If you've ever read a book, got disgusted, thrown it across the room and said, "I can do better than that in my sleep!", then NaNoWriMo may just be the thing you've been looking for.

nanowrimo.org
Can you write 50,000 words in 30 days, starting today? That's an average of 1,667 words/day.

Take the challenge, and start your novel today!

Now back to your regularly scheduled flamefest!

For those that aren't familiar, Scrivener is free during Nano. You can buy it at a reduced price at the end as well.
http://literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.php

 

I couldn't imagine doing that.  It takes me 3 weeks to write a 3,000 word paper.

Some years, it's a struggle. This year, not so much.

One of the things you can learn is just how much effort it can take to put together a fun, interesting and coherent story.
Doing it with a community of others can make the journey easier.

And some do not need or want interaction with others. They just quietly (or not so quietly) do it. It takes all kinds to make up this wacky weird world we live on.
(I think I read that someplace.)

I don't think I could write anything worth reading that fast.

I think most people just shoot for a very rough first draft. It is mainly about the word count. Setting it up as a month long contest of sorts helps those who claim they will write a novel...someday. Many people also like the sense of community from the Nano forum boards, YouTube related videos, and live events.
 
 
 

http://mentalfloss.com/article/29126/6-famous-novels-penned-under-month


1. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas:
2. On The Road:
3. A Study In Scarlet:
4. The Tortoise and the Hare:
5. The Gambler:
6. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie:

I'd heard of 3 of them.

George SImeon, of the Inspector Maigret novels,averaged 6 novels a year for sometime. In one interview, he says he spent 11 days writing the novel. (!)
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5020/the-art-of-fiction-no-9-georges-simenon

Epic goatgagging sized novels (see Jordan, Sanderson, Goodkind) are very popular. But everyone has to start somewhere. NaNoWriMo can be the starting point, if you've always wanted to write, and never made time for it before.

NaNoWriMo is half gone.  To finish in 13 days, one would have to write 3850 words per day. If you type 50 wpm,  that would take 77 minutes. Break that up into 15 minute segments.  6 segments would net you about 4500 words. Sound easy? Just try it!

Having your plot and setting and characters planned in advance makes it easier. MUCH easier.
But it really comes down to putting your butt in a chair, and making the effort. Just like everything else in life, if it's not gifted to you, you have to work for it.

As always, YMMV.

ETA: I also found this:
http://www.simonmorden.com/about/essays/youre-doing-it-wrong-how-not-to-write-a-novel/

Some good advice in there, especially about the whole process.

Oh, and remember to have some fun along the way!

I didn't say "No one could write anything worth reading in a month," I said I couldn't.  My last novel took 15 months to write. (Of course, it was 180,000 words.)
I know that the guy who wrote the Elric books cranked them out in a few weeks.

I started to do NaNoWriMo this year but I started writing a book two weeks before and couldn't get away from that storyline at the time. Two weeks into NaNoWriMo and I have started four other projects. So far I'm 20K into a horror storyline and I have not submitted any of them. I'm staying the course with this one. I have gotten caught up in this storyline more so then any of the others I have written so far.

I have written four full books this year and my word count has been 85K-150K. I'm starting to hit that wall a bit with writing. I have two books out for editing (Not part of the four I have written this year) and the one will need some major work before it will ever see the light of day.

I  challenged myself this year to write four to five books. I just wanted them in a rough draft form. I have done that and once I'm done with this horror story I will start revisiting those other stories along with a few news ones.

I did write a novel (It is awful) a romance novel. I wanted to branch out into a different market. I did 45K words in two and half hours of writing. I will go back and rewrite the whole book one day. I have a fan base for it.

To all those who are writing good luck and keep going. I look forward to seeing all of you in print and eBook form.

45k in 2.5 hours works out to about 300 wpm! That's incredible!
Do you plan extensively? Seat-of-pants it? Some combination?
(I'm jealous of that input! How do you do it?!)

I did 3300 words in 3 hours - works out to less than 20 words a minute. Unless my math is off. (Entirely Possible!)

The best part about NaNoWriMo, (IMHO), is that people who have always said, "Someday, I'm going to..." now have a way to make "someday" become "today".

Now that traditional publishing has serious competition, I hope to see more stories that I like appear in print (or ebook format). We can't all be Mark Twain, or Anne McCaffrey, or Nora Roberts, or Michael Connolly, but we can start someplace.

I think that is the best thing that Amazong and CreateSpace has ever done. They gave us a way of getting work out there that traditional publishers will not take a look at. It is almost to the point of if you are not a house name you will not see the light of day with a major publisher. I know there are small presses out there that you stand a chance with. Permuted Press is one of those publishers. I have talked with them a few times about my zombie book but I decided to go it alone. I have something that I want to finish and submit to them later on.

The romance novel I wrote I had no outline no idea where I was going. I just sat down and started writing. I got into a zone that I have not been able to get in since that time. I do get into zones that in two hours I will have 2-5K words.

I used to just sit down and write and I still do that to a point. I know do that and when I start writing the characters I go and write down how they look, who they are, what they will be doing and why. I think type out and outline after I'm done writing.

I took the advice of Stephen King. He once said that he used to write with music playing. I to did that. He said that he now turns the music off while writing. I took that advice and I have now found I pay more attention to my writing. King said when you go back to read it turn the music up and blast it.

If writing ever starts to feel like a job to me I will stop. I will never write again. If it isn't fun what is the point. I think it has to be something you love to do and enjoy doing. If not it will show up in the work. The reader will feel the way I felt writing it.

So with that, just write and have fun and when you are ready to publish something, read over it again and then send it out for editing. Once it is back from editing fix what needs to be fixed and publish. It is a crazy feeling seeing your work out there and seeing people talking about it. I don't let the negative feedback get me down. I take what is said by the reader and use in my next work to make my next project better. It helps me grow as a writer.

Also I wouldn't recommend paying CreateSpace for editing or cover artwork. You can do the cover art yourself or find someone at a local collage in the art department that wants something out there for their portfolio. As for editing I use Garrett Cook. He ripped my zombie book apart and told me to use it as a learning tool and not publish it. I didn't listen and it has done well but the feedback shows what he was telling me. My second book was much improved. I was told I learned a lot over the first one. He has great rates and will work with you on pricing.

50,000 words in 30 days is not (usually) a finished novel, but a step on the path.
You can prove you can do it.
Where it goes from here, depends on you.

If you've wanted to write, there's a venue for help.
If you took on the challenge and fell short, what did you learn? Will you do better, next time?
If you've taken the challenge and earned your purple bar, congratulations! What's next? Finish the novel? Redraft it, with better characters, plot or setting?

It's not a zero sum game, where every new novel 'steals' readers from another. Good stories will usually find an audience. Practice until you're good enough to publish. It takes work and dedication, but it can be very rewarding.

Good Luck!

I have a friend who finished her 10th nano this year...I keep saying I'm going to do it and I think I could..I have several stories bouncing around my head I just keep finding reasons to not put them down on paper...maybe next year

You can sign up and read through the forums.

Much good info there on story creation, motivation, reference and much much more. (Including dealing with overusing the word "much".)

nanowrimo.org