Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: NaNoWriMo
Chorrol.com > Chorrol.com Forums > General Discussion
Pages: 1, 2
blockhead
We've been starting to discuss NaNoWriMo on the coffee shop thread and it seems that it might be a good idea to give it its own thread. Wow, I haven't started a thread here in ages ... since the start of my Bloodmoon fanfic. biggrin.gif

Essentially, from November 1st to Nov 30th one writes a novel of 50,000 words. This is about 1667 words per day (consider that November is only 30 days, not 31). Emphasis is on creation, not on editing. One must disable ones "inner editor" for a month.

Rather then me blather on longer (and perhaps get it wrong) here is the site: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and here is the FAQ section: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/basics

So I'm signed up on that site as lokken. Good luck everyone.

(I spent 16+ bucks for the "No Plot No Problem" book (yikes) , so I have to finish this now!)

For myself, I hope that this gives me the needed kick in the behind to write an original story.

The Metal Mallet
Perhaps if I didn't go to college and generally have 6-7 hours of work 4 nights of the week, I'd have the time to try this. It sounds like a really interesting concept. Plus it helps that my writing style all ready ignores my inner editor at the moment. I plan to do all my editing after I finish my body of work (Bloodlust).

So, it's going to be at least 3 more years before I have time to actually do this. I really wish I could've done this.
jack cloudy
Well, that's too bad. To be honest, I doubt I'll reach the full 50k myself.

So, what shall we talk about in this thread? How about beginning with a discussion on the stories we’re going to write? I’ll start.

I ditched the scenario I spoke about in the coffee shop. It won’t work with that little time. The setting deserves more worldbuilding than a rushed job like that.

So my new setting is more science-fiction. I’ll be using two worlds. One is the afterlife, located at the center of the milky way galaxy, and the other world is plain old earth. A sort of Prime Directive (The Rule) prohibits any contact between the two worlds. Earth has yet to move out into space beyond orbit, but there is a new megastructure on the surface that can be seen from space. I’m talking about the artificial island Atlantis. (Note: This is not influenced by Stargate’s Atlantis. I got this idea years before that show came around. Besides, mine can’t fly.)

Now there is no real plot. I’ve simply decided to take two main characters, and form the story based on their desires. I’ll just list them.

Name: Brian Amgin
Gender: male
Description: A man with an eagle-like face (nose is the beak). Grey beard and hair. Tall. Dresses in a brown raincoat and always has a hat.
Age: I’m too lazy to calculate. He died in 79 when Pompeii was drowned in ash. The starting date is 2056, so yeah, he is old.
Likes: unknown
Dislikes: unknown
Fear: See a pattern? Unknown.
Medical afflictions: None. Unless you count his instinct, that is. It is so good, he can nearly predict the future.
Starting location: Atlantis.
Occupation: temporarily retired.
Goal: To cause an arms race on earth, one that makes the Nuclear crisis during the cold war look like a joke.
Status: badass Antagonist.
Perspective: third person.

Name: Emmerald Cliff, usually just Emmy.
Gender: female
Description: Green kneelength hair, always irritated red skin, green eyes, looks like she is about twelve. Likes to dress in frilly dresses with the emphasis on cute. (So much, you want to puke.)
Age: 17 Yeah, and she’s already making career. The afterlife doesn’t mind child labour. By the way, she died at birth so she was basically born into the afterlife.
Likes: Real Mecha, stories about earth, shows about mecha, the occasional badassery.
Dislikes: Having a hangover, which is like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week now.
Fear: Growing up. (She undertook surgery to prevent this. So this is a serious trauma. If I was there, I would have sent her to a psychiater.)
Medical afflictions: Extreme clumsiness due to faulty neural overhaul. (Translation: The surgeon messed up.)
Starting location: Ibliss (Afterlife capital. BIG city with a population just over a billion.)
Occupation: Shopkeeper at the Lang corporation. Also works in development at the same company.
Goal: Quit her job, then join the field branch of the Life Afterlife Violation Inspection, the only job that will give her a legal reason to visit Earth.
Status: Protagonist.
Perspective: first person.
blockhead
jack cloudy: Wow: that is an excellent setup / starting point. You can go places with that. Seems to me that you are all set to go.

Your afterlife concept makes me think of the Riverworld books ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverworld
I've only read the first four novels.

I still have only vague fragments of partial ideas ... really a bulleted list of things I like to see in stories. All I know for sure is
  • I'm fairly sure it will be Sword & Sorcery.
  • It won't be a fanfic: it's got to be original, not even any cameos.
Zarrexaij
I plan on actually trying to write this year. I'm going to write something original, but I'll never tell what it's about. tongue.gif

(I actually know the subject of my novel XD)
milanius
I have started to write, done around 200 words [I think], in native tongue. Then I realised I have no structure, no plan and no definite ending. There is a picture of me in the dictionary, underneath "Lethargy". biggrin.gif
Wolfie
Much as it'd be interesting to give it a shot (though I doubt my ability to come up with a plot I could keep going for that many words >_>) with my workload at college, plus karate training, I just don't have the time for it these days sad.gif
However, good luck to those of you who do have the time and so forth tongue.gif
DoomedOne
So here's my plot idea I'll share with you.

Starts aboard a military space craft on patrol through largely unknown territory. It holds maybe 350 people all commanded by a royal boat that doesn't know how to treat his wife.

Well, she has an affair with the protagonist, I don't know what his job is yet just that the commander catches him and tries to kill him but the fight gets interrupted so he accuses him of treason instead and has him locked up.

Some sickness is going to spread on board so they have to land on a planet marked as having civilization that has not yet advanced to a galactic level. They're still in the sacrifice people to their Gods stage, though that bit is a twist that comes later. The imminent thing about this planet is that it is lurked by vampiric, flesh eating creatures. That's all I'm tellin' ya!
jack cloudy
Sounds cool, Doomed.

Blocky, I read the link you provided. Yeah, at first glance I suppose there are similarities, with the afterlife being a planet near the galactic core. But there are differences, like a higher techlevel, no hidden purpose as a test of virtues.

And it's almost that time! Woot!

So, uh. want me to post my first chapter or something tomorrow?
minque
I got an email from them today....I mean for me it´s soon due, in two hours! But I didn´t get that region thing...how to affiliate to a darn region...I just don´t get it... huh.gif
jack cloudy
Umm, lessee. Go to edit profile, then pick my regions on the left. Another tab should appear in the middle. Take regions, which is the leftmost option. You should now be presented with a huge list. Simply pick the region of your choice and click its affiliate button. Then, in home region, you can select it and press set region. Done.


Me, I have one region selected but I doubt I'm going to get much if anything out of it at all.

And boy, do people love the idea of adding ninjas in case of writer's block. Sorry, but I refuse. Partially disable my inner editor, fine. Add in ninjas without a good in-story reason? No way, pal. Though, to be honest. There is a character in the first chapter who looks like your typical ninja. Black, secretive and stuff. Too bad he's arrogant as hell and goes for the intimidating full frontal.....against the badass antagonist. nono.gif

Oh, and I begun writing two hours before the date. Is that cheating? I don't think so, since I'll be off to bed before the start anyway.
minque
ok I managed the region thingy..but where the h*** do I write? or post what I´ve written? I must be a moron but simply do not get this.... unsure.gif
Lord Revan

I think you do that in the forums (no snideness intended).
jack cloudy
It's not available yet, I think. So I've got it stored on word on my harddisk. biggrin.gif
minque
QUOTE(jack cloudy @ Oct 31 2007, 10:55 PM) *

It's not available yet, I think. So I've got it stored on word on my harddisk. biggrin.gif

Hmmm ok...it starts in an hour here....I guess I´ll just wait and see, but the site is unbelievable slow! It hardly loads for me...hrrrrmmm
DoomedOne
I like the idea of being stranded on a planet because I can just add whatever I wnt when I get writers block. I have tons of back-ups like a gang of rogue robots that roam around. The disease they got came when a spore crashes into their ship, I forgot to mention that, so they also had to land in order to make reairs, and it transforms the crew members into the very beats that end up hunting them, but that's another plot twist I'll throw in waaaaay later. I have back-ups like settings, too. I have a setting idea of an inoperable dungeon with a single, lonesome keeper, a fortress made by inhabitants to keep the beasts out that gets overrun. Each little civilization they come across will have their own unique way of defending against the beasts, too. The whole idea is that I'm not really focused on plots and well developed drama with this story like I usually am, I'm going at it horror style, just throwing in as much dangerous and creepy stuff as possible and seeing who survives.
blockhead
You write the story in your usual software (Word for most people?) and keep it on your harddrive. A copy is uploaded only for the sake of showing your wordcount to the world. You don't post your story on the forum. Said upload feature is only available once November starts. I guess that would be just after midnight tonight. I am not sure if the nanowrimo (referred to in the rest of this post as simply "nano") site accounts for time zones or not. Near as I can tell, it is on Pacific time (California). Oh: and just to make things more confusing, the rest of the planet switched off Daylights Savings Time this past weekend but here we don't do it till Nov 4th. Feh!

Anyway. I'm nervous. I've been reading the forums and the book and I've gotten that e-mail this morning, but I'm kinda terrified.

I still haven't decided if my MC should be female or male. I'm male, but I've gotten so used to writing Rashelle.

I've decided on first person. Some authors (like Isaac Asimov) disdain it but some "real" authors (such Roger Zalazny, who wrote the Amber novels in first person) have used it.

Good luck everyone.

P.S. - there will be more Rashelle stories after nano. It's just that I want my nano to be original, not in the Elder Scrolls universe.

P.P.S. - jack cloudy, in your nano story ... once someone in your story is resurrected in the afterlife, what happens if they die again? Since that afterlife exists in the universe, I assume the usual laws of physics, biology, etc. must still apply.

edit: DoomedOne: Your setting and your initial situation is very open ended. Your characters can wander around the planet for many chapters while your plot gradually emerges. Very nice!


DoomedOne
Thanks. To be honest its very against type for me to make a story like this. Usually I try to pit people against each other that can't be put in a good and evil dichotomy and have people making decisions no one should have to. The again, there's plenty of that in here, too. The commander isn't a bad guy, he really loves his wife he's just very distant and all about professionalism so she naturally wandered to the emotionally honest, passionate protagonist. Also, later the protagonist goes into an area overrun by beasts/demons (the local inhabitant of the planet call them demons) to rescue the same girl but is forced to choose between her and a child. Yeah, I'm talking too much about my story but I just get the ideas and want to share them tongue.gif
jack cloudy
I can bear with the site being slow. It is damn crowded after all. What I can't bear with, is the damn lack of a search button! AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! devilsad.gif devilsad.gif devilsad.gif devilsad.gif devilsad.gif *pant, wheeze*

Blockhead, that's one of those questions I can't seem to work out perfectly. Currently, I simply have anyone who dies again be resurrected at the afterlife, just like the first time. One's body is formed after one's sense of self. This has lead to some outrageous results for the ones with a huge ego. Some things don't transfer over, like any artificial modifications, except if said modifications are integrated into the sense of self.

Take Emmy, for example. Her appearance has become part of her in her mind, so she won't regress to her pre-surgery state. On the other hand, she won't get all the internal bits, like the completely restructered skeleton, musculature and neural net. So she would look the same, but be a lot weaker, less clumsy and less hungry. (the nanobots that maintain her need a lot of calories to maintain their numbers.)


Ahem, I'm not trying to be thoughtful of anything in my story. Good and evil? Maybe yes, maybe no. Hard decisions? Probably not. Serious or over-the-top laughable? Geez, dunno. So basically, I'll see how it turns out.

For perspective, I'm using both first and third. Brian Amgin is written in third, while Emmy is written in first.(cause she's so much better at whining. Reminds me of Luper.) Some excerpts to demonstrate:

Amgin (final paragraph of chapter 1):
Two minutes later, a single figure emerged from the small building. The figure closed the buttons on his raincoat and realigned the hat on his head as he walked off into the night.
“The fool, going for a full frontal assault on someone like me. Tsk, probably watched too many spy movies. He should have brought a tank, not a gun. And calling me a youngster, just who does he think he is?” Amgin sneered and closed the door. He casually felt the bump on the inside pocket of his raincoat. The Shadow’s gun was the only thing that didn’t turn into a puddle of goo after its owner’s death. Amgin had been expecting a self-destruct mechanism and had disabled the gun’s electronics before this could occur. A side-effect was however, that it had now been reduced to dead weight. But none of that mattered. The weapon wouldn’t have accepted him anyway, not while it was still functioning. Hell, he was likely to get a poisoned needle slammed into his finger the moment he pulled the trigger. When he had time, he would repair the damage, but not now. Now, he had places to be.
“I hope that he’ll be still awake this late.”


And Emmy (first paragraph of chapter 2):
As I looked into the mirror, last night’s foul mood returned in full. I had bags under my droopy eyes the size of a planet, my hair stuck everywhere but where it was supposed to stick, my mouth was open in a constant yawn and apparently I’d misplaced my pyamas somewhere during the night. Simply put, I looked like a wreck. I felt like one as well. At least I still knew where my pants were, on my head like some sort of silly hat. Talk about displacement.
“Dang it, not again. Ugh, this so sucks big time with strawberries-and-whipped-cream-on-top-of-a-kingsized-icecream.” I moaned and glared at my reflection. Well dang it, now I was drooling as well! Just what was wrong with this world?!
minque
Uhhh..I don´t know..do I just have to write something completely new? Can´t I use an existing story? Or will that be "illegal"
jack cloudy
Well, technically the whole point is to write a story from scratch in a single month. Though there is no rule against using an existing setting. I could easily copy and paste some of my work here, but I would consider that to be cheating.

Got a setting or a story you want to use? Need help? Just ask away, that's what this thread is for after all. wink.gif
minque
nah...I was thinking of sort of start to write a sequel to my story of Serene.....but I´m not sure, see I don´t know how much time I´ll have ....I´ll have to wait and see..maybe I´ll get started during the weekend

Actually I for a time thought this could be the chance to get Serene back on track again...hmmm I really don´t know
blockhead
minque: Continuing an existing story or doing a sequal is not really how it is supposed to work ... but if it results in Serene getting finished ... well ... biggrin.gif

Oh: two quotes from my cookie file that may be of help:
  • Your current safe boundries were once unknown frontiers. -unknown
  • Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. --E.L. Doctorow

So last night, after midnight, I switched on and got started: just started winging it. It was hard to not go back and tweak/edit/fix. smile.gif Character is male (for me, this is a change -- so used to writing Rashelle). His name has not been decided on yet but as he has not talked to anyone yet, it's not been needed. It's weird to write something not in the Morrowind Universe. I've got 2000 words. This is good, but I had to throw in an Ancient Ruin™ cliche to move it along. Feh. I had hoped to not have to do that for a bit longer.

I've got more Rashelle stuff in the works, just not going to work on this until after nano

Now I'm off to figure out this upload thing over at the nano site.

jack cloudy
Here's a site for inspiration.tvtropes

If you're trying to add common stuff, or work against them, this place is wonderful.

For example, my second chapter starts with the premise of a shower scene. Sounds like it will involve fanservice, won't it? Except this is what happens, with the character still dressed in half a pyama. laugh.gif

QUOTE
“Waah!” Next moment I knew, I was on the floor, surrounded by bits of porcelain and shards of glass. There went the sink and the mirror, again, for the second time this week.


Speaking of which, I don't know how to continue this chapter. I know I want Emmy to do some stuff before having breakfast and rushing off to work. Any ideas? I'll just post it in full here for now.

QUOTE
Chapter 2: Morning with a hangover.

As I looked into the mirror, last night’s foul mood returned in full. I had bags under my droopy eyes the size of a planet, my hair stuck everywhere but where it was supposed to stick, my mouth was open in a constant yawn and apparently I’d misplaced my pyamas somewhere during the night. Simply put, I looked like a wreck. I felt like one as well. At least I still knew where my pants were, on my head like some sort of silly hat. Talk about displacement.
“Dang it, not again. Ugh, this so sucks big time with strawberries-and-whipped-cream-on-top-of-a-kingsized-icecream.” I moaned and glared at my reflection. Well dang it, now I was drooling as well! Just what was wrong with this world?!

I managed to tear my eyes away from the breathing nightmare and check the clock in my living-room. 5:36 am. Had I really been under the sheets that short? I swear I’d gone to bed at around 22:00 pm. Maybe I should just go back and catch some more sleep. On the other hand, I had a job that begun at 9:30 am, so maybe I shouldn’t. What if I slept till lunchtime?

I pulled my face back to the mirror. The sudden movement made a lance of solid agony stab me behind the eyes and directly into my brains. I clutched my head with one hand while holding on to the sink with the other for support. It gave me serious doubts about getting any further rest. Not with that headache. At that time, I was sorely tempted to swallow a few handfuls of pills but my doctor had explicitly told me not to. Had something to do with my stomach still being in the recovery-phase and unable to process large amounts of chemicals. Something like that. I figured a shower might help just as well though so I stretched to my toes to get at the inconveniently high cabinet for some soap.

“Waah!” Next moment I knew, I was on the floor, surrounded by bits of porcelain and shards of glass. There went the sink and the mirror, again, for the second time this week. Geez, the plumber really must love me. I swear, he’ll be a full-blown millionaire by Christmas if this keeps up. I sputtered some random nonsense in the fountain of water that spilled forth from the broken pipe, right into my face. Once I’d gotten over my shock though, I stumbled back to my feet and returned to the combined livingroom/bedroom/kitchen, the only other room in my apartment, where I snatched the phone.

I tapped my foot impatiently as the device beeped.
“Silverglass apartments, you’re speaking to the caretaker. May I help you?” A sleepy voice finally grunted on the other side of the line after two whole minutes.
“Yeah, cut off my watersupply, pronto! I’ve got a bloody waterfall going off here!” I yelled back. The jet of water died out immediately. The bathroom was ruined, again, and I’d just shut off my apartment’s water. So much for a shower, if I didn’t count the cold one I just got.
“Two times in one week, and both times in the middle of the night. Don’t make a habit of it or I’ll kick you out. I rather like my sleep.” With those soft words, my caretaker hung up. If making me panic had been his plan, it worked. Livingspace is expensive and I definitely didn’t want to give up my shack.

Amazingly, I felt much better now that I was soaked. Or at least, I did at first. When the first drops of blood began to trickle down my nose a bit later, that feeling diminished quite a bit. I inspected my face with a finger and found the wound soon enough. A small gash right on the forehead that bled far more than its modest size would make me expect.
“Note to self: Buy a mirror of bullet-proof, shock-resistant glass. And while I’m on a roll, buy one of those kitchen-stair thingies. That, or place things where I can reach them without jumping and banging my head against the mirror.” I told myself after I’d put a bandage on the wound.

5:42 am. Three more hours till I had to go places. Three more hours with nothing to do but lie on the sofa with a hangover from here to Tokyo. What to do, what to do? Reading? A single glance at the pile of magazines stuffed under the sofa made me reconsider. I’d read and reread each one of them like a dozen times. I’d only get bored from that. What to do? I absentmindedly picked up one of the magazines and flicked through its pages, more focused on my internal dialogue than on the articles. I could really use that shower right now, broken bathroom or not. An idea struck me just as I thought that I’d reached the depths of despair.

Five minutes later, I balanced precariously on the pile of old magazines which had been relocated to the bathroom, where it was soaking up the water lying on the floor. Now, I could easily reach the cabinet and grab the soap. I figured that sacrificing a year worth of my favourite magazines was a payable price for a good shower. Besides, I could always download the issues from the internet. Maybe I should do that anyway, it would save trees and livingspace.

My climb down to solid ground was less than elegant and would have resulted in another bandaged disaster if I didn’t have a pile of soaked paper to break my fall. Now I had only suffered critical damage to my dignity. I pulled off the strips of paper that clung to my skin and dove into my wardrobe for a towel and a bathrobe. After that, it was off to the neighbours. I hesitated and fidgeted about for like half a minute before actually opening the door and leaving my apartment. It would be the first time for me to go outside wearing nothing more but a bathrobe and a pair of slippers. But meh, there weren’t any windows in the corridor and the chance I’d actually run into someone this early in the morning was like nonexistent. So I told myself not to be so scared of appearing to be indecent and just open the dang door already.

I let out an annoyed sigh and leaned my back against the door of the Hendersons. I never realized I would feel frightened with the prospect of ringing the doorbell.
“Bah, I’m not worried about how I look. I just don’t want to wake anyone up in the morning. I mean, those people need sleep like everyone else.” I argued with myself out loud. Too loud.
“Wah!” Again, I went for the floor, this time because the door I’d been leaning against opened inwards. If only I hadn’t been whining so much, I would have heard the footsteps or the key being turned in the lock. Now, I had the honour of looking up at my neighbour’s face from a very low vantage point. Flat on my back.

“Oh my, are you alright? You’re not hurt, Emmy? Nothing broken? How’s your neck? I read that it’s really bad for your neck to fall like that. And oh no, you’ve got a bandage on your forehead? What happened, are you alright? Maybe you should go to a doctor.” Yup, that was good old Nance Henderson, always fearing the worst. I sat up quickly and then pulled myself back onto my feet.
“I’m fine, really. Nothing to worry about.” I muttered while dusting off my bathrobe. The place was spotless as always, but manners dictated that I made the gesture. I stole a glance at the older woman. We were like polar opposites, which always had me wondering.

She looked a hundred, I looked twelve. She was fivehundred and sixty, I was seventeen. She was 1.76 metres, I was 1.52. Our weights were the same, 80, yet I looked half-anorexic. She was opposed to anything involving body alterations beyond the standard anti-aging program, I had embraced it fully. She kept her place cleaner than an industrial laserlens, mine looked as if a hurricane had passed through. She dressed in inconspicuous grey dresses down to her ankles, I loved frilly blue ones that only went just beyond the knees. She kept her white hair in an elegant knot that looked like a donut, something that took her two hours each morning just to get done. I just let my green hairdo fall down to my knees in whatever way gravity desired and restricted myself to five quick strokes with a brush. She praised a healthy diet of bread, carrots and oranges, in three meager meals. I ate fries, hamburgers and the daily menu at the restaurant just around the corner, four times a day in two-person portions. Yup, it was a miracle we could stand being neighbours.

“Umm, Emmy? Why did you ring the doorbell? I asked you three times already. Wake up.” Nance whispered urgently, glancing over her shoulder at the bedroom all the time. I broke my train of thought and gathered my words again. Wow, her hair actually looked like a mess. Hah, rough night.
“That, ah….Is it inconvenient? I could come back later.” I whispered myself. Peter Henderson, her husband, was one of the crankiest fellows I’d ever met, if his sleep was interrupted. I seriously didn’t want to ruin his morning.
“Not inconvenient for me? But maybe you should first use a hairdryer back home. You’re still dripping from your shower.” Nance was about to close the door when she stopped and simply stared at my face.
“Ah, dang it. I’m blushing, ain’t I?” I whimpered which got me a stern eyebrow. Ah, right. She abhorred crude language, even a lame dang it.

“Well, about the shower. Err…..I was trying to take one but……How to explain?…..Uhhmm” I began to stammer and then took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I knew I was going to unleash some serious panic.
“I tried to take the soap out of the cabinet, lost my balance, slammed my face against the mirror, shattering it, knocked down the sink and broke the plumbing.” I finished rapidly. I nearly had to stifle a yawn when Nance’s hands flew up to her face. Yup, panic attack.
“You shattered a mirror? That brings bad luck? And you did it with enough force to cut your forehead and knock down the sink?” She panted. Then she turned around quickly. I clamped my hands over my ears and awaited the inevitable.
“PETER! WAKE UP AND CALL AN AMBULANCE! EMMY IS INJURED!” Nance shrieked.

“WHAT, WOMAN?! DON’T MAKE SUCH RACKET IN THE MORNING!” Peter howled back and was up at the door in an instant. He looked like a male version of his wife, probably because he also looked a hundred years old. Weird fellows, to pick that age and physique when you could be a totally breathtaking person in your early twenties. Nance repeated her own words and I clamped my ears down harder. All this noise was not going to help me lose my headache.
“I’M FINE, REALLY! I JUST WANTED TO ASK IF I COULD BORROW YOUR BATHROOM FOR A SHOWER BECAUSE MINE IS RUINED! AND PLEASE STOP YELLING AT EACH OTHER CAUSE I’VE GOT A HEADACHE FROM HERE TO TOKYO AND TOKYO IS NOT AROUND THE CORNER!” I yelled at the two. Ugh, I nearly tipped over from my headache right there. I held on to the doorframe just to keep standing. Of course, this meant I had to release my hold on one of my ears.

Fortunately, the Henderson’s had stopped shouting and now simply stood dumbfounded.
“Ah, right. Your bathroom broke. Odd, didn’t you get a new one installed yesterday? A bit quick to break it, don’t you think? I advice you not to hire the cheapest company this time.” Peter commented calmly while scratching the back of his head. Nance was having trouble controlling her heartbeat and she was still partway in a state of panic.
“Ah, that’s right. And you fell right over when I opened the door. And oh, now you’re leaning against the doorframe for support. Are you sure you’re alright?” She pleaded. I glared.
“Yes, I’m fine, I told you that a dozen times already. I’ve just got early morning syndrome so I’m really cranky.” I tried hard to keep from snapping.
“Whatever is the case, go ahead Emmy.” Peter interjected.
“Though be careful with our bathroom, you are awfully clumsy this morning.” He then added, after I’d tripped over the carpet and nearly fallen onto my face. Dang it.


Also, I wonder if it would be allowed here to make a thread of my story in the fanfic area? I could really use the regular feedback and advice.
Zarrexaij
I wrote the first chapter tonight. 2048 words thus far. I'm doing mine over my homebrew Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
blockhead
Arrgh. The darn nano site is really teeing me off. Feh. I'm guessing that there are too many people hitting the site at once. Nano has gotten too popular - too many newbies ... oh, wait, that's me. biggrin.gif

I've not found the wordcount upload feature of the site ... fortunately there is a place in my profile area to enter a word count, so I use the linux/unix "wc" program and post that number.

I made my wor count quota for today. but story is stinking ... badly. A casserole of cliches topped with an implausibility sauce. Feh. I have never ever been able to write an original plot. I'm still hoping that the breakneck pace and the whole "do not edit" thing will cause some sort of breakthrough in my mind.

jack cloudy: your story excerpt is so good it shames me. sad.gif It reads like the work of an established/published author who is a native English speaker. Well done!

edit: the nano site is so broken. Things that worked for me today do not work now ... teensy little things like ... not being able to post a message.
canis216
This idea of NANO is interesting, but I think I'll stay away from anything remotely official. Any sort of regularity interferes with my writing process. I do have a short (probably) story I'm (sort of) working on... And by working on I mean "wrote a page during September before getting sidetracked by my nonfiction work"...
milanius
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/226706 laugh.gif



Holy Hell, I did write something... 1065 words, for 1/2 of the first chapter. I blame you people! tongue.gif now, if only I could find someone who can read Serbian...
blockhead
QUOTE(milanius @ Nov 3 2007, 05:52 AM) *

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/226706 laugh.gif



Holy Hell, I did write something... 1065 words, for 1/2 of the first chapter. I blame you people! tongue.gif now, if only I could find someone who can read Serbian...

Coolness! Congrats! smile.gif

Today I managed to write another 2000 words, but it was a battle. Character and situations are emerging but it's all rather lame. I will force myself to continue and finish anyway. Maybe after November I can salvage the last half of the novel and use that to write a new first half for it.

And I think the nano site has gone down. This is not a surprise, as it has been lagging and glitching of late.
DoomedOne
So far I'm at 5000 words of utter crap. 165 pages to go until I call this pos quits. I really don't like this story buts its not the story as much as I just haven't sat down and wrote for so long I just suck at it. So yeah, it's good for me to write crap.
milanius
QUOTE(DoomedOne @ Nov 4 2007, 04:53 AM) *

So far I'm at 5000 words of utter crap. 165 pages to go until I call this pos quits. I really don't like this story buts its not the story as much as I just haven't sat down and wrote for so long I just suck at it. So yeah, it's good for me to write crap.

...or, you can be like me and GIVE absolutely no crap about it! bigsmile.gif Like, If I decide to write 5-6 hundred words more, it's OK, and if I decide to do absolutely [donkey honk] it's also OK. Not like I know how's my story ending, in any case.
blockhead
QUOTE(milanius @ Nov 4 2007, 06:05 AM) *

...or, you can be like me and GIVE absolutely no crap about it! bigsmile.gif Like, If I decide to write 5-6 hundred words more, it's OK, and if I decide to do absolutely [donkey honk] it's also OK. Not like I know how's my story ending, in any case.

I believe that this is actual attitude that is required for NaNoWriMo. Editing/fixing comes later. For now, just spew the words out. biggrin.gif I also do not know how my story is going to end.

EDIT: I actually spent the money and got the guidebook for nano. From the book, it is expected that one will write utter crap for a while. This is a normal part of the process.
minque
Heh....I haven´t even started...yet! Too much preparations for my trip..... kvright.gif
jack cloudy
I'm going slow because my inner editor refuses to shut up. He just keeps telling me stuff like: ,,Dude, you can't have a duel between the Zephyr and the stolen Vampire when the Zephyr's still in storage on the wrong planet and it's pilot is still in bootcamp."

But now I've got a good idea to introduce my first HGM. A trial to test its revised weapon. (a gun that can fly on its own)

I didn't write anything yesterday.
milanius
QUOTE(blockhead @ Nov 4 2007, 04:13 PM) *

I believe that this is actual attitude that is required for NaNoWriMo. Editing/fixing comes later. For now, just spew the words out. biggrin.gif I also do not know how my story is going to end.

Eh, actually... in terms of work and self-criticism, I'm a natural Virgo. You see, if the work, from Page 1, isn't satisfying my own standards, I prefer not to do it at all. I know, it's hairsplitting. That, and the fact I rarely do longer literary works [because of complete mental incoherency], is why I don't write. Short stories? Fine. A novel? C'mooon!
canis216
Write first, think later. Actually, I suggest write first, second, third, and so on, and then think.

Edit: If you have trouble doing this try doing some freewriting--it's an exercise where you start writing with maybe one line or idea in mind and then follow it wherever it leads, even if it leads to something entirely different or nonsensical. The important thing is to write down whatever comes to mind without stopping or editing--especially without editing.
DoomedOne
Mine is just really compassionate the whole way through.. Usually my stories start off okay but ending up getting more and more retarded as time goes on. This one started out really, really badly as I just couldn't think of any descriptive words or how to talk about what I wanted to, I didn't ewant to spend energy introducing characters or having them relate to each other, I just wanted to shove the plot in there and get moving. As I've been writing I've naturally been getting more descriptive and it's gotten better. It's still hella bad, though.

I seriously cannot contemptlate on the story without wondering why the hell I'm even bothering with it.
canis216
Another thing to consider for those having trouble--when I write, I often find it helpful to sit outside in a chair or something and write in a notebook or something, and then I go and transcribe into a digital document later. What happens is that I revise as I transcribe, which is a lot more natural and easy to do that way instead of going back through a document with intent to revise. One time when I took a creative writing course in a wilderness area I took three notebooks with me--one tiny for little ideas and observations, one somewhat larger that I could write a few pages worth of stuff in, and one even larger one for bigger drafts--and just wrote and transcribed back and forth between them. I found that process, involved as it may have been, very productive.
DoomedOne
I'm going to be honest, I thought I could just write, but I can't, so I'm starting over. My new story is about a 15 year old kid from the 17th century that gets stranded on an undiscovered and non-existant part of the world where magic exists and stuff.

He is saved by a sexy 20 year old female version of Vash the Stampede. That's the simplest way of putting it. There are three characters that fall in love with her, and the story is basically about how this world (which is a collection of islands) is torn apart by ideologues and war. Everyone thinks their way is right and refuses to accept other peoples ways of seeing things to the point where they see people with other viewpoints as lesser beings. This girl is seemingly the only person that has love for everybody equally, and her suitors include the young protagonist who must come out of his shell in a coming of age theme, a reserved, loyalist general in a theres-more-to-life-than-your-job theme and a whimsicle young, handsome, neutral and apathetic mage in a theres-more-to-life-yourself theme. I just can't write a story without drama and theme relevant to our daily lives. So I'm doing this.
jack cloudy
Lol, I've done it. I've brought in a Roman ex-emperor. Oh, please. Somebody shoot me because this story is going down the plumber.

I also updated my excerpts. I'm going to put one down of each chapter.
Go here:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/226027
blockhead
QUOTE(jack cloudy @ Nov 5 2007, 04:02 PM) *

Lol, I've done it. I've brought in a Roman ex-emperor. Oh, please. Somebody shoot me because this story is going down the plumber.

I also updated my excerpts. I'm going to put one down of each chapter.
Go here:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/226027

LOL at the Roman emperor. Just so long as you don't bring in Samual Clemens you'll be OK. wink.gif Near as I can tell, things are supposed to get nutty in your nano fic, so all is going to plan. biggrin.gif

I'm afraid to have an excerpt on my page. ohmy.gif My page is here, though (remember: I am there as "lokken", not "blockhead"): http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/214638

10559 words. Progress is grudging. I miss writing Rashelle. sad.gif

edit: Zarrexaij: you've gone quiet. I assume you're quietly writing huge amounts of words while the rest of us waste time talking about writing instead of writing. biggrin.gif
jack cloudy
Err, who is Samuel Clemens? The guy who wrote as Mark Twain? If so, why shouldn't I add him?

And dang, over 15000 words?! Man, I'm seriously running behind. I've just past 8500. wacko.gif I also added yet another excerpt. Hmm, this story isn't going to remain pg-13 at this rate. I mean seriously, taking a video+audio phone call while under a shower? A phone call from a pervert? Well, he did bash on Emmy for a bit but you've gotta admit, the girl was asking for it. tongue.gif
blockhead
QUOTE(jack cloudy @ Nov 8 2007, 02:39 PM) *

Err, who is Samuel Clemens? The guy who wrote as Mark Twain? If so, why shouldn't I add him?

Yes. He is a major character in The Riverworld novels. As they have a similar premise to your story, it would be just too much similarity if you were to also include him.

QUOTE

And dang, over 15000 words?! Man, I'm seriously running behind. I've just past 8500. wacko.gif

I didn't write at all yesterday. Dealing witha major hard drive problem: data recovery. Grrr. At least the nano story files were not lost: they were safe on their ext3 partition (the fat32 partition is the one that failed). In addition that problem, I'm getting really tired of this story. I'm just throwing random stuff at our characters to keep the moving and there's no plot or anything emerging. Feh. I'm only pressing on out of a Rashelle-like commitment to finish it.

QUOTE
I also added yet another excerpt. Hmm, this story isn't going to remain pg-13 at this rate. I mean seriously, taking a video+audio phone call while under a shower? A phone call from a pervert? Well, he did bash on Emmy for a bit but you've gotta admit, the girl was asking for it. tongue.gif

Err? Well, since it's the future, maybe the vid-phone automatically edits the outgoing video in real time to mask out the "naughty parts" so it's safe/convenient to take a call in the shower???? tongue.gif


jack cloudy
Well, there was the 'automatic camera readjustment' she activated before taking the phone call. So yeah, he really didn't see anything below the chin. Didn't stop his imagination though.

And yet another excerpt. I'm slowly but surely catching up. (Emphasis on the slowly)
I've also decided to throw all logic out of the window and just go absolutely 'hit with a 1000-ton hammer from hammerspace' crazy.

Yes, that's an ant who has his own restaurant. It's funny, but I wanted to write something like that way before Nano. I think this is more insane than Creeper or talking Mudcrab merchant. Ok, the Mudcrab comes close, but Scamps were already known to have some intelligence before Creeper.

I also like paragraph, though it didn't make it into the excerpt. Now this is how you can pump your wordcount, describe someone's outfit. Especially the final sentence is a good pumper even though it doesn't mean anything for the story.

QUOTE
The rest of my wardrobe selection was easy and done within just ten minutes. First, white undergarments to cover torso and thighs for warmth, then white socks with little blue ribbons at the knees and ankles. Black sandals, decorated with a blue bow on top. Blue dress, with white frills and front. A deep green belt with a really big green bow on my back and finally a pair of light pink silken gloves with frilly edges. I entered my bathroom to check myself in the mirror. The first splash of my left foot changed my mind. I made a mental note to call the plumber as soon as I had time. Geez, another brand new bathroom. Did the world think that I had money growing out of my teeth or something?! I would have to settle with having my plug project an image of myself and check it out that way. It was smaller and slightly hazy, but it did have the advantage of being in full 3-d. I gave myself a good long check-up. I was pleased to note that I was in one word, adorable. Or, in forty-six words. Danged adorable and so frillity cute you wanna give me a hug and puke all at the same time cause it just causes major sensory overload that makes your brains explode and your kidneys shrivel up in horror at the pure awesomeness of my perfect outfit.


Ya know, if I saw someone dressed like that, my kidneys would shrivel up in horror, but not because of awesomeness. This is just creepier than a fully pimped barbie doll.
blockhead
QUOTE(jack cloudy @ Nov 10 2007, 04:29 AM) *

Ya know, if I saw someone dressed like that, my kidneys would shrivel up in horror, but not because of awesomeness. This is just creepier than a fully pimped barbie doll.

"fully pimped" and "barbie doll" in the same sentence is so creepy that it redefines what creepy is. ohmy.gif

It's fun to write nutty/twisted characters. Remember Kjolver in my Bloodmoon fanfic? biggrin.gif

I'm up to 21233 (rather lamely written) words, but only because of sheer imbecilic stubborness, some exposition and a huge goblin (or goblin-like) army attacking the city out of nowhere. Plot stuck? Just send in the goblins. tongue.gif

As to what I do next, I'm putting that thought off until tomorrow!


milanius
I deleted my 1k-words intro. I was not satisfied with it. Not going to bother with it, either - like I said, if it's not perfect acceptable to my own liking, it might as well be fireplace fuel.
jack cloudy
Lol, I'm at 10K and I haven't even gotten past the first morning! tongue.gif Emmy takes ages to go to work. Maybe I should send in some ninjas or something of my own. Though I don't think that's such a good idea because of:

QUOTE
I figured a shower might help just as well though so I stretched to my toes to get at the inconveniently high cabinet for some soap.

“Waah!” Next moment I knew, I was on the floor, surrounded by bits of porcelain and shards of glass. There went the sink and the mirror, again, for the second time this week.


and

QUOTE
“Wah!” Again, I went for the floor, this time because the door I’d been leaning against opened inwards.


and

QUOTE
“I tried to take the soap out of the cabinet, lost my balance, slammed my face against the mirror, shattering it, knocked down the sink and broke the plumbing.”


and

QUOTE
“Though be careful with our bathroom, you are awfully clumsy this morning.” He then added, after I’d tripped over the carpet and nearly fallen onto my face.


and

QUOTE
I felt like kicking myself for being stupid enough to tuck it into my bathrobe and I tried, which resulted in me spinning around on my left foot three times, then grabbing the showerhead and crashing to the cabinfloor.


and

QUOTE
,,It’s heat rejection. I’ve gotten a rewired neural net, switched over to self-exciting wormlines for signal transmission, recomposed bones to now be an artificial crystalline matrix, rebuilt musculature to include high-tension fibers complete with carbon igniters and finally tripled my nanitelevel to maintain all of it. Do you have any idea how hot I run? I would have a bodytemperature high enough to boil water! So running parallel with the neural net I’ve got nano-scale cooling tubes filled with some cooling-fluid produced by the tube’s walls. They go up through my hair which now functions as a big radiator. That’s also why it’s so long. More active surface for the heat transmission. On the whole, the whole thing wasn’t such a big deal. They’re only a few small changes, after all.”


and let's not forget

QUOTE
Five times my annual salary, all just to turn me into some sort of superhuman hybrid. And what for? I couldn’t even walk down the stairs now without pulling off a triple somersault and landing on my behind.


Ok, so she's potentially the ultimate badass and holds the power of ultimate clumsiness. I don't think she could survive against even a single low-level ninja b-movie grunt. Unless she had a badass mecha nearby.


Oh, and my sister had a pregnant barbie doll once, complete with removable belly and little babydoll inside. The baby had umm.....'all anatomical features'. Now that was definitely creepy.


And Mil, you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I agree with you on it though. If it's utter crap, don't keep it, even if it brings the 50K closer.

Oh, and I saw someone on the forum today who had 106K! ohmy.gif Crappity crap, that guy has way too much spare time on his hands!
blockhead
That is a strange barbie ohmy.gif

Jack, I have a hunch that you've been wanting to write an SF story for awhile. I guess you wanted a change from the sword & sorcery fantasy thing. biggrin.gif I've actually read far more SF (with a focus on the hard SF: Niven, Asimov. Egan, etc.) than fantasy so I can understand this.

Anyway, I'm impressed with the level of detail in the description of the nanotech implants your character has.

234 words for today. 1700+ to go.

minque
I...I've given up.... kvleft.gif i don't think it was the right timing for me....if I only could throw in Serene..but that wouldn't be right..... sad.gif sad.gif
jack cloudy
Blockie, you flatter me. It's mostly technobabble if you look at it closely. Though I am rather proud of my cooling function. For as far as I know, no one ever brought forth the issue of heat generation in all the ultra-performance implants. biggrin.gif And yeah, I've been craving for some sci-fi for a while now. In fact, I'm up at 11.756 words right now and have just introduced my first giant mecha! Ok, not giant. It's only about half as tall as a Gundam.

Right now, Emmy is going to take it for a test flight. Don't worry, the AI will prevent crashlandings and mere tripping. biggrin.gif And if you're wondering just what her breakfast was. It was fried cockroach with spiced meat inside. I've heard that bugs are quite tasty actually.

Minque, it's too bad to hear, but I understand. This is indeed a lot harder than it sounded at the start of the month. Oh well, at least you can say you tried, right?


Oh, and who among us is going to post his or her work here at the end of the week? I'm pretty sure that I'm going to do it. Escalation has become a project I want to see through to its end. But I'll also return to Oasis 2 and Corrupted Hearth in December.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Invision Power Board © 2001-2025 Invision Power Services, Inc.