Oh dear... Their forums are confusing me...

Is there anyway on there that I can/ am I allowed to:

-delete a post
-edit a post
-quote someone
-double post
-role play (ex. *laughs* )

If not they're going to have to deal with my tech fails

I'm leaning toward doing some sort of Scifi/fantasy mix possibly in poetic format. I really need plot ideas, but I have a lab to do so that'll have to wait.

wolf,

You can't delete a post, I don't think.

Editing a post will be available it's just not yet because of the site being so new. They're working on it.

Same with quoting.

I think you can double post.

There is a thread way down at the bottom that's for "role play and communal story building". I've never been in there but I'm guessing people do role play in there.

Thinks nah! Oh I knew about the roleplay thread, I meant like in a post if we are describing an action (ie not specifically story roleplay)

Because I know its allowed here, but it isn't on another forum I visit. For example if I made a post like this:

*still can't figure out how to edit posts*

So how is everybody's novels going? Mine isn't working out too well...

Would the *still can't figure...* part be allowed there?

Oh, I didn't know that's what you meant.

As far as I know, that's allowed. I know for a fact that I've posted like that at least once. And it was in a thread where I was clarifying a rule and an admin/mod replied. So it wasn't like it was against the rules and someone just missed seeing it.

Those forums have fewer rules than this one does. Like on here, you're supposed to have substance to your post. On the NaNo forums, there's no rule about substance and no one cares if all you post is "ditto" or "lol" in a reply.

A little more catching up...

I'm nervous. I've not done this before...previous attempts at writing get me to a 2nd or sometimes 3rd chapter...

Welcome to this month of crazy writing! It's okay to be nervous; this year's lack of a big plot idea is making me a little nervous too. And who knows, once you get into the story it might take on a life of its own and bring you to that 50k mark...

On character names: my setting is low fantasy (a world much like ours, with just some fantasy elements), so the names tend to be ordinary, very much like those in our own world. And over the years I've become rather attached to their names (between the Ditto Story here on NarniaWeb, NaNo stories, and my own stories, I've been writing about Erik and Abby and their family on and off for 9 years now). But I do use name sites (like those Rose mentioned above) for other characters' names, or names for their kiddies.

On writing to music - I'm one of those weird people who prefer minimal 'manmade' distractions like music or TV while writing. I say manmade because many ideas have come to me while I'm out enjoying a hike or campfire out of doors. So I always try to bring pen and notebook on my outings in case my muse decides to strike again.

Ooh, noveling music! I love listening to music while I write; anything from instrumental music and/or soundtracks, to more modern music (like Owl City ). Pretty much anything works, as long as it fits the mood of the story.

So I always try to bring pen and notebook on my outings in case my muse decides to strike again.

I do that as well. Ideas will come to me at the most random times, so it seems I have to take a pen and paper with me everywhere!

So, this morning, I spent a while thinking about my novel... in other words, searching frantically for a plot. Shortly thereafter, I found it. Currently, my novel is called Silver Tears. The plot is still under wraps, but maybe I'll let you catch glimpses of it... maybe.

My main character's name is Riah, but that's subject to change, as well as many of the details about this story. Right now I'm torn between free-styling, and outlining my plot to shreds. We'll see. What about you? Do you outline, or just write it as it comes?

I love music! And I wish I could say I listened to it all the time while writing...but I can't. For some reason, music always seems to distract me from my task at hand, and although I try to listen to soundtracks, trailer music, and such, I always work better when it's nice and quiet. Well, even in a coffee shop with the noise of other people talking is less distracting for me. I don't really know why.

What about you? Do you outline, or just write it as it comes?

I'm a mixture of both, honestly - although I tend to lean more toward the free-styling side. See, my work-in-progress was never outlined, which caused some problems later on because I've had to go back and rewrite so much of it to get rid of plot bugs. But honestly, I'm glad I didn't outline. I think outlines are so restrictive in that you feel obligated to follow it to the letter - and therefore aren't open to whatever changes or ideas come to you as you're writing. I've always had a good idea where I was going with my story, but the details in between filled themselves in perfectly as I went along. I learned so much about my characters, and sometimes they successfully pulled the story in a different direction than what I was imagining, and it turned out better that way.

That's my work-in-progress. As for my NANOWRIMO novel, I'm actually writing the sequel. By now, I've had time to work out the story line quite thoroughly in my head - and I figured trying to keep it all crammed up there might not be the best idea. So I wrote it all down, and that's my outline. But I certainly didn't outline the traditional way, since I do a lot of my planning mentally as opposed to writing it down.

Now I have a question for you guys.

Do you have a favorite writing spot? Do you feel like you can write better in one place than you can in another?

As for me, I prefer places that I'm not normally at, ideally outside my house at a internet cafe or a library. There's something about physically going someplace to write - less distractions. I don't usually feel very creative in places I normally inhabit, like my room. Although, I remember during last year's NaNo, I did a good deal of writing in my room because it was convenient.

Question: if you wanted to theoretically put a poem you had already written at the beginning of one of the chapters, would that be considered cheating? Or should you just subtract it from your word count?

Question: if you wanted to theoretically put a poem you had already written at the beginning of one of the chapters, would that be considered cheating? Or should you just subtract it from your word count?

I believe you would subtract it from your word count

Here are the names of my characters so far:

Karl Alan Cooper
Rosalyn Amelia Cooper
Liam Edward Cooper
Annette Sarina Cooper

Maria Aleita Steppe
Lyle Harvard Steppe

President Maurice Shaw (US President)

Liam and Lyle, as I said, are the MCs.

What about you? Do you outline, or just write it as it comes?

Personally I'm a big fan of Web Plotting, which is where one takes a large sheet of paper and writes the beginning idea, usually no more than 4-5 words, in the middle. From there, the writer comes up with every possible idea that could branch off of that, creating another layer around the first. This continues on until ... Eh, how about I make a graphic? *comes back ten minutes later* Okay, so this is what it could potentially look like if, say, Tolkien had made a web plot:

As you can see, some ideas get used in several scenarios, some get ignored almost immediately, and in most cases (including this fake one ), the idea that has the most potential is going to have the most "bubbles".

So, that's basically how I come up with the over-arching plot for my writings. I also use Scene Plotting, which is where certain, important scenes spring to mind, and then I build the plot around them (or eschew the scene if it doesn't fit/is extraneous).

Do you have a favorite writing spot? Do you feel like you can write better in one place than you can in another?

My favourite place to write is this lovely, comfy, somewhat-cramped (but in a good way) rocking chair. If I'm really struggling, I like to go outside to a secluded area--bonus points if there's no distracting internet. Still, if pressed I can make myself write just about anywhere. Turns out that having an almost uncanny ability to block out noise is helpful. Sometimes.

Question: if you wanted to theoretically put a poem you had already written at the beginning of one of the chapters, would that be considered cheating? Or should you just subtract it from your word count?

Technically cheating isn't disallowed or, really, even frowned upon. The site even suggests padding one's work with full song lyrics or giving your character a stutter if the word count needs a boost. So, seeing as how it's something you wrote, I'd say it's more than OK, so really you can either add it to your WC or not, whatever you feel more comfortable with.

In other news, I've finally picked a name for my main female protagonist so I can stop referring to her as just "FP" on everything!

Moonlight:
(I loved your story idea!)
I think it would be completely fine to use a poem you wrote earlier and count it. Last year I quoted a whole song I *didn't* write for the story... I don't see where it would be a problem. I guess it depends on the person-- whether you think it's okay or not. (Nobody else judges it or reads it. If I took a book I wrote 3 years ago and entered the word count in, it would say I won. Of course, that wouldn't really be fair, and it'd be boring and pointless.)

AC:
Oh yay!!!! That's so happy! I'm glad! Woohoo!!!
^^ [that you're joining]

Elanor:
Ah, nice! It's not like I "don't like" certain names-- but I don't like them for my characters.
It kind of stinks, because I don't want to use names of anyone I know... And there's not many other names out there that I like much.

And I totally changed my character's names.

Possibilities/decisions as of now:

Sky Astin / Austin
Rylan Astin / Austin
Joaquin James

Remington, Jadon, Jathan, Reese, Skyler

Are those too weird? My brother told me Rylan sounded too Medieval. hehe.

Rose-Tree
Thanks for posting the name sites! I actually looked through them for a long time 2 days ago, and I still didn't come up with much, but they were helpful.

I love reading the names of everyones characters

Queen Susan, I really like the names you have, personally I don't think them weird at all, I think they are wonderful, but I dunno, others may be of a different opinion

thought I'd give the names of my characters, I haven't named them all though. (also a big thanks to Rose for the site with names, it was a REAL lifesaver)

Lynwood--Main Character
Cadeyrn--Second main Character (he's a dragon)
Sofia (sister to Lynwood)
Lyndon Woodsman (father to Lynwood and Sofia)
Tristan Blacksmith
Elain (wife of Tristan)
King Farran
Prince Wilheard
Princess Collyn
Eadberht (counciler to the king)

I'm getting really excited about my novel, I'm not really planning it very much though, I'm still not sure of the story line, I usually tend to make up as I go

Narnian_Badger, I really like the Web Plotting idea and I think I'll be using that for mine . It might actually help me develop a cohesive plot

Narnian_Badger, I really like the Web Plotting idea and I think I'll be using that for mine . It might actually help me develop a cohesive plot

Me too! Maybe it will help me get some form of an idea!