I'm not doing Script Frenzy. I've got enough on my plate continuing to (slowly!) write on my NaNo piece.

I'm in the same boat as you, Lexie, but it actually happened when I redid my whole work in the middle of November. Brand new prologue, whole new scenes, and new jobs for my little protagonist ensemble -- it's more X-Files-y than I thought it would be, but, er . . . not :-P The basic story and plot are the same, but there's more direct character development and even more direct villain development. I've written two more chapters beyond what I had completed by November, and I'm even doing one from the P.O.V. of my villain, which hadn't been in the cards before. The major romance is even different now, as the dynamics of the characters had both changed slightly. I think for the better.

So I'm getting a whole lot of different perspectives and voices right now. The actual writing it out's slowed some, but I'm really going to work to have most of it done before March. I really want to edit this sucker and start thinking about getting out into the public.

(Also, I read a scene with my villain to my husband. He said it was chilling! Which made me very happy.)

Anyone else experiencing anything exciting on the editing front??

I printed out my novel, sat down to just read, and immediately had to grab a pen and a legal pad. My second chapter doesn't work. I'm going to have to cut scenes, switch others around, look up a lot of details--and I'm not even halfway through the manuscript. Weirdly, it is exciting, even though like WTF I'm going to have a lot of work to do to get the story ready to edit in March. I summarized a butt-load of scenes I didn't have time to write!

After March, I want to wait and then come back see if there's any more revising and polishing to do. That's where Script Frenzy comes in.

I've read that a screenplay is like a noun--it's about a person, or persons, in a place or places, doing his or her or their "thing." The thought of telling a story in pictures and images using dialogue and description is intriguing, if a little intimidating. What didn't you like about it, Lexie?

I've read that a screenplay is like a noun--it's about a person, or persons, in a place or places, doing his or her or their "thing."

wow, i LOVE that description.

i took playwriting this semester. Loathed it. (the teacher put an aggravating number of limitations on us. Killed most of my ideas off-the-bat.) I do love doing dialogue, some of my problems with it were the limitations of the stage itself. i have too many visuals and scene changes in my head to pull off anything exciting within so many confinements- i don't have it that tempered yet. Maybe someday.

I would much rather do a TV series than a movie though. i prefer watching TV shows to movies too, actually- i like the continuation, the growth, the extra-depth and the contuity that builds around it. A script for a comic book, i'd LOVE that too.

i think i'm not going to try anything like Script Frenzy though, or nanowrimo again- school's proven to me i can do deadlines but i think, writing-wise, for it to come out like i want i need flexibility. this means i'll have to overcome my laziness and discipline myself to write as much as i can fit daily instead of, well, reading or TV or whatev but if i want to be the one *producing* it I think i'll have to cut down on consuming it. if that makes sense to anyone but me...

if that makes sense to anyone but me...

Of course it does! We're all mad here. :D

I've read that a screenplay is like a noun--it's about a person, or persons, in a place or places, doing his or her or their "thing." The thought of telling a story in pictures and images using dialogue and description is intriguing, if a little intimidating. What didn't you like about it, Lexie?

Oh, the actual screen writing was all right, I suppose. I just had a horrible teacher who did not (despite what her name suggests) teach us ANYTHING and left us to flounder on our own. So I'm a bit traumatised. Plus, the best stuff I turned out in the class was in defiance of her (if our assignment was a monologue sustaining a character, for example, i wrote about a pathological liar who kept changing her story; for my 'dialogue' I did a script for a silent film) and for Script Frenzy she will not be around to defy, ergo I have little motivation.... (Thank god).

Really, I'd probably enjoy it, but May is to my semester one what november is to my semester two - a very chaotic time consumed largely by exam preparations. And I've resolved this year to be studious.

(Damnit, you realise I'll probably do it now, don't you??)

INT. WHERE LEXIE IS - NIGHT

LEXIE is glaring at her computer screen while typing.

LEXIE

Damnit, you realise I'll probably do it now, don't you?

INT. WHERE KERICHI IS - NIGHT

KERICHI reads LEXIE'S post and rubs her hands together

KERICHI

Excellent.

(D'oh! FF won't allow "proper" script formatting!)

Oh, fudge, I was trying to show how much "page" is taken up by even the slightest amount of dialogue and action. Modern scripts avg around 52 lines per page, and you have to write 3 a day...156 lines sounds like a whole lot less writing than NaNoWriMo, but then I've only started reading scripts and sure haven't written one, so it might be a whole heck of a lot more complicated than it looks. Deceptive simplicity?

I'm probably not going to do Script Frenzy. I.T seems like fun and all, but I really want to editeditedit my Nano Novel. I started doing that today, and well... it's complete blip. gaah. I would throw it out if I hadn't put so much into it already

Lol Kerichi. Perfect, except it was morning for me =)

Yeah, we'll see. If I end up doing script frenzy, I'm SO going to Oscar Wilde it up and refuse to do all that 'INT. A Bedroom. Day' rubbish.

I'm probably not going to do Script Frenzy. I.T seems like fun and all, but I really want to editeditedit my Nano Novel. I started doing that today, and well... it's complete blip. gaah. I would throw it out if I hadn't put so much into it already

I know, I'm having similar difficulties. I've sat down, thought about it, and put the manuscript I actually wrote aside. It's more important to save the essence of the story, I think, than the words I wrote, so I'm working out alternative ways to represent it at the moment, and I'll refer back to the manuscript when I'm done =)

Yeah, I'm avoiding my novel because I'm afraid of it right now. I dunno if I will do Script Frenzy though - I really don't know how to write one...?

Haha, I'm going to start on mine as soon as I get home. I want to have a first draft done and edited by next November, which means that I really need to start - especially since a lot of my novel is just word filler, which I really need to delete/change. :D

Script Frenzy isn't for me this year. I would love to write my own TV show, but I don't have the first clue about script writing, and like Lexie, I'm attempting to be studious. We'll see how that works...

You have entered the portal to the crazy world of novel editing. Have you written a 50,000 word novel but haven't edited it yet? Then you've come to the right place! It is here that people from all over the world gather together to spend 50 hours in March editing their novels. This is not as easy as it might sound but the forums are available to get advice and ask all the important questions you may have. Advice from real published authors will also be here to help you and a certificate of completion awaits each winner at the end of the month.

We know it's a crazy thing to do, but it is loads of fun and we do hope you'll stay. We've got many pots of strong coffee brewing to help keep you going as well as a store room full of sugary candied goodness just waiting for you to jump in and start editing!

I've read my novel, written pages of notes, and realized that a lot of what I wrote wasn't the best way to tell the story. I don't care about no stinkin' certificate, :P, but I do care about finishing the novel. Fifty hours is nothing compared to what we put in for NaNoWriMo. Go EdMo!

I've read my novel, written pages of notes, and realized that a lot of what I wrote wasn't the best way to tell the story. I don't care about no stinkin' certificate, :P, but I do care about finishing the novel. Fifty hours is nothing compared to what we put in for NaNoWriMo. Go EdMo!

Kerichi, thanks for your post. I actually just realized that today was March 1. The start of the month that I had sworn to use to work on my NaNo novel. I had stopped for a time and went back to my Daphne story and some other fanfic projects because there was some logical misfires in my manuscript that I had to work through. However, two weeks ago, I finally stumbled on a solution to my missteps in my original work, and I started rewriting my rewrites as the new approach makes me feel like the story's on more logical footing, and it's more centered around my actual female protagonist rather than her love interest, which had been the case before.

I'll shoot for 1K-2K words every other day or so, but I'm going to be busy this week, so we'll see how it goes. I'll try to get a few thousand words bashed out on the weekends too. I just remember what Nov. felt like by the 30th. Quite similar to after I had taken the MA bar exam. I felt like something had chewed on my face and spat it back out--three times. But yes, I'll second EdMo 2009!

I'm going to be at this novel for years, I think... I'm slowly editing, fixing mistakes and filling in gaps.... but because when I wrote it, I skipped whole scenes I was too lazy to write, it doesn't make sense.

That said, this is my first novel. The only way to go now is up!

That said, this is my first novel. The only way to go now is up!

And isn't the mantra "practice makes perfect"? First novel, rewrites, making the product better and better, and then comes the second novel, and the third . . .

At least I hope that's what happens with me. But I'm liking the progress I'm making so far with EdMo. I do feel like you do, Cuba, about feeling like I'm going to be at this forever (work, RL, fanfiction, etc. . . .) But I'm trying to be disciplined about it and work on it a little (or a lot!) each day and see how I can put down what's in my head playing sort of like a movie or TV show or comic book into novel form.

And I might do some oneshots of my peripheral characters. Stuff that'll never make it into the novel's final product, but will help with developing my cast.

I might do some oneshots of my peripheral characters.

If you do, I hope you'll post on Fictionpress or your LJ and let us know so we can get a peek into your world before the rest of the general public! :)

Hello everybody!

Seriously? Scipt frenzy is scaring me! The formatting is just too..scary. Like a Jello Jellyfish (don't ask...)

Anyhow, I've made a NaNo account the other day and would like to ask if I can add anybody as my buddy/if anybody would add me as their buddy... So far I had huge problems just logging in the other day... Well, simply, I need somebody to ask for help when I'm just being blind and not seeing the right icon to click on etc.

Pwease?

So... Anyone have a plot yet?

I actually do. :)

Not a clue.

And last year's is lying neglected and half edited at the bottom of my knitting bag.

Um...wow. LOL I think I might just continue my previous story. It will end up being two very loooooong books if I ever finish. Either that or I'll stick with a fanfic this year. Or one of the half dozen other story ideas I have.

Okay, so my plan was to have last year's novel done and work on a sequel. And, of course, that hasn't happened. But I think I'm just under halfway done with it. So I many not officially join, but use Nov. to finish up my book, like I'm actually participating.

I have been building up an idea for a while now, so I think I might use it unless something else comes along.

As for last year's novel... I need to edit it badly, but I've been going through it really slowly. I might put it away for a different space of time, in a few years.

I don't have a single original plot bunny at the moment, let alone enough time to take on another big project, so I won't be doing it this year; I'm going to try to add 50,000 words to my fanfic WIP instead. My readers should be happy; that comes out to a new chapter every three days...

I have an idea, but it involves a little research, and I really haven't had the oppurtunity to do that yet, so we'll see how it goes.

I definitely know one thing: I'm writing in chronological order this year.

Does it not count if you write a 50,000 word fanfic? I mean, you can't publish it or anything, but how many people end up getting their NaNoWriMo projects published anyway?

I think that NaNoWriMo is officially for original works, but I don't see why you can't do a fanfic instead--whatever you write, 50,000 words is always a huge achievement. Apart from the HP setting, fanfictions are almost like original stories anyway, if you develop the characters in your own directions and have a unique plot...

Actually, I thought up a new story while I was in Michigan. It reminds me of a huge mix of books I've read...and I'm hoping that's not a bad thing or plagiarism-y. But really, I like it.

Although, I also thought up a different book idea today when I was driving home from MI. So I have no idea what I'm going to do. And you know what I just remembered? I also had TWO other books that were supposed to follow the book I wrote last year. The only problem is that I haven't even touched my last NaNo novel since January, and I really don't want to.

Argh.

I know it's definitely not unheard of. I've checked website and I don't see anything against it.

I have two questions, how many words would you need to write a day to reach the 50,000 mark?

Also, does anyone know of any writing books that could come in handy?

1667 words per day.

There are several books recommended on the naNo site - they have some of their own I think, but I've not read them.

1667 words per day

Is that 1,667? I'm filling out the carachter maps, its more complicated than I thought.

Yeah 1,667.

What are character maps?

I think this year, because it's going to be so busy, I'm going to be doing a joint NaNo with my best friend. We already have a couple of characters (pinched from our other works), we just need to develop the world that they live in etc. It's going to be globe trotting lol. Mystery... adventure... Sherlock Holmes-y type quests lol.

I have to work inbetween real life, dissertation (because university, and real life, I've decided, are two seperate things), DRIVING (and not just other people mad) =) it's going to be a good year, I hope.

Character maps are like... I dunno, planning what your character is like, the details, personalities, flaws etc. I think.

If you go to the first page of this topic Katy, you'll see a few very helpful websites that Wordy posted. Their fantastic, got me thinking about how tall I want my main carachter - when I don't really know height (I am only able to measure by feeling the object, so am not so sure how tall a person can be.)

Thanks Dejsha.

My NaNo novel from last year is lying neglected and unloved in my knitting bag. I have to dig it out and edit...

I am think I've got my nano figgured out:

Sadari and Sekrasia are raised by Ariana. She is a warrior woman of the northern tribes at the edge of the country. Sadari and Sekrasia are not brother/sister. Sekrasia is Ariana's daughter but Sadari is the son of the last king. The children find a jewel and they discover a book and it has prophesies. They can't read it but the cover tells them one word "Prophesies". Sadari and Sekrasia and Ariana go to the underworld (as an old sorceress tells them to) and they fight demons. Elgour (Ariana's grandfather) is locked in the boundary of the living and the dead and he is freed by the prophesy book and the jewel gives him back his power.

My NaNo novel from last year is lying neglected and unloved in my knitting bag. I have to dig it out and edit...

LOL. Mine hasn't even been printed out. *sigh* I don't think I'm ever going to touch it again, though. It's much too angsty for me to handle. XD

Ah! Nano is coming up so soon!

Who's ready for it? I am... sorta. I have an idea that I think I'm going to do.

Well, I'm ready. Or was. See, I'm really excited, and I did have an idea over the summer, but considering I couldn't start writing it, I think the idea has kind of died. I might try reviving it though.

NANOWRIMO HAS STARTED, EVERYONE!!! :)

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