NaNoWriMo 2009

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WinterBorn

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I invite anyone interested in writing to join me in the National Novel Writing Month.

Its an interesting process. You start on Nov 1st and try to write a 50,000 word novel by midnight on Nov. 30th. Getting 175 pages of literary work down in 30 days is not easy, but has been done by quite a few people.

The link is listed below.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/
 
WinterBorn said:
I invite anyone interested in writing to join me in the National Novel Writing Month.

Its an interesting process. You start on Nov 1st and try to write a 50,000 word novel by midnight on Nov. 30th. Getting 175 pages of literary work down in 30 days is not easy, but has been done by quite a few people.

The link is listed below.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/
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what a novel idea.
Who was it who questioned the point of writing a book when you could walk into any store and buy one ready written?
30 days! bloody hell! Bear in mind that to finish with a readable 50,000 words you would probably have to write 75,000 - 100,000 words and cut, that is quite a task. 3000 words a day with no prep!!
The best of luck.
 
Lowaicue said:
what a novel idea.
Who was it who questioned the point of writing a book when you could walk into any store and buy one ready written?
30 days! bloody hell! Bear in mind that to finish with a readable 50,000 words you would probably have to write 75,000 - 100,000 words and cut, that is quite a task. 3000 words a day with no prep!!
The best of luck.
Click to expand...

The idea is not to present a perfectly edited book in 30 days. The idea is to force yourself to write by writing. At the end you have the satisfaction of knowing you completed a novel in 30 days. Then you spend whatever time is necessary editing and polishing.

Even if you do 75,000 words, that comes to about 9 pages a day. If you set aside 3 hours a day to write, that is 3 pages an hour. Not impossible at all. I have typed 3 pages an hour on this website. And Dixie has probably done twice that. lol
 
Lowaicue said:
what a novel idea.
Who was it who questioned the point of writing a book when you could walk into any store and buy one ready written?
30 days! bloody hell! Bear in mind that to finish with a readable 50,000 words you would probably have to write 75,000 - 100,000 words and cut, that is quite a task. 3000 words a day with no prep!!
The best of luck.
Click to expand...

I do love a pun.
 
The foillowing stats are from the website:


Many, many winning novels have been written through NaNoWriMo. Our stats:

1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5,000 participants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2,100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3,500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and just shy of 6,000 winners
2005: 59,000 participants and 9,769 winners
2006: 79,000 participants and 13,000 winners
2007: 101,510 participants and 15,333 winners
2008: 119,301participants and 21,683 winners

And a growing number of these novels have found publishers, including one New York Times #1 Bestseller!

Jon F. Merz--- The Destructor (Pinnacle Books, 2003). Contact: Pinnacle Books

Lani Diane Rich--- Time Off for Good Behavior (Warner Books, 2004), Maybe Baby (Warner Books, 2005), and Wish You Were Here (Warner Books, 2008). Contact: www.lanidianerich.com

Sara Gruen--- Flying Changes (HarperCollins, 2005) and Water for Elephants (Algonquin, 2007). Contact: www.saragruen.com

Rebecca Agiewich--- BreakupBabe (Ballantine Books, 2006). Contact: http://rebecca.agiewich.net

Francesca Segre--- Daughter of the Bride (Berkeley Books, 2006). Contact: www.FrancescaSegre.com.

David Niall Wilson--- Vintage Soul (Five Star/Gale, 2007) and The Mote in Andrea's Eye (Five Star/Gale, 2006). Contact: Five Star/Gale

Gayle Brandeis--- Self Storage (Ballantine Books, 2007). Contact: www.gaylebrandeis.com

Kimberly Llewellyn--- Cashmere Boulevard (Berkley Books, 2007). Contact: www.KimberlyLlewellyn.com

Geonn Cannon---On the Air (P.D. Publishing, 2007), World on Fire (P.D. Publishing, 2009), and Confused by Shadows (P.D. Publishing, 2011)
Contact: P.D Publishing.

Lisa Daily--- The Dreamgirl Academy (Plume/Penguin Putnam, 2008). Contact: http://stopgettingdumped.com

Jacob and Diane Anderson-Minshall--- Blind Curves (Bold Strokes Books, 2007) Contact: www.boldstrokesbooks.com

James R. Strickland--- Looking Glass (Flying Pen Press, 2007) Contact: www.jamesrstrickland.com

Kathy Cano-Murillo--- Love Shine (Grand Central Publishing, 2007) Contact: www.CraftyChica.com

Ann Gonzalez--- Running for My Life (WestSide Books, 2008) Contact: www.AnnGonzalez.com

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen--- The Compound (Feiwel and Friends, 2008) Contact: www.rockforadoll.com

Jessica Burkhart--- High Jumps at Collins Academy (Simon & Schuster, 2007).

Jenna Bayley-Burke--- Just One Spark (Mills & Boon, 2006). Contact: www.jennabayleyburke.com

Teryl Cartwright--- A Sensible Match (Vintage Romance, 2007). Contact: www.terylcartwright.com

Dave Casler--- The Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick, Book 1: Genesis (Mt. Sneffels Press, 2007). Contact: www.americanflyingbroomstick.com

Liz Hegarty--- Salt River (Scholastic New Zealand, April 2009). Contact: www.scholastic.co.nz/

C.J. Lines--- Filth Kiss (Hadesgate Publishing , 2007). Contact: http://cjlines.com

Moondancer Drake--- Worlds Collide (PD Publishing). Contact: www.moondancerdrake.com.

Simon Haynes--- Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch (Fremantle Press, June 2008).

Farhan Devji--- The Hockey Farmer (Cacoethes Publishing, June 2008). Contact: Cacoethes Publishing

Kalayna-Nicole Price--- Once Bitten (Bell Bridge Books). Contact: www.Kalayna.com

Katherine Bell--- Amaranth: The Preterhumans, Book 1 (Cacoethes Publishing). Contact: www.KatherineBell.net

Angela Korra'ti--- Faerie Blood (Drollerie Press). Contact: www.DrolleriePress.com

Terie Gerrison--- SpringFire and SummerDanse (Llewellyn Worldwide). Contact: www.TerieGarrison.com

Kathleen Kaufman--- The Tree Museum (Way Things Are Publications, March 2009). Contact: www.WayThingsArePublications.com

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--- Persistence of Memory (Delacorte Books for Young Readers,2008). Contact: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/atwaterrhodes

Mette Finderup--- Blink: En kærlighedsroman (Gyldendal, 2009). Contact: www.finderup.dk/blink

Erin Grace-- The Indefatigable Wright Brothers (Jumping Duck Media, 2008). Contact: www.jumping-duck.com.

Catherine Wade---Let's Dish and Another Time Around (Samhain Publishing, 2009).

Sarah Dooley---Livvie Owen Lived Here (Feiwel and Friends, 2010).

Rachael Herron---How to Knit a Love Song (Avon, 2010). Contact: www.rachaelherron.com/

Alayna Williams---Dark Oracle (Pocket-Juno Books, 2010). Contact: www.alaynawilliams.com/

Laura L. Alton---Las Vegas Chew Toy (Fireside Mysteries, 2009). Contact: www.lauralalton.com/

Edgar Franzmann---Millionenallee (Emons-Verlag, 2009). Contact: www.franzmann.de/
 
WinterBorn said:
The idea is not to present a perfectly edited book in 30 days. The idea is to force yourself to write by writing. At the end you have the satisfaction of knowing you completed a novel in 30 days. Then you spend whatever time is necessary editing and polishing.

Even if you do 75,000 words, that comes to about 9 pages a day. If you set aside 3 hours a day to write, that is 3 pages an hour. Not impossible at all. I have typed 3 pages an hour on this website. And Dixie has probably done twice that. lol
Click to expand...

I'm sure it is possible and I'm sure that there are millions of scribblers more than capable. I doubt that I am. I dont think I could set aside three hours in any single day to do anything more than gaze at the sea and scratch my arse. I have written two books that I would be prepared to have my name on (when I'm dead!) One took about 30 years from conception to fruition and one took about seven years and I still think it can be improved.
My only published stuff would be measured in pages rather than pounds apart from crap I do for other people which might be described as phoney art or 'phart' for short.
 
Lowaicue said:
I'm sure it is possible and I'm sure that there are millions of scribblers more than capable. I doubt that I am. I dont think I could set aside three hours in any single day to do anything more than gaze at the sea and scratch my arse. I have written two books that I would be prepared to have my name on (when I'm dead!) One took about 30 years from conception to fruition and one took about seven years and I still think it can be improved.
My only published stuff would be measured in pages rather than pounds apart from crap I do for other people which might be described as phoney art or 'phart' for short.
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For most people it is one of those things they think about but never start. I have always procrastinated writing a book. As they say on the website its a "One day" sort of thing, as in "One day I will write a novel".
 
WinterBorn said:
When I upload it to the site it gives me a word count.
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I know that. I used to get my students to do a 'writing storm'. I dont know whether you do that sort of thing in the states. Basically it is to discuss, question, research a topic thoroughly. Plan the piece in your head then start writing without looking up, without talking, without questioning until it is finished (An angle poise lamp is good for this). If they did not know an English word they were allowed to write it in Chinese. There was no upper and no lower limit. They had to write continuously until they had vomited everything onto the paper. Then they had to go back and Mark Twain it. Cut out the crap, check punctuation and spelling, check sentence formation etc. When it was complete and they felt they wanted to hand it in I would tell them to count the words and put the number at the bottom. Students who had previously been able to write say 400 words in an hour could now do a better 400 in 20 minutes! not bad in a foreign language!
 
Lowaicue said:
I know that. I used to get my students to do a 'writing storm'. I dont know whether you do that sort of thing in the states. Basically it is to discuss, question, research a topic thoroughly. Plan the piece in your head then start writing without looking up, without talking, without questioning until it is finished (An angle poise lamp is good for this). If they did not know an English word they were allowed to write it in Chinese. There was no upper and no lower limit. They had to write continuously until they had vomited everything onto the paper. Then they had to go back and Mark Twain it. Cut out the crap, check punctuation and spelling, check sentence formation etc. When it was complete and they felt they wanted to hand it in I would tell them to count the words and put the number at the bottom. Students who had previously been able to write say 400 words in an hour could now do a better 400 in 20 minutes! not bad in a foreign language!
Click to expand...

That is better than many of our students could do in their native tongue.

I have not rechecked my writing yet. This writing is purely to get as much as you can down and keep going. After the end of the month I will go back and polish it.
 
WinterBorn said:
That is better than many of our students could do in their native tongue.

I have not rechecked my writing yet. This writing is purely to get as much as you can down and keep going. After the end of the month I will go back and polish it.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I could almost guarantee that using the technique roughly described here, American kids could do at least as well.
Your kids are not your problem - your education policies and those implementing them are.
Anyway I wish you all the best in you keyboard pounding. I'm just too bloody lazy!!
 
Lowaicue said:
To be fair, I could almost guarantee that using the technique roughly described here, American kids could do at least as well.
Your kids are not your problem - your education policies and those implementing them are.
Anyway I wish you all the best in you keyboard pounding. I'm just too bloody lazy!!
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The problem is that we have reduced the expectations so that the lazy and dumb won't feel left out. The consequence is that the smart, driven students are left to their own devices to get a quality education.

It is a sad state of affairs indeed.

Kudos to you for your teaching them well.
 
WinterBorn said:
The problem is that we have reduced the expectations so that the lazy and dumb won't feel left out. The consequence is that the smart, driven students are left to their own devices to get a quality education.

It is a sad state of affairs indeed.

Kudos to you for your teaching them well.
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No kudos deserved. Just trying to get people to open their eyes and share cultures. We are guardians of the most beautiful and expressive language in creation. It holds within it our culture, our history and our character. We use it for good and for evil and we are its slaves and its masters. It is wife and mistress, son and daughter. It is who we are. Who would not want to share that?
American kids are no different. You have kids in Chicago discovering, nay revelling in, the works of William Shakespeare. Your history includes some of the worlds greatest wordsmiths. Read 'Howl' and 'Huckleberry Finn' How different. Such magic.
 
Lowaicue said:
No kudos deserved. Just trying to get people to open their eyes and share cultures. We are guardians of the most beautiful and expressive language in creation. It holds within it our culture, our history and our character. We use it for good and for evil and we are its slaves and its masters. It is wife and mistress, son and daughter. It is who we are. Who would not want to share that?
American kids are no different. You have kids in Chicago discovering, nay revelling in, the works of William Shakespeare. Your history includes some of the worlds greatest wordsmiths. Read 'Howl' and 'Huckleberry Finn' How different. Such magic.
Click to expand...

As a southerner, I love the written and spoken word for what it can express.

You are obviously another who loves, and revels in, the written word and what it can express.

I am not writing off our entire education system, because some teachers out there are doing an amazing job.
 
I topped 10k words this morning!

I am stoked to be 20% of the way to my goal.
 
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