The Gamer's Quarter

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I know that last year Mr. Mechanical attempted to do NaNo (I think he even finished), and I was just wondering if anyone else was going to attempt it this year? I may give it a whirl, but I don’t know what my chances of finishing are.

I am mainly putting this out there because I usually don’t hear about NaNo until after it has started. In case you don’t know it starts on Nov 1st at 12:00 am, this is when you start writing. The goal is fifty thousand words by November 31st midnight.

I have not yet participated in one of these, but have been meaning to for the past three years. I hope to this time. I am going to start putting down ideas soon (hopefully) on some kind of plot, or perhaps even just a list of character names so that I don’t have to track down that kind of stuff later. You can begin notes and structure things before the date of Nov 1, but you can’t start writing until then.

Also, you can’t really “win” although if you complete the task you are declared a “winner”

I hope at least someone else attempts this so that I can have someone to compete with (in a friendly and encouraging manner anyways). I suppose we could use this thread for that purpose as well when the time comes.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

I've been meaning to do it, too, but my writing isn't so good. Does anyone have any writing tips?
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"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
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dhex · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:42 am Post subject:

write 50k words in a month?
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dhex · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:45 am Post subject:

at the risk of seeming rude, can i ask what the point of this is? why not just fiddle with one's livejournal?
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dhex · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:05 am Post subject:

i see.
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ApM · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:06 am Post subject:

Don't forget that the month after is NaViGaWriMo, as invented by IC's lovable professor_scissors!

GSL · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:32 am Post subject:

I'm game for it, Shaper! Actually, this will be my third year of participating, and I really hope to actually finish this time. The past two years, I was hampered by a total lack of outlining or plotting--I had the first three days' planned out fairly well, but had no idea where to take things from there. I also didn't really have a means of working on it away from home, so my writing time was restricted to after class/work when I least wanted to do anything productive. Not this year, though! I've fully outlined the plot, and I've got one of those nifty folding keyboards for my Palm to use during quiet nights at work! I'm winning it this year, baby!

And yeah, if anyone else is thinking about doing this, Shaper's comment about bad writing is totally on the mark; even on the website, they frequently state that the focus is quantity over quality.

I'm looking forward to it!

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Are you registered on the site yet? What's your name there?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Mister Toups · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:41 pm Post subject:

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Maybe. I think instead I should just write a bunch of rambling essays and put them on the internet.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

GSL · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 3:50 pm Post subject:

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

This will be the third year I try this. The first year I only got about 4,000 words, the second about the same but what I wrote might make a decent short story if I ever actually finish it.

dhex · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:40 pm Post subject:

i keep thinking national write a really good 4k word short story month would make more sense.
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SuperWes · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 6:22 pm Post subject:

It would be nice if some of you people would make November "write a Gamer's Quarter article" month. We could call it WrAGaQuArMo, and create a website for it. Or we could just suggest it. So do it!

-Wes
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Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Yeah, I finished mine last year. I still haven't gone back over it and edited it like I was planning to, now I think I've just moved on. This year I'll be plotting it out ahead of time, rather than coming up with things on the spot like I did last year. I was a bit surprised at how much the story "made sense" after it was all over with though, despite the fact that I introduced a few characters early on that I had planned to do something with and then promptly forgot about them.

I added Shaper and GSL to my buddies list as well.

GSL · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:56 pm Post subject:

Whoo, thanks! I've got a feeling that getting into active contact with other people working on this might help keep my motivation running strong this year.

I'm a bit disappointed that the NaNoWriMo website's buddy system doesn't notify you when you've been added as someone's buddy and rather requires you to utilize their search function in hopes that the people you know are using a username you'd remember. It's a good thing Mr. Mechanical goes by Mr. Mechanical on there!

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Oh, heh, yes. Sorry about that.

ApM · Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:51 pm Post subject:

So, yeah. My wife and I decided on the spur of the moment yesterday that we would both do it. I'm trying to convince her to do NaViGaWriMo with me in December, as well, but I think the jury's still out on that.

I've gone and registered myself as SpindleyQ. Add me and validate my pathetic existence!

Sushi d · Moderator Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 239

this sounds like an awesome idea... but i dont think i can take the stress levels from writing. ;_;
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Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

I have totally updated my profile. Rock!

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

dhex · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:23 am Post subject:

i understand that, but writing is not like training for a marathon.

but again, i may be a bit too harsh. the democratization of anything related to skill tends to be ugly, even if it produces interesting things.

i think write a great 100 word manifesto would be far more interesting - and difficult, and hence useful - than filling a page requirement.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

ApM · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:19 am Post subject:

dhex, I'll tell you this: I am pretty good at spending lots of time agonizing over a piece of writing and trying to make it perfect. I am really terrible at throwing together a shitty first draft.

50,000 words happens to be a reasonable amount of words to write in a month only if you're willing to totally throw perfectionism out the window. A month happens to be about the amount of time you have to keep at something before it becomes habit. If writing a novel helps me ditch my fear of words, well! That's worth a hell of a lot to me, really.

GSL · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:20 am Post subject:

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

I just checked the official site and they still have blowingupcasinos from last year. You can add me if you like.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

Sushi d · Moderator Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 239

GSL · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:52 am Post subject:

Well, everyone who's shared their WriMo username is added to my profile, and I'm currently sitting here with less than 10 minutes to go before November 1st. I've got a pot of tea ready, tape recorder for special music, and I'm raring to go! Good luck to everyone!

Wilkes · milky wilkie Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 256

I really want to think I'll finish; I really doubt I will though.

It's a lot of dirty writing that would eat my time. and lord knows I won't feel that tremendous sense of accomplishment writing a terrible book. that's just not how I roll.
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GSL · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:37 am Post subject:

I think that's part of the idea though, to write a terrible book.

Okay, not specifically terrible; it's more like they want you to write a first draft. It's fast, it's loose, and it's entirely the act of getting things down on paper (or computer, whatever). Once the month of November is over, it's not like your efforts go away--you'll ostensibly be left with a very rough first draft which you can later work into something much cleaner and more polished--or not, it's up to you.

Earlier this month, I read Stephen King's nonfiction On Writing; I disagree with some of the ideas he puts forth, but there was one part in particular that stuck with me. He talks about the process of beginning a novel, and states that the first draft should be rough, raw, and that no time should be taken for any sort of editing. You write it with the door closed, with no outside input and no revisions, and when you're finally finished you throw it in a desk drawer for at least three months and forget about it. After the time has elapsed you read it with fresh eyes, fix all of the glaring errors you may have overlooked in your initial writing, and start showing it off to people for suggestions, comments, etc. The whole NaNoWriMo thing really seems to me like a real condensed version of what King was talking about with the first draft, where our first responsibility is just to write the damn thing. I'm of the mind that terrible books can always be revised, but there's no hope whatsoever for unwritten ones.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I'm already debating on withdrawing :(

I'm going to see how it goes, but this month is going to be really, really fucking busy.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

a_plus · . Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 252 Location: olympia

I decided last night that i'm going to do this.my girlfriend and I went to a local kickoff meetup last night with some people she met on the nanowrimo forums, so I tagged along, and now i'm really excited to do this! I read the first few chapters of the guy's book, "no plot? no problem!" so now i'm really ready to do this.

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

ApM · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

Man, come on! It doesn't work if you've convinced yourself on day one that you're going to fail.

GSL · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that's the whole thing about it! This is supposed to be the project that you struggle with in addition to real life, the endeavor everyone will tell you to never quit your day job for! Stick with it, guys!

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ok, I am going to see what I can do. If I can hit 5thousand words a day I'm good. But if I wane on that at all I'm screwed. I'm turning this into my own NaNoWriHaMo (half month). Go me!

Anyways, here's my profile page, and there is a small bit from my first chapter (something I ended up really liking). The damn website is exceptionally slow because of activity (I assume). Anyways, I haven't updated my word cound in a while, but I should be able to hit 5k words tonight no problem.

I don't have any idea where this story is going and it is borrowing far too heavily from real life things.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Sc-Fi, eh? I'll probably go with something science fiction-y too, as the story idea I've had brewing for a while calls for it. It's about a man in the near future who pays to have his sense of consciousness removed, and all that entails such an act. I don't know how far I'll get on that premise alone, but it seems interesting enough to me.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Mine is only sci-fi on accident. I all of a sudden started talking about credits and how vehicles are rare/expensive technology that my character has as an extream luxury.

Before that my genre was "Other Genre" so... it's not all out sci-fi, just accidental sci-fi. I'll run with it a little though. It will allow me to kill some words from time to time.

Anyways, 5,134 words. I'm off for the night.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

seryogin · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject:

I think I'll join this silly endeavor, though hell if I'm enrolling in that vile Nanowrimo website. I'd much rather engage in a sporting contest with you fine fellows.

Though I don't know how I'm going to pull this off, because my new job is a bit more difficult and tiring than I first imagined. I am now a bookseller at Barnes and Noble. Despite the stress of running around all day and dealing with rude customers, it's a job that I really enjoy for the most part.
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Sergei, I watched Spartak Moscow play yesterdy on the TV and thought of you.

It was the most impressive home crowd I've ever seen, even if they didn't fill that ridiculously huge stadium.

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

I'd be willing to give this a go. Surely a better way to spend my time than the ways I typically waste it these days.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dhex · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:54 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

When the hell did you add that to you signature Sergei?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

GSL · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 12:44 pm Post subject: