so, for the scribblers- questions about nanowrimo itt.
Mine... Including descriptions of personal relationships; too much hassle to include?
I would say it depends on the context of your novel. You've got 50,000 words to play with, and depending on what you are aiming for (you're not doing the De Sade tribute again right) it could work.
Writing tip: I find indirect methods of conveying relationships tend to work better. For example, in conversation, let a character refer to a past event which highlights an aspect of the relationship, as an off the cuff remark. Or write the scene as to suggest their relationship, visually, again using subtext to get your point across.
Quote from: Cain on October 04, 2008, 11:40:18 AM
I would say it depends on the context of your novel. You've got 50,000 words to play with, and depending on what you are aiming for (you're not doing the De Sade tribute again right) it could work.
Writing tip: I find indirect methods of conveying relationships tend to work better. For example, in conversation, let a character refer to a past event which highlights an aspect of the relationship, as an off the cuff remark. Or write the scene as to suggest their relationship, visually, again using subtext to get your point across.
link?
Quote from: Cain on October 04, 2008, 11:40:18 AM
I would say it depends on the context of your novel. You've got 50,000 words to play with, and depending on what you are aiming for (you're not doing the De Sade tribute again right) it could work.
Writing tip: I find indirect methods of conveying relationships tend to work better. For example, in conversation, let a character refer to a past event which highlights an aspect of the relationship, as an off the cuff remark. Or write the scene as to suggest their relationship, visually, again using subtext to get your point across.
Yeah, to me that falls under "show, don't tell"; but my question more related to, "should I dissect my thoughts and feelings on my relationships in a story that they might actually read?"
Sometimes when I autowrite, I get all introspective and self-critical about my life and the people I interact with. It's an easy way to get my word count up, but I don't really want to have the "how could you say that about me?" talk with the various people I know.
I guess I just answered my own question, huh?
Quote from: Burns on October 04, 2008, 06:17:21 PM
link?
Wow, that takes me back. I only got up to 7200 words, and it's a total hack job, but if you want to read it, here:
http://mihd.net/d7hnc6i
I have a little piece (no more than 200 words) I was thinking of using as the first page of my nano book... so, is this cheating?
The piece is on here somewhere, I think it was called About the Crumbs...
Technically yes, but 200 words is like 5 sentences, so I don't think it's gonna matter much.
I think what I'm gonna try are episodic stream of thought rambles, to get the ball rolling, and later try to tie them together in a Law of Fives way.
I know how the first one will start, anyway.
I think this will be fun... I don't know why I never participated before.
If you are going to write about people you already know and they may see it, I strongly recommend disguising who they are heavily, because either
a) they will be upset with their portrayal, or
b) they will be upset that they were not included.
Hoops, what really matters is if you feel it is cheating. I intend to write up alot about my characters and intended plot, setting etc before the start of the month, but not actually commit a word of my final draft to paper (or, in this case, nanowrimo1.doc file) until the start date. There is no way they can know, or penalize you, so its up to what you feel comfortable with.
Yeah I guess I don't think it will be cheating, because I plan to use it only as a springboard.
If I were remotely good at prose, I would participate. However, it baffles me.
I think that I lack the attention span for prose. I want to see the De Sade Tribute though.
It's in the above link.
Please keep in mind that the idea was essentially the same as my later HP slashfic trolls; that the story eventually becomes horrible beyond comprehension. I wasn't even one-fifth of the way through, so it's only at the point of "overly unpleasant".
The reason I never finished? I started grossing myself out while outlining the plot.
Here is a copy of Chris Baty's No Plot, No Problem!, the book he wrote to help NaNoWriMo writers finish their work. Its in .djvu format, so I've included readers for both Mac's and Windows.
http://mihd.net/7cqgu4p
Bump.
Excellent. I'm going to start logging crazy ideas I have for this so when November 1st hits I have an idea...or several...to run with.
Not surprisingly, the first chapter of mine will be called "He Woke Up In Prison".
I'd been planning to write some trite crap about a group of teenage kids--a coming of age story with as many cliches as possible.. but I realized this week that it may make me want to kill myself before the end. Now I don't know what to write! I've won every other year since 2002 and I really want to break that pattern (this would be a losing year). Blah.
Quote from: LMNO on October 08, 2008, 07:21:10 PM
Not surprisingly, the first chapter of mine will be called "He Woke Up In a Brothel".
fixed
Quote from: Cramulus on October 08, 2008, 07:23:08 PM
Quote from: LMNO on October 08, 2008, 07:21:10 PM
Not surprisingly, the first chapter of mine will be called "He Woke Up With a Size Seven Poop Chute".
fixed
Double fixed.
Perhaps we should have a brainstorming thread?
Why not wtf...