Day One: the official list!

Hi everybody, and welcome to Nanowrimo! It's so lovely to see so many familiar names from last year's group, as well as so many new participants. I'm also excited about the range of projects that we're all undertaking - there's great variety. I'm hugely excited about starting this journey with all of you! Good luck, and I'll see you at the end of the day to check on progress.

Andrea (me!)

"I haven't signed up on the official website this year because I'm only aiming for 30,000 words. For my Nano project this year I am planning to complete a first draft of last year's Nano novel (by writing the aforesaid 30,000 words!) and make up the other 20,000 words by revising that amount in my current work-in-progress. Should be fun!"

Jenni

"I've tried to do NaNoWriMo several times before, but I never go through with it. But this time, I'm determined! My SN is kittenbonanza. I don't have a title yet, but I'm thinking it'll be a cross between The Craft, Heathers, and The Wicker Man--as you can see by my inspirations, I don't have a whole lot of time to read for fun anymore!"

Leah

"I am taking the plunge - I've never really committed to anything solid in writing, just gone through life thinking 'One day I'll be published and then everything will be grand'. My Nanonwrimo username is leahrobinnapier. My project, I think, will be to overcome the first blank page and to keep going, and learn a lot about quantity not quality, which is something that has always intimidated me. I hope it will be half-history of the place I grew up, and half coming-of-age in my time. It may turn out to be nothing like that at all, though. Thanks for this opportunity!"

Vikki

"Okay again I'm am gonna try and do this, my music theory exam is on the 3rd Nov so exams shouldn't impact too badly this year. I'm undecided which to attempt: unfinished book from last year to completion? Or see how far I get with shiny new idea/book. Dunno. My usename is still Vikki56."

Maree

"Mine is mareejones. I'm hoping to have good success this year but it is hard as current book will have to battle it out with NaNoWriMo new book!"

Sara

"I'm so glad you're organizing this group again, Andrea - last year it was such a big motivator. My user name is orchidbuttons. This year's novel is a rewrite of part of last year's NaNoWriMo project, but I'm starting from scratch with my word count."

Luinae

"Yay!

Username: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/519390 My actual username is Luinae
Genre: Young Adult Political Fantasy
Title: Whispers of Freedom
Excerpt:
“He loved your mother, Aereth,” said Carragh.
“My father didn’t love anyone.” Aereth’s eyes were stony. “I saw the look on his face when he saw her body. He didn’t look sad, or grieved. My father looked angry, like a man cheated of his prize.”"

Mervat

"I too have so much on and will go for your Nanowrimo-lame-o, even though I have signed up for Nanowrimo (user name: The Writing Instinct). I will be working on current project and aim to write 30000 words from outlines I have prepared.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Working title: THIRB - I'll th-tick with this acronym for now :D

And, I may join twitter...

Thanks again for continuing to inspire us, my dear."

R.

"Eee, I'm going to try this this year! I think having a support group will bolster my confidence that I can actually reach such a fearsome word count (the most I've ever written is 3k - I like my stories short!).

My Nano username is theladyafterwards, and currently have NO IDEA what I'll be writing."

Hayley

"I'm so in, yay! My username is silhouesque. I buddied all the above folks.

I haven't done it before, the most I've written for a novel is about 10k.

Alls I know about what I'm going to write is that it'll be young adult somethingorother. And it'll probably have some weird, unrealistic element to it."

Gina

"Andrea!
I want to join!
Thanks so much for doing this.
Sometimes I just need a little push--you were it!"

Ally

"Hello! I will be attempting a NaNoLameO. Username is Axsis. I'll be aiming for 30k or thereabouts, because of being Busy and Important, and also because I'm not sure how long I can sustain Vampire Hospital. It is about a hospital. Staffed by Vampires. Although I was going to attempt a Musical NaNo and write Quake! I think my point is that I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to do something. Sorry to ramble in the comments."

Rosalind

"Hello!

Nanowrimo-lame-o sounds just about right to me! I'm actually working on a new draft of a play (so word counts don't really apply) but it would be so helpful to be part of a motivational group.

My username is: veronicalake."

Lighting the Lamps

"My username on NNWM is lighting_the_lamps. I have 70,000 words of an approximately 90,000 word novel written, so my challenge will be to finish the first draft of my novel next month. Currently, I have some very finished chapters combined with a mish mash of part scenes and long chunks of dialogue that need breaking up."

Missdaillecourt

"This will be the first time that I dip a toe in the Nanowrimo waters.
My username is mangwanani.

At this stage I only have a vague concept for the novel, but growing up in Zimbabwe (I've been living in Brisbane for 6 years now) has the potential for a semi-fictionalised account of growing up there. I'm contemplating using a dystopian landscape, plenty of room for surreal, descriptive passages!"

(A fellow Zimbabwean - yay! - Andrea)

Amy

"I have done Nano in the past, but in general I was a Nano Lame-o. I either used the write-ins as support groups to revise a previous piece, or if the piece was new for Nano, I never reached near the 50,000 word target. I tend to draft slowly and I normally write YA, so my previous novels have been shorter, like in the 35-40,000 word range (which I think is more fitting for a younger reader. Exceptions of course include any storylines involving wizards and vampires.)

My name on Nano is amyrussell001, and tomorrow I'm going to finalize my plan and/or outline so I'll be ready to go. Will either be YA or middle grade fiction. :)

Are you going to attend any of the organized write-ins or put together some with this group? Those are always such a help to me."

(I won't be attending any of the local write-ins, but I would love to meet up with members of my group who live nearby! And I will be organising writing sessions on Twitter. - Andrea)

Andrea

"I'm ready to try again. Last year I failed miserably. We'll see what happens this year. I still have absolutely no idea what I'll be writing about.

My username is andreastaats."

RebeccaK

"I am not writing a novel - but a conference paper I need to give in December and hope to submit to a journal in January. So I am not strictly playing by the rules, but will have a go anyway! The word count will be 6,000 - but I have a tonne of research still to do, and a presentation to put together, so I figure they must count for some words!

username: blackswanspond"

Katie Anderson

"Hi Andrea,

I would love to join your NaNo group! My username on NaNo is katie.anderson

This is my second year doing NaNo. Las year I decided on a storyline at 1am on 1st November (in the middle of our Halloween party). This year I finalised my idea on 30th Oct - so I'm already way ahead!

Don't have a title yet - is it okay if I supply that at a later date? Thanks!"

(Of course! I don't have one either. - Andrea)

Alexandra Crocodile

"I'm chuffed to be able to be part of your group, I was so vexed that I didn't make it last year!

My username is vintage stories! I haven't a title yet, and I'm not even sure what I'll be writing, so this group is just what I need to boost my writing."

Rachel

"Hello!

My name on NaNo is earlgrey.

This is my first year attempting NaNo, and I hope to meet the 50,000 words despite being in school. I have a couple of ideas at this point, but nothing solid. I think I am just going to start writing and see where it takes me!"

Gea

"Hi Andrea (& other writers),

It feels a bit like party crashing since I don't normally leave comments on blogs, but I'm doing Nano this year and after failing miserably last year, I'm determined to do everything this year to make sure I will be a winner! Joing your writing group seems like a very good way to keep enthusiastic and not give up in the second week, so here goes.

My username is "geedee"

I have an idea for a plot for the first half of the novel, but no title yet (and I'm afraid to jinx it if I say too much at this point), but I'll be writing a chicklit kind of book. Or it may turn out to be something completely different, who knows..."

Urban Adaptation

"Well, I signed up. And I have no idea what I'm doing. But I keep telling myself that that's okay. Because it is. And although it's scary I'm looking forward to it all the same. My nanowrimo name is urbanadaptation. That's all I've got right now, but it's a start."

Katherine

"Hello all! I've been reading here for some time but haven't commented before. This is my first time doing NaNoWriMo. I'm hoping it will help my habit of starting writing projects and never finishing them. My username is whelmed and so far I have a vague idea about about a marriage that breaks up after the husband recovers from a long illness. Working title is So Happy Together."

Kathryn from Schoolmarm Style

"I'm in for the first time ever. My username is KathrynC. I started an adult historical fiction novel this summer that I plan on continuing. It's titled "Sideshow" and it's about a farm girl who runs away with the circus to become a tatooed lady."

Kaellesea

"ello.

My username on nanowrimo is losk.

I'm writing a young adult fantasy novel.

This is my first comment here too!"

Andrea

"I'd love to join you for a low key nano-wrimo/lame-o.

My username from last year is The Rainbow Notebook, but I'll just be doing a small prose/poetry project rather than a novel this year.

It will be a chance to pick up some of the ideas I never quite finished last year and incorporate new inspirations.

Vampires and heroines of silent movies are among my ideas so far!"

Cheryl

"This will be my second year doing Nanowrimo. I loved it so much last year, and am really looking forward to writing away towards 50,000 words again this year!

My username is cherylwarner. I'm writing a fantasy novel."

Joyce

"Ok Andrea-
I have officially signed up! Not exactly sure what my topic is but hopefully I can kick something into shape! How many words per day? Yikes!
J2push"