Wednesday, November 2, 2022

IWSG & NaNo

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.


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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  

November 2 question - November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I LOVE NaNo!

WAY back when I first stumbled into writing for fun (at that point I had no actual knowledge of the publishing biz) I learned about NaNo. Sounded like fun so I jumped in. This was on November 1st.

I started a new project and won. My prize? A rambling mess of a story that required a ton of edits! I learned so much from writing that mess.

Since then, I've done NaNo fairly regularly. Now, I have a much better idea of how I write a story, and my projects no longer require all those edits. I still don't outline or plot in advance, but the characters and main points of a story percolate in my brain long before I start chapter 1.

We all have different ways of writing a story, so the NaNo experience might not be for everyone, but it makes me happy. NaNo is all about the joy of a community focused on writing. As part of the IWSG, we all know something about that!

How about you? Do you NaNo? Are you a rebel?

If you want a NaNo buddy, I'm @jemifraser over there!

24 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Good luck this year! I need an extensive outline but it does help prevent a mess when I'm done.

A Hundred Quills said...

Good luck Jemi. It's wonderful that it works for you.

Pat Garcia said...

Hi,
I love NaNo too. Once I learned how to make it work for me, I started making progress.
All the best.

Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I'm glad you are so successful with it.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Glad NaNo works for you. It's not for me. I'm too slow of a writer.

Rachna Chhabria said...

Good luck with NaNo. Looks like you have nailed the NaNo game. I need an outline, even a basic one before I start writing.

emaginette said...

Sounds like you've grown over the years. Not having a mess at the end is a huge deal. Congrats.

Anna from elements of emaginette

Tyrean Martinson said...

I"m a NaNo Rebel because it makes me happy, too!
Happy Nanowrimo, Jemi!

cleemckenzie said...

Keep up the great work, Jemi! I'm pulling for you.

Patricia JL said...

I kind of wonder if I'd be able to do NaNo if when I first learned about it I hadn't been finishing up a story and didn't think I could join. Now I'm set in my writing ways (kinda) LOL

diedre Knight said...

You've come a long way from a mess to near perfection, Jemi. Keep rockin it!
Best wishes for a productive November.

M.J. Fifield said...

I'm a NaNo rebel waaaaaaay more often than I'm not these days. Maybe someday I'll finish all these current WIPs and I can start something new again. :)

Happy NaNo-ing this month!!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Hi Jemi!
I'm trying it for the first time. I've been editing old stuff for so long I think I've forgotten how to fill a page with new stuff! So, I'm all in, with a push from my daughter who is doing it too. Maybe I'll see you over there! Good Luck.

Denise Covey said...

Enjoy, Jemi. The buddy system is what I miss about NaNo. Glad it works for your bubbly brain!

Jemi Fraser said...

Alex - I still can't outline, but the characters live in my head for long enough for me to know the basics of the story

Sonia - thanks!

Pat - that's the key - finding what works for us!

Diane - thank you!

Natalie - I love how different we all are with our processes

Rachna - my brain refused to do the outline thing - and I've (finally) learned to love that :)

Anna - My drafts end up being pretty close to the final product a lot of the time. Definitely an improvement! :)

Sue - thank you!!

Tyrean - yay! It really is a happy month for me - have fun!!

Lee - thank you!

Patty - it really was all about timing for me. I was just starting to write and had an idea. Jumping in was awesome!

MJ - you're a fabulous rebel! New is fun and exciting but so is polishing those gems of yours

Yvonne - I hope you and your daughter have a ton of fun with NaNo!! Enjoy

Jemi Fraser said...

Denise - it really does work. I wish the buddy system was better with a chat/cheering function!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

I have NaNoed more often than not since I first discovered it in, I think, 2013. Most times I'm drafting a novel and do it traditionally, but I've been a rebel a time or two, with an editing project or putting together a collection of short stories.

Olga Godim said...

I never participated in NaNo. The pressure of a daily word count isn't for me, but I wish you all the luck in the world. Hope you win this year. Again.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

NaNo is inspiring for so many writers! I'm always right in the middle of a project when it rolls around, but I do find myself writing more!

Leod Fitz said...

Ah, percolation! It's amazing how a story can come together in the back of your mind if you leave it there with other ideas for a while. I'm glad you find nano so useful. I've had a hit and miss relationship with it over the years, but I do love the idea of nano, even if I haven't sorted out the best way to execute it.

Damyanti Biswas said...

I might do a mini-nano in December for now I've hit the brakes on everything else and only concentrating on finishing my book's sequel edit.

Jemi Fraser said...

Rebecca - I've been a rebel more than once as well. Good luck with the words!

Olga - thanks!!

Elizabeth - I think the creativity and excitement of NaNo might be contagious!

Leod - I love letting the ideas percolate! Have fun with the words this time around!

Damyanti - that sounds like a great plan!!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Good luck with NaNo this year. Looks like you're doing well so far!!

Shannon Lawrence said...

The community part makes sense. I do love the energy of November for writers each year.