[poko]

November is National Novel Writing Month. Anyone willing to take shot at posting some incomprehensible dribble? Or maybe you've already written 30 pages of notes in preparation. Post your interest and thoughts here!

[Russell Crowe]

i will totally write something! with all of the excess free time i have

[poko]

Russell Crowe, on 25 October 2009 - 09:32 PM, said:

i will totally write something! with all of the excess free time i have

i think you should totally give it a try. at the very least you get bragging rights for trying even if you only last two days. write something awesome like about a social worker in the 1940's uncovering a nazi plot... or something.

[Russell Crowe]

poko, on 25 October 2009 - 09:35 PM, said:

i think you should totally give it a try. at the very least you get bragging rights for trying even if you only last two days. write something awesome like about a social worker in the 1940's uncovering a nazi plot... or something.

dude. brilliant! there is a severe deficit of novels about social workers, after all.

[ensign edwards]

Yeah, I can barely write a short story in a month. Trying for a novel in that amount of time would probably kill me.

[Plazmataz]

How am I supposed to write a novel in a month? The longest thing I ever wrote was only like half novel length, and that's taken a year and a half.

[Russell Crowe]

Plazmataz, on 25 October 2009 - 10:01 PM, said:

How am I supposed to write a novel in a month? The longest thing I ever wrote was only like half novel length, and that's taken a year and a half.

maybe if you were awesomer you wouldn't have that problem

[poko]

i think part of the key is to write first and then go back and fix your mistakes. the key is to produce a first draft not a finished work. Lots of these novels tend to have all sorts of problems, grammatic issues, genre switching 2 or 3 times, and the name of the main character changing unexpectedly. There is no quality expectation for the first draft. Some are then fixed and even published.

[Plazmataz]

I should try writing that way sometime. I never have.

[poko]

Plazmataz, on 25 October 2009 - 11:10 PM, said:

I should try writing that way sometime. I never have.

here is you chance!
As Sean Connery in some second-rate Oscar-foder of a film said, "No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!"

This post has been edited by poko: 26 October 2009 - 12:20 AM

[poko]

i think I'll give it ago if someone else will.

This post has been edited by poko: 26 October 2009 - 12:20 AM

[Apocalypse]

I may. I just wrote a short fantasy story that turned out fairly well, has a fountain of writing possiblities, and is begging to be continued. So I guess it's all up to my resolve.

[Plazmataz]

I'm thinking I might do it. Does anyone have any tips about whether I should plan ahead for this and then start writing it out, or just run with a half-formed notion?

[ensign edwards]

I'm usually an advocate of planning ahead, but when it comes to novels, I've found it helps to be more free form. You should probably have some idea of where you're going, but novels are so big and complex that trying to plan it all out in detail will probably result in head explosion.

[Apocalypse]

ensign edwards, on 27 October 2009 - 09:11 AM, said:

I'm usually an advocate of planning ahead, but when it comes to novels, I've found it helps to be more free form. You should probably have some idea of where you're going, but novels are so big and complex that trying to plan it all out in detail will probably result in head explosion.

The closest I ever got to writing a novel, I had it all planned out in advance. So, I guess you could really go either way depending on what you'd rather do.

[poko]

I was thinking about doing some character bios so I have a clear picture of what they will do in a given situation. Otherwise I think I'll wing it.

[ensign edwards]

I usually do character notes on at least the most central characters for anything I write. It can help me crystallize my ideas on them in the beginning, and if nothing else, it allows me to keep track of who has what color eyes and so forth.

[Russell Crowe]

planning is highly overrated.

[ensign edwards]

I've tried doing things with a lot of planning, with almost no planning, and some styles in between. They're all about equally good. It depends on your preferences and the situation.

[Plazmataz]

This is going to be difficult. I'm scared.