Hello WriterBerries! 
I don’t really use this part of the forums much but I was wondering if any of you guys are doing NaNoWriMo this year? It’s going to be my first year doing it so I’m really excited to give it my best shot. I figured if there’s enough of us we could use this space to chat about how we’re getting on & encourage each other! I know there’s a NaNoWriMo discourse but honestly when I opened it I was so overwhelmed by all the categories that I didn’t know where to begin. 
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I’m going to try! I’ve been on NaNoWriMo for a long time (I had a [name_m]Young[/name_m] Writers’ Program account before switching to the main site a few years ago) but usually end up so busy in [name_u]November[/name_u] that I don’t actually reach the goal 
. I will be trying by best, though!
I love the idea of a space on NB for encouragement and support!
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I’m going to be trying Nano this year. I tried it a decade ago when I was in high school and didn’t get very far but this feels like a good year for it. I’ve got an outline started so far that I’m hopeful about getting in good shape before [name_u]November[/name_u].
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Yay this is great!
@EagleEyes I made my NaNo account about 3/4 years ago and then never got around to actually doing it. I’m not sure how its going to go with all of my uni work to do as well but I’m mostly just hoping to get somewhere near the target and have some fun doing it. Best of luck!
@jeeps I’ve got an outline as well, its a bit rough but I think its a decent amount to work with. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this year is your year!
Have either of you been doing the “Preptober” virtual write-ins on youtube? I got a bit behind with them (good start, lol) but I should be caught up by tonight, I’ve got one left to watch.
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I haven’t! I’ve done a little bit of prep using the resources from the NaNo website, but no virtual write-ins or videos so far. I’m mainly working on plot design right now, because I have an idea (I’d like to try my hand at a murder mystery) but no character motivation to explain the murder yet, which is obviously a problem 
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Ooh murder mystery sounds fun! I used the 3 act / 9 block / 27 chapter method to do an outline but its very vague and I definitely need to flesh out some of the details. [name_f]My[/name_f] main issue is always characters, at the moment I’ve got things like “girl” and “friend” and “sister” lol.
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Yes! I’m setting a lower goal for myself (I’m too overworked to make it to 50,000), but I’m very excited! What genres do y’all like to write?
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Setting a lower goal is definitely valid and its important to not overwork yourself and take care of yourself! I mostly write science fiction and dystopian but I also do a bit of sappy poetry when I’m feeling emotional lol. What about you?
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I have the exact opposite issue, haha! I have way-too-detailed characters but struggle to come up with an interesting plot that isn’t full of major plot holes. And I’ll try out that method, thank you! I was using what NaNo calls the “jot bin pants” method but I don’t think it works that well with my style.
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Ooh, I love those genres! I’ve never really written poetry because it’s so complex (so many rules! So much symbolism!), so I respect you for doing so
I’ve been working on a sci-fi story (I haven’t written anything, but I’ve done my word building and character planning and all that) that I’m going to work on this year for NaNoWriMo. I also like fantasy. I really write a bit of whatever genre though lol.
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Is that the one where you write down all of the plot points and cut them out and rearrange them or am I totally losing it?
This is the video I used to do my first outline!
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Yes, that’s the one! I just got overwhelmed trying to organize the slips of paper, and realized it was not going to work for me. And I’m going to check out that video now, thank you so much!
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Hope it helps! Everyone is different and I think you just have to try different things until you find what works best for you.
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Going into my 6th year of NaNoWriMo! I’ve completed it every year since 2015 and this is one thing that 2020 is not going to take away from me.
Last year, I worked on two projects at the same time (finishing one and then starting the next) and it suited me well so I’m doing that again this year. I’m going to try and finish the draft I’m working on now by the end of the month (wish me luck!) but that will be priority #1 if it’s not done by [name_u]November[/name_u] 1. Then, I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in the series, which I have about 25k to 30k words left of, if I had to guess. Then, priority 3 will be starting the first draft of book 3!
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I wish. I started a project last year and couldn’t finish it, and [name_u]November[/name_u] is peak debate season this year. I will be attempting to work NaNo into my current WIP rn (writing that many words for it each day).
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Wow, that’s super impressive! I wish I had your self-motivation. Best of luck for this year! Have you taken any of your previous projects any further (e.g. publishing)?
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Nope. Up until last year (which, the stories are still in progress), the stories didn’t really work. I’ve heard that you have to write 1000 pages before you learn how to make stories work and since NaNo is about 250 pages a year, so I guess that math adds up haha!
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Yes I am going to try to do this for the first time!!!
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Yay!! We love to see it!
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Yay another first-timer! Best of luck! [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have any idea on genre yet?
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