NaNoWriMo! Has Anybody Ever Done It?

Never done it, but I am going for it this year. (I was going to post about it too! Glad to see someone else on here asking about it!) If it makes you feel any better, I've got four at home (and we homeschool); while it's intimidating in terms of keeping life moderately under control, I am really excited about pushing myself with my writing. So far, I have approximately 22 chapters outlined, and most of my characters sketched. It's killing me to have to wait another 11 days!

I've got a group of friends who are also giving it a go, and we are all very eager for November 1st. If you decide to do it and need a cheering section, just send me a PM. And seriously, if you haven't signed up on the website, you should. I wasn't feeling very confident until I read through the forums and advice. Also, a big plus, you can organize it as much as you want to (outlines, character names and sketches, research, etc.) before November 1st as long as you don't actually start writing till the contest begins. Good luck and enjoy if you give it a shot!

I have not done this, but know of people who have.

My understanding is that you're not trying to get a finished product out by the end of the month... but a very rough draft. After the end of the month, you can go back and edit and clean things up. The goal is to just write every day.

Good Luck!

Two of my kids do this every year. They don't always finish, but they still do it every year. On the NaNoWriMo website there are tips and and tools to help you. My son has a poster board with a graph and calendar to track his progress. He always has that sort of thing in place before November 1, so then all he has to do is write. I think he might also have an outline before then, but I could be wrong. Maybe that's what he does the first day.

You should do it! Good luck!

I haven't done it. I lived with my husband while he attempted it (he is a published writer). It was really hectic for him since he has a full time job and at the time we had 1 toddler. But he did get a Novella out of it (a little under the goal length). If you already write and have some friends who are doing it then it is a good way to keep motivated and push to write a lot in that month (you can edit and pull stuff together later). A lot of his writer friends on Live Journal were doing it and encouraged one another. But if you are serious about writing finding a local writers group is a huge source of support too. Good Luck.

My daughter has many friends doing this. Some are in the Literary Arts department at her Arts High School.

She was going to attempt it herself once, but changed her mind. Sounds tough!

Good luck!!!

The homeschool group I'm a part of, most people do NaNoWriMo. I don't :) It takes me about 6mo to get a novel to send-to-editor-ready.