#nanowrimo blog post

[clarislam]

NaNoWriMo Advice/Resource List

Though I am not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, I know that many of you fellow writers and readers might be doing so! 

Linked below are blog posts I’ve written about my past NaNo-related experiences, and I hope that by sharing these, they will be of use to you! Happy writing, and good luck achieving your NaNoWriMo goals!

Things I learned in Camp NaNoWriMo July 2020

Camp NaNoWriMo April 2020: My journey, and what I learned while writing.

I Won NaNoWriMo 2021!

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

I first signed up for NaNoWriMo in 21 October, 2005; I logged into NaNoWriMo 5 September, 2024, in order to delete my account.

Thanks to the entity now embracing A.I. as a "Tool."

(After looking back at my stats).

There were a couple years where I tried to do multiple challenges in a year, burning out, not participating, and then coming back.

According to my profile, there, I started 19 distinct projects, between the November marathon proper and "Camp NaNoWriMo," with a total of 605K-and-a-bit words typed out. My last registered project was in 2020. I did not reach 50K that year; I think it was about that time that I realized simply typing 50k words at breakneck speed did not lead to crafting a story I actually still wanted to tell, come December (what really kept me coming back, over and over in spite of that, was the social permission to make a pillow fort out of an imaginary world, where I could retreat from seasonal attitudinal depression, and other pressures; Pillow forts aren't meant to be permanent).

Back when I started, in 2005, NaNoWriMo was a much different beast than it is now... There were no corporate sponsors, and the only prize you could claim was a winner's T-shirt. And the social vibe was a lot more like the spontaneous writers' communities that sprung up on old school Bulletin Board Systems, IRC chat rooms (remember those?), and Usenet forums.

(All of which I miss, BTW)

[ichorblossoms]

reminders for myself every time i open up the honeybee writing document

[razzek]

Now that NaNoWriMo is dead after being ableist, fart huffing, AI-loving twats, I vote we all write our novels in January owhen nobody has anything fun to do or a bloated cultural event to endure. I don't know about anyone else, but I could never make it because Thanksgiving in the US and the start of the holiday grind wrecked whatever groove I could manage. Anyway, fuck the board of NaNoWriMo. Delete your account and get your words away from that organization if you don't want them scraped for the plagiarism wood chipper.

[theimpalatales]

Have you just finished writing your book? Did you take part in NaNoWriMo 2023 and you're not sure what to do next?⁠ ⁠ Read my simple, seven-step guide to self-editing your novel.

Although I highly recommend authors work with a professional editor on their stories, I know that this is not an option for everyone. ⁠ Even if you are planning on working with a professional editor, it's worth spending time fixing some basic errors in your work before submitting it to an editor, who can then focus on the more complex elements of your story.⁠

[eternal-reverie]

so this is kinda extra but for my fic notes binder I decided to make covers for each section and this is what I came up with this past weekend when I should’ve been compiling the actual notes for printing OTL

and soon I need to come up with cover sheets for these last two sections. For the inspiration one maybe something light related or a key? tbh I’m tempted to just put a picture of Brain for that last section.

[livebeginning]

Ok so about a month ago I couldn't get this one fanfic idea out of my head and I thought fuck it, I'll write it down as like an outline, to get it out of my head. But then I was like, hmm that doesn't seem that bad actually and started writing for real. And I haven't really written fanfiction (or anything really) before, and it was honestly a miracle that I stuck with it longer than three days. And then I decided, you know what, I'm gonna try and do NaNoWriMo. Now I know, NaNoWriMo is in November but I have motivation to write this right now and I don't have time in November anyways. And the challenge is really just "write 50k in 30 days".

As you can see from the table I almost didn't make it. I took a five day break from writing because I had to finish a cosplay and then went to a convention. But today I wrote almost the entire day and managed write almost 5k and as you can see, I did it! 50047 words in 30 days!

The fic isn't finished but I'm gonna take a break when I'm done with the next chapter and edit what I've written so far, then sent it to my friends to beta read and then start posting. I really hope people will like what I've written but even if not, I can be proud of what I've achieved :)

[troublcmakcrs]

//YEAHH! YYYEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!

[graffitibible]

The killjoys are dead, and the world gets smaller. In the wake of four fallen, fabulous heroes, Better Living Industries tightens its hold on the desert. People die. The child vaunted as the Zones' salvation is nowhere to be found.

But you're still here, Cherri Cola, the most poetic DJ left on the airwaves. You speak your words into the dead air and hope that someone out there takes comfort in them. You spend twelve years in an unceasing search for the Girl you promised Jet Star you'd take care of, combing every frequency on the hunt for some sign that she's still alive.

As sands shift and landscapes change, as killjoys rise and fall, as BL/ind tears ever further into the sanctuary of the desert, you watch and you wait, because you stopped fighting a long time ago.

You are Cherri Cola, and you have gods in your footprints. You have songs in your soul.

And one day your story's going to end.

This is the concluding part of this particular fic! Anyone who was waiting for the whole work to be finished before jumping in can do so.

[ithinktheyrefor1am]

*sigh* Maybe next year.

[yurilad]

—bio.

🧨 main blog: @cannivalisms

🧨 greek-american, currently studying in the uk

🧨 writer of urban & dark fantasy and horror. alternatively everything involving blind devotion, power imbalances, and codependence

—wip.

title: terras town

genre: urban fantasy/portal fantasy

themes/features: escapism as a negative thing, betrayal, violence as catharsis, the need for control, grieving complicated relationships, mirror selves, a mc totally serrated from the Plot, corruption arcs, feral women, gnc lead, lgbt characters

status: first draft

summary:

Terras Town is another world; the heavier side of the same coin.

It's unclear how Terras Town was ever formed to start with. Legend has it one world exists as a skewed reflection of the other, with dreams being shared in sleep and life being lived through two pairs of eyes. The two towns are kept apart by a barrier older than time itself, and twice as sensitive to change.

Terras Town is another world - and there’s a reason it’s been kept at bay.

Which is why when Lev Alvarez, an eighteen year old girl with run-down sneakers and fresh lined guilt, finds herself having somehow fallen into Terras Town with no idea how to return, she's told it's only a matter of time before the barrier breaks - and her world comes crashing down on them all.

Lev’s only hope is a cryptic girl named Eve, and her unfounded insistence that she’ll find a way to help Lev get home. But why does Lev get the feeling there's more to the story than what's being let on? And what does it mean when the girl who’s never stopped running finally starts to feel at home?

Terras Town is another world. And you can't get a taste of another world without it cutting your tongue.

excerpt:

[cara-delaney-author]

Blog post inside a blog post? It's more likely than you think!

Over on my website, I write monthly posts about the craft of writing, self-publishing, and sometimes tomatoes. For October, I've written up a little overview of my planning process - how do I go from idea to manuscript?

If you're curious, and maybe are getting a late start on your Preptober, go take a look!

Post pasted below the cut as well for your reading convience 👇

Plan a book with me!

Well. We’re here. Tomb of Heart and Shadow is finished, I’m just collection the last files I need to upload it to KDP and Ingram, and then off to the presses we go. This means that all the active parts are pretty much done, and it’s about time that I start a new project.

Plan a new project, I should say. Believe you me, I have learned my lesson, I’m not starting anything anymore without a solid plan. So why don’t you join me in my office, pour yourself a cup of tea, and let’s take a look at just how, exactly, I do all of that planning?

Step 1 – the notes That’s how every project starts – with some notes in my dump file that I keep on my desktop. At some point, when one random jumble of words stands out among the rest, I take that jumble and give it its own file. Everything goes in there. Every idea, character, setting, stuff I come up with during walks gets transferred from my notes app. I won’t use all of it, but it’s better to write something down and not need it than to wake up in the morning remembering that you had a brilliant idea at 4am but nothing else.

Step 2 – the elevator pitch This is about as classic as it gets. The dreaded two-sentence summary that distils the story down to its core concept. A mermaid and a pirate fall in love, and must work together to escape an angry ex-fiancé. A woman returns to her hometown and finds that everyone is behaving really strangely. When she starts snooping, she discovers a terrible secret. Two adventurer friends find a valuable relic, but when they take it, they accidentally unleash an ancient evil. They race against time to bottle it back up before one friend – and the entire world – becomes consumed by it. Now, this is not necessarily set in stone. If you’ve read my books, you’ll recognise the first two and notice that a lot is missing. That’s normal. This is just supposed to be a starting point. Since I’m not pitching to anyone at this stage, I don’t need it to be perfect, I just need it to be exciting to me.

Step 3 – the blurb Exactly what it says on the tin. For this step, I expand my elevator pitch into a proper blurb, like what you might find on the back of a book, or a store page. I give myself a little more space than what I would normally write as back copy, so roughly 250-300 words. Normally, I try to keep my back copy at around 150 words. This part is supposed to hit the big plot beats. That way, if I read it back and think “wow, there’s no way beat #6 would follow from beat #5”, I know that stretch of the story needs more work. But once I’ve got it all flowing smoothly and coherent, I move on to the next step.

Step 4 – the bullet point outline This is where the story really takes shape. I take the blurb, write down each beat as a bullet point, and then I start filling out the list around those beats. I don’t bother with details or any research that isn’t directly plot-relevant. For this part, I just need to get the story down on paper from start to finish. There will be lots of notes and comments here for later. If something needs foreshadowing, I will mark that. If a specific character development needs more setup, I will make sure to remind myself. If an aspect of the worldbuilding becomes relevant to the plot, I add a reminder to mention or explain that ahead of time, so as to not make it sound like I winged it in the scene. Since I write romance, I will also make sure to periodically note the relationship stage we’re in, just so I know that the progression makes sense.

Step 5 – the narrative summary This is the point at which I start writing the story. I’ll take that bullet point list and turn it into an extremely shortened version of the story. For reference, the narrative summary for my space horror is 3900 words long, the summary for my next romance project 3500. This summary allows me to get a better idea of the narrative flow and overall feel of the story. I can tinker with my bullet point outline, add and change as necessary, and incorporate all of those elements I put in the notes in step four. This process can take anywhere between a few days and a few weeks, depending on how much I’m changing, whether some aspects of the story need restructuring, and also what else I’m working on. But it’s important to me to get this right, because it will become the foundation upon which the story is built. If this is flawed, the entire construction will be lopsided. Right now, this is the step I’m at. I finished my narrative summary, and now I’ll give it a week or so to sit and simmer before I get back to it for the next step.

Step 6 – the actual outline Now this one, I’ll be experimenting with again. I do very much like chapter-by-chapter outlines, because there is something extremely satisfying about being able to see these self-contained little bits of story that I can start and finish in a day if I want to, and that look really neat when I’m done. But while this was fine with single-POV, or a dual-POV structured A-B-A-B, I’m not sure how well it works, really, for dual-POV where the chapters don’t neatly alternate. So I might shift this step from chapter-by-chapter to scene-by-scene. I don’t think it will make a huge difference in the end, but it will make it easier for me to shift scenes around, and see the overall balance of the different POVs (especially once I feed it into Atticus and start working on it in there).

And once this is done, there’s nothing left but Step 7 – writing the story.

So there it is, my current process as I go through a project from inception to writing “the end” underneath. Looks like a lot? It’s really not. Truth be told, without the majority of this prep work, the actual writing process would take so much longer. Having it all laid out and ready to go makes it so much easier not just to find flaws ahead of time (and thus avoid extensive rewrites), but to write the actual book day to day, without getting stuck in research, character development, and wondering if the entire thing hasn’t gone wildly off course forty pages ago, and I just didn’t notice yet. If you’ve never tried planning a long-form project, maybe give this method a go.

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog or following my socials for a bit, you might be wondering: It’s almost November, and she’s outlining a new manuscript, is she-

No. I’m not. There will be no NaNoWriMo for me this year, and this time, I mean it.

I haven’t missed a year since 2011. It’s time for a break. So this year, on October 31st, instead of counting down to November to get my first 1000 words in, I’ll be chilling on the couch, watching The Fall of the House of Usher, having a drink or two, and when the clock strikes midnight, I’ll think: “Maybe I should go to bed.”

And that will be all.

– Cara

[apretentiousreader]

100 Days of Productivity 6/100.

I understand a little more why people burn out of this challenge very quickly. I am doing a lot of the same work, just in different places, so it's hard to get original content. I did manage to pick up a few more hours at work, and get a bit of writing done at the library. It's still fairly early, so I have plans to get some cleaning done, and make a real dinner instead of just instant noodles.

[hudders-and-hiddles]

i am very tired and my brain is not at all in writing mode, so it took all night, but i have managed to meet the day one word count goal 💪

[pierog]

WEAPONISED HAGFISH SLIME!!!!!! WEAPONISED HAGFISH SLIME IN MY NANOWRIMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[eveningspirit]

Ha! I wrote 3k+ words today. *grin* Sleeping 14 hours is great for creativity.

Now I can get to that fanfic I’ve been thinking about. *grin more*