Month: October 2015

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 22, 2015

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Words/Time: 30 minutes working on prep for my 2015 NaNoNovel. This was spent mostly trying to boil the plot I have in mind down into a few paragraphs that I can share here and on the NaNo site. You wouldn’t think that would be so difficult, but it’s not easy trying to figure out what the main plot thread is in a story you haven’t written. (In my case, it’s not always easy figuring out the main plot thread in one I have written.) Also, trying to boil it down to a short, succinct synopsis with no extras, even when those extras maybe feel like they’re integral to the story, can take some thinking.

While I was working on that, I had to adjust my timeline a bit to clear up some events I’d muddied. I think I’m finally ready to start my outline.

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 21, 2015

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Words/Time: 1 hour working on prep for my 2015 NaNoNovel. I’ve been brainstorming a subplot to fill out the middle of the novel and trying to figure out timelines. I added a bunch of events and notes to my file in Aeon, and wrote out clues and other mystery-related notes in a journal trying to visualize how the mystery part needed to play out. I’m getting more excited about the idea now that it’s starting to feel like a full story, not just an opening and climax. I think I can finally work on a full synopsis to post here and on my NaNo profile.

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 20, 2015

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Words/Time: 2242 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 59th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through 7 1/3 pages of double-spaced text. Only reading 5-10 pages at a time, a week apart, has caused problems in the past when the other two in my editing group forget something that would otherwise be more easily remembered by someone reading a book normally. Tonight it was more obvious, though, as a mental map of an underground cave system was impossible to keep from last week to this week, and one of my sisters needed extra clarification about where the characters were in this cave and where other things were.  That did bring to light a few areas where wording wasn’t as clear as it could have been to make sure readers weren’t confused, though, so it worked out for the best.

The Sights and Sounds of NaNoWriMo

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The countdown to NaNoWriMo is picking up speed. Okay, so that’s a physical impossibility, but with only 12 days left, it does feel like the time I have left to get ready is dwindling more than I’d like.

While NaNo is so often seen as scary, panic-inducing mania, it’s good to remember the fun of the event. Today, I thought I’d share some of my favorite things about NaNo that don’t specifically relate to the writing itself.

Errol
Fair warning: all of these involve the same over-excited, over-active Asian guy. It’s not that there aren’t other great NaNo-related songs or comics out there, but these are some of my favorites (for good reason).

NaNoToons: A webcomic about a group of characters who participate in NaNoWriMo. The comic runs daily throughout the month of November. Some years it starts partway through October so the story can ramp up before NaNo starts. I’ve seen no indication as to whether that will happen this year or not, but until it does start, you can catch up on the NaNoToons from previous years.

During November, you can check in every day to see the continuing adventures of the group as they eat their weight in chips, pass out early at the yearly overnight event, and write their way through November.

NaNo songs: There are a plethora of songs about NaNoWriMo on YouTube. One only need search for “nanowrimo songs” to find plenty of fun tunes. My favorites are in this playlist, or this site.

Songs about NaNo are great for hyping yourself up for the day’s writing or for playing over the next few weeks during your prep time.

NaNoMusical: Yes, it’s a musical about NaNoWriMo. And it’s one of my favorite things of all time. It’s a 6-part web series made by WE Tangent, with music by Debs & Errol. From the site itself: “NanoMusical follows Dale, a legend who has surpassed the 50,000 word count every year, and his three friends as they navigate their way through the exciting and often tumultuous month of November…with music.”

The musical came out in 2012, one episode per week from the days before NaNo started until the week after. I personally think that was the best way to watch it–spread throughout the event. However, as with binge watching on Netflix, it’s fully accessible now and can be watched all in a row. Still, if you watch the first episode and like it, you can use the following episodes as rewards for finishing certain milestones in your writing.

Do you have favorite NaNo-related songs or other fan creations like these? Are you already anxiously awaiting the start of this year’s NaNoToons? Is there a bit too much Errol in this post? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 18, 2015

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Words/Time: 27 minutes working on prep for my 2015 NaNoNovel. I’ve started laying out the sequence of events that I know, which is mostly the very beginning, and a few sporadic things that I don’t know when will happen, or even in what order. As I’ve started to look harder at this plot, I’ve realized I don’t have much of a plot. I have a feeling I’ll have a sketchier outline this year than I have the last few years. It worries me a bit, but if all else fails, I can just write about normal rendezvous life and events if I can’t pin down the mystery plot for a while. At least I’ll be getting words out.

Tips for NaNoWriMo, Part 3

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crest-bda7b7a6e1b57bb9fb8ce9772b8faafbWe’re halfway through October and I still have so many tips I want to share for how to survive (and thrive in) NaNoWriMo. So far, I’ve given tips about how to get ready for NaNo–not just planning the story, but planning your space and getting your writing tools ready. There is certainly still plenty of time for those things.

But now I am going to start sharing my tips and tricks for how to make it through the event itself. I’ve split these into two posts of 7 tips each, so here are the first 7:

1. Break up the words.
50,000 words sounds like a lot (and it is). If you plan to write every day, it’s 1667 words per day. Because life can’t stop for NaNo, as much as we may want it to, there will be things that keep us from writing some days. If you know about these things in advance, you can count those days out of the total 30. Then you could divide 50,000 by the days you have left.

So then you have 1667 (or however many you come up with) words to write per day. Even that can seem like a lot, especially if your day is really busy. That’s when you divide the words even further. 500 words isn’t so much, right? That might take you 20-30 minutes to write. So three times throughout the day, take 20-30 minutes  (or less if you’re in a groove) to write 500 words. The extra 167 words may be made up during those times, if you write a bit over 500, or you could just make sure to get them in before you go to bed.

If you have a whole chunk of time, maybe an hour or two, to write, you may not need to break the words down further. But if you’re finding yourself overwhelmed by the daily word count, this might just be a useful tip for you.

2. Write in sprints.
A continuation of the previous tip, this one can be useful whether you’re writing in smaller session throughout the day, or all at once. I’ve found that I run up against a mental block when I sit down at 9 pm and think, “Okay, time to write my words for today.” Rather than just diving in and going for 1667, I will write in sprints.

All that means is that I set a time (usually 20 minutes) and write until the time is up. No stopping to check Facebook/email/whatever, no alt-tabbing to look something up, no stopping for a snack, or getting up at all. Then I take a short break, get a drink, visit the bathroom, stretch, glance at Facebook or the NaNo forums, or whatever, before starting another sprint. Single sprints can fit into work breaks, doctor visit waits, or other smallish amounts of downtime. Just set your time limit accordingly.

I strongly recommend checking out https://twitter.com/NaNoWordSprints. Throughout November (not necessarily 24/7) volunteers tweet word sprints that anyone can take part in. They announce the start time and the time limit, and sometimes a theme or prompt you can use if you need inspiration. Between sprints, people are often invited to tweet their word count for the recent sprint and maybe a sentence you liked.

Word wars are also a super effective tool for NaNo. Two or more participants agree on a start time and time limit, then write as many words for their novel as they can. Afterwards they compare word counts to see who won. I’ve seen first-hand how doing word wars throughout November can breed high word counts and/or early wins. If you can get to a write-in for your region, that’s the best way to do word wars. You can also do them online with writing buddies, or find people to war against on the forums.

I use the website writeordie.com (technically I still use the old version of the web app) for my sprints and word wars. I posted about that site yesterday, so I won’t say more about it here.

3. Reward yourself.
A helpful trick for NaNo is to set smaller milestones throughout a week, a day, or even one writing session, and find ways to reward yourself when you’ve reached them. For example, you could decide that if from Monday through Friday of one week, you wrote 10,000 words, you’d take Saturday off and relax (watching a movie, go outside) during your normal writing time. Or it could be as simple as having a pile of candy just out of reach and only letting yourself have one or two after each 20-minute writing sprint.

I will sometimes decide that once I’ve written 1667 words for the day, I’ll stop and watch 30 minutes of TV. Then I’ll see how much more I can get done before bedtime. Figure out what works for you and let that motivate you to get the words out.

4. Stay hydrated.
This one might seem unnecessary, but I know sometimes I can forget to make sure to drink plenty of water on a normal day when I have lots to do. During NaNo, especially when I have a day in which I have more time than usual to write, I can get so caught up in the sprints or wars that I forget to stop and refuel.

Snacks, coffee, and other caffeinated drinks are fuel for Wrimos, but just make sure you’re drinking plenty of water too.

5. Back up your work.
I don’t always remember this one myself, and I’ve had some scares. If you write with pencil & paper, it’s not as crucial, but we all know how fickle computers can be. Make sure you’re keeping a copy of your novel in more than one place. Some people back it up to the cloud (with Google drive, for example), while others may keep a copy on a thumb drive. Some keep several copies in every way they can think of. The key is to make sure you don’t have just the one copy.

6. Limit your time on the forums (and other online activities).
Have you been to the NaNo forums? The whole place is just this giant black hole of time sink on par with TV Tropes or Pinterest. There are boards for the genre you’re writing, for your age group, for almost any type of advice you may need…and so much more. And they are crazy busy during November.

It is really easy to go check out the forums at the beginning of your writing time and then realize half an hour has gone by. That’s why it’s important to put some sort of limit on how long you browse the forums. And really, this same thing can be said for any online time sink you may be inclined toward.

If you’re like me, your writing time may also be the first time all (or most of) the day that you’ve even had a chance to be at a computer. You may have email to check, Facebook to peruse, blog posts to read… But you have to set a limit, even if you use a timer to do so, or you’ll lose a lot of your writing time. It can also help if you can find other times during the day, time that you have at the computer (or with a mobile device) that isn’t really long enough to write. Do some of your normal online activities then, and save the rest for when your daily word count is done. Or December.

7. Don’t expect too much.
I’ve heard from people recently who were disappointed after their first NaNo, because they’d expected to end the month with a manuscript all ready to send off to publishers. That is not going to happen. Don’t go into this thinking you’re going to speed-write a novel, and it’s going to be great. I won’t rule out that possibility, but I’m sure it is super rare.

This may not be the first time you’ve heard this, but the focus during NaNo is on quantity, not quality. That right there is why many people think NaNo is pointless. If they’re expecting to end the month with 50,000 words of crap, why bother? Well, for one thing, it may not be pure crap. You may have a lot of unneeded filler, mistakes, and scenes that just didn’t work out. But you also may have the beginnings of a great novel. Perhaps it needs a complete rewrite, or maybe just a good round of revisions. But you’d have nothing if you hadn’t pushed yourself to write 50k words in a month.

Since there are still 2 weeks before November start, I’ll finish this post with another reminder to be writing every day, even now. It’s not necessary to success, but it sure can’t hurt, especially if you’re new to NaNo or haven’t been able to finish one yet. Starting cold with 1667 words on day 1 can be a real shock and even mental stumbling block. Whatever time of day you expect to be using for NaNo, start using that time now for pre-writing for your novel or (especially if you’re a pantser) simple freewriting about anything.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? How are you preparing? Do you have any tips or tricks for getting through the month?

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 16, 2015

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Words/Time: 38 minutes revising “Pithea.” I spent some time researching different species of bears to decide if one of them would suit the animal that I created when I thought the world would be completely fantasy. I’ve since decided it would take place right here on Earth, but probably close to 2000 years in the future. The rest of the time was normal revision, no huge fixes today. I finished at the end of the climax. As much as I worry about how this novel will be received when it’s finally ready to submit to publishers, one of my main concerns right now is the story structure. It’s told in 4 parts, each of which is like its own contained story with a beginning, middle, climax, and end. The climaxes aren’t always terribly exciting, though the final one is definitely the most suspenseful.  Anyway, it feels like a bit of a mess, and I’m not sure it can be made more structured without the story just falling to pieces. So it’s possible this novel’s only real future will be in self-publishing.

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 15, 2015

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Words/Time: 23 minutes revising “Pithea.” I made some fixes for an issue that was brought up during my editing group meeting yesterday, and got through a few pages of revision. I’ve been so focused on NaNoWriMo coming up, both planning the story I’m going to write for it and making blog posts about how to prep, my revision work has been neglected. I should really make sure to get as much of that done in the next few weeks as I can. There are so few pages left on this draft, which will probably be the most intensive one!

Tools for NaNoWriMo: Write or Die

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crest-bda7b7a6e1b57bb9fb8ce9772b8faafbUpdate: In the time since I made this post, Write or Die has moved on to a 3rd version. The original version that I described in this post doesn’t exist anymore. It still works generally the same way, with even a few more options, but I personally don’t use it anymore, because I don’t like it as much. Now I just write on my Neo (great for avoiding distractions) and set a timer on my phone.

I came across Write or Die for the first time a few years ago. I believe my region’s ML posted it in a list of other tools for writers. I was hooked as soon as I tried it out.

The idea behind Write or Die is that an immediate consequence for not writing is more effective than a far-off reward for writing. The biggest benefit for me is that using Write or Die helps me avoid distractions while I’m writing.

There is a downloadable software that you can buy, or you can use the web app. I’ve only ever used the web app, not because I don’t think it’d be worth buying, but because my family’s budget hasn’t afforded me the ability to buy the software yet. For that matter, I prefer the older web version to Write or Die 2. The older version is what I’ll be using to explain the tool further.

writeordieThe above is what you see when you go to the link for the web app (now obsolete). There are four choices to make: word goal, time goal, consequences, and grace period. The first two are self-explanatory. You choose how long you want to write–sprint for 10-20 minutes, go for hours, etc. I usually set my word count goal higher than my average for the time I’m choosing, so I don’t quit early. (Edit: I recently discovered that if you leave the word goal at 0, the program won’t let you quit until you reach the time limit. So if you’re wanting to time your sprint, and just get as many words as you get, that’s the way to go.)

Once you start typing, if you stop to think about what to write next, you will start to incur the consequences. There are four modes for consequences: gentle, where a box pops up to remind you to keep writing if you stop for a while; normal, where some sort of obnoxious noise plays if you stop writing for a while; and kamikaze, where your words begin to be deleted if you stop writing for a while. (I’ll let you figure out the electric shock setting for yourself.)

After a few seconds of inactivity, the screen will begin to turn red in increasing shades. The amount of time you can pause in your writing before your chosen consequence kicks in is determined by the grace period you choose.

There is a pause button in the top, right corner. If you push it, a dialog box pops up and gives you as much time as you need to stop writing with no consequences (though sometimes when you unpause, the consequence is going off, so you just need to type something quickly to make it stop). You get one pause per session, so use it wisely. I save them for when my time is interrupted by a family member, or when I spill my water on my lap. I try very hard not to pause it just to think of the next thing I want to write.

When your time is up or your word count is reached, make sure you copy and paste your words to a file in a word processing program. Write or Die does not save your work. There will be a reminder before you leave the page, so it’s not something you should be extremely worried about, unless you tend to have bad luck with this sort of thing.

I love Write or Die when I’m writing on my own, or especially for word wars. The time set by fellow Wrimos can be set in the app, and I can see my time going down and words going up. I use this during almost all of NaNo, only writing without it when I have to write in a notebook for some reason, when I’m warming up for word wars, or when I am just so into what I’m writing, nothing could possibly distract me anyway.

The newer version has its merits, but I like the old version, I’m used to it, and it suits what I need it for well enough to not need to mess with the new one. If you have any interest in using Write or Die for your writing, during NaNo or any time of the year, you can play around with the features, and both versions, and figure out what works best for you, or if it works for you at all.