~ ***** a fox chat ***** ~ [Now: Best friend to what book, anime, movie, manga MC?]

Almost any crystal needed in a ritual can be replaced by clear quartz.

My favorite "crystal"s are probably Carnelian and Amber Fossils. Carnelian because of its connection to my zodiac sign, Leo, and its history in Ancient Egypt.

Amber Fossils because of how interesting and slightly morbid they are.

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How is there a connection to the zodiac sign, and why is it important to you?

Let’s get deeper :grin:

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Never believed in it, but crystals are pretty, and may have other uses. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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What other uses do you think?

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Like industrial uses. For instance, various industries use diamonds for cutting things. Various crystals may have useful qualities that makes them valuable to manufacturers and whatnot. I know very little about them myself. (♯^.^ღ)

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I am a Leo, and I match up pretty well with the Leo traits. I love cats and I like vibrant colors. Carnelian is associated with fire and I have a very firey and energetic personality.

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Topic: What were the first NaNoWriMo stories you ever wrote and what year was it?
You can talk about CampNaNo, too, but it has to be something you wrote from scratch.

My first NaNoWriMo year was 2013.

The first one I ever wrote was in 2013 CampNaNo. I decided on 50k. I wanted to do NaNoWriMo that year, so I used Camp to challenge myself to write 50k.

The story was called Awakening and it was a small-town mystery taking place in a town by the sea. A woman washes up on shore with only memory of her name. A family owning a sweet’s shop takes her in. Idk why I didn’t do fantasy. Idk why I decided to challenge myself to write a mystery for my first NaNo. I slogged through the story and a majority of it is pure cringe. There’s also unnecessarily long scenes which were even boring to write.

I did make it though :sweat_smile: Barely. It was so HARD.

The next July CampNaNo 2013, I chickened out and made it 40k. I did do fantasy this time but for some reason, it was so HARD. I had so much trouble with the middle and I hadn’t figured out my NaNo strategy yet. It was a story of a boy who goes to a city made out of a maze? and learns some evil had taken away the magical light, so he has to gather the shards and return it to the central tower. It ends as if there is going to be a sequel.

There never was :stuck_out_tongue:

Come November, I wrote an Alice in Wonderland inspired story (I did make it to 50k. Barely.) which eventually turned into Between Roses and will be self-published this year! :laughing:

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Oooh, that’s right, Camp NaNo is coming up again in just 24 more days, isn’t it? Feels like I only just failed NaNo a month ago and–oh, yes…I did. Welp, time to fail another one! (*・_・)ノ⌒*

Let’s see, I joined NaNo in 2015 so I must have started a project back then, but my earliest project listed is from 2019. I know I deleted a few of them, but the only one I remember was about the Salem witch trials. It was a fictionalized account of a real life person named Dorothy or Dorcas Good.

She was only four years old when accused of witchcraft, and went insane as a result of her imprisonment. I didn’t get very far with the story, but haven’t given up on it yet. Someday when I’m in the mood I want to try again. ( ^◡^)っ✂

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Think of it this way: at least you’re creating something :wink:

I feel like I’ve heard about that story. Maybe it was one of Bailey Sarian’s Dark History videos.

Sounds like it would be interesting fodder for a story :smiling_face:

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My first real NaNo year was last year. I was trying to make a Gravity Falls AU fanfic that never really panned out :confused: eventually I lost inspo and it’s now on the backburner. Which is prolly a good thing since now I have more original WIPs to worry about lol but still. I had high hopes that I would power through and just make the whole story of 10k words and- it just did not happen XD

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Do you think you’ll be trying it again? If you need tips for NaNo, I have some that might help :wink:

Btw, are you a planner, pantser, or plantser (the hybrid)?

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Yeah! If you mean trying the GF fanfic again for NaNo, maybe not; like I’ll try it again but for fun. But yeah I’m planning to do NaNo again in general. I’m still active there rn, trying to finish a WIP by the end of July for Camp, and it’s around 4k words in so so far so good I guess! Thanks though, I can definitely use the tips <3

So I’m kinda mostly a pantser, but there are times when I’m a plantser. But depending on the story, I feel like I have to plan more for it in advance. I guess in general, I’m hybrid lol but it really depends on the story whether I lean more on the planner or pantser side. Hbu?

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How’s this project going so far?

As for tips, it depends on what you’re struggling with. I can give tips on keeping the momentum, tips on finishing on time, and tips for when you come to a bland point in the story and how to get over it.

I’m a pantser but for NaNo, I do inspiration-prep. Basically, documentaries, pictures, art, music, anything that could inspire me in terms of setting, like a week before, I start to fill my days with them. I don’t do this for every story though. But I don’t do much in terms of characters or plot. I just have it all in my head and I constantly think about it so when it comes time to write, I can just write it out.

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Literally all of those apply to me XD

That’s an interesting strategy. For me, that would be listening to certain music bc that always inspires my stories, whether they’re straight fanfics or just inspired by the artist, songs, or albums.

I would totally do this, but bc I have so much other stuff going on, I would never get anything else done if I constantly thought about my writing. Bc then I’d have to put my other thing aside and brainstorm or write for hours on end. Plus, I always forget my writing ideas later, so I always try to block them out until I can actually sit down and write.

I haven’t worked any more on it since I last posted here XD but I mean like I said, it’s at 4k out of 10k so Ig not too bad? Close to halfway at least. I still have a little over a month to finish, so hopefully I can work more on it. School is kinda cramping my writing rn though tbh xP

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Back 2021 I tried to do Nanowrimo, it was a story about four teen girls and a female security guard stuck inside an abandoned mall on another planet in the wake of a devastating alien invasion. I was thinking about how many abandoned malls could be renovated into a housing complex if there was money in it.

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My first nanowrimo was in 2010. I can’t really remember that far back but it must’ve been good enough for me to keep doing it, lmao. In other news, I just signed in and I don’t think we’re allowed to actually say the name NaNoWriMo anymore. Fun damage control.

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Nation Wide Authorship Moon Cycle.

NWAMC.

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Wait for real? So I’m guessing the Mods posted another update finally… what else did they say?

Just the new ToS update - you can check it online! Just a whole lot of spiel about needing to add your DoB, and how they own the words nanowrimo etc and we aren’t allowed to copy, use, or redistribute them… with no exceptions listed.

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Alright then.

Keeping momentum:

  • Leave yourself with a few notes for the next session so you don’t start with a blank page. After your last written part, you write things like;

MC goes into room
they talk with friend
friend leaves OH NO how terrible
MC says something witty and then
SLAM door closes

You can do as little or as much as you want. The point is that you have something to start with next session even if you don’t end up using what you wrote.


Getting Bored:

  • Find yourself at a slow scene and you’re getting bored? Remember, NaNo isn’t about quality. It’s about quantity. Deal with plot holes later and throw yourself a curve ball. Sudden action is the best. Characters talking in a room? One of the characters blurts out a lie or a truth. Someone bursts into the room yelling. A scream rings out in the dark. Lightning and thunder, the lights go out! Characters walking from A to B? Get into a fight around misunderstanding. Rainstorm! Earthquake! Sudden antagonist pops out to attack! A wild animal comes out and looks like it wants to eat them.

Finishing on Time:

  • If you write 500 to 2500 words a day, you’ll win NaNo. I usually try to aim for the next 50, so I don’t get overwhelmed. So, 50 then 100 then 150…it’s a really little bit, but thinking about a day’s writing in really little bits makes it less daunting for me, but idk about you. Sometimes I only aim to write a paragraph.

  • Remember, NaNo is about writing 50k. The honest truth is that it’s not about squeezing out your best writing and creating the next best seller. That’s what editing is for and what you shouldn’t think about for NaNo. Repeating myself but NaNo is about quantity, although not to say you’re going to write gibberish. You still need to write a story. But quality comes second. You can go on and on and on with description to fill it out. I use meal scenes, travel scenes, and interior descriptions for this. Also, incredibly drawn out “characters opening up and being vulnerable” moments. Don’t edit. You need those repetitive redundancies :wink:


Remember, these aren’t musts for NaNo and neither are they great, golden tricks that will magically work for everyone. These are tricks that I’ve found to work every time for me. Maybe you’ll find bits and pieces you can bring into your own NaNo sessions in ways that’ll work for you :blush:

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