(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)
The player scrapbooks forum is literally a place for writers to warm-up, brainstorm, keep little scraps of notes, or just post things to encourage themselves and each other. Each player can feel free to create their own thread - one per account - and use them accordingly.
A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge; a confused mess.
Welcome to my scrap. If you cannot tell by the above definition, there will likely be no rhyme or reason to what is posted here. Musings, inspiration, rants, reminders-to-self, personal updates - the possibilities are endless.
Although - let me be real here - it will likely become a shrine to my cat.
(Her name is Mishmash. She's 14 going on 7 and is the light of my life.)
Since I came across it, I've yet to actually participate, having always psyched myself out, gotten too overwhelmed by the task of it or something happened in life that made it so my attention and time were both needed elsewhere. Well, no more. I will do this. I will conquer my inner editor and self doubt and actively take part in it this year. This is me, making myself accountable. Putting my hand up to join in. I see that it has been a site-wide thing here on Mizahar in the past and I do hope it becomes a thing again this year.
None-the-less, whether it does or not, I'm getting myself prepared. Calendar done and table set.
Word Count Tally :
DAY
GOAL
POSTS
DAILY TOTAL
GRAND TOTAL
1
3,334
nil
nil
0
2
---
nil
nil
0
3
---
nil
nil
0
4
6,668
nil
nil
0
5
8,335
1779, 43
1822
1822
6
10,002
998, 55, 963
2016
3838
7
13,336
519, 109
628
4466
8
15,003
nil
nil
4466
9
---
nil
nil
4466
10
---
880, 1262
2142
6608
11
18,337
12
20,004
13
21,671
14
25,005
15
26,672
16
---
17
---
18
30,006
19
31,673
20
33,340
21
36,674
22
38,341
23
---
24
---
25
41,675
26
43,342
27
45,009
28
48,343
29
50,000+
30
---
My Wednsdays and Thursdays are kept blank for a reason: They are the days where I am at uni all day and then head straight to work after to get in some after-hours clients. I work as a full time remedial/sport massage therapist at a personal training studio M-F but I know my Mondays and Fridays tend to be on the slow side so I should be able to get extra writing cranked out on those days (as long as I stop over-thinking and just write). My partner also plays cricket on Saturdays which means I have the day to myself so that's another day I can fully dedicate to writing. Therefore, I'm not going to put pressure on myself to get writing done on my very full Wednesdays and Thursdays. Here's hoping all goes somewhat to plan!
Anyone else looking to do Nano this year? Feel free to shoot me a pm - I'd love to get a supportive group set up.
Happy writing!
Last edited by Orakan on November 10th, 2016, 12:27 pm, edited 11 times in total.
I've been hyping myself up to do NaNoWriMo for months!
I never have participated for various reasons, but a support group might be just what I need. It might be nice to start a forum in the Discussions board, if we have enough people coordinating. We could post prompts and helpful hints or tools there, too. It's nice to form a solid community for such a big project.
The calendar is also a great idea! I might need to make myself one to stay on track. If anyone else contacts you, keep me in the loop.
________________
"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure." - Cornelia Funke
"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." – Norman Vincent Peale
Thanks for the reply and interest, Aladari!
I think a support group could be really helpful; if anything, there's the accountability aspect. You've given your word that you are going to take part and members can hold you to that and keep on you about it. Granted, a person's word (especially on the internet) does not seem to hold as much merit as it used to (I know I am guilty of not following through on my own in the past) but it's still something. Factor in a (hopefully) positive and supportive environment and it could be what someone needs to keep pushing through (or even to get started), especially with people sharing ideas and the like as you said. I'll definitely consider creating a topic in the Discussion board closer to the start date.
Also, plopping this quote here because I need it to be my mantra (especially once November rolls around) and maybe it might help someone else as well.
I need to quit my negative self-talk. I need to not let my doubt and fear of failure inhibit my writing. I need to stop being Cristina from Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
Struggling to get past my fear of failure, my fear of being judged and not being good enough. Behind on assessments because of this (and feeling behind in life in general). I need to continue to remind myself that sticking my head in the sand when I feel overwhelmed is no way to handle these situations. It doesn't make anything better. It doesn't get me any closer to accomplishing my goals or tasks. It results in me being further behind, even more stressed and feeling angry at and awful about myself.
Apologies to those I owe posts to; spending this weekend catching up on all the things I have been putting off. Thanks for your patience.
I offer some Bonobo, my everyday/study/treatment artist of the moment:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” ― Maya Angelou
Beltane blessings for my fellow Southern Hemispherians
This means NaNo starts tomorrow (well, nearly five hours for me). If anyone reading this happens to have a love of word count trackers and spreadsheets, you might find this link useful. She custom-makes word count spreadsheets for NaNoWriMo each year and even offers them with her own original artwork. Donations are encouraged but, if you are unable to spare a €, you may enter '0' in order to download her interactive sheets.
Other sites that may be useful during this month of madness:
Wordcounter - Not your average word counting site. Wordcounter also tracks all your overused words so keep a thesaurus handy. (Disclaimer: writtenkitten is my personal go-to for wordcounters... because cats. Puppies and bunnies are also available if one prefers).
Tip-of-my-Tongue - Oh man, Tip-of-my-Tongue is the site you need when you just can't remember that word you want to use. You know what it means, maybe know what letter it starts with or how it should sound but you can't remember it. Simply use the prompts provided and - voila! - the word is found for you (hopefully!!)
Write Rhymes - Do it for the love of rhyming words.
Graviax - For all the grammar nazis, Graviax is one serious grammar checker.
In keeping with NaNo, I already know I am not going to be able to get started this evening/tomorrow. Coursework, studying and work will take precedence and I hope to play catch up Thursday evening after my client. If you are registered on the official site, feel free to add me: fromanothershore
Furthermore, I just want to stress that neither the word count table nor the calendar posted above are my own original ideas. I saw examples of both while going through old NaNo-related discussions and threads and just wanted to clarify this. The calendar idea belongs to Gossamer and the tracking table to Aislyn Leavold - thank you both for the inspiration.