NaNoWriMo 2008 - any takers?

[TheEndIsNigh]

Drewmullet: organisers actually encourage you to scramble your piece

Yes that was my point. Presumably though it gets unscambled and is then available.

There are plenty of writing competitions with real prizes and real benefits and less effort required. I would have thought as an exercise they would be the way to go.

[Kissmequick]

There is no prize except getting into the habit of BIC and knocking out a first draft while silencing the inner editor that cripples so many first drafts. The prize you get is what you put into it.

No, the words do not get unscrambled.

There is no scam, the only competition is with yourself and there is only the lure of personal achievement as a goal

[TheEndIsNigh]

Oh, so I didn't see a voluntary contribution section on the site then.

Why is it there?

If only one percent of entrants contribute a few dollars it would be a sizable lump of cash. If the the text is never read or even unscrambled then it's a waste of time and effort.

Enter a BBC competition. At least you get the satisfaction of knowing someone may read it. You may even win.

Stick something up for critique on this site. Most of us are constructive. You will be read, you will get feedback. Surely that is better than flirting something out into the wild blue ether never to be heard of again. Not to mention 50,000 words. The mind boggles.

[shadowbox]

Who else here has like...a little baby? I would love to do this, and I am so tempted, but I just don't think I have the time. I write every time my daughter naps, but it's not enough! She's seven months and CLINGY.....


so tempted.

[Patrick Mahon]

Originally Posted by shadowbox

Who else here has like...a little baby? I would love to do this, and I am so tempted, but I just don't think I have the time. I write every time my daughter naps, but it's not enough! She's seven months and CLINGY.....


so tempted.

Shadowbox,

I feel for you! My two kids are now 10 and 6, so thankfully not a problem in terms of keeping me up at night (well, apart from when they're ill...) But I remember those days all too well.

You could put a note in your diary for mid-October next year, to get ready to have a go at NaNoWriMo 2009 though...

Enjoy your time with your baby, in any case.

[Patrick Mahon]

Originally Posted by TheEndIsNigh

I don't get it.

TEIN - no, clearly you don't get it - and that's fine.

But for many of us, myself included, the value of NaNoWriMo comes from forcing me to get down to writing a decent amount of text every night. This month I'm hoping to exceed 50,000 words. In an average month, I'd probably do less than 10,000.

One thing I know is that I need to write more, if I'm ever going to get good at it. I will need to spend a lot of time finding my own style, and writing a lot of my own stuff is part of that. Not all, but part.

If you don't feel any need to increase the amount you write each month, that's fine, and good luck to you. However, I do, and NaNo is a good way to force myself to do it. And once I've got that completed first draft, then I'll spend the first half of next year re-writing it, and trying to turn a very rough first draft into a reasonable attempt at a novel.

[TheEndIsNigh]

Patrick: There are better incentives to write more than just dumping a load of text to a web site that no one will ever see.

By all means write more, though I would have thought there was a quality aspect to this problem too. As I said post small amounts for critique to this site. If it's good then it will stand up. If there are areas that need improvement then usually guidance is willingly given (even if you disagree with some opinions {probably mine}) Having it torn to shreads is just as constructive as having it praised if there are flaws

Just writing piles of stuff doesn't necessarily improve technique it justs gives you aching fingers.

the need to write great dollops of stuff so you can distill it down to the essence of a good book is not always the best way to proceed. Lets say you need to whack out 150,00 words a book, then by your reckoning thats 4 books a year (three with time off for good behaviour) which is a pretty vast amount of work you're aiming at.

[Kissmequick]

Sigh - it's just to help people who have trouble just sitting down and writing with out the endless *ack it's rubbish* that often cripples a first draft. First drafts are supposed to to be crap - it's all in the rewrite.

Oh, so I didn't see a voluntary contribution section on the site then.

Why is it there?

I think you'll find that the really important word there is voluntary. But of course, you know what that means.

No one is forcing you to do it. I fail to see why you want to stop other people doing something that can give very valuable experience, especially to those whose self doubt stops them getting further than chapter one because they won't / can't go any further until that chapter is 'perfect'. It's good practice for just getting the story down on paper so that you can perfect it later. It also gets people into the habit of writing regularly.

Just because you see no value in it does not mean there is no value. It means it's not for you.

[drewmullet]

Well said Kissmequick.

It also gets people into the habit of writing regularly.

I think for me, this is the biggest drawcard. At the moment (fingers crossed) it looks like I'm going to make the word count. Even if this has no other benefit, it proves to me that I can come home after a long day's work and still have the motivation to put in a few hours of writing. Maybe that's a given to a lot of people on this site, but for me it was something I wasn't confident of being able to do on a regular basis, and anything that stops me procrastinating and getting my fingers on the keyboard is fine by me.

Anyway, having said that, I should probably stop procrastinating by posting on forums and get back to work!

[Reiver]

I'm also a member of another forum that is really active in the Nano challenge. Apart from what I'm getting out of this for myself I've also made some friends doing Nano as well!
Up to just over 32,00 so it looks like I might make it! Or could that be 'famous last words'

[TheEndIsNigh]

Kissmequick:

I think you'll find that the really important word there is voluntary. But of course, you know what that means.

So you see no connection between the "Volutary contribution" and this statement.

"4.38% of Wrimos have donated, raising $252,788!"

I see the site sets out where the contributions end up?

Hold out a collecting box in the street and a fair percentage* of people passing will donate the small change they are carrying without even checking to see what the label says on the side of the box.

If it says something like

"Stop dogs being shot"

then you'll need much larger box.


*it doesn't have to be a large number 1% would give a good return in a busy shopping mall.

[Kissmequick]

I see the site sets out where the contributions end up?

Of course it does:

All proceeds from sponsorships go to NaNoWriMo's parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Office of Letters and Light to pay for this year's Young Writers Program and adult main program. For more information on how those donations are spent, check out our Where Your Donations Go page.

It's a registered charity - and once again, if you don't want to donate you don't have to. Accounts are set out in the 'where your donations go' link

I'm completely failing to see your problem with people giving only if they want to.

It's like saying the RSPCA is a scam for asking for donations. If you think it's a good cause you give. If you don't you don't. And the problem is....gee I can't see one.

[Reiver]

Can't see a problem either! You donate or you don't. This is my first time doing Nano and from what previous participants have said over the past few years it has been a positive and fun challenge. Quite a few have gone on to publish their work too!

[TheEndIsNigh]

So examining a randomly selected organisation's accounts you notice that actual direct assistance that that can clearly be identified from the monies collected amount to $4000 and that this is less than that spent on presents to donors and you wonder.

Is there a group of people out there that will, or by association encourage others to, freely part with money to an organisation. Maybe one way to give people the chance to 'help' would be to run pointless exercises, because the more people that visit a site which asks people to donate voluntarily, the more voluntary donations you are likely to collect.

Hey what's the harm in that?

[Kissmequick]

Hey what's the harm in that?

Well I'm not harmed. Neither is anyone else I know who's doing this. In fact it's been incredibly beneficial.

As for the accounts - well I ain't an expert, but I do know that every charity has admin costs ( and of course staff costs are normally most of it as here, can't run a charity without actual people to run it) Web hosting is a direct cost as much of their stuff is done on-line.

Plus even very large charities spend lots of money on things they don't directly need (RSPCA gets to the end of the financial year, they always have money left over and refurb their offices. They have some very nice marble in their toilets. Not what people donate for.)

You just aren't getting the point we are making. You only donate if you want to. If you don't think it's a good cause keep your money in your wallet.

Anhow back to the actual subject - 36k in and it's all coming together rather nicely. The support from other nanoers has been invaluable.