cu-kid9

I had something similar to this happen to me--except it wasn't a virus, it was just my harddrive crashing and burning. I have an external harddrive, now, but another alternative to that or e-mailing your stories to yourself is Dropbox, an online storage site--I use it for everything I write. Files are stored there as soon as you save them and you can even share folders with people, which is great if you are or have a beta. I recommend this to anyone scared about losing work (I'm absolutely terrified of that happening again!).

I never understand it when people say this. It's like saying because you haven't learned how to draw, you can't tell when something is off in a picture, which just isn't true. In my experience, someone without an artistic background is just as likely to point out poor proportions as anyone else - the idea being, we look at people every day, so we can tell when something is hinky in a representation of the form. The same goes for readers. I know a lot of people who don't write, but are avid readers. In my opinion, this makes them more than qualified to point out mistakes. It doesn't even have to be specific - something like, "I don't understand this part" or "For some reason, this didn't make sense" is good enough. At the very least, it lets the writer know that perhaps their ideas aren't coming across quite as clearly as they might have thought. Actually, they probably don't. In this instance, it is a case of being a reader vs. being a writer. The reader is there for the enjoyment of the story. If they aren't a writer, they have absolutely no concept of how much time and energy actually goes into making a cohesive string of events that are going to interest someone. It's torture some days, right? But the reader doesn't understand this. They don't understand that the only compensation we get is in the form of their feedback. I'm also of the mind that replying to reviews seems to be the best way to get people to leave some sort of feedback. I know I love seeing replies to reviews I've left, and truth be told, it encourages me to review again. And I have to tell ya, even the "OMG i LUV this!!" reviews make me smile. Yeah, it's totally unhelpful at getting through a difficult plot point or characterization. But I still appreciate that someone took the time. Finding good reviewers is sometimes like finding a good story - they can be few and far between. But trust me, they are out there - I've been lucky enough to run across a few of them.

I failed my first year, too, because I was trying to write like I "normally" write - chronologically and editing as I typed. The next year I realized how sort of freeing it is to just write and write and write and not look back (even if what I'm writing at the time makes me feel particularly nauseous >_<). During November the backspace and delete keys don't even exist for me, which makes my inner control freak/perfectionist/editor curl up in a tight ball and whimper in agony.

I agree that there are many people out there who shouldn't post their NaNo work without a few serious rounds of editing. These people, I think, don't understand what NaNoWriMo is about. You write the crap and then you clean it up. But for the love of God, don't show it to anyone before you've edited it! But if you're editing it while you're writing it, you're kind of missing the whole point of NaNoWriMo. The point isn't necessarily to write something you can immediately post when it's complete at the end of November - it's to get everything in your head out. Too many of us get bogged down in the editing process or listen to our inner editors whispering nasty put-downs in our ears. During November it's not supposed to be fit for anyone to read (that's why they say not to show anyone what you're working on). I also think the point is to kind of show how the novel writing process works. You don't just write something and bam!, it's instantly fit for consumption. There are re-writes upon re-writes. Judging from some of the things I've seen around AFF and other sites, there are many people out there that don't understand the concept of drafts (and I won't lie, I'm one of them - I write it, make sure there are as few grammatical errors as possible, and then post it). I see people who have written 100K+ words by the end of November and it boggles my mind. I struggle to make my word count on a good day and fall behind the rest of the time. To those people I say, yeah, you could probably take the time out to edit while you're writing. For the rest of us, just keep the word count goal in mind and don't worry about trivial stuff that can be fixed later. So you've used the same word over and over in the last three sentences - so what? You can pick up the thesaurus later. So you're story is riddled with passive voice - don't worry about it! I do this even when writing stories that I'm working on outside of the contest - I just get the words on the paper, the thought I had right then. I'll worry about making it sound pretty later.

I'm terrible at plotting and my story is all over the place right now. I have no real beginning, a tiny section of end, and some middle stuff that may or may not stick around in the final draft. I've been feeling rather bummed about it because it's so scattered, but a friend of mine gave me some "day in the life" exercises to do. They've been really helpful for fleshing out those characters that are not so central, but still kind of important. And...they pad my word count >_< I agree with puffykaoru. I suppose it just depends on the reasons you avoid writing it. For some, dialogue comes naturally and is really easy to write. The rest of us just have to agonize over it. I always feel like I write corny dialogue and spend a lot of time reading it aloud (when I'm alone, of course >_<). But during NaNo, don't worry about it. Write all the he said/she saids you want. And if your characters sound more like ogres with brain damage instead of elves with silver tongues, that's okay; it can all be fixed in December >_< For now, just get it all on the page.

NaNoWriMo is a writing contest, but more for personal gratification than any sort of reward. Yes, you can write more than 50K and you can write about whatever you want - I even think fanfiction is allowed. Did you look at their FAQ page? I think a lot of the things you'd want to know are there: NaNo FAQ Playing catch up might be hard, but you never know!

Where do you find time to write that much?! That's like 30,000 words a day!

Yay!! My first attempt was two years ago and I fell woefully short of the word count. However, it was because I went about it the wrong way entirely. Instead of just sitting down and letting everything flow, I kept going back, changing things, editing, fretting over who was going to do/say what next - not the way to finish 50,000 in 30 days! You have to just let it all spew, tell your inner editor to take a hike because you will write the most godawful prose and be damn proud of it! I won last year and learned a lot about myself and my writing in the process - like, though Anne Rice may have been able to write Interview with a Vampire in five weeks, there's no way my NaNo is likely to get published without some serious re-writing >_< Also, I thought I was only capable of twenty-thousand word stories, but I found out I did indeed have enough stuff in my head to pull off 50K. And the rush you get at the end when you get that "You Won!" e-mail is totally worth it. Don't fret over your word count - I'm like four or five thousand words behind where I should be. But it's only the first week. I'm sure by this time next week I'll have found my niche and will be doing two thousands words/day...heh...I'm hoping, anyways o_O Still can't find my plot...wish I remembered where I left it *sigh*

Okay, I normally try to avoid YouTube at all costs, but I'll tell you what, this is kinda neat (and...I can't help but trying to pimp my friends >_<). I think I watched it about ten times. Aside from the last bold getting in the head, he did a pretty good job for only spending about 15 hours on it.

So, I asked this question last year and got a sort of, "This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of" response. However, since this is one the largest writing contests in the world, I thought I'd find out if anyone else was participating this year. I'm doing the same thing I was last year, going back and forth between not wanting to do it and considering it. I have no plot, only a vague idea of characters (I don't even have names yet...), and only two days to get it all together. 50,000 words in 30 days? Yeah, may not happen this year. I won last year and thought that the only thing I would get was a purple bar on my NaNo stats that said "Winner!" and a little certificate with my name and story title on it. This apparently is not the case! I received an e-mail not too long ago with instructions on where and how I can get a proof copy of my story printed - for FREE! I don't know about anyone else, but to me, this is awesome. Since this was my first year winning, I don't know if they do this every year or not. So...? Anyone else gonna go for it? NaNoWriMo

I'm having to re-read books because I've run out. I just finished Deerskin by Robin McKinley and am going through the Clan of the Cave Bear series again. Someone just gave me The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning to read. It's apparently about girl who is the only one able to see this dangerous, sexy Sidhe who somehow gets turned invisible...which I can't imagine will help his love life any...

I just found this tonight while browsing. It's definitely not for die-hard Sess/Kags fans without a sense of humor. Those of you who abhor the pairing on the other hand (yeah, you know who I'm talking about ), might love it. How To Write a Sess/Kag Fic by Drake.

Okay, I have a story that I'm working on that I have successfully managed to go fourteen chapters without any full-blown smut. The story is rated Adult++, there have been a few...suggestive...moments, and the current chapter I'm working on has M/M/M action, with the possibility of my main character (female) getting a piece of it. However, I'm leaning toward not writing it that way for several reasons, one being that it may screw up part of my plot - which I could work around, but it would kind of make everything that much more complicated. Also, if I don't, I feel like I'm just being a tease (especially since I've already been called such by a few reviewers ) even though I do have every intention of getting to the smutty goodness...eventually. I've read several stories where I just want the characters to get on with it, but the anticipation always seems better to me. However, I'm a little uncertain about whether or not backing out of writing this scene will cause readers to give up on me out of frustration or help add to the anticipation. So, my question is how far can you conceivably push the readers (especially here when some are only looking for sex)? Is there a point when it just stops being a great read for the tension and becomes annoying?

If I were you, I wouldn't compare the number of reviews that specific author receives to yours. First, that person has a cult following. If you take a look at the reviews, it's the same dozen, maybe two dozen, people reviewing over and over again, religiously. It's true, his/her stories are well written, flow well, and have good juicy moments between characters. However, this author, to me, seems to write to spec - meaning he/she follows a very specific formula with very few deviations. I've read a number of her (I'm just going to assuming the author is female) stories and, while they are definitely something to sink into for a night, they are somewhat redundant - boy and girl meet, girl doesn't like boy (or vice-versa), and then through tenacity and sheer...something, boy and girl end up together. Of course, they're not all like this. I believe some of the newer ones might actually be different (but I haven't read any of those). This isn't to say that those stories aren't good, but comparing your hits/reviews to hers is kind of like comparing the number of copies sold by Danielle Steele to [insert favorite, most awesomest, obscure author's name here]. I fell into that trap of comparing (with that same author, too ), but decided to ignore it - it only serves to get you down, which in turn makes it hard to write. And it's rather like a pissing contest. There's just no point in it. Zanthious is right - just keep doing what you're doing. Write for yourself and pay no mind to the readers who would prefer a mindless romance over something that has substance. Also, I'm not sure I've ever seen a review from that author on other people's stories (maybe a few, but I can't really remember off hand). In my humble opinion, I would think that if you're that popular of a writer, you would take some time to support the other writers in this community, offer some good insight/comments/well-constructed criticism. Not doing so seems...a little snobbish to me. This was one of the reasons I quit reading her work. I actually saw your story the other day and have it on my 'to read' list - and I guarantee reviews on what I read, so...

Oh, that is such a great idea.