Monday, October 21, 2013

This NaNoNewb wants to know: Are you in?

I am a total NaNoWriMo Newbie. I've WANTED to do it a million times before, but November for me usually means being buried deep in revisions, peering out of my revisions cave every now and then in the direction of the NaNoWriMo camp, all wistful. (The last couple of years, I participated in NaNoReviMo instead. :))

But this year, the planets all aligned, and I AM IN! Who else is?

If you've done it before, do you have any advice for any of us NaNoNewbs? I think I could use all of the advice I can get, because I AM DETERMINED TO WIN.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo this year, friend me! My NaNoName is PeggyEddleman. Let's hang out with 117,000 other writers and write a bazillion words in a short amount of time together. It'll be a blast.



P.S. Want to see my query letter, read about how I wrote it and why it worked for my agent? Carl Hackman has a new series called Queries that Hooked an Agent, and he recently featured mine.

20 comments:

Nissa Annakindt said...

I have never finished a Nano novel but have tried several times before. I was determined to give it a pass this year but had an idea to give myself a change of pace from what I normally write. It's sort of a gothic novel set in outer space.

My name on the Nano forums is Ilsabein, by the way.

Tasha Seegmiller said...

I have never won, but I do it every year with my students. They participate in the YWP and have to complete 10,000 words. I usually top out at 38k. Off to find you now and read your query advice because I'm in that camp now...

ilima said...

Just added you! This is my third year. I love nano! And advice...I wrote a guest post on Nano last year. :)

prerna pickett said...

I'm in! This is my third year participating, but I have yet to reach the 50,000 goal. Maybe this will be my year!

David P. King said...

Afraid I can't do NaNo this year, but I have the best excuse ever (baby). I'm going to have my hands full this coming month. :)

S.P. Bowers said...

Did it once, won, that was enough for me. Good luck though! It was a blast.

Jillian Schmidt said...

Yay! Welcome to crazy NaNoLand! I'm sort of the opposite, in that the past few years I've planned NOT to do NaNowriMo, but I always seem to get sucked in, this year included. I have managed to win several times though, which I mostly attribute to ridiculous stubbornness and competitiveness... so the fact that you wrote I AM DETERMINED TO WIN in all caps is a great sign in my book. :-) Also, anything you can do to get ahead of the game early instead of trying to pull off a come-from-behind win is golden, though that's easier said than done!

JeffO said...

I expect I will be ReviMoing this year. Advice? Hmm. I'd say, don't get too hung up on daily word counts, and remember that 50,000 words is not the same as 'finished.'

Haneen Ibrahim said...

My second NaNo this year, I didn't win last time but this year I'm intending to, I'm writing a fantasy about a league of women who are trying to vanquish their enemy in a final battle. Just added you to my buddy list, soo happy your participating this year, Nano is so much fun :)I'm Fantasy-Girl over there by the way.

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

I've done NaNo once before. I loved the spirit of it, but ran out of time due to Thanksgiving etc. Good luck! Have fun!

Shallee said...

Yay, good luck, Peggy! I'm not NaNoing this year, since I'm already working on a first draft, but I'm giving you thumbs up all the way!

Denise Baer said...

I'm so tempted to do NaNoWriMo but I have too many projects on my plate. I actually did it in 2008, and the result was my dark, psychological suspense novel, Net Switch.

The main thing NaNoWriMo forced me to do is stop editing. I just wrote, no matter how crazy my sentence structures were or misspellings.

Anonymous said...

I want to, but I'm taking this year off to focus on revisions. Good luck!!

Patti said...

I tried one year, but didn't prepare well enough and wrote myself into a corner half way through, so I stopped. This year I'm still revising (does that ever end). Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Yay! I am super excited that you are joining this year! NaNo is an intense experience - one you won't forget.
I have been ramping up my blogging about NaNo and my preparations and strategies for success, so feel free to check that out for some ideas.

Unknown said...

I came to your presentation tonight to the Utah Valley Writers and I loved it. I found it so interesting when you were talking about your query letter so imagine how excited I am that I check out your blog and there it is!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Peggy. I've done NaNoWriMo in the past. I don't think I'll be doing it this year. I've already signed up for some heath webinars, so that will be keeping me busy. Good luck and have fun with NaNoWriMo!! Make sure you have a supply of your favorite cookies to snack on. : )

K. Marie Criddle said...

I'm IN! It may not be a true blank page to 50000 words, but I'm going to be trying at least. Woo! See you out there!

Breanne said...

I'm new to your blog, but I will be doing nanowrimo this year, too! I will add you on their site. I am really enjoying your blog, by the way.

Breanne said...

I'm new to your blog, but I will be doing nanowrimo this year, too! I will add you on their site. I am really enjoying your blog, by the way.