11/02/2005: "Day 1 - 462 Words."

So, yesterday was November 1st, the official start of the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which I signed up for. From their website:

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing....The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30....Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create."

My story is about what happens in the lives of various characters the day after the world isn't destroyed by an asteroid as expected. It's kind of like that scene in the movie "Almost Famous" when they think their plane is crashing so they all start confessing their deepest darkest secrets but then the plane doesn't crash and it's like...AKWARD!

The NaNoWriMo website is fun, you have a profile where you can post an excerpt from your novel and track your overall word count on a graph. Plus you can see who else is participating from your area. I'm not going to quit painting this month, I have some obligations to finish, but I'm going to write at least 1 or 2 hours every night and much more on the weekends.

Wish me luck...btw, my author name in NaNoWriMo is mini-e if there are other participants out there who want to look me up.

Replies: 9 Comments

on Wednesday, November 2nd, Elise said

To Rod: in case you read this, I wasn't awake when you called the other day nor did you wake me up so no worries. I only played your message tonight, I don't always listen to my machine...I had 6 messages waiting for me tonight...ick.

on Thursday, November 3rd, Jim L said

Good luck! I've NaNoWriMoed in even number years (2002, 2004) but not this year. My favorite way of cranking out the words every night: Hold out on making a martini until the day's halfway word count (1667 words), make the martini as a reward, and then sip the martini for the rest of the night's words. Your mileage may vary :-)

Other ruses - write out every contraction, place name, proper name: "Little did Mr. Everett Middleton Shambolic's fellow passengers know that the steam locomotive travelling from Waterloo Station in London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland was not going not to be making it on schedule." See how many words I got to use for such a simple concept?

on Thursday, November 3rd, Elise said

Hey Jim, I'm not currently on schedule to finish on time. So far it's Nov. 3rd and I only have 1,963 words.
:(
I'm planning on cranking out a lot more on the weekend, but any hints you may have are great. Did you ever go back and edit the novels you wrote for NaNoWriMo?

on Thursday, November 3rd, RR said

I hadn't heard of the NaNoWriMo but I think it's a great idea. I guess I'm too late for this one but it gives me a year to start thinking about it. Good luck Elise.

on Thursday, November 3rd, Elise said

It's only Nov. 3rd, there's still plenty of times. And the rules are so loose, the only thing they're trying to do is to encourage people to write.

I think you should go for it!

on Thursday, November 3rd, Jim L said

Okay, first hint - do not fall behind too much! It is murder trying to make it up.

Second hint. Don't ever think you or anybody else would actually want to READ any of it when you are done. The most fun is talking *about* the process with friends/family. We did Nanowrimo parties that were a blast because we were all going through it together.

Third Hint used by a friend of mine: Park yourself in a public space and just start describing the people in it and try to fit the locale into your book - he found it really greased the wheel!

on Thursday, November 3rd, Elise said

Hey Jim, those are some excellent suggestions. I may try to do that, go sit in a cafe and people watch. I suppose even doing some character development without knowing exactly where it might fit in later is ok too.

And I was thinking about the not getting too far behind part. I still haven't written at all yet today, I better get started!

on Friday, November 4th, RR said

Definitely don't think I have time to start from so far behind this year but Jim's hints and your enthusiasm makes me want to try next year........now there's planning for you :D

on Saturday, November 5th, Elise said

Well, I know for a fact I won't finish with 50,000 words but I'm going to try and write everyday this month. That in itself is a pretty good goal.

Anyway, I'll look forward to you being in it next year, we can be "writing buddies"
:hehe: