NaNo Here We Come! 2011 starts in just 2 weeks
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Hooray, hooray. Last year, I got overexcited at the start, so I kind of burnt myself out around 38K words and hit a writer's block. Doh! I managed just under 43K, and the story was more or less complete, but it needed a few thousand more both to "win" and to finish the story. I'm in the process of getting around to re-writing it. (That is, a few people have read it and now I want to hack it down to half the length and turn it into a much tighter novella).

I'm torn between doing a rewrite of last year's novel (which is, technically, cheating) plus either another novella or a bunch of short stories, and a few different novel ideas. So...I'm asking for help from the groups. I know that, as writers, we're all readers first.

If these were the "blurbs," or descriptions, which one would you want to read?

1) A college boy goes to a man-made island resort for a tropical fantasy vacation. At first it's paradise, but he soon realizes all is not as it seems. The Handmaid's Tale meets the Stepford Wives.

2) A detective solves a case through clues from the client's dreams. Weird imagery and "did it happen" speculation, above "who and why" the crime happened. Sort of The Cell meets The Lovely Bones meets investigative procedural.

3) A young girl tries to find out why her sister committed suicide 20 years ago, as a teenager. Family drama/mystery, sort of Anne Marie MacDonald territory (think The Way the Crow Flies, and if you haven't read it, highly recommended).

4) Two seemingly unrelated stories about a young woman who commits suicide and a young man who falls in love. They met just once. Her story moves backward and his moves forward, until they converge at the point where they "met" in a car crash, ten or 15 years ago. That point determined the rest of both of their lives.

Any thoughts? Thanks for your help. :)

 

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Replies
  • Thanks, Selene, for opening up possiblities to us (heck, I like 'em all, but I'd probably be more attracted as a reader to #1 or #4).  This is my first NaNoWriMo, and it comes at a very busy time for me in terms of client work--which is a blessing, as generally November and December are dead, and I'm eating beans and rice (and sometimes pictures of beans and rice). 

    So I gave myself permission to do this for the participation, rather than the win--kind of like people running a half-marathon rather than the full 26 miles.  I'm going for a half NaNo, and I'm going to use a lot of my time to build a detailed outline of my book (Hello, Brooke Warner, Outline Queen!), which consists of a series of connected short stories.  And heck, whatever I write, it's more than I would have written this busy month w/o NaNoWriMo ...

    I think the point is to get writing, get that book (short story, novella, whatever) on paper!

  • For me "winning" is making good headway on my novel, getting in the habit of writing every day  and doing a good job.  I really don't concern myself with the 50k  word count even though I cheat, and I call it cheating, chances are I'm not going to make it to 50k -- my challenge is to myself, and while I certainly  love writing buddies to shame me and encourage me, I'm the one that determine  whether or not I win or lose.  I've lost the past few years, but this year I think I will win - at least with my own goals, maybe not NANOWRIMO's
  • My Nanowrimo from last year is almost finished now! If you get a novel finished in November its winning no matter when you start it! For that matter if you get a novel finished at any point in your life it is winning. the best part about NANOWRIMO is all the great energy and support.  The only competition is yourself and pitting yourself against a deadline.

     

    Super glad the 4 won!!!!  :-)

  • Debra, I think we're in the minority here. I just never felt like participating in something where I thought I needed to cheat to win. <shrug> Just sayin'....
  • Well, I asked the group for advice. It's not like the NaNo Police are going to come knocking down my door. :) And the 4s have it--made my outline today. Yay!

    As for rewriting last year's novel, it needs a heavy rewrite, and I'd like to rework it into a novella, for submission. So at least half of what I wrote initially either has to cut or be entirely rewritten. While not "new," it's not going to be anything like the original work when I'm done with it.

  • This will be my second nano, and I love it every year. It's not classed as cheating unless you start before the 1st of Nov. I would do the 4th story. It gives you the space to do more. It, also, sounds brilliant. Good luck!
  • I'm not breaking so much as bending. ;-) I am currently working on a short story that takes place before the novel I want to write for NANOWRIMO, so that when Nov 1st hits I already know my characters. Some ideas are popping up that I then jot down to develop in the month of November.

     

    As for publicizing it, for me it is just being honest in my dishonesty. Ive never finished NANOWRIMO so I want to give myself a fighting chance, and if I do finish it this time around then anyone who did not finish it can know that some of the prep work went into it before hand, if not the actual novel writing!

  • This isn't a rant. Not really. Just a question to those of you who mentioned using something you've already written: I know there are no prizes to speak of for NaNoWriMo, although there are some minor "perks" that come with having successfully done your 50,000 words. Why would you want to break the rules ... and if you do, why would  you publicize it ? 

     

    Call me Curious Candice

  • I think my preferences would be for number 4 or number 3 (in that order).  They both are interesting premises that could make for some good story-lines !

     

    Good luck with whichever one you select !