Comments on: What I’ve Learned From NaNo So Far http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/ About the craft and business of genre fiction Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:14:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Eric http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1648 Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:07:53 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1648 People worry about quality over quantity, but quality is often an issue of the exploration/editorial/rewriting stage. You get quantity from the first stage, the generative stage... where you just toss out lots and lots of ideas and pull them together. Then, when you've done that, you can step back and take a look at what works and what doesn't. NaNo is a great reminder to just generate, generate, generate. National Novel WRITING Month... not Editing Month, or Rewriting Month. You can do that the rest of the year. :) People worry about quality over quantity, but quality is often an issue of the exploration/editorial/rewriting stage. You get quantity from the first stage, the generative stage… where you just toss out lots and lots of ideas and pull them together. Then, when you’ve done that, you can step back and take a look at what works and what doesn’t.

NaNo is a great reminder to just generate, generate, generate. National Novel WRITING Month… not Editing Month, or Rewriting Month. You can do that the rest of the year. :)

]]> by: Melissa Marsh http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1641 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:28:00 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1641 Marsha, thank you so much for your post. I haven't worked on my novel for a few days now (I'm in the editing stage) and I'm really missing it. No wonder I feel a bit blue today. :) P.S. - I really prefer Ben and Jerry's Lowfat chocolate brownie fudge yogurt. ;) Too bad the new "lifestyle change" i.e. diet won't let me have it anymore! Marsha, thank you so much for your post. I haven’t worked on my novel for a few days now (I’m in the editing stage) and I’m really missing it. No wonder I feel a bit blue today. :)

P.S. - I really prefer Ben and Jerry’s Lowfat chocolate brownie fudge yogurt. ;) Too bad the new “lifestyle change” i.e. diet won’t let me have it anymore!

]]> by: strugglingwriter http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1640 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:43:40 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1640 Great post, I also wrote today about what I have learned from NaNoWriMo, though your post was much better. I really enjoyed it. Great post, I also wrote today about what I have learned from NaNoWriMo, though your post was much better. I really enjoyed it.

]]> by: Marsha Moyer http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1639 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 17:38:43 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1639 Now there's an idea . . . Now there’s an idea . . .

]]> by: Therese Walsh http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1638 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:54:30 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1638 Comic mystery novels sound interesting...almost as interesting as a salon/gun shop. I'd be a little nervous my client might not like her dye job, go next door and return with a crazed look in her eye. ;) Comic mystery novels sound interesting…almost as interesting as a salon/gun shop. I’d be a little nervous my client might not like her dye job, go next door and return with a crazed look in her eye. ;)

]]> by: Marsha Moyer http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1637 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:32:56 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1637 At the risk of spoiling a good joke, I feel compelled to reveal that Red O'Brien is really my friend Ben Rehder, an excellent unboxed writer himself. Ben's the author of a series of comic mystery novels set in Blanco County, TX: Buck Fever, Bone Dry, Flat Crazy, Guilt Trip, and the forthcoming Gun Shy and Holy Moly (St. Martin's Minotaur). Red does know his guns! At the risk of spoiling a good joke, I feel compelled to reveal that Red O’Brien is really my friend Ben Rehder, an excellent unboxed writer himself. Ben’s the author of a series of comic mystery novels set in Blanco County, TX: Buck Fever, Bone Dry, Flat Crazy, Guilt Trip, and the forthcoming Gun Shy and Holy Moly (St. Martin’s Minotaur). Red does know his guns!

]]> by: Marsha Moyer http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1636 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:14:03 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1636 Good point, Red. Smith & Wesson is a lot more appropriate to my story, too. Anyway, it was just an example of outside inspiration; I didn't intend to interpret it literally. Actually, what it reminded me of was a place that sits right off Highway 79 in NE Texas that's a combination hair salon/sattelite dish outlet. I always wanted to use that, so I just decided to make it a hair salon/gun shop. How are things in Blanco County? You and Billy Don must be busy now that deer season's opened. Oh, yeah, I forgot--you guys don't pay much attention to silly things like the law, do you? Good point, Red. Smith & Wesson is a lot more appropriate to my story, too. Anyway, it was just an example of outside inspiration; I didn’t intend to interpret it literally.

Actually, what it reminded me of was a place that sits right off Highway 79 in NE Texas that’s a combination hair salon/sattelite dish outlet. I always wanted to use that, so I just decided to make it a hair salon/gun shop.

How are things in Blanco County? You and Billy Don must be busy now that deer season’s opened. Oh, yeah, I forgot–you guys don’t pay much attention to silly things like the law, do you?

]]> by: thea mcginnis http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1635 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:27:01 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1635 number 8. "when i feel this crazy, only magic will help," she whispered to herself as she opened the last drawer in search of her wand. when she spied the glittering traces of fairy dust under the old gypsy's scarf, she knew her seach was closing in on success. "abra cadabra!" number 8. “when i feel this crazy, only magic will help,” she whispered to herself as she opened the last drawer in search of her wand. when she spied the glittering traces of fairy dust under the old gypsy’s scarf, she knew her seach was closing in on success. “abra cadabra!”

]]> by: Elena Greene http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1634 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:56:57 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1634 Lovely post, Marsha. The one that particularly resonates with me is #6, lowering the standards. Watching the steady increase in wordcount on that bar graph in my NaNo profile helps me to remember I have to produce quantity first and quality will come later. :) Lovely post, Marsha. The one that particularly resonates with me is #6, lowering the standards. Watching the steady increase in wordcount on that bar graph in my NaNo profile helps me to remember I have to produce quantity first and quality will come later. :)

]]> by: Red O'Brien http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1633 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:05:41 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1633 Stick with Smith & Wesson. American-made. Stick with Smith & Wesson. American-made.

]]> by: Kathleen Bolton http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1632 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:39:58 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1632 What a nice reminder that writing can occasionally be fun, if not spiritually uplifting. If it takes a hamster-wheel gimmick like NaNo to get us back in the groove, so be it. GLOCK SALE. Scary. What a nice reminder that writing can occasionally be fun, if not spiritually uplifting. If it takes a hamster-wheel gimmick like NaNo to get us back in the groove, so be it.

GLOCK SALE. Scary.

]]> by: Therese Walsh http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1626 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:26:55 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/11/15/what-i%e2%80%99ve-learned-from-nano-so-far/#comment-1626 Beautiful, inspiring post. Thanks! Beautiful, inspiring post. Thanks!

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