Topic awaiting preservation: NaNoWriMo (Page 1 of 1)

Its OK I haven't lost my pills (or found Wakkos' stash) I'm talking about the National Novel Writing Month:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Anyone up for it?

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

I am all over that.

NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo NaNoWriMo. IT's so much fun to say!

Would anyone be interested in a collaborative venture? I was kicking ideas around for a collaborative novel thingy but never did anything with it. I suspect I can't [find the time to] bash out 50k words in a month and neither can most of you but NaNoWriMo might just the incentive to sort this out.

Thoughts?

twItch^: Super - carry on as you are

[edit: just trying to make some sense - nearly there]

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Sounds like a cool idea Emps. I might be interested.

Why don't you either message me on Q or post what you had in mind here?

Jestah

I might be interested in giving this a shot if it were sci-fi. I haven't written in quite some, but it sounds like fun.

OK my general thoughts are that I kick it off with a chapter and then other people can add chapters picking up on that (or heading off in a different direction). As this is the Web we won't make it linear and people can add their chapters anywhere making a sort of tree.

I have the basics in my head and the story also (sort of) explains the structure and you can pretty much take the story anywhere you want.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

That sounds real good Emps. Count me in for chapter 2.

Maybe we can get 4 or 5 people to dedicate a few hours a week on this and alternate chapters. Anyone else interested?

Jestah

oh no.... hahaha... I can see what this will turn into, sounds awesome though... *wanders off through the halls snickering to himself*

Jestah: OK cool

quote:

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Maybe we can get 4 or 5 people to dedicate a few hours a week on this and alternate chapters. Anyone else interested?

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My thinking was that if we went for alternate chapters then we might be sitting around waiting but if anyone could add to an existing chapter or provide alternative chapters earlier on then things could keep moving along at a pace and stay interesting and flexible.

That way people can work at their own pace, take the story where they want to go, explore and have fun

So anyone else interested?

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

I discovered NaNoWriMo last year, shortly after it ended for that year. Since then it has been on the back burner of my mind, just simmering away. I've got an idea for what I'd like to write, but that's it. The problem is that I, like Emps, am not going to have the time to write 50k words this November.

I must admit that the idea of a collaborative novel never occurred to me. I don't think that sort of thing is what the creators of NaNoWriMo had in mind. After all, the idea is to force people--or have people force themselves--to write insane amounts of text in a limited amount of time, and this kind of circumvents that. That being said, there's nothing in the rules against it, and it doesn't go against the spirit of the contest, I don't think. And besides, it sounds like it would be fun.

I'm not too sure about the mechanics, though. I imagine things are going to get pretty confusing if we have everyone writing at once. At the very least, we're not going to end up with a traditional narrative. Then again, maybe that's a good thing. Ah, what the heck--I'm in.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I'm back. Backlogged shock therapy sessions will be held in the Asylum swimming pool--the more the merrier.


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Suho1004: Welcome back

quote:

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I don't think that sort of thing is what the creators of NaNoWriMo had in mind. After all, the idea is to force people--or have people force themselves--to write insane amounts of text in a limited amount of time, and this kind of circumvents that.

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I agree but:

1. We will have to fit the same amount of insane writing in its just we won't have as much spare time to devote to it so it all works out the same rate of words

2. I was thinking of doing something like this anyway NaNoWriMo is just what has got my moving on his

quote:

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I'm not too sure about the mechanics, though. I imagine things are going to get pretty confusing if we have everyone writing at once. At the very least, we're not going to end up with a traditional narrative. Then again, maybe that's a good thing.

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That might be part of the point - one of the reasons we are doing it like this is so we can fit it in and so people's writing is going to be staggered so you might be writing at the same time as someone else but there will be others working away or kicking their heels waiting for inspiration.

The structure I envision thrives on people posting alternative chapters follwoing on from another - we can then follow any (or all) that we want and see where it goes.

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Ah, what the heck--I'm in.

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And I'll see you at the pool - its been a while since I dusted off my swimming robes.

[edit: Sig stealer]

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

I'll go in for this too emps. put me down for some character development work. I think it might help the whole venture if we got together before we start writing though and work out who our characters are going to be 'n all that, so at least we're all moving in the same direction

Skaarjj: Good to have you on board but direction? Everyone can add their own direction or follow the story arc from the last chapter or add an alternate chapter. Obviously it might not work but we'll see - hopefully adding in so much flexibility will mean it can adapt and grow 'organically'.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

I'm not such an author. I'll pass!

My Detention Room

Yannah: Our loss I'm sure.

Anyone else? I have all the bits and pieces lying around to get this to work online so I'll see what I can come up with before Go Time (4 or 5 people expressing an interest is enough for me to get things moving)

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

To be honest Emperor, I don't get what you're saying.

My Detention Room

Yannah: Yes I'm afraid I'm not really explaining it well - it should all become clear as things develop though.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Emps: Not much time left before things get rolling... get to work!

And how are we going to kick this thing off, anyway? I mean who's going to get the ball rolling? I'll remove myself for the running for that honor, as I'm going to be busy at the beginning of the month...


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Suho1004: Yep - I have a few things on my plate in the next few days but the script to hold things together shouldn't be a problem.

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And how are we going to kick this thing off, anyway? I mean who's going to get the ball rolling?

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I'll do that - I have a few things sketched out so the first chapter will set a bit of plot while keeping things open ended. In the spirit of NaNoWriMo I won't start writing until the start of the month but I should be able to dash it off quite quickly.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Sounds good to me. Maybe you want to give us a little hint about what you've got planned, you know, so we can start mulling it over?


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Suho1004:

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Maybe you want to give us a little hint about what you've got planned, you know, so we can start mulling it over?

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Nope. As things will be open ended and flexible I'd rather hit everyone with it and see where that takes them

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Right. open-ended and flexible is good, but if we're going to have any sort of coherence at all (and, while I understand the nature of this thing, I think we need some coherence), we need to have at least some idea of where we're going with this. I'm not looking for a complete road map here, just some basics: genre, plot type, etc.

[Edit: Right, UBB code... it's been a while...]
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Suho: www.liminality.org

I agree with suho on that one...a vague idea of what style we're supposed to be writing with would be very nice to have...

Righto I'll sketch out some plot later.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Thinking about this I'm not sure how much help this will be as I really have tried hard to leave things as wide open as possible but.........

Essentially I introduce a male character and a brief outline of what has happened - reality is breaking down and falling apart. This leaves things open to change just about anything you like and you can move the plot into different genres as well as throw in any historical characters you like (you could even make a good arguement for introducing literary characters).

Due to the physical structure an setup you can add chapters anywhere you like and multiple chapters spinning off from specific chapters and following alternate interpretations of events, etc. also fits in with this and might also add to the general atmosphere. If you don't like the way the story is going spin it off in another direction and see how that works out or add a chapter higher up in the structure. It might be that it develops in a linearish fashion or it might turn into more of a tree like structure - it just depends.

Hope that helps a bit.

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

quote:

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reality is breaking down and falling apart.

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So, in other words, it's business as usual. Gotcha.

I can picture this thing rapidly spinning out of control... it should be a blast.


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Just to let everyone know (I have spoken to a few people via ICQ) that I am finishing off the last touches for this. Depending on how time is I hope to have the first chapter done within a day or so of the start of the month. More news then

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Awesome

Jestah

Although I mentioned this to Emps on Q, I'm going to be quite busy until the middle of November, so I won't be able to contribute until the second half of the month. Just wanted to let you guys know.


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Righto sorry about the delay (various things got in the way) I have got the script working and online and uploaded the first chapter:

Long was the Night

I have heard reports of FireBird and pos. NS6) issues with the layout and there may be some oddness with the add chapter submit script but I hope to address that tomorrow so bear with me

To add a chapter you will need to registered over there:
http://www.the-emperor.org/talk/

Hopefully eventually we'll have a full system worked out for authenticating people's accounts here (while maintaining security) but for now you'll have to do it this way (which shouldn't be too much of chore).

I have gone over a bit of the thinking behind this above. These are the 3 main guidelines:

1. All HTML is stripped out except for: B, I, U, EM and STRONG

2. Paragraphs are automatically created so just leave a new line and that will be done.

3. Run it through a spellchecker (and Word will go through your grammar too ).

[edit: It doesn't have to be perfect (mine certainly isn't but I'm hoping that I'll get into the flow in the next few chapters), in fact throwing the words out is part of the challenge, but a quick spellcheck and (pos.) a proofread will just help everyone ]

but if you have any questions then just ask.

The main point is to throw out some text and have fun. If an interesting story emerges then all to the good

[edit2: I have run through the script a number of times so there is no need for test posts (although I would recommend you have a hard copy saved somewhere) and I'll remove any post that is just people dicking around so don't bother.

Oh and all copyright remains with the author - by submitting it you are just giving me permission to store and display a copy on the site ]

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Dear sweet mother of God... I weep--and I mean weep--for the poor soul who has to write the next chapter.

I mentioned that I wasn't going to be able to write anything until the middle of the month, right? Hopefully the narrative will have taken on at least a vague semblance of sanity by then. I'm not holding my breath, though.

At any rate, we are certainly off to a rip-roaring start. More possibility for creativity than you could shake a stick at.


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Suho: www.liminality.org

Suho1004: I'm glad you liked it

As I warned you I would try and leave things as open as possible so people could take it any direction they liked

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

Don't worry, Emps. I am confident that our masterful Asylum wordsmiths will be able to salvage something from the wreckage.




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Suho: www.liminality.org

Wow...cant even bring my mind to concentrate.....will try later.

~Sig coming soon~

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reality is breaking down and falling apart

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If you guys are interested, this may be of use to you. You have my permission to use the material if it is needed.

And you can put me down for this one, too. Thanks.

RN3:

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You have my permission to use the material if it is needed.

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I'm not sure what material you mean or how we'd use it - good to have you on board though

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Emps

The Emperor dot org