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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Oct 28, 2022 18:22:56 GMT -6
Welcome all! National Novel Writing Month is finally here!
Your challenge: write 50,000 words of your novel across the month of November. It's a hefty challenge, averaging out to ~1600 words per day, but one that we're all here to help you grind your way through.
OR, if you're a NaNo rebel, set a goal of your own choosing. Maybe you only want to write 25,000; maybe it's not a new project but one you've been meaning to edit; perhaps it's a collection of short stories totaling a mere 32, 871 words. Whatever your writing related goal is for NaNoWriMo, we're here to tackle them together and cheer one another on through the process.
The Prompts and Challenges Forum is our official playground for this year's NaNoWriMo. Historically, we've encouraged participants to create an individual thread for their NaNo projects, and 2022 is no different. If you're participating, feel free to drop a thread in the Challenges board using the following thread formatting:
"<Username> NaNoWriMo: <Story Title>"
Inside, tell us a little bit about your project! What kind of project is it, what are your writing goals for it, what's your ideal word count? Are you a rebel or a traditionalist? Are you going for that full 50K+ or are you settling in for the long editing haul on that trouble project? Show us your writing playlists and inspiration image boards. Genre? Format? Back cover blurb? Hit us!
Most importantly, let folks know what kind - if any at all - of feedback you're open to receiving on your thread. The best part about having our individual participant threads is that we can share progress updates, rant about story issues and plot knots, and ask for help from our fellow writers.
NOTE: Sharing excerpts of your work in the personal thread is also okay, but please keep them to ~250 words or less. Let us look at that juicy scene, that killer cliffhanger sentence, or the way you triumphed over that tricky plot point, but don't post the entirety of your project in here (that's for the Feedback Forums!)
Here's some helpful and fun activities to get your story idea and your brains ready for action in the next couple of days:
QUIZ: Best Time to Write
NaNo With A 40 Hour Work Week
3 Act Outline / 9-Step plot Doc
51 Questions to Ask Your Characters (before you put them through hell)
So sound off below! Get those personal threads popping! Who's joining the plunge into madness in... 3 days?
Let's smash that pesky inner editor right in the nose and do this! |
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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Oct 28, 2022 19:11:55 GMT -6
CHALLENGES
The age-old reward on LegendFire has been Honor Points, so let's break those out for funsies! And maybe, at the end of the month, I'll make some badges based on how many points you accrued. We'll see. It's all I can offer, okay? 
GENERAL
-- Add 100 Easy Honor Points for joining NaNoWriMo this year. Just hop in here and let us know what project you'll be working on, and get yourself a free handful of points, just like that!
-- Add 100 Medium Honor Points if you make an individual participation thread.
-- Add 100 Hard Honor Points at the end of the first week if you go around and post in every active personal thread that shows up! NOTE: Please make sure that the person is open to getting feedback first! If someone wants to keep their thread closed for themselves that's fine, just hit up the other ones instead and you can still claim your points.
WEEKLY
-- Add 25 Hard Honor Points for every week you break 12,500 words
-- REBELS: Add 25 Hard Honor Points for every week you break 1/4 of your overall goal (the math is up to y'all on this one)
DAILY
-- Add 10 Easy Honor Points for updating us in here or your personal thread
-- Add 10 Medium Honor Points for every day that you break the 1667 words daily goal.
-- REBELS: Add 10 Medium Honor Points for every day that you break your personal daily goal.
-- Add 10 Hard Honor Points if you share an excerpt of your writing for the day as proof that you're killing it!
And remember, the Honor Points aren't a tally of how good or bad you are at NaNo'ing. It's to look back on how many you collected and be proud!
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Post by RAVENEYE on Oct 29, 2022 14:27:51 GMT -6
OMG, so many honor points!!! I'm salivating over here. Okay, the bribery worked. I'm in. I'll be continuing my current historical novel WIP. I need a serious kick in the pants to make progress during the holiday months.
I don't have time to build a thread today, but can get to it tomorrow (I hope).
(Woot! 100 Easy points!)
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Post by pelwrath on Oct 29, 2022 15:43:05 GMT -6
As I was able to make my thread with explanation, I’m in.
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dawndragon
Smoke
Does spite count as motivation?
Posts: 41 
Custom Title: Head in the clouds
MEDIUM: 100
EASY: 300
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Post by dawndragon on Oct 30, 2022 0:17:02 GMT -6
*crawls out of the woodwork* Yo.
Mental health exists. Yup, that's what I'm going with.
I've been trying to decide on how to tackle Nano this year. Going to use a WIP so there's less planning needed for starters. Honestly thinking my goal is going to be 'write something everyday even if it's one word'
I'm a little ahead time zone wise so I have 29 hours to figure it out.
Good luck to everyone participating!
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Post by RAVENEYE on Oct 31, 2022 10:43:51 GMT -6
*crawls out of the woodwork* Yo. Mental health exists. Yup, that's what I'm going with. I've been trying to decide on how to tackle Nano this year. Going to use a WIP so there's less planning needed for starters. Honestly thinking my goal is going to be 'write something everyday even if it's one word' I'm a little ahead time zone wise so I have 29 hours to figure it out. Good luck to everyone participating! Indeed it does! Thrilled you're joining us in spite of the struggle. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on Oct 31, 2022 10:47:10 GMT -6
 Got my participation thread started. 100 Medium points in the bag!  And omigosh, I was kinda dreading getting my thread going, but I had SO MUCH FUN doing it. I've collected so much research material that I hope to share some of it too, the images anyway. Caulder Melhaire - Hey! It's really cool to see where your GW2 toon names come from. And I'm dying to learn what a "joined woman" is. Don't tell me, I wanna read and find out. So finish this thing, will ya? |
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Post by RAVENEYE on Nov 1, 2022 8:25:30 GMT -6
1 NOVEMBER!
IT BEGINS!
ready, set, WRITE!
WE CAN DO THIS!!!
(OK, below you will find my kitten's attempt at NaNo. He laid flat-out on my keyboard, and this is the result. Of course, a kitten would write a story that starts with a smiley face and an attempt to spell "kill." I assume the numbers are a claim of how many times he's killed the same toy mouse. As for the rest, it must be "take over the world" code.) =],KLLL7634888888880-----999999999999999999999999999999999999999999,33333333333333333333333333333333333PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP-O-I[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[----------------------------------------------------------------------------------4U-00-0--00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000--------------------------------------0-------------------------------------5D533333333 ALSO! This illustration for us to identify with:  |
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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Nov 1, 2022 13:52:09 GMT -6
*crawls out of the woodwork* Yo. Mental health exists. Yup, that's what I'm going with. I've been trying to decide on how to tackle Nano this year. Going to use a WIP so there's less planning needed for starters. Honestly thinking my goal is going to be 'write something everyday even if it's one word' I'm a little ahead time zone wise so I have 29 hours to figure it out. Good luck to everyone participating! Hey, welcome! 'tis more than a valid reason; glad to see you're feeling a little better  Got my participation thread started. 100 Medium points in the bag!  And omigosh, I was kinda dreading getting my thread going, but I had SO MUCH FUN doing it. I've collected so much research material that I hope to share some of it too, the images anyway. Caulder Melhaire - Hey! It's really cool to see where your GW2 toon names come from. And I'm dying to learn what a "joined woman" is. Don't tell me, I wanna read and find out. So finish this thing, will ya? Ooh! I can spoil that in my personal thread cause it might not actually come up in the story but I love the concept behind it And yeah! Perks of writing junk I guess, cuts down on the character select screen time LOL Fingers crossed this thing finally makes it out! About to start on my day one writing now. |
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Bird
Counselor 
Posts: 350
Custom Title: World Creator and Destroyer
Preferred Pronouns: they/them/their
HARD: 1700
MEDIUM: 400
EASY: 110
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Post by Bird on Nov 1, 2022 18:49:25 GMT -6
=],KLLL7634888888880-----999999999999999999999999999999999999999999,33333333333333333333333333333333333PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP-O-I[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[----------------------------------------------------------------------------------4U-00-0--00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000--------------------------------------0-------------------------------------5D533333333 OMG, This had me cackling. I love kittens. I will go make a thread then with my REBEL plan since I'm chronically ill - November isn't a good month for me usually -- and not sure I can pull off anywhere near 50,000. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on Nov 2, 2022 10:44:23 GMT -6
Wow. I didn't realize the feeling of purpose writing during NaNo would give me. The drive feels wonderful. So much better than the free-for-all-whenever-I-can sort of writing I do the rest of the time. Structure and goal is good, then, I guess. As long as there's no threat of guilt-inducing failure at the end of it that would bring on ugly anxiety and panic.
Hmm, I think I see why people anticipate NaNo each year.
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Post by pelwrath on Nov 2, 2022 11:09:31 GMT -6
I agree, after two days this might be what this story needed, to get it moving.
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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Nov 2, 2022 17:35:08 GMT -6
Well, disaster of a sort hit. And I'm not just talking about how fatigue blasted me out of nowhere and I took a 3 hour nap after work. I found a job offer I really like! And they're still hiring, and it's an entry level position without a friggin obscene amount of requirements. Like they want my degree, and I finally have 1+ year of relevant (or at least related) experience which is all they're looking for. My current wage is no longer livable, and besides this place going to the dogs management wise, there's no chance of the pay increase I need to be comfortable with my bills. Back into the fires I go.
So! Today's writing is focused on resume building and cover letter editing. Then, tomorrow, filling out those tedious applications. Fingers crossed?
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Post by Alatariel on Nov 2, 2022 19:02:05 GMT -6
Wow. I didn't realize the feeling of purpose writing during NaNo would give me. The drive feels wonderful. So much better than the free-for-all-whenever-I-can sort of writing I do the rest of the time. Structure and goal is good, then, I guess. As long as there's no threat of guilt-inducing failure at the end of it that would bring on ugly anxiety and panic. Hmm, I think I see why people anticipate NaNo each year. Yea! I agree. I guess we just have to redefine what failure means for each of us during this month. For me, if I get new words down every single day, that's success. I'm not keeping track of word count but I want to push myself each day to write beyond my normal limits. Lately I've been running into a mental block while writing but the Halloween contest forced me to produce *something* and it was gratifying. So I'm gonna force myself to get some decent words down every single day this month. |
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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Nov 19, 2022 10:18:16 GMT -6
We're a little over halfway into the month and y'all are freaking killing it! Like seriously, I'm so impressed with the progress folks are making. I've never seen a batch of NaNo threads so active before. Keep it up! As we hit the midpoint of the festivities, we're also probably hitting the important parts of the book. Depending on your goal, we're getting close to the climax, no? Have you started that climb, or are you already tumbling down the other side? How have your characters changed so far - and how much more change is yet to come for them? Climaxes, and the events that follow can be messy, and it's usually where my inner editor, having been tossed aside and forgotten (and given plenty of free time to charge up his big mouth,) kicks it into overdrive and really starts to make me doubt my story. This weekly pep talk from author Kalynn Baron might help remind us that even in the thick of the action, it's okay to put that perfectionism gene on ice and weigh it down with placeholders for the editing sessions: These parts of the story can also be fraught with emotion, and as writers, we tend to draw from what we know to give our characters a sense of realism. If you're like me, wrestling with those emotions in the reflection of your word doc can be tough. Inside of us, these things are ethereal and certain. On paper, they take physical form, and can likewise start to take on the weight of things like gravity and doubt and uncertainty. But this pep talk from author Matthew Salesses can remind us that your thoughts and fears, hopes and dreams, are valid, not only as portrayed through your characters, but in real life as well: Write on indeed, you madfellows.   |
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