DIY Planner - NaNoWriMo 2007 - Comments

drupal

Anonymous — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 01:40:04 -0500

I'm in nano withdrawl thanks to the "new drupal digs." Drupal sucks! I was hoping for Saturday all-nighter, with word wars, etc. Yeah, right. Bring back XOOPS! 11.03

Having fun already...

Friend of Pens — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:14:50 -0400

...and haven't started yet. I made myself a Rolla pad of the loose 3x5 cards I've been using to capture notes, and divided them into four main sections: Characters, Events, Settings, and Plot, plus an almighty stack of empty cards at the end next to the Goal tab containing the NaNo word-count calendar and a place for me to jot down each day's actual total when the writing begins...

The "outline" for this novel will consist of assembling the Plot, Settings, and Events cards, with Characters set aside for reference. Specific character notes/continuity items will be jotted on the backs of the cards as I write and used for reference. Wonderfully low-tech and portable, and should sure me of my unnatural longhand urges.

Congrats and good luck to

innowen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:51:29 -0400

Congrats and good luck to you. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun this year!

/innowen

I took the plunge

Friend of Pens — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:20:27 -0400

...and signed up in my regional group. I'll probably wimp out and do it on the computer, although pledging to do it longhand means an excuse to buy paper, pens and ink. :-) I will keep a stack of blank cards on-hand in case the muse strikes away from my desk.

Friend of Pens, Go ahead and

innowen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:52:33 -0400

Friend of Pens,

Go ahead and sign up and i'll think you'll find that you'll have a lot of NaNo buddies at your service. :) People here on the site, as well as at nanowrimo and locally. I'm sure you can post in your local region forum that you're looking for a buddy and you'll find a few dozen peeps waiting to welcome you into their wordcount havens.

it IS a lot of work but it's work that's rewarding at the same time. and wow, i've never done a long hand novel... but i know many friends who do. good thing they're good typers.

in any case, good luck on your novel and don't hesitate to call upon us if you need help!
/innowen

Hmmmm... maybe...

Friend of Pens — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:01:46 -0400

I'm going to see if I can rope in a NaNoWriMo buddy for encouragement. Sounds like an absurd amount of work and fun at the same time. And if I'm brave enough to do it longhand I can make a special Circa book for the occasion. Joy!

another first timer too!

frogcat — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:36:07 -0400

I just signed up for the first time! Exciting! I like the attitude of the NaNoWriMo organizers!

Another first timer

Am — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:12:02 -0400

This post and a random comment I made in a pub recently spurred me on to sign up for it!

dazzer67 Why not use last

Chet — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:08:07 -0400

dazzer67

Why not use last year's great idea for this year's NaNovel? That's what I'm doing. I didn't finish last year as I was away for 10 days. I thought I would get lots of writing done during those 10 evenings, but I didn't. After a few days, I was quite far behind in the word count and kind of lost heart. But I'm using last year's idea for this year's NaNovel.

I think I've been convinced

dazzer67 — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:08:50 -0400

I have been unsure whether to go for it or not this year. The main reason is that I failed totally last year, due to illness, and that was despite having a great idea - if I do say so myself`:-) This year I have no idea (yet) and I am also out of the country for five days and so will have limited time on the trip. However I am being bitten by the bug again and so, as I said, I think I'm gonna have a go again. If anyone wants to add me as a buddy I'm Dazzer67 there too.
*goes off searching for a plot*

understandable

innowen — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:55:41 -0400

That's understandable... and yes, there's a LOT of wrimos who are behind you.

/innowen

Hmmm.

CSS — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:39:24 -0400

It would be really nice to finish something I've started. But of course I have other ideas too. I haven't actually looked at the NaNoWriMo site much; I didn't realize it was cheating :) I just like the idea of being that focused on something for a month and knowing that other people are doing it too.

i really recommend you take

innowen — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:27:53 -0400

i really recommend you take something new from scratch... this way your preconceived notions don't get in the way. that and technically... it's cheating if you're going to work on a novel you already started. :)

but if that's what it takes you to write and work on the first draft... then do it!
/innowen

Thanks

CSS — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:49:39 -0400

Thanks for the encouragement. I just might. I'm at least closer than I ever have been before :) I have several novels started to choose from, though I'll probably go with the most recent. It's only been a month or so since I worked on it. Hmmm...

I'm in!

heavdog — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:48:11 -0400

I signed up last week, this will be my first time...yes, a NaNoWriMo virgin. I'm psyched!
I'm looking forward to all the help, tips, and support I can get. I'll post my progress on my blog, maybe even some witty excerpts :-)
Comments welcome!

NaNoWriMo 2007

innowen — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:27:50 -0400

Once again NaNoWriMo signups are upon us. The site is up, sporting new Drupal digs, and accepting new novelists who will once again brave the exciting race that is 50,000 words in 30 days- all November long. To recap, NaNoWriMo is a month long journey where people around the world attempt to write a complete novel(la) in about 30 days. By the seat of their pants. Some people go into this "competition" with no plot or characters to write about, others like myself, create a loose plot and maybe a character or two before we start writing. Two years ago, I gave you ideas on using the D*I*Y Planner Story pack. Last year I helped you brainstorm ideas for outlines and plots.

This year, you get advice from last year's first year winner, iScribe. She's compiled a list of things that helped her achieve her first time victory. I've reprinted her ideas with her permission as they are some of the best advice anyone can give returning wrimos (and especially first timers) as they attempt to draft their first novel in 30 days. Read on to learn more about what worked for her.

Last year (2006) was my first year doing NaNo and I won. I crossed the finish line two days before the deadline with 55,000 words and a finished novel. This is what worked for me:

YES - join some sort of NaNo support group. I picked a local one that met at a 24hour / free wi-fi coffee shop twice a week. It was there I wrote the most because you are inspired when there are a dozen other people ticking away on their laptops (like myself) or doing it longhand (gasp! my utmost respect to those writers). If anyone ever got stuck they'd ask out, "Quick! Gimme a name of a pet!" And the first response would be the one that would go in. Great atmosphere for brainstorming plot ideas.

YES - designate a friend to be your NaNo cheerleader. I had one and her name was Innowen. She would push me into word wars with her via IM. "Okay, I wanna see 500 words in the next 15 minutes! On your mark...get set...WRITE!" Then Innowen would IM me when the time was up and, wow, I would have roughly 700 words already done.

NO - writing every day simply did not work for me. I could not do the 1,600/day. However, I did find my stride and that was to write every other day and get about 3-4K words down. I found the day in between was a nice rest for my brain and my hands. Find your own stride. I have some people who finished within a week. Me? After I counted all the days I wrote, I got done in 2.5 weeks. Do what works for you.

YES - set up a little ritual before you write to get you into the NaNo groove. For me I would have my large college thesaurus (i wouldn't go online for that would distract me with its shiny links and internet goodies), my fingerless gloves, and my personal muse icon for the story I was writing. Last year it was a cute orange monster named Tanja. My friend used a plastic little ninja which she set upon her laptop to get her into the NaNo Zen. This year I shall be writing a horror story so I already have a new pair of fingerless gloves picked out (black 'n' gray with a skull on it) and a muse icon (female ninja ghost action figure -- creepy looking).

YES - create a playlist for your novel so you can listen to music that will inspire your story.

YES - treat yourself every time you write. Even if you didn't reach your word count. Because at least you wrote! I discovered that Coca-Cola worked best for me on the caffeine route rather than cafe mochas. And powdered Donettes were my treat of choice. ;-)

YES - try and get OUT OF THE HOUSE to write as much as you can. No distractions from family, from TV, from...oooo, I need to do some laundry. Local coffee shops love us. As do book stores or any other hang out with free wi-fi. Even though I live alone, I could not stay home because I would procrastinate by busying myself with chores that could wait. Being out forced me to focus on my novel.

NO - outlines was another thing which didn't work for me. I do love structure, but outlines were too cumbersome and too stiff.

YES - instead, I went with some basic plot points. I roughly had 8 points of action or story turning that I wanted in my novel. How they all connected though was where my muse popped in. I had no clue and it was so much fun creating the path to each plot point.

YES YES YES - for cryin' in the night remember to have FUN with it! Place some duct tape over your inner editor and shove them into a steamer trunk. Once I let go of the fact this was not going to be a serious novel, I started having fun creating my own literary world. I even used zombies, pirates and a herd of plot bunnies in one chapter alone and I giggled the entire time. Honestly, that chapter was probably some of the best writing I've done when I learn to just let it go. ;-)

There ya have it! My NaNo 2 cents worth! Good luck in November!

So, who else is with us on this year's trek? Good luck to everyone who's attempting it for the first time this year and welcome back to those returning. I hope your plots are filled with wonder and your word count impressive.

D*I*Y Planner - NaNoWriMo 2007 - Comments