NWR: 12 month writing challenge

KytchynWitche

I think I posted here about NaNo last year, but I can't remember. Are there any Wrimos here? Any non-Wrimo writers or aspiring writers?

So, every year in November, I do NaNo. FI usually does too. Neither of us has "won" yet, and I doubt we'll do NaNo 2014 seeing as we're getting married the day before it starts. I am trying very hard to finish my book before the wedding though, hopefully in the next month or two so I can self-publish to Amazon and hopefully get a few cents more in the wedding fund. It is, rather appropriately, a wedding story. It's about a woman who feels really unfulfilled and unhappy in herself, and it all falls apart for her when her best friend gets married and she's asked to be in the BP.

Anyway, I have a friend who has always wanted to do NaNo but gets overwhelmed just thinking about it. So she came up with a 12 month writing challenge instead. The challenge is to write a short (1k to 7.5k word) story every month, with a given prompt. Which seems easy enough, except that you're supposed to pick an overall theme to tie the stories together BEFORE you know what all the prompts/themes are for the year.

Would anyone here be interested in doing something like this?

HisGirlFriday13

I would! Count me in!

afox007

I need a new project and haven't been writing enough. I'm definitely in!

KytchynWitche

Yay writing buddies!

I know we're already halfway through January, but 7500 words is easily achievable in two weeks - even for me. The January prompt is "little secrets".

If anyone's interested, I've gone with the overall theme of "bittersweet love", and the challenge-creator's overall theme is "identity".

lovesclimbing

I've done NaNo three times (technically four if you count last year where I signed up a couple weeks in advance and then didn't even try to do it).  I've won once.  It's a lot of fun, I'd like to do it again.  I think it'd be cool to do a challenge a month but I'm on a crafty kick right now, and wouldn't really have time.

KytchynWitche

lovesclimbing said:

I've done NaNo three times (technically four if you count last year where I signed up a couple weeks in advance and then didn't even try to do it).  I've won once.  It's a lot of fun, I'd like to do it again.  I think it'd be cool to do a challenge a month but I'm on a crafty kick right now, and wouldn't really have time.

That's cool. You could always join in at a later stage if you like. There are no real rules, it's just a for-fun thing.

tmclawchick

What is Wrimo? What is NaNo?

<---- lost

I like writing though!

KytchynWitche

tmclawchick said:

What is Wrimo? What is NaNo?

<---- lost

I like writing though!

LOL sorry, that's my bad for assuming that everyone knows what NaNo is. NaNo is short for NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month. It's a novel writing challenge that takes place every November. You can read more about it here: http://nanowrimo.org/

Wrimos are the people who participate in NaNo. Also called NaNoers and, in the case of the Brant-Norfolk region of Canada, Wrimosaurs.

RWS2011

I would would most definitely be interested!  I had set a writing goal for myself this year that I have not been following.  The prompts might be the kick in the butt I need!  Where do the prompts come from?

KytchynWitche

I'm not sure where the prompts come from. I think the challenge-creator is picking them, possibly in conjunction with her sister, but I'm not sure.

RWS2011

Oh, Ha!  I was thinking more along the lines of, how will they be communicated to those of us here who are interested.  Will you make a monthly post?

HaileyDancingbear

You should have posted this when I was in high school, lol.  I used to write a lot, but I started looking back at my old work with just sheer hatred for everything I did, and since then I haven't written for fun at all.  I can't get two sentences down on paper anymore without thinking they're stupid and dropping the project altogether.    

About self-publishing- one thing I did do when I was still writing in high school, was that I self-published several novels.  I did it on Lulu.com, so I don't know if Amazon would be more successful, but just a heads up, don't expect to make too much money.  I sold books to family members and friends who wanted copies, but other than that, people shopping online for books don't usually want to buy something that isn't by a published author.  I mean, granted, I think the books I self-published sucked balls hard and still raise an eyebrow at the fact people complimented them, but still, there isn't too much of a market outside of friends and family for self-published books.

pumpkinsandturkeys

Ooh, I'll try!

KytchynWitche

RWS2011 said:

Oh, Ha!  I was thinking more along the lines of, how will they be communicated to those of us here who are interested.  Will you make a monthly post?

Oh lol. Yes, I'll be making a monthly post.

HaileyDancingbear said:

You should have posted this when I was in high school, lol.  I used to write a lot, but I started looking back at my old work with just sheer hatred for everything I did, and since then I haven't written for fun at all.  I can't get two sentences down on paper anymore without thinking they're stupid and dropping the project altogether.    

About self-publishing- one thing I did do when I was still writing in high school, was that I self-published several novels.  I did it on Lulu.com, so I don't know if Amazon would be more successful, but just a heads up, don't expect to make too much money.  I sold books to family members and friends who wanted copies, but other than that, people shopping online for books don't usually want to buy something that isn't by a published author.  I mean, granted, I think the books I self-published sucked balls hard and still raise an eyebrow at the fact people complimented them, but still, there isn't too much of a market outside of friends and family for self-published books.

I'm not expecting to make much, but with the Rand-Dollar exchange, anything is better than nothing.

ChemFanatic25

This actually sounds like a lot of fun and I always have tons of ideas but then get distracted by work. When would it start?

KytchynWitche

ChemFanatic25 said:

This actually sounds like a lot of fun and I always have tons of ideas but then get distracted by work. When would it start?

Technically it's already started, so there's only two weeks left for the January prompt. But seeing as it's a "for fun" thing, you could start in Feb when that prompt is announced.

CLoGreenEyes

Omigosh, I so want to do this, I love the writing and the concept of NaNoWriMo! I don't think it's realistic with school, though, since I barely have time to read for pleasure, let alone write or be creative at all. Maybe during months where life is less busy I'll give it a shot; otherwise, you may catch me trying to sneak in September after I graduate.

Will you all be sharing your stories??? I would love to read them!

KytchynWitche

Amapola14 said:

Omigosh, I so want to do this, I love the writing and the concept of NaNoWriMo! I don't think it's realistic with school, though, since I barely have time to read for pleasure, let alone write or be creative at all. Maybe during months where life is less busy I'll give it a shot; otherwise, you may catch me trying to sneak in September after I graduate.

Will you all be sharing your stories??? I would love to read them!

That's cool too - anything goes, I think!

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to blog my stories as each one is done or not. I was sort of planning to release them as a collection of short stories at the end of the year, but at the same time, blogging them might drum up more enthusiasm for my novel...? If I do blog them, I'll definitely link here so you can read them.