Thanks so much for the tips, QS and ForeverFan.

I don't know about 2 hours a day, depending on the amount of work I have to do for school, but I suppose I can make up for it on weekends and the couple of days I have off school. Um, and you type a bit faster than me, Susan.

But it looks like I'll have access to a computer when I want, even if it is 9 years old and I won't have internet access at the same time. That might be a good thing though.

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.

Good to know.. I'll have to stop being a perfectionist about what I write, but I don't want my 50,000 to be completely dreadful when I finally go back and read it.

*thinks she might check out the 'Adoption Society' that someone mentioned*

Hmm.. every day my teachers seem keen to fill my November with more work.

Until yesterday, I thought "NaNoWriMo" stood for "National November Writing Month", not "novel".

I think I might try NaNo this year (with "think" and "might" being two key words ) Just from reading last years thread and this thread it sounds like tons of fun (and craziness!). Even if I don't finish, just trying seems like it would be a blast!

I kind of have an idea in my head, but... well, it seems pretty cliche to me (especially after reading some of the really awesome ideas in this thread!) and I'd really like to find something more original if I can. But if not, oh well It would be fun anyway (and I guess you never really know where the story can end up, so there's still hope ).

I kind of have an idea in my head, but... well, it seems pretty cliche to me (especially after reading some of the really awesome ideas in this thread!) and I'd really like to find something more original if I can. But if not, oh well It would be fun anyway (and I guess you never really know where the story can end up, so there's still hope ).

Someone said on the NaNo forums that there are no more original novels. If you break everything down to the main ideas of your story, everything has been done before you. What makes your novel different are your characters and the little things you do that are different.

I actually tried NaNo last year, but I didn't tell anyone because I started halfway through the month... which I don't recommend for anyone who likes his or her sanity.
I apparently don't like mine, because I'm going into NaNo this year with no outline, and no plan to make one. Maybe I don't have any sanity.
So I'm sitting back, and trying to relax, and wondering whether I'll make it further than last year's 30,000-plus-whatever words, and waiting. Maybe I'll come up with names for the rest of my characters...

winterlife, you are better than me. I started on the 19th last year and got a miserable 1500 - 2000 words. I am now a firm believer in starting outlining and planning in October!

Part of the reason I'm not doing an outline this year is because I'm writing a collection of children's stories, and I have no idea how to outline them. I think that for most novels it would be a good idea; it would probably be a good idea for mine, too, if I knew how to do it. Anybody have ideas on that to share?

*grumbles*

Previous years, I've gone in with no real solid plot, only a few scenes a handful of characters and a "Well, maybe it all ties together this way..." attitude. It worked. Sort of. I had a beginning, a middle, and an end, a conflict and a resolution. And it was fun.

This year, I have a rather specific vision of what I hope to do, so I've been researching how to write an effective opening. What I'm reading is giving me the idea that the story doesn't start where I thought it did, especially since it's boring me just thinking about it. Unfortunately, the scene that I keep going back to as the opening scene doesn't set up what the main character wants very well which I'm told is a necessary thing in openings...

Oh, well. 10 more days to let the problem percolate, and then it can explode into life and be edited into submission!

EDIT: Winterlife, one of the ways I've seen suggested is writing out the underlying conflict and resolution for the story, whether it be a missing toothbrush found in the refrigerator or the Empire squeezing the life out of the galaxy and defeated by a plucky hero... Or you could try ForeverFan's idea of writing out each event in your outline.

Gymfan: That makes so much more sense. That info was the missing link in my conceptualization of NaNo. I meant to respond to your post ages ago, we can definitely be friends. I still think that there's room for grace in the whole thing, but the whole goal to write in November definitely makes sense now. Thank you!

My stories are like sketches of the lives of my friends.

Ditto! In fact (using a technique I found on a different writers' site), I've written a few short stories (or even shorter, a few vignettes) - the other writer calls them "interludes" - that kind of fill in the blanks in my characters' lives between the events of the big stories (for example, a couple pages on the night Molly learns to fly).

And last year's NaNo begins with some 'day in the life' stuff that sets the stage for the main plot event.

Can't wait! (Even if 'real life' threatens to keep me from getting to 50k it'll still be fun).

Aaaugh! Why did I not join this thread earlier??

I am doing NaNoWriMo this year for the second time! I did it last year and and proud to say I completed it with 5008 words! Right now I'm working on a story that my friend and I have schemed about for years. So much, that we love all the characters very dearly. Much of what we schemed we wrote, but that was ages ago and our writing was, well...terrible.

So I'm revising it and my artistic friend is going to be my illustrator! Yay!

By the way, on NaNoWriMo, my name is Erubadhriel. If you want to add me as your buddy, please PM me first and (if you want to) tell me what your username is so I can add me as your buddy!

Can't wait to start scribbling like mad come the month of November!!!

I am doing NaNoRiMo for the first time this year! I don't have my plot yet and Im tryíng to figure out what characters i should use. I love drawing all my characters and the land in which they live! Can't wait to start writing along side my sister!!

Anyone else still in need of a plot? I have a number of vague ideas, but none of them have produced anything novel-length yet.

I'm considering taking a finished short story and making it into a longer one, but i'm not sure i like it well enough for that. I'm also thinking about trying to do a collection of shorter stories ... yeah, i'm pretty much at a loss right now.

Come November 1st, i might just start writing whatever comes to mind. Oh, that'll work out great!

Lemony Snicket pep talk?! I am so in!

To whoever said you can't publish fanfiction, I give you Seth Grahame-Smith! The Eyre Affair! Et cetera!

To those of you thinking you don't have time: go for it! It takes less time than you think and it is easier than you and I think! If you write 2k a day you will be finished in twenty-five days. 2k generally takes me about an hour, two when I am dealing with plot holes and word bugs.

My NaNo username is "krisjacob." Add me, I would love to follow your progress!

This is my fourth year doing NaNo, I think. The first year I participated was '06, I started spontaneously on about Nov. 17th and wrote a grand total of 26k. I don't even remember what I wrote about (mer-people, maybe?) and I don't think I ever finished it. I was dreadfully disappointed when I didn't make the 50k goal.

The following year I tried again. I made the 50k, finished my novel, and I do not remember what it was about. Something extremely unbrilliant, I assume. (I remember killing off a character though. Probably the only time I have ever killed a character.)

In '08 I won again! (Woohoo! Yay for winning!) I wrote a fairytale retelling thing. I smushed Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty into one. It was a ton of fun to write! I had a great time fitting the two stories together. It was akin to doing a jigsaw puzzle. Once, when I couldn't figure out how two of the pieces fit together I use one of those plot-twist generators. It said, "Blizzard" and I said, "Brilliant!"

Last year I did not participate because I was a senior and didn't have enough time. Lies, lies, lies! I regretted that decision so much! I totally could have put NaNo into the mix without a problem and I missed it so badly. I am one of those people who does not have a love/hate relationship with NaNoWriMo. Mine is complete and total love.

I remembered that November follows October yesterday and birthed a plot. I am a close follower of Quantity Not Quality. What the dickens if my main character's hair changes every other chapter! I am just here to enjoy the release of the creative juices. I'm here to write 50k and then stuff it in the closet and never look at it again.
This year I am planning to do another fairytale mash-up since I enjoyed the last one so much. St. George and the Dragon meets Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Despite my limited computer access I have an AlphaSmadt so I am ready. All I have to worry about is updating my word count.
I am a little low on confidence since I have haven't participated since 2008. I'm not sure if I have what it takes any more! I guess I will be finding out come Nov. 1st!

I am totally stoked. (And not just because of that pep talk.)

Gah! How have I missed this thread until now!? I've been so excited, waiting for NaNo to start again. I've been lurking around on the site for at least a month now. This'll be my third year participating (and hopefully my third year winning)!

I am in dire need of a plot, though. I have a couple ideas floating around in my brain for this year, but there isn't much to any of them, and so far I have no clue what I am going to do. Though it's probably safe to say that it will be fantasy. I don't think I can actually write anything else. And I think there will be cats in it. Lots of cats.

My main goal (aside from writing 50,000 words) is to write a main character that is not exactly like me in every way.

And on the NaNo site... I'm appt613.

My main goal (aside from writing 50,000 words) is to write a main character that is not exactly like me in every way

Good goal. My MC last year pretty much WAS me. And 95% of the other characters were based off family/friends.
(Off topic: Your avatar is lovely.)