Very nearly Nano Time again (2009)

[Diver]

For those of you still reading this thread, I feel compelled to tell you there are only 343 shopping days left until Christmas--still plenty of time to get me something nice.  

Heh!    

The whole 'motivate each other' thing worked so well in November, we're just trying to keep each other going. I figure after devoting a month of my life to such an effort I want to see a real product result from it.  You're right, though, at some point we'll have to let this die and move onto next year's NaNo. Maybe by October  

I'm still working on mine; not as often or as much as I would like. But I'm not giving up on it.

Good for you, Alice!  Keep pushing on it.

[eric]

Just for your information, Don tells me there is also this thing called "life."  By the way, I'll be retiring in 2015.  If the preparation for last year's NANO is still going on then, suggest you break long enough for a trip to the mall.   Maybe you can find something nice and put it on layaway ... till 2053 or so.  I'm sure you'll still be preparing for 11/09 then.

[Diver]

yeah, thanks for that, Eric    Don't worry, it's not actually NaNo PREP anymore. It's taking those 50,000 + words we did reach and making them 'submission worthy' (or in my case, moderately coherent  ). We just were too lazy to start another thread. Plus, who'd have thought anyone but us few foolish souls brave and devoted NaNo writers would still be reading it by January?   

[kk]

So, I guess Nano never really ends, does it? I'm a little worried that year after year one could just blend into another, then another,
then another...

the outcome of that is too frightening so I'm motivated to get this year's revisions done long before the 2010 Nano.

I've just started revising, really, and like Diver, I'm beefing up the beginning. I also need to do a lot of research, so
if anyone has expertise on Lublin, Poland in 1940,  16th century English monks, or the Navajo nation now and in the mid 1800s,
I could use your help 

I like being able to check in here from time to time to see how the nano participants are doing.  Thanks D-

kk

[Gyppo]

So, I guess Nano never really ends, does it? I'm a little worried that year after year one could just blend into another, then another,
then another...

the outcome of that is too frightening so I'm motivated to get this year's revisions done long before the 2010 Nano.

Life's like that sometimes ;-)  The seasons come, the seasons go, the business of life gets in the way.  Then the frosting of age appears in your hair, and you still haven't finished that book you started with a rush of mad enthusiasm at eighteen.  So you set a few days aside, dust off the yellowed typewritten pages, throw out half of it, link up what's left with a cursory nod to the changes in the world since it was first written, then sell what could have been a 'cutting edge' book forty years ago as a 'gentle nostalgic e-book.

But I suspect that if anyone has been working steadily on a book for some 'forty odd' years they don't really want to ever finish it.  They're probably more like a gardener, weeding, tending, sometimes replacing, but always working towards a distant target they've probably no desire to actually reach.

I dare say some NANO novels are destined to be like this, based on an idea the writer wants to explore rather than a tale with a burning need to be told.  Once the pressure cooker atmosphere of November has passed such ideas slip back into slow-cooker mode ;-) 

Gyppo

 

[Alice, a Country Gal]

I dare say some NANO novels are destined to be like this, based on an idea the writer wants to explore rather than a tale with a burning need to be told.  Once the pressure cooker atmosphere of November has passed such ideas slip back into slow-cooker mode ;-)

While others whip them into submission through editing and re-editing until it's ready for the next step - publishing.

It may be a small percentage, (I'm not sure and too lazy to check it out just now) but there are a lot of books that were started in NaNo that made it all the way to the bookshelves.

If that is your goal and you're willing to put in the work needed, your NaNo book may join them.

[Diver]

If that is your goal and you're willing to put in the work needed, your NaNo book may join them.

From your lips to an agent or publishers ear, Alice!    That's my goal, anyway - now I just have to really try to make it happen.

[Jakey]

You and me both, Diver.

Funny how motivating it is knowing someone else out there is also pushing for the ultimate goal of being published.

Jakey

[Gyppo]

Please don't think I'm advocating letting it slip, just saying that some will, and demonstrating that some ideas can not only survive but recover from the neglect of years with a little concentrated application.

As some of the Americans allegedly say, "Git 'er done!"

Gyppo

[Alice, a Country Gal]

I've just discovered something that I did without thinking about it at the time and thought it might help others when they reach a 'sticky' spot in their writing.

I was going along, writing the story when I reached a large spot that needed more than I could give it at the moment. Some of it was due to needing to do some research that can probably be done online but I didn't want to take the time for that at the moment. Some of it needed personal interviews type information with a vet - again, I didn't want to take the time just then.

So I changed my text color to a bold red, something I knew I couldn't miss when I went back over it.  One spot I made a bold green because it was very different from the other spots needing fill.

But the thing that caught me by surprise was that while doing this, labeling different spots with character names, I had started writing again.

I mean, I was writing the story again, action, dialog, everything.

There were large sections I have now turned black again. Made me feel good.

I don't mean they will not need editing later on, but they work, they move the story forward.

I'm happy with my accidental writing. 

[kk]

Yay for you Alice.

Accidental, on purpose, in a dream...

I'll take it (writing) any way I can get it!

Carry on!

kk

[Alice, a Country Gal]

So will I KK, so will I.

Speaking of dreams, I woke from a dream once with a totally new character I had dreamed up.

I go back occasionally and read the notes I made at the time, but haven't found his story yet.  I hope it comes to me because I really like the him.

[Diver]

OK, just seeing if anyone else is still grinding away ...

And how is it I somehow managed to put 50,000+ words to paper in a month, yet now, almost 3 months later, am just still slowly and intermittently working on my first 4 chapters?    It will be next NaNo before I get halfway through at this rate.

By the way, March is 'unofficial' NaNoEdMo; not run by the NaNo folks (Chris Baty, et al) but they do have a link from their website over to the NaNoEdMo site:

www.nanoedmo.net

The basic premise is 50 hours of editing (not researching or planning) in March -- anything from complete rewrites to basic spelling and grammar.

I'm thinking about it, especially if I can't kick myself into higher gear over the next couple weeks on my own.
Anyone else?

[kk]

Hi Diver,
Yes, I'm still grinding away, at a snail's pace too. I have put random chapters out
to readers here and there, and overall have been getting positive feedback, so that
is motivating me to get more serious about my revisions. I am also thinking about
getting busy with things like a synopsis and query letters.

I have a week off coming up and hope to put in a lot of hours then. I also have
the summer off so hope that will be the time I need. My goal is to have the bulk of
the revisions done before next November because I definitely want to try Nanowrimo
again.

Keep at it - it can be done.

kk

[Gyppo]

I whipped all the disjointed bits into order a few weeks ago (because chunks of it were written out of sequence) but haven't touched it since.  But I've not done much of anything serious over the last few weeks.  January and February are always 'slow' months for me.  Physically I'm nearly always a bit 'down' at this time of year, running in survival mode rather than tackling the world head-on.

However, the folder containing the print-out slipped off the crowded shelf the other day, so I guess that was a sign the story is getting restless even if I'm not.  Yet! ;-)

Gyppo