National Novel Writing Month (US) Starts In About An Hour

[guest509]

I'm going to write a super hero novel.

Fun times.

Anything I ever write will be considered open source for any and all hobby game designs. Dunno if that will ever matter, but I'd love it if someone made a game based on my stories.

Who else is joining?

[Vanguard]

Never heard of this before.  Sounds cool though. Good luck with your superhero story.

[Samildanach]

I did it in 2005 but not since. These days it intimidates me. Maybe this year I should give it another go.

[AgingMinotaur]

I was actually thinking about this as I got up this morning. Good luck, Jo! And anyone else who might be joining. Writing a novel in a single month strikes me as a feat of superheroism in itself; I guess I'll just be trudging along in my own Intracephalic Novel Writing Decade

As always,
Minotauros

[Samildanach]

I was actually thinking about this as I got up this morning. Good luck, Jo! And anyone else who might be joining. Writing a novel in a single month strikes me as a feat of superheroism in itself; I guess I'll just be trudging along in my own Intracephalic Novel Writing Decade

As always,
Minotauros

It's quite a feat, certainly. You have to write so quickly that it forces you to just create on the fly without worrying about whether what you're writing is good. There were parts of my 2005 novel that I didn't remember writing or thinking of, even just minutes after doing so!

A number of people meticulously plan out the novel and then just type it up during November. That seems to be not in the spirit of the endeavour, in my opinion. I'd feel I was cheating. I start with nothing but one prompt word or one mental image, and see what happens.

[Krice]

You have to write so quickly that it forces you to just create on the fly without worrying about whether what you're writing is good.

It's much like 7DRL then. I actually tried it once and developed an idea of a scifi novel that has haunted me since then.

[guest509]

I have just as many story ideas as I have little game ideas. Infinite amounts.

For this I started with the bones of an outline. Meaning I had some characters in mind, some scenes, a beginning, an end. How I get my characters from beginning to end will be my adventure!

I am about 10% done right now after a slow start, but it's coming on strong now. I'm to the first major plot point, that point in every story when things get moving. Think Luke in Starwars, his family is killed, and he goes off on adventure. In the 'act' structure it's the end of the 1st act.

I like designing stories as much as I like designing games I think, but writing is much smoother than programming. I think I'm better at it too, I'm a poor coder.

[guest509]

Well I failed sorta, I got a solid 20k words that I'm very happy with, and will be finishing up by New Years. I also got 3 card game designs roughed out somehow.

All in all November was productive, and I learned a shit ton, but unfortunately I did not get the 50k required for the challenge. I did at least that many words, but not on a single story.

As I improve my speed will also improve and more will be possible.

Seriously seeing the piles of shit people were producing for the Nanowrimo was depressing more than inspiring. As if the word count were the only goal, and making a story was secondary. All the gamesmanship to get that word count. The community full of depressives and 'artists'. People who need community to create.

It was not a good experience for me. I'll not do that challenge again. No way. It turns something very fun to do into a chore. Fuck that.

I can see how it appeals to people. I thought it would be like the 7DRL, which I love doing. But no, it wasn't a bunch of people having fun and sharing ideas, it was just so many attention starved over feelers. Sorry if that offends anyone, I don't think it will on a technically minded site like this.

From now on I'm sticking to the fringy nerd crowds, and stay away from the emos.

[george]

I've never really understood NaNoWriMo other than how you described it Jo. In all the stuff I've learned the advice always has been go slow at first and then build up speed. So hammering on a story like that for 30 days (if you're not used to it) seems kind of counter-productive.

[Vanguard]

I don't think the goal is to produce the best book you can possibly make.  I think it's mostly about getting in some good practice.  It sounds like a great way to improve your creativity and overcome excessive perfectionism.

[Rickton]

The point of it is to actually get people to sit down and write, rather than endlessly thinking about writing or planning to eventually write something. Or, for people who have no trouble starting, but have trouble finishing, giving them a deadline to work towards to help them actually finish.

I don't think anyone expects (well, anyone who's realistic about it, anyway) that a novel written in only 30 days is going to be perfect, but it might be good enough that more work and editing on it will make it worth reading...and even if not, now you know you can write a novel in 30 days, so you have no more excuses not to take more time to write a better one.

[guest509]

It's a very interesting experience, interesting psychology to it all.

I will ponder what I learned.

Regarding deadlines, I generally need one to do anything on time, but the deadline here sort of ruined the experience of writing for me. Made it not fun.