Are you Ready for NaNoWriMo 2014?

Maggie Maxwell · Oct 9, 2014

TNK said:
Oh, so I'm not the only one who is obsessively refreshing the page? Good to know.

Nooooope. *refreshes again* I want to get posting, and I know there are people coming back anyway, but it feels silly to do it knowing it's all going to be gone in a few days. I should probably just suck it up and pre-write my synopsis so it's ready to go with the new site.

Sage · Oct 9, 2014

I'm not only refreshing the site but also lurking on @NaNoWriMo's twitter for updates

Sage · Oct 9, 2014

Motley said:
Deciding can be more difficult than NaNo itself! I think I'll outline the novel in my head and see if it becomes necessary.

TBH, this has been my biggest problem with NaNo the past few years. Except for 2012 when a SNI fell in my lap, the lead up to NaNo since 2009 has consisted of me stressing over what to do. Any other time of the year, inspiration can hit & I can tackle the novel when I'm ready, & if inspiration isn't hitting, it's not a big deal. But if I'm waffling between ideas for NaNo, it's a huge source of stress. What will I do on November 1? Usually I do settle on something before Nov 1 (only once did I decide 10 minutes into the month), but I'm just not invested in those cases as I would be for the SNIs that aren't on a timetable.

Maggie Maxwell · Oct 9, 2014

Sage said:
TBH, this has been my biggest problem with NaNo the past few years. Except for 2012 when a SNI fell in my lap, the lead up to NaNo since 2009 has consisted of me stressing over what to do. Any other time of the year, inspiration can hit & I can tackle the novel when I'm ready, & if inspiration isn't hitting, it's not a big deal. But if I'm waffling between ideas for NaNo, it's a huge source of stress. What will I do on November 1? Usually I do settle on something before Nov 1 (only once did I decide 10 minutes into the month), but I'm just not invested in those cases as I would be for the SNIs that aren't on a timetable.

Do you know what you're working on this year?

chompers · Oct 9, 2014

I don't understand how people can stress over Nano. It's about as flexible as things can get. This really perplexes me.

IdrisG · Oct 9, 2014

I'm so ready for NaNo this year. I won for the first time in a decade of attempts last year and it really lit a fire under me. I've got ideas to burn and a first draft to write. I should probably get started on my outline.

Of course, life will intervene and I'll look up to realize it's November 3rd and won't have written a thing. Never fails.

Sage · Oct 9, 2014

chompers said:
I don't understand how people can stress over Nano. It's about as flexible as things can get. This really perplexes me.

Well, it depends on your goals for NaNo. Not everyone goes in with the same ones.

TAMaxwell said:
Do you know what you're working on this year?

No...ish. At the beginning of September I wrote down every idea I've had in the past couple years and considered them until one took hold, but I wasn't to SNI level with it. But this week, I've been considering doing book 2 in a trilogy. I know the reasons not to do that ("not putting all your eggs in one basket" is not one of them because I have a bunch of other novels, but wanting to write a decent novel with new characters instead of the ones I've been working with since 2012 was one), but it's all practical reasons. My heart is with the sequel, and I'm likely to go with my heart because the NaNo projects that I work on after November are the ones that have that SNI feeling (even when they're shiny *old* ideas).

AshleyEpidemic · Oct 9, 2014

I heard from a little birdie that they are doing the purge of boards differently this year. Rather than wiping it fresh, those threads which have been active since a certain time will remain. I don't know if this goes for the general boards, I'm fairly certain it is for the regional boards.

L M Ashton · Oct 9, 2014

Huh. Interesting. It won't affect my region, which has been dead since the last NaNo. I imagine some regions are far far more active.

Sunwords · Oct 10, 2014

My region was mostly dead last year - we had lost two very good MLs, the leftover one got too much busy with other things during November and I haven't seen her since, neither on the board nor on twitter. So I still hang around on the Germany-Board, but as to write-ins - last year none at all.
Maybe if I find some people this year we will manage something. But the region is all over the Middle East, and the few people who show up in my Jordan-thread ...
I will have just to sit down and get my novel done.

Lilly · Oct 10, 2014

Maybe I’ll start with the second book in the garden gnome trilogy (lots of action, lots of vegetables and a few moles).
Alternatively, part seven of my space opera is also waiting to get written.

For both books, planning is already done: I have a general idea where to start, and then the story will most likely run its course.
The lesser I interfere, the better.

Either way, I’m looking forward to November. :hooray:

Lilly

TNK · Oct 10, 2014

TAMaxwell said:
Nooooope. *refreshes again* I want to get posting, and I know there are people coming back anyway, but it feels silly to do it knowing it's all going to be gone in a few days. I should probably just suck it up and pre-write my synopsis so it's ready to go with the new site.

I know! I want the shiny new site. I like entering my novel title, and picking the genre.

I also like hunting the threads for new calendar wallpaper.

Becky Black · Oct 10, 2014

My plot outline is basically done - though the last quarter of it is still a bit vague. But that is the normal state of affairs for me at this stage. it will start to firm up as I write the earlier parts of the book.

The rest of the month I'll be working on fleshing out the characters and the setting and tweaking the plot outline as I do!

Katrina S. Forest · Oct 10, 2014

chompers said:
I don't understand how people can stress over Nano. It's about as flexible as things can get. This really perplexes me.

Because if I don't meet the arbitrary goal I set for myself, I am clearly a failure as a human being. :Headbang:

...

...maybe I need to take NaNo less seriously.

Elly_Green · Oct 10, 2014

I am going to attempt my very first novel-length work... a mythological retelling of the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. I already have the outline and characters settled. I know how I want to work each chapter and I have set my word goals accordingly.

I'm remaining flexible, but without the little details there in the beginning, I have a hard time forcing myself to do what I set out to do.

I can't wait for NaNoWrMo to start!

L M Ashton · Oct 10, 2014

Katrina S. Forest said:
Because if I don't meet the arbitrary goal I set for myself, I am clearly a failure as a human being.

...

...maybe I need to take NaNo less seriously.

Yeah, some of us are built that way. Like, me, too. Which is why I thought I'd do short stories this year. Thing is, since last night, I've been rethinking that... :Headbang:

Sunwords · Oct 11, 2014

TNK: the first wallpapers are already out! I got one.

My homeregion is still overquiet, wondering if anyone will check in ...

Wilde_at_heart · Oct 11, 2014

Too many projects to finish! Good luck to everyone who is participating though.

annapalooza · Oct 11, 2014

I'm ready! :partyguy:

Sort of. Nano has been the only time I've been consistent about my writing because that little graph keeps me somewhat honest. So now I'm debating if I should continue to plug along on my WIP or use the note card plot I scribbled last month and just start fresh. I kind of like the idea of starting with nothing and making a mad dash for the end. But, I also don't think I've done anything with the past four or so nano's I've participated in. I think I really just wish I had better self motivation. Yeah. That's really my dilemma

Sage · Oct 11, 2014

I wonder if this delay on the new site is costing them. Part of the excitement of NaNo is the big build up to it, with people posting new threads all over the board, many in preparation for their novels or to help other people prepare. But I think, by and large, people are afraid to post. I see a few new threads in some areas, but mostly I think people don't want to start new threads if they're going to be erased with the reboot.

But, I think that a lot of donating comes from exposure to the site. If you're seeing the "Store" and the "Donate" links there at the top of your forums, you're more likely to give in and buy or donate something. Goodness knows that that store link is enticing to me every time I go. But if people aren't spending loads of time on the forum because they don't believe there's a point to it at this time, are they losing out on the impulse buyers and donors? And maybe they're even going to lose participants due to the loss of October momentum.

L M Ashton · Oct 11, 2014

Sage said:
I wonder if this delay on the new site is costing them. Part of the excitement of NaNo is the big build up to it, with people posting new threads all over the board, many in preparation for their novels or to help other people prepare. But I think, by and large, people are afraid to post. I see a few new threads in some areas, but mostly I think people don't want to start new threads if they're going to be erased with the reboot.

But, I think that a lot of donating comes from exposure to the site. If you're seeing the "Store" and the "Donate" links there at the top of your forums, you're more likely to give in and buy or donate something. Goodness knows that that store link is enticing to me every time I go. But if people aren't spending loads of time on the forum because they don't believe there's a point to it at this time, are they losing out on the impulse buyers and donors? And maybe they're even going to lose participants due to the loss of October momentum.

I suspect so, very much. I had the same thoughts. There are threads I thought of starting, but no, it'll be gone in a few days, so what's the point?

I'm not a fan of the forum reboot every year anyway, although I understand why they do it. I don't like the cut-off and the interruption. It seems to me that maybe they should aim for doing it in September instead so it's done way early. But I'm not in charge...

TNK · Oct 11, 2014

Sunwords: Yay! :runs off to hunt down a calendar:

chompers · Oct 11, 2014

Wilde_at_heart said:
Too many projects to finish! Good luck to everyone who is participating though.

I use Nano as a way to finish current projects. It's a great motivator and having that deadline really helps.

TNK · Oct 12, 2014

THE SITE HAS RELAUNCHED! :partyguy:

chompers · Oct 12, 2014

crap. I needed to save some stuff. I always do this. sigh

Are you Ready for NaNoWriMo 2014?

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