So I've signed up to do NaNoWriMo again; I must be a real sucker for punishment, eh?
For those of you who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it's a month long writing challenge. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Obviously what you end up with isn't a fully formed, beautifully crafted novel ready for public consumption but it is something that can be tweaked and edited over the following months.
I've attempted NaNoWriMo before but so far I've only got as far as 21,000 words before the poor thing died on me! This year I have an idea that I want to write about so that's a minor win - last year I had no real idea, started writing and ran out of steam after 3 days! I'm not too much of a planner with my writing, preferring to write by the seat of my pants (pantser in NaNoWriMo speak) but I'm getting a bit stressed as my characters don't have names yet. I've tried various combinations but nothing I'm happy with yet. At this rate they'll be called A, B and C!
I hope that this will be the year when I get 50,000 words down and have something I'm moderately happy with, something I can share and improve. Maybe even - whisper this bit - something I can think about publishing.
So wish me luck, put the kettle on and look out for anguished tweets about NaNoWriMo burnout!
Good luck! The most words I've ever written in a month was 15,000 and that was a camp nano (well 15,000 of a book anyway - I also blogged and wrote poems but didn't count them!) Having an idea is definitely a bonus! I'm a pantser too though so understand the idea of throwing yourself in without a clear plan. I look forward to hearing how your month goes. Thanks for linking to #WhatImWriting
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to have a few vague ideas but I find if I plan too much I suck all the joy out of the story and lose interest. Here's hoping for success - watch this space!
DeleteGood luck with NaNo - I think I managed about 20k once too, but never signed up officially! Oh and just a thought... What if you really do just call your as yet unnamed characters A, B and C for now...? The names may come to you later and you can find and replace them when you get to your second draft! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to think these characters will never have names, nothing seems to suit them so I'm going with A, B and C for now!
DeleteAh, exciting - good luck! Naming characters is always a tricky one. I have spent many, many hours trawling the internet for inspiration. I often start with name meanings - characteristics I want to encompass. It does;t always worked but it's thrown up some interesting options in the past! x
ReplyDeleteSometimes names pop up with no effort but this time round every name I try doesn't seem to fit. Maybe they'll name themselves as I write!
DeleteGood luck Jo! I don't have the discipline for this yet, maybe next year :) Having a clear idea seems like a very good place to start. I'm a pantser too (love that term!).
ReplyDeleteThanks Sara, I may need that luck half way through November! I like telling people I'm a pantser - they give me some odd looks!
DeleteWe can support each other hopefully. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nicola - I may need support! I'm feeling quietly confident this year - having an idea is rather comforting!
DeleteGood luck! I'm a panster too. Best way to be for freehand writing I reckon as plenty scope for going down the right rabbit holes! Keep us posted on how you get on #whatimwriting
ReplyDeleteI'll post progress as I go Susan. Look out for extracts and thorny problems - hopefully no writers block issues this time!
Delete