with all the eloquence and charm of a baked potato.

Why? Because we have to do something to make your novel-in-a-month endeavor a fair fight. Which it isn't. Look at you! You're a fantastically gifted individual, with fierce courage and an imagination powerful enough to knock out a dozen books in November.

If you don't believe me, just scroll back through all you've written so far. That's more than most people achieve in a year, and you did it in two weeks. It may be less than you'd hoped, and the quality may be crappier than you'd envisioned. But first drafts are supposed to be rough, and I guarantee you're too deep in the process right to recognize all the great stuff you've put on those pages. Despite our meddling, you've achieved a truck-load of literary goodness. And it's just a taste of what's ahead.

Because the second half of this noveling marathon is when things really begin to move. For starters, the NaNoWriMo-funded interference will end. This is partly because we've realized the whole "fair fight" thing was a dumb idea, and partly because we blew all of our harassment budget on yesterday's spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to crash every word processor in Manitoba.

Shenanigans aside, the back half of NaNoWriMo has always been a place where writers get their second winds. As long as you keep working, your potatoes will turn back into charismatic protagonists, and your imagination will build a path right out of these mid-month doldrums.

You can help build that path faster by hitting your writing goals for the next three days. This may sound like a small thing, but little, consistent writing achievements open the door to huge writing breakthroughs.

If you've fallen behind on your word count or lost the thread of your story, you may think no breakthrough will be big enough to save your book. Take heart: There are 300,000 of us out there right now living that exact same movie. We're all struggling to balance our books with the crazy stuff life has chucked at us these past two weeks. We're all wondering if we have what it takes to see this thing through. And we're all about to stand up, dust ourselves off, and go kick some major ass.

The long, dark night is ending, my friend. The homestretch lies ahead.

I'll see you at the finish line.

Chris

Chris Baty is the founder of NaNoWriMo and a Board Member Emeritus at the Office of Letters and Light. He is a writer, a speaker, and a seller of fine posters.

[GypsyV]

Okay I just don't even know right now...

I have been writing my story, in at about 9k or so words, and now all of the sudden I feel as if it is really terrible and just weird.

So I almost just want to start over with a plot I've been thinking of that I think is so much better. But then I would have to start all the way over and blahhh what do I do this thing is stressing me out. I really want to because my current story is bad bad bad but should I or should I not... I can't figure it out at all ;-;

I think it would be perfectly ok for you to put your current one on hold and work on the new one a little. I know someone who is making 50 1k short stories. Go back to the first one in a few days.

Good Luck

[Dylan Klebold]

Gah, got to the 7100 word mark, now to sleep >u>

---

After I changed, I let Matt back in. “Matt, I just wanted to say… thank you so much for last night’s surprise. I really enjoyed it. A lot.” I said. “Glad you did.” He responded, happily. “Well, good night, I guess?” I asked, climbing into my bed. “Alright. See you in the morning!” Matt replied, climbing into his own bed. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

In my dream that night, I was undercover as a recruitee for the Saints. I was wearing a wig, and other things that made sure my identity wasn’t uncovered. I was also in the penthouse, with Kinzie. My name there was Maria Ali, and we were discussing… me, when I was the leader of the Saints.

“Yeah, she must have been a huge threat then.” I said, jokingly. Kinzie snapped at me, then settled down. “Yeah, you were.” Kinzie said, tearing my wig off. My eyes shrunk, and then my friends, like Pierce and Shaundi, appeared from behind the shadows. Kinzie looked at me with a dirty look, and pointed a pistol at my head. There was a gunshot, when I woke up with a jolt in the safety of my bed. I yelled loudly, and awoke Matt.

He walked over to my side, and grabbed my hand. “Nightmare got you up?” he asked. I breathed heavily. “Yes.” I replied. Matt looked at me for a moment, before climbing in next to me. “I’ll keep you safe.” he whispered, falling back asleep. Feeling more secure now, I fell back asleep as well.

Comments?

[.Arrow.]

@Matt Miller~ More description is always good, otherwise it seems good thus far :)

I'm finally starting to catch up! I'm now only around 2.9k words behind. Had a pretty good evening of writing, managed to get almost 3k down and I'm still quite happy with how things are going ^-^

[musicgurl333]

I was feeling pretty discouraged tonight, and I even considered abandoning my NaNo attempt for this year. I'm just so far behind! I'm adding to a story that I started in 2011, and I've been trying not to reread too much because most of it's really terrible right now...I don't want to discourage myself...but tonight I read the end of one scene just to figure out where the next one should start. And it turned out that the end of the previous scene was actually really good!! It's not perfect, of course, but I really liked it, and that inspired me to keep going. It reminded me that even though a lot of what I'm writing right now is kind of crap, there's some good stuff in there too! And I'll miss out on all of that if I stop now.