nanowrimo

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Has anyone here participated in nanowrimo, national novel writing month in November?

I would like to, and thought I would get anyone whose done it advice on how to prepare.

Tina

I did NaNoWriMo last year, and I really wasn't prepared for it like I thought I was. I'm actually still working on it, but I found an awesome publishing site with access from a Kindle Fire app that helps with just getting the separate chapters out there. The best I can say is to find as much time as you can to write your story, because it goes by a lot faster than you think it would.

My first year was 2006. I won. Lost in 2007 - but that year, I found a friend dead on his kitchen floor on the 2nd of September, then spent the rest of September and all of October helping deal with his stuff and taking care of his cats. By the first of November, I was emotionally wrecked and physically so exhausted I fell asleep standing up several times. If you have a year like that, there's not much you can do. I've won every year since (2008-12).

I don't usually start planning my novel until September; then I start thinking about what I might want to write and toying with ideas. The earliest I've ever settled on the idea I finally went with was in mid October...

But there are a few things you can do. For me, at least, FocusWriter is the best tool for "laying track". Get the version for your OS, download it - straight from GottCode, so you don't get something nasty, and get used to it. Or, if you don't think that will work for you, find a program that will and get used to that instead. Do not, under any circumstances, try out a new program while trying to write that quickly. (I did, once, but I don't recommend it. It was the hardest slog I had of any of them.) On the other hand, I also love to write using a fountain pen. It inspires me; I actually wrote my novel longhand in 2011 - using a different pen and ink each day, and blogging about that. Well, since my power was out for the first few days of November, the blog started late, and stalled out once I got sick around Thanksgiving, but I crossed the finish line fine. But if I weren't a fountain pen nut, I would never have considered trying that. (And I do not recommend even thinking about writing longhand with anything but a fountain pen. Yes, a few folks do it - but only a FP will skate across the paper and let you write quickly, and only a FP, with the light touch it requires, will spare your hand from suffering by the end of the month.) So figure out what process works for you.

Also, get used to writing as much as you can. Don't wear yourself out, but practice 'sprinting' with other stories. Just get used to sitting in a chair and putting words down on paper. The more you do it, the easier it gets. I think it's Lazette Gifford who wrote a guide to NaNo. The last I checked, it was free to download, and pretty useful. If you can't find it (or FocusWriter, or anything else you think you might need) post back here and let me know. I'll take the time to search for them if I have to, but since most folks can use Google, and I have several people expecting me to fix their computers for them and am swamped, I'm just typing this as fast as I can right now. But if you do need help finding something, let me know.

Also, if you have any questions, let me know, too. I'll monitor this thread, so I'll know if you ask anything more.

Edited to add: Be very, very careful about "publishing" any of your book unless you know exactly what you're doing. It is far too easy to lose Copyright (I own Copyrights dating back to 1977 and have learned more than I ever wanted to know on that topic...) or first publication rights. Those things may not matter to you - but at least make sure you understand what you're giving up - before you give it up.

What site? What app? I tried to look for writing apps for Kindle Fire recently but couldn't find any.

I won NaNoWriMo back '05, '06, and '07, then got away from doing it because I had a horrible job that didn't give me much time in the next three years. I keep meaning to go back every Nov. since 2011, but haven't yet.

It really is freeing, when you have to write about 1700 words a day to reach 50,000. If you really get into it, you stifle your inner editor, who wants perfection, and get all or part of your first draft. And when you write every day, you can only get better at it.

theWanderer -- have you published?

I dream of writing a children's novel.

That is all I have so far. As I am a children's librarian. But I don't have a clue yet. And my tastes are so particular. But I thought that I would possibly try writing something that is action based and likely something that I know a bit about.

My subject says it all. I really appreciate the posts here.

Don't dream it -- DO it Don't wait for November. You could make your own NaNoWriMo in March. Or April.

I always wanted to write but I waited until I was in my forties.

In the past, but not for a long time. (And you have all but certainly never heard of me.) That's a long story I hope to change, but have to get everything else in my life sorted out first.

Wattpad. You can publish your story in parts on there and get constructive feedback. I haven't ran into a single troll there yet.

I do the YWP for it. The first year I did 12k, this year I did 30k.