Have you done NaNoWriMo in the past? If yes, why not tell me what those stories were about. During NaNoWriMo, every time I log in, I’m always reminded of the stories I wrote for the thing in the past. Some of them I haven’t touched since. Do you have ones like that?
Keep it to the official NaNoWriMo that happens in November and not Camp.
You don’t have to reveal titles if you don’t want to. I’m doing it for some, not for others. You can also reveal the year you took part in it starting from earliest to latest. You don’t have to have “won” NaNoWriMo.
Format Title (old title: blur it out if you want), year of NaNo. * insert simple summary *
Here are mine
I did do CampNaNo in 2013 to test the waters first.
Between Roses (old title: nothing to see), 2013: Yes, the birth of Eryn’s story in Underland. The basic plotline hasn’t changed, but Eryn has gotten a lot more likable. It has always been a story about a girl finding herself in a crazy land, being chased after by mad queen for a power she didn’t know she had, and having to fight manifested madness.
The Facade of Quad in Nimrod, 2014: The first lit fic satire magic realism thing I wrote. Title has remained. It’s about a rich family of four who all have a darkness about them and each one falls after their own failures. And there’s also a shadow, sinister and sneaky, watching their descend.
not gonna tell you the title, 2015. An orphaned special needs boy who is also really smart goes to live with his aunt who is suffering from OCD. The boy grew up in a unique family that, despite living in the modern age, they preferred a traditional Victorian-type lifestyle. POV switch happens between the boy and his aunt.
Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound (old title 1: The Scepter of Tamido, old title 2: The Choice of Aurvandil), 2016. The birth of my blue bipedal feline, Pinti’s story. The original version was more of an adventure fantasy. Pinti loses father to enemies and is orphaned. Goes to travel the world in search for a powerful stone to help fight enemies. Finds out mysterious things about her race. Meets a mysterious and powerful wizard… and, once I got to 50k, I stopped and didn’t finish the story until much later
Lone Gold, Daring Purple (old title: nothing to see), 2019. Cypur’s story. Although I have edited this, it hasn’t changed much. I actually wasn’t going to do NaNo this year, but I did. A sorcerer boy meets a raven girl and then is framed for murder. They must run from police and hunters while figuring out the secrets of their biological parents, hence, figuring out the truth of themselves.
Dead By Sunrise, 2020. The sequel to Alive At Crepusculum. Basically, an evil god is rising in an Egypt-inspired fantasy world. A boy meets a man with a demon. A father searches for his lost son. Two major gangs search for lost, powerful relics. And, there’s many deaths. The last struggle to see whether good or evil will triumph.
Solar Song, Frozen Fate, 2022. A bipedal lion girl with the powers of the sun, must travel outside her enclosure for the first time in her life to save her entire race from all-powerful creatures.
Extra question: How did you first find out about NaNoWriMo?
I’ve only ever done NaNoWriMo once before… three years ago. And I was just starting to write the book I’m editing right now. xD I’m not exactly doing NaNo this year, but I kind of am. Like, I’m a NaNo rebel but also not since I’m not officially doing it. If that makes any sense whatsoever.
I’m currently editing the Sorceress, a YA sci-fi fantasy book I just finished writing this year. I did NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2019 so I could start the book and, not much of a shocker, but I didn’t win it last time. I only wrote 13,000 words. xD But you know, that’s not that bad. I was a little saddened because I started off strong. Heck, there were a couple times when I wrote 3-4K in a day! But then, of course, I got tired and stopped writing for a few days and that few days turned into a whole week, if not, longer.
And now, I’m unofficially doing NaNo so I can work on the first round of edits. My main goal is to at least finish the second draft this month, but of course, I know that ain’t gonna happen. I’m on page 106 or so out of 170 (Word document pages—size twelve font, Times New Roman, single spaced).
As for learning about NaNoWriMo, I heard some people talking about it on the old Wattpad forums and I looked it up to see what it was about. And while I haven’t participated in it very much (November is honestly the worst month for it), I am also a regular (or semi-regular) on their forums. xD
I think only one of them was from camp. Oooh, that’s a good question about where we first heard of NaNo! Hm…I honestly can’t remember. Probably some professional blog, like LitHub, Electric Literature, Slate, Gawker, Vulture, Rumpus, Book Riot, The Millions. Jane Friedman, etc. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯
I don’t really remember my first NaNo story. But I think that the one I do remember was a book for a writing competition that I was trying to finish but never did and eventually took it down.
Then, this year I took another shot but I think I might stop before I even hit a milestone because of the sheer amount of plotholes that need to be fixed which means another round of rewrites. The two of them are listed below:
Title: A Thousand Broken Dreams ( NaNo 2020 ) Short Summary: A girl who dreams of her past life and the choice she has to make between her dreams and her reality. ( Based on Egyptian mythology )
Title: Venge ( NaNo 2022 ) Short Summary: A girl who kills demons with her voice and a boy who destroys them with a single touch must work together to protect their city from something more sinister than demons.
Overall, my NaNo works are all a bust but I am looking forward to trying again some other time until I eventually manage to do them all the way.
Don’t rewrite your NaNo! That is, if you want to make it to 50k. I have a ton of plotholes in mine, I’m sure, but I’m determined to make the wordcount happen, so I ignore the plotholes and continue on as if they’ve been fixed I’ll edit the story later, I say.
That’s the one! The one I keep rambling on about throughout the forums. xD
I can… try. I did do a few pages today before work. I go into work later on Thursdays (Monday–Wednesdays and Fridays, I work from 8-5pm; Thursdays, I work from 10-7pm) and I’ve typically been waking up around 8:30ish these late mornings, so it gives me enough time to get ready and head off to our local cafe. I’ve had times where I’ll read, but I decided to write today. Honestly, I didn’t even think I’d write just because yesterday, my little sister wanted me to drive her to her bus stop so she didn’t have to walk in the freezing cold. So… I woke up around 6am and I was sooo tired. I was gonna sleep in until 9-9:30 today. But… I didn’t.
It really is… And a part of it doesn’t even have to deal with the holidays either.
They use the same software as Wacky, so I actually wasn’t at all surprised or necessarily confused when Wattpad had changed their forums (back when they actually did have them) or when Wacky was created. They aren’t, however, as “advanced” as Wacky now that there’s been some upgrades here. They’re just like the older version. Lol
As for activity, there is quite a bit of active people on there. It mostly gets busy throughout October and November, and slows down after that, though it still maintains some traffic. There’s a few regulars who, like me, hang around most of the busy sections. And then some people who just hang in their own threads.
Done NaNo for 10+ years straight, but took last year off. I don’t remember how I first found out about NaNoWriMo, tbh! It was probably on a forum somewhere when I was a kid
Think you can get that down to 50 pages? 
And a part of it doesn’t even have to deal with the holidays either. 