NaNoWriMo Tips & Tools

by **Gossamer** on October 24th, 2011, 7:44 pm

NaNoWriMo Tips & Other Useful Things!

Here's some from me. Feel free to post your own tips or tools for NaNoWriMo. And feel free to utilize all the threads in this forum to help yourselves along.

Here's ten tips from me. Feel free to share your own!

1. Plan threads ahead.
2. Focus on solos, novels, articles and dreams.
3. Get any research done ahead of time.
4. Reward yourself when you get your word goals for the day done.
5. Set word goals for the day.
6. Set goals with a buddy and cheerlead them as they cheerlead you.
7. Make some music CD's ahead of time so you have your writing music all lined up.
8. Don't get distracted. Procrastination is your enemy.
9. Write extra ahead if you know your having a busy weekend or want a day off.
10. Write-in's and NaNo Parties are fun. We can hold them in chat.

by **Auldwin** on October 25th, 2011, 2:45 am

I love the little notes on the calendar. Those are some good tips, and a few of them I was thinking of as well. The music thing is my most important one. I listen to music while I post nearly 100% of the time, and for me it really does help.

Music. One of my favorite things to do is go to Youtube and type in "Epic Music" and hit the "playlist" option when sorting out what comes up. There's a lot of neat playlists that people have made with some weird, obscure bands, djs, and composers that I would not have normally gotten the chance to listen to.

Solos. My plan is to keep 1 solo going at all times, and post around once a day to it. Any more than that and my head will probably explode from playing with myself. Ugh that sounds terrible.

Thread partners. I've got a few set up already. We're planning on hitting it hard when the time comes. For myself, I know how I work when it comes to goals. I explode in the beginning and then slowly teeter off toward the end. I can be consistent, but only if I moderate the amount of activity I have. Obviously this is going to be a fairly big blitz in activity, so I know that in the beginning I need to throw everything I can at it.

Greeting new people on the intro boards. Yeah, it's 'filler' compared to awesome posts of epicness, but it's a good way to nab some words and make new folks feel welcome to the wonders of Mizahar. Plus that's potential thread partners for the future!

That's about it for me. I don't really write out outlines or anything for my character, everything i have planned is in my head, and it's all pretty loosely defined since things can change depending on the people my character meets, the things mods do to him, etc.

by **Gossamer** on October 27th, 2011, 9:24 pm

NaNo Chart

I really liked the two column chart that was already made for NaNo, but I wanted one that more personally tracked my own progress as well as housed the total I should be at for the day to be on track. With just two columns you have to keep track of all you are doing off the chart and its easy to make a mistake and not catch it. Here you can keep all the math in one place and know how you are doing in terms of your progress and how close you are to winning! Please feel free to use it or not.

Date	Starting Word Total	Day's End Total	Words Written	Total Word Goal	Goal Met?
11/01				1667	Y/N
11/02				3333	Y/N
11/03				5000	Y/N
11/04				6667	Y/N
11/05				8333	Y/N
11/06				10000	Y/N
11/07				11667	Y/N
11/08				13333	Y/N
11/09				15000	Y/N
11/10				16667	Y/N
11/11				18333	Y/N
11/12				20000	Y/N
11/13				21667	Y/N
11/14				23333	Y/N
11/15				25000	Y/N
11/16				26667	Y/N
11/17				28333	Y/N
11/18				30000	Y/N
11/19				31667	Y/N
11/20				33333	Y/N
11/21				35000	Y/N
11/22				36667	Y/N
11/23				38333	Y/N
11/24				40000	Y/N
11/25				41667	Y/N
11/26				43333	Y/N
11/27				45000	Y/N
11/28				46667	Y/N
11/29				48333	Y/N
11/30				50000	Y/N

Code: Select all: [center][table2=#0066CC,#000000]Date | Starting Word Total | Day's End Total | Words Written | Total Word Goal| Goal Met? 11/01 | | | | 1667 |Y/N 11/02 | | | | 3333 |Y/N 11/03 | | | | 5000 |Y/N 11/04 | | | | 6667 |Y/N 11/05 | | | | 8333 |Y/N 11/06 | | | | 10000 |Y/N 11/07 | | | | 11667 |Y/N 11/08 | | | | 13333 |Y/N 11/09 | | | | 15000 |Y/N 11/10 | | | | 16667 |Y/N 11/11 | | | | 18333 |Y/N 11/12 | | | | 20000 |Y/N 11/13 | | | | 21667 |Y/N 11/14 | | | | 23333 |Y/N 11/15 | | | | 25000 |Y/N 11/16 | | | | 26667 |Y/N 11/17 | | | | 28333 |Y/N 11/18 | | | | 30000 |Y/N 11/19 | | | | 31667 |Y/N 11/20 | | | | 33333 |Y/N 11/21 | | | | 35000 |Y/N 11/22 | | | | 36667 |Y/N 11/23 | | | | 38333 |Y/N 11/24 | | | | 40000 |Y/N 11/25 | | | | 41667 |Y/N 11/26 | | | | 43333 |Y/N 11/27 | | | | 45000 |Y/N 11/28 | | | | 46667 |Y/N 11/29 | | | | 48333 |Y/N 11/30 | | | | 50000 |Y/N[/table2][/center]

by **Aidara** on October 30th, 2011, 1:11 am

This might be a little more hard-core than some people are doing, but I found a couple things that people are doing to prepare for the original NaNoWriMo, not the Miz version.

This is a PDF that is a guide to creating a "Professional Plot Outline". Considering I am a self proclaimed failure at plots, I thought this would be an interesting read.

6 Steps to a Perfect Plot is a little more than what we need for the Miz challenge, but what better time to start developing a plot for your PC than in a month you're dedicating to writing?

I found this interesting as well. It was easy for me to take this and use the same advice on a more short-term idea.

Personally, I think the best best best idea is to ignore your word count. Just like boiling water, it is going to go by even slower if you constantly keep checking the exact word count of your posts. Just write. And keep writing, because the first week or two of the challenge is going to be the easiest. You can look anywhere on the internet and they are going to tell you to go above and beyond your word count in the beginning. This is so that if you have a day where you absolutely just don't have any time, you won't screw yourself over. If you have an idea that will just double your word goal for that day, do it! Don't split it up into two days!

If you're feeling uninspired, or the words just aren't coming out, don't give up. If that day is a bust and you maybe manage a couple hundred words, set yourself up for success the next day. Instead, open a word document or whatever and just type. It doesn't have to meet your standards for a post, it doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you, just get the words out.

Also, I think another good tip is to do what you're usually do when you write. For me, I have to find a quiet place where I can tune everything out when I start writing. After I get into the zone, it doesn't matter, but if I am distracted in the beginning I'm not going to get anything done. Lots of people are saying to play music, get some food, do this do that, go outside, do a jig.... but I can't. I can't listen to music or eat anything while I'm writing. I just can't. It'll disrupt my flow. I have to find somewhere silent and comfortable so if I'm sitting for an hour or two, I won't feel the need to get up and rearrange into a more comfortable position.

So, long story short, I think one of the worst things you can do is to change what works for you just because you have a goal in mind. Take other peoples tips and change them to work for your situation.

by **Zeal Aldercraft** on November 1st, 2011, 12:10 pm

Here's a list of some of the things that have worked the best for me:

1. Getting up early. At least an hour. Since I fark around a lot in the mornings, that's progressed to two hours. I have a family which includes little kids and a full-time job, so getting up early to write has become my staple. It's a habit I picked up during Nano a few years ago and it's one of the best things I've ever done for my writing routine. I make time for it every day--Nano or not. I've been doing it for years now, so when I don't do it, I feel gross, like I didn't brush my teeth. Eww. Maybe it's because I'm old, but I think better in the morning anyway. When I try to write at night, I end up falling asleep on the page.

2. Ear plugs. I have to have them. Sometimes I use them with no music, just to tune out the real world if I didn't get much writing done during my early morning session.

3. Get up and walk away. There are times when I'm stuck and the best thing I can do is turn it off and put it away. I go do other things like do laundry (that never gets done any other time haha) and forget about it until something comes to me. During the mind-numbing process of laundry or driving, something always comes up and I end up anxious to sit down and write again. Better to have fingers flying across the keys than to sit in front of a blank screen burning a hole in my retina.

4. Just write. Get the words down on the page. Don't worry about how they sound. I can knock out a few thousand words in an hour or two if I let my imagination do its thing. The second I stop to fix what's on the page, my editor kicks in and my imagination turns off. End story. Revise when you're done. (but please make sure you do revise before you post.

No one would want to see what my first drafts look like...no one...*cue scary music*)

5. Burn the TV. I hate it. I really do. I watch like three shows and I admit one of them is Jersey Shore. Since I only watch horror movies, I'm sure you can figure that out on your own. TV makes me nuts. Even hearing it in the background. I call it the soul stealer because if I let it suck me in, even for a minute, before I know it, two hours have passed and I have no idea where they went. Bad TV.

6. Community and visual progress. There's nothing like having a group suffering right along with you to prod you on to write the next words. It's also a huge help to be able to see (like with the charts) your progress spelled out for you and for everyone else. It helps keep you in check and motivates at the same time.

7. I have mild ADHD I swear. Shiny object distract me. It's scary. For this one, I can only say, thank goodness I'm a fast typist because if I don't barf it all up on the page in one sitting, I may never get back to it. I think I also have OCD because I reread what I write a million times...and I still miss stupid crap. Ugh. Yes I'm so screwed up, I'm probably normal.

Hmm.. I know I have more. I'll post some after I stop procrastinating doing my actual posts...

by **Kinneas** on November 2nd, 2011, 12:36 am

Hm, my response might not be as insightful as the ones up there. Though I have one tip for everyone: Numbers and Planning.

Just like Goss said plan your threads ahead of time, know a basic plot, and post them up. Post them as you think of different situations to put your character in. The higher the number the threads you have started the more choices you have to choose from and when writers block strikes (trust me it will) you can go to another topic (Thread) that you need to write for.

Also, math is our friend! If we open up ten new threads, post at least two hundred words in each post for each new thread you will already have 2000 words. Now, 200 word posts are short and easy to accomplish. Don't think you have to write thousand word masterpieces to post here in the forum. Sometimes it is advisable to break the story up in smaller, more manageable chunks. This not only alleviates some of the stress of getting to the word goal for the day, but also allows the writer to think over the plot of the story more making it potentially a better thread to read for our dear mods.

Oh, and use the resources presented here to you by the wonderful staff of Mizahar. Oracle has started an amazingly fantastic thread filled to the brim with interesting and sometimes funny plot ideas for you to use. So, why not? Use it and make it as varied and as interesting as Oracle's ideas are. She is really amazing and I know Ill be keeping a close eye on that thread