The Nano challenge
1. Are you doing NaNo this November? Why, or why not?
I am, partially against my better judgement, because I have had this story sitting for a couple of years, and I'm only going to do it if I nano it.
2. How do you feel about the challenge of writing a novel(la) of 50k words in a month?
Despite the fact that I normally hate deadlines and things, I actually really enjoy writing challenges, so long as they're the sort of challenges I like. I take part in far too many to be honest and this year I've possibly overdone it a little, and I've still got Nano and one more to do!
3. If you have tried before, did you succeed? Fail? A bit of both?
I first took part in 2008 where I managed to write 50,000, but I didn't actually finish the novel.
In 2009/10 I had no motivation to write whatsoever. Everything I started failed before I even got going with it so I stopped trying. I tried to kick-start myself into writing by saying that I was going to do the Nano, but I did in unofficially and didn't actually tell anyone or sign up on the site or anything really. I failed big time.
2011 saw my writing Book 3 of the series that you've been seeing the characters for on Charloft (Martin, Maku and co)
And then in Summer 2012 I did the CampNaNoWriMo in June and August and wrote Book 4 and Book 5 of the same series.
4. What advice do you have to a would-be-novelist (NaNo or otherwise)?
If you have a busy life style with family/ work/ education/ other people/ other responsibilities, try to put aside a couple of hours everyday which are YOUR ours for doing writing (or planning). Keep them the same as much as you can so that everyone knows that they are not to disturb you then. Stick to it as much as is humanly possible.
5. Are you a plotter that outlines everything ahead of time, or are you more into figuring it out as you go along?
I'm normally a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants) with a little bit of planning on the side, especially with a big series like Kalmari was. This year though I am almost completely planned and plotted. I have used Scrivener to work out all of my characters and the plot points and where things need to go and what's going to happen. Pretty much the only thing I haven't done is write the bloody thing.
6. What will your novel be about this year? Who are the characters? What is the plot?
This year I am doing the failed attempt from '09/'10. It is called 'The Fool's Journey' and is based on the cards of the major arcana in a regular tarot deck. It's basically 22 interconnected short stories presented in the form of letters and a couple of diary entries by 11 different characters who are all connected in some way.
In the first chapter Max (the Fool) takes his first big step out on his journey into the big unknown and his friends are concerned, but also encourage him. The following 20 chapters are two stories from each of the other ten characters, including friends, family and teachers of Max and his two friends, following the order of the major arcana. The two stories for each show them as they are now, and then as they change through various situations. Other charters' stories mention people we've met, and people we're going to meet.
In the final chapter (The World), Max returns home to a large reunion and everyone who was previously introduced is either present or talked about, bringing everything full circle.
Technically there is one final chapter, which is a sort of history of the tarot- what it is, what it isn't, how it's been used through the years, how it's perceived by other people, including religions, and then a very brief biography of any and all the different tarot decks and books that I've used to take inspiration from.
7. What NaNo support would you like to see charloft offer?
I don't really know... maybe an opportunity or two to mention how our nano attempts are going, a few challenges for those of us who've hit a dead end with our characters, um... dunno.
Feel free to link us to your Nano profile!
I write under my REAL name for NaNo, Hannah_S, so if you get a random Writing Buddy request, it is in fact me!
I am, partially against my better judgement, because I have had this story sitting for a couple of years, and I'm only going to do it if I nano it.
2. How do you feel about the challenge of writing a novel(la) of 50k words in a month?
Despite the fact that I normally hate deadlines and things, I actually really enjoy writing challenges, so long as they're the sort of challenges I like. I take part in far too many to be honest and this year I've possibly overdone it a little, and I've still got Nano and one more to do!
3. If you have tried before, did you succeed? Fail? A bit of both?
I first took part in 2008 where I managed to write 50,000, but I didn't actually finish the novel.
In 2009/10 I had no motivation to write whatsoever. Everything I started failed before I even got going with it so I stopped trying. I tried to kick-start myself into writing by saying that I was going to do the Nano, but I did in unofficially and didn't actually tell anyone or sign up on the site or anything really. I failed big time.
2011 saw my writing Book 3 of the series that you've been seeing the characters for on Charloft (Martin, Maku and co)
And then in Summer 2012 I did the CampNaNoWriMo in June and August and wrote Book 4 and Book 5 of the same series.
4. What advice do you have to a would-be-novelist (NaNo or otherwise)?
If you have a busy life style with family/ work/ education/ other people/ other responsibilities, try to put aside a couple of hours everyday which are YOUR ours for doing writing (or planning). Keep them the same as much as you can so that everyone knows that they are not to disturb you then. Stick to it as much as is humanly possible.
5. Are you a plotter that outlines everything ahead of time, or are you more into figuring it out as you go along?
I'm normally a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants) with a little bit of planning on the side, especially with a big series like Kalmari was. This year though I am almost completely planned and plotted. I have used Scrivener to work out all of my characters and the plot points and where things need to go and what's going to happen. Pretty much the only thing I haven't done is write the bloody thing.
6. What will your novel be about this year? Who are the characters? What is the plot?
This year I am doing the failed attempt from '09/'10. It is called 'The Fool's Journey' and is based on the cards of the major arcana in a regular tarot deck. It's basically 22 interconnected short stories presented in the form of letters and a couple of diary entries by 11 different characters who are all connected in some way.
In the first chapter Max (the Fool) takes his first big step out on his journey into the big unknown and his friends are concerned, but also encourage him. The following 20 chapters are two stories from each of the other ten characters, including friends, family and teachers of Max and his two friends, following the order of the major arcana. The two stories for each show them as they are now, and then as they change through various situations. Other charters' stories mention people we've met, and people we're going to meet.
In the final chapter (The World), Max returns home to a large reunion and everyone who was previously introduced is either present or talked about, bringing everything full circle.
Technically there is one final chapter, which is a sort of history of the tarot- what it is, what it isn't, how it's been used through the years, how it's perceived by other people, including religions, and then a very brief biography of any and all the different tarot decks and books that I've used to take inspiration from.
7. What NaNo support would you like to see charloft offer?
I don't really know... maybe an opportunity or two to mention how our nano attempts are going, a few challenges for those of us who've hit a dead end with our characters, um... dunno.
Feel free to link us to your Nano profile!
I write under my REAL name for NaNo, Hannah_S, so if you get a random Writing Buddy request, it is in fact me!