National Novel-Writing Month - U of A Edition

Word Count - May 31

2010-05-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Adam Demaniuk: 50,066
Ashley Geis: 50,025

Less than three hours to go now...anyone else? Brenda Smith?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2010-05-22T23:40:00.001-07:00

I take it by the complete silence surrounding this project since the end of the first week that it's going really, really well for everyone else. I'm starting to think that the rest of you jokers are laughing at me from the sidelines while I hammer out another shitty novel for no reason. But maybe, just maybe, there's at least one other person who's still struggling through this little exercise and will be a little more motivated now that I've finished.

Tomorrow, I'll dedicate my time to a more worthwhile activity. But for now, I'm going to listen to Queen a little bit longer.

EDIT: For the traditional "by the numbers" conclusion:

Words: 50,066

Characters with no spaces: 225,385 (beating the previous record of 222,551)

Chapters: 15

Number of chapters titled "Chapter 3": 2

Longest chapter: Chapter 7 (8,131)

Worst chapter: Chapter 7

Shortest chapter: Chapter 6 (1,034)

Actual time in the contest: 22 days, 27 minutes

Hours worked at my job during the contest: 167.5

Hours slept during the contest: 160.5

Hours spent driving to work: 17 hours

Actual time spent writing: 22 hours, 18 minutes

Procrastination time: 161 hours (6 days, 17 hours)

Longest writing session: 3 hours, 33 minutes on May 22

Shortest writing session: 5 minutes on May 19

Most efficient writing session: 1522 words completed in 32 minutes on May 17 (47.63 WPM)

Least efficient writing session: 1576 words completed in 57 minutes on May 1 (27.65 WPM)

Average typing speed: 38.89 WPM (Most efficient typing session in 2009 came in at 38.75 WPM)

Fuck: 112 (breaks the previous record of 106 in Al's War)

Shit: 45

Ass: 10

Bitch: 11

Number of characters named after Pixar characters: 12 (Wally, Russell, Sally, Dot, Michael, Marlon, Remy, Randall, Shelby, Buddy, Andy, Carl)

Well, I have to say that was a difficult one to get through. For this one, I decided to write in a new genre than the previous three. I would call this one a science fiction/alternate reality story, whereas the other three were kind of existential in nature.

So, we've got a little more than 24 hours until the end of May. Will there be two finishers as I predicted? Perhaps more?

"I can't...I have to write my novel."

2010-05-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

Anyone else ever find themselves uttering that statement? Me neither...not yet, anyway.

Let's have a little week 1 recap. There were 168 hours between May 1 at midnight and May 7 at 11:59 PM. This is what I did in that time:

Hours worked: 64
Hours slept: 48.5
Hours spent driving to work: 8
Hours spent writing: 5.5

That leaves 42 hours unaccounted for. And of course, I've been getting more invitations to go to movies, barbecues, lunches with co-workers, evenings at the bar, send out flyers for Michael Janz, etc. this week than I have the entire rest of the year. That figures. But the most disturbing part is how I'm spending an average of 6 hours every day doing basically nothing, when it feels like all I'm doing is working, sleeping, driving, and writing, with time for the odd meal here and there.

So what is the point of this blog post? I don't know. I think I just wanted to ridicule the quitters about the fact that I can work 64 hours per week and still be on pace to finish. Maybe we would have a higher success rate if the losers and quitters were subjected to more humiliation than they presently are. Who's with me?

Word count, week 1

2010-05-08T16:28:00.001-07:00

Adam Demaniuk - 11,770
Brenda Smith - 11,719
Ashley Geis - 6,584
Steve Smith - 6,117 (Exactly where I was last Sunday, at the dawn of a week of unemployment during which my girlfriend was out of town).
Amanda Henry - 4,888
Catrin Berghoff - 4,320
Steph Shantz - 3,744
Richard Casey - 1,940
Krystina Sulatycki - 298
Nadia Rushdy - 0

Sarah Bidanjiri and Dan Kaszor are out. Nobody else has reported.

Well, two of you are on pace to finish. And one of them's my mother, which at least means that I should be properly motivated this week since, while my mother is the one who introduced me to a love of reading and writing and who painstakingly transcribed the stories I concocted and illustrated as a child (Tyranna's Big Day remains the best thing I've ever written), she's also my mother. Nobody wants to be beaten by his or her mother.

First sentence

2010-04-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

"In retrospect, the wax statues should have been a tip-off: perfect likenesses of British Prime Ministers William Pitt the younger, Sir Robert Peel, and Benjamin Disraeli, and original Kinks drummer Michael Charles Avory."

So begins my opus, The Unparalleled Exploits of Larynx Carboxyl, P.I. I've got a good feeling about this one.

Pre-contest titters and jitters

2010-04-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

Attempt #4. Wow. I am really dumb.

As with all other years, I will be attempting the contest with a pretty severe handicap: a full-time job. May is going to be an especially difficult month; I anticipate working 60 hours per week on average. I almost didn't enter the contest until I remembered that 1) I couldn't stay away last year, even after eight days had gone by and 2) Working Title took exactly 24 hours and 30 minutes to write. So if you subtract my working hours, that leaves me 108 hours per week during which I could be writing. Sounds pretty easy, right? Hell, I might just write 4 novels next week...

So taking a look down the list of participants, I predict only two finishers this year: Myself, and Scott Lilwall. I have serious doubts about the rest of you. Hopefully, you can use that to your advantage.

If only there were some metaphor about horses and gates that were apt here

2010-04-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

The bad news is that we have only sixteen participants this year, a new low (and marking the third straight year of declining participation). On the upside, it's a really stellar field: the sixteen of us have a combined forty-five previous NaNoWriMo U of A attempts, including thirteen previous successes. Seven of us have won at least once before, and I'm expecting at least two new winners this year. Most importantly,* I expect that we'll all have a lot of fun.

Without further ado, this year's participants:

Justin Benko (Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Catrin Berghoff (Loser: 2006, 2007)
Sarah Bidanjiri (Loser: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Courtney Burr (Loser: 2008, 2009)
Richard Casey (Winner: 2009. Loser: 2007)
Adam Demaniuk (Winner: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Ashley Geis (Loser: 2007, 2008)
Jenna Greig (Winner: 2007)
Amanda Henry (Winner: 2007, 2009. Loser: 2008)
Dan Kaszor (Winner: 2006. Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Sarah Eve Kelly (while I'm not aware that she's ever participated in any kind of NaNoWriMo, she is an agented novellist, making her vastly overqualified for this endeavor)
Scott Lilwall (Winner: 2007, 2008, 2009. Loser: 2006. Has also won some non-U of A NaNoWriMos)
Erin Reddekopp (Loser: 2007, 2008)
Nadia Rushdy (Loser: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Steph Shantz (Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Brenda Smith (No prior NaNoWriMo experience)
Heather Smith (Winner: 2006. Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Steve Smith (Winner: 2006, 2009. Loser: 2007, 2008)
Krystina Sulatycki (Winner: 2009. Loser: 2007, 2008)
Jake Troughton (Winner: 2006, 2009. Loser: 2007)

* This is not actually the most important thing; completing novels is.

Update: Heather's in this year, too, meaning that we now have seventeen participants, of whom eight have succeeded in past attempts.

Update #2: My mother has just signed on for her first NaNoWriMo, which brings us to eighteen.

Update #3: Amanda Henry brings us up to nineteen, including nine past winners.

Update #4: Jenna Greig brings us to twenty, meaning that fully half of this year's participants are past winners. Huzzah!

I'm number seven! I'm number seven!

2009-06-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Winner.

2009-06-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

hours before deadline: 3
# of chapters: 7
# of characters introduced in first 200 words for fear of running out of plot: 13 (+2 for desperate circumstances)
concept of time/continuity: none
days spent writing: 15
previous NaNoWriMo attempts: 2 (word counts: ~50 and 552)
# of times I forgot/misnamed one of my characters: ~2
# of words written when I had completed my planned plot: 2,000
words written with Write or Die: >45,000
total number of words: 50,008

I'll face it with a grin... I'm never giving in...

2009-06-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Somehow, it just doesn't seem right to finish this bad boy with time to spare.

Meh.

Are you going to take me home tonight? Ahh, down beside that red firelight?

2009-06-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pop in briefly to mention to everyone that I totally won last night.

(Ignore the bottom numbers; there's a glitch that delays the updating of the full-document word count. I obviously didn't select more words than there were.)

A by-the-numbers post will come on July 1, because though I've attained the initial goal, this sucker is certainly not done, because ~~my pacing is awful~~ I have a lot of story to tell.

Good luck to those of you still in it. Let's get enough winners to start a baseball team!

"I'll show you how it's done." - Me, June 8, 2009

2009-06-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Let's get this out of the way: Entering NaNoWriMo is a dumb idea to begin with, so jumping in after one week has passed is unquestionably idiotic, and a near-guarantee of failure, especially while working close to 50 hours a week. So why did I succeed after a mere 15 days?

1) My novel is about a writer who creates a NaNoWriMo novel. This opens up all sorts of possibilities...when I procrastinate, my character procrastinates. When I played Super Mario 3 instead of writing my novel, so did my character. There's lots of stuff in there that's fabricated as well, but the procrastination bits really helped to speed things along.

2) I had completed this contest twice before and knew what to expect. And since I was a week behind, I knew I had to write 3,000 words per day. By the time I was caught up, I had such momentum that ramping up production and finishing early was quite easy.

3) My story has no plot (and the protagonist notes this several times.) My two previous attempts did have one, and were a lot harder to write. I now know that you can get by on characters, settings, and theme alone.

4) My novel was set in the not-so-distant past (2002) which I found to be a lot of fun. There are references to 9/11 of course, and there are references to the dot com crash, GameCube, the Anaheim Angels winning the World Series, the iPod, the re-election of Grey Davis as Governor of California, Windows XP, etc. The characters also speculated about the not-so-distant future from time to time. The possibilities were endless.

5) I wrote on my old piece of shit desktop PC. Two reasons: my MacBook does not have a word processor that's worth two shits, and the PC is not connected to the internet, so the distraction was not constantly tempting me.

6) Timing myself. Knowing how fast I was typing the thing gave me a rough idea of how long it was going to take me to finish. When you translate 15,000 words to seven hours, forty two minutes, it means something completely different. Granted, anyone who has tried to write for seven hours and forty two minutes knows what that's like, and it rarely works out the way you think (unless you're like Chris and write the bulk of it in the last day.) However, it did allow me to manage my time much more efficiently and give myself realistic goals of what could be achieved in a given time period.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Working Title, by the numbers:

Words: 50,080

Chapters: 10

Shortest Chapter: 251 words

Longest Chapter: 15,039 words

Actual time spent in the contest: 15 days, 2 hours, 7 minutes

Actual time spent writing: 24 hours, 30 minutes

Longest writing session: 3 hours, 11 minutes, on June 21

Shortest writing session: 13 minutes on June 17

Most efficient writing session: 3,449 words completed in 1 hour, 29 minutes on June 21 (38.75 wpm)

Least efficient writing session: 1,441 words completed in 55 minutes on June 8 (26.2 wpm)

Fuck: 66

Shit: 55

Ass: 11

Cockadookie: 1

References to The Big Lebowski: 2 (Main character is named Arthur, after Arthur Digby Sellers, and a computer repair guy is named Knutsen.)

Words about the Oakland Raiders: 6,938

Words about Super Mario 3: 4,828

Words about Adaptation (a self-referencing film released in 2002, but after my novel takes place) 809

Words about craps and casino gambling: 4,523

Words about NaNoWriMo itself: At least 2,368

I consider it a challenge before the whole human race, and I ain't gonna lose

2009-06-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, that was easy. In fact, it was easy to the point that I don't even know why I didn't think I could pull it off at the beginning of the month. It only took me fifteen days to write the damn thing.

I'll be back on the weekend to wrap things up and do the customary "by the numbers" bit. But for right now, it's Queen on repeat for this three-time novelist.

Good luck to everyone stubborn enough to keep going.

Leaderboard: Week 3

2009-06-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is becoming painful, but I'm honour-bound to post it. Not that I've found honour all that binding in years past, mind you. Nor does honour demand timeliness. Anyway:

Adam Demaniuk - 43,752
Jake "Rainbow" Troughton - 39,203
Amanda Henry - 27,352
Krystina Sulatycki - 21,416
Steve Smith - 15,363
Sarah Bidanjiri - 12,582
Dan Kaszor - 2,324

I'm virtually certain that Richard sent me his word count effective Sunday at midnight, but I can't find it. Anyway, it's somewhat moot now, since the bastard's finished.

Also, I'm totally going to finish my novel, in case any of you doubt me.

The Idiot Wind

2009-06-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

I would write something here, but my hands are rigid from RSI. Maybe I'll update this with a By The Numbers thing tomorrow, but for now I've got Queen ready on the playlist (as appears to be tradition) and some obnoxiously loud squealing to do.

Good luck to all of you still in. This feeling is worth persevering for!

__________________________________

I'm just about done squealing now, so here is my novel 'The Thingy', by the numbers.

Number of words - 50,444
Chapters - 22
Days spent writing - 17
Most productive day - June 20th with 5,894 words
Number of times the write or die website was used - over 75
Average typing speed - 25wpm
Average length of typing session - 30 minutes
Hours spent at work during past three weeks - 135
Number of 50,000 word novels I theoretically could have written in that time, if I went pro and wrote instead of worked - 4.05
Chances of that happening - 0.0
Characters that found the smell of cranberries to be an aphrodisiac- 1
Principal characters that disappeared inexplicably from the main plot after 47,500 words - 3
Approximate proportion of the plot worked out after 35,000 words - 80%
Words written about Brean Down Caravan Park - 4,500
Words written before my protagonist had a name - 6,763
Number of times that I was tempted to have my secondary school geography teacher destroy all of humanity in order to avoid the necessity of a proper plot - 2

Thanks for inviting/challenging me to do this. It's definitely not something I'd have ever chose to do normally, and perhaps if my fingers recover, I'll give it a go next year too.

Leaderboard: Week 2

2009-06-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Presented without comment, but with plenty of drinking.

Jake "Rainbow" Troughton - 30,203
Richard Casey - 24,646
Ashleigh Brown - 17,617
Krystina Sulatycki - 17,135
Adam Demaniuk - 15,436
Amanda Henry - 14,333
Courtney Burr - 13,162
Steve Smith - 12,127
Sarah Bidanjiri - 9,523
Daniel Kaszor - 2,324
Heather Smith - 2,136
Steph Shantz - 1,061

Crossovers!

2009-06-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

While I'm sure we're all delighted that things are going so well for Jake, I suspect that he's sort of unusual in this respect. Certainly things aren't going at well with my novel. The good news is that that's normal for week two. The even better news is that I've devised a madcap scheme to help us bust out of this funk.

What do network television shows do when they're out of creative juice and it's sweeps season? Actually, I don't really know; the world of television writing is pretty well entirely foreign to me. But one thing that I think they might do is crossovers: elements from one show imported into another, in the hopes (I assume - again, I don't really have any idea what I'm talking about) that audiences will follow.

So here's what I'm proposing that we do: anybody who's interested writes up a description of some element of their novel that they think could easily be imported into another novel. It could be a character, an event, a setting...whatever. Send it to me by Sunday at midnight, and I will randomly distribute these among participants. Then you have something new and exciting and not from your tired old imagination to spend some words on.

The downside, of course, is that in writing up the description, you'll be devoting words to something other than your novel, which you probably shouldn't be. But if you're like me - and my guiding principle in interacting with humanity has always been that everybody is like me - during NaNoWriMo writing about things other than your novel is suddenly extraordinarily appealing.

Meganovel

2009-06-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

When I first participated in the U of A edition of NaNoWriMo three years ago, I passed the 50,000 word mark early on May 31. My story, though, was not done, so after taking a break to sing Queen while preening in front of a mirror (seriously: those of you who haven't won before need to know that the rush of hitting 50,000 words is better than sex. At least the way I do it), I slapped together a final chapter to reach a total of 51,166 terrible, terrible words. This, to the best of my knowledge, remains the longest novel yet written for our mini NaNoWriMo.

There's no reason why this should remain the case, though. In other editions of NaNoWriMo, like that big one in the fall, some people go well past the 50,000 word mark. I've even heard of a couple people finishing with over 150,000.

Now, I'm not completely-batshit-insane enough to be able to manage anything like that. But still, despite hitting a couple of writer's blocks the last few days, I'm having a pretty good month so far: as of the end of yesterday's writing, I was on pace to write nearly 70,000 words (69,870, to be precise). I don't know if my story has the legs to make it that far, but I'm pretty sure it has the legs to make it to 60,000 words. And if it does, I see no reason to cut it short just because I set myself a different goal.

So here's the point. My goal remains to write a 50,000 word novel in June , and I will still be elated if/when I reach that point. But I think I can reach that goal much sooner than the 30th, and if I do and still have stuff to write about, I think I can get as far as 60,000 words. Accordingly, I intend to give myself that opportunity. I will not say, "Hey, I'm 4 days ahead of a winning pace, I can afford to take a couple days off." I will strive to reach 50,000 words as soon as possible, by continuing to exceed the modest daily goals I've set for myself every single day. And when I get to 50,000 words, I will not say, "I've crossed the finish line, time to wrap this up." I will keep writing until my story is done or June is, however many words that results in.

I will not promise it, but I think I'm going to write a 60,000+ word novel this month.

Now, the next question is: is anyone else prepared to set themselves* a loftier goal than simply 50,000 words by June 30? (Yes, Adam, I already know about you.)

* That one's for you, Steve.

The Nuclear Option

2009-06-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

So, with the first week of our homespun version of NaNoRiMo done, I find myself in serious trouble. Between work, moving to a new house and the process of planning a move across the country, I find myself seven days in and just shy of 3,000 words.

This does not bode well.

Now, usually, this would not present too much of a problem. I'd give it the old college try, but if in the end things did not work out, I would not be too sore about it. It's just a fun little distraction, yes?

But then I realized - I have been taking part in National Novel Writing Month since 2001, when I was still an immature, surly teenager (as opposed to my current status as a surly, immature adult.) And because there have been years that I've taken part in both the U of A edition AND the Normal November edition, (for the sake of your social life, don't do this) it means this month marks my tenth month-long novel.

I wish to succeed on this special anniversary.

Therefore, I am pulling out the most powerful weapon in the 30-day novelist's toolbox. Threat of pain. Threat of torture. Before the fiction gods and everyone on this blog, I am making a pledge - promising myself a horrifying fate if I do not hit succeed:

I, Scott Lilwall, do pledge that if I do not hit the 50,000 word mark by the end of this month's deadline, I shall go to a bookstore and purchase the ENTIRE Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I will read it, cover to cover. I will display the books on my bookshelf for a period of two years after.

I once was assigned to read the first book in a class that focused on the adaption of books to film. I dropped the class one chapter in because I couldn't stand reading further. I consider it the literary equivalent of waterboarding.

With this promise in place, I now feel success is assured.

So, as a tip for my fellow novelists who wants a surefire way of making your goal: assign yourself a harsh sentence for failure. There is no better motivation.

Leaderboard: Week 1

2009-06-08T06:27:00.001-07:00

Well, it looks like I'm not the only one setting myself up for a magnificent late month come back - good work, all! Of those reporting, only two are on pace to finish, but there are a few more of us in the neighbourhood of the on-pace 11,667 words.

Krystina Sulatycki - 17,135
Jake "Rainbow" Troughton - 16,296
Courtney Burr - 10,292
Ashleigh Brown - 10,083
Richard Casey - 9,235
Steve Smith - 8,903
Sarah Bidanjiri - 5,099
Mikhaela Lynch - 5,017
Scott Lilwall - 2,948
Daniel Kaszor - 2,324
Justin Benko - 1,924
Natalie Climenhaga - 1,184
Steph Shantz - 248
Amanda Henry - 177

Chris O'Leary has dropped out (as has Adam Demaniuk who, in his defense, never actually agreed to join this year), but he's been replaced by Mikhaela Lynch ~~(though the latter didn't actually submit a word count, and will be accordingly disqualified if she repeats this next week)~~.

177.

2009-06-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

So... I'm at 177 words.

Despite the math, I'm not quitting. Not just yet. Instead I'm planning on being at 30,000 words before next Saturday, 2pm. We'll see how that goes.

Why 177? No reasons nearly as good as Sarah's (sorry to hear about your son!), here's what the deal is. FYI.

Mostly, I haven't secured my E-town digs yet, and it feels rude to write novels when surfing on peoples' couches. Speaking of people and couches, it was sort of silly to sign up for this thing after being away. So many conversations to have, so much time.

And every time I fire up my busty ass laptop - and yes, it is busty ass - the rain broke it in Africa and now it's to the point that I can't move it at all while it's on without risking it dying without warning -
-anyway, as I was saying, whenever I fire it up, the novel appears, but so does a somewhat stress-induced desire to look for a job.

There's also the desire to win this silly contest conflicting with the desire to write about the last 6 months.

Like I said, not really very good reasons.

Almost quit

2009-06-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Aside from the jealousy of not having a group of crazy people to write with since I don't live in Edmonton (there's a certain someone I will kick in the butt if she doesn't go today - I mean you Nadia... although Steve, when I talked with her on the phone yesterday she didn't even know this blog existed...), I came very close to quitting. Has anyone else felt the same already? It was a horrible coincidence that my 2 year old son fractured his elbow on day one and has been in and out of the hospital throughout the week, and then had to have surgery under general anesthetic to realign his arm and put pins in it, then a cast (which will come off at the end of June). I'm already a slow writer to begin with and surgery day became a complete write off with him reacting to the drugs in his system and throwing up at least every hour (lovely, I know) as well as his refusing to eat for 24 hours. I had a mental breakdown, cried, and then, despite it all, still had a strong desire to keep on writing. Am I crazy? Or is it worth it? It'd be interesting to hear other people's struggles throughout the week(s)... even if you think they're mundane. Perhaps the solidarity of knowing you're not the only one struggling will help us make it to the finish line.

A minor character decides to take a more prominent role: welcome Richard

2009-06-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

Introduction.
Hello. I am Richard, I don't believe I know any of you, bar Steve. Delighted to make your accquaintance. If my name rings a bell, it may be because you have read my dramatically unpopular, and mostly unread previous novels - the 1566 word novella Stupendous Failure, and the even more efficient, 17 word courtroom drama, The Judicious Sentence. Those, as you may have guessed were my previous two attempts at NaNoWriMo, and this, coincidentally, is my third. If you do not know me from those, then my name has only been singled out once elsewhere because I have the dubious honour of spread the U of A's chapter of NaNoWriMo to England.

If music be the fuel of fifty-thousand words

As I sit here in my tweed jacket, stroking my moustache and sipping my tea, I find myself wondering whether there is anything I can do to postpone the writing of my most recent novel. After kindly being granted permission by Steve to blog in these here holy pages, I thought I might ask a question regarding something I read in the No Plot? No Problem book. What music, if any, do you find helps you write? During my first day of writing yesterday, I found that the comforting lyrical & musical blandness of Eighties Cock Rock has helped me lose my Inner Editor and write eight pages full of poorly composed sentences, tied together with extremely tenuous plot-lines that spit in the face of every single element on my First Magna Carta.

The World Ended on a Wednesday.

2009-06-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

742 words in, at one a.m. today, I found my protagonist ritualistically slaughtering a chicken. This is, evidently, what happens when your pre-novel planning and outlining consists entirely of "Oh, hey, that would be an entertaining opening line. I should totally write 50,000 words around it."

Dirty Secret

2009-06-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to make this one good enough that I won't be ashamed to show it to another person. This may be a surefire path to failure.

First 32 words

2009-05-31T21:49:00.001-07:00

I get a jump start on you guys, so I thought I might rub it in your faces. My first 32 words:

The gravel crunched under Sarah's feet as she trudged toward the curb. The hot Texas sun was beating down on her back. She was sweating profusely.

"Fuck," she hissed under her breath.

Chance of failure: Nil

2009-05-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

I scoff in your general direction,* Dan.

*East

Chance of failure: Moderate

2009-05-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Three years ago I completed a novel. It helped that I was unemployed and really had my heart set on it. Everyone else in the contest was close at hand and we positively re-inforced each other to finish.

Two years ago I did not complete a novel. I was unemployed that month as well, but had just moved across the country and had a whole new city to explore. My heart wasn't in it and my support network of people was 2700 km away.

Last year I didn't even try. I had a full-time job and was never going to be pushing out 1667 words a day.

This year I am underemployed and social networking sites have advanced enough that they can create the support network to keep me going (@dkaszor). And yet ... I also have a major project due this month ...

WPDNF: 1667

There are horses and there are gates. Shall ever the twain meet? Maybe.

2009-05-29T11:48:00.001-07:00

We have a slimmed down roster for NaNoWriMo U of A 2009. I prefer to think that this means that we're leaner and hungrier. I know I am: as soon as I finish this blog post I'm going to have a snack. But nothing that will compromise our sveltness (sveltitude? Hell, why not both if it will help you reach fifty grand faster?), I promise.

Anyway, we have twenty-~~one~~ ~~two~~one lined up this year, fully ~~one third~~ ~~seven~~ six of whom are past winners (though granted this figure includes a couple of people who told me that they were "maybe" in, and who I'm promoted to "definitely" in on the basis of not having heard otherwise from them). I think seven is the minimum number of completed novels we should expect this year. Woot? You're damned right.

Justin Benko
Sarah Bidanjiri
Ashleigh Brown
Courtney Burr
Richard Casey
Natalie Climenhaga
~~Adam Demaniuk~~
Amanda Henry
Daniel Kaszor
Scott Lilwall
Dave Miller
Chris O'Leary
Shawna Pandya
Samantha Power
Nadia Rushdy
Chris Schafenacker
Steph Shantz
Heather Smith
Steve Smith
Krystia Sulatycki
Jake Troughton
Ray Wheeler

A minor character decides to take a more prominent role: welcome Sarah.

2009-04-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

Introductions
If my name sounds familiar, it's because Sarah is a common name. If Sarah Bidanjiri sounds familiar, well it's either because you know me - since Bidanjiri is not a common last name - or because you have an excellent memory and have seen my name in the past NaNoWriMo U of A Edition's first week word counts. Since the advice of those who have actually completed a novel in a month seem to all say that one of the keys to success is to be committed, I decided that, among other things, I should become more active in the whole process which would entail joining in on the blog. From what I can tell, the only person I know here is Steve (aside from a few of my fellow drop-outs). On the theme of commitment, I also decided to write up my own Magna Cartas; and after some encouragement from Steve and trading of lists, I thought it would be interesting to know what made up other people's lists. So I'll begin, in the hope that I don't end up being the only one to do so here:

Magna Carta I: (What I LIKE in novels)
Well-developed / dynamic /likeable characters
Wit & humour
Travel
Adventure & action
Meanings / subtle messages in story
Stories that make you laugh & cry (or just laugh)
Moral dilemmas
Hope
Thought provoking
Believable
Poetry
A sense of mysticism / mystery
True friendship (& sometimes love)
Quirky characters
Lots of dialogue
Eloquent language (though not in excess)
Cultural elements
Beautiful lanscape / setting
New ideas
A glimpse into humanity
Engaging
Perseverance (stolen from Steve's list)

Magna Carta II: (What I DON'T LIKE in novels)
Stereotypical characters
Preachy messages
Depressing / hopeless stories
Teenage drama
Overly graphic with sex & violence (though there are some exceptions, if it truly helps the plot along)
Purposeless plot (I will have to get over that for NaNoWriMo)
Quick wrap-up endings
Dysfunctional families
Impossibly perfect & unbelievable characters
Long scenery & war descriptions
Writing that gives you a headache (where reading is overly difficult...)
Self-absorbed / un-thoughtful protagonists (with no redeeming qualities)
Cheesy scenes
Cliffhanger endings (with obvious intention of a sequel)
Overly predictable plot

"I'd like to encourage the rest of you to do the same at some point, whether or not you're taking part this year." - Steve Smith

2009-04-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Alright Steve, I suppose I'll weigh in on the whole "advice" subject.

First of all, a bit about me: My name is Adam and I am a two-time U of A NaNoWriMo winner. My first novel was titled Broken Wings and the second one was titled Al's War. I have no "training" or "credentials" when it comes to writing. I was a subpar university student at best. During the writing of both my novels, I was employed full-time. Why am I telling you this? Because if a dope like me can do it, and was able to find the time to do it, then it should be fairly easy for anyone. The only thing is you need to be stubborn enough to see it through to the end.

1) Follow Steve and Jake's advice. It's all good stuff and helped me a lot during my first attempt (except Jake's bit about being unemployed, but it does help.) Even the stuff they wrote during their failed second attempts in 2007 helped me avoid some of the pitfalls past NaNoWriMo winners experience during my own second attempt. Amanda, Daniel and Chris also make some good points.

2) Don't sweat the mid-month doldrums. Know this: your first and last seven days of the month will be your most productive. In the second and third weeks, you will notice that your productivity will crater and you will begin to despair. This is normal. During the first week, you have a bunch of fresh ideas and are motivated by the fact that this novel attempt has gone further than any previous attempt. After this, you will begin to compile a mental list of all the things you would rather do than write your novel. Believe me: this list will be quite long.

3) Don't restart. Ever. If you so much as delete one written word during the month, shame on you for not knowing the meaning of a first draft novel. Even if you hate your plot and all your characters, there are ways around this. Make them suffer. Kill them off. Do something creative that doesn't involve a reduction in your word count. You'll be much better off. During NaNoWriMo, you will come up with a lot of ideas you would rather write than the one you're currently working on. Put them out of your mind because they will tempt you and drive you crazy.

4) Don't go in thinking that even if you don't finish your novel by the end of the month, you have a good start and you can always finish your novel at some other time. It's as simple as this: if you're not motivated enough to finish the thing in one month, then you never will. Your novel will sit in your documents folder for all eternity, never to be seen or heard from again.

5) Keep track of your daily word count, even the days when you accomplish no writing at all. I used a spreadsheet which calculated how many words were left, and the number of words I needed to write per day in order to finish on time. This allowed me to see just how far behind I was falling and kept my sense of urgency at a high enough level.

6) Write about what you know. It's common sense, but it seems common sense is not all that common. In Broken Wings, my protagonist was a pilot and a football player, which I know a fair bit about. In Al's War, my protagonist and I shared the same occupation, but he was also a hockey goalie who takes a trip to Australia. At the time, I knew nothing about playing goalie(or very much about playing hockey at all...) and hardly anything about Australia, so I spent far too much time researching both subjects. As a result, I fell way behind in my writing. If you must write about something you know nothing about, just make stuff up. For example, Steve had Department of Oceans and Fisheries vehicles with lights and sirens on them, simply because his story needed them to.

Advice from Africa

2009-04-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

I completed a novel the first time and totally failed the second time. Mr. Samuel has kindly pointed out why I failed the second time. So here's some advice. From a girl who can waste a month on 50,000 useless words too.

And I am writing from Africa, by the way - this is the last few minutes of my last day at work before I wing back to the winter wonderland that is Edmonton. Haven't decided if I'm going to sign up this year (because if I do commit, I'm finishing, dammit).

On motivation
This is the most important part of the NaNoWriMo puzzle. Absolute, fanatical, insomnia-inducing drive to succeed at a hopelessly inane task.
This absolutely is a competition, and don't let anyone tell you differently.
A much better way to motivate yourself to continue than the silly self-motivational tools that Steve advocates is to choose someone arbitrary (preferably someone who will write THOUSANDS of words in the first 10 days). And resolve to beat them.
Once that person quits (and he/she will) you will have invested far too much misery to give up without wasting part of your soul.
You can also use such rivalries as plot points. Just add a zeppelin and give your opponent a moustache. That worked in my first novel (only it was a spaceship and a very, very painstakingly described and painstakingly boring physical description), but not in my second (see 'On Characters').

On Plot
Have one. Deviate from it often. If it doesn't work, invite god into the machine by having something catastrophic happen and then spend some time fixing it. That will be interesting for you (as you won't know what happens next and will actually have to explore causality) and will help your word count. The wilder the tangent, the faster 50,000 words becomes possible.

On Tangents
Having them seems to be universal NaNoWriMo advice (UofA style, anyway), but I don't see much helpful about what a good tangent looks like.
Actually, that's not true, I see all kinds of great advice - it's just not called 'tangents'
Basically, if you seem to be grinding to a halt, switch gears.
Write a character inventory. Invent a new system of magic. Invent a backstory for a character that was lacking one up to then and flash back to it. Leap sideways into a totally unrelated (and torrid - it's better if it's torrid) love affair.
Pick up the life story of a stock character (like the taxi driver or the guy selling wands or the drug dealer who just walked past you) and run with it for a while (that's one of my favorites - I use it with annoying verve).
Describe the scenery or the contents of some woman's wardrobe. If you're not committed enough to do that, insert italic asides about how some other book that you are rumoured to have abridged did that, complete with smartass remarks on how "satire" and "boring" were apparently the same thing 'back in the day.'
Introduce a Monty Python-esque narrator and fill pages with witty commentary on what's happened so far.
Or an action scene. These can, of course, be related to the plot, but even if they're not, Dan's right. Nothing wastes words like having two guys swing swords at each other (at least I think it was Dan...).

You know, whatever. No one said it had to be a good book.
On Characters
Do not love your characters. Use them. If you grow attached to your characters, it becomes difficult to do interesting things to them, and your word count slowly diminishes as you begin to realize that your characters are either boring or interesting enough that you have ethical qualms about screwing up their all-too-fictional lives.

On Writing Mechanics
They simply don't exist. Run-on sentences, frequent-tense switching and accidental non-sequitors are all part of the fun. Don't sweat it. Just let the words pour forth.

NaNoWriMo 2.0
I don't doubt that annoying your friends via facebook status updates is a great motivator (see 'On motivation' and Chris's advice. Setting yourself up for shame and loss works).
I boldly predict that twitter will work better. While you'll need to ride the fine line between wasting 140 characters that could have been in your novel and making use of this latest social media innovation, I say it's a line worth riding. You might just be inspired - and thousands of people can mock you in real time.

On Gloating
If you do finish, make sure Steve notices. pfft.

At the buzzer

2009-04-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, firstly - I'm a NaNoWriMo aberration. I need to get that out of the way up front. In no way did last year's path to a completed novel resemble the one outlined in Chris Baty's (excellent) "No Plot, No Problem". He emphasizes pacing and establishing a routine for the month; I went into the final 40 hours with 19,000 written. Look at that number again. That means that I had to write approximately 775 words an hour for 40 consecutive hours. So my gigantic disclaimer ... and I cannot stress this enough ... I'm a moron and you shouldn't listen to anything I have to say.

Of course, I had a very potent motivational tool - a $10,000 penalty for failing to complete it. I would have been financially ruined if I was short on the word count. I created a FaceBook group entitled "Chris will give you $10 if he doesn't write 50,000 words in May," thinking that maybe a hundred or so of my friends would join. Well, I underestimated people's desire for free potential money (not to be confused with "potentially free money") by an order of magnitude. At its peak, I think the FaceBook group had around 1,019 people. I don't necessarily recommend this course of action, since it could end horrifically. However, if you need an extra source of motivation, then throwing yourself on the hook for a gigantic wad of cash is certainly an effective way of obtaining one.

In terms of actual novel-writing advice, I would offer the following three suggestions:

1.) Write in the genre that you most often read.
Writing in an unfamiliar genre might be more of a "challenge", but you've already got all the challenge you need with that whole 50,000-words-in-a-month thing. So resist the temptation to novelize Firefly if you're not a big sci-fi reader. That being said, using a genre in a fantastic way to build in some word count and add interesting plot elements. For example, I wrote a fantasy novel last year. As part of the backstory, I had to explain the system of magic that I employed. It was a fun little sidenote that used up some word count, and contributed to the creation of my alternate reality.

2.) Make stuff happen, then justify it.
This is a little bit of advice that I am borrowing from my improvisational theater buddies. The best way to advance a plot is to just do it. Jump in with both feet (oh my gosh! Zombies just attacked out of *nowhere*!), and then try to figure out a.) how to make it consistent with the events so far in your novel, and b.) the genuine reactions that your characters would have. It's far more interesting to reveal personality traits about one of your protagonists through actions rather than dialogue. Do they freeze up in terror when zombies attack? Do they retreat to a safe place and stock up on supplies? Do they grab the nearest shovel and hack away? You'll actually be surprised at how confidently you'll be able to definitively say, "Yes. This is how [Character X] would react in this situation." However, in order to get those insights, you've got to create circumstances that provoke interesting reactions.

3.) Focus on the characters you like.
Invariably, you're going to find that a character you've created just isn't that interesting. That's okay - you're not obligated to carry them through the end of the novel, even if they were the intended protagonist. Switch over to the perspective of a more interesting minor character and see how they fare in the spotlight for a while. Sometimes the minor characters can develop into ones with a lot of depth, especially the ones that start as caricatures that do something to break the mold of that caricature. By defying conventional expectations, the character will instantly becomes a little bit more intriguing for the reader (and, more importantly for NaNoWriMo, the writer).

4.) Don't leave the last 31,000 words to the last weekend. Again, I must stress - I am a moron and you shouldn't listen to anything I have to say.

NaNoWriMo U of A - Q&A

2009-04-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo U of A? What's that?

It's short for National Novel Writing Month, University of Alberta edition. NaNoWriMo is an annual event in November in which participants attempt to write a fifty thousand word novel (each) in a month. In 2006, a few of us at the University of Alberta decided that we wanted to do this, but that November was pretty inconvenient for students. Accordingly, we conducted it in May (and did so again in 2007 and 2008). This year (i.e. 2009), we're going with June.

But I have nothing to do with the University of Alberta.

That's okay; we've had participants who weren't even in Canada. The name's retained more or less as a historical artifact.

Is it really possible to write an entire novel in a month?

Yes. By my count, the three NaNoWriMo U of As have produced ~~twelve~~ eleven completed novels by ten different novellists. And before you ask, several of these novellists were working full-time jobs (in at least one case, more than one job).

Are the novels any good?

Oh my, no.

What do I get if I succeed?

You get to tell everybody that you've written a novel (note that, according to NaNoWriMo's official rules, you must refer to your completed novel as "My most recent novel").

Is this a competition?

Only against yourself. If you write fifty thousand words, you win. If not, not.

This sounds stupid...

Yes.

...and yet I would like to know more.

The best thing to do would be to get hold of a copy of the official NaNoWriMo guide, Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem!, which can be purchased from Amazon using the link on the sidebar (or from another bookseller if you think Amazon is homophobic). You could also check out the official NaNoWriMo site, also linked on the sidebar.

You can also check out this blog's archives. Here are some especially useful posts:

Excerpts from above-named official guide, posted in flagrant violation of copyright laws (though morally justified in my mind given the repeated flogging of the book that I do)

Turning Close Friends into Obligations
The Magna Cartas

Advice from previous NaNoWriMo U of A winners

Steve Smith
Daniel Kaszor
Jake Troughton
Chris Samuel
Amanda Henry

Okay, I'm in. What now?

First, notify me by e-mail (sarcasticidealist at gmail dot com - have spammers really not developed bots that recognize that form of writing an e-mail address?) that you're in. Then, on June 1, start writing a damned novel.

Finished!

2008-05-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I'd write more, but I think my fingers are about to fall off.

Sprint to the finish!

2008-05-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Alright, so it's 7:54 PM on Thursday, and I just woke up, ready to start my night shift at 9:30 PM. As of this moment, my word count sits at 34,046. (WPDNTF = 7363) With two days, four hours and fifteen minutes of May left, I have officially run out of procrastination time. I need to write this thing now.

So here's the deal: No sleep until my word count hits 50,000.

15,954 words in that time period? Definitely possible, and with any luck, I should be finished Friday evening some time. But in any case, drastic measures such as this call for a liveblog. So I'll keep everyone posted as this marathon writing session continues, until I either pass out from fatigue and fall short of the finish line, or emerge victorious, ridiculing the lot of you who committed to this thing at the beginning of the month, but ultimately failed in your objective.

Onward! Onward I say!

10:35 PM: 34,046. I'm all settled in at work, the afternoon shift has gone home, and I'm gearing up for a long night of writing. It's not easy around here...even at night, there's too many distractions. I have been unbelievably productive at my job this last month, just because it's an excuse not to write. This project really is geared toward unemployed starving artists. Is it any wonder, then, that NaNoWriMo started in San Francisco?

12:01 AM: 34,700. Happy Friday, everyone.

2:12 AM: 35,846. Of course, tonight of all nights, shit starts breaking down at work and I've been running around most of the last hour trying to put the fires out. I also need to eat something.

4:33 AM: 37,674. 75% complete, but that also means I have to write a quarter of this thing before I can sleep. I think I'll wrap it up for now and get going again when I get home. At least I don't have to work tomorrow...

7:40 AM: Still 37,674. But I am home from work and away from the distractions, I just ate breakfast, and my Oilers hat is on my head inside out and backwards in rally cap fashion. Git 'er done!

10:18 AM: 41,297. A fair chunk still left to go, but getting there.

12:30 PM: 44,176. Uh oh. I hit the end of my novel. Better go back and put in some filler. This could take a while. Better go get some lunch too.

2:31 PM: tknj b kjbnn bbkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Oops, I wasn't asleep. Really. 46,236 words. I should just start killing off characters at random. That should fill those 3,800 words I need.

3:10 PM: 47,239. So close, yet so far...

3:56 PM: 48,508. Have I ever mentioned how dumb I am for attempting this thing for a second time? Well, I'm mentioning it now. Oh well, at least the finish line is in sight...

4:39 PM: 49,789. Shit, only 211 more words to go (plus 55 to make up for chapter headings, the title page, and other words most people don't count.) I have Queen queued up in media player...

4:53 PM:

I've paid my dues, time after time,

I've done my sentence but committed no crime.

And bad mistakes, I've made a few,

I've had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I've come through

We are the champions - my friends,

And well keep on fighting - till the end,

We are the champions -We are the champions

No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions - of the world

Ive taken my bows, and my curtain calls,

You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it -I thank you all,

But its been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise,

I consider it a challenge before the whole human race, and I ain't gonna lose

We are the champions - my friends

And well keep on fighting - till the end

We are the champions -We are the champions

No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions - of the world

I'm finished! That's two completed novels for me, if anyone's counting. And remember to check the facebook group; I told all you bitches I would finish at the beginning of the month. But, I also said there would be one other completed novel...

So, to the others who are out there still sweating it out (Samuel and that Paul Knoechel fellow, and anyone else who hasn't been heard from but may still be lurking out there,) keep going! The relief of finishing is like nothing you have ever experienced before, I assure you. To have come this far only to fail is unthinkable. The rally cap salutes you, good sirs.

I should probably get some sleep some time soon, although I'm debating staying up for a while longer so my sleep pattern doesn't get all messed up for the weekend. In any case, I'm going to play We Are the Champions a few more times...

Rally Cap

2008-05-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

tap tap...Hello? Is this thing on?

It looks like everyone who was participating in this thing has mysteriously disappeared. Steve sent out a message asking for word count, and Bazin mentioned on Facebook that he was quitting, but no one else has been seen or heard from in over a week. If it's because of word count, you're certainly not alone, but I'm going to pull from baseball superstition and start a miraculous comeback.

I'm going to post my word count and my words per day needed to finish here on a daily basis until I reach 50,000.

May 19: 17834, WPDNTF = 2681

May 20: 19093, WPDNTF = 2810

May 21: 20320, WPDNTF = 2968

May 22: 20320, WPDNTF = 3298

May 23: 20320, WPDNTF = 3710

May 24: 21249, WPDNTF = 4108

May 25: 25383, WPDNTF = 4103

May 26: 26565, WPDNTF = 4687

May 27: 27041, WPDNTF = 5740

May 28: 28097, WPDNTF = 7301

Anyone else who is too stubborn (or just too stupid) to abandon this thing is welcome to join me.

It Must Be Week 2

2008-05-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Excellent news! My novel has stalled, and I'm now behind the 1667 words per day needed to finish. I wrote 24 words on Friday night before throwing up my hands and saying "Fuck it!" and spending four hours at the craps table. (Note: the exact written words were "They walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. Alex wasn’t sure of the beer in this country, so he ordered a Foster’s.")

To make matters worse, items from Magna Carta II are finding their way into my novel. I hate bar and restaurant settings where the characters engage in idle conversation, and I've written three already. Fuck. At this point, it seems like the characters are just going through the motions and I can't think of anything interesting for them to say or do.

I keep reassuring myself by reminding myself that I'm still ahead of where I was this time last year and I managed to finish, and it was worse last year; I had advanced the plot to the point where I was running out of stuff to write.

I think I need to do something drastic to get this project back on the rails. One of my characters might have to suffer an untimely end...

Countdown to miserable, miserable failure

2008-05-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

You all sicken me. Especially the majority of you who failed to report. And more especially me.

Adam Demaniuk - 13,337
Paul Knoechel - 12,103
Josh Bazin - 10,115
Steve Smith - 7,427
Sarah Bidanjiri - 4,501
Amanda Henry - 4,170
Nicholas Tam - 3,231
Shannon Collum - 2,900
Steph Shantz - 2,019
Courtney Burr - 1,988
Erin Reddekopp - 1,362

Objective for next week: sicken me less.

Chance of failure: high

2008-05-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

As far as I can tell, the first time that I'm going put towards novel writing will be, at best, Sunday after midnight (otherwise known as "Monday morning"). If I'm not able to pick up the pace (and there is every indication that I won't be) this endevour seems doomed. But I'm not ready to call it just yet.

By the numbers

2008-05-02T01:10:00.000-07:00

Instead of writing, I am currently playing with my calculator widget.

With 26 hours behind us, here are some quick statistics that amused me (don't worry - it's all downhill from here).

Total words so far: 2569
Average words per hour: 98 (or 550 or so, if you count by the actual hours)
Completion (by percentage): 5%
Chapters: 4
Major plot points passed: None
Digressions completed unrelated to plot advancement: 1.5
Characters introduced: 7
References to real people: 5
That I know: 2
Cursewords: 2
Penis jokes: 1

If I maintain this pace, I'll be finished this thing by 2:30 am on the morning of May 22nd.
Nothing of substance will have occurred, and my novel will include 38.9 curse words.

This thing clearly needs more curse words.

Wait a second, this is a terrible idea ...

2008-05-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

Some of you may be familiar with my boastful, arrogant and semi-insane offer. If you're not, let me summarize for you:

Chris: "Hey! Who wants free money?!"
843 people: "Me!"
Chris: "Awesome! I'll get that to you as soon as I fail at writing a novel and, by extension, fail at life!"
843 people: "Sweet! We're rooting against you!"

This *could* be brilliant. I have promised away a potential $8,430, and I do *not* have $8,430 (I don't even have $8.43). So, by backing myself into a fiscal corner (one from which I am unable to escape), you might conclude that I've ensured my success. You might. But then, you'd be underestimating my wildly powerful urge to procrastinate.

There's an insane internal war raging right now. On one hand, you have my pride, my future financial security, my reputation, my competitive instinct, and my desire to avoid becoming the butt of every NaNoWriMo joke from here until they retire the concept. On the other hand, you have my lazi

First sentences

2008-04-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

These are always fun to share - here's mine:

"Susan Marshall's fear of flying was relatively mild, but this was still the first time that she felt as much apprehension about the prospect of arrival at her destination as about the prospect of crashing."

The word "still" will come out during rewrite, I've already determined. But for now, it's wordcount!

This is always the best part of the month

2008-04-30T20:12:00.001-07:00

That is, the part that isn't actually the month, but rather before the month. Our combined word deficit is zero, which is the lowest it will ever be. Nobody's novels are yet suffering from gaping plot holes, and nobody's social lives are yet suffering from novels. For most of you, I'm sad to say, the exhilaration of standing here at the starting gate is as good as it will get. This is because most of you are cowards. For the few of you - the few of us, rather - who succeed, it only gets better from here, albeit in the kind of way that involved a lot of worse spots. Don't think that makes any sense? That means your critical faculties are still working. Turn them off for the next month. Join me.

Any way, here are this year's participants:

Kate Andrews
Josh Bazin
Elena Belyea
Justin Benko
Sarah Bidanjiri
Courtney Burr
David Climenhaga
Natalie Climenhaga
Shannon Collum
David Cournoyer
Adam Demaniuk (successful 2007 participant)
Andrea Enes
Ashley Geis
Madelaine Gierc
Katharine Hay
Amanda Henry (successful 2007 participant)
Daniel Kaszor (successful 2006 participant)
Elliot Kerr
Paul Knoechel
Julia Kozak
Cindy Leung
Scott Lilwall (successful 2007 participant, as well as a successful participant in other, non-U of A NaNoWriMos)
Jessica Lockhart
Janelle Morin
Ritika Nandkeolyar
Shawna Pandya
Darren Pleavin
Samantha Power
Erin Reddekopp
Eve Richardson
Ashraf Rushdy
Nadia Rushdy
Chris Samuel (combined word total from previous two attempts: ~550. But if he loses this year, it's going to cost him more than eight thousand bucks.)
Steph Shantz
Heather Smith (successful 2006 participant)
Steve Smith (successful 2006 participant)
Krystina Sulatycki
Nicholas Tam
Jay Ward

Previous successful participants Jake Troughton (2006) and Jenna Greig (2007) have decided not to join us this time.

These are words—a prime example of the sort of thing you're looking for

2008-04-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

As the successful author of possibly the worst novel ever written, I've been invited to offer some advice on how to succeed in NaNoWriMo. Since this post is not itself a part of NaNoWriMo, I'll get right to it.

1) Steve, uncharacteristically, is right: attitude is everything. For my successful first attempt, I went in essentially decided that I would rather die than fail. For my unsuccessful second attempt, I went in thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't finish, because I'd already proven I could do it. Failure was thus assured.

2) Procrastinate. Okay, bear with me here. Procrastination gets a bad rap, and maybe that's fair, but the truth is that we all do it, because we need to do it. Unless you're some sort of scary writing machine, you're not going to be working on your novel during every waking moment. But when you're doing other things, make sure that you're procrastinating—consider any time that you aren't writing to be time that you should be writing. This will help build up enough guilt and tension to get your pens/keyboards rocking.

3) Be unemployed. This is bad advice for life, but good advice for crazy nonsense like NaNoWriMo. Any time you spend working is time you could be spending procrastinating.

4) Have several/all of your characters swear profusely. It's a cheap way to easily pump up your word count, asshole, which is really the whole fucking point. If this sort of language isn't appropriate to your plot or setting, change your motherfucking plot and setting, you goddamn fucking piece of shit.

5) If possible, disable your delete key. Yes, it's difficult to avoid editing on the fly. I certainly can't manage it, but just try to remember: the whole point is to reach the finish line. Deleting words during NaNoWriMo is like going backwards in a marathon because you don't think you made that last turn gracefully enough.

6) When you're thinking about your story, write what you think. Trying to decide what your protagonist should do next? Have her call up her mom and talk about what she should do next. Your internal dialogue will make great (by which I mean "lengthy") actual dialogue.

7) When your plot is stuck, it's time for flashbacks! Aside from moving the word count in the right direction, exploring the backstory of a character (or world, or whatever) can help you learn something about said character(/world/whatever) that will help you as you move the story along. Plus, if there's some sort of thematic connection between the flashback and the character's current dilemma, it'll make you seem all deep and shit.

Plot, plot, plot, plot, plot ...

2008-04-11T11:56:00.001-07:00

I know that the book is called No Plot, No Problem, but really what you need to get through is lots and lots of plot. Too much really. Want to do a character driven story? Well good luck with that, but I think that a good chunk of the character work needs to be sketched out ahead of time (which is kinda-sorta, but not really cheating) or done during the competition, in which case you're hemorrhaging time that could have been spent writing.

The reason I finished the first year was because I had lots of plot (I ended on a cliffhanger). The reason I failed the second year was that I didn't really have a plot. I just had a loose conflagration of concepts (also I had just moved across Canada).

Also, action scenes. No better way to waste 3000 words than having two dudes swing swords at each other.

Advice from those who have been there

2008-04-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

In 2006, I took on the challenge and was successful. It was awesome, and I learned a number of valuable lessons. In 2007, I took on the challenge and failed. It sucked, and I learned even more valuable lessons. I'd like to share some of these lessons with you now, from the critical components to the helpful but non-essential hints:

1. If you decide to do this, go in knowing that absolutely nothing will dissuade you. I hate to sound like a motivational speaker, but this is the single most important thing. Every year, I see people going in with the attitude "Well, I'll give this a shot, and if I succeed that's awesome and if I fail no harm done." That's a good attitude in life, but it's piss-poor attitude for NaNoWriMo. The reason is simple: This is such a ridiculous endeavor that, sometime during the month, it's going to seem like quite a bit more trouble than it's worth. If one of your first principles going in is that quitting wouldn't be the end of the world, you will definitely quit. So make your first principle that nothing short of the incapacity of an immediate family member will make you quit, and asterisk that first principle with the fact that it really depends how close you are to the immediate family member in question. This won't guarantee success, unless you have a great deal of willpower and some luck. But not doing this will guarantee failure.

2. Have some idea of your plot arc before you start. This is probably the most important difference between my successful effort and my unsuccessful one. It's hard enough coming up with something to write when you know where you're story's going. It's damned near impossible when you don't.

2a. Avoid your plot arc whenever possible. This is important too. The plot arc is your safety net, providing you something to write when you fall off the tightrope of improvisation (wielding all the while the long pole of awkward metaphor). It's nice to have it there, but you want to use it as seldom as possible. Wander off on whatever pointless digressions your mind will let you, and advance the plot only when you're out of other ideas. Word count is much easier to come by that way.

3. Do periodical character inventories. You'll probably wind up creating quite a few characters, and there's a good chance that you'll wind up losing track of some of them. When you're out of ideas, go through your list of characters and see which ones you haven't dealt with in a while. Then spend as many words as possible explaining what they've been up to since we last heard from them. In my successful novel, I had a character who had met my protagonist while the latter was doorknocking, and who had then installed himself as official agent. He disappeared without explanation partway through the election. Once I noticed (it took me a while) I developed a sub-plot out of it in which this character didn't actually live in the house where my protagonist had met him, but had started squatting in it while the owners were away on vacation. When they returned, he had to disappear. Obviously. Got some good word count out of that one.

4. If at all possible, write about something on which you have strong views. When you're having trouble writing anything else, just have one of your like-minded characters espouse your beliefs at great length. I'm doing my first rewrite of my successful novel, and it's a little disheartening to see how much of it is made up of prolonged explanations of my own political views. Still, those screeds made success come much more easily.

5. Read the archives of this blog. Seriously, they're not very long, and they will both tell you how to name your characters (Jake was on the verge of naming the Prime Minister of Canada "Luigi Mario") and assure you that everybody goes through what you are.

Hello? Is this thing on?

2008-04-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it's spring, the time that a young person's fancy turns to frenzied novel writing? Am I wrong? Don't answer that question.

Anyway, I confess that I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to attempt the deed this year, but I'm still happy to do the minimum of work involved in "facilitating" the thing, and I'd like to see participation continue to grow. So let me assure you that, while I may not participate this year, the first time that I did participate (and was successful) was the most fun I've had while wearing pants. Actually, a lot of the novel was written while I wasn't wearing pants, too, but that part somehow seemed less fun.

Onward! Or something!

This is the end, beautiful friend...

2007-05-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Take that, Arts students and former Gatewayers!

My goal was to write a novel about a flying instructor who loses his medical and is deemed unfit to fly and the ensuing life crisis. It was meant to contain some existential themes. That was probably my first mistake: attempting to have a point, or a message. I also wrote the story in first person narrative which might have been another mistake as it handcuffed me to telling the story through only one person's point of view.

Making the 50,000 words was fairly difficult. There are quite a few parts that are obvious filler, such as several instances where the characters sit around and tell jokes, and the hitchhikers long-winded lecture on quarter-life crisis. I also ended up throwing quite a few pieces from my own life; so much so that people who know me well would probably consider this a roman à clef, and would have no trouble figuring out who each character was in real life. I also resorted to filling in almost the entire backstory and at the end, I cram the existential themes I was going for down the reader's throat instead of letting the reader figure it out on their own.

At one point, I was so desperate to fill the word count that I attempted to write myself into the story (similar to Adaptation.) This might have made the novel considerably better (more funny, anyway) even if it meant sacrficing any scraps of originality I still had left. I decided against this because I would have had to chop out a substantial portion of what I'd already written and this probably would have sunk me in the end. By the third week, I was thinking of about six stories that I would have enjoyed writing more than this one, but it was far too late already. Maybe I'll save those for another NaNoWriMo, if I'm stupid enough to attempt this a second time.

Will I complete a second draft? Not likely. I'd have to rewrite a fair chunk of it and probably double the length of it just to back up all the points that I tried to make. So here's what we're left with:

Broken Wings, by the numbers:

Words: 50,122

Characters without spaces: 212,650

Number of days spent writing: 19

Most productive day of writing: 9,654 words (May 30)

Least productive day of writing: 312 words (May 14)

Usages of the word "fuck" or its derivatives: 86

Usages of the word "shitty": 9

Usages of the word "Albuquerque": 10 (note that the bulk of the story was set in Edmonton)

Number of Big Lebowski quotes: 1, sadly. ("Mind if I do a J?")

Number of titles stolen from songs written by Mr. Mister in 1985: 1

Number of quotes stolen from books or movies: 9 at least

Number of conversations stolen from Facebook wall banter: 2

Number of sex scenes: 3 (possibly 5, depending on who you talk to)

Number of characters whose names are anagrams which form a description of that person: 4

Number of hours I worked (at a job) in May: 187.5

Number of hours worked at a job by some (nameless) people who didn't finish: 0

"50,000 words? Piece of cake. Count me in."

2007-05-31T01:15:00.000-07:00

Whoops! Guess I should think before I type something like that on a Facebook event wall. Now that it is over, what a relief.

I cracked the 50,000 word barrier about 10 minutes ago, but kept going, just in case some people choose not to count the title page and chapter headings as actual words.

Since I have to be up for work in a little more than four hours, I think I'm going to call it a night. I'll put up a "by the numbers" post and a self-review tomorrow.

For everyone who's still in the game, I hope you keep up the work, or else it's going to be awfully lonely in the winner's circle twenty three hours from now...

The Last Quitter is the Unkindest Quitter of All

2007-05-30T22:48:00.001-07:00

Not that I'm likely the last quitter. But I am a quitter. Given another week, I think I'd pulled enough together to make it happen, but I just started the novel too late in the month.

But I did write more than fifty thousand words of novel in May, so I'm sort of a winner.

No, I'm not. I'm a failure and I hate myself.

Best of luck to the rest of you, though.

The Stretch!

2007-05-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

I was perusing this blog's archive looking for something to motivate me and thought that this might be a good idea. Judging by the most recent word counts, my guess is there are three people within striking distance of being done. I don't include myself among them...still a long way to go.

Post your word count in the comment section of this post until you are finished and I will update this post periodically. Four days left now. I don't know about everyone else, but I can't wait to never have to look at my novel ever again.

Adam Demaniuk: 50,122 words as of Thursday, May 31 at 1:13 AM; WPDNTF = DONE!
Amanda Henry: 50,624 words as of Thursday, May 31 at 11:29 PM; WPDNTF = DONE!

*in case you don't know or haven't guessed, WPDNTF = words per day needed to finish.

I've Restarted!

2007-05-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

This is been most of a month coming.

New first sentence:

There did not seem to be any compelling reason that I could suddenly wander in and out of other people's dreams, but then I'm not really sure what such a reason would look like, or exactly how it would compel such an ability.

I swear, this novel's got it all: Lame premises! Awkward sentences! Numerous dream sequences! Sex scenes! Sex scenes that take place within dream sequences! Awkward, lame sex scenes that take place within dream sequences, described using sentences! One twentieth of the required word count!

Oh, and I need dreams. Lots of them. If you have any, please send them my way.

With one week to go...

2007-05-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

The following people have quite since the last update: Michelle Kelly, Erik Jacobs, Justin Benko, Natalie Climenhaga, Shawna Pandya, Tim Peppin, and Chris Schafenacker. Additionally, I've arbitrarily disqualified the following people for excessive delinquency, although any of these people can be re-qualified by sending me a word count: Chris Samuel, Mike Larocque, Kim Misutka, Ian Cole, Thabo Miller, Michael Ng, Greg Overguard, Michael Smith, and Iman Verjee.

All of that accomplished, here's where things sit among people who have sent me a word count. At this point, everybody should be done 38709.68 words:

Jenna Greig: 38833
Amanda Henry: 36026
Adam Demaniuk: 25015
Steve Smith: 20763
Catrin Berghoff: 15035
Nadia Rushdy: 5647
Bryn Cox: 2256
Richard Casey: 1566

Nothing new to report from Scott Lilwall, Nicholas Tam, Matt Costello, Ashley Geis, Heather Smith, Elliot Kerr, Dave Cournoyer, Ashraf Rushdy, Erin Reddekopp, or Chris Samuel.

On a personal note, I'm quite astonished to discover how, even when allowing myself to define my world however is most convenient for the advancement of my plot (Do Department of Fisheries and Oceans vehicles have sirens and flashing lights? Of course they do! Why? Because my story needs them to!), I'm still having a lot of trouble advancing plot.

Word count - thirteen days in

2007-05-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

Some shocking developments this week. Since these developments fall mostly under the category of people who dropped out, we'll start with them:

Daniel Kaszor, Jake Troughton, Janet Lo, Steph Shantz, Josh Bazin, Heather Olah, Krystina Sulatycki, Erran Rilkoff, and Chris O'Leary are all out. This just goes to show how tough Week Two is. As for the actual counts:

Scott Lilwall: 25786
Jenna Greig: 18513
Adam Demaniuk: 17696
Steve Smith: 16008
Catrin Berghoff: 15035
Amanda Henry: 13163
Michelle Kelly: 9652
Nicholas Tam: 6535
Matt Costello: 4400
Nadia Rushdy: 4230
Erik Jacobs: 2514
Ashley Geis: 2241
Justin Benko: 2106
Richard Casey: 1565
Bryn Cox: 1113
Heather Smith: 527
Natalie Climenhaga: 136
Elliot Kerr: 1 (It's "I")

The mathematically-inclined among you will no doubt have noticed that absolutely none of the above people are on pace to finish (said pace requiring 20967.24 words) (NOTE: I wrote this before Lilwall sent me his total). But hey, like I said, Week Two's always rough.

Incidentally, none of the below of reported to me, so I'm just reposting their week one totals:

Ryan Heise: 7000
David Cournoyer: 3113
Erin Reddekopp: 1278
Ashraf Rushdy: 900
Chris Samuel: 565
Mike Larocque: "so close to zero that I might as well have not started"
Kim Misutka: 0

The below people haven't reported either week, so I think it's likely safe to say that they're out:

Ian Cole
Thabo Miller
Michael Ng
Greg Overguard
Shawna Pandya
Tim Peppin
Chris Schafenacker
Michael Smith
Iman Verjee

Once again, updates will be forthcoming if anybody provides me with any new information.

Update: Natalie Climenhaga and Krystina Sulatycki have provided updates.

Date, Upped Good: Scott Lilwall, Richard Casey, and Erran Rilkoff have updated me on their progress.

Failure most egregious

2007-05-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

So yeah ... the novel isn't happening this month. I tried to be as large of a dick about it to everyone to increase the shame of dropping out, but it simply isn't going to get done. Next time I think I need to spend more time thinking about my plot before the month starts. Having a whole bunch of characters in your head and nothing for them to do really makes getting beyond 5000 words hard.

Good news!

2007-05-09T20:41:00.001-07:00

My novel's stalled. It looks like I'm setting myself up nicely for another week four comeback. Expect me to become so depressed that I stop collecting word counts from people shortly.

This does not bode well for my waistline.

2007-05-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

I am 45 words into my novel. I picked up a dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme yesterday on the final leg of my massive, 8-state road trip. And my novel already blows.

Word Count - Six Days In

2007-05-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

Well, a trmendous number of participants have neglected to send me their word counts as they promised. Fortunately, NaNoWriMo's Central Office has lent me some of their guilt monkeys for unleashment on these people, so they'll be feeling the wrath shortly. Here are the rest of the counts (bear in mind that a thirty-one day pace means that participants "should" be done 9677.42 words by this time):

Update: Nick Tam and Jake Troughton were less than half an hour late. We forgive them. But will the guilt monkeys?

Upperdate: Scott Lilwall reported on time, just to the wrong e-mail address. The guilt monkeys have been called off.

Uppest (for now) date: Richard Casey, Barrett Klesko, and Chris Samuel chime in in the middle of the night.

Upper yet date: The guilt monkeys bring in their first victims: Matt Costello, Dave Cournoyer, Caitlin Crawshaw, and Kim Misutka.

Some variation on the word "up", followed by the word date: Mike Larocque and Krystina Sulatycki succumbed to the wiles of the guilt monkeys, while Natalie Climenhaga and Ryan Heise wandered into the office in which we all work.

Date. Very up: Janet Lo, Donald Heitzman, and Ashraf Rushdy chime in.

Steve Smith: 11817
Scott Lilwall: 11500
Adam Demaniuk: 10188
Catrin Berghoff: 9705
Ryan Heise: 7000
Jake Troughton: 5500
Nicholas Tam: 5133
Nadia Rushdy: 4230
David Cournoyer: 3113
Jenna Greig: 2639
Daniel Kaszor: 2400
Amanda Henry: 2366
Matt Costello: 2265
Erik Jacobs: 1959
Richard Casey: 1511
Erin Reddekopp: 1278
Erran Rilkoff: 1156
Bryn Cox: 1113
Justin Benko: 1080
Michelle Kelly: 1028
Ashraf Rushdy: 900
Heather Olah: 887
Ashley Geis: 633
Krystina Sulatycki: 572
Chris Samuel: 565
Josh Bazin: 400
Natalie Climenhaga: 4
Mike Larocque: "so close to zero that I might as well have not started"
Janet Lo: 0
Kim Misutka: 0
Steph Shantz: 0
Heather Smith: 0

So last year at this time, only I was on pace to finish. This year, a whopping three people are (and I think Scott Lilwall is as well), so my prediction of forty new novels seems well on its way to fruition. Go team!

Uzma Rajan, Stephen Beckman, Caitlin Crawshaw, Donald Heitzman, and Barrett Klesko have dropped out, but, as you might have gathered from the above list, we have two new participants: Amanda Henry and Jenna Greig.

The following people haven't sent me word counts, and therefore should not be trusted about anything ever:

Ian Cole
Elliot Kerr
Thabo Miller
Michael Ng
Chris O'Leary
Greg Overguard
Shawna Pandya
Tim Peppin
Chris Schafenacker
Michael Smith
Iman Verjee

I'll update this post if any of the above people update me in the next couple of hours.

I'm dying

2007-05-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

I've decided that my novel shall be the best of all the novels. That is all

Unremarkable Beginning Indicative of Rest of Novel

2007-05-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

"Every day, on her way to and from work, Audrey would listen to the radio."

On the other hand, I have already invented four fantasy animals: A calven, a Phoebix and an unnamed prey animal.

As for the word count, I have managed to do slightly more than required every day. I go to work half an hour early to write, then I write on my lunch break, and then if I'm still not up to pace, I finish off the few hundred words missing in the evening.

I'm showing much less regard for quality this time around, though, which might help.

New beginnings

2007-05-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

Like Steve, I was entirely unsatisfied with the way my novel was going. Unlike Steve, I hadn't got very far, and was entirely certain that I would not be able to finish that utter tripe. So I started over. Yay for me! That was on day 2, and now here we are at the end of day 5, and I still haven't made much progress, but I'm liking it a whole lot better, and today was my first productive day. I expect even better days to come. And by "expect" I mean "need."

Anyway, to answer Dan's question: yes, I was finding it harder. (That's what she said.) But now I think I'm starting to find it easier. (That's what she said.) And I'm planning an entire chapter of "that's what she said" jokes. It'll be fantastic.

After five days, I've now written slightly more than two days worth of material. I've got some catching up to do. How are y'all's word counts progressing?

Also, my new opening line: "Joey Bergman sweated profusely as the harsh floodlights burned into his eyes."

A Question for returning novel writers

2007-05-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Seriously now ... is this harder than it was last year? Because am I having a tough time pushing out the 1700 words a day I'll need to finish.

That being said, I think what I've written so far is already better than what I wrote last year so who knows, maybe I just need to turn up the suck.

My first sentence

2007-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

"If you were to rate Cadillacs on a scale of one to ten, where ten is gentlemanly and one is geriatric, this one would score a solid 3.8."

Now I just need 49930 more words.

2007-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Insane Scheme

So here's the deal: I'm about seven thousand words in. I've created three protagonists. I don't have any idea how these protagonists are going to meet each other or what they're going to do when they do, because I don't really have a clear idea of my antagonists' Evil Scheme (it apparently involved exploding boats, though). Instead of working on these issues, I'm introducing a fourth protagonist. In short, my novel is a train wreck, and I have the urge to restart. But one of the foremost rules of NaNoWriMo is "Thou shalt not just throw away seven thousand words, you dumb bastard."

So here's my plan: I'm going to finish this novel by mid-month. I will motivate myself to do so with the promise that, if I succeed, I'll then get to write a different, much better (or so I tell myself) novel during the month's back half.

Who's with me?

2007-05-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know, I have recently entered the "unemployed" stage of my career. I completed my Ombuds term at the Students' Union, and rather than find a job, I thought, "Hey! Why not try writing a novel instead?" I mean, ostensibly, writing could be considered a job, so maybe I'm not even technically unemployed. "Plenty of time," I thought mirthfully. "Plenty of time to write a novel! Why, I might even write TWO! Mwahahaha...."

Now here's the rub...I have the attention span of a two year-old ADHD chihuahua that's been drinking Red Bull and vodka (which someone slipped a pill of ecstasy into while he was using the bathroom). I am getting distracted by damn near everything. Wanna play a game of Caylus? Sure, I've got time. What's this? A comic book? Let me read it! Ooh...a new DS game! Shiny! Hell, even in the time spent composing this short blog post, I've looked up two articles on the NBA playoffs and started a game of Settlers online.

My word count is nothing short of a train wreck. If I'm not at 5,000 by the end of today, I'm hanging myself with my head phone wires.

2007-04-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

Fiona Jordan couldn't count the number of times she'd heard fine mist used as a symbol of tranquility by novelists, poets, and other hacks who had never been on a small boat off Newfoundland's Grand Banks in rough weather.

What are everybody else's first lines?

2007-04-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

With 30 minutes until the race to the finish starts, I stare off into oblivion. And of course, I mean my computer screen, falling deep into the depths of the interweb.

What will this month bring? I don't know.

But I think it will have superheroes.

Good luck.

2007-04-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

More Horses! More Gates!

(Edit - the late addition of Heather Olah - the only American in the contest excepting Dan Kaszor, as far as I know - makes forty-six.)

We've more than doubled last year's participation rate, with a total of forty-six aspiring novelists. Based on normal NaNoWriMo success rates, we should be looking at seven new novels as a result of this month. Based on last year's U of A edition success rate, we should get eight. Based on my absurd expectations, we should get at least forty. Don't let yourselves down!

This year's special welcome goes out to Richard Casey, who brought NaNoWriMo (U of A Edition) to realms having nothing whatever to do with the U of A - specifically England, which the more educated among you will recognize as homeland of the English language. Which only means, of course, that expectations are much higher on Richard and his crew of limeys than on us colonials.

Anyway, there having been sufficient ado in this post already, let's have a look at the participants:

Josh Bazin
Stephen Beckman
Justin Benko
Catrin Berghoff *
Richard Casey
Natalie Climenhaga *
Ian Cole
Matt Costello
David Cournoyer
Bryn Cox
Caitlin Crawshaw
Adam Demaniuk
Ashley Geis
Ryan Heise
Donald Heitzman *
Erik Jacobs
Daniel Kaszor **
Michelle Kelly *
Elliot Kerr
Barrett Klesko
Mike Larocque
Scott Lilwall *
Janet Lo
Thabo Miller
Kim Misutka
Michael Ng
Chris O'Leary *
Heather Olah
Greg Overguard
Shawna Pandya *
Tim Peppin *
Uzma Rajan
Erin Reddekopp
Erran Rilkoff
Ashraf Rushdy
Nadia Rushdy *
Chris Samuel *
Chris Schafenacker
Steph Shantz
Heather Smith **
Michael Smith
Steve Smith **
Krystina Sulatycki
Nicholas Tam *
Jake Troughton **
Iman Verjee

* participated in 2006
** completed novel in 2006

If anybody needs me, I'll be on my laptop.

2007-04-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Advice from the dearly-departed

These are about short stories, but most should be applicable to novels too, I think. Regular novels, that is. NaNoWriMo novels should violate many, if not all, of these rules (in fact, if you don't come to terms with violating #4, you certainly won't finish).

Thanks to 2006 NaNoWriMo near-winner (>40000 words before quitting) Scott Lilwall for the link.

2007-04-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Back in the proverbial saddle
(Note: I have a poor understanding of what constitutes a proverb.)

Time to revive this thing for another year. So far we've more than doubled our participation from last year, as we have forty-five people committed. If NaNoWriMo success rates hold (and we exceeded the average last year), we should have seven completed novels emerge from the month. Woo!

For those of you who haven't got a copy of Chris Baty's book, now would be a good time to review the excerpts I posted last year:

Turning Close Friends into Obligations
The Magna Cartas

Once you've done that, let's have some discussion of people's Magna Cartas in the comments section (of this post, not of the Magna Cartas post - that would be dumb).

Let's simultaneously get it started and retarded in here.

2006-06-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

What's the verdict?

Alright, I guess the decision is yours. Do I get my bragging rights? Here's the problem: I finished my fifty words, but I hit the fifty word mark approximately three hours and fifteen minutes after May officially ended.

By the numbers (because all the cool kids are doing it):
Number of words: 50 028
Number of references to Igor Kravchuk: 1
Number of muderers: 2
Number of characters named after hockey players: 2
Number of times the character of Igor, the socially-hadicapped convenience store clerk gets laid: 3 (he's lucky that Jenna is such a slut)
Number of times I decided that a nuclear bomb should kill all of my characters but then decided against it: 2
Number of pages I used up by having one of the characters quote from the book Pity the Nation by Robert Fisk: 1.5
Number of pets in my novel named after game show hosts: 1

Distractions by the numbers:
Number of times in May that I played Tetris: 1
Number of novels I read in May: 2
Number of hours per week that I work more than my brother: 10-15
Number of times in May that I got drunk: 2
Number of Paul Coffey Night Igor Ulanov game worn jerseys that I won off of the Edmonton Oilers online auction in May: 1
Number of rather robust barbecues purchased by my parents in May which my mother insisted on naming "Igor":1

Number of novels I wrote in May: 0.99 (I made that number up)

2006-05-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Faith, Faith is an Island in the Setting Sun
But Proof is the Bottom Line for Everyone

Some of you might be wondering, quite legitimately, why I chose to make a new post rather than just edit this screenshot into my other post. There are a number of reasons for this:
1. My inflated sense of self-importance likes having my word count be the first thing people see.
2. I was afraid that, if I attempted to put it into my other post, I might inadvertently fry the other post (this is, after all, the first time I've ever put a photo in a blog post).
3. Fuck you.

2006-05-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

Done ... Until The Sequel!

My novel by the numbers:

Words: 50 065
Pages: 128
Chapters: 20
Interludes: 3
Chapters titled Bacon out of respect to Matt: 1
Amount of bacon consumed (in meals worth): 1
Amount of time it took me to type an average 1000 words in minutes: 40
Amount of time used for each 1000 words in minutes: 60 (lots of internet surfing)
Fastest 1000 words in minutes: 20
Number of almost rapes: 1
Number of implied sex scenes: 1
Number of those sex scenes between two computers: 1
"On screen" deaths: 11 (although the first couple are arguable)
Crazy Computers: 1 (um, wait, no that's a spoiler for the sequel!)
Number of long lost loves: 1
Number of Space Elevators: 2
Number of Space Ships: 2
Amount of time, in words, spent underground: 15 000
Number of 2 000 km tunnels: 2
Number of Ninjas that Attacked: 0
Limbs cut off: 5
Number of times the story was e-mailed to myself: 10
Is the novel good or bad, good being one and bad being 0: 0
Number of novels written more than the number written by Mr. Digby Sellars: 1

2006-05-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Take that!

Yes, my friends and other interested observers: I have passed 50,000 words. As I understand the rules, this officially makes me a better person than all of you. Well, except for Steve. And probably Dan later.

I'm not quite done yet, though: I still have to write the last chapter. So for now, I bid you adieu.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

EDIT NOW THAT I'M DONE THE LAST CHAPTER (which happened at around 11:30pm)

Bloodthirsty by the numbers:

Words: 51,166
Pages (even though this is meaningless until it's formatted properly): 119
Chapters: 20
Average chapter length in words: 2558
Longest chapter: 11 (4566 words)
Worst chapter: 11
Shortest chapter: 17 (1064 words)
Occurrences of the word "fuck" (or its derivatives): 31
Occurrences of the word "fuck" (or its derivatives) in chapter 6: 14
Occurrences of the word "fuck" (or its derivatives) in paragraph 3 of page 33: 13
Words in paragraph 3 of page 33: 35
Occurrences of the word "tits": 2
Occurrences of the word "baseball": 2
Words about Tetris: 592
Occurrences of the word "Tetris": 0
Characters shot in the stomach: 1
Total amount of time spent in hospital due to being shot in the stomach (in seconds): 0
Different TV shows or movies jokes were ~~stolen~~ borrowed from: at least 6
Occurrences of the word "blood": 116
Most productive day, in words: 3030 (May 29)
Least productive day, in words: 0 (several)
Least productive day that something was actually written, in words: 50 (May 13)
Dirty jokes I refrained from making in this list because they would have been too big a spoiler: 1
Number of times better than Chris Samuel I am (approximate): 1023

2006-05-31T06:12:00.000-07:00

I Interrupt My Shameful Neglect of This Blog...

...to announce that I'm done. 50,010 words of novel at 6:51 this morning, not including title page, chapter headings, "the end", or anything else that anybody might try to claim doesn't count. I have a screenshot of my word count, but me USB key seems to have died on my, so I have no way of getting said screenshot from my laptop to a computer with an internet connection. So for now you'll just have to take my word for it.

I'm a novelist. Not a good novelist, mind you. The kind of novelist who would probably be rejected by the Romance Writers' Guild of America for "cliched writing" and "lack of oringality in plots". But still: a motherfucking novelist! A novelist! Who fucks mothers! In our cities! In Canada!

For those of you - that beiong Jake and Dan - who are close to finishing and who are sustaining yourselves largely on the anticipation of the euphoria that will hit when you finish, let me assure you that it's everything you imagined it would be and more. And I imagine this is true even if you haven't just consumed three times the recommended maximum daily intake of Full Throttle energy drink. Go hard, dammit!

And now, Queen on repeat.

2006-05-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

Final Week Word Count List

Okay, since Steve is being a dinkwallet about this, here is how we'll work this without him. I'll post my word count here and then you guys post yours in the comments (as well as when they were applicable for). I will then update them in the post. You can update as much as you want, seeing as this is the last week and we should have a more active word count thingy going on. Anyway:

• Daniel Kaszor: ~~46 002 as of Tuesday, May 30 at 9:40pm. Words tomorrow needed to finish: 3998.~~DONE!

• Jake Troughton: ~~48 777 as of Wednesday, May 31 at 12:05am. Words per day needed to finish: 1333.~~DONE!

• Steve Smith ~~40 000 as of Tuesday, May 30 at 12:15pm. Words per day needed to finish: 5000.~~DONE!

• Heather Smith: 7125 as of Thursday, May 25 at 10:30pm. Words per day needed to finish: 7145.

• Scott Lilwall: 20 014 as of Monday, May 22 at 7:14pm. Words per day needed to finish (at that point): 3000.

(Note, I'm pretty sure that Lilwall hasn't actually written since last Monday, so his wpdntf is probably much higher now. Also, does anyone else notice that Word's live word counter gets spazzy after about 30 000 words? I sure did).

2006-05-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Excellent

Yet another one of my characters has become a murderous villain. Oh joy.

2006-05-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

The greatest SNES games circa right now

Since Steve mentioned something about how his SNES emulator was a constant source of distraction, I've decided to whip up my personal list of the greatest SNES games of right now. So these are all games that are still fun to play, and not necessarily the most influential or important when they came out. Also certain games have been obsoleted a lot more than others. Anyway, without further ado ...

10. Tetris Attack

Known also as Puzzle League this game actually has nothing at all to do with Tetris other than the fact that it's a puzzle game. It is, however, amazing addicting. You have to flip panels so that they match in colours. Sounds simple. It isn't.

9. Tetris/Dr. Mario

The greatest puzzle game ever, mixed with the puzzle game your mom can't stop playing! What's not to love?

8. Final Fantasy VI (released as Final Fantasy III in North America)

This one would probably rank higher if this list was put together in 1995. RPGs have advanced to a point where going back and playing this type of old style game, with its way too frequent simple battles and giant plot holes, is tough. But still, it's just so epic!

7. Mega Man X

This game probably has the best balance of bad guy abilities to grab of all the Mega Man games other than perhaps Mega Man 2 or Mega Man 3 for the NES (when there are literally 20 mainstream Mega Man games, this is actually a complement). The controls are tight and the addition of the wall grab and bad guy weapons that could be powered up added to the game. Also, it had some easy levels to cut your teeth on followed by some totally hard, but not impossible levels. Truly a side scrolling classic.

6. Mario Kart

Still totally fun after all of these years. Another game that would rank higher if not for far superior sequels. Although, honestly, who doesn't love that old school battle mode with just two people?

5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Though, it probably isn't the best Zelda any more (that honour goes to Ocarina of Time), in my mind it stands up. This was the first game I ever actually played all the way through on an emulator, which was strange because I had the real game sitting in a closet next to me. I also finished the excellent GBA port of the game as well. Actually I think I've beaten this game at least twelve times all told.

4. Super Metroid

Still the best Metroid game (or even Metroid style game) ever made, and probably the only 2D platformer that is able to seriously wig you out with its mood and ambiance. The game is a touch short if you know where to go, but for first timers it's a true treat. And remember folks, even though Mother Brain looks dead, she isn't dead till she's dead.

3. Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger holds up much better than its Squaresoft brother FFVI/III because it does away with some of the dumber conventions of Japanese RPGs. The skipable, less frequent and more fun battles, and the fact that everything happens on one screen, make the game intensely playable. There are so many cool little moments in the game that make you just want to keep playing.

2. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Although I'm still torn about its postmodern storybook look, and I find the mechanic of throwing eggs to be a bit clunky, this sequel to Super Mario World is downright huge, and contains some of the best platforming on any console ever. The last boss fight is amazing. Why aren't you playing it right now?

1. Super Mario Allstars + World

Yes, this is sort of a cop out, but the cart containing Super Mario 1, 2, 3, Lost Levels and World is one of the greatest game carts ever created, if not the greatest. I would probably rank at least two of the games contained higher than anything else on this list all by themselves (Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World) and the rest would be close behind. If there is one SNES game to play, this is it.

2006-05-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Why I oughta...

I'm finally starting to make actual progress on this thing, and I'm rocking along today, which is great. Before I get back to it, though, I feel it's important to let everyone know that I'm currently writing a fight scene, and I just started it off with references to the Three Stooges. Therefore, I'm a better person than you. QED.

2006-05-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Where is the word count?

I want to know how far behind I am as the final week approaches.

2006-05-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

After almost three weeks I'm ready to make my list

You know those lists we were supposed to make at the beginning about things we do and don't like in stories. Well after getting over a major hate-on for my novel, I think I'm ready to make my list.

Things I like and want to continue in my novel:

Action sequences held in the moment.
Sequences about settings or moments in time reflected through the lens of a character
Reflections on Characters' moods or feelings as exposed through internal dialogue

Things I don't like and want to avoid as much as possible:

Dialogue, especially plot oriented expository dialogue
Plot oriented expository sequences in general

Man, I might write 50 000 words, but there is almost no way I'll be done the story by that point. This is exacerbated by the fact that I find moving the plot forward painful.

2006-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Your opinion, please.

Alright, so Steve has already told me that he doesn't think I'll be able to finish the novel. I'm at around 7000 words right now. What do you guys think (keeping in mind the fact that I have a pair of jobs)?

2006-05-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

How do you name your characters?

The above question is directed both to those few of you who remain in the running, and to anyone else who might have something useful to contribute. You see, I have no idea how to name my characters, and I keep coming up with boring monikers that are distinguished in no way besides happening to be the first that came to my head. Does anyone else find that they have a feel for what a character's name "should" be, or anything of that sort, or are we all in the same boat here?

2006-05-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Because this is actually all about winning ...

... I've decided to remind the other NoWriMoers who own a Nintendo DS, especially frontrunner Jake, and to a slightly lesser extent backrunner Nick, that New Super Mario Bros. came out today.

2006-05-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Threshold of competence

So, I've upped my threshold of work from 2000 words per day to 3000 words per day. (before when I did a day I would be happy when I hit 2000, that mark is now 3000)

I've done this because while I'm fairly sure I can do 12 000 words a week at 2000 per day, that is no longer enough for me to finish, hence the upped count. Let's see how this goes!

2006-05-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

Sort Kind of Almost Half-Way Done

The field's thinning a little bit.

Jake Troughton - 21,452
Steve Smith - 17,232
Daniel Kaszor - 13,013
Nick Tam - 5,838
Theresa Chapman - 3,269
Natalie Climenhaga - 518
Arthur Digby Sellars - 0

Catrin Berghoff, Chris O'Leary, Sarah Bidanjiri, and Chris Samuel have quit. Additionally, Tim Peppin (who, let the record show, is a delinquent shithead) has been disqualified unilaterally for failing to submit word counts during two consecutive weeks.

Nothing yet from Scott Lilwall, Heather Smith, Nadia Rushdy, Chloe Fedio, Shawna Pandya, Michelle Kelly, Matt Frehner, or Donald Heitzman, but I'll update you as they update me.

2006-05-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

"But the rest of you, hang in there!", she said insincerely, since of course she wanted them to fail just as miserably as she had.

I am saddened to announce my shameful failure at this endeavour.

I'm out.

Sorry, all. If we ever do this again, I'll try once more, but I made the mistake of not having an idea. I failed to tailor my novel to my strengths, and the result is horrible.

If anyone else who failed wants to join me in a bonfire in my backyard...no, wait, the burning books thing might not fly what with my nationality and all.

2006-05-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

On the Counting of Words

I was just browsing the official NaNoWriMo forums, and discovered that they generally operate with a very liberal view of what should count toward the 50,000 words. So the question now becomes: how long can you reasonably make your title?

I was contemplating calling mine Bloodthirsty, even though it totally doesn't fit thematically, but it's only one word, so to hell with that. Now, I'm thinking of something more like The Vampire Who Survived a Genocide, Then Went Into Hiding For Nearly Three Centuries, Living Among Humans In a Peaceful and Respectful Fashion Because He is Basically a Decent Sort of Guy, but Who Was Always Afraid of Being Discovered and Who, Upon Finally In Fact Being Discovered, Had to Deal With the Perhaps Understandable but Nonetheless Unfair and Inappropriate Fear and Hatred that Many Members of the Human Race Directed Toward Him, and Also, He is Very Good at Playing Tetris, Though That Fact Is Not Really Explored Very Much in This Particular Story.

And then there's the subtitle to deal with.

2006-05-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Interactive Fun-Time Bonanza

Fun times were certainly had by all at Keegan's last night, where by "all" I mean "me, Steve, Catrin, and briefly Shawna." I didn't write near as much I'd hoped while there, only about 1100 words, but it was a pivotal moment in the story, so I don't feel too bad about not blasting through it.

I post, though, because I want to pose two questions to the group. Please do respond.

Question the First: In the space of one paragraph, I increased my novel's "fuck" count from three to 16 (it's now 17), putting the figure somewhere in the neighbour of Steve's, last I heard. How many times does the word "fuck" or its variants appear in your novel?

Question the Second: My favourite line I wrote last night, which Steve seemed to appreciate, was the following piece of dialogue: "Okay, so what do I do if there is an impromptu garlic-throwing festival?" What's your favourite line you've written in the last couple days?

2006-05-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Evening

"I haven't seen any of my characters naked - yet."
(S. M. Smith)

How crazy is this comment?

Let me count the ways...

2006-05-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

"Have you ever noticed that you can never come up with a good joke under pressure? Of course you have. Everybody has. That observation was one of the least interesting observations ever made, and I apologize for it."

As my novel hits the eighteen thousand word mark, I can't help but to be a little depressed by it. Not because it's bad. I knew it would be bad. But I never expected it to be this formulaic.

The formula?

High Fidelity - obsession with music and lists - wit - everything else that makes High Fidelity good + electoral politics = Steve's novel

Anybody else have sources of inspiration that are becoming uncomfortably apparent to you over the course of your novel?

2006-05-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Before I started my novel, even before I had even the smallest semblance of a plot worked out, I had one goal in mind: I want to kill my main character off in the first chapter. I figured that doing so would force me to come up with a plot of some sort, simply to work around the fact that my main focus of the novel would cease to exist before Chapter Two.

It is then, with sadness, that I announced the death of Greg Ryder. He passed away on Sunday, May 2^nd, at about the 5000 word mark. Friend. Son. Couch Insurance Salesman.

Greg survived an elaborate scheme put in place by Fate to cause his death by way of fried eggs and a pizza delivery. Barely escaping demise by that manner, he was sadly gunned down by the love of his life on the way back to his office.

He is survived by a Donald Duck desk clock, and a rat with a weakness for Frosted Flakes.

Please join me in a silent moment of reflection, as well as a longer moment of "what the hell am I going to do with my novel now?"

2006-05-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, I beat my fifteen-year-old self

Well today I passed 6532 words which was where my last attempt at fiction ended almost ten years ago. That attempt dealt with detention, young weddings, child abuse, and um, alternate realities.

In other news, I finally figured a way around having only one character ... introducing another character I hadn't planned on showing up for another 5000 words and having a good chunk of the story flow from her perspective. Writing from this character's point of view removes a lot of the mystery I had intended for her when she initially showed up, but opens up a lot of interesting story directions.

So, have any of you changed the perspective that your story is being told from to spice things up?

2006-05-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

A Word of Advice

Based on the word counts listed below, I get the impression that the last thing any of you need to be doing right now is procrastinating. So with that in mind, whatever you do, do not go here.

2006-05-08T01:09:00.000-07:00

The (Partial) Week One Standings

Here's where we sit after week one:

Steve Smith - 11,486
Jake Troughton - 10,225
Scott Lilwall - 8,565
Catrin Berghoff - 8,551
Daniel Kaszor - 6,235
Chris O'Leary - 5,765
Heather Smith - 4,508
Nadia Rushdy - 4,500 (estimated - she's writing by hand)
Nick Tam - 3,448
Chloe Fedio - 3,134
Sarah Bidanjiri - 1,607
Shawna Pandya - 1,101
Michelle Kelly - 1,000
Matt Frehner - 630 (17 of which are "bacon")
Donald Heitzman - 546
Natalie Climenhaga - 312
Arthur Digby Sellars - 0

Adam Rozenhart and Joel Chury have quit.

As yet, I've received nothing formal from Theresa Chapman, Tim Peppin, or Chris Samuel (but, if I do, I'll edit this post to reflect that).

Also note that, among reporters, I'm the only one on pace to finish this bastard. Step it up, people!

2006-05-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia is proving itself to be a useful tool for expediting the writing process. Observe: I have an early scene at an English country house. I wanted to put together what, in film, they call the "establishing shot" - the immediate sensory contact with the scene being set so you know where you are, and so does the reader. Unfortunately, I knew next to nothing about English country houses apart from their presence in a few episodes of my favourite television show, The Avengers, where megalomaniacal villains would often hang out in manors. (A comedy of manors, if you will.)

So I typed wp English country house in the Firefox address bar, and shazam! Wikipedia to the rescue, the block-breaking superhero anyone can edit. And just like that, I had the word "Palladian" at my fingertips.

Factual accuracy or neutral points of view be damned; for our purposes, we just need a verbal chain of associations, the fewer clicks away the better. If it feels like novelists ordinarily require a lot more time to draft something, keep in mind that once upon a time, they had to sit around in libraries for weeks just to pretend to know what they were talking about. Now it takes all of two minutes to grab some technical (but accessible) terminology and force it into a proper descriptive context. Take that as encouragement.

2006-05-06T22:19:00.001-07:00

Plot start now please

Is anyone else finding that they are just typing away at their story and nothing has happened yet? I'm just finding it really hard to move the story from boring expository scenes to ones where something happens, but at the same time the whole thing won't make sense unless I slog through. AGG! Oh well.

UPDATE: My favorite sentence from today (note I said "favorite," not "best" or even "a good"):

"This wasn’t especially surprising considering the he had almost died in a multitude of different ways, not the least of which was dodging a virus that had essentially wiped out the human race, but it was worrying none the less."

2006-05-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

Need a random word?

I was speaking to Catrin earlier today, and she told me that when she's stuck, she'll open up her dictionary and pick a random word, which she then has to work into the story. That idea struck me as not half bad, but I frequently don't have access to a paper dictionary while I'm writing, and even when I do it's hard to truly pick a random word. Enter the Random Word Generator. I'm going to give this a shot. My random word: warranty.

Chapter 4: Thomas goes to Future Shop.

2006-05-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Below her, the world was no longer partitioned into squares and rectangles.

So, what are your opening lines?