NaNoWriMo 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 1

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

Day 1 writing badgeThe Words: 6025 words, all on my Neo. I started at midnight last night and wrote 3440 in about an hour and 40 minutes before going to bed. All but 5 minutes of this was done alongside the Twitter feed of @NaNoWordSprints. (If you don’t know what that is, be sure to check it out. It can save the month for you!)

The rest were done tonight in word sprints with others from my region on a Discord server.

The Story: I am basically going to be writing 2 storylines this year, and I’ve never been good at knowing where those storylines will merge while I’m writing. I’m better off writing them as individual storylines and merging them later. But I think it will help me a lot this month if I don’t just write all of one, and then the other. So for now, I’m planning to go back and forth between them every other day, and see how that goes. If I’m really feeling one and want to write it for a few days in a row, of course I will.

Mostly a lot of politics happened in today’s writing. Five characters basically discussed the recent state of their neighboring nations, over the course of several meetings, which will likely be broken up by the other storyline in the end.

Total word count: 6025

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: https://nanotoons.org/2019/11/01/2019-november-1st
And in honor of November 1st, the first episode of the NaNoMusical!

NaNoWriMo Eve

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

NaNo handouts

NaNoWriMo starts in 12 hours where I am. This month, known by many as Preptober, was much less full of prep than I planned. This was mostly due to a combination of working on final edits for my first full-novel release that is due out on January 10th and feeling like I could push off the prep work, because I’d already made an outline for my NaNoNovel a few months ago.

I did finally spend some time Monday and Tuesday this week looking over the outline, as well as the outline for the book that precedes it (it’s drafted, but had to be re-outlined due to a lot of changes needed). I re-read character interviews and wrote a new one with some brand new characters.

I am not sure I am 100% ready, and actually hope to look over the outline again at some point today, before midnight. But I do know that, if necessary, I have enough to get started. I’ll be starting right at midnight (known as the midnight sprint). I do that every year, and whether I write 500 words or 3000 words, anything I get done before going to bed is a huge mental jump start on the month!

And fair warning: I will blog every day about my experience doing NaNoWriMo. I’ve done this nearly every year since starting this blog (the only exception was the year that I had just started full-time at a very demanding job, and what I was writing for NaNo that year was a difficult, personal subject, so frankly, I was doing good to even reach 50k that year).

There may be those who are curious about how others get through the month–I know I am, and most days I also spend some time reading blog posts by others about how their writing went that day. I have also found that I really enjoy being able to look back in later years and read about my progress through the month.

I will also share each day’s NaNoToons, which incidentally will be the last year for NaNoToons. (In fact, the first one for this year just went up! I’m so excited!!) And I’ll post episodes from the NaNoMusical throughout the month, because it’s one of the best things to come out of NaNoWriMo ever, and every Wrimo needs to know about it!

I wish my fellow Wrimos well, and hope to hear from some of you during the month! Please feel free to add me as a writing buddy!

Are you ready for NaNo to begin? Do you plan to do the midnight sprint tonight?

NaNoWriMo Rebels

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

NaNo handouts

Many people who are new to the world of NaNoWriMo only know it as National Novel Writing Month. And of course, at its heart, that’s what it is. But let me tell you about the wonderful world of NaNo Rebels.

When I first did NaNoWriMo in 2007, the rules were more strict. You write a new piece of lengthy fiction, and if you reach 50,000 words, you win. Though rebelling did happen, I don’t think it was as prevalent or as acknowledged as it is now. In the time since then, the people who run the event have opened their arms to those who want to join in the fun, but don’t necessarily want to (or somehow aren’t able to) write a new, lengthy work of fiction. (And actually, they’ve even changed the standard “rules” to say that continuing a previous story is no longer rebelling, but only new words added in November count.)

So, what can you do as a NaNo Rebel? Almost anything you want to. For example:

  • Write non-fiction
  • Write short stories (though if the stories are related to each other, it’s not rebelling)
  • Write a script or screenplay
  • Revise a previous work

All of these things and more are acceptable for NaNoWriMo. Some of them may require a different way of tracking your work done (for example, for revision, you may track time instead, and equate an hour to 1000 words). If you’re curious about what is or isn’t considered rebelling, you can find more information here.

And if the month of November just really doesn’t work for you, consider participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place during April and July.

**Note: The website & forums have very recently relaunched with a lot of changes, so some things aren’t working quite correctly. I understand kinks are still being worked out, but be aware that what you see now may not entirely be accurate or permanent.

Are you participating in NaNo this year? Will you rebel or stick with the normal format?

For anyone out there who is participating, feel free to check out my series of tips and tricks for the month, and also to add me as a writing buddy! (Let me know you came from here, and I’ll add you back!)

NaNoWriMo Community

/ Kristi / 6 Comments

NaNo handouts

I remember the first time I met someone who already knew about NaNoWriMo. It was in May of 2013, and she recognized the shirt I was wearing as a NaNo shirt. I get a shirt every year that I participate, and wear them a lot, especially in September through December, so they tend to start conversations when people ask me about it, and also identify people who know what it is. It was years before I met more people who already knew about NaNoWriMo, and in more recent years, I’ve met several (even my doctor had heard of it).

I am happy that NaNoWriMo is becoming more well-known and more wide-spread. It wouldn’t be what it is without the amazing community that comes together every November. And this is coming from someone who is very introverted and socially awkward. I won’t pretend that I participate in the NaNo community nearly as much as I could, but it’s there and it’s inviting.

Socially awkward or not, NaNoWriMo is one thing I can talk about with relative ease. I am very passionate about it. I like to tell people what it is, how awesome it is, and if they show an interest, why they should give it a try. So when the opportunity came up for me to sit at a local authors’ table during a festival in my hometown, it didn’t take long to think past the book-related things I should bring and realize that this is the perfect opportunity to spread the news about NaNoWriMo to people in my community. We have write-ins at the library in my town during November, so maybe I can drum up some more participants!

I have some stickers and buttons (shown above), and I will hand them out to anyone who might be interested. I’m almost as excited about talking to people about NaNo as I am about selling my book or talking about my soon-to-be-releasing book. And really, talking about NaNo will be easier than trying to promote myself.

If you’re considering participating in NaNoWriMo, and you’re curious about what kind of local community might be near you, check it out for yourself! You’ll have to make an account, but it’s free, and no one will force you to participate once you’ve signed up. Maybe you’ll find just what you need to decide to give it a try!

For anyone out there who is participating in NaNoWriMo, feel free to check out my series of tips and tricks for the month, and also to add me as a writing buddy! (Let me know you came from here, and I’ll add you back!)

NaNoWriMo’s Coming!

/ Kristi / 8 Comments

I used to love the old Coca-Cola Santa Packs commercials. They marked the beginning of the holiday season! Now, right about this time every year, I start to sing, “NaNoWriMo’s comin’!” to the same tune, and I’m just as excited (maybe more so).

First, a quick explanation for those who don’t know what I’m even talking about: NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It is an event that has been around since 1999, becoming more of what it is today in 2005. At its heart, it’s a personal challenge–write 50,000 words in 30 days during the month of November. Signing up and participating simply gives you somewhere to track your progress, goodies if you win, and a huge community of like-minded people, cheering each other on.

I am such a NaNo fangirl, seriously. October is widely referred to as “Preptober” by many Wrimos, as those of us who plan ahead for what we’re going to write like to spend the month before it starts prepping. But for me (and still plenty of others), the real season starts in September.

The last few years, I was too busy with work to enjoy the lead-up to NaNoWriMo. A few of those years, I barely managed to participate, then slunk back into my depressing no-time-for-writing life until the next November. Though those times were difficult (writing has long been a huge stress relief for me), I am so incredibly grateful to NaNoWriMo for at least giving me the push, and the vehicle, to do some writing for that one month.

In the coming months, I’ll post more about NaNoWriMo, but I will probably never again post as much as I did in 2015, where I posted an entire series about how to prepare for NaNo, as well as tips for planning a story, and tips for the actual writing in November. All of those posts, including some I’ve added since then, can be found here: Prep for NaNoWriMo

So who else is excited? Are you participating? Thinking about it? Never heard of it before but can’t help but be intrigued? I’d love to hear from you!