Saturday, August 24, 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013


Some folks have asked what I'll be doing for National Novel Writing Month this year. While my annual NaNoWriMo calendar reminder went off as scheduled on July 31st, I've been so busy with the new series launch I haven't yet decided. Also, a lot depends on how stacked my winter writing schedule will be. If I don't join in myself, I will definitely provide whatever support I can here on the blog for those of you who will be writing a novel in November.

Will you be taking part in NaNoWriMo 2013? Let us know your plans in comments.

19 comments:

  1. Ack! NaNo! I still have two months, right? :panics a little:

    Right now, I have no clue whether I'm going to participate or in what fashion or even what I'd be working on. I'll probably figure it out in October.

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    1. A little bit of August, then September and October, so I think you're good -- we shouldn't start to panic until Octobe 1st. :)

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    2. Dropped an r there, sorry. There is no month named Octobe. Although there should be; it would give us more time. :)

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  2. I've been thinking about NaNo for a month or so, yet still haven't decided. I have a lot of stuff happening this Fall, though this would be my 5th and I'd like to keep it going (because I'm nuts!!!) Guess I'll know what to do when the time comes.

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    1. Yes, but you're nuts in the good way, lol.

      My other big question mark with NaNo is how much promotion for His Lordship Possessed I'll be doing in September and October. I have a few things planned, but as the release date draws closer I may have to do some things for the publisher. I really need to reserve some time for them before I go off and have writing fun.

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  3. Definitely! My writing group is gearing up for it and my teenage son might just enter this year. Seeing the article on the NaNo forums where 500 middle school kids did it just made him excited :D

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    1. Now that is cool -- a second generation NaNo'er! I will have to keep an eye out for things that might help our younger writers this year, too.

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    2. That would be awesome! We're learning the young writer's website. He's excited to head to a few of the coffee shop write-ins with me this year.

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    3. Those write-ins are always said to be so much fun. I wanted to drop in on a few of those myself during NaNo last year, but I never worked up the nerve. Maybe I'll try again this November.

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    4. It took me a lot of courage to go to the first one. Once I heard the first: I'm writing a steampunk thriller zombie young adult, I kind of relaxed. They were people who genuinely just loved to read and wanted to write something fun. It was motivating.

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  4. I am not even thinking about this yet. I feel a bit like I'm walking into the literary Walmart and seeing the Christmas decorations when Halloween hasn't even happened yet.

    Usually I've heard that you aren't supposed to plan too far in advance for NaNoWriMo, b/c you end up over-thinking it and the point is just to finish something, anyway. I guess if it helps you, then plan away! I know it wouldn't help me, though. I completely pantsed mine last year and while I didn't finish, I think it would have suffered from the kind of over-planning that I usually do. I guess I'm not going to start a new project this NaNo -- I may try to finish the one I had last year -- but as of now, I'm avoiding thinking about it at all.

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    1. Very good advice for the pantsers, Laura -- definitely don't over-think or over-plan if it kills the spontaneity for you.

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    2. It kind of makes me have a mini-panic and then stare at the page, paralyzed. Which is odd, because before I did last year's NaNo I was always a plotter. I'd say I was a plodder as well -- always had a realllly slow writing pace. I was too worried about sticking to my plan. Now I understand pantsing. It's like diving into ice water. You can't think about it or you'll never do it. Just go. :)

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    3. I take my hat off to you, Laura, because the idea of writing without a plan scares the daylights out of me -- but that's probably why there are plotters and pantsers. :)

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  5. Indeed I will be taking part this year - as every year - and I have a new project planned. But I really am nearing the point in my 'writing career' where I need to focus more on revising what I already have. Still, I might make it so November each year is the one time of year I write something new.

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    1. I have lots of unfinished stories, too, Trisha, and while I've always meant to get back to them I lose the creative connection I had to them as the years march on. I still won't let them go, but I have begun filing them away.

      I like the thought of NaNoWriMo being the one time of year when you can write something new (very often that's how it's been for me; a month when I can write whatever I like.) Giving yourself a writing vacation can help your creativity, too, I think -- no matter where you are in your writing career.

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  6. Originally I was planning on doing NaNo again this year, but my writing got derailed a bit by some life stuff, so I'm not sure. I don't really have a novel idea at this point (and I have so many unfinished things floating around that I'm not really sure I WANT to start another new thing). I may be a rebel and spend November trying to finish a short story collection I've been working on.

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  7. Yes, I've signed up to do NaNoWriMo 2013. I'll be writing under The Boca Deb if anyone wants to buddy me or cheer me from the sidelines, etc. Briefly, my entry will be a young-adult/new adult piece that takes place in the American Sector of Berlin (i.e., during the Cold War) in the mid-1960s.

    Good Luck Everybody!

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