It's that time of year again, when aspiring writers can sit down at their word processors and pound out 50,000 words in 30 days.

The point is to write the first draft of a story. Not edit. Not make coherent sense. Not proofread. Not even to complete a novel. Just write.

Even if you fall short of 50,000 words in 30 days, at least you can be proud you've written something. And that's often all the encouragement some authors need to keep going.

For more information, The NaNoWriMo website.

Hey CyberCorn, what's your username on NaNoWriMo? I'm certainly interested in seeing how you progress through the month.

I'd also love to hear from anyone else attempting it this year. Good luck to all!

CyberCorn Entropic Hopefully, I'll have better luck this year than I did the previous two years. Though I made it in '04, I fell behind in '05 and '06.

I've heard similar stories from friends. I think 2004 was the last - and first - time I attempted it, but mine died off very quickly. This time, I have an actual story I'm prepared to write, so I'm hoping to make it to 50,000 as well, if not longer.

My username, if you or anyone's curious, is TheJinx.

Wish I had the time. Too much to do.

-- BK

Feh, even if you can't realistically make it to 50,000, who says you can't set aside half an hour or so an evening and just let go?

It would take me about half and hour just to get my brain in gear for that mode.

Too bad programming websites doesn't qualify or Bad Karma would have it in the bag.

HA! Isn't that the truth?

-- BK

I've added an Excerpt to my NaNoWriMo page, but there's also a sentence I came up with that I just had to add to the story.

For those of you who don't know, one of my main characters, squirrel Deidrei Leafbright, flirted with alcoholism a year before the events leading up to this quote. She's stayed sober since then until one night when she got rip-snorting drunk without realizing she was drinking wine. The morning after, she finds herself lying on the floor with a roaring hangover.

grin Nice line. I should update my excerpt on my NaNo profile, but I also wrote a line recently that I particularly liked. I'd been waiting for an excerpt from you for a while, by the way. I hope I'll get to read the finished product again.

That's a keeper. With the usual bit of polish, you've got a line the pros would envy.

Maybe you will. I've been working on this novel for the last two NaNoWriMos (so I cheated a bit; a lot of NaNoWriMo writers do :p) and only now am I hitting my stride (I hope). On the good side, this sequel has helped me define Deidrei as a character better, even to the point where I've rewritten sections of the first book to better fit her in.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I couldn't make the 50,000 word mark this year, having been forced to quit under 2000 words shy of the goal thanks to abdominal pains.

The good news is that still means I've got 48,477 more words to my story than I did at the beginning of November.

Highlights include the introduction of royal spies, the introduction and development of an albino squirrel character, the character development of a raccoon cleric, the tying together of previous plot elements with accompanying backstory, and a whole lot more.

Sounds delicious. I'd say you certainly came close enough to celebrate. 48,000 words makes a big difference. In any case, I hope you're feeling better now.

I made it to 50,000 last Monday, four days clear of the deadline, but my stride wavered after that and I closed out the month with a fizzle more than a bang. However, I should be about halfway through the story and still working on it. Admittedly, not as heavily as I was, but there are things I've been putting off for a month that need doing.

Especially if the gossips got wind of some of those story elements. Dusky's the raccoon monk (in this world, clerics are members of the clergy, and are not necessarily white mages). He's out to rescue a nun who is also his daughter via an accidental adulterous affair (after he entered the clergy too, tsk, tsk :p). Like Deidrei, Dusky was inspired by an example character in the Ironclaw RPG sourcebook.

I did some research on albinos, which helped me to flesh out Wally, the albino squirrel. I found out that albinos generally have poor eyesight, increased sensitivity to sunlight (says Wally, "I don't like the sun 'cause it hurts."), and have been persecuted because they were believed to be "cursed". Despite his childlike mannerisms, he's Deidrei's age.

I certainly am. Some things you probably don't want to hear about coupled with a good night's sleep improved me tremendously, though I've felt the occasional aftereffects for the past two days.

Good work, anyway.

I know how that goes. I probably won't get back to my story until the new year.