Pardon our construction!

[ladyseishou]

Thanks for stopping by! Things are still a little messy around here but planning to have everything shipshape and polished in a week or two. In the meantime, please feel free to leave a note with...

Your name:
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?:
What genre you like to write for:
Outline or a Pantster?
Best cure for writer's block ever is...

Thanks! Looking forward to working with everyone as we get ready for the greatest writing adventure yet!

Comments

I'll start!

[ladyseishou]

Your name: ladyseishou but please call me LS
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 2
What genre you like to write for: sci-fi and fantasy
Outline or a Pantster? a little bit of both
Best cure for writer's block ever is... a challenge!

[asinter]

Your name: asinter! Alternatively, Yun or Ash.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Three years!
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy
Outline or a Pantster? P-pantser. (which always backfires on me, uh)
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Musiiiiic. T^Tb

s-sob now watch me fail 2k words in again this year.

[shiny_crystal]

Your name: shiny_crystal, on NaNo shinycrystal as well.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Four years. It's addictive!
What genre you like to write for: Mostly contemporary fiction, dystopia last year, will probably try historical stuff at some point ... whatever strikes my fancy, really :)
Outline or a Pantster? I've tried various things and what works best for me is a list with about a line of the most important things per scene.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... setting an alarm to 20 or 30 minutes and just write.

I need a NaNo icon ...

[sofiaviolet]

Your name: Sofia
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 4, 2 successfully
What genre you like to write for: urban fantasy, romance, and erotic fiction
Outline or a Pantster? pantster all the way!
Best cure for writer's block ever is... being in love with the characters and world you write in.

[syderia]

Your name: Syderia
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: three years
What genre you like to write for: Mostly fantasy, but I dabble in sci-fi sometimes
Outline or a Pantster? Pantster for first drafts, outlines during the editing process
Best cure for writer's block ever is... never stop trying.

[angrboda]

Your name: angrboda. My real name is none of your concern
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Four years now. Three of which I won.
What genre you like to write for: For NaNo, fantasy. I've tried other genres, but I got bored with my own story. The rest of the year it's fanfiction for me.
Outline or a Pantster? No outline. I do ignore the 'start something new' rule though, and continue on what I wrote on the previous year. Since I've barely touched it at all for eleven months, it almost counts as something new. The one I've worked on for the last two years is full of inconsistencies and nonsense because I just write whatever pops into my head. I don't know my own plot either, so I don't know what's important. Consequently, everything gets added.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Describe stuff. NaNo is about quantity rather than quality. There isn't time to sit and polish something until it shines. It's the first draft and nothing more. You can tell, in mine, where I've been uncertain about which way to go because those are the places where everything is described in detail right down to the knots in the floorboards. Okay, not that far, but you get the idea. It keeps you going, words put down on the page, while you think about what to do next, and sometimes you'll discover that there's something in the surroundings that prompts you to continue. You can always bin it when you finish the draft and get to the re-write and edit stage.
Also, if you're having trouble concentrating on what you're doing, I can recommend this method. Working for a fixed but manageble amount of time before allowing yourself a short break totally works. I tend to work in 15 minute spurts myself, and if it goes well, I may even skip the minibreak rather than break the flow. After a while you might even discover that seeing how many words you can get down in 15 minutes has turned to sport.

[cheyinka]

Name: cheyinka here, there, and everywhere
Years: First participated in 2003, first won in 2003, have participated and won every year after.
Genre: I've written two in various tabletop RPG settings, one fanfiction (Wheel of Time), one modern with weird supernatural occurrences, and two "hey I bet I could get 50,000 words out of this idea". So, um... I dunno.
Outline or Pantster: Outline. I have to have an outline of some sort, otherwise I won't know what to write next!
Best cure for writer's block: Word wars in #nanowrimo! For me, it's the short ones (under 10 minutes) that tend to restart my writing train of thought, and if they don't, well, there'll be another one right afterwards. (On days where I know what I want to write but don't have the motivation, word wars under 20 minutes work to get me focused on what I know needs to happen next; the very short ones are for forcing myself to write SOMETHING, and then forcing myself to keep going.)

[sarisia]

Your name: Christina
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo: Just the one. Got it one with a few thousand words to spare.
What genre you like to write for: Mild romance. Drama and tragedy.
Outline or a Panster: Haha, panster, mostly, though I tend to have a mental outline of where I want things to go. I've discovered that no matter how much I may want characters to do certain things, it may not always be possible in the end. The story has to change for the characters, not the other way around.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... A bit of alcohol. It loosens me up. ^^ Also, descriptions, descriptions, description. I love the deadline about Nanowrimo and I have had to break the habit of editing as I go. That's the hardest part!

[ellarien]

Your name: Online, I just go by Ellarien.

How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Last year was my first attempt. I only made it to about 28K, sadly, but maybe with more planning I can do better next time.

What genre you like to write for: SF

Outline or a Pantster? Sketchy outline. Very sketchy -- just a page of notes.

Best cure for writer's block ever is... I wish I knew!

[misaditas]

Your name: misaditas aka Helen
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Two, both won
What genre you like to write for: Sci fi, original and fanfiction
Outline or a Pantster? Pantster
Best cure for writer's block ever is... the MP3 player on loud (this might be why I'm slightly deaf...)

[mowgli]

Your name: Teagan
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: participated 3 times, won none. I always restart. A lot. It's bad, I know.
What genre you like to write for: young adult realistic fiction.
Outline or a Pantster? Kind of both. I outline what I want to happen but I hardly stick to it.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... to write at a time at which you're normally sleeping.

[sushimustwrite]

Your name: Call me Sushi.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Since 2002. I've finished every time.
What genre you like to write for: I've written mainstream, romance, chick lit, lit fic, crime, ...
Outline or a Pantster? I like having only a vague idea of what's going on in each scene. That way I can make everything up as I go along and fill in holes later.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Word wars and competition.

[ixt]

Your name: ixt is as good a name as any other, I guess.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Three; like someone else said, it's addictive!
What genre you like to write for: Adventure. I've tried other genres, but for NaNoWriMo I always come back to my adventure stories.
Outline or a Pantster? Really heavy outlines; I am incapable of writing even half a page without one. My friends tease me for writing outlines and thoughts about my stories almost as long as the stories themselves...
Best cure for writer's block ever is... something I'm badly in need of at the moment

[sonjadenise]

Your name: Sonja
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: I think it's been 4 now.
What genre you like to write for: Fanfiction, fantasy/sci-fi, drama
Outline or a Pantster? A bit of both. The best of advice I've read is to know where the story ends before you even start. So, I make sure I know at least that much.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Keep writing.

[anneshirley]

Your name: Immortal Aussie/Alex
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Three- never completed
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy/Sci-Fi/FanFiction want to dabble in crime, history, erotica and romance too
Outline or a Pantster? Panster all the way :P
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Music... doing something else, reading whatever strikes my fancy

[shiromirai]

Your name: shiro or mirai XD
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 3
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy, Humor, Sci-fi, Adventure, Romance
Outline or a Pantster: I like to write outlines, as in Long Detailed Dramatic Outlines (note the capitalization XD ) and then when I start writing, I'm a panster. *sigh*
Best cure for writer's block ever is...read a really badly written story and thinking, how would I rewrite that.

[geminianeyes]

Your name: Naoko, naoko_kensaku on Nano.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 5, winners for 2
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy.
Outline or a Pantster? Panster. The only time I tried outline, I failed miserably.
Best cure for writer's block ever is a good word war. :D

[veryroundbird]

Your name: You can call me Verity! I go by sparklythingy on the NaNo forums.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 5
What genre you like to write for: Modern YA fantasy.
Outline or a Pantster? Outline! I usually know what I want to happen at the beginning and the end but not in the middle, so the outline helps me keep structure and momentum.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Music, TV Tropes, and a bit of exercise.

[wyrdkat]

Your name: wyrdkat (I was wyrdkat at NaNo last year too but was tezzkatt the previous years)...or you could just call me Poppy.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?:5, the first three I finished the last two I fizzled out after about a week.
What genre you like to write for: urban fantasy
Outline or a Pantster?I've done both, but I'm more of a pantster.
Best cure for writer's block ever is...butt in the chair and just write.

Nano intro

[cesy]

Your name: Cesy
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 1, in 2006
What genre you like to write for: Erm, a bit of fantasy, a bit of sci-fi, a bit of historical (Regency)
Outline or a Pantster? Depends on the story - the outline is usually somewhere in the back of my head, but rarely written down, and varies in clarity
Best cure for writer's block ever is... If you discover one, please do tell me. I'm finding dailyprompt quite helpful at the moment, though.

[zombie]

Your name: Amanda
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Four.
What genre you like to write for: Horror
Outline or a Pantster? Outliner for plot, pantser for characters. Ha, I dunno why.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Music and awesome coffee. And a good notebook with nice paper and a pretty pen.

[mbeancntr]

Your name: mbeancntr, pantherlady on the nano site
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 2
What genre you like to write for: In '07, Sci-fi, in '08 chicklit
Outline or a Pantster? both
Best cure for writer's block ever is... If I knew, I'd be writing. :(

[augustfalcon]

Your name: August
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 3
What genre you like to write for: urban fantasy, humor, adventure
Outline or a Pantster? I always know the basic plot before I start, but I hardly ever have an actual outline. So...I'm not sure.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... late nights and word wars

[arinelle]

Your name: I go by Ari.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 3 (haven't completed much any shot though.)
What genre you like to write for: I tend to lean toward psychological thrillers.
Outline or a Pantster? I have a hard time outlining because I find it tends to hinder my writing. I usually end up with just a bunch of scraps of paper with all my ideas on them.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Turning on some music and just writing. Usually I get blocked because I'm trying to force out something that's not meant to come out rather than going with the flow.

[twistingthetale]

Should have done this a couple of weeks ago ...

Your name: Tanya (Tanya9771 on official NaNo site)
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 1 - 2008 was my first attempt
What genre you like to write for: mainly horror/thriller
Outline or a Pantster? a bit of both
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Write or Die seems to help, but I'm always looking for more

[sixthsecond]

Your name: Jillian (sententia on the nano site)
How many years you've written for NanoWriMo: four - won three ('04, '07, 08'), lost one ('06)
What genre you like to write for: horror/thriller/little bit of romance
Outline or a pantster? i outline, but not on paper - just in my head.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... music! mainly instrumental for me

[insanitys_place]

Your name: Ally (Essence_of_Insanity on NaNo)
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 2
What genre you like to write for: fan fiction, and literary, but I've been trying to do genre experimentation during NaNo, just so that I can see what all I'm at least capable of writing
Outline or a Pantster? I generally have a vague idea of what I want to write before I dive in, but I don't ever outline
Best cure for writer's block ever is... DVDs, and music.

[wordsmyth]

Your name: wordsmyth (amberdisa on LJ and the NaNo site)
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo: Last year was my first, and I made it to the word count goal but the novel still isn't done...
What genre you like to write for: Character-driven SF/F.
Outline or a Pantster? Pantster all the way. How could I outline? I have no idea what's going to happen until I sit down and write it!
Best cure for writer's block ever is... A daily word-count requirement and someone to check up on you to keep you honest :)

[manyworlds]

Your name: Jaqui
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Five years now, getting ready to start on my sixth. One of these days, I may even win.
What genre you like to write for: Speculative fiction, in all its many flavors.
Outline or a Pantster? Very much a pantster, though I'm thinking that really ought to change one of these days.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Write or Die: Kamikaze Mode, since Electric Shock mode is still under construction. Also, having friends give me ridiculous drabble prompts works, too -- just something short and improbable to get me started.

[kitty_wake]

Your name: Kitty Wake... same over at Nano. Kitty is a nickname for my real first name, I'll say that much.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Just one. But I want to do more!
What genre you like to write for: Sci-fi, coming-of-age (does that count as a genre?), historical, adventure. I'd like to write comedy, but it's hard.
Outline or a Pantster? Outlines are death.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Writing in public. For some reason, being surrounded by other people makes me want to look busy and not pretentious.

[ankoku]

Your name: Going by Kian.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: One. Failed spectacularly.
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy
Outline or a Pantster? Uuuum, I have basic outlines (intro, characters, climax), but then I pantster the rest.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Music and prompts inspire me, but I have yet to find something that actually gets me writing.

[curiosity]

Your name: curiosity.
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Since 2003. Been winning at least once since 2004. Most years I write two.
What genre you like to write for: Urban fantasy.
Outline or a Pantster? Yes.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Writer's Block doesn't actually exist in my reality. It has been replaced with procrastination and pretty yarn.

Incredibly late lol

[grumpystump]

Your name: grumpy
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This will be my first attempt (just learned about it oh.. 17 hours ago?)
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy? Angst? Not sure lol
Outline or a Pantster? Outline (that is constantly evolving)
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Music!

[aingeal]

Your name: Nya
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: The past three years, but only won two out of the three. '06 & '07
What genre you like to write for: I've tried fantasy and fanfiction. This year's story falls in the genre of contemporary fiction, I think.
Outline or a Pantster? A little of both, I'd say. I've written vague outlines in the past and never really stuck to them in the end. Last year, I didn't have much of anything going into the month. Maybe that's why I didn't finish. This year, I'm planning to be a bit more prepared. I think this may just be the one I end up finishing...
Best cure for writer's block ever is... I generally just let go and write... Any other or added suggestions are definitely appreciated. :-D

[angryoldhag]

Your name: Brigitte, but both here and on the NaNo site I go by AngryOldHag
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This will officially be my second year.
What genre you like to write for: Whimsical fantasy.
Outline or a Pantster? Pantser, definitely. Last year I had an outline but my story ran away from it in the first week.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Yarn! A bit of knitting, crochet or even spinning will put my mind right back on track.

[wildcat_akera]

Your name: Katie
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Five
What genre you like to write for: Fanfiction
Outline or a Pantster? Little bit of both
Best cure for writer's block ever is...music!

[guardian_of_hope]

Your name: Guardian_of_Hope or simply Guardian or Jo
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: 2
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Outline or a Pantster? Both, I always have an idea for my stories, either written or just in my head. It varies from a paragraph description to a semi-formal outline.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... A really boring job or class where you can write.

[altopiano]

Your name: altopiano
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This is my first year! *nervous*
What genre you like to write for: Historical fiction with a basis in fact
Outline or a Pantster? A bit of both, though I suspect the pants are going to get well used this November!
Best cure for writer's block ever is... When the alternative is housework

[izumichan31]

Your name: Call me Izumi
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: this is my second year
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy
Outline or a Pantster? somewhere in the middle
Best cure for writer's block ever is... uh....

[insomniac_tales]

Your name: I write as Grace Singer through my live journal insomniac_tales
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: I started in '03 with mixed success over the years.
What genre you like to write for: Fiction, usually with some twist of fantasy.
Outline or a Pantster? Depends entirely on the book. This year we're straddling the line with a bit planned out but mostly I'm writing from the hip when it hits me.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... to deny the existence of writer's block altogether.

[wolfshark]

Your name: wolfshark or sharkie
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: Uh... 6? 7?
What genre you like to write for: Sci Fi
Outline or a Pantster? Both
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Caffeine!

[better_than_love]

Your name: Katie
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This is my sixth year, I haven't won one yet, maybe this will be the year!
What genre you like to write for: I write fanfiction
Outline or a Pantster? I like to have a very basic outline, but I'm a Pantser when it comes to how I get there.
Best cure for writer's block ever is... word wars ^_^

[othercat]

Your name: othercat
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This is my first.
What genre you like to write for: fantasy/ adventure/sf
Outline or a Pantster?A little of both.
Best cure for writer's block ever is...reading!

[kallaneeboi]

Your name: Kallan
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This is my fourth year. I've won for the past three.
What genre you like to write for: Fantasy, usually.
Outline or a Pantster? Pantster!
Best cure for writer's block ever is... a shower. No lie. I get my best ideas in the shower.

[jedimasterstar]

Your name: jedimasterstar
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This is my first year!
What genre you like to write for: sci-fi/fantasy, historical fiction, adventure
Outline or a Pantster? A bit of both
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Read a book

[proseac]

Your name: Liz
How many years you've written for NaNoWriMo?: This will be my 2nd attempt (first was in 2010).
What genre you like to write for: sci-fi/fantasy, fanfiction
Outline or a Pantster? Continuously morphing outline, if that makes sense!
Best cure for writer's block ever is... Head to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte! No idea why, but I always get inspired when I'm sitting in Starbucks.