NaNoWriMo 2008 - any takers?

[Kissmequick]

I took a day off yesterday to rest my strained fingers. I'm at 20k plus change

It's a dystopian future / thriller ? / noir / thing.

My first go at first person, and also my first non fantasy. It seems to be going ok so far. As first drafts go.

ETA: same name on Nano as I have here.

[RcGrant]

Originally Posted by Writers Blocked

Thanks for explaining, that makes a lot of sense now. I think the result of this, though, would be a society where Homosexuality is acceptable... but only for other people. I also think you would see a situation which is largely male as you'd want your child to be a healthy, fertile, heterosexual male in order to carry on the family name as much as the genetic code.

This could offer a further element for this couple who are subjecting their child to such an institution. After all, they could have sacrificed daughters or disabled children in the past, and are desperate to justify this by continuing the line.

Once again, good work. This is a very promising beginning!

Thank you!

Homosexuality isn't illegal in the story by any means, and in some circles it would probably be pretty hip, but we're talking ye olde normal middle class, who like to keep up with the neighbours. In the rest of the population at large, views do vary. I think of it more like drink rehab, where you go by choice, over a certain age, but can be put in by parents if under-age. If that makes any sense whatsoever. lol

You're right...it is mostly male. The only females in my cast are mothers, nurses, and various other medical staff at the facility.

So far it's been so much fun to write. There are some supernatural elements, there's a shrink the residents call 'Dr Cadaver', and celebrity milk moustache posters on the canteen wall. In all, I'm having a complete blast with this, and I think it shows in the writing. It's first person PoV for the narrative, but it's broken up every so often with psychiatric notes, diary entries, and the like.

I like your idea about the past siblings being sacrificed. Want a job as a muse?

[RcGrant]

Originally Posted by Kissmequick

I took a day off yesterday to rest my strained fingers. I'm at 20k plus change

It's a dystopian future / thriller ? / noir / thing.

My first go at first person, and also my first non fantasy. It seems to be going ok so far. As first drafts go.

ETA: same name on Nano as I have here.

Sounds good, Kissmequick! Hiw are you finding first person?

[Kissmequick]

Well as I'm writing from the perspective of a cynical, naughty and rather sarcastic man - a whole lotta fun!

[Writers Blocked]

Originally Posted by RcGrant

Thank you!
I like your idea about the past siblings being sacrificed. Want a job as a muse?

You're welcome. I like the idea of giving the parents a tragic element, as opposed to just making them the bad guys.

As for the job offer, I do seem to be facing unemployment soon and the publishing offers aren't flooding in... your offer sounds a-muse-ing... sorry, I haven't been sleeping Failing that, I'd love to read the story when you're done

[RcGrant]

Originally Posted by Writers Blocked

You're welcome. I like the idea of giving the parents a tragic element, as opposed to just making them the bad guys.

As for the job offer, I do seem to be facing unemployment soon and the publishing offers aren't flooding in... your offer sounds a-muse-ing... sorry, I haven't been sleeping Failing that, I'd love to read the story when you're done

I hadn't really thought about the parents much at all, to be honest. I got the idea the evening before NaNo started, so had zero planning time.

Sleep deprivation! A nice time to write, I think, is when you're half mad with lack of sleep.

You can read it if you really want to. Always looking out for more 'first readers'.

[dustinzgirl]

I wrote fifteen hundred words but then I didn't like them and I couldn't think of another word to write on that one so I wrote another thousand on an entirely unrelated tangent but I didn't like either one of them so now I'm just staring at writing inside my head. Sigh.

[Patrick Mahon]

So how's everyone getting on? I'm up to 18k, so just about on target, but starting to have real problems with the weakness of the plot, and the lack of any sensible ideas for subplots. Oh yeah, and if my characters were two-dimensional, that would be great, but they're pretty much 1D at the moment...

Apart from that, this is looking like Booker Prize material.

RcGrant - tried to make you a buddy on NaNo, but it wouldn't let me, for some reason.

Kissmequick - love the sound of your novel - are you going to post an extract?

[Kissmequick]

Kissmequick - love the sound of your novel - are you going to post an extract?

Possibly. At some point I might pop it in the crit area

My MC has travelled to the Devil's Armpit.

[Patrick Mahon]

Well, it's Friday, and there's a weekend just waiting to be spent writing lots and lots of words. I'm still just on target, at just under 22k, and am aiming to get some way beyond 25k by the end of the weekend.

How's everyone else doing? Hope you have a great weekend's writing

[RcGrant]

Hey Patrick, is it still not working on NaNo? I haven't been on there to update in a few days. What's your username? I'll try and add you.

I'm a little behind target, mostly because I worked almost 50 hours last week, but it's not horrendously behind. I have this next week off so I will more than catch up.

[Reiver]

I'm doing this challenge too! I'm up to just over 24,000 words. I had slowed down this week after a great start the first week but I'm trying to make up for it this weekend as I've also got three essays for uni to do!

[Patrick Mahon]

RcGrant - I'm very dull, so my NaNo name is Patrick Mahon, just like here. But I managed to add you as a writing buddy the third time I tried. Hope you have a good week's writing this week.

Reiver - great to hear from you - hope your novel goes well (and the essays too...!) What's your story about?

Had a pretty good weekend - now up to 27k, so just above target. And I even managed to find some interesting things for my antagonist to do, so it's not turning out as boring a story as it looked at one point early last week. I guess that's the miracle of NaNo!

[TheEndIsNigh]

I don't get it.

Unless I misread it you are a winner if you manage to write a novel with over 50,000 words. There appears to be no judging or even reading of what you write and although "this is total crap" x 12,500 may be reason for a disqualification It might actually get you in the club (metaphorically)

It seems to me, (call me a cynical, old, distrusting person of unknown parents if you wish) that the 'contribution' is what the idea is all about.

To this end I too am considering the gifting of a certificate to anyone that wishes to furnish me with free copy of interesting plots which may or may not be tipped in the bin, or even exploited as I wish. Naturally all generous donations will be gratefully received and used for the benefit of the organisers - namely me.

All entries must have

'PLEASE CONSIDER THIS AS SPAM'

in the subject line and also must contain the words

'I've been conned'

in the title

Oh buy the way he certificate may take some time arriving as my printer is out of ink at the moment.

[drewmullet]

Hey guys,

Yep I'm having a crack at this too! I'm up to 28750 so I'm on track for now...although I'm going overseas for a long weekend this weekend, which means I'm going to need to build up a bit of a buffer...

My story is a pretty soda-pop fantasy, that started out trying to be mildly humorous but gave up after failing miserably...but it doesn't matter really, this will be the first piece I actually finish, so for me it's all about finishing something and trying not to procrastinate all the time.

TEIN, the organisers actually encourage you to scramble your piece when you upload your final word count, so that it essentially gets sent as gibberish. And yes, you could copy-paste "I am the epitome of awesomeness" a few dozen thousand times, but at the end all you get for it is a little web certificate or something, so what's the point It's very much a self-regulated thing for people who want to get something out of the exercise.