UPDATE: The results of this year's NIAD can now be downloaded from the links below:
Epub format: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/NIAD/ ... 0_epub.zip
Kindle (.mobi) format: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/NIAD/ ... 0_mobi.zip
PDF format: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/NIAD/ ... nar520.pdf
Scrivener format: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/NIAD/ ... _scriv.zip
My sincere thanks (and thanks on behalf of everyone else too) to Pigfender for organising it again, and for coming up with a plot that was fun to write and read.
All the best,
Keith
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This time last year we hosted a writing exercsie on the forum to write a novel in a day. It's not an official Literature & Latte event as such, but since the idea originated on the forum and a number of the moderators are taking part we are happy to continue to provide a space to help organise it.
I'll hand over to Pigfender with more details... (In fact I'm so lazy that Pigfender wrote this bit, my introduction, too. Except for this parenthetical bit - that would be too meta.)
Date Change Notice: The original date was set for the 13th of October. The date of the event has been changed to the 20th of October.
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The original “Novel In A Day” took place on October 15, 2011. The idea came about on this forum when someone made a post moaning about an article on how to write a book in three days.
Three days is nothing. It's rubbish. Easy.
Three days is the slow option. The one taken by wimps and amateurs.
The trick is MANPOWER…
Our premise was simple: Someone would write a story outline and break it into bite-sized pieces, which would then be emailed out to our participants at midnight on our chosen day.
24 hours and 24 participants later, we had a novel.
"It's damn brilliant when you think about the info [the authors] had and how it’s slotted together."
Each participant only gets the information they need to write their own section. Character sheets, location sheets (if required) and a brief outline of the plot points they need to cover. From that they need to produce at least 1,500 words. In a day.
(Last time, submissions ranged from 1500 to 4000 words)
"I've enjoyed every page of it. It's almost like I'm reading of an event from many parallel universes; each one slightly (or way) different and you can only ever see one piece of time in each framework, with only hints of what the past and future might have been like, based on the other pieces."
You don’t need to be a professional writer to take part, but you do need to be committed and confident.
Committed, because there are no back up writers, and no time to make good on missing sections. If you don’t deliver, you leave a hole.
Confident, because there will be only very limited editing done. Topping and tailing if you overstretch your brief, and really basic formatting / spell checking. You need to be comfortable you are able to produce work in a time-pressured environment you are happy with people reading.
"I just read the book, and it had me all the way through. I think everybody did a great job."
The style guide is simple: Use a third person narrative as the default. You can dip into anyone's perspective although usual rules of good taste apply about mixing it up in a single chapter. Use double quotes (“ ”) for speech.
The rest is up to you. Write in your own style. This is an exercise, a bit of fun. We won’t be producing a Booker Prize winner, but we will be producing something readable and hopefully “immensely enjoyable”...
"I really enjoyed reading The Dark... I like our little book, the many faces of Jane Scott were immensely enjoyable. Hope this becomes a tradition."
"Apart from one short break for toilet and tiffin, His Obnoxiousness, read 'The Dark' at one sitting (two if you include the toilet sitting), punching the air and shouting 'Yeeeaahh!! My kindda woman!!... Could do with a good dollop of 'Honkey-Tonking', though.' All in all, I suspect he was impressed with the end result. I was too. I had expected, 'Noddy the Vampire' meets 'Halloween Redux'."
We’ll aim for around 25 participants again, although this may flex due to both demand and maintaining a sensible number of breaks in the narrative. As with last time, I’ll be available the whole day of the event via email to answer any questions (should you want more information for your brief, or anything really), and I’m sure a number of us will be on the forum to chat as well.
From a legal point of view, everyone will retain copyright in their own contributions, although will grant others (including L&L) the right to distribute the whole on a free / non-commercial basis. We may also make it available for free download on eBook sites if suitably proud of the output! Everyone contributing will get a credit showing which bit they added (unless they opt out).
"Everyone that took part had a lot of fun, and for myself, it was liberating to be given a précis and have to sit down and get on with the nuts and bolts of writing for a day, knowing that if I didn't get it done I'd be letting everyone else down. Liberating, because I have a tendency to fear the blank page and spend all my time arsing around with plans and notes and not getting on with the important part - the writing."
"It was a fabulous experience"
"This really was a fun project that I hope we can do again... was a great exercise for me, loved every minute of it."
"Thanks to everyone - this turned out to be a lot of fun."
"Just wanted to add it was daunting but also exhilarating to be so far from my normal story arc."
"This was wonderful fun. Wish I could do this again. Can't wait to read the entire story."
"To me it was a whole lot of fun! It was great writing and watching the others write. Do it again next year? I'm up for it!"
"A good wheeze. When can we do another one?"
When?
Saturday October 20th, 2012 00:01am UK time to 9:00pm UK time to write your sections.
The equivalent times in other areas would therefore be:
Portland, Oregon: 5:01pm, Friday October 19th to 2:00pm, Saturday October 20th
Sydney, Australia: 10:01am, Saturday October 20th to 7:00am, Sunday October 21th,
The finished novel will be compiled in Scrivener and made available in .pdf, .ePub, .mobi and .scriv formats by 23:59pm UK time.
So, once again, if you want to warm your writing arm before NaNoWriMo, or just want the chance to say you've writtten a (second) novel with Keith, Sign up below...
I look forward to reading the result on the trip back home, though.