For those of you who have done some planning, or at least know the "cast" of their NaNo novel, has anyone fallen in love with their characters yet?

I'm putting the finishing touches on my character profiles/development right now. And it's actually going a lot better than I expected. A couple of my characters have stolen my heart. And while part of me is dying to write them right now, another part of me wishes NaNo wasn't coming up so soon so I could further perfect them before I begin.

~Riella

Wellll...I'm starting to doubt my decision to do NaNo this year. November is my craziest month (what with work, school, and college apps being due) and I honestly don't think I'm going to have the time to sit down and write. I'm still hoping to do it, but it definitely would be the least of my worries. I just don't want to start and then not win, because I'm too competitive.

Ithy, I absolutely love my characters this year. They're pretty awesome (and my dream cast for them is too, but that's a whole different story. ).

Whoo, just finished writing the summary. At first i didn't even have any idea of what to put, despite having a fairly decent idea of how the story goes, but finally came up with something tonight. It's a bit long, so i won't post it here, but it's on my nanowrimo user page if anyone's interested.

In 5+ years of NaNo, i've only ever finished one story, both during NaNoWriMo itself and afterward. Most of the stories i've done i've hated for one reason or another. Though, now that i think about it, that might be a side effect of plotting (for me): i pick stories i can plan out, not ones i necessarily want to do. Hmm, something to think about for next year maybe.

For those of you who have done some planning, or at least know the "cast" of their NaNo novel, has anyone fallen in love with their characters yet?

Well, yes, since I'm writing a sequel, the bulk of my characters are already established in the first book. I have a few new characters that I have had planned for a while, and several characters rise to greater prominence in the second book. I'm actually falling more in love with some of the characters because I'm working on the next draft of book one, and I'm seeing new depths to them.

For those of you who have done some planning, or at least know the "cast" of their NaNo novel, has anyone fallen in love with their characters yet?

My characters have stole my heart long ago. I especially love my protoganist, me and her have a 'special conection'. Recently I've been working on the profiles of some of my minor characters and I've realized how special they are and how much I love them. I always love working with my characters, they are like my family that only I know about and only I can see (and no, I'm not crazy )

I just don't want to start and then not win, because I'm too competitive.

I know what you mean, I hate starting and then not being able to finish. This year during CampNaNo I wasn't able to finish and it was the end of the world for me

Whoo, just finished writing the summary. At first i didn't even have any idea of what to put, despite having a fairly decent idea of how the story goes, but finally came up with something tonight. It's a bit long, so i won't post it here, but it's on my nanowrimo user page if anyone's interested.

I read your summary, sounds like a really cool story

Same. And it's been a concern of mine for awhile. Especially because I've heard that publishers won't accept manuscripts that are over 50K, if you're a first time novelist. And even after you've had some books published, publishers still might not let you go very much over that. You have to be pretty famous, I guess, to write a long novel.

Oi. I've never heard that about limitations on manuscripts before. Good thing I'm planning on publishing electronically, if I ever have anything that's worth publishing. Having a real ink-and-paper book in a real brick-and-mortar bookstore is a lovely thought, but having creative autonomy is a whole lot more precious to me.

Glad to hear you're going for it, daughter of the King! Your story idea is really unique and original.

ROSIE!!!!!

WILD!!!! It's good to see you, too! Your story idea sounds very awesome.

For those of you who have done some planning, or at least know the "cast" of their NaNo novel, has anyone fallen in love with their characters yet?

I actually haven't, at all. Not that I'm disliking them or anything. Rather, I'm intentionally holding my characters at arm's length because I don't want to fall in love with them and then be unable to capture their personality when writing like a madwoman in November. It would feel like I was betraying an (imaginary) friend if I couldn't write them faithfully.

Wellll...I'm starting to doubt my decision to do NaNo this year. November is my craziest month (what with work, school, and college apps being due) and I honestly don't think I'm going to have the time to sit down and write. I'm still hoping to do it, but it definitely would be the least of my worries. I just don't want to start and then not win, because I'm too competitive.

Maybe give NaNoRebel-ness a try and go for 25k? Or maybe not do it at all and get some sleep for once? It wouldn't be the same without you and I really want you to be part of it, but I don't want your head to explode from overuse, either.

Fantastic summary, Arwenel! Definitely caught my attention and piqued my curiosity.

Plotting and preparing for NaNo has been rather slow for me as of late because of Real Life busyness. I'm still hoping to participate, but I really have no idea at this point. Keeping my fingers crossed that it works out! As I read this thread, I keep wishing there was a NarniaWeb library that housed all the books written by NarniaWebbers. I think it could possibly be the best library ever.

Oi. I've never heard that about limitations on manuscripts before. Good thing I'm planning on publishing electronically, if I ever have anything that's worth publishing. Having a real ink-and-paper book in a real brick-and-mortar bookstore is a lovely thought, but having creative autonomy is a whole lot more precious to me.

Both are important to me. What's more, so many people are self-publishing, I'm afraid that if I did go that route, no one would ever even find my book.

But you know, publishers change like anything else. They follow trends, they do what they think is marketable. If what's marketable changes, they'll change their rules. What's more, as self-publishing gets bigger and bigger, it might make them more desperate... And who knows what that will lead to? It all seems so up in the air right now, with the two types of publishing being at war with each other. I'm going to wait till it all blows over and a winner is revealed before I start thinking seriously about publishing any of my own stuff.

But hey, if you want to self-publish, one of the NaNo prizes if you win is that you get a CreateSpace coupon. And if you don't win, someone who has won might give you theirs if they don't want it. I think that's allowed. That's allowed, right?

Nice summary and great cover, by the way. Annie Harrow is a great name.

Thank you. I love Annie. She's one of the characters who has stolen my heart the past few days. Since the story was originally a dream, I first experienced it as Annie. Because of that, it was a bit difficult at first to see her from the outside. But she had such a strong personality, even in the dream, it didn't take too long before she took over as a more independent character.

As I read this thread, I keep wishing there was a NarniaWeb library that housed all the books written by NarniaWebbers. I think it could possibly be the best library ever.

Well, there is the site's offshoot, The Narnia Writers' Guild. As far as I know, they don't hold full novels, though.

But I think that if multiple people from this site became famous authors one day, it would probably come up in interviews. And once that happened, people would start creating lists of "Novelists that Have Been Shaped by NarniaWeb" or something of that sort. We'd become an e-Inklings.

Wellll...I'm starting to doubt my decision to do NaNo this year. November is my craziest month (what with work, school, and college apps being due) and I honestly don't think I'm going to have the time to sit down and write. I'm still hoping to do it, but it definitely would be the least of my worries. I just don't want to start and then not win, because I'm too competitive.

If you think you can handle doing even some of it, I'd say it's still recommended. I've never won, yet I keep coming back. Because, even though I usually quit after like... Day 2, I still get a lot of new material on those two days which I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. And it gets one of the hardest things out of the way: the start of the novel.

~Riella

No. Can't do it this year. Nope, not happening. Absolutely not.... Darn it, I just can't help myself. Okay, I'm in again for my third year, despite my busiest schedule ever!

My story will be about a young man in a land that doesn't have a sun. His ultimate goal is to become a warrior of the creator, Yahn, and help defeat the ice dragons, but to get there, he needs to prove himself by slaying a leviathan. And learn humility and forgiveness towards traitors along the way.

My NaNoWriMo username is Steelsheen, btw. I'll check out your story ideas later today, when I finish studying.

Well, as it turns out, I may try for NaNo this year after all. I have not only a plot, but a plot that I think I can finish in 50K words if I manage my words well.

Actually, this is an old story of mine, which I wrote when I was 14-15 (for reference, I'm 22 now ), and is, to date, the only story (with chapters) that I ever finished. The story follows a girl named Karen, who has had unusual dreams since she was about 8 years old. At the end of each of these dreams, she sees something, like a snapshot of some place... or time, since she's realized that some of these places are actually in her future. Since no one believed her when she was younger, she's kept it a secret all these years, but she's starting to think that someone else knows, and she has to stay out of their way while trying to understand what, exactly, is happening to her.

I'm actually surprised by how much of the original premise is staying in tact, though a lot of it is also getting overhauled. That's what the next couple of weeks are for--planning.

But I think that if multiple people from this site became famous authors one day, it would probably come up in interviews. And once that happened, people would start creating lists of "Novelists that Have Been Shaped by NarniaWeb" or something of that sort. We'd become an e-Inklings.

I like this idea!

Your story sounds interesting, Rya! And speaking of adapting older ideas, I'm doing something similar. The story I'm thinking of this year is a reworking and expansion of one of the first stories I wrote about Abby.

But right now I need more motivation. At times over the past week I've been bursting with ideas, ready to get started immediately. Other times, like right now, I'm much more ambivalent. But we have almost 2 weeks before NaNo gets underway, so I'm hoping to get fired up by then.

I downloaded a couple of character profiles to round out my supporting characters more.

What sort of character profiles? I didn't know you could download profiles online. Is it an idea generator, or more like a quiz to fill out?

Well, I finally got around to reading people's novel synopses. So exciting! Good luck to everyone when NaNo starts... And it's coming so soon. I hope I can put the finishing touches on my notes before it arrives!

Lia, did your synopsis change in the past couple days? I read your synopsis a few days ago and was going to ask you something about it. But I just took a look at it tonight, and it seemed different from what I read before. Or am I just mixed up?

Meltintalle, I love your cover.

Arwenel, even though I know absolutely nothing about Portal 2 or Pacific Rim, your synopsis really makes me want to read your book.

I'd mention you all individually if I could. But since that might make this post ginormous, all just send out a general "Good job everyone! "

Is anyone completely ready for NaNo yet? Or is everyone still thinking and prepping?

~Riella

If I don't get more excited about doing this I don't think I'm going to do it at all. I wrote out a plot but it seems to be falling short. It was better in my head.

What do you guys do to find inspiration??

What do you guys do to find inspiration??

Make playlists with songs that fit the tone or themes of the book and listen to them, browse pictures on Pinterest and pin pictures that match the atmosphere of the story or looks of the characters, read books and watch movies that we like so that it inspires us to make stories of our own. That sort of thing.

~Riella

Arwenel, even though I know absolutely nothing about Portal 2 or Pacific Rim, your synopsis really makes me want to read your book.

And don't worry, if we ever manage to finish it i doubt the story will look enough like either Portal 2 or Pacific Rim that it will matter how familiar or unfamiliar you are with either.

I am pretty pleased with that summary ... though i'm not sure if it gives an entirely accurate idea of what the story is about. I mean, it does and it doesn't.

Is anyone completely ready for NaNo yet? Or is everyone still thinking and prepping?

Oh, totally still preparing. We've got the main outline finished, but we've started writing out story-lines for each of the characters where we log every action each character takes and how they're feeling. Thankfully we only have 2 main characters and about 4 side characters, because otherwise that would take forever.

This year i want to nail things down more, especially the middle because that's where i seem to have the most trouble.

For me, I have a few character profiles to do still. Making character profiles helps me get my head around the way each person in my story thinks; and until I make a profile for them, I have trouble writing as them.

So far I've only finished one character profile. Luckily, I only have one other major character, and the others are just the "supporting cast" and shouldn't take too long.

I really need to get my other MC done, though. It bothers me that I haven't finished his profile yet, with NaNo being less than 10 days away.

Other than that, I just need to develop a few parts in the outline, and do some quick, minor polishing in parts.

~Riella