'On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.' NaNoWriMo
In this month's 'Writing Magazine', there is advice from Sally Jenkins in her excellent article, NaNoWriMo Make It Social. She acknowledges that finding an extra two hours a day can be difficult and recommends making NaNoWriMo 'your social life as well as your writing challenge.' Apparently, when you sign up at NaNoWriMo , you are allocated or may choose a geographical region where participants are brought together. This could be a problem for me as there doesn't seem to be a group in South Wales and my nearest group is Bristol and Bath.
Can I do it? Should I do it? I'd like to hear from any of you who have participated in the past. Do you have any tips for me? Please comment and help me decide.
***HOT OFF THE PRESS***
A collection of ghost stories, entitled 'The Day Death Wore Boots', has been published today by Alfie Dog Fiction and I'm pleased to tell you that my story, 'Rock-A-Bye Baby', is one of them.
The collection will 'leave you looking...and wondering...'
The collection will 'leave you looking...and wondering...'
'From Pompeii to the Wild West, from Australia to the shores of the United Kingdom, the spirit world may be closer than you think!'
Regarding Nano - I've done it a few times. I won't do it again, but I do think it's worth giving it a try at least once. If you commit to it and write like crazy without stopping to look at what you've done (which is the NaNo way) it's amazing how many words can be typed in a month. You then have a lot of work sorting them out, but that's likely to be the case even if your first draft takes years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Patsy. It's the sorting that bothers me but at least I would have the story written. I'll let you know what I decide.
DeleteCongratulations, Jan, having your Rock a bye baby story in the anthology. It looks good, I might get that. And I did nano last year, for the first time. Good to get words down, but like Patsy, I wouldn't do it again. You probably have to do it once, but when you know you can commit to it. I ended up with quite a neck ache and back ache, and arm ache, a lot of words that made half sense and half not.
ReplyDeleteDon't let me put you off though, but it is a bit silly..... Good luck if you do it.
Thank you, Sue. Interesting that you did NaNo last year. Did you write 'Hats Off To Love' then or was it another novel? You and Patsy will be the first to know what I decide! ;-)
DeleteI did, yes, and it was such a gabble, I had Denise pondering whether to jump in the canal at one point, and getting blind drunk in another chapter. That's what I'm doing now, trying to make sense of it all.... I may be some time:)))
ReplyDeleteYes, but you got the story written and with all your work and editing it was short listed for RNA new talent award. :-)
DeleteCongrats on your story being included in the Alfie Dog Fiction collection - that's excellent, will give it a read :)
ReplyDeleteI tried Nano last year, I only managed 15,000 words, and surprisingly with a completely different story than the novel I then went on to complete this year. I am doing it this year to kick start my second novel, I'm really looking forward to it - it seems I quite like deadlines! ;) Go on Jan ... give it a go!!
Thanks, Samantha. I hope you enjoy it. I think I have decided to give Nano a go - have just got back from my wring group and a guy there is going to do it. It's good to know of others who are participating so I'll be. Messaging you throughout November! Good luck with novel number 2! :-)
DeleteLet me know your name on Nano - we can be buddies :) I'm Sammylou37 (I'm so inventive aren't I? Same as my Twitter!) And good luck to you too :)
DeleteI have registered, Samantha! Aaaarggh! My NaNo name is JanBayLit1. (Followed your idea and just added a 1 to my Twitter handle!!)
Delete