NaNoWriMo

iirc i checked the forum on nanowrimo where people shared their book ideas last november

i remembered two - a transgender furry is abused and goes on a journey and in the medieval times they rape man when they storm besieged cities and the main hero is a young man... it was a pretty funny read

If you need an excuse to write you're not going to write anything good

Germany here, NaNoWriMo has already started.

Currently at 600+ words.

I'm gonna write some kind of CYOA novel thing without the choosing but with alpine mythology.

>I'm gonna write some kind of CYOA novel thing without the choosing

Assuming you're not just memeing, what exactly does that mean?

fuck it I'm in, i've had an idea for a short one i've been itching to get on but I keep getting bogged down in these two other projects going nowhere

Thanks to this, I've finally started writing my VN.

It's written as "You decide to buy the farm in the alps. You click the button and - this time it finally worked! - you successfully bought it. You bought a farm for just a single euro. For a moment you feel like in a dream."

I'm currently working on a video game and I'm using NaNoWriMo to flesh out the game world. I'm using "you" to mimic the video game style and also to not determine the gender of the protagonist because in the game you will be able to chose that.

I'm writing it in German, though.

Do all great writers really know what they want to say before they start writing though?

Nanowrimo is or "tryhards". you should write EVERY month.

But I do.

I usually write short stories, though. I use NaNoWriMo to get off my ass and write something bigger.

That just depends what and why they are writing. When I write I'm telling a story, so the story ends when the story is done, not when I hit a wordcount. Doesn't mean that this can't help you get writing, but for an amateur microfiction is probably the best rather than something extremely long.

CYOA = "Choose Your Own Adventure"

I knew that. I was asking what it meant to write one without choices.

I was actually just referring to a CYOA because it's what's closest to the style I'm writing in. Does the "you" style even have a proper name?
I only remember it from those adventure novels and from Italo Calvino.

Second person is what you're looking for.

Second person writing?

You have a deepseated misunderstanding of the term "tryhard", user.

I'm doing nanowrimo cause it's been awhile since my last project and it's fun, I have publishing credits and zero pretension about ever making a living writing or memeing my way into the canon.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative

Oh right, here we go.

Thoughts on my opening paragraph?

>The air was stagnant and humid. The musty odor of a lifetime of cigarettes hung in the air like a damp towel. Shafts of sunlight bled through a set of well-worn aluminum blinds. The thin slits of yellow light forced their way through the dust and smoke. A tangled mess of yellowed sheets and a tattered quilt sat lifelessly on a floral-print couch. A small foot slowly protruded from the mess of linen, the sole seemed stained with dirt. The faint clouds of smoked drift slowly in the stillness of the atmosphere, intertwining with motes of dust. A tranquil and elaborate dance gracefully hovers in the air.

It feels so good and so sweet.
I think I can do this.

what is "real" writing? is that when people notice it and comment on it? is it only real if a publisher pays you for it? is it not real if you post it on your livejournal?

go ahead, do the nanowrimo thing. just don't expect anyone to congratulate you for it, any more than they would if you finished third from last place in the Boston Marathon.

11:30 central time here

SOON

Shhh. It's okay, user. No one here is trying to hurt you.

I believe in you, user. You can do it!

What will you write about?

they at least know what themes they want to address. you know edward gorey was trolling when he drew this, right?

Those who would fail anyway because they have nothing to tell will fail.
Those who have something to tell but have been procrastinating because they're depressed bitches will maybe be able to tell something.

>want to start writing
>feel like I'll just end up making HS tier trash you'd find in a shit anime or deviantart

Should I use this as an excuse to try anyways?

Just do it. If you end up writing trash, you wrote trash. Or maybe just stop yourself when you realize you're writing trash. Correct yourself. Find out why you wrote trash. Then proceed not writing trash. Rinse and repeat until you're a good writer.

On the few occasions I've written, I've realized I can't make good dialogue, it always comes out forced it seems.

Then sit down outside, listen to people talking and write it down. Then make up dialogue. Practice.

I mean it's not like I don't talk to people IRL, I just have a hard time writing voiced interaction. Maybe I just need more practice since I've honestly wrote fuckall since high school a year ago

There you go, you hack. You can't be a good writer if you never practice.

Isn't that just 2nd person?

No, I shan't be participating in this year's plebeian extravaganza but you're all welcomed to do so.

...

me too bruh.

OP here, checking in for Day #1 down in NZ. I'm 1000 words down, 666 to go. If you're starting or considering it just go, I believe in you.

Still me, maybe if we finish we can get a /share/ thread?

Doing my first NaNoWriMo. 600 words in, day 1, hour 9. Might actually get something done for once even if it ends up being trash.

I normally write 900-1200 words a day. At this rate it won't be enough, how terrible would I be of submitting the stuff I already wrote since I'm 116k words in already.

I aint gonna judge you breh, that's still a good ass amount of volume.

Fuck dude, who cares if it's trash. It's way worse to be unfinished trash. At least if you finish and it's garbage, you got it done which is better than I would imagine 90% of the people who try, and all you can do is get better hoss.

Thanks, man. This is the kind of motivation I need.

You're off to a good start, that's great.

I suggest trying to get out an extra day's worth the first day or two, just so you have some leeway.

Damn straight nigga. Check in tomorrow and keep me updated with progress.

What timezone are you guys in?

GMT +1 here.

Just woke up, time to make this shit happen!

>I write short stories on 11 months a year, but try something bigger in 30 days

Makes sense.

You got it, boss.

Also GMT +1. Got up early for this.

GMT+12 my dude, Day 1 coming to an end

>even if they have nothing to say

Most people have nothing to write at first, doesn't mean they shouldn't try.

There was a time in the life of every great writer didn't write anything.

How's it looking so far?

>Nanowrimo
Could you be any more Reddit?

>Could you be any more Reddit?
le yes xD

At least I'm not writing genre fiction.

Because real writers treat every month like nanowrimo.

Imagine if someone decided March is "national adopt a puppy month" and the whole month every faggot who claims to love animals pats themselves on the back while talking about how hard it is to feed and walk a puppy, and then at the end of the month they yell "success!" and let their puppy die. You'd see how masterbatory the whole thing really is.

>masterbatory

Please don't do nanowrimo, you'll just suck at it lol xD

I don't claim to be a "real writer." Heck, I know I've never put in the effort. But I'd like to be one, and I think NaNoWriMo is just the sort of push I need. Given, this is my first time trying, and I just hope the habit of writing daily will stick. I'll cede to you that we may not be "real writers" but that doesn't mean that it isn't "real writing" being done (which was the question at hand).

I didn't even know it was a thing until my fanfiction group posted about it.

>Real writers just write even with zero motivation to do so!

No, they don't. Every single person who wants to write needs a reason to write, and Nanowrimo is as good as any.

>fanfiction group
which fandom?

Was waiting for that >.<
But, no. Fanficton helps you get the hang of writing without the commitment. You can write utter shit and gain a following and a bunch of free beta readers/editors.

It's a pretty big community and a lot of books have actually been publicised because of fan fiction. I know it's a horrible book that was created because of another horrible one but it's the most famous example:

50 shades of grey is was twilight fan fiction.

I'm well aware and will point out that my question was of genuine curiosity fueled by fandom elitism. If your answer is bad I will shig in your general direction.

Oh, right, my bad lol.
Harry Potter.
Lots of characters to play with and you can add so much to it, I've seen beautifully written things so well researched.

dece

Plus a lot of rape happens and that's always great for a story.

>""REAL"" writers
There is only one kind of writer: the kind who writes.

>>.<
>lol

Even ironic shitposting is still shitposting. Kill yourself.

Nice contribution bro, upboat for u!!

Right. If you want to see if nanowrimo produces real writing, just look at what gets published from nanowrimo.

Off the top of my head, all I can think of is Water for Elephants.

I'm not a writer. I'd like to be. And I would imagine a few people here would want to be. If this thread helps anyone I'm happy. And like all the threads on all the boards - if you don't agree or don't care just keep scrolling.

The one who writes all the time, or the one who writes only in November when it's a popular bandwagon?

No u

>real writing
Do tell what this is, because I have no idea.

This is what nanowrimo """writers""" are like.

...

Right, because some of the best works didn't have an inspiration. Autism.

It gets you out of the habit of procrastinating.

I'm probably going to do the story of Tom Riddle which is kinda dark and fucked up. Suit yourself though

Do yourself a favor and don't.

Fanfic is artless shit.

Thanks for playing.

>Writer
>Noun
>a person who has written something or who writes in a particular way.

They're both writers, you autist. Stop trying to assign value to something on an arbitrary basis.

Nanowrimo is a waste of your time. Writing a novel in 30 days will invariably result in a shitty novel. Worse, you'll get burned out on writing.

If you want to write, give yourself 2-24 months to write a novel at your own pace, taking the time to adequately outline it, think about the themes, put it through multiple drafts, etc.

People who actually care about writing and want to published one day don't do Nanowrimo. Nanowrimo is for retarded 16-year-olds who want to write anime fanfic "novels" just to say they've written a novel, not because they actually care about producing something of value.

>I'm not trying to write anything good, I just want to work on my craft.

Nanowrimo is antithetical to honing the craft. Your prose will suffer if you have to bang out ~2,000 words every day for 30 consecutive days.

Writing requires a stupid amount of patience and self-determination. If you need a special month out of the year to even bother with writing, you should stop and reassess why you want to write.

You want to argue semantics?

I can go two routes here. I can say that 'real' literature is a work that addresses a universal human condition, for example, Plato's Republic and its notions on whether we should live a just life or an unjust life, and which is more beneficial. 'Real' literature shifts perspective on issues both when the book was new, and for people who read the book hundreds or thousands of years later. 'Real' literature should also influence other works of literature, like The Republic influencing all western thought, Dante's Inferno influencing all Christian literature thereafter, or even something like Mein Kampf influencing political rhetoric to this very day. And I think a work of literature should be challenging yet rewarding. Books that are challenging to read will stimulate your cognitive faculties better than a work that you can read passively. Challenging books can better prepare you recognizing lesser works for what they really are.

These criteria not only do away with all nanowrimo shit, but it does away with a lot of books that have nothing to do with nanowrimo. Even if I were to slacken the reigns and make the criteria much less harsh, and say "real literature is anything that isn't pop-lit trash" you will still find nanowrimo drafts dead in the water.

>You want to argue semantics?
More often than not, yes.

In any case, I largely agree with you, but your attitude is disheartening. How can anyone be a writer without already being acknowledged as such? Where does one begin? This NaNoWriMo is the first time I've sat down with an idea I've become fond of and actually started writing something. I know that simply reaching the "finish line" doesn't make for a good novel, but having written something that I can rework and expand on is a huge first step for me. Who knows, maybe it'll all be trash even after years of editing, maybe it'll actually decent, and maybe (god forbid) I might even have fun doing

In general I'm against the whole thing because it encourages the attitude of "churn shit harder," but I couldn't sleep last night so I went ahead and put down 1500 words just to see how long it'd take and I was done in about an hour and a half. So, first things first, it doesn't seem like it would be a huge trouble to do. I started up a story of a dude just walking through a huge landlocked region with no horses, selling stuff from faraway cities and telling myths from other cultures. Figured it'd be a good way to map out a setting for a more traditional story I want to write. Now, the question is, should I bother keeping pace with the NaNoWriMo thing? Will the smugness at the end of it all be worth the trouble? I wouldn't plan on publishing whatever turd falls out, but the opportunity to say, "Piss on all those novels, it isn't even hard to write 'em in a month" is a little appealing.

>t. someone who never wrote anything in his life
thanks for the advice

>Your prose will suffer if you have to bang out ~2,000 words every day for 30 consecutive days.
This is absolutely false.

What you elitist chucklefucks shitting on Nanowrimo do not understand is that your pet projects you're labouring on are guranteed trash.

The only way to hone a skill is to practice it. Grind away at it, daily. A man becomes a good welder by burning 1000km of rod, not by pondering and planning out a few nice 8 inch beads. Picasso did not spend his life making a handful of pieces. NHL players don't stop by the rink once a week.

Ideas are not sacred or interesting. Put your ten thousand hours in.

this made me laugh out loud
please don't write anything for nanowrimo or otherwise, unless this was ironic

Your whole post is one big logical fallacy.

"No writer would ever write like Nano"
>what about all the people who have been published off the back of Nano
"Well, no *true* writer would ever write like Nano."

Oh boy, time to avoid ANY writing threads on Veeky Forums for a month, fuck you guys.

If this is yours you should vary the sentence types

what's it about nigga