Just a quick question for those of you who've done this before - during November, does most of the discussion take place in this thread or in the thread on the NaNo site?

(Oh, and if anyone here hasn't buddied me yet, please don't hesitate! )

Both places, Silver. Usually more posts will be made here since it's easier to get to, but we had a fair number of posts in the NaNo site thread as well. I think posts regarding general noveling went here, and more posts about technical things like word counts went on the other site, since you can see people's progress more easily there.

But yeah, there is no set thread for discussion.

^^ Awesome! Thanks! I'm so very excited for this. November 1st, you need to come faster! The anticipation is killing me! *twiddles thumbs impatiently*

...First line of the book (I think ): "We have a long history of assassinations in my family."

I like this also. Good luck writing!

Question: does anyone else have trouble coming up with names?

My story is set in a world very similar to our own, which means I can get away with using ordinary names like Erik and Abby. A friend (Ryadian) writes fantasy set in another world, and has commented on the difficulty of finding more-unique names that fit her world, so I guess I'm grateful that I don't need to worry about that.

Finding last names - or names that really fit my characters - is not quite so easy. Thanks for the suggestion of a google search.

Question: does anyone else have trouble coming up with names?

I usually use sites like Behind the Name (as well as its sister site for Surnames) when I'm trying to name a character. I'm not really picky about all the names having meanings that fit the characters perfectly, though when you're running out of time and need to settle on something fast, it definitely helps to narrow things down.

Rose-Tree (or anyone, I guess), if you're interested in mine after November, I think I'd be willing to let NWebbers read my manuscript.

That would be great! I may post an excerpt of mine over on Narnia Writer's Guild, if I'm not so appalled with how the story came out under the pressure of a deadline that I want to burn the whole thing.

I am doing it as part of the plot, Sweeet. I don't really do the dares but I did actually come across one that sounded interesting. A lot of word sites have a word a day thing and the dare is to fit the day's word in the day's word count. I probably won't do it but it sounded interesting.

Anyone taking up any dares?

I've reactivated my account (as Wise Queen) and I may participate - but I don't expect to win this year, I can't afford the time for writing that much this year.

But I want to be able to join the threads on the NaNoWriMo site, like our own 'Further Up and Further In' thread!

Holy canoli, I cannot believe that NaNo starts in five days!!! Where did time go!?!

I have to say though, I'm getting REALLY pumped for my novel. The gymnastics World Championships was this past week, and considering that my novel is about a gymnast, it was the PERFECT inspiration for a lot of things in my novel. I love that Worlds tend to fall right in mid-October; it's perfect for a gymnastics-set NaNo. I'm afraid that today I wasn't a very good employee at work; I spent SO much time daydreaming about my novel. Amazing how your hands can do one thing while your brain is completely elsewhere. Anyway, little plot ideas are starting to fly in and I can't wait to see where they'll take me.

100k is beckoning me more and more, no matter how much I try to push it away. One thing that may help me immensely is that the time-span of my novel may or may not just have been doubled. See, the novel will end around the Olympics. An Olympic cycle is four years. Since the first novel ended right after the '12 Olympics, that means I have just four years to tell Erica's continuing story. Well, really more like two years, since I want her to be good and retired for awhile (and there's only so much you can write about a retired gymnast...). That's not really a whole lot of time to put in all the stuff I'm thinking of. Plus suddenly Erica is too young now. She was 17 in '12 so she'd be 21 in '16. Since I'm starting to see her as the "old one" in gymnastics, that's still really young. Plus she's supposed to have a romance/get engaged, and that's VEEEEEEERY young for that!

So, now suddenly I'm thinking I have to extend my story ANOTHER four years till the next Olympic cycle. That's good and bad at the same time, lol! Aaaaaaaaaaahh! If I do that I'm almost certain I'll get to 100k, but that's SO much story to write and I don't know if my plot can sustain that much! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Someone, tell me it's going to be all right! *whimpers in the corner*

21 isn't terribly young for a romance. It all depends on readiness and maturity level. Is Erica ready to have a romance/be engaged at 21? Then DO it!

P.S., I suggest keeping the other four years extension until later. Then you'll have another story option if you're so inspired!

Double P.S., is this about the same girl from two years' ago's NaNo Novel?

I'm so excited!!! I'm getting my story line and characters all figured out. I can't believe it's almost here!

Orious, I've been considering the word a day one as well--that sounds workable in a 'serious' novel.

I keep going through my collection of interesting dares, thinking about doing an extra 25k novel on the side, but it'd be for laughs and I don't think I'm that funny.

I downloaded the beta version of Scrivner for Windows yesterday and so far I really like it. I did a short story set in the world of my novel, just to kind of try out a bunch of features.

21 isn't terribly young for a romance. It all depends on readiness and maturity level. Is Erica ready to have a romance/be engaged at 21? Then DO it!

P.S., I suggest keeping the other four years extension until later. Then you'll have another story option if you're so inspired!

Double P.S., is this about the same girl from two years' ago's NaNo Novel?

Yes, this is the same Erica as my first NaNo. Sequel, remember? From Golden Dreams to Silver Linings.

You are correct in that the four years extension was originally planned as a third novel to a three-book series. But I mean, how cheesy would that be. Golden Dreams, Silver Linings and what, Bronze Endings? I just can't get that to work, so Book 2 and 3 get mushed together in the quest for one serious sequel. I plan to skip the first two years of the quad, so it will really only be six years rather than eight. That's not so bad considering that I think Spirals, last year's NaNo, spanned five years.

Anyhoo. Not that Erica's romance can be unrealistic at 21, but the thing is, as I'm "hearing" her talk to me and tell me her story, she sounds more in the 23-24 range. Someone who is young enough to still be very competitive in gymnastics (gymnastics is no longer just a little girl's sport, lol. Chusovitna won a silver medal on vault in Beijing and she's what, in her thirties? And Beth Tweedle won the gold on bars just last week and she's 25), but old enough that there is a bit of a distance between her and the majority of the gymnasts on the national team. When the average age is 17 or so, 21 is hardly old enough to be "out of the loop".

Already I can see all the drama unfolding. This book is going to be fun to write, lol. Even the romance is funny. Call me crazy, but I've known how they "meet" for years now. I'll just say that it involved jogging and deadpan humor and puppy-dog eyes.

But I mean, how cheesy would that be. Golden Dreams, Silver Linings and what, Bronze Endings?

Hah, that made me laugh.

I haven't posted in here until now because 1) I wasn't sure I was actually going to participate in NaNo and 2) as much as I wanted to, I had no ideas for plot.

But now I have a sort of basic premise, a main character who I think I can actually get along with, and a little back-story. I'm a "pantser," so that's really all I need to get by. And I'm actually doing better than last year. I didn't even choose a name for my heroine until October 30th, and I had to make up everyone else's name on the fly.

I'm very excited. My sister... not so much. We share a room, and she's not looking forward to me hiding behind my laptop and never wanting to hang out with her for an entire month.

This year, I'm naming all of my main and main secondary characters after Shakespeare characters. No, it doesn't have anything to do with their personalities or the plot or anything at all. Don't judge me.

I'm missdelaney on the NaNo website.

This year, I'm naming all of my main and main secondary characters after Shakespeare characters. No, it doesn't have anything to do with their personalities or the plot or anything at all. Don't judge me.

I'm judging you...to be AWESOME! Are you going to do the older/strange names like Macbeth and Banquo, or are you going to stick with more regular names like Celia, Bianca, and Malcolm?

I've been getting so into Shakespeare this year. I'd consider having his work play a part in my novel-- except for I'm in an alternate universe, so that won't work too well.

Meltintalle - What is Scrivner?