National Novel Writing Month
I have been taking part in nanowrimo since 2008, minus 2014 to 2016 when I wrote a PhD thesis instead. The stated goal is to write 50,000 words of original prose in 30 days. Many people have their own personal goals of course, and for me writing more than nothing is a win. Still, I use the 50k as a motivator, and aim for the minimum 1667 words per day in order to meet it.
The wordcounts listed here are what I wrote during the nanowrimo month, not necessarily the total or current wordcount for the whole stories.
See all blog posts tagged #nanowrimo.
2022: Network Affect
Wordcount: 35,398
- Current status: Partially drafted for NaNoWriMo 2022
- On nanowrimo.org
- On Github.
2021: Quest for Brothers (again again)
Wordcount: 30,943
Tug, Suari, Jackann.
Three very different lives, on one very troubled world.
Lives which are inextricably intertwined by a shared purpose when circumstances separate their families, and each is left with no choice but to embark on a search to discover the truth. Their planet is trying to speak to them, if only they knew how to listen.
A third year of writing the novel I started in 2012, and resumed in 2019.
- Current status: Half drafted after NaNoWriMo 2021
- On nanowrimo.org
- On Github.
2020: Dumping Sky
Wordcount: 9,010
Life in the solar system's trash heap.
- Current status: on hold for now; explored for NaNoWriMo 2020
- On nanowrimo.org
- On github
2019: Quest for Brothers (again)
Wordcount: 50,029
Tug, Suari, Jackann.
Three very different lives, on one very troubled world.
Lives which are inextricably intertwined by a shared purpose when circumstances separate their families, and each is left with no choice but to embark on a search to discover the truth. Their planet is trying to speak to them, if only they knew how to listen.
It's not a sequel, it's continuation. Revisiting the novel I started in 2012 with years more notes and ideas to hammer out into prose.
- Current status: One third drafted after NaNoWriMo 2019
- On nanowrimo.org
- On Github.
2018: Birds
Wordcount: 43,996
Dahlia opens a parrot cafe, trying to make a safe and comfortable place for her queer friends and their feathery, furry and four-legged family to hang out at. Drama ensues.
- Current status: Half finished for NaNoWriMo 2018. TODO.
- On nanowrimo.org.
- On Github (private)
Trying out for the first time ever writing about real-world-type people in a real place experiencing normal-life type events..
2017: Of the Moon
Wordcount: 30,413
A story of solitude and discovery.
- Current status: Needs an ending and a thorough edit.
- On nanowrimo
- On Github
2013: Beyond
Wordcount: 2,555
His whole life, Mustard has known only the protection of the Big House, under the Elders of Sco. Protection from the giant forests of fungi, strange wailing noises, and unmanned trains that run miraculously to schedule in the wasteland beyond.
He, and toddler sidekick Sushi, are left to make sense of the world for themselves by parents preoccupied with political pedantry, and when {significant event} strikes, they find that they truly are on their own.
- Current status: Maybe one day.
2012: Quest for Brothers
Wordcount: 9,256
Tug, Suari, Jackann.
Three very different lives, on one very troubled world.
Lives which are inextricably intertwined by a shared purpose when circumstances separate their families, and each is left with no choice but to embark on a search to discover the truth. Their planet is trying to speak to them, if only they knew how to listen.
- Current status: On my mind all the time.
- On Github.
2011: Touched
Wordcount: 22,069
Harriet had a terrible experience. The most terrible experience a mother can have. And now, unwittingly, she has begun a journey from which there is no turning back.
- Current status: Meh. Experimental narrative structure might be interesting, not sure about the story.
My first attempt at writing non-scifi/fantasy, but at least 50% of the story happens inside someone's head, so not exactly IRL either.
2009: Milo's World
Wordcount: 50,299
Dusty is not a demanding child. A daydreamer, maybe. Away with the fairies, as parents say sometimes. But that's not true. Dusty is just busy hanging out with Milo, the kid on the other side of the secret passageway to the dimension behind the sofa.
- Current status: Editing. Part 3 is garbage and needs a complete rewrite. Missing an ending.
2008: Dragon Seekers
Wordcount: 30,164
I used my first NaNoWriMo as an opportunity to kick myself up the butt to progress a novel that has been in the works since 1998. That's right, early snippets of these were written when I was eight years old. No original text remains, but the core concept is the same. If I ever have a lifetime epic, this is it.
Sierra and Swoop were going about their very different lives in very different worlds when they stumbled into the Corridor and met an unfathomable entity known as the Dragon. Are they special? Nope. Wrong place, wrong time. But they're here now, and good sports, so they accept their quest. Dragon Seekers contains tales within tales of an immense search across a countless co-existing dimensions for the only thing that can stop the multiverse collapsing in on itself. And they're not even really sure what they're looking for.
- Current status: Pining for the fjords (and some attention)