Hey everyone,

NaNoWriMo is in less than two weeks, so I’m starting to get the site ready for our Post-O-Rama.

The basic idea is you can keep a journal of your NaNoWriMo experience live here on II. Each day you can post that days writing, and, if you like, include comments on how you felt about it.

For example, I feel pretty cocky about being able to do my 1,667 words a day, so I’ll probably moderately detailed commentary like

Okay, today I got sick of writing from Jaecyn’s POV, so I’m going to switch it up and move onto Thomas for a while. Chronologically this is a little jumbled, so I’ll have to rearrange it later in Dec. Since this is the first time Thomas will be appearing on screen I’ll have to be extra careful to delineate his voice from those of the other characters. This shouldn’t extraordinarily difficult because he sounds a lot different than the more sophisticated characters. Trying to give him a complex personality might be a bit of a challenge. I hope to overcome some stereotypes here.

And following that would be the full text of that day’s writing. Something like that. If you are free one day and want to include comments, you can. Or if you are busy, then don’t. And of course, you don’t have to reach the full word count each and every day. I’ve come back from word deficits numerous times.

This is just an opportunity to get some feedback while you are writing (although you need not implement any of the feedback until December) and stay encouraged. If you manage to get your readers hooked, we will tell you! And then you’ll be obligated to finish the story for us. You get the satisfaction of knowing people actually care about your writing (not many non-published authors can say that!) and you get extra motivation. We just get the enjoyment of reading what you have to offer.

Great, how do I start?

If this sounds like something you want to do, then let me know right away.

If you are interested, I need:

You can include these in a comment to this post, or via an email to me.

This will help me set up the NaNoWriMo specific portion of the site in preparation for November. Then we all start noveling away. I’m looking forward to it.

I don’t think I can do this…

Nonesense! Read this article: NaNoWriMo Tips.

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Comment

  1. Snow White Queen on 20 October 2008, 23:28 said:

    yes, i’m definitely interested!

    will contact you with details.

  2. SlyShy on 21 October 2008, 00:07 said:

    Great, two’s a start. Although I am expecting some more once people see this post. :P

  3. Elizabeth on 21 October 2008, 00:29 said:

    This might actually motivate me to work on that novel that I started however many years ago. At any rate it should be interesting, worth a try for sure! Username henceforward will be Hedwig Widrig.
    So there’s three for you, SlyShy.

  4. Snow White Queen on 21 October 2008, 00:39 said:

    actually, i think i can convince my two friends (rand and hopeudance) to sign up too. in fact, i remember that it was rand who actually suggested the term ‘post-o-rama’.

    anyways, i’m almost 90% sure they’ll be happy to participate.

    that makes five.

  5. Virgil on 21 October 2008, 08:32 said:

    I’m in, and my name is WhiteNight on NaNoWriMo. I’ll talk to DerusTal and get him to sign up, he should already be in NaNoWriMo as well. If not I’ll let him know to check this out.

  6. Carcinos on 21 October 2008, 10:08 said:

    Sounds like fun; I just signed up for NaNoWriMo (have a plot that I can spin out FOREVER) under the username CancerMan.

  7. Snow White Queen on 21 October 2008, 10:20 said:

    i don’t mean to be a worrywart or anything, but i was just wondering whether there’s any way someone could steal any content from this site?

    (there’s a copyright at the bottom, but i know it will bug me all month unless i ask)

  8. SlyShy on 21 October 2008, 10:23 said:

    I mean, it’s a possiblity. Same as with any site on the internet (ff.net, etc.) although once it is published it is legally yours. Which means you are perfectly justified in threatening legal action. That is enough to scare people away.

    Cool, count is up to 6 now.

  9. Snow White Queen on 21 October 2008, 10:25 said:

    eh…don’t think people would be interested in stealing my stuff anyways…

  10. Carbon Copy on 21 October 2008, 10:27 said:

    What you can’t copyright are your ideas. If someone read something here and liked the idea, there is nothing stopping them rewriting that idea in their own way (with just enough changes to look original).

    That being said, most authors have a thousands ideas of their own, and wouldn’t ever consider using the ideas of another author.

  11. SlyShy on 21 October 2008, 10:32 said:

    Except for…

    Never mind, that joke would have been too easy.

  12. Eccentric Iconoclast on 21 October 2008, 11:02 said:

    Signing oop. You know my email address and username here, and I bet you can guess what it is on NaNo. ;)

    This might actually make me procrastinate less.

  13. Snow White Queen on 21 October 2008, 19:24 said:

    carbon copy:

    yes, that is true…can’t copyright my ideas. but i think that i will post…i really need to get some constructive criticism (anonymously)

  14. Virgil on 23 October 2008, 00:04 said:

    I’ve changed my name to virgil00 (with zeroes) so everyone will recognize me better. I don’t know what I’ll do with the other guy..

  15. Rhaego on 23 October 2008, 13:14 said:

    I think I just got the greatest idea for a NaNoWriMo novel evur!

    Has anyone read the poem Growltiger’s Last Stand by t.s. eliot?

    I have a reallly good idea based on this poem. I might sign up now.

  16. SlyShy on 23 October 2008, 13:38 said:

    Yeah, I have. It’s pretty cool. You definitely should sign up if you think you have an idea. There is no shame in failure, and there is great fame (well, sort of) in success.

  17. Rhaego on 23 October 2008, 13:55 said:

    Is there a place where we can discuss our ideas?

    Can we do that in this discussion?

    If not, could someone make one?

  18. SlyShy on 23 October 2008, 16:40 said:

    Hey Rhaego,

    I’m in the process of setting up a forum here, and then you could duscuss it there. In the meantime, feel free to do so here.

  19. Virgil on 23 October 2008, 16:53 said:

    Forums.. 0.o

  20. Rhaego on 23 October 2008, 17:09 said:

    Thanks, I’ve been on the DEM forums a few times, but I didn’t feel like I knew anyone.

    Well, my idea hasn’t really been fleshed out yet, but this is what I thought of in about ten minutes.

    The Cats are a different type of human. They are capricious, fickle, and dangerous. When Cats start dissappearing, Growltiger and Macavity get involved in the investigation.

    Enters the main character; Bastion. Bastion is a Cat of refined tastes, and is one of the few Cats that tries to tame the beast inside (the more evil Cats consider the civil Cats second class citizens in their community).

    When Bastion hears that Growltiger and Macavity are trying to save the Cats, he decides that he needs to help. Adventure ensues.

    Sound decent?

  21. Virgil on 23 October 2008, 17:45 said:

    Sounds ok, just need to work it out more.

  22. hopeudance on 23 October 2008, 19:30 said:

    hey, guys!

    I’ll join! Since Queen here already signed me up, I might as well, right? jk, i love writing.

    my username is the same on NaNoWriMo, so u can easily find me… actually, it’s hopeudance27, but that’s ok.

    only eight days left!

    -Dance

  23. Snow White Queen on 23 October 2008, 19:52 said:

    @hopeudance:

    mwahahahaha my evil plot succeeded!

  24. Rand on 23 October 2008, 20:00 said:

    I will be here at the appointed time! Sounds great.

  25. Snow White Queen on 23 October 2008, 20:02 said:

    cool!

    i’m really looking forward to reading everyone’s stuff, and getting mine critiqued as well.

  26. Hedwig Widrig on 23 October 2008, 20:31 said:

    @Rhaego: You can’t go wrong with Cats. I look forward to reading that.

  27. SlyShy on 23 October 2008, 21:54 said:

    Hey Rand,

    I need your NaNoWriMo info quick…

    Your NaNoWriMo Author Profile (make sure you’ve registered).
    Your ImpishIdea username. Ask for one now if you don’t have one.
    Your email address.

  28. Snow White Queen on 23 October 2008, 22:57 said:

    hey slyshy, i noticed that you set up a new section for nanowrimo. so when we post, we put our stuff there right, and not on the normal critque section?

  29. SlyShy on 23 October 2008, 23:04 said:

    Correct. I’ll also have seperate categories for each of you, so we can easily group each person’s stuff.

  30. Snow White Queen on 23 October 2008, 23:06 said:

    oh wow, my very own section.

    i feel special.

    :)

  31. Hedwig Widrig on 23 October 2008, 23:37 said:

    Very cool.

    Ah I’m so happy. I mined some names and character traits out of an old, failed semi-manuscript, then combined it with a stand-alone idea I’d previously come up with, and now I think I’ve got a really strong situation to work with. Plot will be another issue, but I feel like I’m on a roll now. It’s kind of sci-fi, which I never would have seen myself writing, but I don’t feel like it’s too far outside my comfort zones.

    Just, yay.

  32. Snow White Queen on 23 October 2008, 23:39 said:

    i look forward to reading it!

    i should start documenting my ideas better…i might use them one day, like you have. (i usually just let it stew in my head)

  33. Hedwig Widrig on 23 October 2008, 23:50 said:

    Oh me too, I don’t really document anything. However I do have a few…erm, what’s the plural of “opus”? I should know this…it might actually be opera. Anyway, yeah, I have a couple of running manuscripts that I glance at occasionally. They’re both semi-serious works, but I only work on them sporadically, and one of them is definitely going nowhere (i.e. plot quality roughly equivalent to Paolini’s). So might as well take what I like and teleport it a few millennia ahead, a few million light-years away.

  34. Snow White Queen on 24 October 2008, 00:32 said:

    well, i look forward to checking it out.

    are you writing it for nanowrimo?

  35. Hedwig Widrig on 24 October 2008, 00:52 said:

    What else? This might mean I finish it. That would be cool.

  36. Snow White Queen on 24 October 2008, 00:53 said:

    i have trouble finishing stuff too…i can’t seem to get past 5 pages. hopefully this time i will break the curse!

  37. Hedwig Widrig on 24 October 2008, 01:08 said:

    Yeah, I’m the perfectionist who’s spent seven years on 130,000 words, half of which has been revised to the point that the other half is now refuse. I’ll need to find a very deep well into which to shove my inner critic if I’m going to do this.

    I’m also curious to see what you write. I’ll shut up my critic if you’ll break your curse! Sound good?

  38. Snow White Queen on 24 October 2008, 01:10 said:

    haha i have the inner critic problem too. it mercilessly reduces three pages into a half page in fifteen minutes.

    i have decided to NOT read over any of my previous work in an effort to just get through the story without deleting half of it. that’s when i do most of my insane editing anyways.

    we’ll see how it works…

    in any case, looks like we have a deal!

  39. Hedwig Widrig on 24 October 2008, 01:20 said:

    Cool!
    Oh, not re-reading is going to be the hardest part, but I’ve got to try.

  40. Snow White Queen on 24 October 2008, 18:56 said:

    yeah…

    especially after it gets critiqued here.

  41. Rand on 25 October 2008, 17:05 said:

    Sure, slyshy, but what’s your email address? I’ll email all the information to you as soon as I have a chance. Or you can email Snow White Queen and she can forward it to me.
    (sorry to interrupt the convos going on- just needed to say that)

  42. SlyShy on 25 October 2008, 17:08 said:

    mkbunday SHIFT-2 gmail DOT com

  43. Ophelia on 25 October 2008, 20:19 said:

    Ack, fine. I give in.

    My username over there is Ophelia.Stornoway, I * think * I have a username here, and I’m pretty sure you have my email already.

  44. Virgil on 25 October 2008, 20:33 said:

    Didn’t you post the submission article?

  45. SlyShy on 25 October 2008, 20:48 said:

    Haha. Another victim. Of NaNoWriMo Fever. Not any insidious plan of mine.

  46. Ophelia on 25 October 2008, 21:03 said:

    Our glorious leader posted my article for me :D

    And, yeah, I’m pretty doomed. Exam on the 6th, elections on the 7th, last few weeks with the boyfriend before he goes home, full-time work… I’ll be lucky if I hit 10k.

  47. Virgil on 25 October 2008, 21:05 said:

    Elections are on the 4th? …unless your talking about something else.

  48. SlyShy on 25 October 2008, 23:04 said:

    She doesn’t live in the US. :)

  49. Virgil on 25 October 2008, 23:40 said:

    Well.. I stand corrected.

  50. Ophelia on 26 October 2008, 02:02 said:

    You stand at your computer? You odd person. And, as Es says, I’m not American by any leap of the imagination – our NZ elections are coming up, too.

    (Es: Have a review for you and am attempting to recover my log-in and posting rights info. May end up screaming for help if I’ve accidentally deleted it)

  51. SlyShy on 26 October 2008, 03:24 said:

    I had the system send you another automated email, which you should see soon.