If yours is done it's ahead of all the new work being first drafted, right?
But I don't know when submissions slow down. I don't work in the industry.
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National Novel Writing Month 2019: When in doubt, write Nanomachines!
- Thread starter FlowersisBritish
- Start date
But I don't know when submissions slow down. I don't work in the industry.
Exactly 1 month from today Nano comes back. So with that said, the title of this novel I'm doing for it is...Copper's Resurrection. Here are 10 details to note and to see if you need to read the previous novels or not.
1. It's a sequel to Copper's Resistance and the final one in the Copper(R) trilogy.
2. It takes place 3 weeks after the events of Copper's Resistance.
3. It has the most chapters in the trilogy with 25 as opposed to 22 from Copper's Resistance and 16 from Copper's Revenge. While going from 22 to 25 doesn't seem like much of an increase, the fact that the chapters are normally longer overall makes up for it.
4. It has less action scenes than the previous Copper novels but still has a lot and the violence is more brutal than them as well.
5. It's the first in the trilogy to have a female villain as the main villain.
6. Many of the chapters are named after quotes from movies, trailers, games and such. For example the "Let the Past Die" chapter is named after a quote Kylo Ren says in Star Wars The Last Jedi.
7. It is by far the darkest Copper novel, taking itself even more seriously than Copper's Resistance(which was dark quite a bit at times). However, humor is still present, though not as common as the previous novels.
8. Despite being a Copper novel, this one focuses quite a bit more on other characters than usual in the series, in fact it also focuses on the villains.
9. Unlike the previous novels where big armies were the main threats, various gangs are the main threats here, each different from one another with their own set of goals but 1 main one: To get rid of the Manlo army.
10. It has quite a bit of sub plots, but the main one revolves around Copper and the Manlo army trying to complete various missions for other people around a variety of planets that are in deep trouble in order to bring peace and protect them while dealing with various other types of enemies, gangs and a very powerful woman that helps those gangs out.
Can you read this novel without reading Copper's Revenge? Technically, yes, since this novel doesn't connect from Revenge in the traditional sense but shares quite a bit of characters and such. While reading Copper's Revenge will help complete the experience and show the journey Copper had to go through to get where he is at now, it's not 100% required to read to understand this one since Revenge feels standalone.
Can you read this novel without reading Copper's Resistance? Unfortunately not really, in fact, this novel is based on some of the most important events that happened in Resistance. Even some of the sub plots in this one are based on a few that happened in Resistance, extended and all. It references Resistance and there will be surprises that you may not get if they didn't read that one as well. So if you just want to read one novel and just do it for fun then you can read this novel without reading Resistance, but you would be missing out on quite a bit of things that lead up to this one by skipping that one.
Having that said, with the outline pretty much perfected I hope to be able to do this novel pretty well for Nano.
1. It's a sequel to Copper's Resistance and the final one in the Copper(R) trilogy.
2. It takes place 3 weeks after the events of Copper's Resistance.
3. It has the most chapters in the trilogy with 25 as opposed to 22 from Copper's Resistance and 16 from Copper's Revenge. While going from 22 to 25 doesn't seem like much of an increase, the fact that the chapters are normally longer overall makes up for it.
4. It has less action scenes than the previous Copper novels but still has a lot and the violence is more brutal than them as well.
5. It's the first in the trilogy to have a female villain as the main villain.
6. Many of the chapters are named after quotes from movies, trailers, games and such. For example the "Let the Past Die" chapter is named after a quote Kylo Ren says in Star Wars The Last Jedi.
7. It is by far the darkest Copper novel, taking itself even more seriously than Copper's Resistance(which was dark quite a bit at times). However, humor is still present, though not as common as the previous novels.
8. Despite being a Copper novel, this one focuses quite a bit more on other characters than usual in the series, in fact it also focuses on the villains.
9. Unlike the previous novels where big armies were the main threats, various gangs are the main threats here, each different from one another with their own set of goals but 1 main one: To get rid of the Manlo army.
10. It has quite a bit of sub plots, but the main one revolves around Copper and the Manlo army trying to complete various missions for other people around a variety of planets that are in deep trouble in order to bring peace and protect them while dealing with various other types of enemies, gangs and a very powerful woman that helps those gangs out.
Can you read this novel without reading Copper's Revenge? Technically, yes, since this novel doesn't connect from Revenge in the traditional sense but shares quite a bit of characters and such. While reading Copper's Revenge will help complete the experience and show the journey Copper had to go through to get where he is at now, it's not 100% required to read to understand this one since Revenge feels standalone.
Can you read this novel without reading Copper's Resistance? Unfortunately not really, in fact, this novel is based on some of the most important events that happened in Resistance. Even some of the sub plots in this one are based on a few that happened in Resistance, extended and all. It references Resistance and there will be surprises that you may not get if they didn't read that one as well. So if you just want to read one novel and just do it for fun then you can read this novel without reading Resistance, but you would be missing out on quite a bit of things that lead up to this one by skipping that one.
Having that said, with the outline pretty much perfected I hope to be able to do this novel pretty well for Nano.
Even if you fail early on you will still have more of a story done then if you don't try.
and if you try, who knows maybe you will succeed. Maybe the words will flow from you like a river of inspiration and you will end up with something you look at a month later and don't want to print it out just so you can burn it because it's such garbage.
But alas most first drafts are garbage so even if it ends up that way you should always remember, writing a story is just like 10% of the process. more drafts and editing is the 90% that makes it a good story :P
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I've always been curious if you do anything with your nano novels? Like do you post them somewhere for others to read?
I do edit them and then have some people read them as I host them on an upload site. I let someone read Awesome Sam(Sam is short for Samantha) earlier this year.
I've already got a concept all planned out. It'll be autobiographical about a guy who attempts to kill himself off the face of a cliff and instead a dimensional void opens up and instead of being able to die, he will live out the lives of people who are near death and when they die he'll go to the next.
That sounds like an insanely morbid riff on Quantum Leap, and I love it
Is the twist going to be that he successfully killed himself and is now in hell? Because that sounds a lot like a form of hell.
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I thought this was going to be an isekai but your idea is way more interesting. Best of luck with this.
Thanks for the support guys. There'll be a lot of twists along the way. I'm pretty excited to do this primarily because if I get tired of a character, it all changes.
So, as we are in the Month of Spooky Scary Skeletons, I want to run my NaNoWriMo idea for this year. As I said earlier that my theme is cyberpunk fantasy. To be more specific,
Cyberpunk: Mega-City, City run by a council of corporation, capitalistic hell, hacking, cybernetics, and jetpacks, Androids and humanoid AI are a thing
Fantasy: Magic exists, Undead are a thing, and Angels/Demon are summonable
it's a Sherlock Holmes-Like Mystery novel in the first person viewpoint of a robot Watson with a magic human Holmes. In a "twist", because the robot Watson (I haven't decided names yet) is actually the more observant and knowledgeable of the two but Holmes is the one who can connect the dots better. I plan on writing 5 cases each dealing with the rules that differentiate our world from their world with the last case combining all previous lessons learned.
In addition, on an emotional level, the robot Watson slowly learns to act more human going from a robotic monotone like narration to a more emotive text. I think this will actually make me accomplish NaNoWriMo this time. Even though this sounds pretty bad writing this out loud.
Cyberpunk: Mega-City, City run by a council of corporation, capitalistic hell, hacking, cybernetics, and jetpacks, Androids and humanoid AI are a thing
Fantasy: Magic exists, Undead are a thing, and Angels/Demon are summonable
it's a Sherlock Holmes-Like Mystery novel in the first person viewpoint of a robot Watson with a magic human Holmes. In a "twist", because the robot Watson (I haven't decided names yet) is actually the more observant and knowledgeable of the two but Holmes is the one who can connect the dots better. I plan on writing 5 cases each dealing with the rules that differentiate our world from their world with the last case combining all previous lessons learned.
In addition, on an emotional level, the robot Watson slowly learns to act more human going from a robotic monotone like narration to a more emotive text. I think this will actually make me accomplish NaNoWriMo this time. Even though this sounds pretty bad writing this out loud.
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Honestly it all sounds really good and well thought out. Hope it goes well!
Since everyone else is posting their synopses:
In the uncomfortably warm summer of 1867, a series of gruesome deaths occur in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains during construction of the transcontinental railroad, leaving behind the mangled remains of a half-dozen Irish immigrants and American-born veterans of the Civil War. Originally written off as animal attacks in the night, a pair of US Marshals are called in to investigate when a seventh body is discovered with a second set of bloodied and ragged clothes nearby that couldn't have fit the man when he was living. The men are near-polar opposites of each other; one a disenfranchised former soldier of the Mexican-American War and xenophobe, the other a younger and optimistic abolitionist from the South. They struggle with navigating around a Pinkerton detective with a secret and the closed-off, keep-to-our-own nature of the immigrant workers, all while trying to solve the mystery of the violent deaths. What they learn is that a supernatural force has begun stalking the ever-moving camp of the Union Pacific Railroad, leaving death in its wake.
In the uncomfortably warm summer of 1867, a series of gruesome deaths occur in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains during construction of the transcontinental railroad, leaving behind the mangled remains of a half-dozen Irish immigrants and American-born veterans of the Civil War. Originally written off as animal attacks in the night, a pair of US Marshals are called in to investigate when a seventh body is discovered with a second set of bloodied and ragged clothes nearby that couldn't have fit the man when he was living. The men are near-polar opposites of each other; one a disenfranchised former soldier of the Mexican-American War and xenophobe, the other a younger and optimistic abolitionist from the South. They struggle with navigating around a Pinkerton detective with a secret and the closed-off, keep-to-our-own nature of the immigrant workers, all while trying to solve the mystery of the violent deaths. What they learn is that a supernatural force has begun stalking the ever-moving camp of the Union Pacific Railroad, leaving death in its wake.
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Oh boy we have a lot of intersting novels this year from the sounds of it. I'm doing a continuation of my last year's Nano novel and might write a synopsis of it if I can figure out what exactly I'm doing. Just more misadventures, if I'm being honest. And excuses to write giant monsters!
God dang that's pretty cool sounding! Interesting choice of setting too!
God dang that's pretty cool sounding! Interesting choice of setting too!
Giant monsters? That's what my novel is going to have as well!
Yeah, I was watching a lot of Hell on Wheels at the time. lol
I'm not writing anything but editing but I can at least share the elevator pitch I sent at a publisher for the fun of it :P
" Viola attends a school that hones unique abilities. She can see the future, but she can't control it and only sees mundane problems. Until one day, she sees her city burning, consumed with fighting, and she has no idea how to prevent it or who she can trust. "
which leaves out a ton of details that could help sell it but what are you going to do. There's a character limit on twitter :P
" Viola attends a school that hones unique abilities. She can see the future, but she can't control it and only sees mundane problems. Until one day, she sees her city burning, consumed with fighting, and she has no idea how to prevent it or who she can trust. "
which leaves out a ton of details that could help sell it but what are you going to do. There's a character limit on twitter :P
I might as well post my plot synopsis for Coppers Resurrection:
3 weeks had gone by since the war the Manlos last had which was a tough one but they managed to pull through in the end despite the losses. During that time period a rise of gangs have finally come to form and make life a living nightmare for society, each with their own goals. One gang (Rolla gang) wants to specialize in profits on drugs and use better weaponry to cause crime while another one(Busta gang) wants to relive the glory days of causing trouble and not being put down by the law by starting their own take overs against random people. Along with that a strong woman named Destiny comes into play and leads them to try to help both gangs achieve their goals and simply wants to have fun causing chaos for everyone. She has gained new tech which gives her so much power that she's practically unstoppable and will pose a challenge to anyone who dare faces her. She's basically a serial killer on steroids!
The Manlos will have their hands full as they are trying to recover from the war while dealing with those gangs and Destiny. Copper wants to ensure that they can pull off various dangerous missions that involves stopping the gangs and even dealing with other enemies as well. While this happens he also has to go through tough decisions on how to handle certain situations that will put him and the Manlos at risk, making some tough choices that would even affect people as well for their safety. With the attacks from various enemies, Destiny and the gangs being random and widespread across different planets in the galaxy the Manlos will now have to work harder and faster to prevent more damage from happening to them.
With all of that there's more unpredictability than ever, resulting in an adventure that will be the hardest the Manlos have ever done. Copper definitely needs to make sure they can go through with all of this because there's a chance that the Manlos can be killed off with more attacks from their enemies that keep happening during missions, resulting in a terrible outcome for them and maybe the end of them if they don't succeed, but they need to try their best to prevent that. Will that army be able to survive it all? Will Copper be able to resurrect it? Or will the worst be yet to come? Stay tuned to find out in the finale of the trilogy known as Copper's Resurrection.
This novel is so big I didn't even talk about the sub plots in the synopsis!=O
3 weeks had gone by since the war the Manlos last had which was a tough one but they managed to pull through in the end despite the losses. During that time period a rise of gangs have finally come to form and make life a living nightmare for society, each with their own goals. One gang (Rolla gang) wants to specialize in profits on drugs and use better weaponry to cause crime while another one(Busta gang) wants to relive the glory days of causing trouble and not being put down by the law by starting their own take overs against random people. Along with that a strong woman named Destiny comes into play and leads them to try to help both gangs achieve their goals and simply wants to have fun causing chaos for everyone. She has gained new tech which gives her so much power that she's practically unstoppable and will pose a challenge to anyone who dare faces her. She's basically a serial killer on steroids!
The Manlos will have their hands full as they are trying to recover from the war while dealing with those gangs and Destiny. Copper wants to ensure that they can pull off various dangerous missions that involves stopping the gangs and even dealing with other enemies as well. While this happens he also has to go through tough decisions on how to handle certain situations that will put him and the Manlos at risk, making some tough choices that would even affect people as well for their safety. With the attacks from various enemies, Destiny and the gangs being random and widespread across different planets in the galaxy the Manlos will now have to work harder and faster to prevent more damage from happening to them.
With all of that there's more unpredictability than ever, resulting in an adventure that will be the hardest the Manlos have ever done. Copper definitely needs to make sure they can go through with all of this because there's a chance that the Manlos can be killed off with more attacks from their enemies that keep happening during missions, resulting in a terrible outcome for them and maybe the end of them if they don't succeed, but they need to try their best to prevent that. Will that army be able to survive it all? Will Copper be able to resurrect it? Or will the worst be yet to come? Stay tuned to find out in the finale of the trilogy known as Copper's Resurrection.
This novel is so big I didn't even talk about the sub plots in the synopsis!=O
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So I've been messing around with the new Nano website and while I like the new design, holy fuck do I hate the new layout. I'm hoping it'll be better once November hits but like, why did it delete all my old writing buddies? Why is it when I get a notification of a buddy, it takes me to a very weird message screen? Why do the messages display the oldest ones on top and I have to scroll down? These are all just kinda bizarre and I'm really hoping they clean it up a bit because I do really like the new aesthetic. It's just now ten times more a pain to navigate
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Finally taking the time to reread my old Nano from last year I'm continuing. Despite the fact I had barely any idea where I was going, my first chapter is pretty solid, lots of intruige and cool name dropping. Burning through it quicker than I thought I would, hopefully I'll have it finished in a couple days then I can start planning where to pick up with this next Nano.
I'm always afraid to reread my nanos even though I enjoy jumping back into those worlds. It always ends up with something like "who is the guy again?" And a mandatory "How does this at all relate to the first 100 pages? -.-"
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I literally just started outlining my first (non-school related) writing project, downloaded Scrivener, started listening to Writing Excuses podcast, and then find out we're a month away from the National Novel Writing Month, something I've never heard of. I wasn't planning on sharing but maybe this is a sign.
I think I'll give it a shot.
I think I'll give it a shot.
Hey Flowers, you can add my name to the list.
I actually recently did Camp NaNo in July and finished with 40K words, so I'm probably going to use NaNo next month to finish my first draft and do some editing. I really want to send it to agents by the end of the year so it'll be nice motivation to get writing - been a little busy recently.
I actually recently did Camp NaNo in July and finished with 40K words, so I'm probably going to use NaNo next month to finish my first draft and do some editing. I really want to send it to agents by the end of the year so it'll be nice motivation to get writing - been a little busy recently.
I actually started kinda the same way. Spent like 2 years planning a story on a notebook and was always hesitant to actually put any words down, unsure where to start. Until Nano started and somehow I was at 50k by the end of the month. It's a great way to get started and see where your story will go just from the immense pressure to get words down. Best of luck!
Thank you. I regret never fleshing out any of the dozens of ideas I have had and I'm kind of hopeful this will give me the push I need to start.
My mom's visiting until the 15th, then I realized we booked plane tickets to Sofia for a week later in the month, so I won't have much time for preparation until November. However, the idea I'm going to work on for NaNo has been in my head for years, and it's originally based on a short story I wrote in 2013 with the same idea, and have since thought out a lot more details to it.
So really I don't need that much time to prepare for it. I just need a few days to refresh myself and think about where the story is going in the first few chapters and I'm probably good on the preparation side. I had already done some thinking through the years of how this story would develop generally, and I have a plan for the ending.
So really I don't need that much time to prepare for it. I just need a few days to refresh myself and think about where the story is going in the first few chapters and I'm probably good on the preparation side. I had already done some thinking through the years of how this story would develop generally, and I have a plan for the ending.
I'm in for this year. I've never attempted to write a novel before but wanted to try this year and time is running out. I have a few ideas that I've been dwelling on which I'll narrow down. Thinking maybe some crime fiction set in a small town in West Yorkshire. Or perhaps something more fantastical.
I have a question for you guys. How do you know if a story concept can sustain a full novel? Sometimes I think some of the ideas I have can't carry a full novel and may be better suited to a short story. I guess it's because I haven't developed the concept beyond the initial idea ever. Any books or articles on that besides the snowflake method posted earlier?
I have a question for you guys. How do you know if a story concept can sustain a full novel? Sometimes I think some of the ideas I have can't carry a full novel and may be better suited to a short story. I guess it's because I haven't developed the concept beyond the initial idea ever. Any books or articles on that besides the snowflake method posted earlier?
experience can help a lot on knowing how long an idea can go, but really just try detailing out the main plot points and see how long that feels.
also understand that your first draft is likely going to be garbage that needs a lot of fixing to be decent.
Just grab a notebook and start outlining is my favorite method :P
And as for the idea, in almost all cases the initial idea will lead to something much larger than you expected. I think in my first Nano I made an outline of 15 points or so for the 50k words and by the time I was done I was only at the third or fourth plot point lol
I just finished the first novel in my Patreon series. It came in at almost 120k words, but I'll do a couple more rounds of revision in October (and try to obtain a decent cover before publishing it), then spend half of November working on the second novel, and the other half working on other projects.
To the couple of you that mentioned submissions, how does it work to send your book to agents? Is it just a cold call?
I read How to Write a Novel the Easy Way Using the Pulp Fiction Method and it was pretty good for an uber beginner like me. The main thrust is to take the attitude of "write or die" as pulp writers depended on getting in print for money to live. Write what you read, not what you know, because we can all get the research done to sound authentic through the internet. It also breaks down a pulp story beat by beat so you can see how to structure your story to give it enough tension and plot to keep moving.
Should be doing some world-building soon...
But count me in for FanFicNano for the fifth year or so
Previous did two years of HeroAca fics (KamiOjiro/BakuMonoma/KiriDeku, KiriKami/BakuMonoma).
Two years of Haikyuu (TsukiHina, GoshikiHinata, TsukkiKogane)
So now will celebrate Food Wars in a big way by giving it the fanfic treatment I guess.
But count me in for FanFicNano for the fifth year or so
Previous did two years of HeroAca fics (KamiOjiro/BakuMonoma/KiriDeku, KiriKami/BakuMonoma).
Two years of Haikyuu (TsukiHina, GoshikiHinata, TsukkiKogane)
So now will celebrate Food Wars in a big way by giving it the fanfic treatment I guess.
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I feel so excluded :P
If I don't get properly working this month though I might have to write like 10k words next month >.>
I will still cheer ya all on though.
EDIT: Sorry, I meant to post this in WritersEra, not NaNo.
Does anyone have any experience hiring an illustrator that can produce a professional-quality illustration for a book cover? (Whether the work included the actual cover or just the illustration?)
I've looked at a dozen pre-made cover sites, and some of them are pretty good in certain genres (like romance), but I've seen virtually no pre-mades that are good for high fantasy, and for the few that exist, they don't match my story at all. When a site sells pre-mades for fantasy, it's mostly only urban fantasy.
When looking at custom covers instead, the pricing is always for using stock images, and I'm not sure that's going to work for fantasy, either. And the decent designers charge $500 or more just for a good-looking custom cover made from stock images, without including any custom illustration.
I'm trying to figure out if there's any way a (good) custom illustration could fall within my budget. All the artists I find myself liking on artstation tend to either work for real companies or do freelance work for real companies, so I've been too nervous to ask them what their prices are.
Does anyone have any experience hiring an illustrator that can produce a professional-quality illustration for a book cover? (Whether the work included the actual cover or just the illustration?)
I've looked at a dozen pre-made cover sites, and some of them are pretty good in certain genres (like romance), but I've seen virtually no pre-mades that are good for high fantasy, and for the few that exist, they don't match my story at all. When a site sells pre-mades for fantasy, it's mostly only urban fantasy.
When looking at custom covers instead, the pricing is always for using stock images, and I'm not sure that's going to work for fantasy, either. And the decent designers charge $500 or more just for a good-looking custom cover made from stock images, without including any custom illustration.
I'm trying to figure out if there's any way a (good) custom illustration could fall within my budget. All the artists I find myself liking on artstation tend to either work for real companies or do freelance work for real companies, so I've been too nervous to ask them what their prices are.
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Read through my Nano novel and tbh, it was a fun read. Sure it got slow and rough in bits, but lots of good big dumb villain speeches and I'm honestly surprised at how fun my action scenes were to reread. If the entire thing wasn't kind of a mess, I'd maybe try and fix it up (I won't cause it would need to be a page 1 rewrite). ANyways officially plotting out chapters. next month. I have a whole three+ weeks to hopefully plan out a quarter of a book at least.