Monday, October 25, 2010

You Knew It Was Coming...

Yeah, all right, this is my NaNo post. Go ahead, run away screaming. I know I'm going to.

Anyway, I have decided to play in the word vomit this November. Sort of. See, I'm a rule-breaker. I sort of always have been, and this NaNo thing is no different. But I have a serious need to churn out 50,000+ words. Like, last month.

So.

Hello, NaNo, nice to meetcha!

Now for the rule-bending. I've already started my project. I know, I know, you're supposed to start fresh. Well, I'm not going to do that. I'm merely subscribing to the principle of getting the blasted words onto the page. Quickly. Thus, I am going to NaNo.

If the whole rule-bending bothers you, don't buddy me. Cuz I'm so going to kill this. Dead. Deadly dead. If you don't mind a little bit of bending, and want to kill me, er, see if I can actually get 50K in 30 days, buddy me! (My username is emjohns.)

What about you? Have you participated in NaNo before? How'd you do? Do you subscribe to the word vomit philosophy? If not, how do you get your story down in quick fashion?

105 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

This will be my first NaNo. I'll also be working on a current project - the sequel to my book.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to nano!!! This is my second year, and the method that worked best for me was getting as much research and outlining done ahead of time as I could so I could spend the entire month word vomiting.

During november I wouldn't let myself go back and read what I already read (except for the last few paragraphs to refresh my memory of what I was about to write) and I absolutely 100% wouldn't let myself edit.

I ended up winning :D I had a 85k word count on Nov 30.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to nano!!! This is my second year, and the method that worked best for me was getting as much research and outlining done ahead of time as I could so I could spend the entire month word vomiting.

During november I wouldn't let myself go back and read what I already read (except for the last few paragraphs to refresh my memory of what I was about to write) and I absolutely 100% wouldn't let myself edit.

I ended up winning :D I had a 85k word count on Nov 30.

Julia said...

Hey Elana! As you may know - XVI is a NaNo novel! In order to break through the ceiling of the sequel, I might have to participate again! (Even though, like you, it's majorly bending the rules to work on a WIP.) :0

Melissa said...

This is my first year with Nano but I'm doing the same thing as you! I need fifty thousand words and I thought this was an excellent opportunity! YAY for not conforming!

Who cares about starting fresh, the principle is what counts.

Emily White said...

This is my first year doing NaNo and I'm kinda scared. I don't know if I'm capable of word vomiting. We'll see!

Unknown said...

I have, and won before. Can't wait to do it again this year. I believe we're already buddies.

CD

Susanne Winnacker said...

I'll participate in NaNo this year for the very first time. I'm not sure if it's clever to start a new project, since I have two WIPs. Maybe I should just try to get my two WIPs done during NaNo. 50k would do the trick. :D

Anita Saxena said...

I never considered rule breaking. Because I'm in a situation similar to you. I need to do about 40 or 50k and hadn't considered Nano at all. I'll have to think about it.

Theresa Milstein said...

Good luck with your NaNaWriMo WIP. I bet most people start beforehand. The anticipation makes you think about it, so it's hard not to write.

I've never done it. I can write in about 5 weeks, but not 4. Now that I'm in the middle school trenches, I pretty much only write on weekends. But I'll be cheering you and my other blogging friends from the sidelines.

Karen Baldwin said...

NaNo? No,no! Just the thought of it makes my innards churn and my brain freeze. But I'll be rooting for ya.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I never did it. I think it'd be too hard with working. Good luck. Hope you make your goal.

Anonymous said...

I like your phrase 'word vomit.'It accurately describes what I think of the finished product. :-)

What I've found is that while my NaNo writing might be crap (another appropriate visual), the process of mental diarrhea, when subscribed to day after day, can get at some really neat ideas after a while. As I'm writing for NaNo, I keep another file by my side where I jot down the great ideas I think have potential, and then only submit the excrement part. The great ideas file becomes my starting point in December, leaving the NaNo writing to swirl around the bowl before it disappears for good.

Renae said...

I'm still on the fence about joining. I've had some things come up and my schedule is not as clear as I had hoped it would be. But good luck to all who enter. Who knows...a lot can happen in a week and I just might join you!

Lindsay said...

Ooh I love your rule-bending. I kind of want to be the rebel and start early as well. lol.

I'm doing my first NaNo this year so I'll join you on the journey. :)

Christi Goddard said...

I signed up, but I don't know if I'll actually do it. I've got a couple projects already going and November is a busy month for me personally with a week away on vacation, so there's no way I'd meet the goal, anyway.

Golden Eagle said...

Good luck! I haven't done NaNo before, and probably won't be doing it this year.

Unknown said...

Thanks for being my buddy! I too have started early for NaNo, and though it's a fresh story, one I thought of for November, it doesn't mean that I can wait that long... however I'm still following the 30 day rule.

Rule bending is so fun :)

IanBontems said...

Go for it Elana!

I did NaNo last year and while it was fun, I'm not sure if I'm going for it this year. If I do, I'll buddy you as I'll also be cheating and us rule-breakers have to stick together!

My tactics were all the usual stuff, like setting a daily word count goal, and refusing to look back and re-edit everything.
I heard about Write or Die! (http://writeordie.drwicked.com/)
That tries to force you to write, but I sometimes use a timer on my PC to stop me procrastinating and get typing.

Michelle McLean said...

the last 2 years I signed up but I've been moving or preparing to move right in the middle of NaNo. This year I've signed up and once again there is a possibility I'll be moving...but nothing concrete so my hopes are high :D

Oh, and I'm totally bending the rules. I plan on distributing my 50k+ words between two projects that are already started. And I'm probably darn near breaking the rules because the first project is a revise (that's taking quite a lot of rewriting/new writing). The other is a half finished book. However, I need these two finished before I start another one, so, yeah, there you go :)

Mara Nash said...

Don't worry, girl, you're not the only rule breaker! I'll be working on an already-started project myself. I'm bound and determined to finish the first draft by the end of November!

Besides, rules are made to be broken, right?

I've added you to my buddy list, and you can buddy me back if you'd like. I go by my "real" name over there - user name: mkdbail.

See ya there!

Alicia Gregoire said...

I did NaNo last year for the first time and I ended up with over 50K by the time I went to bed on November 30th. I think it's important to turn the editor off when drafting, but I have such a hard time doing that. With NaNo's time limit, it was helpful.

Stina said...

I'm not officially entering NaNo since I've already started writing my new first draft, but I am going to see if I can write 50,000 words during November. It might be tough though since I'm going away for a few days and I have another project I'm also working on right now. But I can try at least. :)

Good luck, Elana, with the word vomit!

Unknown said...

I've been doing Nano for a while (only won the last couple of years)... I can't wait till November starts because I've had a really good idea for this year's story.

Annette Lyon said...

I'm doing NaNo for the first time ever. There was always a reason I couldn't before, and those reasons don't exist this year. (Not to mention that I NEED to get 50K out of my head, like, last month, too!)

Megan said...

Rules are meant to be broken. This is my 4th NaNo and hopefully it will be my first successful one. My trick this year - I've spent all of October outlining. Is this cheating? Maybe a tiny bit, but I'm hoping to get something usable out of this year's competition, so, like I said above, rules are meant to be broken. Do what works for you.

VR Barkowski said...

The hardest part for me is getting the words down on the page, and NaNo is awesome for that. I like to think of November as the one month out of the year I can switch off (flip off?) my internal editor. I'm working on edits right now, though, so unless I finish by Nov 1, I won't be participating.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I am so jealous of all you NaNo people!
I WISH I could vomit-write. :)
Although I did churn out 12K in less than two weeks with Fast Draft. But that's it.

Kerri Cuev said...

Oh boy look at all you word vomiteers!!! This will be my second. I start with an idea and totally wing it writing whatever comes to me. My poor poor characters they don't know what is coming. But ya know what....sometimes letting the editor go is FUN FUN, gasp! I came up with a couple of twists last year I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. So ya bring on the vomit!

username kerri192804 ;)

Unknown said...

Woo hoo to NaNo and word vomiting! I have done NaNo in the past, and actually hit 50k once... couldn't have done it without Dr. Wicked's Write or Die (I assume you've heard of it, because I always assume EVERYONE's heard of it, but if not, here it is: http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

Strict kamikaze mode works best for me. When I do Write or Die, I usually get about 2k in about an hour.

Good luck with NaNo!! I'll be cheering you on!

lotusgirl said...

I haven't done Nano before, but this year I'm going to Nano clean with a writer friend. I keep writing, blogging, etc. instead of cleaning so now it's time to even the field a bit.

Christine Fonseca said...

I'm signed up...but now that I am a week out...kinda freaking out and may bail. We'll see

Patricia A. Timms-McGehee said...

I'm onto NaNo for the first time this year. I'm looking forward to doing it with a little writing group. In July I supported my husband's Ironman Triathlon so he's returning the favor by hosting a 16-hour NaNo writing day on November 6th for me and my NaNo group. I'm all for pounding it out. I can't wait to see what I can accomplish in 16-hours on that particular day and how it will affect the rest of the month for me. I might even put the whole day up on my blog for everyone to check in on us as we type away for that long. I buddied up with you, no problem.

I wish you and the rest of us crazy NaNo'ers the best of luck this month. I hope to see some of you through the process.

username PatriciaTimms :)

Summer Frey said...

Yay! Misery loves company! Last year I started with 17k and just added 50 to that--worked great! And this year I already wrote 15k on a project that I ultimately decided would be for NaNo, so...hey! It's the thought that counts! :)

Bish Denham said...

I think I've done NaNo three times and churned out 2 50k novels. In fact the one I am currently revising and working on is a NaNo accomplishment.

Ishta Mercurio said...

Heh, heh, heh. Loving the image of playing in word vomit. We're all blogging about NaNo today!

Um, I still haven't decided if I'm going to do it. If I do, I will be bending the rules with you. If I don't, it will be because my mom is coming to visit from England for two weeks starting this Thursday. Yeah, I know. I didn't think I could do it, either, and then I churned out 800 words in 45 minutes last night and I was like, "Holy wow, it's a miracle!" So I might do it. I'll buddy you if I do, and we'll kill it together.

Katie Anderson said...

I"m thinking about it and have just re-discovered my cookbook that has menus for that "cook one day for a month's worth of meals." I'm thinking it will help not to have to shop or cook :)))

Jessica Ann Hill said...

I've never participated in NaNo before, because of the time of year it is. But because I'm a slow writer, I've been thinking about participating this year to get the words down for my current WIP. I would love to adopt the word vomit philosophy. :)

Anonymous said...

That monkey participant badge is *almost* enough to convince me to join NaNo this year. If I did it, I'd be a rule-breaker like you – I have about 8K written on a first draft and need to bang out another 50K or so on it. NaNo would be the perfect time to do that…if I wasn't hip-deep in revisions with my other WIP. I'll probably just end up riding the momentum of NaNo to get a ton don on both projects.

Best of luck to you! I'll add you as a buddy if I give in and decide to do it.

:) Kayla Olson

B.E. Sanderson said...

I've been playing along on my own for years, but this is the first time I've actually signed up. Like you, though, I'm working on a something I've already started. I'd like to have this first draft done by 12/1, and 50K just isn't enough space to do that in. =o)

Good luck!

Nicole L Rivera said...

I'm totally cool with the rule-bending thing. I am Nanoing it up this November for the first time. My buddy name is NicoleLeeRivera. I am going to be using two scenes I wrote for my Intro to Creative Writing class, but I'm not going to count their word count in the 50K. So, I'm still writing 50K, I just stuck my toe in front of the line a little early ;)

I'll totally add you as a buddy.

Cherie Reich said...

Awesome! Good luck with NaNo! And, I have no problem with you working on an already started project. :) I'll have to add you to my buddies. I'm bookworm0753 on their site.

Charity Bradford said...

Yay Elana! This will be my 3rd year, and I don't think you're cheating. You are making it fit your needs.

I've done more planning this year than ever and hope to get my sequel's rough draft on paper. I also forbid myself to read anything that I've written unless it is to double check a fact (like age or something).

Go for it and enjoy it in your own way. That's the best way to do it. I'm ML for my region but still fill free to add me as a buddy if you want. solstice1974

Deb Salisbury, Magic Seeker and Mantua-Maker said...

You go, Elana! This will be my first official NaNo, since last time I was working on a pre-started project, too.

Anonymous said...

Good luck, Elana! This is going to be my second NaNo and I'm excited! The word vomit actually works better for me than anything else. In fact, I regularly use Write or Die to get my muse motivated. Otherwise, I'll get stuck in research mode (I write historical romance), and never get to writing. With the word vomit way, I force myself to get the story out and do any minor fact-checking later.

I'm hoping to do a thick novella this year and actually finish the whole thing in NaNo. Writing more than 50k, though, would be impossible, as I have to take the week of Thanksgiving completely off. Anyway, add me if you want! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/508757

Tony Noland said...

I'm going to use nano to take my existing sci-fi noir serial (~15K so far) up to finished draft of a novel. Rebellious, indeed.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I did NaNo for the first time last year and exceeded the 50K. It's the novel I've been working on all year. I think it's a fantastic way to let a story flow out without any criticism.
As for this year, I'm heavily into rewrite, so I probably won't. But then again, I could always jump in at the last minute and spew. ;)

Meredith said...

I'm in the middle of a WiP, too, so while I'm not signing up for NaNo, I'm totally going to try for 50,000 words in November! So amazing. Good luck with yours!

Anonymous said...

Last year was my first NaNo. . .it was fun. Loved connecting with all those fellow writers working to et 50k down in 30 days.

It was great fun.

I'm doing it again this year, too. I just added you as a buddy. I'm LynnRush on there.

I do believe in the word vomit way. I call it free writing. Sure, it might be ugly. But you've got a beginning/middle/ending to go back and work with.

You can do it. Woot!!! Happy Monday!

Sarah Ahiers said...

i was so excited when you buddied me! this is going to be the most ROCKINGEST NaNo EVAH!
and who cares about the rule bending - i'd say a good 50% of people do.
WOO HOO!

Witless Exposition said...

I'm doing NaNo for the first time this year. It makes me a little nauseous to think about it. Earlier in the year I did a 50k in 50 days challenge and ended up with only 9k. I'm determined to beat that number, that's my personal goal.

I'm trying to do the outlining thing. I'm using a shortened version of the snowflake method that's posted on the NaNo forums.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Elana, I've written 1st drafts in a NaNo like fashion. I really like becoming happily lost in the story, have it inhabit me, and write, write, write. I've never done the official NaNo thing. Didn't know it existed until it was in progress last year. I'm not doing it this year, but I hope to have lots NaNo like writing days. And I'm all for the rule bending.

Melody said...

Ugh, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do! I'm in the middle of an MS, but it's a Shiny New Idea, so who knows how long it will last. I've also got some editing I need to be doing, but I'm kinda in denial about that. Soooooo...I'm still making up my mind. BUT - I will be writing 50000 words in November, no matter what!

Oh, and you and Sara McClung need to get together (http://babblingflow.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-november-nanowramo.html). She's in the same spot you are. :/

Sage Ravenwood said...

I'm using the month for revision vomit. I need to use that kind of frenzy to get myself in gear. I plan on being onboard next year. To date I've never done one, although I've written like I've been in one. (Hugs)Indigo

Amie Kaufman said...

NaNo's fantastic, did it last year and loved it, doing it again this year. I'm itching to get started.

I don't think they mind at alllll about rule-bending. They've even got a thread on their forum for people who are doing just that. The NaNo crew are all about inclusion.

Just added you as a buddy, I'm Siesta.

Colene Murphy said...

Good luck on NaNo!!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

My books aren't long enough to do NaNo, but I'm doing PiBoWriMo. I'd also like to shoot for 25,000 words as a personal goal. I won't make it, cuz that's like 2 whole books for me - but it's a goal. :-)

Caroline Starr Rose said...

I did it last year and made it a week. Not for me.

Stephanie Lorée said...

This is my 3rd NaNo. I have buddied you. Add me here.

Also, I'm seeking NaNo-ers to interview for November. If you're interested in doing a quick highlight on my blog, drop me an email at mesmerix AT gmail DOT com

John Sankovich said...

I think I'm going to join you in this breaking the rules thing. I have a major revision of my current project, which happens to be my NaNo project from last year. Not sure if it counts, but I'm sure to win as I damn well need to get this in good shape before I start to query the project in the new year.

Angela McCallister said...

Yay for NaNo! Yep, it's my first one and I don't know how I'll do it since I'll be out to sea for half of it and I'm working 7-day work weeks. I'm disappointed to miss all the write-ins in my area.

I've considered starting a little early to compensate, and I don't really consider it cheating because my completed manuscript will be longer than 50,000. Basically, if I write 20,000 words prior to Nov 1 and my MS ends up 70,000 words or more, I feel I've accomplished the spirit of the challenge. It's for yourself anyway, right?

Tina Lynn said...

I wish I was rule-bending! (is that like earth-bending?-sorry...I've been watching far too much Avatar) But anyway, I'm so super excited to start. This story idea rocks and I haven't felt that way about a new idea for awhile. And I already buddied you, you know, just so I can say, "Elana Johnson is my buddy." :D

Lisa_Gibson said...

Did my first NaNo last year, and won! Woo hoo! Okay, I'm so NOT the rule breaker when it comes to NaNo. But I respect your position and it's cool. I'm doing NaNo again this year and yes, we are already buddys. Yay!! See you around NaNoLand. :)
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover

ali cross said...

E, I'm doing the same thing. Gonna work on that new MG fantasy I brought to CG a couple weeks ago--so I've got, I think, maybe 5k words so far.

And HEY! You won a contest on my blog so COME ON DOWN!!

Shannon Messenger said...

Yay--so happy to hear you'll be writing again! I can't wait to read it, so get churning out those words! :)

erica m. chapman said...

Second one for me ;o) I love it. I'm someone who needs to have that deadline to get it down. Knowing others are doing it too helps ;o) I've never been one for rules, so break away E-dog!

I won last year actually a day or so early, so I know I'm capable. I also didn't get a lot of sleep, so I may change my schedule a little...

Good luck!! Let's do this.

Tere Kirkland said...

Not NaNo-ing this year, since I always fail NaNo hugely. But I am looking to get another 45-50K words to wrap up my WiP, so I'm going to have my own NaNoFinMo. ;)


Good luck, Elana!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Taking a writing break, so no NaNo this year.

Sherrie Petersen said...

I'm doing the same thing -- working on a project I've already started. We can break the rules together :)

Donea Lee said...

I'm still thinking about it... it's typically taken me YEARS to churn books out (and there's only 2 full drafts at that), so the idea of vomitting up 50,000 words in 30 days!!! SCARY!

But, ginormous kudos to everyone out there that is doing it!! Kill it - Elana! :)

Krispy said...

No worries, you're just a NaNo Rebel. There's like a whole section on that at the site apparently. :)

NaNo's fun. It gives me the peer pressure and fixed deadline I need to really just spit words out.

Friending you! I'm kangaru.

Patti said...

I haven't participated in NaNo, but am starting to consider it, of course that would mean putting everything else on hold.

Sara B. Larson said...

I haven't done it before, but I'm contemplating it this time. Hmmm.... should I or not?

Marsha Sigman said...

I'm still on the fence. I would love to get the first draft done of new wip this month though.

I like to think I'm a rebel so rule breaking works for me.lol

Elana Johnson said...

Holy cow! I'm soooo glad I'm not the only one breaking the rules! Woot for rule-benders!

I've gone through and added everyone who left their name. I've tried to go through and buddy those who buddied me. But NaNo has seriously the stupidest site EVER. I wish I could click on a box in my list and then at the bottom, click "buddy" or something.

So lame.

Elizabeth Briggs said...

I added you - I'm under "lizwrites."

This is my 4th time doing NaNo but this year I am going to be a rebel too... because I'm rewriting. But I figure, 50k new words is still 50k done!

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

Aw, great minds Elana! I blogged about the same thing today :) I love that I'm not alone in this little NaNo cheat!

Angie said...

Good luck Elana! And hang the rules! (They're really more guidelines, anyway, right?) I just can't do word vomit. Doesn't work for me at all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all you NaNo nuts, though! Go for it.

Jennifer Hoffine said...

No judgment on the rule-bending...I was considering doing it just that way myself...I have more than 50K left on my WIP...might see you as a buddy. Thanks for the invite!

Lindsey Richardson said...

I think a lot of people bend the rules. I'm doing nano this year --third year around--and I'll definitely add you to my buddy list.
I've failed miserably in the past, but I think that's mainly because the stories I came up with were crap.
This year I've got a great idea that I will force myself to write for every single freaking day of Nano. STRONGER. You can read more about the book on my blog.

Read about the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com
Just finally got the blog public on Friday, so please follow:)
--Lindsey

Elle said...

Hehe I'm not starting afresh either, I'm going to be doing a rewrite of another project. I've tried NaNo in the past but have not completed it once, so hopefully this will be THE month!

Unknown said...

Hey, you NaNo girl! Actually, I'm about 30k into my project and, due to unforseen circumstances, wasn't been able to finish like I'd planned.

But, darn it all, I'm NaNo-ing anyway! There's a group doing "NaNoWraMo" (National Novel Wrap-up Month), if you're interested. Sara McClung started it on her blog:
http://babblingflow.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-november-nanowramo.html

And, come buddy me! I'm MaryBrebner over there (just like IRL!). Good luck & happy writing!

Anonymous said...

I'm also participating in NaNo this year -- and, like you, am a NaNo Rebel. I don't exactly subscribe to the word vomit philosophy, but I really want to have a rough draft of this novel, even if it doesn't work, and this is a great way to get it written. :)

I've added you to my buddy list -- I'm emyshin on there.

Jennie Englund said...

You can do it!

Half the work is just making the goal. So you're 50% done already!

Lydia Kang said...

Good luck Elana! Unless something weird happens, I'm revising that month, so I hope you break lots of rules and make your quota!

Corey Schwartz said...

Go Elana. I am a rule breaker born to the mother of all rule breakers! (ever tell you the story of my mom when she wanted to enter a club that didn't allow pants? So, she took them off and went in just in her blouse? ha!)

I am doing the PB equivalent of NaNo. National Picture Book Idea Writing Month. One idea a day for 30 days. MUCH EASIER!!!

Hannah said...

Nano is the lamest site ever but you already buddied me so you know I'm participating anyway for the second year. I can't wait! I have a few more things to line up and I'm set. There will be little to no TV but I don't count putting on tv shows and movies I've seen before. :D

WritingNut said...

My post today was about NaNo too! :D

I signed up last year, but did a whooping 0 words... I know, I know.

But I'm determined to conquer it this year!

I'm glad you're bending the rules... it makes me feel a LOT better... I think I am too. I became reacquainted with my MS last week, and churned out 15K of madness somehow... so technically, NaNo started as of last Monday for me!

Good luck!!

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Good for you! I hope it's a great month!

Jemi Fraser said...

Good idea! I was thinking of avoiding NaNo this year, because of the rewrite I've already started. But if I break the rules, I guess I still do. I love the nuttiness of the deadline. So I think I'll break those rules right along with you! :)

L. E. Neighbour said...

nope. Never have. I'm too buried in nonfiction to think of novels right now. Maybe one day I will engage in the insanity. I kinda like your version, though... hmmmmmmm I'd have to bend more than just that rule, though xD

Unknown said...

I did NaNo last year. Definitely like the concept, but my story was just that...vomit. And I was so sick of it (almost resentful) that by the end, I tossed it in a digital drawer and haven't looked at it since. But I love the idea of maybe a NaNoReviseMo for myself this year.

Unknown said...

I did NaNo the first time last year, but I usually write my first drafts that way, by turning into a Zombie and churning out words vomit fashion.

I don't mind rule-bending. The best authors are the ones who know how to break the rules, right? ;) I will most definitely friend you! *runs off to NaNo*

Unknown said...

NaNo was a Godsend to me. I hadn't written in over a year and decided to take part. It reawakened the love of writing I've always had and I've been writing steadily since. I'm just-m over on the NaNo site. Let the madness begin!

Karen Lange said...

Haven't done NaNo yet, would like to sometime. And I'd totally be with you on breaking the rules. My goal would be to get as much done while being flexible and tailoring things to my project.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I'm doing NaNo this year (my second time) and I may have to start a couple days early too. I'm going to Seattle this weekend and it seems criminal to waste four and a half hours in a plane just because it'll be Oct 29th.

I'm melaniehoo on nano. I'll look for you!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Hi, Elana! I joined NaNo last year and finished just fine. Not this year. I'm hitting my edits.

Yes, I can word-puke just fine. My imagination is like magic when the atmosphere is great.

Good luck and have fun.

~Elizabeth :)

Sara Harricharan said...

Found your blog today, looking for "nano" themed posts and yours made me laugh. Congrats on this being your first year! This will be my fifth. Somehow I've managed to increase my wordcount every year, inspite of my student workload. (University student) and I use it to help me 'get the story out' so I can tweak/edit/play around with it for the rest of the year. I manage to hit the word count by simply writing out a scene, then backtracking and adding in more details and dialogue, etc. I don't edit at all, I save the edits for November and when I'm behind on the word count. I make up for it on the weekend. ^_^ I'd love to add you as a buddy, my username is Scarletfury so you don't think I'm a random name stalker or something. :P

Liesl Shurtliff said...

I did Nano a few years ago. I had fun and I thought it was a worthwhile exercise, though what I wrote is total vomit. I don't think I could ever create something worthwhile in that mode. I need time for my ideas to form and develop and vomit is just not something I can easily reconstruct and make pretty.

So maybe I would like to try Nano again, but I wonder if there is any value in vomiting? Are we, like, bulimic writers?

Katrina L. Lantz said...

Yay! I added you as a buddy, too! I did Nano in '08 and succeeded in writing an entire book (with a crummy ending, if I'm honest). Skipped '09 to have a baby, and I'm really looking forward to starting a new book in a week and near-finishing it by the end of November! Nanowrimo is a great motivator. See you somewhere in between 1 and 50,000 words!

Claire Dawn said...

Consider yourself buddied.

I'm muchlanguage.

I'm actually not usually much for rules, but I'm pretty good about the nano ones.

Heather said...

I wasn't going to participate because I've already started too. But you've inspired me to go ahead and do it! Thank you!

Jay said...

I've added you, Elana. I've had a bit of a head start this week because, well, sometimes the story can't wait.

I'm Rosylee on NaNo.

GunDiva said...

This is my second year doing NaNo and I love it! We have incredible MLs and I was surprised at how social writing can be.

I "won" easily last year, but already am struggling a little bit this year with forming the story in my head. Let's hope when it's time to vomit in a couple of days, I can do it.

I buddied you (cswilson)

Sophia Chang said...

Oh thank goodness. A "real author" is also doing what I'm doing so I feel better :).

I'm also finishing a novel in progress because I have way too many babies on the burner already. What a weird metaphor...one that I kind of like...

I just friended you! I'm YellowTypingFiend for anyone else who wants to buddy up this month!

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