I'd say that art is where creativity meets the limitations of the medium

So go for it

And show the novel to us sometime please.

ps. Since you seem to be looking for an argument, and i'm bored:

What a totally silly idea. I can't believe that forcing yourself to write a novel in a month could possibly produce anything worth reading. The creation of a novel is a highly individual process. Who's to say that this novel's better than that because the author did it in half the time? Does the competition simply seek to reward those whose creative processes are faster?

Thank you for the encouragement! I might show this one to people, but I don't usually pass my older ones around.

In response to your devil's-advocate argument, the idea is that regardless of the time you spend on it, a first-draft novel isn't likely to be any good (Even Steven King claims this). The idea is to get a draft done: hopefully, a flawed, but workable draft.

I thought the idea was just to get your ass writing something because people have a habit of saying "I'll write a novel... SOME DAY", the same someday that comes straight after the apocalypse. And sure writing crap is easy, but writing 50,000,000 words of crap in one month isn't.

I'm definitely in, it's my first time, and I have nothing but time, ideas and caffeine to keep my 50,000,000 word disaster afloat. And if the story ends too soon, I'll add an epilogue.. and if that ends too soon, I'll add an epi-epilogue.

Seeya at the finish line, other guy.

Sweet! Look me up on nanowrimo.org so I can add you as a buddy. I'm "dirkamoeba."

I'm gonna give it a shot. I do so every year, but after attending that writing class with Orson Scott Card, my butt is motivated.

Ok I added you Dirk. I'm registered as Spite.

Orson Scott Card gives writing lessons? I'm impressed, although I can't say that I'm a fan of his stuff.

And i'm considering joining this competition. Would be a much easier decision if I didn't have finals in December, though.

I might give it a go. MIGHT.

Though knowing me I'll get part way in, and wander off. And there's no way my keyboard batteries will last another month, taking them out and rolling them in my paws is a powerful technique, but not THAT powerful.

Ah what the hell, I'll sign myself up and try to cram it in sideways with everything else =D

I'd try this if I had the capability to write things that don't degenerate into unreadable nonsense about halfway through.

I think it's descriptions that kill me. I hate having to sit there using a thesaurus to look up a different synonym for 'big' every time I want to describe something that's big, for example =(

I'm definitely doing this again this year ^^ So last year I totally nosedived, but last year my story had next to no point either and I had no idea where the heck I wanted it to go.

This year, I'm probably gonna be in the same position, but this time I've got a few RL-friends in on it too.

The name's Shadowednavi (when is it not...?), I'll add friends if I can remember how to do so XD

~Shadowed Spirit Sage

Signed up on the official website, although I have a feeling even if I go through with this, I'll have trouble updating in time. Username: Srol (ORIGINALITY)

Added you all.

THis is my fourth time, but I never fail to get completely excited during the weeks leading up to it.

Oh, by the way please post brief excerpts/drafts up here during the competition for us to read

It'll be nice to see how the ideas take shape in your heads.

I'm too lazy to do that, but I think it's an interesting idea. Good luck with your novels people! 🙂

I'll probably post brief excerpts and status updates, if you folk are interested.

Basically, the idea I have now is that it's tied to Project Rawson, which is another novel I work on (or try to work on) during the off-season but haven't finished. Project Rawson is the story of the son, whereas this novel is the story of the father.

The principles are two middle-aged space travellers who have travelled from world to world, scamming the inhabitants to pay their passage. They decide it's time to become honest men again and return home to Earth. However, when one of their schemes goes too far, they're on the lam from the lawmen of a backwater kingdom. In order to exonerate themselves and collect a hefty reward, they join with a young fortune-seeker who is out to find the kingdom's missing prince. But his motives aren't exactly what they seem.

I don't want to write anything fantasy or sci-fi even though I'd like to one day, I want to try something more simple. I have this story in mind about a kid who always lives in the shadow of his twin brother, but I haven't planned much so I don't know where it'll go. But I do know I want it to be more humourous instead of serious, because I've found my more light hearted fanfics have been more popular.

Whether I write that or one of the numerous other ideas I have, I really don't know yet. I'm starting to lose faith that I wil be able to do this, but I will try.

IF I Manage to get round to this, mine will either be a Sci Fi on a Merc/soldier landeed on a backwards planet, or about animal RNA splicing, I havn't decided yet N.n

After much procrastination, I've decided to give this a go. Probably won't finish, but it's a good experience, nonetheless.

So Crimson and Dirk are writing heavily sci-fi inflected stories. Just thought it curious (or perhaps not so curious ). So then, what's everyone else who's taking part going to be writing about?

I was raised on a really heavy diet of Science Fiction. I read my first Asimov book when I was 8 years old, and other heavyweights of the genre such as Clarke and Heinlein came quickly after.

For some reason though, I've always been very hesistant to write science fiction, because it's a lot of work to keep it from degenerating into fantasy.

The stuff I really am interested in writing are stories in a contemporary setting with fantastic elements. Like Orson Scott Card's Magic Street or Sean Stewart's Galveston. I just think it's a lot of fun bringing magic to a current setting because we live in a desively non-magical world.

I wrote a bunch of more less fantastic stuff in college. My senior thesis was a collection of short stories following a single family that had to move a lot around the world due to business. That was interesting because it was very similar to my family (I spent third grade in Switzerland and ninth grade in London), but I lost interest in it towards the end, and I think some of the stories were forced.

For those of us on the east coast of the US, November starts in mere moments.

Good luck to all participants!

I'll be doing the contest this year.

I'm going to start writing mine shortly. Sadly, due to events out of my control, I was too busy this past week and a half to plan anything, so I have no idea what I'm going to be writing about. XD

Oh well, you know what they say about mice and men planning things anyway. Winging it is just as effective.

Today, so far, is my most successful day one ever, with me already reaching 3,300 words.

My motivating force? This:

Just as long as you get off to a good start ;o i've had to trash thousands of words written in a hurry before

Why does your counter say 15 days to go?

What's how long it'll take if I continue a my current rate (which I probably won't).

2,447 words so far, that's not bad =3
Though all I seem to have done so far is tourture the main character o.o;

Remember kids, melodrama is not literary

Only written about 580 or so words. I can't help notice whenever I write characters they all come off soudning like jerks. Must be a reflection of my personality.

This is why I like writing fanfics, the characters already have a personality to work with. I suck at creating unique and interesting characters. I should've written about trees instead, they don't ever talk

What about ents?

I'd say people would like ents more if they didn't talk so much. =P

2038 words so far. Guess I better get back to writing if I want to make todays goal of 3400. >.<

Hmm, maybe I should've done this, as I just started a fanfic just recently, and I've been in a serious mood for writing.

Oh well, too late now. =(

No it's not. You can start any time.

Some people sign up in the last week and finish then. Heck, some people do it in the last two or three days.

Never too late till it's over.

(by the way, my current count is 10,335. I amaze myself. This is better than I've ever done. I'm already almost done the first week's quota.

Oh, cool, then.

I can sign up on the weekend. Thanks Dirk.

I'm not doing too shabby. At 2,230 at the moment, and I've got all night to continue. Sadly, this is the month of holiday stuff for the a capella choir I'm in, so a lot of my time is going toward that.

But I'm determined to make it. If I get 50,000 words, I'm getting myself a tablet as an early Christmas present. Talk about motivation. 😀

~Shadowed Spirit Sage

Currently at just over 2700, and plan on working some more to get those last two pages in to meet my daily quota. ( By the way, Dirk, you suck with that 10,000 crap XD ) It helps that I can get down almost 1000 words while I'm at work between customers, so I'm not so pressured about it when I get home; that actually gives me a little hope ._.

What's everyone planning on doing with their novels, either before or after they're finished? Keep them to yourselves, share the product of your experience... Burn and never speak of it again?

So SSS, perhaps you shouldn't tell yourself that you've got to carefully introduce everything and everyone before you start writing actual plot. Why not work one into the other?

Lots of luck everyone ;o Once again, please share your work

Well, in order for my main plot to work, I need to carefully introduce specific things about the characters to A) keep the reader guessing what's gonna happen toward the end and 2) show exactly how difficult it is for the main character to change.

Basically, I've chosen to write about how Electrawoman got her powers and how tough it is to maintain both a hero's life and her regular one while keeping them both completely separate, meanwhile trying to destroy a villain.

As for when November ends? Provided I finish the story, I'll likely post it here, no matter how crappy it is. ^^ I would love to read your guys'. If you're interested but have nowhere to host them, I'll gladly put them on my site for you.

~Shadowed Spirit Sage

I don't want mine online, actually. Unlike in past years, this is the story I've always wanted to write, so I'm going to be continuing to edit this one for a while, probably.

Check the count. Impressive, yes?

Well now, SSS, I suppose that's a matter of taste then. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Quote:

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Unlike in past years, this is the story I've always wanted to write, so I'm going to be continuing to edit this one for a while, probably.

---

As long as it doesn't languish in some tattered brown paper back on the side of your desk for the next three decades. In any case:

Quote:

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I'll probably post brief excerpts

---

You promised us excerpts!

Excerpts perhaps. Full text you'll have to wait.

I finally got off the ground tonight. I wrote about 1375 words so far, and I'm still goign. I found out I write much better at Starbucks then I do at my apartment, so I'm camping out here (I'm there right now, updating via WiFi). I keep buying coffee and bottles of water so they don't kick me out. If I do this all November, I'll either go broke, or get so hyper from caffeine that I end up writing five novels. It's a risk I'm willing to take =P.

I posted an excerpt on my NaNoWriMo profile. I'm not sure if I'm going to post any more...I just really like how this first bit turned out for some reason. I had tried writing that scene from like five thousand different angles, and this was the only one my fingers felt like typing.

I'm a very neurotic writer, I get hung up on the smallest things. My college writing teacher said that a successful writer needs to be able to keep the editor inside locked away so he can just get the damn words down on the paper before getting hung up on every little detail. Unfortunately, I am a professional editor, so it's difficult for me to to tell the editor inside to shut up and let me write for five minutes.

But this Starbucks regimen seems to be working. We'll see how it works down the line.

Here's a link to my excerpt.....I think. I'm having some trouble figuring this website out

EDIT: Leaving Starbucks now, with 2649 words

I'm more looking at this as an incentive to return to my long-agonised-over novel, which I have been working on for the last 3 years, and is now shorter than it was a month ago.
On the other hand, I'm actually beginning to be happy with it.
I'm registered under Xagarath, though doubt I'll wind up uploading anything. My masterpiece is for publication or obscurity, darnit.
If it ever gets beyond 1 page + far too much background detail, anyway.

(Of course, the abandoned/deleted material for said novel is over 12,000 words long)

Dude, Srol, I'm digging what you posted of your story. ^^ Best of luck continuing on with that!

As for me, I'm less than 300 words away from 10,000. I am so proud of myself - this time last year I had maybe 5,000 when I ran out of ideas. This year I am totally pumped, especially now that the plot's kicked in. ^^

Keep up the good work, all 😀

~Shadowed Spirit Sage

Hahahahah, oh man, I totally havn't worked on this in days. It seems I'd rather even STUDY! 0.o

Hey, this could be a good study aid, it's like dwarf bread XD

Excerpt of mine at my NaNo profile:

clicky

It's a flashback detailing my characters' origins.

Anyhow. I hit 20k this afternoon. Pretty satisfying.

Dirk - first of all you've got a typo You forgot to capitalize Homer in the sentence about the Earth being round.

Second, I like it. To me it has this off-kilter Ian Rankin/Neil Gaiman kind of feel to it, and it's what i'd call a relaxing enjoyable read so far.

Third, your counter in your sig seems to be lagging a little.

Fourth, we wants moar when you can manage it ;p Please.

That is all!

Typos are par for the course, my friend.

Yeah, the counter lags. I had just updated my word count before posting this, so by now it's accurate. I can't complain.