Thursday 18 August 2011

NaNo - She who dares may hopefully win!

Last week I posted about NaNoWriMo as I am thinking about taking part this year. I listed my concerns and the reasons I wanted to take part and had some really reassuring comments back. You can see the original post and comments here - http://lovestoreadwantstowrite.blogspot.com/2011/08/nanowrimo-dare-i-try-it.html

I have given it a lot of thought and I am 99.9% sure I am going to take part. There, I have said it. Ok, I haven't said I am 100% sure, I have left a little room to back out but I don't think I will. I found it helpful that others said they shared the same concerns and also that they might be give it a try this year.

I guess I had been seeing NaNo as something that would be separate from ROW 80 which seems crazy now and I am sure having a specific NaNo related ROW 80 goal for November as newtowritinggirl suggested in her comment would work well. I am still freaked about the daily required word count (thanks to newtowritinggirl for pointing out it is 1,666 words a day rather than 1,612...how did I get that wrong?!) but I figure I have some time to build up my writing 'stamina' before November.

I have also been considering how to fit in planning my NaNo story as I will need something to go from on the 1st of November but I figure there is room to add this into my ROW 80 goals and work on it between rounds 3 and 4. My biggest fear is not finishing and taking a confidence knock but as newtowritinggirl pointed out, any day that I manage 1,666 words is 1,666 words more than I may have written otherwise. See her recent post about NaNo here http://newtowritinggirl.wordpress.com/ I also have the added motivation to keep going on my current WIP so I get as much written down as possible before November.

Ok, I am going to say it, I am 100% going to do NaNoWriMo this year. Please say you will join me? Kat? Jamila? Lauren? newtowritinggirl? Anyone? Don't leave me out here on a limb!

I wrote this post yesterday in preparation to post today. Overnight I kept thinking about it, swinging between not posting and hiding fom the whole NaNo thing and posting and just giving it a go. I have decided to post this and give it a go. At best I will complete it, at worst I will do some writing on a new project. I might as well give it a go.

11 comments:

  1. Glad you decided to do it. And glad I helped push you in to it!
    I made my decision last night too - or rather my boyfriend talked me into it. Guess I'll have to blog about it soon... and keep you in suspense until then- ha ha ha!
    Thanks for the mentions ;-)

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  2. I would say more of a shove then a push! But thank you for it. Now I need to buy a new notebook for my NaNo story...stationary will help me with the fear!

    Oooooh...love the suspense! Glad you made a decision and look forward to hearing the outcome!

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  3. Yay! So excited you decided to do it! **walks carefully out on a limb with you** I'm in too! You are right. The worst case scenario for anyone doing the challenge is that we will have started something on a new project. And that really isn't that bad a worst case, at least not to me!

    I'm going to be working on a blog post with some thoughts about this and writing goals in general & will likely be mentioning you. (Hopefully, if life cooperates, it will be up sometime over the weekend!) So thanks for the inspiration and continued good luck on your writing!

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  4. Yaaaaay, I think we should set up a ROW80 NaNo support group.

    Also, I would recommend checking out the Plot Whisperer's blog (http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/) She sponsors "PloMoWriMo," international Plot Writing Month, which takes place in December and helps people refine their NaNo stories. She also has a series of youtube vids about plotting, which I've been reading to help me consider how I am going to approach the November tale.

    Squee! I'm excited!

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  5. Yay Kat and Jamila! Lauren tweeted me that she is also in. I love it when a plan comes together!

    Thank you for the tip Jamila, will definately look into the plotwhisperer. I will need all the help I can get to write 50k in a month!

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  6. Wow, all of you! Hoorah! I am not joining you, but I'll gladly cheer from the sidelines!!

    I agree with Jamila--a ROW80NaNo support group--will you let me drop by and cheer?

    Nancy

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  7. Of course you can Nancy! I am sure we will need all the cheerleaders we can get! Thank you for the offer!

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  8. Em! Adding a new challenge? Good for you! I'm going to click over to NaNo and investigate!
    And just like newtowriting said, it will be words added to your WIP (or whatever project) that may not have been added if you had never accepted this challenge.

    Do you have to think up an entirely new story for the NaNo challenge? (I have a novella idea in the wings.....just saying...) I would also want to join in your support group! Belledame ~ Jamila ~ and of course, you ~ are ROW80 pages that I usually check in with every week. I always look forward to reading what you girls are up to!
    Well, fill me in a bit more and I'll do some reading around myself! Talk to you later ~ Nadja

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  9. It is my first time of doing NaNo Nadja so I am not an expert but I think I read on their website they strongly suggest a new project as if it is something you have been working on you will find it hard to simply write and not edit.

    Their website says: "...bringing a half-finished manuscript into NaNoWriMo all but guarantees a miserable month. You'll care about the characters and story too much to write with the gleeful, anything-goes approach that makes NaNoWriMo such a creative rush. Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you'll tap into realms of imagination and intuition that are out-of-reach when working on pre-existing manuscripts."

    The aim is to just get the words down and deal with the rest later! If you have an idea already then that sounds great!

    The challenge scares me as 1,666 words a day is a lot (that number is etched on my brain!) but with the support around me from you guys I am willing to give it my best shot!

    Definately check out the website and let me know what you think! We would love to have you! :)

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  10. Glad to see so many signing up for NaNo this year. As long nothing major happens before then, I plan on being there. See you there!

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