Welcome to the Naperville region!

That is the one :) I'll be sure to let you know, any days in particular good for either of you? I'll add you as a buddy :)

Yeah I have never been one for outlines, but since my world is an alternate world from the one we live in I do a lot of research on different things. I love your idea of a playlist for different characters. I may be listening to your podcast :) I guess more then an outline I am creating a kind of dictionary and encyclopedia for my world. I figure that way I will not have to stop writing to figure out the anatomy of my world. Which Bux is your wifes, does she work there? Or is it her 2nd home, LOL.

Hi Tim, I am new to the group but would love to set up some write ins at the Starbucks I work at. I am very passionate about my coffee and can not cheat on the siren by going to Cairabu, LOL. Anyways if I pick some dates would we be able to get them put on the calendar of events?
Thanks Kat

The wife works at 59 and North Aurora, by the train station. I actually don't like writing there too much...no real reason why.
Thanks for the listen! Yes - music plays a VERY important role in my writing and usually in my novels as well. By which I mean that I work a song into the plot or base an entire story on a song. While this is great creatively it'll wreak hell on my if I ever go to publish these novels - most small presses (and some big ones, too) leave the permission getting to the writer. Ah well, I'll take creativity any way I can!

That is Napperville right? I think they are participating in the food drive I am running :) I like my Starbucks and we have some comfy chairs and couches. Are there any days that are better for you?

Wooo, brave girl. I remember APUSH and AP English III being totally brutal when I was in high school, but good on you for aiming for more!

I'm Matthew, I live next door in Darien. I am 30 years old turning 31 on the 14th. I have yet to finish a Nano, and my closest was 2007 with 32000.

I've got a good feeling about this year and I look forward to starting.

Hi, all! Claire (CD0189) here, This is my third year doing NaNo. For the second year in a row, I'm acting as a remote member of the Naperville region. My first year, I lived in Plainfield and was a regular attendee of the Sunday Library write-ins.

Last year, I got married in October, and moved to Texas (near Austin), but Naperville will always be my NaNo home, I think.

NaNo Participation:
2010--Hunter's Moon--Win
2011--??? (sequel to HM)--12,241 words
2012--The Adventures of Flamp Botmax--???

Hello! Anobi here, checking in for my third year of NaNo! I haven't "lost" a year yet, and I'm hoping this won't be my first. Up until today, I wasn't even sure I would participate this year, but I can't very well back out now that I've gone and committed myself, can I? I tend to be very good with building fanciful worlds and unique characters, but not so great at devising stories for them to fit into. Of course, I didn't realize this until after my second year of NaNo, so while I haven't finished a story yet, I can't say I'm not making progress.

I'm more than a litte apprehensive this year because I haven't done nearly as much planning as I did for previous years. I have no outline, no plot, no story, even! I have two possible ideas, but both have serious flaws that are preventing me from grabbing one and saying, "This is my story!" If I can't pick one by the start of November, I'll just start writing both, and see which one takes me further.

Anobi wrote:
Hello! Anobi here, checking in for my third year of NaNo! I haven't "lost" a year yet, and I'm hoping this won't be my first. Up until today, I wasn't even sure I would participate this year, but I can't very well back out now that I've gone and committed myself, can I? I tend to be very good with building fanciful worlds and unique characters, but not so great at devising stories for them to fit into. Of course, I didn't realize this until after my second year of NaNo, so while I haven't finished a story yet, I can't say I'm not making progress.

I'm more than a litte apprehensive this year because I haven't done nearly as much planning as I did for previous years. I have no outline, no plot, no story, even! I have two possible ideas, but both have serious flaws that are preventing me from grabbing one and saying, "This is my story!" If I can't pick one by the start of November, I'll just start writing both, and see which one takes me further.

Feel free to start a thread asking for plot help and suggestions. Sometimes the creative outpouring from the community can be enough to help you make your choice. You can also look for help in the plot doctoring forum.

Hi everyone!

I'm Erin (ErinCB is my highly imaginative screen name). I live in Naperville and this is my first year participating in NaNoWriMo. I'm looking forward to write-ins and getting to know everyone. I'm not an outliner, though I do write out a beat sheet/synopsis prior to starting. I suppose that's kind of the same thing, just not as detailed as I imagine outlines to be.

Good luck to everyone. Happy writing!

Hey, I'm Chloe. I tried NaNo last November but didn't do so hot (got distracted first week in, never got around to actually finishing the book). However, I did win June Camp 2012 and was so proud of myself! :D I'm hoping for another win this November. All I've got to do is not get too distracted. ;) I kinda miss the warmer month of June, though. :P

I am planning to attend the next two workshops (not the potluck though, that's my Dad's birthday party date), and I'm noping to do some write-ins too. They sound fun! :D I have hearing loss, so if anyone has trouble communicating with me, paper and pen can rescue us from confusion!

I'm a mix of pantser and planner, I think. I did better in June because I did have an outline and a whole lot of documents full of notes that I didn't really look at once Camp started, haha. But I think just writing all those notes out really did help me get to my 50.6k in June. :D So I better get crackin' on my planning!

My novel is going to be a fantasy adventure with a whole lot of camping, haha. Vague, but I think I'm going to try keeping my fingers from divulging too much because when I tried August Camp, I talked A LOT about my novel and then couldn't bring myself to finish it. :/ So trying not to do that this time. ;)

Hello! I'm Paula, I've been around for a while, won a few (since graduating undergrad) lost a few before that. This year I'm getting my master's in the city and will hopefully use my commute to write! Other then being a full time master's student, I work two jobs and sleep.
Not sure how much time I'll have this year, or if this is realistic at all, but not writing in November would just feel wrong!

ErinCB wrote:
I'm Erin (ErinCB is my highly imaginative screen name).

Screen names that use your real name are supercool.

And I'm not sure what people think when someone says outlining, but I just mean getting some idea of what a fair number of my scenes are going to be about--like who is in it, where it happens, and what happens. There is absolutely no
I.
A)
a)
b)
B)
II.
in my outlines. It's a good chance to make sure that I haven't left anyone out. (I write from multiple POVs, so thinking up front who is in what scene and where they are seems to make the next step a lot easier, and makes the first draft more balanced.)

Katherine
(KatherineWriting)

Welcome! I like your handle. Mine is based on my actual name, too. Also contains CB. Does this mean we're related?

As KatherineWriting says, outlining for stories is probably very different from the boring outlining we all learned in school. It sounds like you're doing it in a very useful, reasonable way.

Wanted to share this: I just happened upon a way to think about my story ahead of time that I think I'm going to try out this year. Maybe it's outlining, but it's fairly minimal. Actually, I've probably heard this before (and you might have, too) but it just clicked with me right now. Maybe that's because I happened to hear it as I was thinking about my November novel. It's seven point story structure, talked about in several places on the internet, but this is where I heard it:
http://www.writingexcuses.com/2012/10/07/writing-excuses-7-41-seven-point-story-structure/

Writing Excuses is a great site that I know a number of people in the Naperwrimo group have enjoyed.

I think outlining means something different to everybody. For me, I write out a basic plan for what I'd like to happen. For example, my outline from June was full of plot points, not scenes. I mostly used it to give me ideas when I got stuck, especially as June wore on and I started getting worn out and cranky. Without my outline, I dunno if I'd've made it to 50k.

Thanks for the pointers, Catherine!

Other related resources (just googled):

• 
  StoryStructure.ppt - Dan Wells' powerpoint presentation
  


• 
  DL Thurston's blog on Dan Well's presentation
  


• 
  Eric Burns' plotting worksheets/templates
  

Hello all!

Linda (a.k.a. Qberty) here for another year of Nano! I first learned about Nano about half way through November, 2010. I thought that I could race to the finish line, and make it successfully across, in only two weeks. While I didn't "win," I learned some valuable lessons and vowed to be better prepared for 2011.

Last year I attended one of the prep sessions, and started thinking about and planning my Nano plot several months before November. I sailed past the finish line with about 76,000 words. What helped me the most were the word wars at write-ins. It's incredible how many words you can type in a 10-15 minutes span! I don't know if it was the competitive aspect of word wars, or the energized atmosphere of several writers sprinting for a common goal, that contributed to the speed at which my fingers flew across the keys of my laptop; but it is an experience I highly recommend.

While I am not very happy with the content of last year's Nano Novel, I am encouraged by having taken on the challenge and succeeded in my writing goal. This year I plan to build on last year's success and improve the content by concentrating on character development, plotting, and detailed scene outlining. I'm still debating on the central theme and synopsis for this year, but I plan to have that set prior to November 1.

It will be more difficult this year to keep the pace going. I unemployed the first couple of weeks last November and had plenty of time to dedicate to writing. I received a call while I was at a write-in in mid-November asking if I was available to fill a temporary position. I am happy to say that temporary position turned into a full-time one, but I am averaging 60 or more hours a week! I have also enrolled in college to finish the requirements for the degree I never sought. This fall I am taking English Composition. I planned it that way to help with my writing efforts. But, between work and school, I will have to remain focused and dedicated to keeping pace with the daily word count. I know that letting it slide, even for a day, will spell disaster!

I am so happy to be participating again this year with a wonderful bunch of creative people!

Cheers!

Linda

Hello Everyone,

I'm Stephanie and just recently moved to Aurora. I have tried NaNo twice before with only one win under my belt. I had to hang up my pen and paper for a while with the birth of my son, but I feel like finally I am back and ready to conquer the world of novel writing again! In the past I haven't been into meeting up for write ins, but this year I want to go into this challenge with everything I have!

Oh, wow! Thanks for all of the links! And maybe we ARE related Cee-Bee :). (My C is my middle initial, the B is my last initial)

I'll definitely take a look at Writing Excuses. It sounds like a great resource. The resource I've been using, and it sounds like it might be very similar, is the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet from Save the Cat (which was a great read). I also think James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure is fantastic.

I wanted to read another craft book before NaNo starts, so Writing Excuses and NewMexicoKid's resources below sound like just the thing :). Thanks!