# Main > General Discussion >  NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month

## Mouse

Ok, I feel kind of guilty filling up other people's threads with questions, and really I only want to know one thing, but after that the thread is here for people to chit chat about it if they want  :Wink: 

I started it as a thread in its own right, even though its totally off topic, because there do seem to be a huge number of not just writers here, but also writers who have previously taken part in NaNoWriMo.  And, heck - fantasy maps and books are kind of inextricably linked from my point of view...

My question is - has anyone ever done this and succeeded in getting to 50,000 words while simultaneously working a new job where they are still very unsure about all the procedures and learning new stuff at the rate of a head full a day?

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## tilt

I'm sure someone has yes  :Smile:   ... November is my busiest month of the year, and I'm working full time + looong commute and arranging and going to parties (job, friends, birthday, birthday), and developing a new website and making a design for my cousin fast food place ... and damn if I haven't joined NaNoWriMo again... outlining soon  :Smile:  ... so come play along Mouse  :Smile:

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## rdanhenry

It is up to you to decide if you can make the time. I have several successes, but my first time was a failure (in that I did not get to 50,000, though I did get a start on a novel). It just turned out into a terrible month to do it. I had another failure when I signed up knowing I might have to drop it for another project, but I wanted to have the option of writing a novel if that project fell behind again I didn't get it for my work in time for November. As it happened, I worked on the other thing and never wrote more than a few paragraphs.

You can always shoot for writing, say, 20,000 words. That won't earn you a digital badge, but it is perfectly acceptable.

You could also get a NaNoWriMo account and not participate this year. You could still check out the forums and cheer on any friends who are participating. It would give you a change to learn about NaNoWriMo and see if you'd like to participate next year.

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## Mouse

LOL! 

As you can tell, I'm severely tempted.

I guess I can plan the thing, and decide closer to the time if I'm going to have enough mental power left at the end of the day to... 'do my thing'.  Depends a lot on how much more there is to learn at work, really - that and how fast I can manage to learn it well enough to do my job properly.

EDIT: Ninja'd by rdanhenry  :Razz: 

You know, I might just do that  :Smile:

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## Straf

I think I first joined up in 2005. I tried to get going the first couple of years and then left it for a while but I've had another couple of attempts. I reactivated my account last year just after signing up on here but ended up not bothering. I may have a good crack at it this year though. I just need to sit and write.

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## ladiestorm

Would you believe I have never heard of this?  I would love to hear more about it.  Is this a website?  You all speak of accounts... is it something you have to pay for? How does it work?

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## rdanhenry

> Would you believe I have never heard of this?  I would love to hear more about it.  Is this a website?  You all speak of accounts... is it something you have to pay for? How does it work?


https://nanowrimo.org/

It is free, although if you were to give a donation or purchase an item from their store, they'd certainly appreciate it, because ultimately nothing is free and that's how they pay for everything.

How it works is that you write at least 50,000 words in November and become a winner! Or you don't, but the only penalty is your own sense of dismal failure and self-doubt.

A somewhat more detailed overview appears at https://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works

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## tilt

Thought you'd definitely heard of it ladiestorm, with all your writing. But now you have, you have to sign up.. I need more writing buddies so I might feel pressured enough to actually finish  :Wink:

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## Mouse

Now listen, Tilt, this is mother/grandmother Mouse speaking.  You _WILL_ finish it!  :Razz:

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## QED42

The best I managed was around 23,000 words on Nanowrimo one year, my previous best was like 500 words or so. Still didn't get close to 50,000 though.

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## Straf

I've added a couple of buddies who I think may be tilt and rdanhenry.

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## tatteredglyph

I don't do well with deadlines, so I've never participated. However, I have three lingering ideas that might make for good novels. Just gotta figure out the best way to tackle actually writing it all out. Either that, or I could break the novel into short stories, might make it easier for me. (Or use the short story format, and piece everything together for a "novel".)

But, in regards to time and such: it's simply about how you manage your time. If you really want to participate, make sure to take this month to plan, plan, and plan. Because ultimately it comes down to "are you going to have time" and "are you willing to make time." If you find out you can't do it this month, you can always figure out a way to just do it yourself in the future.

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## rdanhenry

I'm "R. Dan Henry" on nanowrimo. I welcome writing buddies.

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## Diamond

I've never entered NaNoWriMo, but... I just might this year.  For one thing, I'm working short weeks right now, so I've got 3 day weekends every week.  That's the plus.  The negative is that my commute each way is more than 2 freakin' hours and all I want to do when I get home is sleep.  BUT - if I only write on days off (including Thanksgiving), I'd need to write over 3800 words a day to finish.  That actually _might_ be manageable...

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## Mouse

Hey guys  :Smile: 

Don't just go and automatically friend the Mouse over at NaNoWriMo.  

That Mouse ISN'T me.

(that Mouse is possibly a really nice person - just be totally aware that he has absolutely nothing to do with me - thanks)

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## Mouse

Can't be 'Mouse', so I'll go with my pen name.  I had to have one.  I mean, there are literally thousands of Sue Daniel people around!  The odd thing is we are such a creative sort of person by name:- an opera singer, a professional landscape painter.... so.... I've gone with:

Meloa Bray

The first part is a completely made up name - the name of my protagonists mother, an inventor/anarchist/crazy woman, so there shouldn't be too many of them around just yet.  Not till I publish and become world famous that is  :Razz:

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## tilt

> I've added a couple of buddies who I think may be tilt and rdanhenry.


Yep - and I added you back now  :Smile: 




> I'm "R. Dan Henry" on nanowrimo. I welcome writing buddies.


Added you as well  :Smile: 




> Meloa Bray... the ... world famous


Consider yourself added  :Smile: 

I've just logged in to the writing program Dabble  (one of the sponsors of the event) ... even though I wince at the monthly price instead of a one off payment, its free till december and it seems like a nice and simple tool to work and plot in.  :Smile:

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## Mouse

That's how they trap you into paying it - a free ride to get you so used to using it that you would pay anything to carry on.

Have you tried Scrivener?  There are absolutely loads and loads of writing apps out there for about £50 one payment.  I have collected, um, 4 in the last 10 years, but there were lots more I looked at.  

Try Googling "Writing software" before you get started on that thing, as you know that the more words you put into it the harder it will be to swap over to something else instead.

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## ladiestorm

I have microsoft office 365 on my laptop... I got it *specifically* for my writing.

Do we just have to write 50,000 words? or do we have to complete the story?  And would it be wrong, unfair, cheating to post something I've already started?  This would give me an incentive to get back to a storyline that I started AGES ago, and sidelined when life got too busy and complicated.  It's the prequel to another novel idea I already had, but haven't started yet...

I doubt I would be able to finish the whole novel in the month... but it would get me back into it, to the point that I MIGHT actually get it finished, so that I can start on the idea I originally planned!

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## ladiestorm

I've signed up, my account name is my penn name, S D McDaniel.  After reading over everything... it says that we can enter an excerpt from the novel before Nov, so apparently, it doesn't matter if it's something we've already started.

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## rdanhenry

> I have microsoft office 365 on my laptop... I got it *specifically* for my writing.
> 
> Do we just have to write 50,000 words? or do we have to complete the story?  And would it be wrong, unfair, cheating to post something I've already started?  This would give me an incentive to get back to a storyline that I started AGES ago, and sidelined when life got too busy and complicated.  It's the prequel to another novel idea I already had, but haven't started yet...
> 
> I doubt I would be able to finish the whole novel in the month... but it would get me back into it, to the point that I MIGHT actually get it finished, so that I can start on the idea I originally planned!


Planning, with outlines, character backgrounds, and the like, is encouraged. And I fail to see any significant difference between coming in with a chapter-by-chapter outline and a coming in with a couple of chapters under your belt. The thing would be that you'd have to only count the words written in November to play fair. That's confirmed by looking at the rules statements in the forum by the administrator handling those topics. Some do a complete rewrite of a novel previously written for NaNoWriMo. Again, as long as it is a fresh text and not just editing the old, that's fine.

In any case, things are very flexible. Some folks don't even write a novel (instead writing non-fiction or such), they're the NaNoWriMo "rebels". I've thought about writing a role-playing game for NaNo, but given the amount of numbers and tables I'd end up throwing around, I don't know how to handle the word-count issue fairly, so I haven't gone for it yet. Honestly, there are no cash awards or anything, so it's basically honor system and either use your judgment or ask in the designated subforum if you seem to be coming up against an edge case to the rules.

There's some guidelines to take into account for actually validly claiming the NaNoWriMo winner badge, but participation is pretty flexible. On the issue of "can I finish what I already started", the answer is a clear "yes, but only words written in November count for completing your 50,000 words".

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## Straf

That does include ALL the words you write. If you end up deleting a whole chapter that you wrote in November, or decide it won't make the final cut, those words still count as you wrote them for your novel in November. You should not make any edits at all really - if something really needs to be rewritten there and then, mark it, annotate it, whatever you do for editing, and leave it in. It all counts. Scribbling down ideas on the train also counts as 'words' as you've written them for your novel.

Notes to the milkman don't count.
Shopping lists for chocolate and stuff stuck on the fridge don't count.
Typing words into a search engine for research don't count.

Research is procrastination: "Oh, before I write this lengthy passage about crossing the plains on horseback I'd better check my facts on how much food and drink a laden horse requires per day. I'll just open up Google for a ... WOW! Would ya just look at these cat pictures?"

3 days later you've learnt new techniques for getting dried up pasta from a pan, a new recipe for baked leeks and you can hum the national anthem for Botswana, but none of those things count towards your NanoWriMo goal I'm afraid. And you still don't know how much horse a water needs to cross the food on plainsback do you?

If you don't know the answer to something, TK it. 'TK' is suggested as a place marker for something that needs to be checked out. At editing time. NaNo*WRI*Mo is about *WRI*ting. NaNo*ED*Mo is for *ED*iting and that's in March. There's a whole month of parties to get through before then! So if you need to fact check then do it later, just write. Why TK? It's suggested because there are very few words in English that contain these two letters together so when it comes to editing time (in March, NOT November) searching for 'TK' should be a cinch. So long as your main character isn't called Altkin or something. Also if you're writing in a non-English language YMMV. Maybe use *TK if need be.

So "... He rode his horse for 2 days and nights across the plains. *TK [how much water does a horse need?] ..."

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## ladiestorm

Got it... so, for example, if I decided to look at what I've previously written... I actually got a little stuck at where I stopped... it's kind of one of the reasons it got sidelined... and continue it, from that point... then I count what I wrote afterwards, I just can't count what I have so far.  That's cool.  And it sounds like I don't actually have to finish it to compete, I just have to have written 50k words by the end of it.  Will anyone get to read what I've written?  I mean, one of the things I would really like, is for someone to take a look at what I have and tell me whether it's something they would enjoy reading...

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## rdanhenry

> Got it... so, for example, if I decided to look at what I've previously written... I actually got a little stuck at where I stopped... it's kind of one of the reasons it got sidelined... and continue it, from that point... then I count what I wrote afterwards, I just can't count what I have so far.  That's cool.  And it sounds like I don't actually have to finish it to compete, I just have to have written 50k words by the end of it.  Will anyone get to read what I've written?  I mean, one of the things I would really like, is for someone to take a look at what I have and tell me whether it's something they would enjoy reading...


That's really part of the editing process. It's probably best to do an edit yourself (because your first draft likely is a mess, at least in a few spots) before showing it to anyone else. That way you don't get a slew of comments to which you think "Oh, yeah, I was going to fix that".

Nobody will see it as part of NaNoWriMo, but you might make a buddy there who would make a good reader for you.

As for being stuck where you stopped, if you still are, you can look for help on the forum. Depending on the problem, you might want the Plot Doctoring, Character Cafe, or genre subforum.

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## Straf

That's entirely up to you who you share it with. It's entirely your choice. You don't have to upload anything to the site if you don't want to. You can get badges for doing daily updates and for reaching certain landmarks but the whole idea behind it, I think, is to be part of a community all encouraging each other. The forums are there for inspiration and there are also writing groups. If you join your local group there might be, say, a coffee shop where people descend with their devices and spend an afternoon writing.

You can cheat if you like - but the only person you're going to cheat is yourself. "Oh look, I've won every NaNoWriMo I've ever entered. But I've nothing to show for it!" is a bit lame when it's compared with saying at a book launch party "I did the bulk of this in just 30 days. It took another 14 months to edit it, but hey, the writing took a month!" which will get a few laughs from your adoring invitees  :Wink:

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## tilt

> That's how they trap you into paying it - a free ride to get you so used to using it that you would pay anything to carry on.
> 
> Have you tried Scrivener?  There are absolutely loads and loads of writing apps out there for about £50 one payment.  I have collected, um, 4 in the last 10 years, but there were lots more I looked at.  
> 
> Try Googling "Writing software" before you get started on that thing, as you know that the more words you put into it the harder it will be to swap over to something else instead.


I bought Scrivener for my Mac some years ago.. it wasn't on PC then, but I can see it is now. And I'm only on PC these days. But yes.. I don't mind subscribing when it makes sense - but a writing program (even with backup in the cloud) doesn't really seem to mandate monthly payments. And funny enough I was just thinking on "can I get my words out of the program" on my way home from work today lol - I do like the plotting tool they have though.. I guess I can make it myself in.. some program though.   :Smile:

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## tilt

> Notes to the milkman don't count.
> Shopping lists for chocolate and stuff stuck on the fridge don't count.
> Typing words into a search engine for research don't count.
> 
> Research is procrastination: "Oh, before I write this lengthy passage about crossing the plains on horseback I'd better check my facts on how much food and drink a laden horse requires per day. I'll just open up Google for a ... WOW! Would ya just look at these cat pictures?"
> 
> 3 days later you've learnt new techniques for getting dried up pasta from a pan, a new recipe for baked leeks and you can hum the national anthem for Botswana, but none of those things count towards your NanoWriMo goal I'm afraid. And you still don't know how much horse a water needs to cross the food on plainsback do you?
> 
> If you don't know the answer to something, TK it. 'TK' is suggested as a place marker for something that needs to be checked out. At editing time. NaNo*WRI*Mo is about *WRI*ting. NaNo*ED*Mo is for *ED*iting and that's in March. There's a whole month of parties to get through before then! So if you need to fact check then do it later, just write. Why TK? It's suggested because there are very few words in English that contain these two letters together so when it comes to editing time (in March, NOT November) searching for 'TK' should be a cinch. So long as your main character isn't called Altkin or something. Also if you're writing in a non-English language YMMV. Maybe use *TK if need be.
> ...


Hehe... you're writing a comedy I guess?  :Wink:  ...  good suggestion with the TK.  :Smile:

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## Mouse

I write all the conversations first, then go back and read them aloud to myself - in character as much as possible, so I can... _feel_ where to put the description and dash over to the keyboard and put it in - then read it again, and so on till it literally plays out right.

Oh, and on hot summer days when the doors and windows are all open, you have to not mind everyone in the village where you live believing you have a serious problem of some kind and moving on shaking their heads in sympathy  :Wink:

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## tilt

> I write all the conversations first, then go back and read them aloud to myself - in character as much as possible, so I can... _feel_ where to put the description and dash over to the keyboard and put it in - then read it again, and so on till it literally plays out right.
> Oh, and on hot summer days when the doors and windows are all open, you have to not mind everyone in the village where you live believing you have a serious problem of some kind and moving on shaking their heads in sympathy


LOL... maybe they're thinking.. "she always have a lot of visitors"  :Wink:  

I usually just start from the beginning and write along, letting the characters help me form the story (after some general plotting) and sometimes skipping a bit if I'm more in the mood for writing something else ... this time however I'll try to plot out more beforehand.

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## tilt

> I've signed up, my account name is my penn name, S D McDaniel.  After reading over everything... it says that we can enter an excerpt from the novel before Nov, so apparently, it doesn't matter if it's something we've already started.


Added you  :Smile:

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## ladiestorm

lol... uhm, Straff, I'm not in the habit of cheating, and I don't see why I should start now.  My biggest issue was if I could work on a piece I had already started, and it seems like, as long as I only use what I have written in November, I am allowed to do that... that's fine with me  :Smile:

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## Kier

I used to use ywriter for a program but found I really got to bogged down in all the cool gadgets, plot graphs, etc. Now I just write in LibreOffice.

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## Diamond

I don't know that I'll officially enroll on the nanowrimo site, but I do plan on attempting 50K words in November...

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## Straf

> Hehe... you're writing a comedy I guess?  ...  good suggestion with the TK.


The TK isn't my idea - I got it from elsewhere. There are a few sites that recommend it, here's one https://lifehacker.com/5129153/use-t...ch-black-holes




> lol... uhm, Straff, I'm not in the habit of cheating, and I don't see why I should start now.  My biggest issue was if I could work on a piece I had already started, and it seems like, as long as I only use what I have written in November, I am allowed to do that... that's fine with me


Oh I wasn't suggesting that you'd cheat at all, I was making a general statement about the spirit of NaNoWriMo  :Smile:  It's your personal project and the generally accepted goal is to hit 50k words within 30 days. I was sort of thinking if you produced an already made map as a challenge entry here at the Guild it'd be unfair on the other participants, unless everyone started with the same basic map and then had to add a certain number of elements to finish it... hmmm, there's an idearep.

Except I couldn't think of an appropriate Guild analogy so I copped out and mentioned cheating. I think what I was trying to say is pretending to write 50000 words in November doesn't have any affect on anyone. Sorry I've just had 3 mugs of coffee by accident and I'm gibbering on a bit.

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## Straf

> I bought Scrivener for my Mac some years ago.. it wasn't on PC then, but I can see it is now. And I'm only on PC these days. But yes.. I don't mind subscribing when it makes sense - but a writing program (even with backup in the cloud) doesn't really seem to mandate monthly payments. And funny enough I was just thinking on "can I get my words out of the program" on my way home from work today lol - I do like the plotting tool they have though.. I guess I can make it myself in.. some program though.


I'm giving this a bash: http://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/

I don't seem to be able to edit my one sentence summary though.

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## tilt

Dammit ... I just realised that I need to draw a map for making the book, cause what is a book without a map...  so another big thing for the list to do before november 1st. ...  fun thing though.. but still.. hours of work..  LOL

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## tilt

So, just got challenged by a friend yesterday, so now there's a nice bottle of wine at stake - first to 25.000 words win  :Wink:  .. so I better start plotting  :Smile:

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## Mouse

Good luck, Tilt  :Smile: 

I've decided this is the wrong method for me personally, but I wish all of you all the best.

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## tilt

Thanks Mouse..  and yes, its a special method to basically bring awareness about writing and getting more people to do it. I'm guessing I'm gonna need a lot of editing after and will probably be annoyed that I shouldn't go back and edit along the way. But I see it as a fun way to get a kickstart on that next novel, and if I succeed I will at least have written a lot and gotten a good base for the story down. So I'm in it for the fun - and to get the book going and what comes after.. I'll take that then  :Smile:   ... so I think you should just try it .. for a few days and see how it goes .. then, you can sign out if it really bugs you, but as they say.. "there is no time like the present".. (or November in this case) LOL

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## AsDuskFalls

> Ok, I feel kind of guilty filling up other people's threads with questions, and really I only want to know one thing, but after that the thread is here for people to chit chat about it if they want 
> 
> I started it as a thread in its own right, even though its totally off topic, because there do seem to be a huge number of not just writers here, but also writers who have previously taken part in NaNoWriMo.  And, heck - fantasy maps and books are kind of inextricably linked from my point of view...
> 
> My question is - has anyone ever done this and succeeded in getting to 50,000 words while simultaneously working a new job where they are still very unsure about all the procedures and learning new stuff at the rate of a head full a day?


Like others, I've not been in that exact situation, but I do work full time, with a long-ish commute and a partner who I would rather not ignore for evenings on end for a month and I have had at least one major success in taking part in NaNoWriMo after trying it 3 times. I guess my main response to you is, have you ever done NaNoWriMo before? If not, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you sign up and do as much as you can. One of the keys things that I take away from NaNoWriMo is just how much time I can devote to writing if I set my mind to it. Even though I've been working on a novel idea for over 3 years now, it was only when I committed to NaNoWriMo that I finally wrote more than a few thousand words, a hastily hand-drawn map and some random notes. The other thing to learn from NaNoWriMo is what are the things that crop up that get in the way of your writing? Knowing this can help any budding writer to figure out how, when and where they can write the best/most.

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## Daistallia

Well I'm signed up...

Osakadave

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## tilt

YAY... NaNoWriMo is on! ... already wrote 84 words.. guess I can take a break for a few weeks now LOL  .. hope to see all of you in there  :Smile:   .. just added you Daistallia - love that you're writing about Master Li and the wandering gun saloon  :Smile:

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## Mouse

I say again - good luck everyone  :Smile: 

Don't do what I do and get distracted by adjusting the settings on your writing app... (I have one where you can mess with the background you are writing on, and honestly - its a HUGE distraction!  LOL)

Use a simple app that counts the words and allows you to make notes without having to faff around making new files - another distraction that gets me every time

Strike while the iron is hot.  Don't sit there thinking "WOW!  COOL!" about the film running through your mind, and then go shopping.  Write it as it happens in your dream, or the emotional power of the words will be lost to you after an hour in the average supermarket!

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## tilt

Thanks Mouse, I've ended up on just using word - a never ending long document, simple and no distractions. Yes, I will have to cut and paste scenes manual if I decide to move them, but the program itself is easy to use.   :Smile:  .. I plotted in a notebook during my vacation  :Smile:

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## Mouse

Did you draw the map?

Ah!  Maybe I shouldn't have asked that question - a potential distraction  :Wink: 

Just scribble a five minute sketch if you need one...

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## tilt

LOL... no, I decided that I didn't need a map - at least not a normal one. It's set in a modern city, but distances won't matter much I think, so its mostly protagonists houses and the place of a big corporation - nothing needed to be mapped.   :Smile:   ... and I've just reached the 1667 mark  :Smile:  (another badge down)  :Wink:

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## Mouse

Congratulations!  :Very Happy: 

Keep going - work up a surplus word count in case you have any bad days  :Wink:

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## tilt

I'm going for double every day, cause november is very busy for me, so I'm guessing I will have about half the days available.  :Smile:

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## Straf

Well I've so far managed to rearrange the cheese in the fridge into alphabetical order and there are some rocks in the garden could do with being washed.

I'll start writing just as soon as all of these urgent jobs have been completed  :Razz: 

Only joking. I've managed around 450 words. I started with around 5700 words already written so I'm almost 6200 words into my novel. I should make my aim 56k words.

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## - JO -

My wife impatiently waited till this morning to start her steampunk novel (in Venice, Italy)... She's already at 1995 words...
Since I first heard of NaNoWriMo here, and it's your discussion that gave her the motivation to throw herself in this adventure, I felt compelled to tell you about her progress... and also "thank" you for all this lonely future November evening for me...  :Wink:  ... Probably lots of map coming in from me these 30 next days !  :Very Happy:

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## Straf

Steampunk while surrounded by Venice? I can imagine that working very well really. I bet it's just full of inspiration  :Smile: 

I've got to about 1200 words so far and I've started having a few problems. The autosave on Focuswriter is doing really odd things on Dropbox so I've had to set it to the hard drive. I guess I could put the folder to back up to my BT cloud storage account as that's 1TB (a perk of having their fibre broadband service). I might switch to using Open Office or something.

I have noticed that my writing rate is around 500 per hour and that's in difficult areas. I'm hoping it picks up as I just write stuff. My characters are having stupid conversations because I'm really crap at doing dialogue but I suppose that's something I can work on later. I know what they're saying and why they're saying it I just don't like how they're saying it.

You should join us JO, you could write an account of an invasion of Geneva by cheese makers (blessed be they) of Haute-Savoie due to an argument over the quality of Raclette served up. You could write it from the points of view of people on both sides.  :Very Happy:

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## tilt

I'm at almost 2000 now, still going strong.. just had to pause to play one of the new games with the family "Professor Evil and the Citadel of Time" hows that for a title for a novel though  :Smile:  

Steampunk Venice... sounds very intriguing, and as something I'd love to read when its done  :Smile:  

Straf, remember.. not to edit - just write  :Smile:  .. as soon as you've cleaned the gutters and sorted the cereals by size of course  :Wink:

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## - JO -

I don't think I'm good at writing, though the plot you brought is full of opportunities.. I could add a war between the Duke of Raclette agains those bastards subjects of the Earl of Fondue ?... And on top of that a succession machination between Geneva, Swiss and Haute-Savoie to claim the rights of being the inventor of Raclette ? And, sadly, it's not even far fetched, as there are a juridical fight to know who has the right to claim it's cheese "original raclette" !!! 

Nevertheless, I'll let my wife go on with her novel, called : "Le Physionaute"..

If you want to make friend with her, she's in NanoWriMo under the name "A_Girl_Has_No_Name"... and now you know why I married her  :Very Happy:

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## Straf

Just over 1700 for me. I'm ignoring my editor and internal critic and just getting on with it. I can iron out inconsistencies and plot holes later. I'll stop for something to eat soon. I might have to get some pizza - it's good writing food is pizza  :Wink:

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## Straf

JO - a bear playing a harp?  :Very Happy: 

I went to a fancy dress party dressed as a harp but the host said "Aren't you a bit small?" so I said "Are you calling me a lyre?"  :Wink:

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## tilt

> JO - a bear playing a harp? 
> I went to a fancy dress party dressed as a harp but the host said "Aren't you a bit small?" so I said "Are you calling me a lyre?"


Ba Doom!   :Wink:

----------


## Mouse

> Ba Doom!


Tushshshshshsh..........

LOL!

Will you lot just get on with the writing before I wet myself? LMAO  :Laughing:

----------


## Straf

Shouldn't you be going clip-clippity-clop on a stair in a windmill somewhere?  :Razz:

----------


## - JO -

I did catch the Lyre joke... But I was lost on the clip-clippity-clop on a stair in a windmill somewhere... Then, it's always less funny if you have to explain it !

And she loves that bear with the harp, "don't judge a book on the cover" seems to be the message she wants to send to the world !

Personaly, I more that kind of bear...

----------


## Straf

JO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fg7w49UnGA

 :Wink:

----------


## - JO -

Well... I'm glad I didn't knew that one... until now, it is...
And of course you have to listen to song until the very end, it's priceless !

Thanks for this dive into the very firsts video clips... The style sure has changed, but the spirit lives on : girls dancing on the music... the basics !

----------


## Daistallia

838 words.

Not much, but better than my previous record of zero. :p

----------


## Diamond

Well, I'm in.  I'm ThatDiamondGuy, should anyone be interested.  

I decided to go with a portal fantasy story called "The Guns of Cibola", about a modern family on a reunion/vacation in the American Southwest who get transported to a parallel Earth where Cibola, El Dorado, etc etc exist.  Fun times ensue.

Actually, forget Guns.  It's not fleshed out enough in my head to make it worthwhile to pursue.  I decided to go SciFi instead:

https://nanowrimo.org/participants/t...allels-1366429

----------


## rdanhenry

Welcome to the party, Diamond.

2146 words on day one. This may be the only time I've started the month ahead on my word count.

----------


## tilt

yeah Diamond, added you as a buddy  :Smile:  your story sounds very interesting  :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

There's quite a little party of Guild artist-writers doing NaNoWriMo this year!  :Smile: 

I'm not taking part this time around (have boring real life stuff to do under the watchful eye of 'Big Brother'), but I do wish you all the very best.

That story looks really interesting, D  :Smile: 

And Straf!  Will you please stop polishing those cheeses!

----------


## ladiestorm

Well, I ditched the book I had already started on,  my challenge map spurred me on to try to recreate the series I lost back in college.  So I'm attempting to rewrite the first book, The Silver Creast.  I completely forgot to write yesterday, but I got some in since I was up with yet another 'minor' sinus issue.  Only 833 words so far, but hey, at least I'm writing again!

----------


## DanielHasenbos

I'm doing nothing with NaNoWriMo, but this thread is pure gold. Love reading how you guys are all excited by it. Might stop by and see what you're all working on.

----------


## Diamond

My cat was determined to stop any writing last night by refusing to get out of my lap, but I eventually banished her and cranked out 1100 words or so.  Not too bad.

----------


## Mouse

For someone who wasn't intending to enter this year, that's pretty excellent  :Smile:

----------


## tilt

Yay, everyone is getting their words on (paper)  :Wink:  ... Girl-has-no-name really grinding into the work there Jo  :Smile:  ... I've fallen behind my personal schedule of 3500 words a day (cause November is busy so half the days for the task), but have written 4000 - should be writing now but just feeling tired so I think I'll go watch some Stranger Things and eat some chocolate  :Wink:  .. And its easy to find the right chocolate cause Straf swung by and sorted them all.  :Smile:

----------


## - JO -

So, you just missed the 4000 she just added ...  :Wink: 
She was feeling inspired tonight and decided to take some advance for the other days she won’t be able to write (at least not so much), same technique than yours... chocolate included...

----------


## Straf

At this rate she'll be finished next week! 10,000 words already  :Surprised:

----------


## LordCartoart

I'm not participating, and all this talk of NaNoWriMo and writing thousands of words in one sitting is starting to make my normal 500-words-per-day goal seem rather microscopic.  :Razz: 

Good luck, guys!  :Wink:

----------


## Mouse

I'm just waiting for the explosion of maps there's going to have to be at the end of it all before they publish and become world famous authors  :Very Happy:

----------


## LordCartoart

Hmmm... I wonder how many there will be?
   There's around 400,000 participants and judging from last year's turnout, there will be around 35,000 finished books. 13% of books written are Fantasy Fiction and most Fantasy Fiction books have maps.
   Therefore, there will be about 4,500 Fantasy Fiction books written in this NaNoWriMo and most of these will have maps.

----------


## Mouse

I was looking forward to another Diamond spectacular to go on his author's page, but I see what you mean!  There's a vast potential market out there for the pro mappers  :Very Happy: 

Maybe a whole load more of us are going to end up getting unwittingly involved in this thing from the mapping end?

I wonder why there isn't a sudden glut of requests shortly after its over?

(Maybe there is, but I don't notice it because I'm not a pro)

----------


## tilt

> Hmmm... I wonder how many there will be?
>    There's around 400,000 participants and judging from last year's turnout, there will be around 35,000 finished books. 13% of books written are Fantasy Fiction and most Fantasy Fiction books have maps.
>    Therefore, there will be about 4,500 Fantasy Fiction books written in this NaNoWriMo and most of these will have maps.


That's a lot of maps  :Smile:  - of course, I'm writing fantasy, but not doing a map. I'm keeping the city it happens in non-descript (other than payments are in dollars).  :Smile:

----------


## Straf

I've just broken through 5000 words for NaNoWriMo and over 10k words in total - I'd already written 5700 words before November started. Anyway 10k words in and I might be doing a battle scene. Yeah death, blood and camp followers selling chips and gravy.

----------


## tilt

YaY gravy battle and selling of blood... sounds wonderful  :Smile:

----------


## Daistallia

> I've just broken through 5000 words for NaNoWriMo and over 10k words in total - I'd already written 5700 words before November started. Anyway 10k words in and I might be doing a battle scene. Yeah death, blood and camp followers selling chips and gravy.


Channeling Sir Pterry, I see...

----------


## - JO -

> I've just broken through 5000 words for NaNoWriMo and over 10k words in total - I'd already written 5700 words before November started. Anyway 10k words in and I might be doing a battle scene. Yeah death, blood and camp followers selling chips and gravy.


That sounds like a real challenge ! I'd like to read your battle !!!

----------


## Straf

I may have lied about the chips and gravy. It's a northern thing, and maybe Scottish too. Whenever I mention chips and gravy down here people screw their faces up.

That's chips as in French fries (but fatter) not chips as in crisps. Although salt and vinegar crisps dipped in gravy might be quite nice...

----------


## Mouse

I prefer chilli on chips with cheese on top, and I'm a born southerner  :Razz: 

Great going on those word counts, guys... and gal!  :Smile:

----------


## Straf

Jo's wife is on 14063 at the moment and her profile picture has a halo on it  :Very Happy:

----------


## Mouse

Lummey!  Looks like she's going for the full sized fantasy novel in one go!

----------


## Diamond

I'm at around 7000.  I may be starting a new job later this month, so I'd best write while there's time...

----------


## Mouse

According to my spreadsheet everyone should be at least 6667 words into their novel by now, so you are already slightly ahead, D.

I have to confess.  I started doing it anyway, even though I'll probably only get to about 10,000 or so.

Its a complete re-write of something I got half way through and decided was utter rubbish a couple of years ago.  I think I know what went wrong back then, so I'm doing it again  :Wink:

----------


## Daistallia

> I prefer chilli on chips with cheese on top, and I'm a born southerner


Mmmmmm... chili chese fries.

----------


## Mouse

I spent way too long polishing my new NaNoWriMo avatar image to do any writing this morning!

(my equivalent of sorting the cheeses into alphabetical order  :Razz:  )

I will try to do a bit more to catch up this afternoon!

After all - I've done most of the maps already, so I should know how this novel goes by now! LOL!

----------


## rdanhenry

> I spent way too long polishing my new NaNoWriMo avatar image to do any writing this morning!


Sounds like some pretty creative procrastinating. You can award yourself a badge for that.

----------


## Diamond

Yeah Mousie, I saw that you 'buddied' me on the NaNo site and I was like, "Heyyyyyy, she said she wasn't gonna participate!"   :Very Happy:

----------


## Mouse

I won't have time to do the full 50,000, but it looked like too much fun to miss out  :Smile:

----------


## tilt

> According to my spreadsheet everyone should be at least 6667 words into their novel by now, so you are already slightly ahead, D.
> 
> I have to confess.  I started doing it anyway, even though I'll probably only get to about 10,000 or so.
> 
> Its a complete re-write of something I got half way through and decided was utter rubbish a couple of years ago.  I think I know what went wrong back then, so I'm doing it again


Yay... go Mouse!  :Smile:   ... I'm at 7000 now, but took the weekend off and have instead held a party for my friends Saturday and relaxed the hell out of life Sunday  :Smile:   ... and Jo's wife has passed 20000 .. damn...

----------


## Mouse

Thanks tilt  :Very Happy: 

I did say I reckoned that 'A Girl has no name' was going for the full 120,000 word fantasy novel.  According to my spreadsheet she's bang on target for that higher number today at 20,000  :Wink: 

You're doing pretty great yourself - you all are.  

I'm limping along behind on just 3555 at the moment, but I'll see if I can put in an extra effort tonight and make it all the way to 4000  :Smile:

----------


## Diamond

Just passed 9000, with almost an entire day left in my weekend.  Well, except for the three hours or so I have to set aside to watch my team lose to the Raiders tonight...

----------


## Straf

I'm struggling. I've done 12000 words of this story but only around 6000 or so for the month and I've lost all my momentum. I think I've tried to force a change too early, to make something happen, and it's disrupted my flow or something.

----------


## - JO -

Hey ?! What happened to the battle ? Did the the looser of the confrontation finally was the author ?

I hope you'll find your flow back... watching my wife, I realized that you only write a draft... if anything bugs you, just go on... and come back to it later, maybe the solution will present itself ?!

I just say that becaus I was kind of hoping to read the story of a good battle !

----------


## ChickPea

I'm not taking part in this, but I'm sending good thoughts to all of you who are! Also some chips & cheese. Or maybe a munchy box.

----------


## Straf

That's the bit that's got to me I think. The battle is huge and I can't work it through in my mind. It's going to be a major point in the story and one that shifts the political attitudes of the whole land. Maybe I'll skip to the outcome and then what happens in the aftermath, then I can put the battle in later.

----------


## Mouse

Hey Straf  :Smile: 

Don't be so hard on yourself.  

Take a very short breather or something and come back to it fresh again tomorrow.

You could always lower your sights just a bit and aim for 25000, or 10,000 like me.  That's still a worthy achievement.  

And who knows - maybe 10,000 words written with more care than 50,000 words written in a mad dash will be closer to the finished draft and a better base to work on the rest of the book at your leisure.

Does anyone know if we can continue to write after the month is over - Continue the record on NaNoWriMo, I mean?

----------


## Mouse

> I'm not taking part in this, but I'm sending good thoughts to all of you who are! Also some chips & cheese. Or maybe a munchy box.


LOL! Thanks ChickPea.  I'm feeling quite hungry now!

Any chance of a bacon butty?

----------


## tilt

> Thanks tilt 
> I'm limping along behind on just 3555 at the moment, but I'll see if I can put in an extra effort tonight and make it all the way to 4000


You made it past 5000 I can see - good work  :Smile: 




> Just passed 9000, with almost an entire day left in my weekend.  Well, except for the three hours or so I have to set aside to watch my team lose to the Raiders tonight...


Going strong D  :Smile: 




> I'm not taking part in this, but I'm sending good thoughts to all of you who are! Also some chips & cheese. Or maybe a munchy box.


Thanks a bunch  :Smile: 




> That's the bit that's got to me I think. The battle is huge and I can't work it through in my mind. It's going to be a major point in the story and one that shifts the political attitudes of the whole land. Maybe I'll skip to the outcome and then what happens in the aftermath, then I can put the battle in later.


Maybe you can just write some very general notes of the battle (like a quick timeline) if you need those and then, as mouse suggests, jump on to easier parts of the story. You CAN make it *plays Eye of the Tiger*

----------


## Mouse

Rats!  The inner critic has got me!

I've spent all day editing what I've already written, and I'm only now getting down to adding some fresh new words!

Straf calls it the Inner Critic.  I call it a pain in the neck!  LOL!

----------


## Kier

> Rats!  The inner critic has got me!
> 
> I've spent all day editing what I've already written, and I'm only now getting down to adding some fresh new words!
> 
> Straf calls it the Inner Critic.  I call it a pain in the neck!  LOL!


You can't edit on these things!!!! You know better than that, lol.

Write, write, write.

That's why I don't do these. I have no problem writing, I always stall out during the edit stages.

----------


## Mouse

Oh you know how it starts.  You decide to re-read what you wrote yesterday so you get back into the flow, and you spot a comma that's in the wrong place, so you put it right.  But doing that makes the sentence a bit of an odd shape, so you switch the phrases around till it looks better.  That, of course, makes the paragraph a bit strange, so you end up messing with the whole paragraph - rewording phrases, rewriting whole sentences.  And then when you've got the paragraph straight, you realise it no longer fits between the ones above and below it.

And so the editing spreads throughout your chapter like a fire consuming the words, and before you know it you've confused yourself, got someone dying before they were born, and you have to bin the whole mess and start again.

how many times have I done this to myself?

I've lost count!

----------


## Diamond

Solid plan, Straf.  Don't get bogged down, just get on with the other bits and come back to it.  Skate across the quicksand, don't swim in it!

----------


## rdanhenry

> Does anyone know if we can continue to write after the month is over - Continue the record on NaNoWriMo, I mean?


Well, you can certainly continue writing. Once the month is over, there's goal trackers. Look under your Author Info page, then tab to Goal Trackers. I haven't looked up the details of how they work, but the pull down menus offer the full year, so they should be usable at any time. As far as NaNoWriMo "success", its the words written in November that count. They have continued a gradual expansion of support for writing beyond the month of November, however, and I expect they'll continue to have more events and independently usable tools down the road.

----------


## Mouse

Hmmm...

I think I've blown it.

I had a much better idea for chapter 1 and did a re-write.  End result - I'm down to 2000 words where I had nearly 6000 before.  

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to move on if there's a tangle in my script until I've put it right!

Once I get past that score I will continue updating, but its another couple of days wasted!

----------


## tilt

> Hmmm...
> I think I've blown it.
> I had a much better idea for chapter 1 and did a re-write.  End result - I'm down to 2000 words where I had nearly 6000 before.  
> Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to move on if there's a tangle in my script until I've put it right!
> Once I get past that score I will continue updating, but its another couple of days wasted!


As the famous song says.. "let it go.. let it go.. .don't edit cause it's slow"  :Wink:

----------


## Mouse

LOL! 

I know! I know!

I've got back up to 4000 now, so it may only be a day wasted  :Wink:

----------


## Diamond

She knows she should let it go
Because editing is soooo slow
She knows, she knows
She should just go with the flow
But then doubt grows
And workflow slows
Because she can't let it go.



 :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

LOL!

I can see you've got your 'writing head' on, D  :Very Happy: 

Thanks!

----------


## Diamond

Any time, Mousie.   :Very Happy:   :Very Happy:

----------


## tainotim

Good to see that so many are trying their hands on this, and I sympathize with the struggle. This is pretty hard! I'm working on it myself, but haven't shared on the website. Currently at around 15 000 words, so slightly behind the preferred amount at the 10th day. Going to be hard to catch up! 

Keep up the good work everyone.

Cheers,
Karl

----------


## Mouse

Good luck Tainotim  :Very Happy: 

I think you are actually one of the leaders in our little group!  The only one who's way ahead is Joel's lass (A_Girl_Has_No_Name).  She's already over 27,000  :Shocked:   :Smile:

----------


## Larb

I am bad and didn't notice there was a NaNoWriMo thread.

To answer the OP question - I have participated many times. I have never made it to 50,000 words.

This year I opted to write an anthology of short stories. I've already finished a couple. I don't expect to make it to 50,000 but I already feel more satisfied with my progress. And I seem to be a better short story writer anyway.

----------


## Mouse

I don't think there is a special NaNoWriMo thread normally.

What a brilliant idea - doing a series of short stories!  Good luck with the total.

I've begun to realise that I have a perfectionist streak when it comes to writing, and I just can't seem to dash on ahead without editing everything I've already written at least once.  So I'm kind of failing miserably because although I'm probably writing about 2000 words a day, most of it is re-writing what I wrote the day before!  LOL!

Its done one good thing for me, though.  Its got me started again, after many months of doing nothing at all  :Wink:

----------


## Diamond

I went over 10K today.  I expect to do another 3-4K over the weekend.

Mouse: What I did this week was edit what I wrote last weekend.  My commute is so long that by the time I get home I'm pretty brain-blasted and in no mood to write new words, but I'm still keyed up from work, so I'm able to focus on cleaning up the previous week's haul.  It helps that I have three full days to write each week since I don't work Fridays.  It's worked so far; let's see what the rest of the month brings.

----------


## Straf

> I went over 10K today.  I expect to do another 3-4K over the weekend.
> 
> Mouse: What I did this week was edit what I wrote last weekend.  My commute is so long that by the time I get home I'm pretty brain-blasted and in no mood to write new words, but I'm still keyed up from work, so I'm able to focus on cleaning up the previous week's haul.  It helps that I have three full days to write each week since I don't work Fridays.  It's worked so far; let's see what the rest of the month brings.


You're Robinson Crusoe and I claim my five pounds. You know, the bloke who had all of his work done by Friday  :Wink: 

I haven't done any writing for a week. I was pressuring myself into sitting down and getting on with it but it was making me anxious so I 'released' myself from the burden and I'm feeling a lot better for it. Also I can see through the oven door again after giving it a proper good cleaning  :Very Happy:  NaNoWriMo has its benefits but I don't think I'm going to reach 50k words in a month, it's just not my way.

----------


## Mouse

Congratulations D, and good luck  :Very Happy:  

I think I've gotten too far behind now, what with failing to start until day 4 anyway.  

I was starting to have the same problem as Straf.  In my case I wasn't sleeping.  I'm still coming down off total insomnia now. I might have been able to cope with it 25 years ago, but after a couple of weeks of not sleeping more than 2-3 hours a night I just can't write - not anything that's worth reading anyway  :Razz: 

But I'm still watching you all  :Very Happy:

----------


## rdanhenry

I have only had one day where I haven't hit 2000 words, so this is easily the best position I've been in at this point in the month. All of my previous wins have involved some degree of mad sprint near the end to catch up some amount, but I believe I may be done in advance of the 30th this year, baring disaster. Not just over 50,000 words, but with a completed story.

----------


## tilt

I am falling behind as well, as Diamond I have a long commute, so when I return home, and have fed the kids my brain can just about handle watching a little tv..  and this friday was huge office x-mas party which left me .. tired... saturday  :Smile:  ... But today I'm writing and I'm hoping to reach at least 15.000 today..  (almost at ten now).   :Smile:  
Good luck to all of you, keep writing.. and Mouse, stop all that editing.. take a deep breath and tell yourself.. I can get back to that  :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

Wow!  That's a lot of words in one day.  

Good luck with it, tilt  :Smile: 

The other problem I've got (and one which I didn't have until I was shown the Guild 18 months ago) is that I'm torn between mapping and writing  :Razz:

----------


## tilt

> Wow!  That's a lot of words in one day.  
> Good luck with it, tilt 
> The other problem I've got (and one which I didn't have until I was shown the Guild 18 months ago) is that I'm torn between mapping and writing


thanks... and boy, do I know what you talk about..  still wanna finish my city, but I know I have to write. And right now I'm following Straf's school of prograstination  :Wink:  lol

----------


## Mouse

Not.... cleaning the oven!  :Shocked:   :Razz:

----------


## tilt

> Not.... cleaning the oven!


I'm not that crazy, but I've planned by youngest birthday party, checked facebook, looked at a gaming table I'd like to get a carpenter to make me (cause the ones in greece - which are beautiful - are to expensive to me), checked facebook, read Dean R. Koontz mail concerning writing for NaNoWriMo, read a few articles, checked facebook a little more, ordered two books (Brandon Sanderson and Peter V. Brett), checked in here again...  so a tad prograstinating... always had a knack for it LOL

----------


## Mouse

LOL!

Funny you should say that.  I'm currently listening to 'The Daylight War'.

Which means I have to map.  Can't write my own book while listening to someone else's  :Laughing: 

I might already have listened all the way through the first two books, but the jury is still out on what I think about them.

----------


## tilt

I think they are pretty good. I really liked the first one and now I've just ordered the final one. Yes, they are not perfect, but I like the story and love the concept. 
Also looking very much forward to the third book of Brandons epic "Stormlight Archive"... that is just goddamn fine reading - love all his books  :Smile:  ... but at the moment I'm reading the final book of "Fitz and the Fool" trilogy - I so love Robin Hobbs writing, goes straight to your heart that one does  :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

I've read most of Robin Hobb's books - all that are available through my library anyway.

I don't think I've read Brandon.  I'll see what there is when I've finished with The Daylight War.  Thanks for the recommendation - even if its just another form of procrastination in my case  :Smile:

----------


## tilt

LOL.. start with Mistborn trilogy, they are a quick read and show off his skill  :Smile:  .. he's very action packed in his writing, you can see the "movie" rolling in your mind  :Smile:

----------


## Diamond

Just hit 14K (well... two words short  :Confused:  ).  I don't think I'll hit 50K, but this has actually motivated me to really WRITE, so even if I don't make it, it was totally worth it.

----------


## Mouse

Wow - a 4000 word leap!  Congratulations  :Very Happy: 

And I've just come down with an almighty head cold!  LOL!

Nothing like trying to imagine stuff when your head is pounding  :Razz:

----------


## rdanhenry

Well, if you don't make it to 50,000 words this year, there's always next year.

----------


## Diamond

I wrote almost 1000 words at work today.  Slow Monday... better enjoy those while I can, the holidays will put an end to _that_.

----------


## Mouse

Holidays?

You must be one of those people who volunteer to work over Christmas!  (I worked every Christmas for 6 years in a row when I last had a job, but it can be quite good fun in a care home  :Smile:  )

Maybe it won't be as bad as all that, with everyone else in all the other companies also taking holidays  :Wink:

----------


## Diamond

Unfortunately I am an optician.  Unfortunate because opticians don't get any downtime from late November through March, as everyone is trying to frantically use up their insurance benefits and flex spending monies.  We're closed on the actual holidays, but the last two new year's eves have been a f**king slog.  The year before last, new year's eve of 2015, I was at work from about 7AM to almost 11PM.  Bleh.

----------


## Mouse

I think things are a bit different in the UK.  We don't have insurance benefits to be using them up, so I guess opticians in the UK take leave whenever they like.

----------


## Diamond

Damn you, UK opticians.  Damn you.  Now get off my lawn.  *shakes fist*

----------


## tilt

So "Girl has no name" has passed the 50k mark - congrats to her.. R.D.Henry has passed 40k and Diamond is past 20k now...  I'm way behind with 15k but working hard to catch up, and finish on time (probably in the last minute)  :Smile:

----------


## Diamond

I definitely won't finish, but I'm proud of myself nonetheless.  This has been a good experience and a good motivator.  And good job to the rest of you!

----------


## Mouse

Congratulations A_Girl_Has_No_Name!  :Very Happy: 

You must be feeling tremendously proud of your lady, Joel  :Very Happy: 

Tilt... Diamond... Keep it up!  Well done everyone  :Smile: 

I'm afraid I gave up long ago, but there's always next year  :Smile:

----------


## - JO -

Thanks Mouse !

Yes, she's quite happy ! She is close to finish her story, probably in the next days. I've read 9 chapters (the story holds in 11 chapter and an epilogue) and I find it quite good...

It changes because usually she writes a chapter and make corrections just after, so I squally reads a almost finished story. But with Nanowrimo, n corrections.. so the story is a draft, but still pleasant to read !

She’s still trying to understand how the « month of correction «  (?) works... if you have indications, we would be glad to read about it

----------


## tilt

Congrats to rdanhenry on winning as well and I can see Diamond has passed 30000 words now.  :Smile: 
 I have just passed 20k so a bit more to go in these last few days. I'm skeptical but haven't given up hope yet. At least I'm close to winning that bottle of wine in the bet with my friend of getting first to 25k  :Wink:  

Mouse - yep, there is always next year  :Smile:

----------


## Diamond

Congrats Rdan!  And Jo's girl... wow.  Impressive.

----------


## rdanhenry

Yeah, any time now, I can just write "Then, rocks fell on them and they died." and call it done and relax as a NaNoWriMo 2017 Winner.

What I actually did to celebrate hitting 50,000 was order a couple of winner shirts for this year.

----------


## tilt

> Yeah, any time now, I can just write "Then, rocks fell on them and they died." and call it done and relax as a NaNoWriMo 2017 Winner.
> 
> What I actually did to celebrate hitting 50,000 was order a couple of winner shirts for this year.


LOL, sounds like a great ending  :Wink: 

and nice with the shirts - I saw they tried to get us to buy them beforehand and I didn't really think that would be good - you win, you buy  :Smile:

----------


## tilt

Loooong writing weekend brought me to exactly 30000 words as I set the last full stop  :Smile:

----------


## - JO -

> Congrats Rdan!  And Jo's girl... wow.  Impressive.


Thanks Diamond ! I'll let her know !

Actually she finished the story with 55’545 words, and now she's adding some « flesh and muscles » to some parts of the story. She was really surprised and happy to finish the challenge, so it's all good for her.
Here, in the French part of Nanowrimo, they made a proposition : each one who's finished with his or her story sends it to another one (who sends his or her back) so they read and make critics and comments to each other. 
I think she'll try that to have another look than men on her story..
Is it he same in the other countries ?

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## - JO -

> Yeah, any time now, I can just write "Then, rocks fell on them and they died." and call it done and relax as a NaNoWriMo 2017 Winner.
> 
> What I actually did to celebrate hitting 50,000 was order a couple of winner shirts for this year.


Congrats ! (I transmit my wife congratulations to you) !

She liked your last words very much !

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## - JO -

> Loooong writing weekend brought me to exactly 30000 words as I set the last full stop


Hey ! Congrats on finishing your story ! 

After all, it's the point in this Nanowrimo, isn’t it ?
 I think it doesn’t matter if your story is shorter than 50'000 words, if it’s a good one !

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## tilt

> Hey ! Congrats on finishing your story ! 
> 
> After all, it's the point in this Nanowrimo, isn’t it ?
>  I think it doesn’t matter if your story is shorter than 50'000 words, if it’s a good one !


oh, my bad... I meant for the weekend LOL ... I thought of felt that ending at exactly 30000 was a sign that I could stop for the day/evening...  :Smile:  I'm at it again in a few minutes  :Smile:  ... but thanks - and congrats on the wife, she has worked fast ):

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## - JO -

Sorry I didn’t catch your phrase !

30’000 in a weekend ???? Wow ! That’s inspiration !

Very good job ! Congratulations are really in order !

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## tilt

> Sorry I didn’t catch your phrase !
> 
> 30’000 in a weekend ???? Wow ! That’s inspiration !
> 
> Very good job ! Congratulations are really in order !


LOL... unfortunately no, I had 16000 down before the weekend, so waaaayyyy behind... but I caught up nicely I think... I'm at 35000 now... so 5000 a day the last 3 days and I'm there  :Smile:  .. wife's birthday today though, so I don't think I'm going to get a full 5k today  :Smile:

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## tilt

YEAY... 50000 words  :Smile:

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## Mouse

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!  :Very Happy: 

I was just looking at the counts about an hour ago, and saw that you had less than a thousand left to get there.

Diamond is nearly at 40,000, which is nothing to sniff at - not when I never even got as far as 10,000  :Razz: 

So there are now three of you winners  :Very Happy: 

When do you think you will be publishing your novel?

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## tilt

Thanks Mouse  :Smile:  ... first I gotta sleep a lot  :Wink:  ... then I have to actually finish and not just pass 50k, cause it still needs a few extra chapters I think. Then editing and getting someone who actually is a native english speaker to edit it after that. Then it might be ripe for reading  :Wink:  BUT, damn it feels good to make NaNoWriMo  :Smile:

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## Mouse

Well, if your comments here at the Guild are anything to go by, your English is probably better than mine  :Wink:

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## rdanhenry

Well, I didn't quite hit the 60,000 words I was going for, but at 59,805 words, I came close. It was my most productive NaNoWriMo yet, and I was always on a winning pace. I still need to finish a fair amount of writing, as sixty thousand words turned out to be an optimistic guess as to when it would wind up. I am thinking I'll end up in the 65-70,000 word range. Also, I realized that I messed up a short scene that I need to rewrite to cover the correct event being foretold. Then, I need to move the reveal for the information I incorrectly used to another place, since I still need to have the heroes forewarned. But I know generally what needs to happen, so there will be no problem wrapping it up in December while not eating up too much time for me to work on other projects and fulfill my holiday obligations.

To my fellow winners, congratulations! To those who tried and got something written without making the 50,000 word mark, condolences and congratulations. To those who fell short and those who did not participate, I remind you: There's always next year!

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## tilt

Congrats rdanhenry, - almost 60000 - cool  :Smile:

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## Diamond

I found it amazing what a little fear could inspire - I'd get home from work every night and think "Damn, gotta get some words in or I'll fall behind!"  I mean, I knew I wasn't going to hit 50K, but I got a LOT closer than I expected.  It helped having all you guys and gals around as motivation too!

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## tilt

You came really close though D, great work and yes, totally agree.. only I tend to procrastinate if the deadline is a month away.. I really picked it up in the last week where I went from 14k Saturday morning and to 50k Thursday just before midnight LOL  :Smile:  The last day I wrote 10k words after I came home from work.

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## Diamond

Huzzah for tilt, I say!  Huzzah!!

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## tilt

LOL ... everyone who's written a single word deserves a big cheer - that's one word more for literacy  :Smile:

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## Mouse

That's very kind of you Tilt, though personally I feel I failed pretty badly!  LOL!

Congratulations!

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## Diamond

No you didn't, Mousie.  Not at all.  You went from saying you weren't going to participate to writing almost 8000 words!  That's huge!

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## Mouse

LOL! Ok D - I did a bit more than nothing  :Wink: 

Congratulations on your _huge_ success  :Smile:

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## Straf

Congratulations everyone! I'm afraid I just lost all of my enthusiasm again.

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## - JO -

> Congratulations everyone! I'm afraid I just lost all of my enthusiasm again.


Did you lose yourself on the battlefield ?

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## Jaxilon

Good job guys! I tried this a couple years ago and I always seem to forget about it until it's too late.

This year, I did nothing unless you count lines of code. But I wish I had and so I'll exit the room with my head in shame.

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## Diamond

There's always next year, Jax!  I think I'm going to do it again, now that I've got a taste for it.

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