Despite spending most of the day prepping for my class tomorrow, I managed nine pages. Didn't end up watching Glee last night due to wrestling with Linux trying to get Write or Die up and running on my Acer netbook. I was eventually successful but it took awhile. Doesn't help that I really don't know much about using Linux and my recollection of doing things the old DOS style way is sketchy at best. Thank goodness for Mr. Google and wiser heads than mine who have already solved the problem and shared it with the internet.
No idea how many pages it will take to get to the end of this book. By my count there's got to be at least two more sex scenes, some plotting and planning scenes, some targeted violence, a failed assassination attempt, more plotting and planning, a final confrontation and then mopping up the aftermath....but for now I shall believe my progress bar that says I'm about three quarters through.
Progress - Lily
New pages - Nine (Write or Die continues to be a page count boon)
Intriguing things - Moles
Annoyances - Drafty drafty drafty. Talking heads about. But only to be expected when mainly writing in word sprints
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Crazy by Icehouse.
Location - Write or Die and Think.
Taking care of Mel - Nap. Soon to be physio/stretching
Muse food - Sewing, soon the delayed Glee and Burn Notice
October 30, 2009
October 29, 2009
Nice
Yay, it is the end of the day job week and a lovely lovely five day weekend looms (which, naturally, means I woke up with scratchy throat this morning but I shall take drugs and ignore that...too much to do!).
Have obtained new prescription sunnies (after optomoterist frakked up the prescription on the first attempt), hallelujah. Have sewn and written post work so now I get to sack out on the couch with glee (and Glee).
Progress - Lily
New pages - Five (and hmmh, six yesterday I think)
Intriguing things - And lo, there is really really nearly sex in this book. Or at least half a sex scene and then the aftermath written. Will ahve to jump back for the rest of the um, beforemath *g* another day after I've worked out how I want it to go.
Annoyances - Sore throat
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack.
Location - Write or Die and Think. I may yet write odes to Write or Die
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises.
Muse food - Sewing, library and now, Glee.
Have obtained new prescription sunnies (after optomoterist frakked up the prescription on the first attempt), hallelujah. Have sewn and written post work so now I get to sack out on the couch with glee (and Glee).
Progress - Lily
New pages - Five (and hmmh, six yesterday I think)
Intriguing things - And lo, there is really really nearly sex in this book. Or at least half a sex scene and then the aftermath written. Will ahve to jump back for the rest of the um, beforemath *g* another day after I've worked out how I want it to go.
Annoyances - Sore throat
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack.
Location - Write or Die and Think. I may yet write odes to Write or Die
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises.
Muse food - Sewing, library and now, Glee.
October 26, 2009
And the progress report
Before I fall asleep on the couch....
Progress - Lily
New pages - Seven
Intriguing things - And lo, there may yet be sex in this book
Annoyances - Monday night tireds
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack. Though one repeated song at a time.
Location - Write or Die and Think.
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises. Early night methinks
Muse food - Library, Big Bang, more soundtrack tinkering
Progress - Lily
New pages - Seven
Intriguing things - And lo, there may yet be sex in this book
Annoyances - Monday night tireds
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack. Though one repeated song at a time.
Location - Write or Die and Think.
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises. Early night methinks
Muse food - Library, Big Bang, more soundtrack tinkering
For those about to Nano
I’m not doing Nanowrimo this year. The current wip is going well and (hopefully) has less than 50k to go anyway. To do a true nano I’d have to change horses midstream so to speak which I don’t want to do.
But I have done Nano successfully a couple of times in the past, so I thought I’d talk about some of the things that helped me do it. There lots of advice about pre-planning and plotting, wording up friends and family and meals/housework etc out there on the internet (for a start, there’s Heidi’s posts), so I won’t talk about that. Instead I’ll talk about how to get the 50,000 words you need (or at least how I did it).
I’m not a plotter, so each time I did Nano I just started with a soundtrack and a vague idea for a book. These days I’d probably have a collage and also have done a bit more thinking about the plot and the big turning points as my process is a bit different. Do whatever prep you need to do.
Being a Virgo and an accountant in the day job, I worked out that 50k/30 days is 1666 words a day, so I set that as my daily goal. For me, that’s one and a half to two hours of solid writing a day. My normal word count goal on my day job days is 1000 words or so, so it’s an extra 45 mins to an hour of writing time I need to find. You need to work out how many words an hour you can write comfortably and figure out your time from then.
I took the slow and steady approach (ie I could stop if I wanted to after 1666 words rather than pushing on for hours a day to get to 50k as fast as possible) but there were quite a few days I wrote extra (which gives you a buffer for the unforeseen I’m-exhausted/my-relatives-have-dropped-in/the-dogs/cats/kids-are-sick days). Other folks go hell for leather, so pick one based on how much time you have/can write per day.
So how do you sit down and produce day in/day out?
1. Don’t let the internal editor slow you down. Write fast and don’t look back. Nano is about getting a dirty draft out, not something polished and beautiful.
2. In order not to let the internal editor slow you down, tools that don’t let you edit too much are invaluable. I had an Alphasmart when I nano’d, which is brilliant, but because I also need to type on an ergonomic keyboard most of the time, I also used to make my window in Word smaller so I couldn’t see so many lines of type. These days I’d also use something like Dr Wicked’s Write or Die (I just bought the desktop version but there’s a free online one too…desktop is probably safer when you’re trying to avoid the glittering call of the internet to get words out). It’s amazing what a difference this makes. My average speed using Word the normal way is 4-6 pages an hour. With an alphie/Write or Die or a minimised page I get closer to 8-10 pages an hour. That’s a big time difference!
3. Turn off the internet and shut down any other programs you don’t need open. If you have a Mac, consider using using an app like Think (or Scrivener's full screen) that makes your desktop blank apart from the program you have open.
4. No, really turn off the internet. Check your mail/twitter etc once an hour or so for just a few minutes (use a kitchen timer) while you stretch/drink/pee.
5. Tape your favourite TV shows and use them as rewards along the way.
6. Use a kitchen timer and do word sprints where you type without stopping (as far as possible for 15 minutes etc). Or do word wars with a friend where you email at the start with how many words you want to do in a set period of time and then email at the end to report back (Write or Die desktop even has functionality for this).
7. Use friends for encouragement and support but don’t get sucked into too much time in the nano forums etc (at least not until you’ve hit word goal for the day, see 3 & 4).
8. Try and have a few different methods of writing available to you. When you get bored and/or stuck, change to a different computer, a different wordprocessor, a different location. Even write by hand (though this requires extra time to re-key which is not necessarily ideal, so if you do it, just do it for a short time until things flow again). On my computer I have Word, Pages, Scrivener and Write or Die as options. I also have a netbook and my alphie. A change of scenery often seems to fool the muse into going to work. If you don’t have multiple options then change your font, the size of the page, the background colour, the page layout etc so it feels different.
9. If you don’t have a writing ritual (like playing your soundtrack or lighting a candle or sitting in a certain chair) already, try and develop one to help trigger the words.
10. Go with whatever weirdnesses of plot and story come up. Let the muse have fun. If you get stuck, jump ahead to another bit (or jump back and insert another scene). Just keep typing.
11. Make sure you stretch and look after your hands/back/neck and eyes. Crippling yourself is not a good plan!
12. Invent the deskchair timelock release seatbelt and strap yourself in!
I use all of the above, well, not 12, in my daily writing anyway to get me around humps and doldrums and stuck bits anyway. Some of them will work for you and some won’t. Nano will teach you things about your process and your abilities.
I learned that I could quite happily write 1000 words a day but day in and day out, seven days a week for a month, 1666-2000 is pushing it for me. I can big word counts for the last week or two of a book but a month is too long. My hands get sore and the muse gets drained. Each time I’ve done Nano, I haven’t written or even been able to revise and edit much at all during December and early January. I need that recuperation time, which for me is a bit counterproductive and is the main reason I haven’t Nano’d for a few years. I also learned that I’m quite happy to pants. Some people will learn that they can’t and they have to stop and fiddle and tweak and edit as they go. Which might mean they can’t write 50k in a month. Or they might be super fast and be able to.
I learned I can write 50k (and a reasonably coherent 50k) in a month if I have to. This stood me in good stead when I got a full request from an online synopsis pitch session. None of that book was written but because I knew I could, I just knuckled down and wrote it in a month and had it on the editor’s desk in less than two from the request. In that case, it did help that I’d done the synopsis in advance and thought about the plot more than I usually would.
Anyway, that’s all I know about Nano-ing. All or some or none may work for you. For those of you about to partake, have fun! May your ninja pirate were-monkey epics be awesome and your fingers nimble! And don’t overdose on the coke and chips and m&m’s as writing fuel or you’ll spend the next few months doing WorkYourNanoButtOffMo (sadly, a lesson learned the hard way in my first nano thanks to lime doritos).
But I have done Nano successfully a couple of times in the past, so I thought I’d talk about some of the things that helped me do it. There lots of advice about pre-planning and plotting, wording up friends and family and meals/housework etc out there on the internet (for a start, there’s Heidi’s posts), so I won’t talk about that. Instead I’ll talk about how to get the 50,000 words you need (or at least how I did it).
I’m not a plotter, so each time I did Nano I just started with a soundtrack and a vague idea for a book. These days I’d probably have a collage and also have done a bit more thinking about the plot and the big turning points as my process is a bit different. Do whatever prep you need to do.
Being a Virgo and an accountant in the day job, I worked out that 50k/30 days is 1666 words a day, so I set that as my daily goal. For me, that’s one and a half to two hours of solid writing a day. My normal word count goal on my day job days is 1000 words or so, so it’s an extra 45 mins to an hour of writing time I need to find. You need to work out how many words an hour you can write comfortably and figure out your time from then.
I took the slow and steady approach (ie I could stop if I wanted to after 1666 words rather than pushing on for hours a day to get to 50k as fast as possible) but there were quite a few days I wrote extra (which gives you a buffer for the unforeseen I’m-exhausted/my-relatives-have-dropped-in/the-dogs/cats/kids-are-sick days). Other folks go hell for leather, so pick one based on how much time you have/can write per day.
So how do you sit down and produce day in/day out?
1. Don’t let the internal editor slow you down. Write fast and don’t look back. Nano is about getting a dirty draft out, not something polished and beautiful.
2. In order not to let the internal editor slow you down, tools that don’t let you edit too much are invaluable. I had an Alphasmart when I nano’d, which is brilliant, but because I also need to type on an ergonomic keyboard most of the time, I also used to make my window in Word smaller so I couldn’t see so many lines of type. These days I’d also use something like Dr Wicked’s Write or Die (I just bought the desktop version but there’s a free online one too…desktop is probably safer when you’re trying to avoid the glittering call of the internet to get words out). It’s amazing what a difference this makes. My average speed using Word the normal way is 4-6 pages an hour. With an alphie/Write or Die or a minimised page I get closer to 8-10 pages an hour. That’s a big time difference!
3. Turn off the internet and shut down any other programs you don’t need open. If you have a Mac, consider using using an app like Think (or Scrivener's full screen) that makes your desktop blank apart from the program you have open.
4. No, really turn off the internet. Check your mail/twitter etc once an hour or so for just a few minutes (use a kitchen timer) while you stretch/drink/pee.
5. Tape your favourite TV shows and use them as rewards along the way.
6. Use a kitchen timer and do word sprints where you type without stopping (as far as possible for 15 minutes etc). Or do word wars with a friend where you email at the start with how many words you want to do in a set period of time and then email at the end to report back (Write or Die desktop even has functionality for this).
7. Use friends for encouragement and support but don’t get sucked into too much time in the nano forums etc (at least not until you’ve hit word goal for the day, see 3 & 4).
8. Try and have a few different methods of writing available to you. When you get bored and/or stuck, change to a different computer, a different wordprocessor, a different location. Even write by hand (though this requires extra time to re-key which is not necessarily ideal, so if you do it, just do it for a short time until things flow again). On my computer I have Word, Pages, Scrivener and Write or Die as options. I also have a netbook and my alphie. A change of scenery often seems to fool the muse into going to work. If you don’t have multiple options then change your font, the size of the page, the background colour, the page layout etc so it feels different.
9. If you don’t have a writing ritual (like playing your soundtrack or lighting a candle or sitting in a certain chair) already, try and develop one to help trigger the words.
10. Go with whatever weirdnesses of plot and story come up. Let the muse have fun. If you get stuck, jump ahead to another bit (or jump back and insert another scene). Just keep typing.
11. Make sure you stretch and look after your hands/back/neck and eyes. Crippling yourself is not a good plan!
12. Invent the deskchair timelock release seatbelt and strap yourself in!
I use all of the above, well, not 12, in my daily writing anyway to get me around humps and doldrums and stuck bits anyway. Some of them will work for you and some won’t. Nano will teach you things about your process and your abilities.
I learned that I could quite happily write 1000 words a day but day in and day out, seven days a week for a month, 1666-2000 is pushing it for me. I can big word counts for the last week or two of a book but a month is too long. My hands get sore and the muse gets drained. Each time I’ve done Nano, I haven’t written or even been able to revise and edit much at all during December and early January. I need that recuperation time, which for me is a bit counterproductive and is the main reason I haven’t Nano’d for a few years. I also learned that I’m quite happy to pants. Some people will learn that they can’t and they have to stop and fiddle and tweak and edit as they go. Which might mean they can’t write 50k in a month. Or they might be super fast and be able to.
I learned I can write 50k (and a reasonably coherent 50k) in a month if I have to. This stood me in good stead when I got a full request from an online synopsis pitch session. None of that book was written but because I knew I could, I just knuckled down and wrote it in a month and had it on the editor’s desk in less than two from the request. In that case, it did help that I’d done the synopsis in advance and thought about the plot more than I usually would.
Anyway, that’s all I know about Nano-ing. All or some or none may work for you. For those of you about to partake, have fun! May your ninja pirate were-monkey epics be awesome and your fingers nimble! And don’t overdose on the coke and chips and m&m’s as writing fuel or you’ll spend the next few months doing WorkYourNanoButtOffMo (sadly, a lesson learned the hard way in my first nano thanks to lime doritos).
October 25, 2009
Three days down.
Busy weekend. But yay, met the writing goal despite it. Plus did friend's 40th birthday party (a surprise party that was a suprise), japanese bathhouse, sewing prep for class next week and lots of other running around.
Looking forward to relaxing on the couch for a bit (and very much looking forward to upcoming five day weekend!)
I've now hit the two thirds mark for draft word count...let's hope this book is true to form and the last third is relatively speedy!
Progress - Lily
New pages - Five (plus six on Friday) (so yay, met the weekend goal!)
Intriguing things - Evil vamp is evil
Annoyances - Not enough time to write this weekend
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack. Though one repeated song at a time.
Location - Friday - Word and Think at desk. Today Write or Die desktop (which is cool).
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises.
Muse food - Sewing, soundtrack tinkering
Looking forward to relaxing on the couch for a bit (and very much looking forward to upcoming five day weekend!)
I've now hit the two thirds mark for draft word count...let's hope this book is true to form and the last third is relatively speedy!
Progress - Lily
New pages - Five (plus six on Friday) (so yay, met the weekend goal!)
Intriguing things - Evil vamp is evil
Annoyances - Not enough time to write this weekend
Linear/non-linear - Non-linear
Music - Soundtrack. Though one repeated song at a time.
Location - Friday - Word and Think at desk. Today Write or Die desktop (which is cool).
Taking care of Mel - Stretching, physio exercises.
Muse food - Sewing, soundtrack tinkering
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