Just as it sounds. Kinda like NaNoWriMo, but you get a year to do it. Prizes and everything.
http://www.novel-a-year.com/
Looks really good, Walker. Thanks for the link :afro:
Shame about this bit, but you can't have it all ways - "Genre: All genre accepted apart from sci-fi and horror."
Generous prizes, considering it's free entry. I expect they offer an editorial service, or something else to help fund it.
It fits perfectly with my own novel-in-progress, which is still in the outline stage-- and has been for far too long.
This may be just the fire I need under my ass. There's no way I could enter NaNoWriMo and even hope to finish, but a year is far more reasonable a time frame. That's about 8K a month, or 2 short stories of intermediate length.
My wife is all for it. No wonder, I'll be busy for a whole year. Her eyes glazed over when I told her, I think she was already day-dreaming of evenings without me yapping at her about writing, and actually doing it.
By the way, Sharon, you're eligeble for this too (how far along are you now?). Unpublished work is ok, whether it's completed or not.
ERK! You talking to me? :shocked: Ummm, I just started re-writing An Unrecovered Woman the first weekend in September. I revised the first 60 pages. Guess this is the boot in the butt that I need to keep going. Thanks for the tip, Trevor! (I think! :bleh:)
All righty, then. I did it. Now I'm in for it, eh? ;)
Good for you, Sharon! I'm just about to sign up too, but it's a big step. I'm not sure I have the stones for it.....
Damn. I just looked, and I do indeed have stones. I'm running out of excuses. :/
Edit: I'm in too. I hope I get assigned a cool number. I want to be #50.
I have no idea why.
I see a number of familiar names there, too!
I'm 49 and you're #50, Trev. Oh, to be 49 again! (NOT!)
I'd love to join in, but I've got waaay too much on my plate already. Good luck to both of you, though - I hope at least one of you clinch the prize money :smiley:
Thanks, Blunt. I'll do my best. :smiley:
Quote from: SharonBell on September 17, 2005, 10:52:11 AM
I see a number of familiar names there, too!
Sharon, who do you recognize from there? Anyone I might also know?
I see (Gerald) Doolol's name, but the rest isn't accessible to guests.
The very best of luck to you people entering! :cheers: Yes, who else is that we might know of?
Well, my hunch is that Slave Driver is Debs (from AIA) and leatherdykeuk was from AIA, too. Definitely Gerald. And now that fellow, Elliott Quinn is in and moi.
I recognize those names in the forum section, but not on the novel writing list. I wonder how many of them will sign up for that before time runs out?
Incidentally, I noticed that I signed up with 13 days, 13 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds remaining. How freaky is that!?
:cheesy:
You didn't do it on the 13th, though!
:scratch: Oh :huh: If it's Debs, I hope it doesn't fold before it gets off the ground, or even worse - when everybody's half way there. All her sites seem to toodle along nicely for a while, and then, splat - gone :huh:
Maybe this one will stay the distance?
Will keep you posted... :huh:
NOTE:
This challenge has been ammended and now accepts ALL GENRE'S...... any more takers?...Blunt?
Well, with a couple of you here at least entering it, even if the official thing folded (which I hope it doesn't), you could help each other keep up to speed.
I'm trying to get a children's book done for the Saga challenge at the moment.
That's a good point, Joyce. There's no question I'll be pulling my hair out from time to time.
Sharon, you any good at hair plugs?
:P
Do you like cat hair? I have lots of that lying around the house... :bleh:
maybe....what color is it?
I'd prefer calico, seeing as I can't make up my mind.
We have 2 spotted Bengals, a tortie mutt-cat, a Scottish fold (silver and black) and a polydactyl brown mutt-cat.
You may choose one or all. :bleh:
If you shave a strip off the back of each one, then I'll get that 'Dennis Rodman' look going. :P
I can contribute brown tabby and white!
Quote from: Walker on September 19, 2005, 07:41:20 AM
NOTE:
This challenge has been ammended and now accepts ALL GENRE'S...... any more takers?...Blunt?
UMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm... no. I'd love to, but I haven't got anything burning my psyche at the moment - no ripping yarns that need writing or anything. Although I had the glimmer of an idea last night, but I think it may have already been done.
Besides, I'm still struggling with all this site building malarchy. So I'm already stretched :/
If you want to write the novel, I can show you how to get it published professionally without money. No baloney, no scams, just work.
If I can do it, so can you. The first time was very tough, I had to do research for months, download about sixty pages or more of printed matter, study them, keep in a supply of ibuprofen and coffee...etc.
Now I know I can do it again, and much easier, since I learned a lot of lessons along the way.
Check this out, not to get you to BUY my book, but just so you'll see quality can be acheived!!!! :cool:
Link: www.lulu.com/adventurebooks (http://www.lulu.com/adventurebooks)
Looks great, Robert! Very classy! :dance:
http://www.writersdock.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=17163&highlight=
Thought you might be interested to see this thread that's turned up on Writer's Dock. It looks as if Debs has joined, lurking under the name of 'Deskie', to promote her new venture - that is, if I'm reading it right. (Signed, 'Nicky Richfield'. I was asking the 'who' question after what I'd seen over here.)
My advice? Write your novel. Sit there at your desk and just freakin' do it! If you need the likes of Debs/Deskie ... ummm ... frankly, it ain't never gonna happen.
Hi, Donna - nice to see you around.
I'm with you on this one, but I know a lot of people who are helped by feeling there are others toiling along and sympathizing!
Yes. Personally I feel it has nothing to do with Deskie/Debs, but rather the challenge itself. This thing could be held by 'Ronald friggin McDonald' and I'd still enter. It's the timeline involved as well as being in the same boat as over 100 others that drives me to do this. I'd write the novel regardless of who/what/where, but the timing and incentive was just enough to push me to finally do it. One can only do so many outlines before the book is basically written.
Well, keep us all posted as to how it's coming along. As I said, I'm not joining that challenge, but I am working on a novel to submit in January, so I'm in the same kind of boat.
I can see the benefit of having a support structure and constant feedback - it must ease the solitary feeling you can get in the middle of a big project. I think it's a good idea, but I don't feel ready enough to restart my abandoned novel, and I don't feel anything else burning in my psyche that needs writing down. Otherwise, I would sign up.
Over the past few months I've lost confidence in my writing, to a large extent, because I keep learning new things that make me realise how much more there is to writing well than I initially thought. I think short story writing is a good way to practise for the big event (a novel), so I'll do that a while longer, until I'm happier with my writing, before undertaking a massive word count. My last attempt got up to around 30,000 words before I saw how crap it was, and then it seemed like a lot of effort for nothing. Not something I would like to repeat :grin:
Nice to see you popping in to say hello, Donna :smiley:
Good luck with your tome, Walker :afro: Like Joyce said, keep us posted.
If the novel you're talking about was the one of which you posted parts on here, it was very far from crap - you're not doing yourself justice. Do keep going - you've got a voice.
I've done the short story thing for a while, Blunt, and suffered the "not worthy" thing.
The way I see it, writing novels is what I want to do. I sometimes get the feeling that short stories are written by writers, read by writers, published by writers in magazines which are bought by writers. It's like an endless circle. Same with the competitions.
My take on novels is that I would be happy to write crap, as long as I enjoyed writing it, and as long as someone paid good money to read it. The novel(s) I'm writing under the NAY banner have a PI as a central character, and are straight down the "mystery / thriller" road. No lit fic, or pretentions thereof. I'm not intelligent enough, and I've not studied literature enough. So, my note of caution might be to not get too wrapped up in the short story stuff. It's good to get quick feedback, but doesn't have much of a long-term future, at least for me as a writer.
On the subject of the N-A-Y thing, I agree with Blunt. When you have a number of things taking up your time - full-time jobs, families, social lives - writing has to be shoe-horned in at some point. It's all too easy to 'not find time today', and the support of a group all doing similar things helps give a psychological boost, when the moise pointer is hovering between internet browser and word processor. It might help make the right choice.
This is the thing about NaNoWriMo too. Yes, there are all sorts of things you can say about the quality of the output, but as a system of encouraging people to sit down and write, it has no equal. Well, had no equal, until earlier this month.
Nice to be able to pop in again. Hello to everyone ;)
Quote from: doolols on September 26, 2005, 06:59:26 PM
I've done the short story thing for a while, Blunt, and suffered the "not worthy" thing.
The way I see it, writing novels is what I want to do. I sometimes get the feeling that short stories are written by writers, read by writers, published by writers in magazines which are bought by writers. It's like an endless circle. Same with the competitions.
That rings true. I keep wondering who all these lovies are who appreciate all those boring literary stories - and they are boring stories (the vast majority anyway). I much prefer a good genre story. I'm not interested in clever subtexts or vague descriptions - I want to be entertained! Why even bother sitting, banging your head against the desk, trying to think of a way to portray a character as being 'exhilerated', without using the word? That's what the bloody thing's in the dictionary for, isn't it? >:(
QuoteMy take on novels is that I would be happy to write crap, as long as I enjoyed writing it, and as long as someone paid good money to read it. The novel(s) I'm writing under the NAY banner have a PI as a central character, and are straight down the "mystery / thriller" road. No lit fic, or pretentions thereof. I'm not intelligent enough, and I've not studied literature enough. So, my note of caution might be to not get too wrapped up in the short story stuff. It's good to get quick feedback, but doesn't have much of a long-term future, at least for me as a writer.
Thanks for the pep-talk, Doolols. I'm not intelligent (or is it 'intellectual'?) enough to write lit-fic shorts, either. The whole thing's tedious. Pretty damn pompous, too, in many cases. I think it suits a certain type or class of person, and I'm not one of them.
Quote
Nice to be able to pop in again. Hello to everyone ;)
Nice to see you too :smiley:
Quote from: JoyceCarter on September 26, 2005, 05:10:56 PM
If the novel you're talking about was the one of which you posted parts on here, it was very far from crap - you're not doing yourself justice. Do keep going - you've got a voice.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Joyce :afro: I might just take another look at it.
Quote from: blunt on September 26, 2005, 07:55:16 PM
Thanks for the pep-talk, Doolols. I'm not intelligent (or is it 'intellectual'?) enough to write lit-fic shorts, either. The whole thing's tedious. Pretty damn pompous, too, in many cases. I think it suits a certain type or class of person, and I'm not one of them.
I'm confused as to what the line is between lit fic and pop fic. What is the distinction to be made between the two?
I'm not an overly intelligent guy, but I like to write non-genre fiction, I may have even called it lit fic by accident, or ignorance.
:scratch:
Quote from: Walker on September 26, 2005, 08:06:19 PM
Quote from: blunt on September 26, 2005, 07:55:16 PM
Thanks for the pep-talk, Doolols. I'm not intelligent (or is it 'intellectual'?) enough to write lit-fic shorts, either. The whole thing's tedious. Pretty damn pompous, too, in many cases. I think it suits a certain type or class of person, and I'm not one of them.
I'm confused as to what the line is between lit fic and pop fic. What is the distinction to be made between the two?
I'm not an overly intelligent guy, but I like to write non-genre fiction, I may have even called it lit fic by accident, or ignorance.
:scratch:
It's one of those things that's never been 'officially' defined, I think. Like poetry has never been properly defined as being anything other than 'text where the writer decides the positioning of the line breaks' - something like that, anyway.
The way I understand it is that popular fiction is sneered upon by literary fiction writers/readers, as being shallow and 'poorly written', as is genre fiction. 'Good' lit fiction is not plot driven, has layers of hidden meaning, and you never actually come out and say what you mean. For instance, you would never say that one of your characters was 'exhilerated' - you would say (for instance) 'he filled his lungs with light fire', or some such nonsense. Any commonly used turns of phrase or sayings used in the text are considered screaming cliche, like 'toe the line', 'kick up your heels', 'save it for a rainy day' - even in a character's dialogue.
To stand any chance of winning Bridport or getting a story published in the New Yorker, you would have to follow these rules, apparently. Write like Hemingway, Carver, Bellow, etc. What you think is a story about a boy walking to the shops is actually about world peace and the rise of feminism in the capitalist post-whatever era. Stuff like that. Hard to explain, and it varies depending on who you listen to. :grin:
:D I knew I felt at home when I landed here...
:cheers:
Good to see a few of you in the comp.
:dance:
Quote from: blunt on September 27, 2005, 04:28:38 AM
Quote from: Walker on September 26, 2005, 08:06:19 PM
Quote from: blunt on September 26, 2005, 07:55:16 PM
Thanks for the pep-talk, Doolols. I'm not intelligent (or is it 'intellectual'?) enough to write lit-fic shorts, either. The whole thing's tedious. Pretty damn pompous, too, in many cases. I think it suits a certain type or class of person, and I'm not one of them.
I'm confused as to what the line is between lit fic and pop fic. What is the distinction to be made between the two?
I'm not an overly intelligent guy, but I like to write non-genre fiction, I may have even called it lit fic by accident, or ignorance.
:scratch:
It's one of those things that's never been 'officially' defined, I think. Like poetry has never been properly defined as being anything other than 'text where the writer decides the positioning of the line breaks' - something like that, anyway.
The way I understand it is that popular fiction is sneered upon by literary fiction writers/readers, as being shallow and 'poorly written', as is genre fiction. 'Good' lit fiction is not plot driven, has layers of hidden meaning, and you never actually come out and say what you mean. For instance, you would never say that one of your characters was 'exhilerated' - you would say (for instance) 'he filled his lungs with light fire', or some such nonsense. Any commonly used turns of phrase or sayings used in the text are considered screaming cliche, like 'toe the line', 'kick up your heels', 'save it for a rainy day' - even in a character's dialogue.
To stand any chance of winning Bridport or getting a story published in the New Yorker, you would have to follow these rules, apparently. Write like Hemingway, Carver, Bellow, etc. What you think is a story about a boy walking to the shops is actually about world peace and the rise of feminism in the capitalist post-whatever era. Stuff like that. Hard to explain, and it varies depending on who you listen to. :grin:
I am laughing my tits off here, Ed!
(and tearing my hair out at the same time......)
I think I may be due another spanking :fugly:
Quote from: Deskie Debs on October 03, 2005, 06:31:06 PM
:cheers:
Good to see a few of you in the comp.
:dance:
Hi, Debs :afro: Welcome aboard :smiley:
:afro:
Ty, blunt. Good luck in comp ... plenty of people rooting for ya'!
:)
Hi Debs, good to see you here. :smiley:
(Don't take the Ronald friggin' McDonald quote the wrong way)
:bleh:
Hiya, Walker!
I've just finished my first novel last week (82,400 words occult/fantasy). I've got an agent looking over it now with an eye to publishing it as a series. I'll probably do two a year if this goes through well. I'm into the second chapter of my sequel today. I'm pretty excited as I'm enjoying the writing. I got laid off in my supervising job at a local factory (who shipped everything to be done cheaper in Mexico) and have been knocking off about 2000 words a day. I get up, walk around and talk to myself a lot... but it works for me. Being that it's a more character driven plot (more or less) it's kind of fun because even I don't know exactly how it's going to come out. I'm just taking the basic idea, getting my people together and seeing what turns up. *I* like the story... the REAL test will be how well the paying customers like the story. I should have a better idea in about 4 weeks.
Sounds like a good way to write, Stormm - they say half the battle is creating the characters, but once you have them, they take on a life of their own and beg to be written about.
Sorry to hear about you being made redundant, but if you´re anything like me you´ll find it quite liberating, at least to begin with. I had some time out, during the 90s recession and at first it got me down, but then I realised there wasn´t much I could do but ride it out. From that point on, I quite enjoyed the liberty (until the bank balance shrunk to a level where I had to do something about it ::) ).
All the best of luck to you with your novels :smiley:
Good luck, Stormm.
Thanks. The bank account is indeed looking more than a little anemic, but the feedback on the book, and the agency that is interested in it are indicating that this will change for the better soon. Liberating? It will be nice to work just for me, for a change and keep my own hours. :dance:
Yep, indeed :afro: It sounds like you're capable of making a good living from your writing, which is something I would love to do myself. :smiley: