In Lieu Of NaNoWriMo

I now have two unfinished stories — at least two, that is — which I think are worth finishing. One I began in 1999, and one I began officially during last year’s National Novel Writing Month, although I had the ideas brewing for a couple of years before that. I also have… *counting* …twelve unfinished stories and one complete short story.

The last thing I need is to start a new project for NaNoWriMo.

If I’d ever successfully “won” NaNoWriMo — that is, written 50,000 words during the month of November — I could invoke the Zokutou Clause, which states:

You have to start your novel from scratch, unless you are a previous NaNoWriMo winner. If you have already attained the status of Winner, you do not need to start a new novel, as your main aim is now to finish one. You can now consider yourself a winner if, by midnight on the 30th of November, you have either:

  1. Written 50,000 words on one or more previous works.
  2. Completed your novel’s first draft.

I have, however, not written the requisite 50,000 words in one month, so I do not qualify.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
14,681 / 50,000
(29.4%)

So, this November, I intend to work on last year’s NaNoWriMo story. I’ve found a sturdy little piece of software to help me write my “story bible”; in fact, it’s already helped me locate one continuity error in the 32 pages (1.5-spaced, not double-spaced) that I’ve written so far.

My plan is to research where my characters hail from, discover their individual backgrounds, and figure out precisely how a team of vampires can capture and kill an incubus without seriously injuring themselves. Hopefully, by the end of November, I will at least have enough backstory figured out so that I can continue writing without worrying about the details that form the basis of the intrigue.

Don’t be surprised if I come to you for help, like I have in the past. I suck at dialogue, which is only a symptom of my general social ineptitude, so I’ll be needing some guidance along the way.

10 thoughts on In Lieu Of NaNoWriMo

Comments are closed.

  1. hee… when i get this thing done, it looks like my dialogue will be critiqued by a bevy of “first readers,” and corrected appropriately. 🙂

    think college drunk chick at uptown, snagging a shag for the night. (does that really happen?)

  2. but i can tell you that she’d never say “snag a shag”

    True dat. 🙂 They’d probably just say they found someone to go home with, or to come back to their place, or something.

  3. well you might find out how they type there 😀 i mean she cant really say “omg lolz” right? 😀

    real recon would be to go find a bar near UT full of students 😛

  4. That’s true… that’s very true. Real research in the field! Heh.

    Or I could go hang out at Southwyck for a couple hours, even, although that’s a younger crowd. I’d definitely be able to hear individual conversations, since THERE’S NO ONE THERE OMG.