NaNoWriMo 2018

[Juto]

Hi, 

I plan on joining NaNo for the first time this year and I was wondering if anyone on here are joining too and are willing to share tips, experience, ideas, anything that could help the first time be less overwhelming and more productive. 

My main problem with writing is first and foremost that my inner editor critiques every word and phrase before I've even put it into writing yet and I'm hoping that NaNo will give me the sense of urgency I need to overwrite my editor and just focus on writing now and editing later. 

Thats my goal anyway. 

Best of luck to anyone joining. Maybe I'll see you on the forums. 

X 

 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

oh hey!! i do nano every year. i do have some tips and stuff if you want! stuff that's worked for me anyway

i watch and read these things every year and try to keep them in mind while i'm writing and it really helps

https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/neil-gaiman

http://sevenscribes.com/writing-begins-with-forgiveness-why-one-of-the-most-common-pieces-of-writing-advice-is-wrong/

and this quote from Neil Gaiman that i can't find the source article for but he said,

"Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that - but you are the only you. Tarantino - you can criticize everything that Quentin does - but nobody writes Tarantino stuff like Tarantino. He is the best Tarantino writer there is, and that was actually the thing that people responded to - they’re going ‘this is an individual writing with his own point of view’. There are better writers than me out there, there are smarter writers, there are people who can plot better - there are all those kinds of things, but there’s nobody who can write a Neil Gaiman story like I can."

and then the other thing is i just try to remember that no one is gonna see my first draft! it's not for other people. the purpose of a first draft isn't to create something good, it's just to get the ideas out of my head and fill enough space to make the daily wordcount. i can edit it and make better drafts of it later to make it good! but you can't fix something that isn't on paper yet.

another helpful tip, building on that idea, is not to fuss too hard over word choice or names in the first draft. you can put [NAME HERE] or [ANOTHER WORD FOR HEAVY, BUT MORE URGENT] in where you need a word or a name that isn't coming to you. it saves time and keeps your writing flow in the zone.

speaking of daily wordcounts, pacing yourself is super important!! it's a good idea to meet the suggested wordcount for the day so you don't fall behind, bc that stacks up fast lol. on the same note, if you're really in the zone you can keep going past the wordcount for that day to give your future self a little wiggle room!

here's the calander i use every year to help me remember how many words i should have written on any given day in november:

https://m.imgur.com/GquzYYsr

my last piece of advice is don't delete ANYTHING!! you never know when you'll  be in the middle of a future draft and think "oh heck, i actlly liked it better how i said it before" and you're gonna want that previous copy handy.

hope this helps, have fun!!

[Wig_Powder]

I've been taking a break for a few years, but I have done National Novel Writing Month before under my non-fetish pseudonym. I like to use it and the deadlines it generates to get big ideas out of my head and on paper. I can't offer much help on silencing your inner editor (I'm the edit as I go type and personally prefer the 50,000 words I submit to be 50,000 words I plan to have in the story), but here's some advice for surviving the month;

1. Outline your story before you start writing it. The rules say that's ok, so figure out how your story is going to end and maybe some key "setpieces". That way, you can actually tell you're making progress.

2. Don't be afraid to jump around in the story. If you're stuck on Chapter 2 but you have a great idea for a fight scene that takes place in Chapter 6, go ahead and write the fight scene. Since you're more interested in it, you'll probably feel more inspired and get more done. This may leave you with a lot of gaps in your story, but you can always go back and fill those in later, when you're in more of a writing groove.

3. Music can be a great source of inspiration. If you have the time, assemble a playlist of songs that you associate with your story. Then, play that playlist while you write. It may lead to you jumping around in the plot, but as #2 showed, that's not a problem.

4. If you start getting overwhelmed by how many words you need to write in a day, try a sort of work-reward system. I got through a difficult stretch one year by writing 100-200 words, then rewarding myself by watching a Zero Punctuation video game review (5 minutes long on average). With that pace, I could hit my word count for the day in a little over an hour.

5. If you're making decent progress but just feel like you don't have anything in the tank, it's ok to take a day off and either do no writing at all or go write something else. Sometimes, the creative batteries need to be recharged.

6. Competition can be motivating. If you sign up on the official National Novel Writing Month site, you can create a "buddy list" of other participants. Keep an eye on the word counts of your buddy list and see if you can match or beat them in word count by the end of the day.

7. If you can, try to attend a meetup. The ones I've attended have always been welcoming, though what happens at them varies. Sometimes it's a sort of "everyone does their own thing", sometimes you write for fifteen minutes and then chat for ten minutes, sometimes you're set mini-challenges (one year we had a jenga set with word counts written on them and had to do our best to write whatever word count we pulled during the next writing period; if you knocked the whole thing over, that added more to the count), and sometimes they even give you little prizes just for showing up, like pencils or stickers. If nothing else, this sort of thing allows you to get out and socialize with other people who are going through the same thing you are, which might help you feel a little better about your current word count.

Best of luck!

[murphy dee]

Woohoo! NaNoWriMo is such an awesome experience! I've been participating since 2010. The folks above me have great advice and I really have nothing to add except to beware the forums - they can be SUPER helpful, or they can also be a massive time-suck and means of procrastination hahah... Also check out your local forum for all sorts of updates about kick-off events, write-ins, and celebratory after-parties. I've met some of my best local friends through NaNo over the years.

Also everyone should friend me 

[Reader]

I plan to unofficially do it. I really just want to be on a schedule and hit the daily word count. Thanks for all the advice and good post! 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

On 8/30/2018 at 11:15 PM, Wig_Powder said:

3. Music can be a great source of inspiration. If you have the time, assemble a playlist of songs that you associate with your story. Then, play that playlist while you write. It may lead to you jumping around in the plot, but as #2 showed, that's not a problem.

4. If you start getting overwhelmed by how many words you need to write in a day, try a sort of work-reward system. I got through a difficult stretch one year by writing 100-200 words, then rewarding myself by watching a Zero Punctuation video game review (5 minutes long on average). With that pace, I could hit my word count for the day in a little over an hour

wig powder has brought up some good points here that i forgot to touch on in my first post!! 

different approaches word best for different writers with both of these also and i find that something else works for me in both cases, so i wanted to throw in my two cents on them so you can pick an approach that works best for you!

i find that if i'm listening to music i get too caught up and distracted by the lyrics, but i struggle to write with no sound going bc i get distracted by my surroundings 😅 

so i listen to a white noise simulator! the one i use is a coffee house noises setting on this site here: https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/cafeRestaurantNoiseGenerator.php

but i know a lot of people who like rainymood instead: http://www.rainymood.com

the other thing is with when you hit a day where you just. got nothin. instead of taking a day off, which for me just makes me feel stressed out and behind, i take those days and just write whatever mundane filler i need to write to get from point a to point b. like 90% of things i write on those days is boring and sucks BUT the other 10% is good ideas that i didn't even know i had in me, and it usually leads me to better ideaful days.

 

[Juto]

Thank you so much for all your wonderful inputs and ideas. 🤗

THIS!!!:

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 10:35 PM, Quing Nerd said:

and then the other thing is i just try to remember that no one is gonna see my first draft! it's not for other people. the purpose of a first draft isn't to create something good, it's just to get the ideas out of my head and fill enough space to make the daily wordcount. i can edit it and make better drafts of it later to make it good! but you can't fix something that isn't on paper yet. 

That's exactly what I have to practice. I want everything to be flawless and perfect in the first draft and I spend all my writing time looking up words or phrases to fit the sentences exactly. It frustrates me to no end that I can't put it aside and just TYPE! But practice makes perfect, I guess.  

Thanks for all the links and especially the calendar!! I'll definitely need that to keep track. 

The thing is, I've already started. I've been writing for little over a year in the little time I can scramble to myself. And I've checked with Nano. It's okay to focus on an existing project, but I'm only allowed to count the words I've written in November, but I think there's a magic button in scrivener somewhere that'll do that. But I've come to realise my need for deadline and sense of community when it comes to writing. It'll be nice to know I wont be the only one staying up past midnight, typing my fingers sore and knocking back coffee after coffee all through november 

My goal is really just to write SOMETHING every day. Like you said, on bad days, just write the mundane stuff that links the chapters and save the exiting chapters for when you're more alert and in the zone. 

@Wig_Powder

Thank you so much for the checklist!! I do most of them already. I have the entire outline all mapped out (I'm an architect when it comes to writing, I can never just sit down and write without an outline. I need plans!!) which also helps me jump back and forth between chapters. its great that way. I can simply write whatever I'm in the mood for. 

I can't listen to actual songs when I write. I get too distracted humming along to the lyrics but I listen to movie soundtracks. They're designed to make you feel a certain way while watching a movie and they're perfect for getting me into the right mindset. Spotify has some amazing playlists just with a mix of movie soundtrack. Though I have to admit that most of my outline has been written with pawpatrol in the background 'cause parenting is hard and the only real breaks I get are when the boys are either busy with the telly or asleep.  

I think a set up reward system is a really good idea, since most of my words will be written between 10 pm and midnight.  

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 9:56 AM, murphy dee said:

Also everyone should friend me 

Aww yes. I'll do that when I set up my account!!

Thanks for the encouraging words. It's true. I feel like I've already spent more time reading articles from standoutbooks than actually getting words on paper. I'll probably use the forums for october prep and steer clear of them come november. 

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 10:14 AM, Reader said:

I plan to unofficially do it. I really just want to be on a schedule and hit the daily word count. Thanks for all the advice and good post! 

I wanted to join as part lurker, part writer just to meet my word count, but I think there's so much support and strength and encouragement to obtain from the forums and the camp if I can build up the nerve to interact with other people. 

Thank you all so much. I'll set up an account soon and try not to get too lost in the forums. 

X Juto 

 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

1 hour ago, Juto said:

I wanted to join as part lurker, part writer just to meet my word count, but I think there's so much support and strength and encouragement to obtain from the forums and the camp if I can build up the nerve to interact with other people. 

Thank you all so much. I'll set up an account soon and try not to get too lost in the forums. 

tbh joining has helped me a bunch each year even though i don't participate in the forums so much? because i find the little stats page really encouraging, especially the graph that shows me when i'm making steady progress with my wordcount

also bc it's fun to see my friends' wordcounts and cheer eachother on in private  

 

[Reader]

7 hours ago, Juto said:

The thing is, I've already started. I've been writing for little over a year in the little time I can scramble to myself. And I've checked with Nano. It's okay to focus on an existing project, but I'm only allowed to count the words I've written in November, but I think there's a magic button in scrivener somewhere that'll do that. But I've come to realise my need for deadline and sense of community when it comes to writing. It'll be nice to know I wont be the only one staying up past midnight, typing my fingers sore and knocking back coffee after coffee all through november 

 

Oh wow this is me. It’s why I wanted to do it unofficially. I just didn’t know you could still enter. 

I clicked on the link for the calendar, but I just saw funny memes instead. @Quing Nerd could you let me know where exactly it is? 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

2 hours ago, Reader said:

i clicked on the link for the calendar, but I just saw funny memes instead. @Quing Nerd could you let me know where exactly it is? 

hm, lemme try and find another link? 

oh that worked! here u go!

[Reader]

Hahahahahahaha I love it! Thankyou @Quing Nerd