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Oct. 28th, 2004 09:15 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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nanowrimo_ljWent into my NaNoWriMo folder for the first time in, oh, a year and found a file called whatILearnedFromNaNo.txt, which I'm thinking I copied from a "List Five Things You Learned From NaNo This/Last Year" thread on the forums. (Isn't it amazing how you can find things on your hard drive and not remember putting them there?)
Anyway, here they are.
1. You can write a lot if you have to.
2. Scenes are easier to write if they have a purpose.
3. Outlines are wonderful.
4. Decide what you are going to write about before you put fingers to keyboard.
5. The skimpiest idea can become a story with a bit of brainstorming.
1. Don't think, let your fingers loose.
2. Save the outline for later for when you know what the hell it is you are writing about.
3. You can never introduce too many friends who have just returned from the Sahara and won't stop telling the main character how many times they chased the clouds yelling "come back my little marshmallows."
4. Caffiene
5. Hide all sharp objects.
1. there's good stuff
2. there's bad stuff
3. you have to wade through the bad stuff
4. to get back to the good stuff
5. just like in real life.
1. If I give myself a tangible goal, I can stick to it.
2. That I've learned a lot from my past writings.
3. That I'm really fond of scenes taking place in libraries.
4. I can do amazing things when I force myself to (like ace four midterms and stay ahead of the "daily" goal).
5. That there is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.
1. Just write, damnit.
2. The reward system works wonders.
3. Anything that has to do with sex, sexuality, drinking, gambling, fighting, death, and religion is a great way to twist your story and add new and interesting stuff.
4. Grits + Halloween candy = food of the gods
5. Write some more. You'll get there eventually.
1. Sit down and type.
2. If you're stuck, keep typing whatever comes to mind. You'll get past it.
3. If it seems like a good idea, go with it.
4. If it seems like a bad idea, type it anyway.
5. Adjectives are good; even if the plot sucks, you'll at least paint a nice little mental image
1) I may not be doomed to be a "wanna-be" writer forever. I now know I can write at least 19,000 words on a single project. My previous high was 6,925, and that took over 2 years.
2) It's okay to not to write it perfectly the first time. (Hard lesson for me to learn!)
3) I have to work with my personality and tendencies--I can't always shut out everything but writing, and I really am a night person.
4) But I can write more often than I tend to think I can. Even when I think I have no ideas, I can usually plow through and come up with something.
5) My brain can process ideas and spit out something that makes sense with little active input from me.
1. I have almost non-existent control over my own characters.
2. This is a Good Thing.
3. If I set my mind to it and grind away, I can overcome my natural laziness.
4. NaNoWriMo makes actual, non-writing-related work seem like a relaxing treat.
5. I can write original fic; I can write relatively lengthy original fic; and I can have fun doing so.
1. I am powerful, and I can change reality.
2. It's a commitment issue.
3. Two Big Gulps a night, and you don't have to worry about staying awake.
4. If you must have a day job, let it be one which allows you plenty of office space, computer access and plain white paper.
5. I'll remember this when I'm published.
1. I suck. I suck so much that I could make a career of it.
2. I don't suck nearly as hard as I thought I would (though I still suck pretty hard)
3. On busy days, sitting down now and again to punch out a few words at a time still stacks up to a good total word count at the end of the day.
4. 50,000 words of non-fiction is easy and I can do it in a few days if I need to. 5,000 words of fiction is a stone bitch.
5. Anybody can churn out text. I'm living proof. All it takes is ass-on-chair + fingers-on-keyboard.
1. Writing crap does not, in fact, provoke the apocalypse.
2. My inner muse has a mischevious streak.
3. Having friends in NaNoWriMo is a great incentive.
4. Particularly the whole "If I tell them not to quit, I can't be a hypocrite" dilemma.
5. That nasty little naysaying voice in my head can learn to shut the fuck up. ^_^
1. Any sentence can be padded up to be at least double its original lengt.
2. I don't need to know about the future to keep writing. (I have one chapter that consists mostly of the chatterings of a random girl who sat across my main character on the train. Now I haven't figured out what to do next so my characters are discussing the differences between domestic and imported cheese.)
3. I've learned the true meaning of "it doesn't have to be good, it just has to be".
4. Killing people is so difficult.
5. My chair is from hell
5. There is nothing wrong with writing a first draft that isn't perfect. I am not Hemingway and I don't want to end up killing myself either.
4. Writing gets easier the more you do it
3. Painfully, the difference between supportive ones and spiteful, jealous ones
2. I am not afraid to face the demons inside of me
1. Character writing is really the best kind of writing for me.
1. Science fiction is damned hard
2. It's harder than general ficiotn
3. Why the heck did I decide to write a sci-fi?
4. I am an idiot
5. I can't wait to get to the editing stage.
1. Getting the setting right in fantasy is much, much harder than science fiction. At least in science fiction, you can outrun your mistakes.
2. When in doubt, have a girl break down crying or a shot ring out. Explaining what the hell is going on can fill at least five thousand words.
3. Writing in public is a dangerous activity. I've already been assaulted twice on a city bus, once by a man who wanted to steal my laptop for money (and he seemed pretty wired at the moment, draw your own conclusion) and once by a woman who shouted "You got that damn thing, tell me what horses are going to win tomorrow!"
4. Describing your story as "A novelized exploration of how the differences between U.S.and French tort law will make it significantly more difficult to address the civil rights issues of apparently conscious consumer products" will only get you glazed looks from curious passersby.
5. Your teachers were right: punctuation and spelling matter if you're really serious about getting your point across.
1. Characters who want to be part of your novel will suddenly appear out of nowhere, complete with names.
2. Dialogue is a great way to boost your word count.
3. It doesn't have to be good dialogue!
4. Concentrate on the process, not the product.
5. Not knowing where the story is going next doesn't last very long - the next brilliant is just waiting to come bursting forth from the Universe, through my fingers, and onto the page.
1. An idea is "let's save the world." Writing a novel is actually saving it. There's a lot more work involved and it never comes out the way you hoped.
2. I *can* write if I give myself permission to write crap.
3. What I write is crap.
4. I am not as interesting a character as I thought I was.
5. I don't want to be a writer. It's hard and it hurts.
1. It gets easier every day.
2. My characters know a lot more about their world than I do. I can't decide if that's fitting or if it isn't -- I created it, but they live in it.
3. I like instrumental music a lot more than music with lyrics. Given my formerly mainstream tastes, this is.. different. ^_~
4. I think my muse was feeling lonely. Or unused. Anyway, I can't believe I'm writing this quickly.
5. Yes I can!
1. The more you plan, the more places you have to get stuck.
2. You can start over on November 6 and still have a chance.
3. I know absolutely nothing about farming in Alabama in 1910.
4. I know a lot more about being a sarcastic twerp.
5. It's more important that I like what I actually write than it is to think that I have a good idea for a story.
1. Almost no one can write a novel on a strict deadline that isn't garbage; the people who can have had practice with deadlines.
2. Rough drafts are more useful than I thought.
3. Once committed to a story for a long term, you will almost always get the urge to write something else instead. At least I do.
4. I cannot pull all-nighters and neglect eating and drinking and still expect to write a good story. Or even a coherent story. (This is probably a good rule of thumb for anybody in doubt.)
5. Lying on the floor to type is bad for the neck, shoulders and wrists.
1. Run on sentences are your FRIEND. As is being disgustingly wordy.
2. Everything and everyone wants to read this when I'm done, but no one wants to give me time to write...
3. Playing God is disturbingly fun, especially when I get to randomly blindify people.
4. When the characters have minds of their own, you don't even have to WORRY about it.
5. Tropico is Satan.
1. Fear of not finding enough material for a whole novel will vanish.
2. It helps to re-read what you've written in order to keep same
tonality/style.
3. Sitting in a moving vehicle while not driving is pure magic! Bring pen and paper!
4. I'll be the queen of time management when I'm done. Supermarkets should be open 24/7 all over the planet. Hate shopping. Need a personal assistant to deal with such trivial stuff. All I want to do is write.
5. Where I started my story is actually the beginning of the second of 3 parts. As I continue with the story, the true beginning becomes clearer every day. (So that will make it easy, soon, to write the beginning!)
1. That it's very freeing to be able to recognize that what you're writing at this very second is crap, but that that's ok.
2. That my procrastination demon is a very strong one with an extremely insistent voice.
3. That I *can* ignore that demon when I really, really, want to.
4. That rewriting can actually be something you look forward to.
5. That getting up an hour and a half before my kids is possible, and that being productive at that ungodly time of the morning is also possible.
1. I can write without constant rewriting and editing. In fact, without the constant rewriting and editing, I'm freer to listen to my characters and the plot.
2. I can move through a scene even if I don't have the proper research information by chanting "you can embellish it in December!"
3. Even though some of my sections are "workmanlike" (our euphemism for "crap!"), they are still accomplishing what they need to accomplish -- they're stepping stones to keep the plot going and placeholders for improvement.
4. After a few days, everything that is non-writing related begins to serendipitously connect with the novel, and vice versa.
5. I can work full-time and meet my daily writing quotas AND still have a nice sit-down dinner with my husband (also a NaNoWriMo) each night.
1. Things are not beautiful right when they're born. Babies all look like Winston Churchill for the first eight weeks of life. Novels will be equally ugly. You can make them pretty later; birth them first.
2. Again, as with babies, freshly-born novels will have moments of impeccable cuteness and impeccable precociousness. Unlike babies, though, you can just sort of edit the precociousness out.
3. Frivolous padding only makes me feel like I'm cheating myself. My characters use contractions because it's not natural for them not to, even if it costs me words. Reaching 50k words without contractions, then losing all that wordcount putting them back in, isn't going to make me feel good.
4. Use what you're familiar with unless you really, really love to learn. I've learned more about the American Southwest and the US Air Force than I've ever needed to know, for no reason other than that I didn't use the Army (which my husband is in) and set it in Washington state (where I live).
5. The only thng that shuts off my iner critic seems to be quantifiable goals, such as "50,000 word sin 30 days or your money back".
1. hitting that imaginary number one night in three makes me feel great.
2. not hitting that imaginary number two nights out of three gives me something to complain about, and hence feel great.
3. I'd much rather be at my computer writing or procrastinating while I should be writing than anywhere else.
4. that typing or surfing for five or six hours a day, or all day on weekends doesn't kill my CTS wrists like I thought it might.
5. that there are a lot of awesome people just like me out in the universe.
1) Wisconsin was filled with volcanoes very recently. As recently as 1920.
2) A one-legged man can develop massive stomach muscles, allowing him to lay on his back and use his leg as a catapult. Children enjoy this.
3) Super-intelligent evolved squirrels discovered time travel.
4) Leprechauns liked to dress up as midgets and go out on drunken pub crawls, which led to them being brought to America against their will by Albanians.
5) It's possible to create a carnivorous pumpkin pie and use it to avenge the death of your brother.
1. Writing is what I should have been doing all my life. This is where I belong.
2. It's fun even when it hurts, and it's especially fun to bi*** about how much it hurts, and do it anyway.
3. I can write better than I thought I could, and not nearly as well as I'd hoped.
4. It feels so good to get to a part of the story where I know what's going to happen next!
5. I'm not motivated by word count, but by getting to a part of the story that's been sitting in my brain itching to get out.*
(1) Signing up to write a 50,000 word novel in one month is pretty ridiculous if you like any of the following: (a) eating, (b) sleeping, or (c) breathing.
(2) I am a rather ridiculous person.
(3) Deriving so much pleasure from posting a word count that has yet to be proved is a little ridiculous, too.
(4) Adding the word 'ridiculous' to almost any scene will engender drama or strange looks, take your pick.
(5) Being ridiculous is overrated, yo.
1) Expounding one's own or a character's opinion on the basic differences between men and women is good for at least a few hundred words, and can be shoved in somewhere in just about any kind of novel, anywhere.
2) Inventing gods and describing them, their temples, and their attributes is good for at least another thousand words. If there are no gods in your story, just throw in a thousand words of exposition about religion in general. This too is an All Purpose Filler.
3) Sibling rivalry does, indeed, extend to NaNoWriMo, which is why I will not be be speaking my wordcount aloud anytime soon.
4) I like writing exposition.
5) Although I have often denigrated those who write enormous doorstop novels without enough plot to fill them all up, I may have to cease criticizing doorstop novels in general, as I may soon have one on my hands.
1. my muse will never leave me, but she will sometimes take a nap
2. to make the most of her when she's awake and alert and the words are flowing
3. it is possible for me to write absolute doo-doo, and live with myself, because doo-doo removal is what December is for
4. it isn't really that hard to make time everyday to write, and that 2k in a single sitting isn't so hard either
5. writing is a great way of exocising your demons AND sharing your personal philosophies with the world
1. Being a novelist just means writing a novel. That's all.
2. Sometimes it is necessary to write crap.
3. I have a lot to get out of my system
4. Having a really simple plot helps.
5. Some people don't want you to write. And it is OK to ignore them
1) If you base your characters on people you know, at least to start with, you have a whole lot of material at your fingertips.
2) If you're stuck, describe your current spot to someone, they'll tell you something about it that you haven't thought of yet.
3) Even when your job is to sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day, you can enjoy yourself doing it a couple more hours if you're writing a story.
4) Reading is lots of fun, but no matter how you try to justify it, you're not really helping your novel, just procrastinating.
5) Writing outside, or on the subway, or in a coffee shop makes it a lot more like a fun vacation than writing at your desk.
1. It is possible to not write for two weeks and then get a sudden burst of inspiration.
2. What was once 3rd person omniscient can become the diary of a multiple personality disorder patient in a matter of milliseconds.
3. It's perfectly okay to stop for cigarettes.
4. However, the patch eliminates this need. Especially when you have straws to chew on.
5. School? What is this school of myth?
6. The key to my writing lies in a box of Q-tips. It must be in front of my keyboard, or I can't write.
7. Sleeping is highly overrated.
8. Codeine allows me to write the crazy parts much better.
9. I can put on my headphones and write while my roommate and her boyfriend are having sex, and I get two things accomplished - more of my novel, and I can ignore them.
10. Getting an interesting piercing that keeps me...confined...for three more weeks means time I could be spending having sex myself, I now spend writing.
11. I can't count.
12. It doesn't matter, really.
1.) Spell out compound numbers. It's not 27,452, it's twenty seven thousand, four hundred fifty-two. Oh, look!! Seven words!!!
2.) Do NOT read out parts of your novel to others before you've had a chance to type it in your word processor. Your peanut gallery will make suggestions to make the excerpt more consice and you will lose words. GAH!
3.) Stop thinking, start writing.
4.) It's amazing how long a chapter can grow after beginning it with "I can't write."
5.) After this experience when I go back to school next year, assigned papers with requirements of less than 15,000 words will be snickered at.
1. Monkeys like to pop up in random places.
2. It's easy to spend an entire night writing a novel when you have an essay you're supposed to be writing instead, especially one which is due the following day.
3. Plots are for the weak!
4. Personal commentary on the progess of the main character is perfectly legitimate, and often amusing.
5. Typing quietly is hard... my poor roommate!
1. when bored with the story i can always just add another character.
2. when characters argue about stupid stuff that really isn't at all important to the story the word count tends to go up.
3. repeating yourself but using different words also adds to the word counts.
4. so does useless information about the characters past.
5. food rewads are helpful.
6. if i write a couple of hundred words on paper i can stretch it into a good thousand or so later on when i type it up.
1. My parents are far more tolerant and wonderful than I'd ever given them credit for.
2. I have a lot of characters who really want out to play.
3. An unsolicited, random criticism from a good friend can plunge morale down into the deepest, uncharted depths of the soul.
4. An unsolicited, random compliment from a total stranger can boost it right back up to unprecedented heights.
5. The trick is choosing who to listen to.
1. I learned to just type and not think too much about the Process.
2. Too much analysis leads to paralysis.
3. Characters can be contradictory. Work with it! And come up with some im/plausible resolution when you get around to it.
4. Keep a sense of humour. So it's dreck. But it's MY dreck!
5. Hmm ... I'm wondering about writing-a-novel-in-a-weekend.
1. I don't get writer's block. I always thought that I did, but I don't. My issue is, instead, concentration. I have never once sat at the computer and not known what to write or not been able to spill words. I just get distracted by other things.
2. I still have the ability to workshop my own writing, as my few backreads have reawakened my critical writing brain.
3. I can actually write something that is more than 20 pages, double-spaced, belying my point A to point B nature.
4. I am a morning writer, as sitting down at 5:30 am and pounding out 1500 words in an hour and a half is infinitely easier than doing it at 7 pm.
5. My characters may not be taking over for me yet, but they write themselves when I start, although I still direct. However, that sheer process has made me think of more ideas to write about.
1. Posting your novel online helps keep you on schedule with the whole word count thing.
2. Saying "no, I can't, I have to go write" helps keep you on schedule with the word count thing.
3. Even though I wrote it, I couldn't have done it without the people who *cough* cooked me dinner every damn night in November and provided positive feedback. No writer works alone.
4. Don't be afraid to keep writing, even when it's bad; there's more good stuff to come.
5. I can do more than I thought.
1.)Planning can limit your story - write as the story unfolds
2)Inspiration is everywhere; even in the place you least expect to find it
3)Caffine is good for you
4)Writer's block is nothing more than a warning that something in your story's not working towards an ending
5)Don't dare edit a NaNo story unless it'll give you more words
1. I can keep writing even when I panic and think my story is going to end too soon.
2. I can write totally inaccurate stuff and it make sense even though my best friend (who is also doing NaNoWriMo) yells, "No! No! No! You've still got it wrong!"
3. I can take three plastic mugs to hold one Mrs. Tea teapot full of strong tea and type till 3am while drinking it
4. You can have a bad guy, but you can have a bad guy even worse than the bad guy; and bad guys don't always need to get punished.
5. My butt still hurts.
1. Your first novel will probably reveal more about you than you want it to.
2. You will borrow things from people you know: apartments, names, anecdotes, credos. Sometimes without immediately realizing it.
3. Once you bring a character in, it's hard to get rid of him without killing him. And sometimes even that doesn't do it.
3a. Accidentally gave two characters the same name? Use it!
4. It's really helpful to know how your story ends going in, and a few mileposts along the way.
4a. But it's really cool when you come up with something out of nowhere to fill in the giant gaps between.
5. Before you give your main character a name like Thibodeaux, consider how often you're going to have to try to type that.
6. I always write too much.
1. I am capable of writing 50000 words.
2. 50000 words that make sense and are on-topic, too.
3. Yes, start a character based on your best friend. No, don't freak out when he suddenly becomes the villain. That's a good sign.
4. It is, indeed, possible to write a novel in physics class without your teacher noticing, especially if your novel notebook looks a lot like your physics lab notebook.
5. Names are, in fact, kind of important. But not until December. During November, just know that there is a perfect name out there somewhere. Don't try to actually find it.
1. Let your heart tell the story.
2. Don't get stuck in narrative, but add life with dialog.
3. If you can't feel the emotion in what you're writing, then nobody else can either!
4. 50,000 words is a LOT of words.
5. I can write thousands of words each day, 4000 in a single morning!
1.) Agreeing to cook thanksgiving dinner and host guests while writing will only add to one's stress level. Refuse to make stuffing so that next year your spouse will take you out to dinner for thanksgiving.
2.) Being referred to as "Ms. Novelist" feels good.
3.) Volunteering as a ML is a surefire way to get your 50k written.
4.) The cats never give a shit what you are writing--they want food/cuddles now!
5.) Making your main character a busty lesbian dominatrix provides plenty of fun plot twists.
1. I can write 400 words between 5 and 5:30 each morning.
2. Over 2,000 words in a day is too much for me.
3. Writing without criticizing along the way is very liberating.
4. 50,000 words is a lot more than it sound like.
5. 50,000 words is not enough to tell a good story, (but it is about right for a kid's chapter book. Hmmm...).
Also, this is an amazing source of inspiration and procrastination.
Anyway, here they are.
1. You can write a lot if you have to.
2. Scenes are easier to write if they have a purpose.
3. Outlines are wonderful.
4. Decide what you are going to write about before you put fingers to keyboard.
5. The skimpiest idea can become a story with a bit of brainstorming.
1. Don't think, let your fingers loose.
2. Save the outline for later for when you know what the hell it is you are writing about.
3. You can never introduce too many friends who have just returned from the Sahara and won't stop telling the main character how many times they chased the clouds yelling "come back my little marshmallows."
4. Caffiene
5. Hide all sharp objects.
1. there's good stuff
2. there's bad stuff
3. you have to wade through the bad stuff
4. to get back to the good stuff
5. just like in real life.
1. If I give myself a tangible goal, I can stick to it.
2. That I've learned a lot from my past writings.
3. That I'm really fond of scenes taking place in libraries.
4. I can do amazing things when I force myself to (like ace four midterms and stay ahead of the "daily" goal).
5. That there is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.
1. Just write, damnit.
2. The reward system works wonders.
3. Anything that has to do with sex, sexuality, drinking, gambling, fighting, death, and religion is a great way to twist your story and add new and interesting stuff.
4. Grits + Halloween candy = food of the gods
5. Write some more. You'll get there eventually.
1. Sit down and type.
2. If you're stuck, keep typing whatever comes to mind. You'll get past it.
3. If it seems like a good idea, go with it.
4. If it seems like a bad idea, type it anyway.
5. Adjectives are good; even if the plot sucks, you'll at least paint a nice little mental image
1) I may not be doomed to be a "wanna-be" writer forever. I now know I can write at least 19,000 words on a single project. My previous high was 6,925, and that took over 2 years.
2) It's okay to not to write it perfectly the first time. (Hard lesson for me to learn!)
3) I have to work with my personality and tendencies--I can't always shut out everything but writing, and I really am a night person.
4) But I can write more often than I tend to think I can. Even when I think I have no ideas, I can usually plow through and come up with something.
5) My brain can process ideas and spit out something that makes sense with little active input from me.
1. I have almost non-existent control over my own characters.
2. This is a Good Thing.
3. If I set my mind to it and grind away, I can overcome my natural laziness.
4. NaNoWriMo makes actual, non-writing-related work seem like a relaxing treat.
5. I can write original fic; I can write relatively lengthy original fic; and I can have fun doing so.
1. I am powerful, and I can change reality.
2. It's a commitment issue.
3. Two Big Gulps a night, and you don't have to worry about staying awake.
4. If you must have a day job, let it be one which allows you plenty of office space, computer access and plain white paper.
5. I'll remember this when I'm published.
1. I suck. I suck so much that I could make a career of it.
2. I don't suck nearly as hard as I thought I would (though I still suck pretty hard)
3. On busy days, sitting down now and again to punch out a few words at a time still stacks up to a good total word count at the end of the day.
4. 50,000 words of non-fiction is easy and I can do it in a few days if I need to. 5,000 words of fiction is a stone bitch.
5. Anybody can churn out text. I'm living proof. All it takes is ass-on-chair + fingers-on-keyboard.
1. Writing crap does not, in fact, provoke the apocalypse.
2. My inner muse has a mischevious streak.
3. Having friends in NaNoWriMo is a great incentive.
4. Particularly the whole "If I tell them not to quit, I can't be a hypocrite" dilemma.
5. That nasty little naysaying voice in my head can learn to shut the fuck up. ^_^
1. Any sentence can be padded up to be at least double its original lengt.
2. I don't need to know about the future to keep writing. (I have one chapter that consists mostly of the chatterings of a random girl who sat across my main character on the train. Now I haven't figured out what to do next so my characters are discussing the differences between domestic and imported cheese.)
3. I've learned the true meaning of "it doesn't have to be good, it just has to be".
4. Killing people is so difficult.
5. My chair is from hell
5. There is nothing wrong with writing a first draft that isn't perfect. I am not Hemingway and I don't want to end up killing myself either.
4. Writing gets easier the more you do it
3. Painfully, the difference between supportive ones and spiteful, jealous ones
2. I am not afraid to face the demons inside of me
1. Character writing is really the best kind of writing for me.
1. Science fiction is damned hard
2. It's harder than general ficiotn
3. Why the heck did I decide to write a sci-fi?
4. I am an idiot
5. I can't wait to get to the editing stage.
1. Getting the setting right in fantasy is much, much harder than science fiction. At least in science fiction, you can outrun your mistakes.
2. When in doubt, have a girl break down crying or a shot ring out. Explaining what the hell is going on can fill at least five thousand words.
3. Writing in public is a dangerous activity. I've already been assaulted twice on a city bus, once by a man who wanted to steal my laptop for money (and he seemed pretty wired at the moment, draw your own conclusion) and once by a woman who shouted "You got that damn thing, tell me what horses are going to win tomorrow!"
4. Describing your story as "A novelized exploration of how the differences between U.S.and French tort law will make it significantly more difficult to address the civil rights issues of apparently conscious consumer products" will only get you glazed looks from curious passersby.
5. Your teachers were right: punctuation and spelling matter if you're really serious about getting your point across.
1. Characters who want to be part of your novel will suddenly appear out of nowhere, complete with names.
2. Dialogue is a great way to boost your word count.
3. It doesn't have to be good dialogue!
4. Concentrate on the process, not the product.
5. Not knowing where the story is going next doesn't last very long - the next brilliant is just waiting to come bursting forth from the Universe, through my fingers, and onto the page.
1. An idea is "let's save the world." Writing a novel is actually saving it. There's a lot more work involved and it never comes out the way you hoped.
2. I *can* write if I give myself permission to write crap.
3. What I write is crap.
4. I am not as interesting a character as I thought I was.
5. I don't want to be a writer. It's hard and it hurts.
1. It gets easier every day.
2. My characters know a lot more about their world than I do. I can't decide if that's fitting or if it isn't -- I created it, but they live in it.
3. I like instrumental music a lot more than music with lyrics. Given my formerly mainstream tastes, this is.. different. ^_~
4. I think my muse was feeling lonely. Or unused. Anyway, I can't believe I'm writing this quickly.
5. Yes I can!
1. The more you plan, the more places you have to get stuck.
2. You can start over on November 6 and still have a chance.
3. I know absolutely nothing about farming in Alabama in 1910.
4. I know a lot more about being a sarcastic twerp.
5. It's more important that I like what I actually write than it is to think that I have a good idea for a story.
1. Almost no one can write a novel on a strict deadline that isn't garbage; the people who can have had practice with deadlines.
2. Rough drafts are more useful than I thought.
3. Once committed to a story for a long term, you will almost always get the urge to write something else instead. At least I do.
4. I cannot pull all-nighters and neglect eating and drinking and still expect to write a good story. Or even a coherent story. (This is probably a good rule of thumb for anybody in doubt.)
5. Lying on the floor to type is bad for the neck, shoulders and wrists.
1. Run on sentences are your FRIEND. As is being disgustingly wordy.
2. Everything and everyone wants to read this when I'm done, but no one wants to give me time to write...
3. Playing God is disturbingly fun, especially when I get to randomly blindify people.
4. When the characters have minds of their own, you don't even have to WORRY about it.
5. Tropico is Satan.
1. Fear of not finding enough material for a whole novel will vanish.
2. It helps to re-read what you've written in order to keep same
tonality/style.
3. Sitting in a moving vehicle while not driving is pure magic! Bring pen and paper!
4. I'll be the queen of time management when I'm done. Supermarkets should be open 24/7 all over the planet. Hate shopping. Need a personal assistant to deal with such trivial stuff. All I want to do is write.
5. Where I started my story is actually the beginning of the second of 3 parts. As I continue with the story, the true beginning becomes clearer every day. (So that will make it easy, soon, to write the beginning!)
1. That it's very freeing to be able to recognize that what you're writing at this very second is crap, but that that's ok.
2. That my procrastination demon is a very strong one with an extremely insistent voice.
3. That I *can* ignore that demon when I really, really, want to.
4. That rewriting can actually be something you look forward to.
5. That getting up an hour and a half before my kids is possible, and that being productive at that ungodly time of the morning is also possible.
1. I can write without constant rewriting and editing. In fact, without the constant rewriting and editing, I'm freer to listen to my characters and the plot.
2. I can move through a scene even if I don't have the proper research information by chanting "you can embellish it in December!"
3. Even though some of my sections are "workmanlike" (our euphemism for "crap!"), they are still accomplishing what they need to accomplish -- they're stepping stones to keep the plot going and placeholders for improvement.
4. After a few days, everything that is non-writing related begins to serendipitously connect with the novel, and vice versa.
5. I can work full-time and meet my daily writing quotas AND still have a nice sit-down dinner with my husband (also a NaNoWriMo) each night.
1. Things are not beautiful right when they're born. Babies all look like Winston Churchill for the first eight weeks of life. Novels will be equally ugly. You can make them pretty later; birth them first.
2. Again, as with babies, freshly-born novels will have moments of impeccable cuteness and impeccable precociousness. Unlike babies, though, you can just sort of edit the precociousness out.
3. Frivolous padding only makes me feel like I'm cheating myself. My characters use contractions because it's not natural for them not to, even if it costs me words. Reaching 50k words without contractions, then losing all that wordcount putting them back in, isn't going to make me feel good.
4. Use what you're familiar with unless you really, really love to learn. I've learned more about the American Southwest and the US Air Force than I've ever needed to know, for no reason other than that I didn't use the Army (which my husband is in) and set it in Washington state (where I live).
5. The only thng that shuts off my iner critic seems to be quantifiable goals, such as "50,000 word sin 30 days or your money back".
1. hitting that imaginary number one night in three makes me feel great.
2. not hitting that imaginary number two nights out of three gives me something to complain about, and hence feel great.
3. I'd much rather be at my computer writing or procrastinating while I should be writing than anywhere else.
4. that typing or surfing for five or six hours a day, or all day on weekends doesn't kill my CTS wrists like I thought it might.
5. that there are a lot of awesome people just like me out in the universe.
1) Wisconsin was filled with volcanoes very recently. As recently as 1920.
2) A one-legged man can develop massive stomach muscles, allowing him to lay on his back and use his leg as a catapult. Children enjoy this.
3) Super-intelligent evolved squirrels discovered time travel.
4) Leprechauns liked to dress up as midgets and go out on drunken pub crawls, which led to them being brought to America against their will by Albanians.
5) It's possible to create a carnivorous pumpkin pie and use it to avenge the death of your brother.
1. Writing is what I should have been doing all my life. This is where I belong.
2. It's fun even when it hurts, and it's especially fun to bi*** about how much it hurts, and do it anyway.
3. I can write better than I thought I could, and not nearly as well as I'd hoped.
4. It feels so good to get to a part of the story where I know what's going to happen next!
5. I'm not motivated by word count, but by getting to a part of the story that's been sitting in my brain itching to get out.*
(1) Signing up to write a 50,000 word novel in one month is pretty ridiculous if you like any of the following: (a) eating, (b) sleeping, or (c) breathing.
(2) I am a rather ridiculous person.
(3) Deriving so much pleasure from posting a word count that has yet to be proved is a little ridiculous, too.
(4) Adding the word 'ridiculous' to almost any scene will engender drama or strange looks, take your pick.
(5) Being ridiculous is overrated, yo.
1) Expounding one's own or a character's opinion on the basic differences between men and women is good for at least a few hundred words, and can be shoved in somewhere in just about any kind of novel, anywhere.
2) Inventing gods and describing them, their temples, and their attributes is good for at least another thousand words. If there are no gods in your story, just throw in a thousand words of exposition about religion in general. This too is an All Purpose Filler.
3) Sibling rivalry does, indeed, extend to NaNoWriMo, which is why I will not be be speaking my wordcount aloud anytime soon.
4) I like writing exposition.
5) Although I have often denigrated those who write enormous doorstop novels without enough plot to fill them all up, I may have to cease criticizing doorstop novels in general, as I may soon have one on my hands.
1. my muse will never leave me, but she will sometimes take a nap
2. to make the most of her when she's awake and alert and the words are flowing
3. it is possible for me to write absolute doo-doo, and live with myself, because doo-doo removal is what December is for
4. it isn't really that hard to make time everyday to write, and that 2k in a single sitting isn't so hard either
5. writing is a great way of exocising your demons AND sharing your personal philosophies with the world
1. Being a novelist just means writing a novel. That's all.
2. Sometimes it is necessary to write crap.
3. I have a lot to get out of my system
4. Having a really simple plot helps.
5. Some people don't want you to write. And it is OK to ignore them
1) If you base your characters on people you know, at least to start with, you have a whole lot of material at your fingertips.
2) If you're stuck, describe your current spot to someone, they'll tell you something about it that you haven't thought of yet.
3) Even when your job is to sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day, you can enjoy yourself doing it a couple more hours if you're writing a story.
4) Reading is lots of fun, but no matter how you try to justify it, you're not really helping your novel, just procrastinating.
5) Writing outside, or on the subway, or in a coffee shop makes it a lot more like a fun vacation than writing at your desk.
1. It is possible to not write for two weeks and then get a sudden burst of inspiration.
2. What was once 3rd person omniscient can become the diary of a multiple personality disorder patient in a matter of milliseconds.
3. It's perfectly okay to stop for cigarettes.
4. However, the patch eliminates this need. Especially when you have straws to chew on.
5. School? What is this school of myth?
6. The key to my writing lies in a box of Q-tips. It must be in front of my keyboard, or I can't write.
7. Sleeping is highly overrated.
8. Codeine allows me to write the crazy parts much better.
9. I can put on my headphones and write while my roommate and her boyfriend are having sex, and I get two things accomplished - more of my novel, and I can ignore them.
10. Getting an interesting piercing that keeps me...confined...for three more weeks means time I could be spending having sex myself, I now spend writing.
11. I can't count.
12. It doesn't matter, really.
1.) Spell out compound numbers. It's not 27,452, it's twenty seven thousand, four hundred fifty-two. Oh, look!! Seven words!!!
2.) Do NOT read out parts of your novel to others before you've had a chance to type it in your word processor. Your peanut gallery will make suggestions to make the excerpt more consice and you will lose words. GAH!
3.) Stop thinking, start writing.
4.) It's amazing how long a chapter can grow after beginning it with "I can't write."
5.) After this experience when I go back to school next year, assigned papers with requirements of less than 15,000 words will be snickered at.
1. Monkeys like to pop up in random places.
2. It's easy to spend an entire night writing a novel when you have an essay you're supposed to be writing instead, especially one which is due the following day.
3. Plots are for the weak!
4. Personal commentary on the progess of the main character is perfectly legitimate, and often amusing.
5. Typing quietly is hard... my poor roommate!
1. when bored with the story i can always just add another character.
2. when characters argue about stupid stuff that really isn't at all important to the story the word count tends to go up.
3. repeating yourself but using different words also adds to the word counts.
4. so does useless information about the characters past.
5. food rewads are helpful.
6. if i write a couple of hundred words on paper i can stretch it into a good thousand or so later on when i type it up.
1. My parents are far more tolerant and wonderful than I'd ever given them credit for.
2. I have a lot of characters who really want out to play.
3. An unsolicited, random criticism from a good friend can plunge morale down into the deepest, uncharted depths of the soul.
4. An unsolicited, random compliment from a total stranger can boost it right back up to unprecedented heights.
5. The trick is choosing who to listen to.
1. I learned to just type and not think too much about the Process.
2. Too much analysis leads to paralysis.
3. Characters can be contradictory. Work with it! And come up with some im/plausible resolution when you get around to it.
4. Keep a sense of humour. So it's dreck. But it's MY dreck!
5. Hmm ... I'm wondering about writing-a-novel-in-a-weekend.
1. I don't get writer's block. I always thought that I did, but I don't. My issue is, instead, concentration. I have never once sat at the computer and not known what to write or not been able to spill words. I just get distracted by other things.
2. I still have the ability to workshop my own writing, as my few backreads have reawakened my critical writing brain.
3. I can actually write something that is more than 20 pages, double-spaced, belying my point A to point B nature.
4. I am a morning writer, as sitting down at 5:30 am and pounding out 1500 words in an hour and a half is infinitely easier than doing it at 7 pm.
5. My characters may not be taking over for me yet, but they write themselves when I start, although I still direct. However, that sheer process has made me think of more ideas to write about.
1. Posting your novel online helps keep you on schedule with the whole word count thing.
2. Saying "no, I can't, I have to go write" helps keep you on schedule with the word count thing.
3. Even though I wrote it, I couldn't have done it without the people who *cough* cooked me dinner every damn night in November and provided positive feedback. No writer works alone.
4. Don't be afraid to keep writing, even when it's bad; there's more good stuff to come.
5. I can do more than I thought.
1.)Planning can limit your story - write as the story unfolds
2)Inspiration is everywhere; even in the place you least expect to find it
3)Caffine is good for you
4)Writer's block is nothing more than a warning that something in your story's not working towards an ending
5)Don't dare edit a NaNo story unless it'll give you more words
1. I can keep writing even when I panic and think my story is going to end too soon.
2. I can write totally inaccurate stuff and it make sense even though my best friend (who is also doing NaNoWriMo) yells, "No! No! No! You've still got it wrong!"
3. I can take three plastic mugs to hold one Mrs. Tea teapot full of strong tea and type till 3am while drinking it
4. You can have a bad guy, but you can have a bad guy even worse than the bad guy; and bad guys don't always need to get punished.
5. My butt still hurts.
1. Your first novel will probably reveal more about you than you want it to.
2. You will borrow things from people you know: apartments, names, anecdotes, credos. Sometimes without immediately realizing it.
3. Once you bring a character in, it's hard to get rid of him without killing him. And sometimes even that doesn't do it.
3a. Accidentally gave two characters the same name? Use it!
4. It's really helpful to know how your story ends going in, and a few mileposts along the way.
4a. But it's really cool when you come up with something out of nowhere to fill in the giant gaps between.
5. Before you give your main character a name like Thibodeaux, consider how often you're going to have to try to type that.
6. I always write too much.
1. I am capable of writing 50000 words.
2. 50000 words that make sense and are on-topic, too.
3. Yes, start a character based on your best friend. No, don't freak out when he suddenly becomes the villain. That's a good sign.
4. It is, indeed, possible to write a novel in physics class without your teacher noticing, especially if your novel notebook looks a lot like your physics lab notebook.
5. Names are, in fact, kind of important. But not until December. During November, just know that there is a perfect name out there somewhere. Don't try to actually find it.
1. Let your heart tell the story.
2. Don't get stuck in narrative, but add life with dialog.
3. If you can't feel the emotion in what you're writing, then nobody else can either!
4. 50,000 words is a LOT of words.
5. I can write thousands of words each day, 4000 in a single morning!
1.) Agreeing to cook thanksgiving dinner and host guests while writing will only add to one's stress level. Refuse to make stuffing so that next year your spouse will take you out to dinner for thanksgiving.
2.) Being referred to as "Ms. Novelist" feels good.
3.) Volunteering as a ML is a surefire way to get your 50k written.
4.) The cats never give a shit what you are writing--they want food/cuddles now!
5.) Making your main character a busty lesbian dominatrix provides plenty of fun plot twists.
1. I can write 400 words between 5 and 5:30 each morning.
2. Over 2,000 words in a day is too much for me.
3. Writing without criticizing along the way is very liberating.
4. 50,000 words is a lot more than it sound like.
5. 50,000 words is not enough to tell a good story, (but it is about right for a kid's chapter book. Hmmm...).
Also, this is an amazing source of inspiration and procrastination.
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