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Started by oldfolkie, November 13, 2005, 04:25:02 pm

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oldfolkie

Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo? (http://www.nanowrimo.org) It\'s taking all my time this month, but after doing it last year I just had to again. Cranking out 50K words in 30 days might seem like a chore, but it\'s actually quite liberating! So I\'m just curious to see if I\'m the only one here doing it.

(Might seem a little off-topic for this forum, if so this post will die a natural death!)  ;)
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

Travis

I hope not, I think the written word deserves as much attention as any other art form here.

gkg

good for you!!  

i\'m buried with working on pieces for a competitive show in January, so no time to spare, but would love to see what you come up with when you\'re done!!   :-*
Peace.

image = <i>"Blue Velvet"</i> (front of 2-sided piece) (c) georgia k griffin - all rights reserved

oldfolkie

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Travis!

gkg, I\'ll have to see how it all ends up. Most NaNo novels are pretty crappy (mine I\'m sure will be no exception). I\'m hoping I might be able to edit one of the 2 into something saleable, but who knows.

Feeling pretty good though, because I\'m over 27,000 words and it\'s only Day 13!  ;D
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

sngwthme

November 14, 2005, 05:28:10 am #4 Last Edit: November 14, 2005, 05:28:55 am by SNGWTHME
I\'m rooting for ya Oldfolkie!
What a great idea. I will have to do this next year, I had not heard of this before, so thank you for the heads up. Sooooo any hints as to what you are writting about?  

oldfolkie

Thanks, sngwthme, it\'s a fun thing to do, and I\'m now up to 31,290 words which is on a 2,000 word per day pace. Can\'t quite believe it. The target for midnight November 30th is 50,000 words.

Well, a hint. OK. It\'s about a bunch of university students in Canada in 1970. They meet on a long weekend. Relationships ensue. Music is heavily involved. It\'s NOT autobiographical, but definitely set in a time and place I know well.

I\'ll let you know if & when I hit 50,000!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

hawkfinger

Whoa, I just checked out the website and I love this!!  I am all for getting rid of fear, which is what this idea does...just begin writing and go for it! Make mistakes, it\'s okay!  I love it!  
It reminds me of the same approach to music, such as experimental music...just having FUN and learning and collaborating.  
You don\'t have to be an expert to do music, or write, or do art...just do it!!

Love it. Thanks for the link and for doing it.
It\'s not too late, I think I\'ll sign up too!
"fast and bulbous, also tapered"

Cptn. B

oldfolkie

Wow, hawkfinger, that\'s ambitious, but I wish you luck! ;D

I managed to keep on my 2000 word per day pace, and finished up this afternoon with 51,600 words. Somehow, the NaNo site thinks it\'s actually 51,716, and who am I to argue with them?  ::)  But I\'m really pleased. I actually finished a semi-coherent story (continuity is awful, but that can be fixed) and did the required word count 5 days ahead of schedule.

May I wish equivalent success to everyone with a writing project on the go! (now, if only I could find somebody to publish this sucker  ;) )
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

Deblee

Just read this post, and Way to Go!
I think any project that we set out to acomplish cnd come to end of with satisfaction, whatever the material outcome is definately a success. Finding satisfaction in life and completing our personal goals is what it is about. Good luck with finding a publisher, let us know,OK?
Well done again! :)

stuffyrandL

November 26, 2005, 04:51:56 am #9 Last Edit: November 26, 2005, 05:23:29 am by stuffyrandL
This sounds really cool!  I\'ll have to check it out.  I have two fiction pieces going right now.  One is a period piece and the other is a present day piece I started writing for my older daughter.  She\'s loving it so I may be onto something.   ;D  I also have a nonfiction piece going about how I grew up and all.  Not a boohoo thing.  I showed it to a friend I knew would be honest and she described it as "funny and horrific, touching and enlightening"  I figured that might not be a bad thing. LOL!

[edited to add]  I don\'t think I can pull this off by the end of the month.  Of the two fictions I have, one has 18,106 words and the other has 8,847 words.  And the nonfiction has 4,226 words.  My best friend is going to change all the names in it and such, basically to protect me.  LOL!  And that hasn\'t been done yet.  And I\'ve been writing it for almost six months so it wouldn\'t qualify anyway.  I have to do it in stops and starts.  Putting your life out there is not always easy.  Although, I\'m finding if I write about something, it isn\'t in my head so much anymore.  And I let go of some unpleasant thoughts when it goes away a bit.  Does that make any sense?   [end edit]

I\'ll have to look at the site and see because the two fiction pieces I started a couple of weeks ago.  

Thanks, oldfolkie!

And, deblee, great penguin!
Be happy while you're living for you're a long time dead- Scottish proverb

oldfolkie

November 28, 2005, 03:07:02 am #10 Last Edit: November 28, 2005, 03:10:27 am by oldfolkie
QuoteI don\'t think I can pull this off by the end of the month.  Of the two fictions I have, one has 18,106 words and the other has 8,847 words.  And the nonfiction has 4,226 words.  My best friend is going to change all the names in it and such, basically to protect me.  LOL!  And that hasn\'t been done yet.  And I\'ve been writing it for almost six months so it wouldn\'t qualify anyway.  I have to do it in stops and starts.  Putting your life out there is not always easy.  Although, I\'m finding if I write about something, it isn\'t in my head so much anymore.  And I let go of some unpleasant thoughts when it goes away a bit.  Does that make any sense?

I do know what you mean about putting yourself on the line. There are some things in all of the fiction pieces I\'ve written so far that I might edit out because of that. Less so as I write more though, as if I\'m getting them out of my system.

It\'s probably too late for this year, but one of the things you should know about NaNoWriMo is that it\'s completely anonymous. You write to prove to yourself that you can, and you "anonymize" your work by letter substitutions before running it through their word count validator. Nobody else need ever read it but you and whoever you show it to, so you don\'t need to worry about name changes as such. On the other hand, if it turns out really good, you might work it up as a sale! A few of the thousands of NaNo novels have actually made it into print.

Nice to know there are other writers here! I figure writing cuts across about as many borders as music does, and they both impact each other too. Not that I\'ve had much published outside of technical (work) stuff, but I can always dream, and work on it, too.  ;D

This makes 2 years in a row that I\'ve completed the 50K words within the 30 day window. Feels really good!  8) Now I need to sit me down and write something saleable.  ::)
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

Chris DiCicco

not to butt in on this lovly thread of writing projects but I have been writing ever sense, I found I had a nak for it, I have a working in progress Sci Fi Crime Drama in progress of a revamp and if I can ever sepperate the good from the bad, somethings I wrote in high school and college and somethings that happened to Me that I just had to get out of My head and lastly Poetry all else falls by for poetry....

much like Music where sometimes I speak thought sometimes I can not and the music overwhelms, that way of thinking.

Chris
The Exosphere  2013

gkg

QuoteThis makes 2 years in a row that I\'ve completed the 50K words within the 30 day window. Feels really good!   Now I need to sit me down and write something saleable.  

aye, there\'s the rub!  even if you can write in a saleable manner, finding someone interested in publishing it is a long hard schlog.  many publishers won\'t look at work that doesn\'t come from an agent, and many agents won\'t look at work that doesn\'t come from a recommendation.  many writers are paranoid because it\'s a cut throat business so it\'s hard at times to get a recommendation.

back in the early 90s i had a detective novel that a very well known and reputable agent really liked.  i had taken the leap and sent it to her cold.  she sent me her few tweak notes and told me she would love to represent me but... the protagonist was gay, and she didn\'t really rep "that sort of work".  we\'re talking a detective novel, not a sex laden romance novel.  she said if i could rework the character and make him straight, then she\'d love to work with me on it.

i could have done that.  i might even have found a good publisher and have started a hot new career... but it went against my principles.  i could have offered to write a different book, but even that rankled me.  so, i just walked away from it.
Peace.

image = <i>"Blue Velvet"</i> (front of 2-sided piece) (c) georgia k griffin - all rights reserved

oldfolkie

That\'s horrible gkg. I don\'t know what it is, but there are "fashions" in publishing like everything else. I bet it would get a better shake today. Maybe with a different agent? Now, what I\'ve been hearing is that "chick lit" (whatever that is when it\'s at home) is the thing to sell these days. Hmmm.  Don\'t know -- my NaNo novel might sort of fit that label, might not.

And Chris, sounds like good stuff! This music & writing all comes from the same place.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. ~  R.A. Heinlein

gkg

ah, it\'s ok, but thanks sweetie.  i moved on and i\'m happy painting now... maybe some day.

now, think "chick flick" and parse that down... check this out - http://www.authorsontheweb.com/features/0402-chicklit/chicklit.asp  you see what i mean?  
Peace.

image = <i>"Blue Velvet"</i> (front of 2-sided piece) (c) georgia k griffin - all rights reserved