Not, that isn't some wacky spam or ROT13 gibberish. It's:
International Fanfic Writing 20 Days.
I'm sure many of you have heard of
NANOWRIMO. If you're doing it... awesome! Good for you, and good luck.
I had considered doing it the last two years, but was busy each time writing my own
multiple-novel-sized-fanfic.
Well, now it's done, but I have a significant personal matter taking up a third of November. Well, say I, NO EXCUSES.
Since I can't take the whole month and write a novel, I'm going to take two thirds of it and write a fanfic. A single fanfic in its entirety, totaling no less than 50,000 words.
From November 1st to November 20th, I will write every single day. I don't give a damn if it's good, bad or indifferent. I picked the subject based on the first thing that popped into my head, and intend to do the rest the same way. I've got four days left to get some sort of "ideas" to work with, but after that I won't have time to think, just to write. That's the point - just to write, to prove I can do it.
Because I CAN. 50,000 words is 2500 a day, and I can certainly do that if I sit down for one or two hours and type or write whatever comes to mind.
And so can you.
So that's why I'm extending the invitation to join me in this (mad?) quest. Well, and to publically shame me if I wuss out, that's good incentive too. If you're scared, lower the requirement a bit. 30,000. Whatever. But sit down every day for at least an hour and write. Don't reread it, or send it to people to critique, or stop to think about it in the middle, just write your brains out until it's done. You'll find you're surprised, at the end, with how much you
CAN do, if you just stop thinking about writing and
write. And you'll find you're surprised at how much better a writer you are for it when you're done.
And if you don't, well, hell, at least you've got something to hold over your wussier fanfic-writing friends.
Current projects, you say? Pshaw. If you're writing so much that twenty days downtime puts a huge dent in your schedule, you're obviously so awesome you are putting out regular large monthly updates and could do this anyway!
You're making excuses. You know it. Stop it! C'mon, be a man (or woman). Nobody cares how good it is. You don't even have to show anybody.
I'll even offer to read the first five people's works (after the end of the month) who actually want someone to, and offer critique. Nah, I don't care what it is. This is the only way anyone will ever get me to read a Naruto fanfic. Or Urusei Yatsura. I have made a commitment! Make me suffer for it!
Now, c'mon.
Who's with me?
(raises hand tentatively)
I'm in. But Ayiekie knew that already, since he wouldn't bloody let me say no!
...
Now, someone else has to be insane enough to try this, surely. Please? Somebody? Anybody?
(crickets chirping)
(tumbleweed)
Help!
(hides)
Can this include work on current projects?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
Sure, why not? But the point is to write a LOT, not necessarily a lot which is good, so you may not want to (but hell, you can also salvage whatever's usable and rewrite after it's over). It's all good.
The main idea here is to either commit to a certain number which stretches what you think you're capable of, or commit to writing every single day, no matter how busy you are. Or both, like I am. ;p
You can do it. Anyone can. You just gotta take the plunge.
Definite "maybe" here. (Work's getting busier than usual - If I end up needing to pull a week of 12-hour shifts, I'm not going to be able to write that week...)
Don't put me down as a confirmed "yes", but I'll try it anyway.
-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Aw, what the hell. I might not make the target, since my writing muscles might well be burnt out from, y'know, actual work I need to do...
But hey. I'm in. 's worth a shot, right?
-- Acyl
I was pretty much figuring on getting most of NaNoWriMo done early in the month so what the hell, count me in.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
I suppose Chris and I could count Chapter 6 of DW5, if fate allows...-- Bob
---------
One of the primary differences between the Left and the Right is their attitude toward the Future. The Radical wants the Future to have gotten here yesterday. The Reactionary wants the Future quietly shot and the corpse buried where no one can find it.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Eh, I'll try to join in. 50'000 words is what 10 times longer than the longest fanfic I have written so far? sounds like a good reasonable goal.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
So I guess this means you won't be available for "that project" during this time.
I guess that means I'm in. What the hell, I got that laptop for a reason and trying to limit myself to 50,000 words might be good practice at that thing which means tat you can put a lot of information into a really small amount of words so that you can save space and all that... the word that starts with a b or something.
Yeah, that word.
-------------------
Epsilon
Oh, yeah - forgot to ask...
1) If the fic ends up finished partway through (say, for example, the concept wrapped itself up in 15,000 or 20,000 words), do I have to pad it out or can I start a new fic for the rest of the session?
2) Do you want us to post the concepts once we've started, or just post the stories when we're done?
-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Hmmm. It sounds kind of interesting, but most of the ideas I've got wouldn't work too well for this. (And I really wouldn't want to do something on the story that's already in the middle of a rewrite for this.)
Though, I suppose I could pull out my plans for Chaotic Angel Rane. I did once write some of it, but I no longer have copies... And there's certainly enough stuff I had in mind. I don't have copies of what I originally wrote of it, so that's not an issue.
Of course, there's the question of whether I really feel like doing it. (Or have time... febuary would really be much better. '.' )
And whether or not it's exactly fanfic.
Quote:
And whether or not it's exactly fanfic. : not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Okay, heh, I didn't know so many people would want a more defined structure, I was considering this a freeform thing where you'd challenge your particular limits (Aaron and I trying to LIMIT it to 50,000 words being almost as much a challenge as reaching it, for instance). But to answer a few questions with at least my opinion...
1) If you write an entire fanfic partway through and you're less than halfway through, I'd say write something else - maybe an addendum or sidestory to what you just wrote! If you're like 15 days through, call it a win. The challenge is ultimately about writing every day, after all. If you get more than 50,000 words done in ten days, well, hell, call that a win too and start working on your next/current real project. ;p
2) I don't consider starting writing now cheating - go for it! However, for me, I'm using this time to get a little bit of prepwork done because I don't want to ever have to stop to look up anything once I've started (such as names or researching any concept, which often slow me down). I'm also admittedly trying to figure out a beginning point so I can write without even waiting for that first idea. If I don't, though, I'm still sitting down on the 1st and going with what comes first to mind.
3) No, it doesn't have to be fanfic! Of course, if you do a 50,000 word story of an original concept... congratulations, you won NANOWRIMO, since that's their limit too. ;p
4) I realise lots of people are busy and such... and yes, your particular circumstances might be so awful that it's really impossible for you. But I don't think most people's are. One of the (several) reasons I decided to do this is because I've just had a serious personal disruption to my life AND I'm in the middle of moving, which will take several days and require me to spend at least a week of this arranging furniture, stocking the kitchen, shopping for a new bed, et cetera.
The idea is that I can still find at least an hour every day to write, because I know that even on my busiest days I waste at least that much time. It is my belief that the same is true of most people - you can find that hour or two in your day if you look at it. Part of the challenge is to make sure you find that hour. If you do it - and my belief is that the vast majority of people can - when the project is over you'll have redefined in your own mind what YOU are capable of. I think this will really help a lot of people's confidence in their writing and ability to write more steadily. And if not... heh, well, at least you have a feather in your cap!
5) I wasn't sure how many would even WANT to show off their product here. ;p But, if there's interest, I or someone else could set up a Livejournal community or similar so that everyone participating can post either what they've written each day or (if they're more shy) a summary of their progress each day. Seeing everyone else should remind you that YOU can do it too. It's just typing, or writing. ;p But don't get overwhelmed if someone posts a lot... slow and steady wins the race. Everyone who seriously writes every day wins, even if they wrote 10k in twenty days and didn't finish the story, if that's something they didn't think they could do before it started.
I'm not sure exactly what "'original flavor' fanfic" would refer to, but this particular storyline is actually structured a bit like the Drunkard's Walk - going through the universes of several different series.
Oh, and it's also a self-insert.
That part was, however, not originally my idea...
-Morgan."Mikuru-chan molested me! I'm... so happy!"
-Haruhi, "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
---(Not really)
Well, of course that's a fanfic! Though maybe one you can't finish in twenty days (depending on concept), but you could certainly aim to finish an entire part or two.
"Original flavour" is an anime/manga-style original story, such as most were on Improfanfic back in the day (Magical Girl Hunters, et al).
And I certainly don't consider self-inserts a problem. ;p As an idea you can take or leave, it might be fun to set up a circumstance where your avatar is very harried and rushed and doesn't have time to think things over, much like the author. A note of authenticity, one could say. ;p
Edit: Whoops, forgot to answer your question in my last post: 50,000 words is about 275k of plain text.
Quote:
a circumstance where your avatar is very harried and rushed
I think I'm more likely to have the opposite problem - having things not taking as much time as they really should.
Well, that and figuring out how to get Morgan headed off on Rane's damn-fool crusade^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H great and noble mission without it being OOC. (Worry about being OOC for a self-insert? Odd maybe, but I can't figure out why I'd do it...)
I kind of like the lj community idea. Probably be a lot easier than trying to keep track of things here.
-Morgan, won't be starting writing today, due to the need for cleaning my room.
Avoiding cleaning my room is not a good enough motivation for damn-fool crusades. >.>
And, where are my FF8 discs?
"Who are you? How do I know you? And, will you go out with me?"
-Misha's mother, sort of.
Okay, I am now officially in. (Edit: Not until the official start, though - Bill Martin just posted the Omake Challenge for the New Year's Challenges, so I'm working on that until Hallowe'en.)
Mainly because I came up with at least a vauge plot outline for what might end up being a decent fic. And I don't have to come up with a decent title (the hardest part of fanfic writing, in my humble opinion), because the source story didn't have a decent title, either. So... anyone want to read "R.O.D the Continuation Fanfic" after I write it? I promise it won't be all Yomiko, all the time.
As for LJ, I don't have an account there. I'll just put un-proofed chapters on my website as I finish them... (Re-edit: Cancel that - I now have a LJ account. The browser crashed twice during the process of setting up my account and making my identity information private - which should have been hidden without my action, but no, they obviously don't give a darn that they're facilitating identity theft by default - but the account exists.)
-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
The INFANWRI20D LJ Community!
For those without LJ accounts, they're free and it's not like you need to use them for anything else, but it's all up to you. Remember, you're not obliged to post what you write every day - or even at the end - if you're shy; posting just how much you wrote, lurking and seeing what other people did, or asking for ideas is all fine. The idea's to have fun and write every day. Enjoy!
I think you can officially count me in too. I'll be using my lead-in time to refamiliarize myself with a couple of the destination universes in question. (AKA, cheat harder than I've ever cheated before at FF8. Once I found a site with codes that worked again. >.> Oh, and buy my own copy of another game... but I wanted it anyway. '.' )
And I'm certainly interested in an ROD continuation fic... once I watch the series. '.' (I know I *have* the whole thing now, but I'm not entirely sure *where* they all are...)
-Morgan, doesn't mind a lot of Yomiko though.
Well, I've posted my first part.
What I'm wondering at this point is whether I should make a new post each day, or edit the original post to add new material?
Since I'm likely to switch between working on several of the different "steps" involved depending on mood, doing it the first way could lead to being kind of noisy. On the other hand, editing might make it unclear what was posted when.
Any suggestions?
-Morgan."Mikuru-chan molested me! I'm... so happy!"
-Haruhi, "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
---(Not really)
I'm not posting every day, just when I have enough to be an enjoyable read.
(And LJ forgot all my settings since last week, too. Grrr... Stupid piece-of-crap interface... I'm going back to my original plan - post either here or on my website.)
-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
For some reason I can't seem to post to the journal (and I dont have any patience with the live journal interface which seems needlessly obscure to me) so I'm posting on a thread here.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
That's kind of strange. Which settings is it forgetting? I know if I've gotten logged out, some things don't display right, but other than that I've never noticed any issues...
Don't know why posting to the community wouldn't work either, since apparently it posted to your journal just fine. '.'
-Morgan."Mikuru-chan molested me! I'm... so happy!"
-Haruhi, "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
---(Not really)
Quote:
That's kind of strange. Which settings is it forgetting?
The friends list, for one. (Which seems to be the only way to find another page on LJ, as far as I can tell...)
-Rob Kelk
"
Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012