I know this video is four years old, but I am going to be doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I have been scared to write a novel since a failed attempt when I was very young. For years I have watched you succeed at NaNo, and I am excited to try it myself. I have been watching your videos for inspiration, and I just wanted to say thank you for being so encouraging to all writers.
l believe no story is crap. it might be cheesy and corny. for example. 'Boy meets girl, their lives are never the same after.' cheesy right, but anyone can take a simple sentence and turn into a magical story.
Hey, Kristina! I'm slowly getting back into writing after a four-month slump. Watching all your NaNo vids over again gets me excited to write regularly again. :D :D
This will be my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I fully intend on taking full advantage of it this year. I am finishing all of my prep work, I have the outline ready, the characters ready, and even pictures of each character and certain parts drawn in storyboard (O_o). I think I'm ready this year.
I did the NaNoWriMo last year because of your pep talk. Now I have self-published a book on CreateSpace and I made sure to thank you on the last page. I will be doing it again this year and hopefully many years from now on. Thank you, Kristina!
I'm so excited for NaNo this year. I had an amazing story the idea the other day and since then I've been sort of outlining my novel and just in general getting more and more excited. Also, I convinced my Mom to try it for the first time this year, so that's exciting.
This is my fourth NaNo, and I've won my last two. I don't plan on failing at all and I'm really excited. Last year I tried to do your writing sprints but I never caught the beginning of them due to my classes. I'm going to be writing something completely different than before but it's also the first year I've ever planned things out, so it's going to be very very different. Good luck to everyone else!
This is so cool! I'd heard of NaNoWriMo before, but had never seriously considered it until a few days ago. Now I'm looking forward to next November so much. :)
Thanks for letting me know about this. :) I spend A LOT of my time writing, and have been planning to start publishing on amazon for a long time now, but, thing is, I always get new ideas while I'm working on a novel so I start working on those, and end up finishing none, so think Nanowrimo will be a great way to force me to focus on one work at a time, and commit to it till I finish it. I look forward to reading your novel, and I hope you read mine too ^^ Give it your best!
I've done it in the last two years and won it both times! This is year number three :D I've had my nano idea for this year since about April but I'm glad I still have three weeks to fine tune it. Stuff always happens during my November, it's exam season here in Australia, but I've coped in the last two years so fingers crossed for this year too! Love you Kristina xx
I just signed up for this year's nanowrimo after seeing your 'writing a book in a month.' VERY excited, but I'm also VERY nervous! This will be my first novel ( :S usually only write short stories. Always wanted to write a novel though.) I don't think I've ever written 50,000 words, but I thought I'd give it a try. I also wanted to go to the night of writing dangerously but I live in Japan so thats... A little difficult. But I'm very very very very much hoping I can meet writing buddies from all over and maybe even some in Japan!
Hi!! This Will Be My Second Year. Last Year I failed..... Miserably Tear tear But IM SUPER DUPER EXCITED this year and I'm truly in need of writing buddies no of my friends are writers so you guys are Awesome Especially this girl right here She has kept me wanting to do video blogs and of course Nana Wrimo :)
This was my second year doing it. Last year I made it to 30k, but this year I used everything I learned and won! I've been following a long time, and I think you were one of the first UA-camrs to introduce me to NaNoWriMo. Then came Katytastic, and with your powers combined I got hooked :D
I counted Nanowrimo out this year with the whole applying to college and senior year craziness but Nano has always been a bunch of fun for me so I think I'm going to do it this year anyways I'll just pick a lower number goal! Thanks Kristina you inspired in my first year to do Nanowrimo and now you are inspiring me again in my 3rd year :)
Hey Kristina! Thanks for the encouragement! I'm new to your videos. It isn't NaNoWriMo right now, obviously, but I am writing lately. I often struggle to start a story, even though it may be fully formed in my head. Okay, I should get back to my story. Thanks again!
WOOHOO NANOWRIMO! I won last year, and i also did the camp nanowrimo over the summer and I'm SUPER EXCITED for november. The novel I'm planning has been simmering in my head since January, so its just about ready to ACTUALLY become words on a page now :D
I think I'm going to try this year. My school load is lighter this semester, I started a story over the summer that I'm excited to get back to, and I'm in a creative writing class that will remind me to write, and will keep my creativity up. In years past, school, commuting, and mental health kept me, but I think this is the year.
This is my first official go at NaNo and I'm beyond excited. November is generally just a really busy month for me, so for the past two years, my best friend and I completed the project in MAY, with the same "rules" and everything, but just...not in November, and minus the community aspects. So I know it's possible, and am so glad I finally decided to pull it together and do it in november for real! Having someone in real life to write with is great, but this whole world wide experience is inde
This is going to be my 3rd time attempting the official NaNoWriMo, not including the camps. I didn't win the last two but I am so excited for this year because I'm actually kinda liking my novel this year? I should be planning right now actually but I've been sucked into UA-cam. And I've been waiting for your NaNo videos for awhile because they're some of my favorite so :)
If I can add in my own advise. One way to really get the words done is to not be afraid to type away on your phone! I am currently participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, and because I was so busy with work I had to write the first 5,000 words of my project completely on my phone. It may be strange to start off, but you'll eventually get into the grove of it and it will feel as naturally as typing on a computer.
Hey :) This is my second year taking part in NaNoWriMo, and I'm very proud of the fact that I managed to 'win' last year. I still haven't brought myself to edit last years novel, but I have made it into an ebook, and it is sitting on my eReader, waiting to be picked apart. So far so good this year. Just managed to get past the 10K mark before midnight *phew* Looking forward to future videos!
I'm participating this year. It's my first time. We're a few people from my school doing it, which means Nanowrimo maratons (all night) at school once a week. So much fun, and it's great to actually write a first draft for what I hope will be a published book later :) Good luck, and hope to see you on twitter! Yaay.
I will be joining in the challenge for the third year in a row! :D I won properly the first year, meaning I started and finished a novel that was over 50,000 words. The second year I wrote over 50,000 words but I didn't finish the book, and I'd already started a few chapters. This year I plan to do it properly again :) Gotta get the whole thing outlined though.
Im really going to try this year! Yes, Dance season is super busy in November and Im taking all advanced classes...but! I will write this novel!!!! I have an idea and I am going to finish it! :) thank you for motivating me Kristina!
HI I got excited seeing you. This'll be my second time doing it, and i'm pretty planless now. But outlines are my favorites things, so i'll gonna need to get on that.
This year will be my 2nd year actually participating. I didn't make the goal previously however this year I don't have anything in my way such as school, full time job, etc. Really... I have no excuse this year, I want to do it and I am so nervous but I'm determined. Thanks for the tips and I'm going to check out the Word Sprints!
I'm definitely not ready for November yet. I participated and won ;) in the last two years but I don't have my own computer right now, so I'm not sure if I can do it this year. Writing by hand seems very very hard. But I will totally try and I'm looking forward to your word sprints, they were a huge help last year (:
so doing this in November. just began being writing as summer. I finished a book in June! and I am writing the second this month. But I love to write. and I really can not wait for November to roll around. p.s just subbed. WHOO!
I've done it and won for the past two years and im really pumped to do it again!! I want to plan more and have a bit of a support group going in the meantime :3
Two or three years after I first heard Kristina talk about NaNo, I'm finally doing it. I've already commented on how she's changed my life completely despite me not being as hardcore of an Unicorn Warrior as I once was, but it keeps happening :)
omg ok like 3rd comment in a row mainly because I just want to thank you because you have inspired me to get this in gear and I can't wait to connect with you on the site!Good luck this year!I'm routing for you!
I'll be participating for the first time ever this year. I don't have a ~good~ idea for a story yet but as long as I can keep on writing, I'll consider it worthwhile.
Hi Kristina, after searching through more of your videos I found this one that addressed my questions I posted in the comments below How Not To Loose Your Mind. I think part or all of my problem when it comes to writing is that I have two failed novels. When I say failed I mean I self published them. The first, I could not woo an agent and the second I didn't even try. I mean a person can hear only so many times that while your work has an intriguing hook, at the current time we here at the Blah, Blah agency are not accepting applications in this genre, thank you and good day. So forget it, I don't need them, I write for myself. But as you can see this has caused me to fall into a writing slump, a I don't think I'll ever finish slump and why am I even trying when no one is paying attention to my work anyway slump. I have several stories in my head to tell but getting them on paper is hard even if I'm only doing it for myself. That may be the problem, at least for me, that I am the kind of person that is driven when other people show interest in what I'm doing and when they don't, I usually give up. You got any inspiring words that I can use to get me back to writing?
Aw, I don't think self-publishing is equal to failure! It's great that you finished two novels in the first place! If you want more in the way of public awareness, you should just invest in an editor and market the book yourself through social media. Jenna Moreci, a popular writer here on UA-cam, once said she gained awareness in part by offering free copies of Eve: The Awakening to people on Facebook. Maybe you should give that a try. :)
+Lexi Espinosa Thank you for writing and giving me the idea about giving out free copies(digital of course). I was thinking of doing something along this line a year or so ago when I began my third book (still writing). I had intended to just include it in the back of another book in a series I have and get feed back on whether people liked the new character or as you say just offer it through my Facebook page for anyone that ask. At the the time I was thinking the book was only going to be about 50k word count but the more I work on it I think it's going to be good bit larger probably closer to my first book 85K. In that case it would be a bit big to add to the end of another book so the free way may be the best. Honestly, I'm not writing for the money anyway. If I was I'd starve. I think I paid more to print the first two than I ever received in royalty's. Thanks again for telling me and saying that self-publishing isn't equal to failure. It just takes me so long to finish the final product that for all the work I put into it, it kinda sometimes feels like. Oh, and if you read this, I hope you write back. It's nice talking to someone that has possibly faced some of the same challenges. Have you written any books?
You're welcome, R Lindsey ! Trust me, I'm VERY familiar with the feeling that all my work might be for nothing if no one reads my stories anyway, but the important thing is that you've accomplished something great. Not everyone can write an 85K words! I've penned several short stories in the past, but they were really just for practice as I learned more about story structure and whatnot. I'm actually in the prep stages of my first novel. (Wish me luck!) You know, if your primary goal is gaining a readership, you may want to consider entering The Wattys on Wattpad.com. It's supposedly the world's largest writing contest, and there are several different categories in which to win--"New Voices," "HQ Love," etc.... This year's Wattys just launched on June 20, so I'm sure there's still time to enter one of your stories if you're interested. :D
+Lexi Espinosa Yes, good luck with your novel. So what's it going to be about? I write detective mysteries (typical guy, huh). The first two are in a series. The third is still in my head. The one I'm working on now is also a mystery but with a different lead character. It's hard feeling like I'm starting from scratch, I really miss the other series but this one will be good if I ever finish. Thanks for telling me about Wattys I had never heard of that so I'll need to check into it. Maybe next year I'll enter. Have you taken Kristen's advice and found a writing buddy? Not sure what that is really. Maybe someone to ask questions to if you get writers block or need to bounce some ideas off of? Well thanks for all the tips and keep writing!
Thanks! Mine is a contemporary fantasy. Mystery is an interesting genre. Personally, I really like it when a series of books features various leads--especially if those characters eventually meet up! I buddy up with my sister. For me, a writing buddy is someone with whom you discuss stories and exchange advice. Some people actually like sit down and work on their books with their buddies, but I prefer having a room to myself when I'm writing because I get distracted so easily.
I've tried the past two years, but could barely make it through a week before other commitments got in the way. This year, I will try to plan ahead more, and maybe try to think of a story idea more than a few days ahead of time :)
This is my first attempt at NaNoWriMo and I'm so afraid that I can't even clear my head!!! How do you all outline your novels!? Where do I start!? I have all these feelings and words and thoughts in my head but I have no clue how to organize them!
I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the fourth time this year- I've won it the past three years. I've also convinced one of my friends to do it this year so we've been helping each other out on our stories :D
I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year too! I wasn't sure I was going to, because I have a long history of giving up halfway in past years, but I graduated this year and at the moment have more free time than I've had in years, so it'd be such a wasted opportunity if I didn't try again! I'm pretty excited, but I'm trying to to think about it much yet, so I can save most of that excitement and be motivated when I actually do the writing! Good luck to everyone participating!
I haven't finished a novel since 2010 (I tried writing in both 2011 and 2012 but I gave up way too fast) SOOOO I have grand plans to try NaNo again this year and I'm really excited and I need a writing buddy! LET'S BE FRIENDS
i will try and do nanowrimo this coming year and it will be my first one ever and could also help me gain the confidence to publish my stories that I have written.
I'll be doing it, second year! Won last year but I was out of school and didn't have a job or anything keeping me occupied aside from my cat. I've got a full time job this year lets see how it goes.
I wanted to do NaNoWriMo but I then didn't think it was such a good idea... But every time I watch one of your NaNoWriMo videos I get all pumped! I think I might attempt it
I did it last year when I saw one of your videos about it... the day before NaNoWriMo started. My story made no sense, had no planning and by this point it even took me a few days to remember the main characters' BUT it was a ton of fun and I managed to do the 50,000 words :) Definitely doing it again this year :D
I participated in 2010, 2011, and 2012, though I only won in '10, and '12. Can't wait to participate this year! I did a rough outline at work yesterday, and I'm having a hard time just waiting for another day to get started. CAN'T WAIT!
I can't this year!! I have to get this beast of a fairy tale retelling revised or risk the wrath of... like, five people. ;) But I think you've just inspired me to PRETEND I'm doing NaNoWriMo and throw all my spare time (and some of my not-so-spare time) into getting that done. So, if I try to have it done by December 1, maybe I can think of all you WriMos as writing buddies....
I won NaNo every year since 2006, but last year I decided to take a break because I was already working on a novel and I felt that my psychology at the time demanded I take things more slowly than NaNo would allow. That novel is now at 67k words, for the record, and still growing! I hope to participate in again NaNo this year.
I'm trying it this year (I wanted to last year, but then November came around and... nothing happened) but I hope October will last long enough to finish planning an outline and characters and everything so I don't figure it out as I go along. I just want to thank you for introducing NaNoWriMo to me to begin with, and even though it'll probably be hell, it sounds like fun, despite the voluntary torture.
Going for my third year and third Win!!! Thank you so much for introducing me to the wonderful world of NaNo!! Seriously though I owe you one :) Thanks Kristina. Hilary.
Most people have already got character profiles mapped out and story-lines piece by piece planned. It's encouraged on the site too, to prepare as much as you can before the madness begins. The book I'm doing this year is a sequel to my last one, so I have all the twists and turns and everything ready.
I've participated in (and won!) NaNo twice before (2005 and 2011). I don't plan to do it this year because I'm currently on an exchange semester. What free time I have from school is best spent exploring. As much as I love writing, if I spend a whole month of my time here holed up in my room and not out enjoying my trip, I'll regret that. I do want to get back into writing regularly though, so I might use the NaNo momentum to set a goal of writing 15 minutes a day or something along those lines.
This is my first time hearing about NaNoWriMo (I'm a newer subscriber) and I am very excited. I have had a novel idea bouncing around in my head for a few months and I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to start! P.S. A writing buddy would be nice :)
I've failed NaNoWriMo the past two years I've done it, but I'm not giving up this year! I'm really excited for NaNo! I've already got most of my story planned out :D and I agree with you on the topic of writing buddies, I've met a lot of great people on the NaNo forums :3
I did this several years ago and won and loved it (about half the time) and then in the years following there's always been something. but I really have no excuse this year.. and I can't believe i just realized it was Nonowrimo and I don't care if it's 4 days in... I will write a novel this nanowrimo!!
This year'll be my second time doing nano! I won last year and had an awesome time. I'm not so sure about my idea for this year though. I don't love it. But I think I can make it into something I will.
I can't wait to write my story this year! 4 years participating (this year will be 5!), 3 years winning. I have a full time job now that I've graduated from college, but if I get in a show that might make writing more complicated. Something relegated to the weekends? We'll see!
Hi Kristina I just saw you write a book in 30 days and this video! I was recommended to find a writing workshop and your idea of finding writing buddies is so important. i did not know where to start but hopefully your approach and finding them on your post will help.. i am learning so much and have not even started one novel.. but tell me where this has taken you after all those years... have you published.. are you using a outline... so far you are doing the best to start just by your info and keeping count of words is a must... also publishing companies don't want books over 70,000 for beginners and so on. I don't have much else to input other them if you want to be a buddies, i will share any insights as a beginner... thanks my son johnny will also start along with me and he will need all the inspiration being so young... thanks ps.. i was looking for a 2016 vid on this subject but had to come back here..
It took me three times to get NaNo right! This year, I went in with the idea of just using NaNo as an excuse to get into the habit of writing daily and it just seemed to work. Plus, as you say, it helps if you have a story that is a lot of fun to write, regardless of whether it's publishable or not.
I am going to do NaNoWriMo this year. This year is my first year as an English teacher in Japan, so perhaps I will encourage my students to do NaNoWriMo either in Japanese or an abbreviated English version! And I will of course be doing NaNoWriMo this year. There are quite a few writers in my prefecture, but I am always interested in meeting new people! This will be the kick in the pants that I need to finally write my story! ^_^
This will be my first NaNoWriMo and I'm hella scared and excited!! I have one rl writing buddy but I'd love more! Especially if you are writing fantasy :)
I have attempted NaNo for the past two years but haven't won. However this year I'm determined! I'm actually taking a writing class at my school so I'm hoping that will help motivate me!
This was my first year doing NaNo, and I won! I'm proud of myself. My word count goal was 10 thousand for a start, but I'm doing it again in January, and doing Camp NaNo, and so every time I do this, I'm going to raise it higher. :)
I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I want it to lead to great things. I don't know whether it will, but what I do know so far is that I'm having a blast :D
I heard about NaNoWriMo from you last year and I atempted it but I only got like 15,000 words in and then I fell off. I would like to try it again this year. I just need to find something to write about that will inspire me to keep going. :)
I did it last year and didn't finish, although I wasn't really aiming for 50000. I just didn't like my story at all and didn't feel motivated enough to finish it. I wasn't even going to do it this year but you gave really good advice and so for the next 3 weeks I think I'm going to think and plan and if I have an idea I want to do I'll do it!
I already tried twice but failed both times. But I always try again! And this year I'm really convinced of my novel idea, it's something I'm going to pour my heart into, so I really hope I will be able to finish it!
This is my third year writing NaNo. This year I'm going to try really hard to win. I've been plotting out this book since July and I really love it. However, my web series is filming season 3 in November... I going to have some serious writing to do to make up for that!
I randomly just clicked on this because it was in my "recommended videos..." Great video! I've tried to do NaNoWriMo in previous years, but I never managed to succeed because I have too many great story ideas going 'round in my head at once.. I think I'm in the middle of four or five separate novels, and several short stories are constantly poking at my mind, saying "write me, write me!" So, as it turns out, I don't write anything at all because I'm so overwhelmed. I guess I just never realized
Hi, well this is my first time doing NaNoWriMo, I can't wait. I've heard about it and didn't really understood what it was about so now that I know I'm going to do. For the past 2 years I've been writing a novel and only got to chapter 9, so it's time to finish it! :) I can't wait. I'm getting my playlist ready
This is going to be my 2nd time competing, 2nd time winning. I can't wait! :D I knew about it earlier this time round so I've had more time to plan :) Good luck with everyone!
I'm planning to at least write SOMETHING this year- I have a few projects to work on, which is probably going to take up my time though. Last year I won, but I don't know if I actually like the book I wrote as a whole. I kind of just joined to join- but this year, I have an actual story I really want to write about.
Hey Kristina! Still loving Job Hunters and Your adventure videos...I'm pretty old to be a subscriber at 53, but I wish I was 25 years younger...the 28 year old version of me would kick ass at the tech stuff nowadays.
I attempted NaNoWriMo last year but I only got to around 14k words. I want to try again this year, but I don't have my story as planned out as the one I tried to write last year. I did make a writing buddy friend though and we've stayed penpals over email over the whole year, so that was the best thing that came out of it!
I MUST win this year!! I will be going back to an old NaNo story and reinventing it and I WILL win this year! My girlfriend did her first NaNo last year and totally beat me by double the words I churned out. So, it is my mission to finish my current book, "the Disk: Being", find a way to edit my first finished book, "the Disk: Coincidence", and get a good chunk started on "the Disk: Operation Firewire" during this year's NaNo.
I know this video is four years old, but I am going to be doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I have been scared to write a novel since a failed attempt when I was very young. For years I have watched you succeed at NaNo, and I am excited to try it myself. I have been watching your videos for inspiration, and I just wanted to say thank you for being so encouraging to all writers.
4th consecutive NaNoWriMo this year! Smashing 2 novellas in a series into one project. Am I out of my mind? Probably. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
what's the point?
I'm doing Nanowrimo for the first time and I'm so excited!
Add me, this is my first NaNoWriMo too ! nanowrimo.org/participants/thiacarbonneau
Cynthia Carbonneau Added you!! :))
Thanks ! Hope to talk with you during the NaNoWriMo ! :)
l believe no story is crap. it might be cheesy and corny. for example. 'Boy meets girl, their lives are never the same after.' cheesy right, but anyone can take a simple sentence and turn into a magical story.
I am so glad to hear that! Good luck!
Hey, Kristina! I'm slowly getting back into writing after a four-month slump. Watching all your NaNo vids over again gets me excited to write regularly again. :D :D
This will be my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I fully intend on taking full advantage of it this year. I am finishing all of my prep work, I have the outline ready, the characters ready, and even pictures of each character and certain parts drawn in storyboard (O_o). I think I'm ready this year.
I can't wait for NaNo this year! I've won two years so far, hopefully I can keep the streak alive. Your word sprints really help, Kristina!
I did the NaNoWriMo last year because of your pep talk. Now I have self-published a book on CreateSpace and I made sure to thank you on the last page. I will be doing it again this year and hopefully many years from now on. Thank you, Kristina!
I'm so excited for NaNo this year. I had an amazing story the idea the other day and since then I've been sort of outlining my novel and just in general getting more and more excited. Also, I convinced my Mom to try it for the first time this year, so that's exciting.
This is my fourth NaNo, and I've won my last two. I don't plan on failing at all and I'm really excited. Last year I tried to do your writing sprints but I never caught the beginning of them due to my classes. I'm going to be writing something completely different than before but it's also the first year I've ever planned things out, so it's going to be very very different. Good luck to everyone else!
This is so cool! I'd heard of NaNoWriMo before, but had never seriously considered it until a few days ago. Now I'm looking forward to next November so much. :)
Thanks for letting me know about this. :)
I spend A LOT of my time writing, and have been planning to start publishing on amazon for a long time now, but, thing is, I always get new ideas while I'm working on a novel so I start working on those, and end up finishing none, so think Nanowrimo will be a great way to force me to focus on one work at a time, and commit to it till I finish it.
I look forward to reading your novel, and I hope you read mine too ^^
Give it your best!
OHMYGOSH I'm so glad that I came across this. I've been putting off finishing my novel and last night I started re-planning it. I needed this.
I'm going to try this year. not sure if I'm going to go with the word goal but I'm going to write everyday.
I've done it in the last two years and won it both times! This is year number three :D I've had my nano idea for this year since about April but I'm glad I still have three weeks to fine tune it. Stuff always happens during my November, it's exam season here in Australia, but I've coped in the last two years so fingers crossed for this year too! Love you Kristina xx
I just signed up for this year's nanowrimo after seeing your 'writing a book in a month.'
VERY excited, but I'm also VERY nervous! This will be my first novel ( :S usually only write short stories. Always wanted to write a novel though.) I don't think I've ever written 50,000 words, but I thought I'd give it a try. I also wanted to go to the night of writing dangerously but I live in Japan so thats... A little difficult. But I'm very very very very much hoping I can meet writing buddies from all over and maybe even some in Japan!
Took a break last year, working on prepping for this year super stoked to take the challenge this year
Hi!! This Will Be My Second Year. Last Year I failed..... Miserably Tear tear But IM SUPER DUPER EXCITED this year and I'm truly in need of writing buddies no of my friends are writers so you guys are Awesome Especially this girl right here She has kept me wanting to do video blogs and of course Nana Wrimo :)
I know NaNo is close when I see one of your writing pep videos! :D I'm really starting to get excited!!
This was my second year doing it. Last year I made it to 30k, but this year I used everything I learned and won! I've been following a long time, and I think you were one of the first UA-camrs to introduce me to NaNoWriMo. Then came Katytastic, and with your powers combined I got hooked :D
I counted Nanowrimo out this year with the whole applying to college and senior year craziness but Nano has always been a bunch of fun for me so I think I'm going to do it this year anyways I'll just pick a lower number goal! Thanks Kristina you inspired in my first year to do Nanowrimo and now you are inspiring me again in my 3rd year :)
I'm currently planning my novel for next year's nanowrimo! It'll be my first year participating
Hey Kristina! Thanks for the encouragement! I'm new to your videos. It isn't NaNoWriMo right now, obviously, but I am writing lately. I often struggle to start a story, even though it may be fully formed in my head. Okay, I should get back to my story. Thanks again!
I'm so excited to participate this year! Last year was my first year and I won! It is so much fun and so rewarding!
WOOHOO NANOWRIMO! I won last year, and i also did the camp nanowrimo over the summer and I'm SUPER EXCITED for november. The novel I'm planning has been simmering in my head since January, so its just about ready to ACTUALLY become words on a page now :D
Oh man! I'm planning on participating this year, and after watching this video, i'm more excited than ever :)
I think I'm going to try this year. My school load is lighter this semester, I started a story over the summer that I'm excited to get back to, and I'm in a creative writing class that will remind me to write, and will keep my creativity up. In years past, school, commuting, and mental health kept me, but I think this is the year.
This is my first official go at NaNo and I'm beyond excited. November is generally just a really busy month for me, so for the past two years, my best friend and I completed the project in MAY, with the same "rules" and everything, but just...not in November, and minus the community aspects. So I know it's possible, and am so glad I finally decided to pull it together and do it in november for real! Having someone in real life to write with is great, but this whole world wide experience is inde
This is going to be my 3rd time attempting the official NaNoWriMo, not including the camps. I didn't win the last two but I am so excited for this year because I'm actually kinda liking my novel this year? I should be planning right now actually but I've been sucked into UA-cam. And I've been waiting for your NaNo videos for awhile because they're some of my favorite so :)
This will be my fourth year doing Nanowrimo and I discovered this wonderful past time through your videos. Won all three years and going for four!
If I can add in my own advise. One way to really get the words done is to not be afraid to type away on your phone! I am currently participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, and because I was so busy with work I had to write the first 5,000 words of my project completely on my phone. It may be strange to start off, but you'll eventually get into the grove of it and it will feel as naturally as typing on a computer.
Hey :)
This is my second year taking part in NaNoWriMo, and I'm very proud of the fact that I managed to 'win' last year.
I still haven't brought myself to edit last years novel, but I have made it into an ebook, and it is sitting on my eReader, waiting to be picked apart.
So far so good this year. Just managed to get past the 10K mark before midnight *phew*
Looking forward to future videos!
I'm participating this year. It's my first time. We're a few people from my school doing it, which means Nanowrimo maratons (all night) at school once a week. So much fun, and it's great to actually write a first draft for what I hope will be a published book later :) Good luck, and hope to see you on twitter! Yaay.
I will be joining in the challenge for the third year in a row! :D I won properly the first year, meaning I started and finished a novel that was over 50,000 words. The second year I wrote over 50,000 words but I didn't finish the book, and I'd already started a few chapters. This year I plan to do it properly again :) Gotta get the whole thing outlined though.
Im really going to try this year! Yes, Dance season is super busy in November and Im taking all advanced classes...but! I will write this novel!!!! I have an idea and I am going to finish it! :) thank you for motivating me Kristina!
HI I got excited seeing you. This'll be my second time doing it, and i'm pretty planless now. But outlines are my favorites things, so i'll gonna need to get on that.
This year will be my 2nd year actually participating. I didn't make the goal previously however this year I don't have anything in my way such as school, full time job, etc. Really... I have no excuse this year, I want to do it and I am so nervous but I'm determined. Thanks for the tips and I'm going to check out the Word Sprints!
That's awesome! Good luck!
I'm definitely not ready for November yet. I participated and won ;) in the last two years but I don't have my own computer right now, so I'm not sure if I can do it this year. Writing by hand seems very very hard. But I will totally try and I'm looking forward to your word sprints, they were a huge help last year (:
so doing this in November. just began being writing as summer. I finished a book in June! and I am writing the second this month. But I love to write. and I really can not wait for November to roll around. p.s just subbed. WHOO!
I've done it and won for the past two years and im really pumped to do it again!!
I want to plan more and have a bit of a support group going in the meantime :3
Giving it a go again this year! I was excited to have won for the first time last year!
Two or three years after I first heard Kristina talk about NaNo, I'm finally doing it. I've already commented on how she's changed my life completely despite me not being as hardcore of an Unicorn Warrior as I once was, but it keeps happening :)
omg ok like 3rd comment in a row mainly because I just want to thank you because you have inspired me to get this in gear and I can't wait to connect with you on the site!Good luck this year!I'm routing for you!
Writing this year and super excited! I've done all but one year since 2006 and it's the best part of my year, creatively.
I'll be participating for the first time ever this year. I don't have a ~good~ idea for a story yet but as long as I can keep on writing, I'll consider it worthwhile.
Hi Kristina, after searching through more of your videos I found this one that addressed my questions I posted in the comments below How Not To Loose Your Mind. I think part or all of my problem when it comes to writing is that I have two failed novels. When I say failed I mean I self published them. The first, I could not woo an agent and the second I didn't even try. I mean a person can hear only so many times that while your work has an intriguing hook, at the current time we here at the Blah, Blah agency are not accepting applications in this genre, thank you and good day. So forget it, I don't need them, I write for myself. But as you can see this has caused me to fall into a writing slump, a I don't think I'll ever finish slump and why am I even trying when no one is paying attention to my work anyway slump. I have several stories in my head to tell but getting them on paper is hard even if I'm only doing it for myself. That may be the problem, at least for me, that I am the kind of person that is driven when other people show interest in what I'm doing and when they don't, I usually give up. You got any inspiring words that I can use to get me back to writing?
Aw, I don't think self-publishing is equal to failure! It's great that you finished two novels in the first place! If you want more in the way of public awareness, you should just invest in an editor and market the book yourself through social media. Jenna Moreci, a popular writer here on UA-cam, once said she gained awareness in part by offering free copies of Eve: The Awakening to people on Facebook. Maybe you should give that a try. :)
+Lexi Espinosa Thank you for writing and giving me the idea about giving out free copies(digital of course). I was thinking of doing something along this line a year or so ago when I began my third book (still writing). I had intended to just include it in the back of another book in a series I have and get feed back on whether people liked the new character or as you say just offer it through my Facebook page for anyone that ask. At the the time I was thinking the book was only going to be about 50k word count but the more I work on it I think it's going to be good bit larger probably closer to my first book 85K. In that case it would be a bit big to add to the end of another book so the free way may be the best. Honestly, I'm not writing for the money anyway. If I was I'd starve. I think I paid more to print the first two than I ever received in royalty's. Thanks again for telling me and saying that self-publishing isn't equal to failure. It just takes me so long to finish the final product that for all the work I put into it, it kinda sometimes feels like. Oh, and if you read this, I hope you write back. It's nice talking to someone that has possibly faced some of the same challenges. Have you written any books?
You're welcome, R Lindsey ! Trust me, I'm VERY familiar with the feeling that all my work might be for nothing if no one reads my stories anyway, but the important thing is that you've accomplished something great. Not everyone can write an 85K words!
I've penned several short stories in the past, but they were really just for practice as I learned more about story structure and whatnot. I'm actually in the prep stages of my first novel. (Wish me luck!)
You know, if your primary goal is gaining a readership, you may want to consider entering The Wattys on Wattpad.com. It's supposedly the world's largest writing contest, and there are several different categories in which to win--"New Voices," "HQ Love," etc.... This year's Wattys just launched on June 20, so I'm sure there's still time to enter one of your stories if you're interested. :D
+Lexi Espinosa Yes, good luck with your novel. So what's it going to be about? I write detective mysteries (typical guy, huh). The first two are in a series. The third is still in my head. The one I'm working on now is also a mystery but with a different lead character. It's hard feeling like I'm starting from scratch, I really miss the other series but this one will be good if I ever finish. Thanks for telling me about Wattys I had never heard of that so I'll need to check into it. Maybe next year I'll enter. Have you taken Kristen's advice and found a writing buddy? Not sure what that is really. Maybe someone to ask questions to if you get writers block or need to bounce some ideas off of? Well thanks for all the tips and keep writing!
Thanks! Mine is a contemporary fantasy. Mystery is an interesting genre. Personally, I really like it when a series of books features various leads--especially if those characters eventually meet up!
I buddy up with my sister. For me, a writing buddy is someone with whom you discuss stories and exchange advice. Some people actually like sit down and work on their books with their buddies, but I prefer having a room to myself when I'm writing because I get distracted so easily.
I am going to! I am SO excited! It is the first time I am trying to :)
I cannot wait!!!
I've tried the past two years, but could barely make it through a week before other commitments got in the way. This year, I will try to plan ahead more, and maybe try to think of a story idea more than a few days ahead of time :)
This is my first attempt at NaNoWriMo and I'm so afraid that I can't even clear my head!!! How do you all outline your novels!? Where do I start!? I have all these feelings and words and thoughts in my head but I have no clue how to organize them!
I've wanted to do NaNoWriMo for 2 years but couldn't figure out it or make it happen. This video made me excited about trying. Thanks Kristina! :D
I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the fourth time this year- I've won it the past three years. I've also convinced one of my friends to do it this year so we've been helping each other out on our stories :D
So ready for NaNoWriMo. :D I've had my novel ideas ready to go for a while now. I've been doing it for the past 2 years.
I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year too! I wasn't sure I was going to, because I have a long history of giving up halfway in past years, but I graduated this year and at the moment have more free time than I've had in years, so it'd be such a wasted opportunity if I didn't try again! I'm pretty excited, but I'm trying to to think about it much yet, so I can save most of that excitement and be motivated when I actually do the writing! Good luck to everyone participating!
I haven't finished a novel since 2010 (I tried writing in both 2011 and 2012 but I gave up way too fast) SOOOO I have grand plans to try NaNo again this year and I'm really excited and I need a writing buddy! LET'S BE FRIENDS
i will try and do nanowrimo this coming year and it will be my first one ever and could also help me gain the confidence to publish my stories that I have written.
I'll be doing it, second year! Won last year but I was out of school and didn't have a job or anything keeping me occupied aside from my cat. I've got a full time job this year lets see how it goes.
I wanted to do NaNoWriMo but I then didn't think it was such a good idea... But every time I watch one of your NaNoWriMo videos I get all pumped! I think I might attempt it
I did it last year when I saw one of your videos about it... the day before NaNoWriMo started. My story made no sense, had no planning and by this point it even took me a few days to remember the main characters' BUT it was a ton of fun and I managed to do the 50,000 words :) Definitely doing it again this year :D
Good tips, thank you :) motivation and commitment is key.
Also jumping in to say hello to you both. This will be my second year doing NaNo :)
I participated in 2010, 2011, and 2012, though I only won in '10, and '12. Can't wait to participate this year! I did a rough outline at work yesterday, and I'm having a hard time just waiting for another day to get started. CAN'T WAIT!
I can't this year!! I have to get this beast of a fairy tale retelling revised or risk the wrath of... like, five people. ;) But I think you've just inspired me to PRETEND I'm doing NaNoWriMo and throw all my spare time (and some of my not-so-spare time) into getting that done. So, if I try to have it done by December 1, maybe I can think of all you WriMos as writing buddies....
This kind of stuff goes for essay-writing too, thanks for making this!
I won NaNo every year since 2006, but last year I decided to take a break because I was already working on a novel and I felt that my psychology at the time demanded I take things more slowly than NaNo would allow. That novel is now at 67k words, for the record, and still growing! I hope to participate in again NaNo this year.
I'm trying it this year (I wanted to last year, but then November came around and... nothing happened) but I hope October will last long enough to finish planning an outline and characters and everything so I don't figure it out as I go along. I just want to thank you for introducing NaNoWriMo to me to begin with, and even though it'll probably be hell, it sounds like fun, despite the voluntary torture.
Going for my third year and third Win!!! Thank you so much for introducing me to the wonderful world of NaNo!! Seriously though I owe you one :) Thanks Kristina.
Hilary.
Most people have already got character profiles mapped out and story-lines piece by piece planned. It's encouraged on the site too, to prepare as much as you can before the madness begins. The book I'm doing this year is a sequel to my last one, so I have all the twists and turns and everything ready.
I've participated in (and won!) NaNo twice before (2005 and 2011). I don't plan to do it this year because I'm currently on an exchange semester. What free time I have from school is best spent exploring. As much as I love writing, if I spend a whole month of my time here holed up in my room and not out enjoying my trip, I'll regret that. I do want to get back into writing regularly though, so I might use the NaNo momentum to set a goal of writing 15 minutes a day or something along those lines.
This is my first time hearing about NaNoWriMo (I'm a newer subscriber) and I am very excited. I have had a novel idea bouncing around in my head for a few months and I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to start! P.S. A writing buddy would be nice :)
I am super excited :) I've given up on NaNoWriMo twice because of exams but finished camp NaNoWriMo this year with a 10000 word count goal :)
I've failed NaNoWriMo the past two years I've done it, but I'm not giving up this year! I'm really excited for NaNo! I've already got most of my story planned out :D and I agree with you on the topic of writing buddies, I've met a lot of great people on the NaNo forums :3
I did this several years ago and won and loved it (about half the time) and then in the years following there's always been something. but I really have no excuse this year.. and I can't believe i just realized it was Nonowrimo and I don't care if it's 4 days in... I will write a novel this nanowrimo!!
This year'll be my second time doing nano! I won last year and had an awesome time. I'm not so sure about my idea for this year though. I don't love it. But I think I can make it into something I will.
I can't wait to write my story this year! 4 years participating (this year will be 5!), 3 years winning. I have a full time job now that I've graduated from college, but if I get in a show that might make writing more complicated. Something relegated to the weekends? We'll see!
Hi Kristina I just saw you write a book in 30 days and this video! I was recommended to find a writing workshop and your idea of finding writing buddies is so important. i did not know where to start but hopefully your approach and finding them on your post will help.. i am learning so much and have not even started one novel.. but tell me where this has taken you after all those years... have you published.. are you using a outline... so far you are doing the best to start just by your info and keeping count of words is a must... also publishing companies don't want books over 70,000 for beginners and so on. I don't have much else to input other them if you want to be a buddies, i will share any insights as a beginner... thanks my son johnny will also start along with me and he will need all the inspiration being so young... thanks ps.. i was looking for a 2016 vid on this subject but had to come back here..
It took me three times to get NaNo right! This year, I went in with the idea of just using NaNo as an excuse to get into the habit of writing daily and it just seemed to work. Plus, as you say, it helps if you have a story that is a lot of fun to write, regardless of whether it's publishable or not.
I am going to do NaNoWriMo this year. This year is my first year as an English teacher in Japan, so perhaps I will encourage my students to do NaNoWriMo either in Japanese or an abbreviated English version! And I will of course be doing NaNoWriMo this year. There are quite a few writers in my prefecture, but I am always interested in meeting new people! This will be the kick in the pants that I need to finally write my story! ^_^
This will be my first NaNoWriMo and I'm hella scared and excited!! I have one rl writing buddy but I'd love more! Especially if you are writing fantasy :)
I have attempted NaNo for the past two years but haven't won. However this year I'm determined! I'm actually taking a writing class at my school so I'm hoping that will help motivate me!
I have just found your channel and its extremely inspirational to me as my dream job is to become an author :)
This was my first year doing NaNo, and I won! I'm proud of myself. My word count goal was 10 thousand for a start, but I'm doing it again in January, and doing Camp NaNo, and so every time I do this, I'm going to raise it higher. :)
Like always you get me pumped way too early !!! So excited to start! Good luck everyone :)
I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I want it to lead to great things. I don't know whether it will, but what I do know so far is that I'm having a blast :D
I heard about NaNoWriMo from you last year and I atempted it but I only got like 15,000 words in and then I fell off. I would like to try it again this year. I just need to find something to write about that will inspire me to keep going. :)
I did it last year and didn't finish, although I wasn't really aiming for 50000. I just didn't like my story at all and didn't feel motivated enough to finish it. I wasn't even going to do it this year but you gave really good advice and so for the next 3 weeks I think I'm going to think and plan and if I have an idea I want to do I'll do it!
I already tried twice but failed both times. But I always try again! And this year I'm really convinced of my novel idea, it's something I'm going to pour my heart into, so I really hope I will be able to finish it!
she's such a nerd and im just thankful people like her are here to surround me :D
This is my third year writing NaNo. This year I'm going to try really hard to win. I've been plotting out this book since July and I really love it. However, my web series is filming season 3 in November... I going to have some serious writing to do to make up for that!
I randomly just clicked on this because it was in my "recommended videos..." Great video! I've tried to do NaNoWriMo in previous years, but I never managed to succeed because I have too many great story ideas going 'round in my head at once.. I think I'm in the middle of four or five separate novels, and several short stories are constantly poking at my mind, saying "write me, write me!" So, as it turns out, I don't write anything at all because I'm so overwhelmed. I guess I just never realized
Hi, well this is my first time doing NaNoWriMo, I can't wait. I've heard about it and didn't really understood what it was about so now that I know I'm going to do. For the past 2 years I've been writing a novel and only got to chapter 9, so it's time to finish it! :) I can't wait. I'm getting my playlist ready
Kristina, you should make another writing process video like you did last year. :)
This is going to be my 2nd time competing, 2nd time winning. I can't wait! :D I knew about it earlier this time round so I've had more time to plan :) Good luck with everyone!
I'm planning to at least write SOMETHING this year- I have a few projects to work on, which is probably going to take up my time though. Last year I won, but I don't know if I actually like the book I wrote as a whole. I kind of just joined to join- but this year, I have an actual story I really want to write about.
I've had a novel idea for years and I keep meaning to do Nanowrimo but life stuff just always gets in the way. Someday...
This is my first time, and it is the perfect time! Post planning tips?
Hey Kristina! Still loving Job Hunters and Your adventure videos...I'm pretty old to be a subscriber at 53, but I wish I was 25 years younger...the 28 year old version of me would kick ass at the tech stuff nowadays.
I attempted NaNoWriMo last year but I only got to around 14k words. I want to try again this year, but I don't have my story as planned out as the one I tried to write last year. I did make a writing buddy friend though and we've stayed penpals over email over the whole year, so that was the best thing that came out of it!
I MUST win this year!! I will be going back to an old NaNo story and reinventing it and I WILL win this year! My girlfriend did her first NaNo last year and totally beat me by double the words I churned out. So, it is my mission to finish my current book, "the Disk: Being", find a way to edit my first finished book, "the Disk: Coincidence", and get a good chunk started on "the Disk: Operation Firewire" during this year's NaNo.