I just joined NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), the fun, internet-based contest in which you write 50,000 words of a novel between November 1 and November 30.
The most I have EVER written in a month was 24k, and I am still recovering.
What am I doing?
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19 Responses to “I’m nuts. I’m nuts. I think I must be nuts.”Leave a Reply |
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October 24th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
Have fun, Diana!
I’m doing my own unofficial version of NaNo this year since I’m in the middle of a book, and I’m not going to put it aside to start a new one.
What are you going to be working on?
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October 24th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
Hi, Diana,
Welcome to the madhouse that is NaNo. This will be my third year, but I’m still not sure what I’m going to do for it. The first time I did the first half of a womens fic; the second time, I did the next 50k on the same book. Then, I decided that my male protag wasn’t playing nice, and I’ve been doing a lot of rewriting and rethinking. It will be a relief to do something totally new.
If you’re on the Cherry fans list, there is a Cherries verson of NaNo. It’s pretty good because everyone is very encouraging. Anyone can issue a challenge, like words in a day, most words by the 15th, or whatever, and there are prizes! If you want the info on that, let me know and I’ll pass it along. It’s totally independent from the writers workshop list, so there’s just encouragement and sympathy and NO RULES. ;+)
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October 24th, 2005 at 8:20 pm
No more lists, no more lists! Ahhhhhhhh!!!! LOL!
There are going to be a few Nanowrimo-sponsored “write-ins” in coffee shops and bookstores in my city, and I hope to take advantage of that.
Good luck ladies! I’m going to be working on my next proposal. I told my agent I’d have something for her this fall and I may just get it in under the wire. There’s little to no change I’ll actually do the challenge, but it will be fun motivation.
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October 25th, 2005 at 4:36 am
I’m so glad you admitted it
I mean, in the age of writers who, like L.V., admit to writing the whole first draft easily in 18 days, it’s a relief to know that someone who doesn’t crank out two novels per month still can–and does–get contracts!
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October 25th, 2005 at 6:47 am
Oh, it’s no secret! (Who is LV?) I am a very, very slow writer. I think the only reason I finished Secret Society Girl in… um, lemme count… seven months was because I had a contract deadline. I usually average 10 months to a year to write something. I know i need to speed it up, though, if I’m going to have a career as a genre writer. For instance, the next book in the Secret Society Girl series is due next year, but since I don’t want this to be my only contract, I’m going to be writing another book as well.
But everyone works at different speeds. I know people who write the first draft really quickly, then slave over seven or eight more drafts. I tend to slave over the first draft, and then do one more. So this Nano thing will definitely be an experiment. Gena “Love to Hate Her” Showalter wrote Awaken Me Darkly in six weeks. The bitch. LOL. (Just kidding, Gena, you know I love you. Oh, wait, she’s so busy writing one of the seventeen novels of hers coming out next year that she doesn’t have time for blog hopping. Great, now we get to really talk trash about Madame Prolific Novelique. Bwahahahahaha)
Oh! I just figured it out. Lynn Viehl. D’oh! I was trying to think of which of Katie MacAllister’s or Sherrilyn Kenyon’s pseudonyms started with those initials. LOL
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October 25th, 2005 at 7:26 am
I’m jealous. I wish I had a family that could stand me blowing them off for a month to do the novel in a month thing. I could really use the push!
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October 25th, 2005 at 7:42 am
Me, I’m slow when unmotivated. I have experienced more than once what happens when you write something and it doesn’t hit the hot spot, so you end up throwing it in the drawers after submitting it to fifty people and gathering twenty rejections and thirty silences. It just keeps you from writing the next one–you think, does it even make sense to write it? They won’t like it anyway. I’m dreaming of the moment when I sell on proposal.
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October 25th, 2005 at 7:47 am
I signed up to participate as well. Not holding my breath of actually finishing 50K what with chasing the toddler and my m-i-l’s move (to my house). Still, it’s a nice dream…
Good luck!!
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October 25th, 2005 at 8:39 am
The key, Julie, is not to have a family. Sailor Boy has midterms next month, so he’s like to be studying as hard as I’m writing. It’s perfect timing.
Oh, Jana, MIL moving in? Woah. Good luck!
Anonymous, I know what you meana bout motivation. After the 18 or so rejections from last year, it was really tough to motivate me to finish my last book. The contract for this one defintiely lit a fire.
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October 25th, 2005 at 8:49 am
I love reading how different writers work. Interesting about working on another book in addition to the series. While my series is being submitted, I’m looking for motivation to continue work on my other book.
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October 25th, 2005 at 9:01 am
As for Lynn Viehl, that woman is obsessed and I admire her for that. She works like 90 hours a week and gets up every day at 4:30 a.m. to write. You haven’t misheard me. 4:30. It’s like “been a lazy day, I allowed myself to sleep until 6 a.m.” On that kind of schedule, you’d see me in jail soon, for extremely bloody triple homicide
I bite people’s heads off and hate the world when I’m woken as disgustingly early as 9 am. I don’t think anything short of a guaranteed six figure advance and a reserved place in NY Times list would be enough to make me get up at 4 am every day to work. Nothing less … just ain’t worth the depression 
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October 25th, 2005 at 9:01 am
Well, Kathy, the way I see it, it’s either work on a new book in conjunction to the series or not sell another book until Summer of 2007. I don’t know how far along you are in actually writing the books in your series, or how many there are, but I think if I hadn’t yet sold them, I’d be in a different place. I finished the first draft of SSG in August, but spent September recovering and October revising. Now is the first chance I have to chill and think about ANYTHING ELSE since this whole roller coaster started in March!
And then, next month, proofs and galleys. whee!
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October 25th, 2005 at 9:08 am
Welcome Diana. Our chapter here in the city is also joing NaNoWriMo. We have thirteen writers (including Ms. Kwana) who are going to be meeting once a week to work on our books. I’m working on my YA that I’ve been thinking about. Can’t wait to start.
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October 25th, 2005 at 9:22 am
Oh, I don’t know any of the DC people who have signed up — yet. I hope they like a chick litter! EKM, have you decided to set it in the 80s? SB is telling me I should try to set mine in an alternate time as well, but I really don’t want to. I don’t think my voice can handle that!
Daria, that sounds excessive to me, too. But then, PBW is all about the output, isn’t she? I think I’m more productive with a full time job than I was freelancing. It’s like they say — need something done, give it to a busy person! (That reminds me, I have Stiletto entries to judge!)
I remember Merline Lovelace said she still kept military hours, working 12-14 hour days on her books. Outrageous. Though, I must say that between the day job and meeting my deadline, I was working that in August, no problem. This will be November for me, I think. I think if I can get 5 pages out a day and then 20 pages over the weekend, I should be able to do it.
Easier said than done, huh?
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October 25th, 2005 at 9:36 am
Excessive, yes, but damn, I’m such a nice shade of Envy Green, it fits my jade earrings perfectly
Output is one of the writing gods, along with Sharky Agent, Marketing Department, and High Concept 
.
I’m not productive when the day job kicks in at all. Maybe it’s because I can’t stand my day job, and it’s like it eats hours out of my life. The wasted time.
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October 25th, 2005 at 10:12 am
Yeah, good luck with that. Did it once. I did manage to do it. But I don’t think I want to do it again!
Teri
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October 25th, 2005 at 10:44 am
Ooooh! I wanted to try this. I’m a pretty quick rough drafter. But the rules say that you have to start a novel from scratch, and I’m already in the middle of a rough draft and querying an earlier ms. There’s no way I could start another right now.
Maybe next year…
I’ll be rooting for everyone!
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October 25th, 2005 at 11:20 am
I logged back in for NaNoWriMo a week ago myself. Don’t have the first freakin’ clue what I’ll write, but it’s nice to know I’ll be in good company. Here’s wishing everyone lots and lots of writing!
Marley = )
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October 25th, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Good luck with NaNoWriMo, Diana. I’m also a slow writer, my usual process being to take forever on the “first draft” (first write-through is more accurate, or, as I like to call it, the “slow write”) and then plow through revisions rather quickly. I did just fast-draft a 100-page novella–first time I’ve ever managed to stick with fast drafting to the end of something, so of course it had to be short. Now I’m starting the revisions (which *this* time will be the “slow-write”) and I’m not altogether sure if fast drafting the thing will wind up being a “better” process or not. We shall see. Right now it’s just a huge pile of crap.
I do have a very fleshed out synopsis for an ST and I wanted to do NaNoWriMo with that, but an editor is waiting for the novella and no one is waiting for the ST, so I have a great excuse to stop fast drafting projects and return to my familiar turtle pace.
Cindy
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