I'm so envious of other people's plots. I have a couple vague ideas and almost a dozen homeless titles.

I'm afraid i'm going to end up doing what i did last year - writing a story i don't really want to write because it has a plot. The temptation this year is to do a novelization of a video game, but i don't really want to do fanfiction; i want to use this year to start adapting myself to the idea of writing something publishable someday. Which fanfic is not.

Oh well, i still have 19 days - and, if all else fails, could just start writing on November 1. *goes hunting for an original plot idea* Heeeeere little plot bunnies, heeeere little plot bunnies ...

Ooh, a NaNo thread! This'll be my second year of NaNo, and I'm quite nervous. It's weird, because everything plot-wise is going way better than last year--I've got a plot, an ending, a title, good characters, a few planned scenes, everything.
But this year I'm not sure I'm going to have as much time to write this year; there's so much more homework. I'm scared I won't make 50K this year. Still, I'm trying to be optimistic. [There are always some dirty wordcount-boosting tricks I can employ. . . ]

Eighteen days! AHH!

Is anyone planning to do the plot dares this year? I only discovered them midway through NaNo last year, and they're hilarious. I used one, actually! They're great!

Check out the thread here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3699246

It's a bit dirty at times, so be forewarned. But it's great for crazy/wordcount boosting ideas!

Is anyone planning to do the plot dares this year?

Oh, I love the plot dares! Last year my story was getting boring so I decided to use the plot dare machine. I ended up introducing a robotic butler named Martin. The weirdest part was that he actually stuck around.

Less than three weeks 'till NaNo! Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Actually, I'm feeling pretty good about this. I've decided to go with the sequel to my work-in-progress as opposed to the brand new idea because I don't feel I have enough time to plot things out as well as I'd like to. My sequel has been planned out for years. And I'm really excited to continue the adventures of familiar characters! They've been getting impatient.

I've been meaning to write this sequel for a while! In fact, I actually already finished chapters one and two a while ago before I stopped to really work on editing the first book. So I guess that means I'm starting at...Chapter 3?

What exactly are plot dares??

Nevermind, just found the link on the last page.

Aaagh, you guys are making ME want to do Nano! Because it's so much fun...right?

I did Nano last year and won (kind of). But I seriously, wasn't going to try this year, because I have a life and all. But hearing all the names, the plans, the preparations...Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe I could work it in...

Oh man--so I got to thinking yesterday, and I have about 8 pages worth of piano music to memorize and completely have learned well by December 4 for a competition. (That's about 6 weeks from now. 4 weeks of which are November.) I'm going to try to do NaNo too, but I think I'm crazy.
Also, in about 3- weeks I have to do a 40 minute or so violin recital. And polish up about 20 songs for that. I have them all memorized, but... yeah.
It's going to be slightly-- ???

Sixteen days! I can already feel the insanity coming on!

I don't have anything too important planned for November (at least not as of right now), so at least in that respect I'm fine. But just the fact that it's my second year makes me nervous; I want to win this year like I did last year, but I'm not sure if I can. And then if I win this year, I'll feel obligated to win the next year. . . It just never ends!
Many of my friends do NaNo, so I'll have plenty of company. That's another good thing.

Hm, I might try some plot dares this year. They sound like fun.

So.. last night I finally decided to commit myself to this, and ever since then I've been trying to convince my mind out of it.

But since I am at least going to attempt it..
I'm pretty clueless about all of this - I've had the idea I'm going to write about in my head for a while, and yesterday I finally started planning things out on paper.. I know it varies from person to person, but how much planning do you guys recommend? I generally don't work well with outlines - I get too sick of them and start writing, but I have a feeling if I don't plan this out properly, I'm going to fail.

Okay, I'm probably going to fail anyway..
Here's why.
I have school. It's going to be busy. I don't have my own computer. When I told my dad yesterday that I was going to do this, the first thing he said was, 'well, we'd better get you a laptop then, hadn't we?' If only.. He also seems to think 50,000 words a mildly impossible feat.

But realistically, though, how many hours does this take? I really have no idea, and I haven't written 'properly' in a while.. which is why I want to do it.

Even if I don't win, I suppose I'll always have got myself writing. *tries to rationalize with self*

By the way, my username on the website is TheMockingjay, but I'll go ahead and post in the NW thread over there right now.

AC: I think I would usually write around 2 hours a day straight, maybe less--depending on how much I had written the day before and how much I needed. I would just try to write 1700 words a day or something like that... Um--it would probably depend on how fast you are at typing or writing though. I would type, and if the thoughts are there and I don't have to pause, I type around 85-90 wpm. Stopping for thoughts takes time too though.

Oh, and since I'm always typing on the computer, it's very easily to get distracted. So--that produces issues sometimes too.

AC, it doesn't take long to get your word count done for the day, I think you only have to do 2500 a day to win in half the time? Or something like that. In any case, it isn't that much at all, and I often found that I would get caught up and not want to stop, so I would write more than I "had" to for the day.

As to outlining, I personally worked best with a detailed outline of what I had in mind, although I think a general outline would work good as well. Or even a list of plot events. Ie:

-Jane gets up
-Jane goes to school
-Jane sees friend on the way home from school, stops at library
-Jane borrows a book from library, goes home
-Jane starts to read book, is literally pulled into the book to save the people of _____ country

etc. I wrote one for last year's novel in addition to the detailed outline that I had, and it worked well. It's really important to know where you are going next, it helps very much to have a clear idea where you're going, but it also allows room for lots of creativity. Outlines help to eliminate plot holes as well, which is always good. Yes, during NaNo you're not supposed to care too much about the quality of the writing, but I couldn't stand writing something that is of poor quality, so I went for doing quality and quantity, and still had a very fun time doing it.

My outlining is going so well!! And I have found that the "Adoption Society" forum on the NaNo site is a WONDERFUL thing. I found a sub-plot that worked well with my story in there. I really think I have a shot at winning this year.

I think I got too excited for a while. Because now I am less excited. Or maybe, I have just been thinking of other things. I am quite sure I shall not be weary of my story any time before December 1st.

If it includes too many scribbled notebook pages, tea breaks, staring at the keyboard, and authorial head-banging on said keyboard, I might. The way my stories usually come to me, I get everything but a plot.

My stories are like sketches of the lives of my friends. There are beginnings and ends, and lots of things in between (quite interesting things), but a purpose for such a story? (What's that? Shush, Betsie, they can hear you.) Last year, I had little trouble of thinking of things to say, although I did indulge in banging my head on the keyboard. This year, I'm trying to do a adventure sort of story, and I am clueless in the extreme. (And I need clues for this sort of story. How else will they know about the assassination plan?)

Fanny, I really like your list of events! I had sort of begun one, but it was very hazy. Your example will help me solidify it, I think.

I settled on one of the main character's names, and I think I've found the other. It still might change. Every day, I find something lovely, and think, "that must go in the story!" Yesterday, it was a cat named Charlie Bear. (Google says it's a dog treat?) There's already a cat, so perhaps a bear? *thinks*

I am glad I have y'all to write with!

YES! I am SO excited for Nano this year! Last year was my first time and that was one hectic blast.
I'm really happy to see a lot of the people from last year are doing it again. Good times.
I'm still thinking about plots. I have a few going around in my head, so I just need to choose one and tweak it up.
I can't wait to do this with all you guys on here, you're my support to keep me going. I'm looking forward to word wars, all-nighters, and insanity! And espresso.