How do you like Scrivener? I haven't downloaded it yet, I guess I kind of forgot that was a freebie for the winners.

Susan's right, it's not a freebie - but it is at 50% discount, which was around 2000 yen for me.. which would be around $20? I'm not sure exactly. I haven't actually been using it for my NaNo novel (like I said) but I'm writing something for school at the moment, and liking it a lot. There's tons of features specifically for writing novels and such, half of which you probably wouldn't ever use , but from my limited experience so far, I'd say it's worth it.
You have to have a Mac, though, because the Windows version doesn't come out until 2011, I think.

Wow, Susan, you've sent it off already?? *is in awe* And here I am, worrying whether I'll get it done by June..

^^ Well, my (finished) goal was to have it edited by the end of November. (that is, typo-and-obvious-grammatical-errors-wise.) And I did! So then it just took me 3 weeks to get the cover and format the way the site wanted me to. I gave up for a week until I got excited about it again and re-did it. For the 20th time probably.

That doesn't sound quite as crazy as what I wrote... (I say that as a good thing)
A baker type person who worked at the same Grocery Store as my MC shows up to rob the Hair-Styling place where MC is staying at because B.T.person has some old grudge against the Hair-Styling-Place-Owner that nobody heard about before then.

Okay, well maybe now I don't feel so bad. Actually, yours doesn't sound too bad.
I would take out the whole chase scene completely but it leads up to my favorite scene in the whole book - where my two main characters are forced to hide in a giant fridge.
Yeahhhh... don't ask.

Susan's right, it's not a freebie - but it is at 50% discount, which was around 2000 yen for me.. which would be around $20? I'm not sure exactly. I haven't actually been using it for my NaNo novel (like I said) but I'm writing something for school at the moment, and liking it a lot. There's tons of features specifically for writing novels and such, half of which you probably wouldn't ever use , but from my limited experience so far, I'd say it's worth it.
You have to have a Mac, though, because the Windows version doesn't come out until 2011, I think.

Ohhh... I was wondering if someone would correct me on that. Thanks. I hadn't looked very closely at the winners' page, I guess.
Thanks for telling me about it! Sadly, I do not have a Mac, so I guess I won't be getting Scrivener at all this year. Go figure.

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I still have not opened my NaNo document - *insert sigh here* - although I did read through it about a week ago, before the holidays. I think the hardest part for me right now is that now that November's over, I feel like this should be a serious project. So I'm now trying to figure out how to fix all the "messes" I created during my writing frenzy. And believe me, there are a lot. I introduced a character halfway through the story whose purpose is still unclear. I have a character currently in the hospital and paralyzed, after he drove his car into my MC's cafe. And one of my side characters just got results of a test that will change her life... Not to mention this is a romance and my two main characters have yet to overcome their grief and fall for each other.

Actually, it doesn't sound that bad now that I've typed it out, but my inner perfectionist disagrees... I think I'll just lower my expectations and finish this book.

where my two main characters are forced to hide in a giant fridge.

Hehe! I like it!!

And your book sounds cool and exciting. I guess I didn't have huge editing things like that... And the biggest ones I left the way they are; maybe I'll touch them again in the summer next year.

my two main characters are forced to hide in a giant fridge.

That sounds like FUN!

I think my favourite scene this year involves a case of mistaken identity. "Do you always identify your friends by the size of their shoes?"

If you can identify what you need to fix, I think you're off to a good start. I need to go back and plant clues so my characters can solve a mystery that doesn't really exist yet. Silly me. That's what I get for figuring out what my story was in the last week of November.

...my two main characters are forced to hide in a giant fridge.

I first read that as a giant fudge. Must be time for more chocolate.

The ink is barely dry on this year's NaNo (so to speak) and I already have a variety of ideas for next year's entry. I'm keeping a list of story ideas on my computer. The problem is, I want to write them now. One idea (the "bad alternate future/present" trope admittedly popular in TV and movies) is the one most tempting to write - it'd give me a chance to develop my universe by turning things a bit topsy-turvy.

You are definitely welcome to join me. And if you need someone to bug you constantly, I can apply for the job.

Go right ahead! Haha

And that's awesome about the giant fridge! I think the most random scene that appeared in my NaNo is one where one character, an exiled lord who is returning to his homeland in disguise, apparently rediscovers his love of white-flesh peaches and risks his life to buy some in the marketplace.

Oh yeah, and the time one of the horses got named "Sandy" because I needed a name and it was the first that popped into my head.

A lone figure steals quickly down a long hall, covering the ground in thick strides. She pushes against a sturdy oaken door and enters a room filled with dust-laden manuscripts, pulling one off of a high shelf. On the aged cover the words are carved: The Chronicles of NarniaWeb: NaNoWriMo 2010.. She blows the dust off the cover, and opens it, then sets to work reviving the topic.

Hehe! I like it!!
That sounds like FUN!
And that's awesome about the giant fridge!

Thanks. It randomly came about due to too much writing and too little sleep. I think I'll keep it in there anyway.

I think my favourite scene this year involves a case of mistaken identity. "Do you always identify your friends by the size of their shoes?"

Oh, dear! This just makes me wonder about the story behind that...

If you can identify what you need to fix, I think you're off to a good start. I need to go back and plant clues so my characters can solve a mystery that doesn't really exist yet. Silly me. That's what I get for figuring out what my story was in the last week of November.

Ha, well, I figured out what I need to fix, and guess what? It's the characters. They pretty much stink, and I think my novel is lacking a character-driven plot. What to do about that?
I figured out my story in the last week of November too. Hence the lack of development. Do you find that planning it out helps you, Mel, or do you prefer to freestyle?

I first read that as a giant fudge. Must be time for more chocolate.

THAT is funny. It's always time for more chocolate!
And, who knows? A giant fudge could always spark an idea for next year's NaNo!

Oh yeah, and the time one of the horses got named "Sandy" because I needed a name and it was the first that popped into my head.

Haha, I actually have an embarrassing story... one time I was word warring and I needed a name for a horse. The only thing that came to mind was Hyaline, and turns out it's a username of a NWebber... hyaline12. I still need to let her know I used her username in my book. Whoops.

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Mini-update: I haven't touched my NaNo novel in... a week or so. I got inspired for another project and instead have been working towards the end on that. Story of my writing life. I'm actually considering getting my CreateSpace copy of my other project, rather than my NaNo novel, since the first project means more to me. I hope that's allowed.
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A lone figure walks back down the hall, satisfied, and hoping that she's gotten things moving again.

Yep, you're allowed to get your proof copy of anything you've written; doesn't have to be your NaNo.

So, thanks for reminding me that I haven't done the NaNo stats yet. They just take a loooooooong time, lol, and I keep forgetting! I've got all the info saved; just need to put it together. So you will see it eventually, but if not soon, than probably at the start of this year's NaNo.

Also, I haven't touched my novel since NaNo ended. It's such a monstrosity badly needing a serious editing that I'm a little scared to touch it. But I need to start working on it soon, otherwise it won't be done in time for the deadline. Eeeeep!

Looking forward to seeing the stats, Gymmie, whenever you get the chance to pull them all together! Mainly because I want to see if I really came in at last place on the winners list with my total of 50,004.

I haven't touched my novel since November either. It was such an insane, epic failure (I only managed to get about 10% of the plot out ) that I can't really edit it. But I've been thinking about it loads, and about how I'm going to rewrite it—one of my resolutions for this year is to get a first draft of it written out. So I'll be going over it again soon and seeing what problems and possibilities I learned about when I was writing like a madwoman, and go from there.

This November. . . I am going to be either completely prepared or not prepared at all. No rushing in with a half-baked idea (that I had come to love so much I couldn't bring myself to just write it any old way, but hadn't hashed out enough to have any hope of doing it justice ) like I did this past November. Ah, I have so much to learn.

Ok, so I FINALLY have the stats! For the sake of time, I'm going to copy what I posted last year, and just edit the pertinent information.

In 2010, Narniaweb sent a record 52 writers to the prestigious event that is known as NaNoWriMo, up three writers from the previous year. This is not counting users who participated in the Young Writer's Program, Narniawebbers who participated but did not declare themselves so I could get them accounted for, or NWebbers who declared their participation but did not update their wordcounts (I removed three users from the overall stats list because of this). Out of these 52 participants, we had 21 NaNo'ers who were either attempting their first NaNo, or their first win, as far as I could tell from their profiles. That's a LOT of new people!

So many participated...but just how many were victorious?

Well, after much searching and crunching and whatnot, I am SO thrilled to announce that the official Narniaweb tally is...

*drumroll*

32 Winners!

That is a 61.5% win rate!

Together, we wrote a total of 2,155,227 words! Out of our 32 winners, 10 won their first NaNoWriMo ever. Together, we averaged at a jaw-dropping 41,447 words per person.

This year was the inaugural year of the Narniaweb NaNo Team War. An epic battle was waged between Team Digory and Team Polly, with Team Digory pulling out the win with a grand total of 925,798 words, 109,299 more than Team Polly. It was a fun little "extra" in the crazy world of NaNo, and I look forward to having a proper team war next year.

A great big huge CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who participated and won! Without further ado...OUR WINNERS!

Meltintalle - 121678
ChristProclamer - 112114
Gymfan15 - 103427
Silvertongue - 73255
Mr. Anderson - 70040
Betsie - 66500
stargazer - 64470
Arwenel - 63375
Djaq - 61125
Silver the Wanderer - 60088
Queen Susan - 59286
Orious - 58134
Elenor - 55204
Destined-To-Reign - 54067
narnian_at_heart - 53254
Heroine of Chivalry - 52000
flambeau - 51125
JillPole - 50523
stardf29 - 50471
Aslans Country - 50382
Sleepwalking - 50374
AJAiken - 50249
Faun_Song612 - 50227
Narnia Girl - 50207
Nioniel - 50072
MeadowMaid - 50054
2nd to One - 50018
MountainFireflower - 50017
hyaline12 - 50014
Melain_Maia - 50011
theprincessspy - 50008
The Rose-Tree Dryad - 50004

Also, a HUGE shout-out to FirstNarnianQueen, Elle, CSLewisNarnia, Mar In Narnia, Linus the True, smileysmackdown, malkah, Rising_Star, winterlife, Queen Swanwhite, , Varnafinde, Starsy, Pogginfan, WinterStar, Menelve, Laura E. A., Urnus, Attolian Thief, sweeetlilgurlie and Aslanisthebest. You wrote more fiction than most people will ever write in their lifetime. You may not have won this year, but you still accomplished an AMAZING thing. Thanks for participating, and here's to crossing the finish line next year!

In case anyone was wondering how this year held up against last year, I've got a few stats for that as well. We gained three writers this year, but decreased in winners by one writer. However, our word-count dramatically spiked from 2,018,083 lat year to 2,155,227 this year, a difference of 137,144 words. Also, people were writing a lot more words; a LOT more words. For instance, last year, I had the highest documented word count at 83,071. This year, the highest word count was 121,678, by Mel! Last year, only six writers wrote over 60k; this year, that number increased to 10. That's pretty impressive, if you ask me!

In case anyone wanted to see the craziness that is me doing stats, check out my spreadsheet...I figured some of you might get a kick out of it.

Well, that closes out NaNo for this year. It definitely was a crazy year, but it WAS a ton of fun and I'm very much looking forward to next year.
Thanks, and see you next year!

Heh, that "decreased by one winner" would be me I suppose. I've won every NaNo up to this point and was very disappointed in myself for not completing it this year. I just had so much on my plate between work and going to SCAD day on Nov. 6th (and therefore traveling on the 5th and the 7th, which put a HUGE dent in my writing despite the fact that I meant to write while I was there. That didn't happen, I'm afraid.

So yeah . . . pretty bummed about that.

HOWEVER! I'm so proud of all ya'll who got over 100k! That's amazing! I've never written something in a month that was over 100k and that's just . . . incredible. Great, great job you guys! We did really well on NWeb this year.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

*applauds Fie for reviving this thread*

Wow, Gymfan, thanks for posting the stats! They look fantastic! Congratulations everyone! I'm glad I participated in such a cool (and crazy) event - I feel proud to have written alongside you all.

I certainly hope to be back next year!

Yes! I am officially in last place on the winner's list! . . . That honor makes me way happier than it should.

Congratulations, everyone who participated!! Hope to see you all back for another go at it next year; I know I will be!

Do you find that planning it out helps you, Mel, or do you prefer to freestyle?

Since I did both this last year I would have to say that it was a lot more fun for me to freestyle.

But then, I do NaNo first of all for fun; second to try something new in writing, and thirdly to learn what I can from the whole shenanigan.

Based on my observations in going through and finding out what's wrong with the planned novel is... not enough planning. Also, boring characters. Yes, I set out to write one of them as a really boring character, but that doesn't mean all of them were supposed to be boring! (Or is boring contagious?)

*enjoys looking at the stats* Congrats everyone!