The WriMos Guide to the NaNoWriMo Forums

Together we are STRONGER! (healerslibrary)

When I look back on my previous NaNoWriMo experiences, I remember all the fun I’ve had on the forums. I know it’s not for everyone… and sometimes it feels like more ways to procrastinate.

Am I right or am I right?

BUT. The NaNoWriMo forums are there for a good reason. They not only help us connect to one another, but they also help us connect to our stories better. I know it sounds like I’m on some kind of medication… or I’m secretly being paid by the NaNoWriMo team to promote them endlessly. Come on, have a little faith in me!

To prove my point, I’ll give you all the ways you can make your NaNo journey better by using the forums. They will keep you on track and your story will be better for it.

1. Are you tired of Word? Say that you are, you need to check who’s sponsoring the competition this year (Scrivener, WriteWay, etc.) and what they’re offering (free writing software). I mean, if they’re offering, we must comply and use it, right? What’s free these days?

2. Do you need information? The ‘reference desk’ on the forums is by far MY FAVORITE tool during NaNo. You get help with your research by REAL PEOPLE who are by far the best referencing tool for writers. Yes, the books may be helpful when you’re looking for names of rivers and history facts. But what about slang phrases and climate changes? Instead of digging like crazy and coming up with wrong information, you can ask your fellow WriMos in real time!

3. Are you and your story stuck? That’s what ‘plot doctoring’ is for! You need a name? Plot twist? Opinions? Tips? Anything your story needs, the forums will provide. Come November, the reference desk and plot doctoring heat up so fast, you wouldn’t be able to keep track no matter how much coffee you’ve inhaled! I mean drunk…

4. Are you in need of inspiration and/or motivation? The Reaching 50,000 thread is perfect to keep motivated and fit for the write of your life! We all know we need much more than a good idea to reach the finish line, and that’s mental preparation and some good old-fashioned psyching up!

5. Would you like to adopt? No, not a baby! In the Adoption Society thread you can adopt anything: from a name for your character to a whole plot for your story. People are kind enough to donate their unwanted puppies, so you should really consider giving them the love they need!

6. Would you like to chat with your fellow WriMos? Well, the all-ages coffee house is the place for you. You can talk about anything there, so long as it’s in good fun.

7. During November, you can either scream for joy in the This Is Going Better than I’d Hoped thread or woe and vent in the NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul thread. Chances are, you’ll be in one or the other, and more often in both in the same day. It’s like being bi-polar. One minute you’re ecstatic, the next you’re on the bottom of the well. Gotta love the rollercoaster!

8. What do you do when you reach an important cornerstone? You give a shout in the Shoutouts thread. When you’ve written 10K or 20K or 50K, all you want is to cry and laugh hysterically, right? Well, nobody will call you crazy if you do so in this thread. We all understand!!!

9. Would you like to sprint? When you are not #wordmongering your way into a sleep-deprived, caffeine-induced November daze, you can do word sprints, wars, and prompts on the forums. It’s the good life… or so they say about addictive things. :D

10. It’s all about the music, baby!!! While there’s lots of helpful resources in this part of the forums, I’d like to give my full attention to the place where music rules and brings us much needed inspiration during NaNo. Whether you’d like to exchange CD’s or share your music choices (SOUNDTRACKS!), you should definitely check the NaNo Soundtracks thread out!

11. What genre are you writing in? In the genres lounge you can talk to like-minded (or like-crazed) wrimos. While I’ll probably hang out in the mystery and suspense thread, I’ll also be lurking in the fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and YA threads. All the while steering clear from historical and erotic fiction.

12. And don’t forget to join a group!  I don’t always follow my own advice, but it might be fun to talk to your peers while you’re doing NaNo. ESPECIALLY if you’re a newbie! And even though Thou shall not finish old stories during NaNo, the forums provide some space for the NaNoRebels too. And finally, don't forget to check your regional threads. Mine are currently the London and Bulgarian ones.

13. Finally, follow my suit and SHAMELESSLY promote, people! I’m serious! If you provide any vital services for the WriMos round the world, like editing, design, etc., you MUST let them see your awesomeness in the Marketing and Self-Promotions thread.

So… did I convince you or what? In all seriousness, I can’t imagine going through NaNo without being semi-active on the forums. Yes, November’s about cranking up the words and reaching the golden 50K. But if you just do that, you would’ve missed half the point!

We all know NaNo’s about connecting and going through the motions TOGETHER!

When else will you have hundreds of thousands of writers crowded together on a tiny site, feverishly discussing the joys of writing and how many bulbs you need to light a foreign planet?

Or wait… I just made that up. All the same, it’s a unique opportunity.

Don’t squander it.

Have you used the forums before? What’s your favourite thread there?

How I Published My Novel by Rachel Tsoumbakos

(Image source: volusion ecommerce)

Three years ago, I came across a book in my local library: ‘No Plot? No Problem.’ Little did I know it, but my NaNoWriMo journey had started.

That first year I signed up to the National Novel Writing website with excitement - after all, I was about to write a best seller. In a month’s time people would be banging down the door to publish it. I picked a username and a profile picture and then I got scared. I had a novel idea plotted out. What I was worried about, however, was the finish line. Not the thirty day deadline, but the end of my novel.

You see, I am pretty good at starting novels, but had never finished one. Ever.

So that first year came and went without a word being written. Every day I checked in and read about everyone else’s progress. Each day I became more disgusted with myself. Next year would be different, I told myself.

A whole year went by. I didn’t really think about NaNoWriMo until the following October when I borrowed that same book from the same library for a second time. I tried a slightly different approach this year though - I jumped blindly over the edge of October and hit the ground of November 1^st running.

I had no plot. I also had a major dancing competition in December. There was little time to spare. Having just finished reading ‘Twilight,’ I decided vampires would be my genre; after all, everyone was writing about them. I announced on Facebook that I was writing a novel in a month. And guess what? There was no choice but to finish it now.

With the threat of public humiliation, I actually finished the novel three days early. I also came second in Australia for my dancing level.

The second year was easier. I had a plan for the storyline growing. It had been blossoming in my head for several months. I wanted to see what would happen when I had both a plot and motivation (read: public humiliation again via Facebook).

What happened was magic.

The first day I sat down and poured my heart out onto my keyboard. I wrote for twenty five days straight. Some days only amassing 500 words, and others over 3,000. On the twenty sixth day, I started to wonder if this story would ever get finished. I had hit 50,000 words early and there was no finish line in sight. Worry set in. Not only do I believe you should reach the word count quota, but the story should also have a beginning, middle, and end.

What did I do? I set up a song list on my media player filled with both inspiring (think Amazing by George Michael) as well as scary (Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nail singing Like a Virgin) and wrote over 5,000 words in one sitting.

So, my story got finished - then what?

I gave myself a month off before editing. Along the way I started to send out feelers on Facebook. Other authors were doing the same thing. I entered my manuscript in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards (ABNA). More discussion ensued there. Along the way, I got dropped from ABNA on the first round, but made a random comment on a Facebook friend’s page about how I was interested in self-publishing. That comment received another from a woman called Alison De Luca who was signed with Fantasy Island Book Publishing. She suggested that I submit my manuscript to her publishing house.

Fantasy Island Book Publishing is a new form of publishing. You could call it co-operative publishing. Each author can involve themselves as little or as much in the whole publishing process. If you have no idea how to design a cover, then someone else will step in and help out. If you want to give book trailer videos a go, then great. It is an individual process. Personally, it has given me a greater satisfaction than if I had just handed over my manuscript to a bigger publisher and therefore ending my creative input there.

The rest, as they so often say in the movies, is history!

Now tell me your stories! Ever published your NaNo novel? Ever tried to? What are your plans after the finish line? If I can do this, you can too!!!

Rachel was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1974. She has worked in several different areas including hairdressing and banking. Currently she is a stay home mother of two. Besides writing, she enjoys living a sustainable lifestyle by growing edible plants and raising chickens in her suburban backyard. Emeline and the Mutants is her first novel, and she is currently editing her new work, Indiana Meets A Vampire.

Rachel is active on Twitter (@mrszoomby), and you can find her on Facebook. Her main character, Emeline Hart also has a Facebook following. Rachel can also be found on Google+. Her NaNoWriMo username is barefootgardener. 

Not Afraid to Fail by Tami Veldura

(source: everything technology marketing)

I have participated in the beast that is NaNoWriMo for six years straight. 

I haven't won even once.

I make a one month commitment every year for six years and I can't even say I've stuck to it for 30 days. I've either got the world's worst fear of commitment or I'm nuts, but either way I'm trying this thing again, and by Grabthor's Hammar, it will work this time. Right up until a friend of mine wants to hang out for an afternoon; then all bets are off.

When Chris Batty decided to get some friends together and write a stupid number of words in a stupidly short amount of time, he didn't actually think anyone would do it. He didn't really expect anyone to hit 50k. He thought he'd picked a number so unfathomably astronomical that the very thought of it would kick the inner editor out of the picture and allow creativity and progress to flow unimpeded. 

Then this thing took off like a pumpkin from a slingshot and thousands of people hit 50k words for years in a row. They developed techniques for hitting 50k (no contractions!) and debated the merits of pantsing vs. plotting. They built wordcount trackers and winners got digital badges of triumph. And somewhere along the way NaNoWriMo became about hitting 50k words in 30 days no matter what or you didn't win.

I've done NaNo for six years in a row, and I haven't won once.

But I have done NaNo for six years in a row and I have made life-long friends who are just as crazy about writing and character and grammar as I am.

I have done NaNo for six years and I have learned more about time management than any public school press of homework could ever hope to teach me.

I have done NaNo for six years and I have screamed myself so silly I've cried in a public coffee house with nine other WriMo’s during write-ins.

I have done NaNo for six years and I have found hidden depths of genuine emotion in paragraphs of otherwise bland exposition. It takes 10 thousand hours of practice, 10 thousand paintings, and 10 thousand words before the real writing shines.

I've done NaNo for six years and I have seen communities spring up (#1k1hr, #writeordie) with the single purpose of driving this creative force within us to show what we're made of.

I've done NaNo for six years and I've grown as a writer in leaps that my school teachers would be pressed to explain.

I've done NaNo for six years and I have broken every rule they've set down and I still haven't managed to win even once, but NaNoWriMo isn't about writing 50k words in 30 days. 

Not really. 

It's about coming together and celebrating the arts. It's about taking a challenge and running with it with all your heart, even when the world says no. It's about proving that the impossible can happen every single day. It's about not having to prove anything to anyone. It's about expanding your horizons, taking leaps of faith, trusting your gut, stepping out of the comfort zone, rushing headlong into battle, and never settling for less.

It's about Butt In Chair, Words On Paper.

It's about producing.

It's for the love of craft.

Happy writing!

What has NaNoWriMo taught YOU so far? Are you in it to win it or just to have fun?

Tami Veldura is a 24yr-old fresh from college with a BA in long form creative fiction. Her first short story: Closer Than Touch is coming out in January 2012. You can find her on twitter @tamiveldura and her website. And finally, you can also find her as tamiveldura on the NaNoWriMo site.