NaNoWriMo 2011!
Woo! I finished NaNoWriMo today, a day early. I did a post about it on van_writing if you're so inclined to read it there.
I did a Wordle for all 50,000 words afterward to post, and I realized that I'd never done Wordles for my completed NaNo attempts before. Usually it's something I do around 25-30,000 words as a form of procrastination. XD So, for fun tonight, I put all of my NaNoWriMo attempts into Wordle, including my failures and my fanfics. XD
2003:
The Long and Winding Road
Approximately 22,000 words, based on a roleplaying game I was in at the time. Never finished and utterly embarrassing to look back on. It was about a Beatles tribute band and the gay bitchy drama that happened in there, mostly between the George look-a-like (Kyle) and the Paul look-a-like (Laurence). It is, however, the only Wordle to have "fucking" show up, because Nathan (the John look-a-like) had a potty mouth. Yup. Also had a character named Lie. So begins my Weird Character Names thing.
2004:
Water
Approximately 50,000 words and my only NaNoWriMo to date that has been a finished story at 50,000. Post-apocalyptic story about two teenage boys and their search for water. I may still go back and some day polish this up, but it's definitely shelved for now. Terry was in the marching band and Whitney was a football jock. Yup. I picked intentionally ambiguous names because I'm Van. Funfact: This originally started out as a screen play. Also the only Wordle to have the title of the book in the Wordle. Helps it's only one word, but. I'm confused as to why George is so much larger than Diego, since they're in all the same scenes together, and both background characters. I guess I just say George more.
2005:
Took the Sky
Approximately 50,000 words. Fanfic for Firefly, obviously. You can read this one here if you're so inclined. It's a post-movie Mal/Jayne story, and I'm still quite fond of it. I technically only wrote half of it for NaNoWriMo, and finished another fanfic for the second half, which is why it's not a complete NaNoWriMo in 50,000 words or less. Mostly, it's about horses. :D (I originally started an original novel tentatively called "The Unicorn and the Peacock" that I got 6,800 words on before abandoning for fanfic. Worth mentioning, I think.) Fun fact: Probably the only Wordle I'll ever have where the word "ain't" appears. (Twice, in fact: once as "ain't" and once as "Ain't"!) Ah, Firefly. ♥
2006:
Reflections
Technically I totally failed NaNoWriMo this year. I wrote approximately 20,000 words on this fic (which you can read here) in November, but that is all I wrote the entire month. I ended up doing my A Month of Tom Baker art challenge in December of that year, but technically failed NaNo. However, I did eventually finish Reflections. I didn't start posting it until June of 2007, and by then it was 87,000 words, but I felt it still deserved a Wordle. XD Their names are so huge the rest of the Wordle is almost illegible in any of the fonts available. AWESOME. The summary for this is uh, Mirrorverse Troughton Era, basically. An alternate timeline where the Doctor sides with the Daleks from "Evil of the Daleks" and then crosses-the-time-streams to get an alternate Jamie to be his puppet. Features 10,000 words of sex in two consecutive chapters. (And then more sex later.) Yup. I miss this fandom.
2007:
A Place in Time
50,000 words and dropped like a stone, sadly. I was really into this for a while, and I still like a lot of the concepts in it, but for various reasons I'll sadly probably never finish it. One of the biggest being that I discovered that "Biggles" is apparently a very famous name for an Ace fighter pilot book series, so using it for my story really doesn't work anymore given how popular the Biggles books are... and yet that's my character's name, so I don't know that I could change it. Anyway. Time travel where a teenaged boy from 1963 falls in love with a man he meets from 2007. It was a great use of my somewhat extensive knowledge of England in the early 1960s from my love of the Beatles.
2008:
The Pursuit of Happiness
Approximately 65,000 words and on going. This is one of my unfinished novels that I think still has a lot of potential. I still plan to finish it someday, polish it up and maybe shop it around, but I don't feel like it's a good debut novel anymore. Futuristic story about a 45-year-old space pirate's mid-life crisis, his search for a magical youth potion, and discovering actual happiness along the way. :) Fun fact: Gaius' name was inspired not from ancient Rome or Battlestar Galactica, but from the physician in Merlin--though they're nothing alike.
2009:
The Coffee War
99,000 words and complete, though it still needs revisions and editing. An ambitious attempt in 2009 where I wrote the whole novel in 30 days, doubling the 50,000 word goal. I succeeded with the help of a very detailed outline and map. I do like this story and think it has potential as a stand alone story, but it's a gay romance and yet I don't really want to ship it to Gay Publishing houses, so it's going to sit on the shelf until the mainstream market is ready for these, or I'm famous enough they'll publish it anyway. If I ever get crazy, I might self-pub this one. Fantasy novel about a coffee merchant from the south who falls in love with a bard from the north and the war they have to fight through to realize their feelings and be reunited. Yup, I have a character named Life. Fun fact: Inspired by a series of Al Stewart songs.
2010:
Whole
Approximately 120,000 words, ongoing. Somehow. Yeah, I wrote Power Rangers fanfic last year. I had approximately 62,000 words on it before NaNo started and just added another 60,000. Or something, yeah. You can read what's posted of this here if you're so inclined. MMPR S1 AU, set in 1999 where Billy becomes leader of the Rangers because Tommy's become a crack whore, and how Billy has to save him--and the world. Yup. Not my proudest moment.
2011:
Between the Stars
Approximately 50,000 words, on going. :D This is the most commercial novel I've yet attempted, and the first real young adult one of the bunch (though "Water" would probably be YA, too, if I were to shop it now). About a boy who discovers a ghostly space unicorn, the adventures they inadvertently go on, and how that all leads to him, and his friends, saving the world. Also, ideally, the first in a series. :D Yeah, her name is Prism. (Also one of the character's is named Soo Min, so I'm amused Wordle put it together as Min Soo randomly--though of course they're used equally.) Fun fact: I used the words "like" and "back" too much.
And I already have ideas for my next novel, which probably won't come out until NaNoWriMo 2012, but we'll see! Any of you attempt NaNo this year or finish? Have a Wordle you want to share? Unrelated to NaNo fics/stories are acceptable, too. I JUST WANNA TALK ABOUT WRITING, GUISE.
I did a Wordle for all 50,000 words afterward to post, and I realized that I'd never done Wordles for my completed NaNo attempts before. Usually it's something I do around 25-30,000 words as a form of procrastination. XD So, for fun tonight, I put all of my NaNoWriMo attempts into Wordle, including my failures and my fanfics. XD
2003:
The Long and Winding Road
Approximately 22,000 words, based on a roleplaying game I was in at the time. Never finished and utterly embarrassing to look back on. It was about a Beatles tribute band and the gay bitchy drama that happened in there, mostly between the George look-a-like (Kyle) and the Paul look-a-like (Laurence). It is, however, the only Wordle to have "fucking" show up, because Nathan (the John look-a-like) had a potty mouth. Yup. Also had a character named Lie. So begins my Weird Character Names thing.
2004:
Water
Approximately 50,000 words and my only NaNoWriMo to date that has been a finished story at 50,000. Post-apocalyptic story about two teenage boys and their search for water. I may still go back and some day polish this up, but it's definitely shelved for now. Terry was in the marching band and Whitney was a football jock. Yup. I picked intentionally ambiguous names because I'm Van. Funfact: This originally started out as a screen play. Also the only Wordle to have the title of the book in the Wordle. Helps it's only one word, but. I'm confused as to why George is so much larger than Diego, since they're in all the same scenes together, and both background characters. I guess I just say George more.
2005:
Took the Sky
Approximately 50,000 words. Fanfic for Firefly, obviously. You can read this one here if you're so inclined. It's a post-movie Mal/Jayne story, and I'm still quite fond of it. I technically only wrote half of it for NaNoWriMo, and finished another fanfic for the second half, which is why it's not a complete NaNoWriMo in 50,000 words or less. Mostly, it's about horses. :D (I originally started an original novel tentatively called "The Unicorn and the Peacock" that I got 6,800 words on before abandoning for fanfic. Worth mentioning, I think.) Fun fact: Probably the only Wordle I'll ever have where the word "ain't" appears. (Twice, in fact: once as "ain't" and once as "Ain't"!) Ah, Firefly. ♥
2006:
Reflections
Technically I totally failed NaNoWriMo this year. I wrote approximately 20,000 words on this fic (which you can read here) in November, but that is all I wrote the entire month. I ended up doing my A Month of Tom Baker art challenge in December of that year, but technically failed NaNo. However, I did eventually finish Reflections. I didn't start posting it until June of 2007, and by then it was 87,000 words, but I felt it still deserved a Wordle. XD Their names are so huge the rest of the Wordle is almost illegible in any of the fonts available. AWESOME. The summary for this is uh, Mirrorverse Troughton Era, basically. An alternate timeline where the Doctor sides with the Daleks from "Evil of the Daleks" and then crosses-the-time-streams to get an alternate Jamie to be his puppet. Features 10,000 words of sex in two consecutive chapters. (And then more sex later.) Yup. I miss this fandom.
2007:
A Place in Time
50,000 words and dropped like a stone, sadly. I was really into this for a while, and I still like a lot of the concepts in it, but for various reasons I'll sadly probably never finish it. One of the biggest being that I discovered that "Biggles" is apparently a very famous name for an Ace fighter pilot book series, so using it for my story really doesn't work anymore given how popular the Biggles books are... and yet that's my character's name, so I don't know that I could change it. Anyway. Time travel where a teenaged boy from 1963 falls in love with a man he meets from 2007. It was a great use of my somewhat extensive knowledge of England in the early 1960s from my love of the Beatles.
2008:
The Pursuit of Happiness
Approximately 65,000 words and on going. This is one of my unfinished novels that I think still has a lot of potential. I still plan to finish it someday, polish it up and maybe shop it around, but I don't feel like it's a good debut novel anymore. Futuristic story about a 45-year-old space pirate's mid-life crisis, his search for a magical youth potion, and discovering actual happiness along the way. :) Fun fact: Gaius' name was inspired not from ancient Rome or Battlestar Galactica, but from the physician in Merlin--though they're nothing alike.
2009:
The Coffee War
99,000 words and complete, though it still needs revisions and editing. An ambitious attempt in 2009 where I wrote the whole novel in 30 days, doubling the 50,000 word goal. I succeeded with the help of a very detailed outline and map. I do like this story and think it has potential as a stand alone story, but it's a gay romance and yet I don't really want to ship it to Gay Publishing houses, so it's going to sit on the shelf until the mainstream market is ready for these, or I'm famous enough they'll publish it anyway. If I ever get crazy, I might self-pub this one. Fantasy novel about a coffee merchant from the south who falls in love with a bard from the north and the war they have to fight through to realize their feelings and be reunited. Yup, I have a character named Life. Fun fact: Inspired by a series of Al Stewart songs.
2010:
Whole
Approximately 120,000 words, ongoing. Somehow. Yeah, I wrote Power Rangers fanfic last year. I had approximately 62,000 words on it before NaNo started and just added another 60,000. Or something, yeah. You can read what's posted of this here if you're so inclined. MMPR S1 AU, set in 1999 where Billy becomes leader of the Rangers because Tommy's become a crack whore, and how Billy has to save him--and the world. Yup. Not my proudest moment.
2011:
Between the Stars
Approximately 50,000 words, on going. :D This is the most commercial novel I've yet attempted, and the first real young adult one of the bunch (though "Water" would probably be YA, too, if I were to shop it now). About a boy who discovers a ghostly space unicorn, the adventures they inadvertently go on, and how that all leads to him, and his friends, saving the world. Also, ideally, the first in a series. :D Yeah, her name is Prism. (Also one of the character's is named Soo Min, so I'm amused Wordle put it together as Min Soo randomly--though of course they're used equally.) Fun fact: I used the words "like" and "back" too much.
And I already have ideas for my next novel, which probably won't come out until NaNoWriMo 2012, but we'll see! Any of you attempt NaNo this year or finish? Have a Wordle you want to share? Unrelated to NaNo fics/stories are acceptable, too. I JUST WANNA TALK ABOUT WRITING, GUISE.