NaNoWriMo 2009

[Ante Bellum]

And, I did it! 50000 words exactly, and without going insane! It's horrible, but I wrote it, and I finished just in time.

[ich1990]

And, I did it! 50000 words exactly, and without going insane! It's horrible, but I wrote it, and I finished just in time.

Congratulations. What is that, 23,000 in five days? Pretty darn good. My best day was only about 3,000.

[uc pseudonym]

This year's NaNoWriMo is over for those on the East Coast as I write this. We have a variety of members elsewhere, but for the majority of us it will end over the next three hours as the four North American timezones reach midnight.

Everyone post your total, even if you didn't get an opportunity to do more than a thousand words. I'm curious to see how many we achieve collectively - it would take twenty people completing the challenge for CAA to reach a million words. That's not going to happen given the number of participants overall, but let's see how much we accomplished.

One lesson I've learned is that I need to have a novel thoroughly thought-out before I start writing. After a bunch of revision I feel okay with what I have, but the process leaves me with an unpleasant feeling about the story. I also didn't really understand my characters as well as I'd like and I ended up having to change initial scenes because I realized it didn't fit the character I'd written. We'll see how well it stands up to re-reading in a month or so.

[Ante Bellum]

Don't worry. I made most of it up as I went along, so it is really terrible.

[mechana2015]

50,233

\O.O/

Story not over yet.

[Fish and Chips]

50,023 words. Finished up a few hours ago.

Half of this badly needs a rewrite.

[Anystazya]

Can I still post here if I didn't do it officially? ;P I didn't sign up with NaNoWriMo, because I wanted to try it this year and just see if I could achieve 50,000 words in a month...

I got 63,863 words. =)

[Peanut]

I hit 30,755 before all my motivation to continue writing was drained and I stopped. I am, however, only 6 chapters away from finishing my Novel so some time within the next month or so I am going to try and complete it.

[shade of dae]

25,111 words. I have various reasons, explanations, excuses, etc. as to why I have such a small number, but I'll keep them to myself. I'm pretty happy with being able to write that much, as this is my first novel and even getting half of what I should is the most I've ever written on one story, and it's been an enjoyable experience.

[ich1990]

Total words: 50,111

Might as well do the end game stats while I am at it.

Maximum words in one day: 2868
Minimum words in one day: 491
Most words above par: 3444
Most words under par: 1036
Writing speed at start of month: 600 words per hour
Writing speed at end of month: 1100 words per hour
Approximate total hours spent on novel (inc. research): 75
Number of characters who died: 1 via gunshot, ~1000 burned to death
Religions/Denominations mocked: 5
Spiritual experiences resulting in conversion: 5 (more implied)
Avoided romance? (y/n): No
Storyline finished? (y/n): Yes
More real experiences were used in story than fictional ones? (y/n): Yes

My novel itself is in terrible condition; the scenes aren't even laid out in chronological order yet, but arranged according to principle character involved. That said, I do like some of the paragraphs I have written, and I believe the core idea of the novel is fairly solid. Maybe instead of participating next year, I will attempt a re-write.

So, very interesting month. I am glad I went ahead and tried writing out a novel at least once in this life. It was a great learning experience, and gave me a whole new appreciation for those aspiring writers out there. Also, it pretty much cured me of all fancies of being a career novelist, so now I won't have any more lingering regrets about my current career path.

Was NaNoWriMo worth the time and effort? (y/n): Yes

[ich1990]

Total words: 50,111

Might as well do the end game stats while I am at it.

Maximum words in one day: 2868
Minimum words in one day: 491
Most words above par: 3444
Most words under par: 1036
Writing speed at start of month: 600 words per hour
Writing speed at end of month: 1100 words per hour
Approximate total hours spent on novel (inc. research): 75
Number of characters who died: 1 via gunshot, ~1000 burned to death
Religions/Denominations mocked: 5
Spiritual experiences resulting in conversion: 5 (more implied)
Avoided romance? (y/n): No
Storyline finished? (y/n): Yes
More real experiences were used in story than fictional ones? (y/n): Yes

My novel itself is in terrible condition; the scenes aren't even laid out in chronological order, yet, but arranged according to principle character involved. That said, I do like some of the paragraphs I have written, and I believe the core idea of the novel is fairly solid. Maybe instead of participating next year, I will attempt a re-write.

So, very interesting month. I am glad I went ahead and tried writing out a novel at least once in this life. It was a great learning experience, and gave me a whole new appreciation for those aspiring writers out there. Also, it pretty much cured me of all fancies of being a career novelist, so now I won't have any more lingering regrets about my current career path.

Was NaNoWriMo worth the time and effort? (y/n): Yes

[Esoteric]

I was not officially participating (because I knew I'd never make it), but I still managed 25,724 words in spite of my schedule. I kinda wish they'd pick a different month for this--November is just too close to the busiest holidays of the year.

[uc pseudonym]

This isn't quite everyone, but enough people have given a final number to post a preliminary total. Everyone participating unofficially is fine, so I've included your wordcount, Anystazya. I've also added 50k for rii namuras, who said she completed NaNoWriMo. If anyone knows any other CAA members not here we can add those as well.

Total: 421 353 words

[ich1990]

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/575011

If you go to the writing buddies tab, you can find the word count for a few other members. Some CAA'ers have used different monikers, though.

[Esoteric]

Since she hasn't chimed in yet, I'll mention that the_wolfs_howl participated and finished with 53,581 words.

[Mister Frodo]

I finished with 21,718. It's my first year not to win, so I'm kind of sad. I was busier than ever this November, but I still had time to write; I just didn't apply myself. I got to the point where I would have needed 30,000 words over the last 3 days when I called it quits, especially since I don't know if I can ever really use anything I wrote. So, yeah, I failed this November. X_X

Congratulations to everyone who won, though, and also to those who didn't win! I think this was one of the best CAA turnouts for the contest in recent memory (at least, in my memory).

[the_wolfs_howl]

Since she hasn't chimed in yet, I'll mention that the_wolfs_howl participated and finished with 53,581 words.

I was gettin' to it! Impatient elephant.... *shakes fist*

-_- But yes, I won on my first try despite elephants trying to steal my thunder and hippos attempting to crush me with their weight. *goes off mumbling to self*

[Esoteric]

:stressed: I was gettin' to it! Impatient elephant.... *shakes fist*

Sorry, but I didn't know if you were even checking this thread anymore, especially when you didn't say anything yesterday which is your usual CAA day. So there!

[uc pseudonym]

If you go to the writing buddies tab, you can find the word count for a few other members. Some CAA'ers have used different monikers, though.

I recognize everyone except DaemonJaegerin and kirdtgo. Are they CAA members? In any case, adding the others who aren't duplicated here increases our total...

Total: 556 227 words

So we made a half million, which is not bad at all.

[Fish and Chips]

Kirdtgo is Peanut, which means another 30,755 words down.

EDIT: Also, if you haven't counter them yet, Fantasy Dreamer has 50,012, and KagayakiWashi 12,118.

[ich1990]

A quick look through the old NaNoWriMo threads showed that these two have participated in the contest this year, but not thread:

Animus Seed (Mr. Rojas) 6,258
Aletheia (CJ91) 60,228

I recognize everyone except DaemonJaegerin

That is AnteBellum, if I am not mistaken.

[Ante Bellum]

Mwuhahaha!
Er...yes, that would be Ante.

[uc pseudonym]

Well, this has been very educational, if our school curricula covered online handles. Unless some more people come out of the woodwork, we might be looking at our final total. Good job, everyone.

Total: 672 713 words

[Tsukuyomi]

Lol, this may be a huge coincidence, but.. I stopped at 1337 xDDD;; Not kidding.. I kinda dropped when I started messing around with Photoshop ^__^; Nano did not go so well for me... (lo) u_u

Not sure if this counts, but the one I first started was 723 words, but my mind kept nagging me to start over 8(

[Sae-chan]

O.O How could I miss this thread? That's what I get for not visiting for a while D:
I participated in NaNoWriMo as a first-timer and won with 51,023 words. Haven't looked at them yet; I'm taking a break from all of that horrible writing XD

[Ante Bellum]

It took me three tries through this year, being the third attempt, that I was motivated enough to finish.

So, who's going to enter any of the other writing competitions?

[Bobtheduck]

So a bunch of CAA people have been writing novels for a contest?

I love writing, but I could never write a novel in 30 days. I think a year is a good target for me. Since the only novel length story I've finished (just today, check my Diamond Spearhead thread) took me 15 years, I think a year is perfectly reasonable.

I'll see what I can do the next time this contest comes around.