Who's planning for NaNo 2010?

[twistingthetale]

Hi folks, just a quick post to find out if any of you have started to make plans for NaNo this year? As yet I haven't made a start on 'serious' planning, but I'll be writing about werewolves during the Victorian era. This will be my third NaNo, and it will be set in the same location as my two previous novels even though they don't form a trilogy (although there is more than just the location that links them).

I'm also taking part in the Two Year Novel course (2YN) at the Forward Motion site, which is a lot of fun and very useful. Hopefully I'll be able to use what I've learned so far with my NaNo planning :) With the course work and other projects that I'm working on, editing last year's NaNo - and 2008's - has yet to begin, but after a thorough read-through once it was printed I have an idea of which areas are in obvious need of attention.

This community was a great source of encouragement last year, so if any of you are taking the plunge again this year I look forward to working with you again :)

Comments

[xyndarella]

It amuses me to see this post. A few days ago I had a dream that it was suddenly five days into November and that NaNoWriMo had started without me! I was in such a stressed panic that I hadn't thought of what to write about and I was already behind.

I would like to participate again this year. Last year was my first time and I had a lot of fun with it although it was very stressful in parts. I had reached the 50k line by the 25th but I never finished my novel. It ended up with a mind of its own and I just followed my muse.

I'd really like to continue on from what I was writing last year. Maybe add another 50k words but I would also really like to write new material. I see NaNoWriMo as a wonderful writing exercise that gives me ideas that I can maybe re-write later on. Nothing I ever write follows a proper layout.

I don't think I would have done very well last year without the support of this community and its members. The daily prompts for the word counts to keep you on track and the little quotes and questions were a wonderful break. They were also really inspiring at different moments. I hope that it will be the same again for this year.

[twistingthetale]

Yikes, being five days behind would cause a panic!

The first year is probably stressful for most people, whether they just run with an idea or plan ahead. I'd made notes and carried out research for months before I first took part, but there were quite a few times that I thought about giving up or thinking that I wouldn't reach 50k by the end. Last year was definitely easier though, and I think a lot of it came down to the fact that I knew what to expect in terms of how much writing I needed to do, and how much I could manage each day.

You're right about it being a useful writing exercise, and it's something I'd recommend to anyone who wanted to write a novel. As you say it can be added to and re-written at a later stage as you already have a good base to work from.

Joining this community made a heck of a difference for me last year as well, and even though the NaNo forum is good for support and finding help if you get stuck, being here was probably more helpful. Everything was in one place and it really didn't matter which genre you were writing, and the word count prompts were a great way to make sure that we kept writing without putting pressure on us to keep up with everyone else. Unlike the forum we all 'knew' each other, which made it easier to cheer people on if they were keeping up with the average word count each day, and encouraging those who had a few rough patches along the way. That's why I'm hoping that it'll be the same for this year.