How did it go for everyone? I think my NaNo buddy list was about 50/50 for winners, which is pretty awesome.
My final word count is almost identical to last year's, and even though it seemed harder to do the actual writing this year, I don't know if I'm reading into things.
But know what was awesome? Editing as I went. Never again will I shut off my internal editor and just go go go. That just leads to horribly depressing edits later. Nope, from now on I'm going to allow myself to edit as long as I first get my word count in.
This year's NaNo is already leaps and bounds ahead of last year's, so that is awesome.
It's not quite done yet, but I'm on the final climax of the story so I don't see it being more than another 10k.
I want to get it completed as fast as possible so I can give it another quick edit and then get it out to Betas. 2011 is going to be the year of the query. This I vow.
So, how did your NaNo turn out? And I don't want to hear just about your word count, I want to hear about the actual story.
Ready, set, TELL ME!
26 comments:
I'm about 2/3rds of the way through my story and a growing list of things I'll be changing in the second draft. I wrote about 13k more than I did last year.
holy crap- it's december?! i gotta start christmas shopping...
I did similar-ish word count this year as last, but for some reason it was a lot harder this year. Well, I know what the 'some reason' is. I had a plot idea (I still like the plot idea) with a story arc and everything, all in my noggin. (this never happens) I always ALWAYS have characters first. This time I didn't. In fact, I tried and tried to 'create' characters to put in this story and they just wouldn't come alive for me. I tried changing them up, new names, new sketches...nothing worked. So, I forced my way through, one painful word at a time.
Now, I will just sit on the story idea and wait for characters to come to me...and get back to revisions on my last novel.
Like I said, it's an exciting plot and I have even done all the research...during Nano. (you know when I'm doing research instead of writing, things are going badly) But I need living, breathing characters willing to take this particular dark journey. *sigh*
Was that detailed enough?
When do I get to hear all about your sea monster??
Dan - only 2/3rds done at over 80K? Daaaammmn
Anne - tell me about it. I wish i had some money
I didn't do NaNo, didn't know what it was last year when I began blogging (came in midway), but it seems like, from the blogs I follow, this year's endeavor was a lot smoother, ie, participants dug in sooner on the word count. However, big applause for editing a bit as you go.
How and what do you win? Just by making your word count? That's pretty cool, actually.
Not being a real writer, I shouldn't be commenting at all...but I just have to say that Anne's comment just *cracked me up*!
Falen: "So, how did your NaNo turn out?"
Anne: "Holy crap--it's december?!"
Like that, huh? :-))
(I wanna hear about the sea monster, too! And--looking closer at the cover that was designed for you, I like it even more! The fish is very koi-like, very Japanese, very ukiyo-e. Beautiful scales and diagonal movement! I, mm, bery like!)
My story took so many unexpected turns, I should retitle it "Labyrinth." But in the end, I think I have a good idea and good characters. Now I just have to figure out what the hell to do with them...
Love the jumping picture. :D
I didn't participate, but my goal was to write 50,000 words on my wip . . . which I didn't manage because life happened. But that's okay. My goal for December is to finish my wip. :D
Good luck with the revisions.
Eh, if you've heard me bitch and moan about NaNo this year enough; no need to repeat it.
Let's just say it's put me in an awful, awful funk and leave it at that.
Well, I made my word count (um, wow - just typoed that last word ugly, so glad I caught it). Ahem, where was I. NaNo.
I had 3 ideas going in, and I should have gone with the completely new one. Instead, I did part 2 in my series. Meh. I have lots of chunks of good stuff, and no fillers. Gonna be hard. Won't do that again.
Kittie - you should join us next year. It's a lot of fun
Matthew - just by hitting the 50K you're considered a winner. You get a certificate and respect
Yokohama - i really like the diagonal movement as well! Especially from farther away
Summer - oooh, tough deal. For me, characters and plot are pretty tightely interwoven. I don't think i could stick them somewhere else
Stina - that is an excellent goal. And then we're in to 2011!
Teebore - boo on the funk. You'll have to work on something which erases it
Tara - Hah! that typo would have been hilarious!
Last year, I had no plot in mind other than Heroine of my main WIP dumps her loser boyfriend and does agree to date Boy B. I was in a class, so I couldn't start until almost a week into November. I had the flu. Still, I finished the 50k part by 11/15 and went on to write 75k overall. It wound up having plot, good pacing, and was lots of fun.
This year I had a great idea, a clear road map. It was all so promising, but the writing didn't come naturally. There were moments of "brilliance," but I fought for every word, and my characters dumped the plot and sat around feeling miserable. Ah well. I'll try again in a few months.
I can't turn off my internal editor either. I have to keep them under control, of course, or I'd never make ANY progress. But my drafts come out so much stronger if I listen to them sometimes.
Congrats on the NaNo success. I didn't have time to NaNo this year, but I made a lot of progress on my current MS. :)
I hit a snag after Day 7, lost a load of time and then pretty much gave up trying to recuperate :( What I've got though is roughly 10k of story, so my setup is pretty much done. What's gone on so far is my MC is an apprentice apothecary/physician in his town, and he is guided by a mysterious sensation to where a body lay in the woods on the outskirts of his town (this same sensation overpowers him and basically electrocutes him before he gets to the body). The body turns out to be of a warrior priest from an eastern kingdom, and his presence (and his death) this far west have grave implications. A coded message is carved into the flesh of his chest. The town council meets with the young man and his mentor to decide what should be done. The body is cremated and the MC accompanies a retinue to take a copy of the message to the High King in the west. That's about as far as I got :P
I wrote almost 53,000 words, which was way more than I thought possible! And considering when I wrote CassaStar I had no plans for a sequel, I think it came together well. All I can tell you is that it continues to follow Byron - and features a tough female lead just to annoy him.
Congratulations again!!!
Oh, and I did some editing as I wrote as well. Yeah, like I wasn't already typing slow with my hunt & peck style!
Shannon - exactly. It's all about keeping them firmly in hand
Jamie - uhhh that sounds awesome. I would totes read that
Alex - Hah! did your typing get any better as the month went on?
I finished the story but there are lots of gaping holes that I need to flesh out so the final word count will be almost double the 50k. My story is the third book in my Kingdom of Arnhem fantasy romance series.
It is a great achievement. Congrats to you and everyone who participated.
I've never cottoned to the fact that you shouldn't edit in NaNo. So kudos to you for finding a way to fit it in.
Nicole - i always like a larger wordcount because then it gives room for cutting
Holly - thanks!
Maria - i'm going to make sure i fit it in every year from here on out
You already know what my book is about but it changed a lot in my writing which I expected. It was very fluid and there was only one part I had trouble writing but then I switched the POV and it clicked. My problem was finding the time when my brain wasn't melting from the day job.
I love that pic. It is Amazing.
My 1st novel was about a girl with Magical Powers and the possible End of the World
My 2nd was about Jenni and Benni and a house that may or may not have been haunted
My 3rd is about a nameless, genderless, person brought into this world as a punishment for past sins they cannot remember.
Good luck finishing your novel! I'm sure it will be awesomesauce.
Hannah - damn those day jobs. Damn them to HELL!
Naomi - oooh that third one sounds especially intriguing
Yeah for NaNo!
I finished mine, which shocked me.
I discovered SO many things along the way, just by writing furiously whenever I had time.
The problem is, right now the structure is: Here are the characters! Here is the problem! CLIMAX GIANT BATTLE SCENE! The End!(to be continues) Not so great, since there's NO character development.
I had a general idea where I was going, but about 20,000 words in I discovered that it was the MMC's fairy godmother pulling the strings instead of the faerie-vampire who actually turned out to be pretty nice. There was also a wicked twist at the end that I hadn't expected and it ended VERY cliff-hangery for a sequel which totally wasn't supposed to happen. But it was SO much fun to write!
I am kind of dreading the rewrite/revisions, but looking forward to them at the same time.
My word count was less this year (94k), but this time I had a goal of 80k, and I wanted it to be around that. So I have some culling to do when I finally get to editing ;)
Congrats on winning!
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