Tag: nanowrimo preperation

My Pros and Cons and Tips for NaNoWriMo 2016.

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nanowrimo-2016

Hello,

As you can probably tell, this is a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) 2016 related post. I have taken part in three of the last four having decided to miss one year as choosing to edit instead of writing 50,000 words for 2014. I considered taking part again this year but I managed to consider it far too much and now I have nothing prepared. I will, however, be doing a mixture of editing and writing throughout November as a substitute.

This year, I wanted to provide some (hopefully) helpful information for those of you attempting to write 50,000 words in one month. That number does sound a lot and it did to me when I first tried the challenge in 2012.

When you break down that number across the whole of November, it gets a lot easier to take in. The figure (rounded up as the exact figure is daft) of words to write for each day is 1,667. If you decide to commit to 2,000 words a day, that allows you 5 free days to do whatever you like with. I recall assigning those days for hangovers myself.

I only found writing 2,000 words to be a daunting task when I had no idea where my story was going. For the first 2,000, I planned what I was roughly going to write so I could at least have an idea (it is the first draft after all so I didn’t worry too much about getting it right first time) beforehand. After the first 2,000 were written, I planned the next 2,000 and so on. The plans I made were usually just a few paragraphs or even less as a rough outline. As I got into writing the story I discovered that when I knew where the story was going each plan and 2,000 words became easier.

On some occasions, I managed to write more than 2,000 because I was in the middle of an important scene. It was either a heated discussion between the quarrelling villains of the piece, or the hero’s in some cases. Or some back story or a battle scene (there were quite a few). All of which I could not stop at just the 2,000 because I found myself either in the middle of a sentence or that I wanted to finish at natural point (usually the end of a scene or a chapter) before finishing for the day.

Making sure to write at least some if not all of the 2,000 words a day was crucial to help me calmly reach the target and to not lose my sanity. Some days I managed just shy of the whole 2,000 but made up for it in the days after that. Other times I didn’t come close. Let me show you what I mean through a small scene involving me and my too laid back attitude to the word court in 2012.

Wednesday. “I don’t feel like writing anything tonight. I’ve been working all day and can’t face the laptop anymore” (This equals one day without writing 2,000 words)

Thursday. “I’ll just play one game of Pro Evolution Soccer on my Xbox. Then I’ll start.” (Another 2,000)

Friday. “My head hurts. Too much beer. Cannot write today” (Another 2,000)

“Okay. It’s Saturday. What’s my word count? Including today I’m 8,000 words behind! How can I write so many in one day? It’s the weekend! I’ve used all of my hangover days! HOW!!!”

On that Saturday, I ended up writing 6,000 words and then adding an extra 500 words to the next few days until I had caught up with my target. I kept to my plan for 2013 and 2015 and avoided the above, which made the challenge easier to handle.

The Pros of completing NaNoWriMo 2012, 2013 and 2015 were that I had three partially finished novels that I could work on to finish in future. I have since completed the 2012 novel but found that the 2013 novel will need to be started again (I now hate that it is written in the first person) and the 2015 novel is going to be a lot bigger than I thought and requires further planning. Without NaNoWriMo, I would not have discovered this about two of my stories.

NaNoWriMo also helped me to find discipline whilst writing. Since 2012, I have been able to commit to word counts per day to finish a story as I am able to use the same planning I used for NaNo on all my stories ever since. It allowed me to get down on paper (laptop) tales that have been spinning in my head for years. It is a great feeling to do so and to finish. When you do finish, I suggest buying a t-shirt or something to commemorate the achievement from the official website (http://nanowrimo.org/). It’s your own trophy and it helps to ensure that the fine people who organised the whole thing can continue to do so for years to come.

The Cons of completing NaNoWriMo? In my case they were:

  • My back hurt a little bit more.
  • I lost some sleep.

That’s all I can think of. I lay flat on my carpet after each days writing for about 10 minutes and that helped my back. I slept longer on weekend mornings to catch up on sleep.

I hope that this has helped you in your quest to conquer the NaNoWriMo challenge. Good luck and make sure you have some fun in the process.

Goodbye!

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Taking a break. Well, only a little.

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Hello again

After the awesomeness that was nanowrimo, I’m going to do what I did last year and take a break from writing any stories. I found that doing this and coming back to writing my stories after a month off, really revitalised me. I got straight back into it so I’m thinking, why break a successful formula?

Because it could be better, that is why.

In my month off, I’m planning on getting back into writing on this here blog and to reading more stories on the websites I’ve neglected over the past few months. I think it will be a good change of pace and although I do and always will like to write, I think my back and my mind will benefit from it. Because….

My mind can rest and take in others work and help to get it back into sharp and creative condition heading into 2014.
My back will love it as I tend to hunch over my laptop as I write and cause it to hurt.

Anyway, I’m going to get started on my grand plan but before I go for now, just one more thing,
image

This was my set up for when I completed nanowrimo. And I ask of it applies to you…how did you prepare for and get on with your nanowrimo?

Bye bye

Oh Dear. There’s blank spaces at the end of my calender.

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Hello

After a week of barely reading I managed to make up for it by finishing 1984!

All in all it was a brilliant read. Initially I thought it might be a struggle as its not lay out in chapters as such but in three different parts each with several different sections broken up with a roman numeral. These would come in the middle of the page so, as is my way of reading, I would have to read until the end of a sentence at the start of a page. I don’t like to stop half way through a page but sometimes, only due to the tram getting to my stop, would I be forced to do so. But anyway…

Once I started I realised that it wasn’t going to be a problem. It is not too easy to read but not to difficult either. The balance is spot on and everything from the descriptions, dialogue and how the story pans out is well paced and planned out. I may read it again. I was also struck by relevant reading this book was to my NaNoWriMo challenge attempt.

The story I’m going to write is about a non to distant future which has a government ruling over it with an iron fist. It’s not as brutal and astonishing as Big Brother, nor is it the main focus of story, but it does play a big part in how the story will progress. The main character in my story was a creation of the government. The government in my story does allow the people its runs to live relatively normal lives. They only intervene when they think anything close to them, mainly their policies and ‘weekly and monthly reports’, are questioned. Which will turn out to be a fair amount as the story goes on and their creation starts to find out more about them. I’ll stop there as I’m in danger of giving to much of it away.

Ok. So, I checked my calendar yesterday I there were two blanks squares at the end of it. Which belong to the next month. Which is November. Which is NaNoWriMo. Oh dear.

I’m not that scared really. But, I know I’ve got something planned on Friday and Saturday but I make sure I start NaNoWriMo off well and keep it going. And I hope everyone else who is taking part who has given this little blog of mine a glance, does the same.

Laters

Now for the preperation.

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Hello again

 

Following on from my post on 15th October, I had a bit of a patchy reading week. I’m still reading 1984 and will hopefully finish it in, at the most, seven days’ time. If not before. I put this patchiness down to being nominated for my first blog award. See https://johnrsermon.com/2013/10/18/ive-been-nominated-for-my-first-blog-award/

Now, I am very happy to have been nominated for this award but it didn’t half take a while, and a fair amount of reading minutes, out of my week. Though, I don’t regret any of those minutes. I accepted the award, did what I was required, and nominated a few blogs as well. All in all a 100% successful use of time.

But, it wasn’t reading.

I managed to get some reading done before bed on a few nights and to and from my girlfriends flat. I did have an awesome weekend in Leeds with my mates as well. I took my book with me with every intention of reading it but alas it was not to be. Standing up on the train to Leeds and then starting on the beer pretty much straight away meant it wasn’t going to happen. And the resulting two day hangover didn’t help either.

But, another lovely writing thing is drawing ever closer and I ask myself…

What about my preparation for NaNoWriMo?

I already know which story I’m going to write and I’ve made enough notes to keep me going. And I reckon I’ll make notes along the way or even plan out each days writing. I remember when I did NaNoWriMo last year and how I made a few pages of notes on each of the main characters, and some notes to cover the plot, and just got to it. I found this to be easier and I rarely stumbled or found myself stuck for something to write. I just hope I don’t worry too much about it and ruin my chances of completing it.

Well, that’s me for now and I’ll leave you with a question.

If you’re taking part, how are you preparing for NaNoWriMo?

Bye

 

It begins!!!!…..again!!!!

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Hello

Following on from last time, I tried to get more writing done to make up for a week of doing barely any. I succeeded, slightly by writing one character profile and two fully formed ideas for short to possibly long stories,   but I now have a clear idea of what to with my next writing week.

Read.

I’ve been receiving emails from NaNoWriMo (http://nanowrimo.org/) regarding preparation for the glorious event. I already know what story I’m going to write, well, continue to write as I’ve already written five chapters of it, and I hope I’ll be able to finish it or at least get within touching distance of its end by the close of November. And I already know how I’m going to prepare for it. About a week before hand I’m going to start on the character profiles for the story. It’s the same thing I did last year but in a lot more detail.

But then I read a few posts from another blogger, whose website seems to be down, about how she was preparing for November by reading a daft amount of books. I’ve always said to myself that I would like to have a reading week where I try to make a dent in my ever increasing pile of books I have to read, but I’ve never quite gotten round to it.

So this week is officially….My Reading Week.

I started by finishing ‘The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time’ by Mark Haddon, which I completely recommend as it was a great read throughout, last night and will now move onto finishing 1984 by George Orwell. Then, if I finish 1984 by this time next week, I’ll go onto ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ by Philip K. Dick. I’ve been looking forward to reading a Philip K. Dick book for years after seeing many great to awful adaptations of his stories.

So, there you have it. To prepare for November I’m going to read and then write. But I leave you with one very important question….

Do I watch Blade Runner before or after reading the story that was based on?

Cheers

 

Oh NaNoWriMo, hurry up and get here will you!

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Hello

 

This post is shorter than usual for one reason and one reason only. I haven’t really done that much in the last or so to do with my writing. I’m not sure how it happened but I reckon if I break it down I can probably figure it out. Here we go…

Wednesday 02/10/2013.

After work, went for a run. Got home to find my mate had come round to watch the football (soccer). Watched the game, was tired by the end of it, it turned out to be a very dull game, and went to bed. That explains Wednesday.

Thursday 03/10/2013.

After work, went to my girlfriend’s house. That explains Thursday.

Friday 04/10/2013 – Saturday 05/10/2013

After work, went to see my parents and stayed over for the Friday night. Spent part of Saturday with them as well. Went home, had some food, and went out again to meet my mates to go watch some rugby. Rugby finished, went to get some food and then out to a rock/metal night. That explains Friday and Saturday.

Sunday 06/10/2013

Spent the day hung over and watching wrestling, football (soccer), a film and playing on my xbox. That explains Sunday.

Monday 07/10/2013

After work, had some food. Had a nap. Made my dinner for the next day in work.

But then…

BOOM!!!! Edited two of my short stories. There we go. At least I did something.

How did this happen? I did read a lot of 1984 which I’m getting ever closer to end of but I didn’t really write that much at all. I didn’t notice the week get away from me. After a week like that, NaNoWriMo can’t come soon enough. I’ve made sure I’m signed up for it and already know what story I’m going to write.

If you want to get involved, have a look using the following link http://nanowrimo.org/.

Well, I’m going to make sure this week involves a slight case of Character Profile fever. Along with finding the writing bug that didn’t bite me last week and letting it have a field day.

Good Pie

And its done. That was quick. But thoroughly enjoyable of course.

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Hello

As I mentioned last time round, I was looking forward to completing the character profile for the main villain of The Searcher’s Want, my NaNoWriMo story from last November. Last November? Dear lord that’s gone by quickly. Although, the next NaNoWriMo is just around the corner! Focus John, Focus.

So, after spending the previous three days with my girlfriend and visiting my awesome big sister and my even awesome-er nephew and then helping to babysit my girlfriends niece, I sat down to write the character profile for the Ripper demon, the main villain of the story I mentioned only a few seconds ago.

Do you know when you are writing and it just seems to flow out of you? Like it’s been dwelling inside of you, waiting eagerly for you to finish doing other stuff with your life and get back to your calling which is, obviously, to write? Well, that is what it felt like. I know the character well enough anyway and as I started writing I didn’t want to stop. I could have happily kept going and wrote all day. Who needs food and water when there is writing to be done? It did end quicker than I’d like but I wrote as much I thought was needed so I’m happy with it.

I had already made the necessary notes, so that I could at least start the character profile, when I was preparing for NaNoWriMo last October. I kept these notes to hand and as I wrote the profile, as like all the previous profiles, the character became completely fully formed on the page and in my head.

What I found as well, which made the process even more electric, was that I was coming up with plot points for the story as a whole and knew exactly how and what I needed to do to improve upon the Ripper within the story itself when editing begins.

My favourite part of the profile was the history part of it. This has allowed me to explain how the Ripper has arrived at the point I found him in the story. I was slightly worried about getting all the back story right but now, I’m not worried at all. Well, I probably will be when I add everything in, re-edit the edit, and find I need to write more. Oh great. Now I’m worried and excited. And I’m not sure what to do…

And that’s my queue to exit. I’ve not done any exercise since Saturday morning so hopefully that will help.

Good pie

Character profiles? Indeed. I reply.

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Hello

Since my last post I have been keeping on with the character profiles and have managed to finish all the main protagonists involved in my fantasy story, The Searcher’s Want. I’ve now started on the antagonists which are all, currently, demons that the Searcher’s must search and kill to help protect the human race.

Before writing this story and as part of my preparation for NaNoWriMo, I wrote out some brief notes for the primary and secondary characters and decided to make the others up as I went along. I’m glad I did this and would recommend it to anyone attempting to do the National Novel Writing Month Challenge this November.

I’ve been back over these notes whilst doing the character profiles and when it came to doing the first demon profile, The Catcher Demon, it helped me out immensely. The template supplied by writerdsnelson from her post Profiling Blake has also allowed me to expand the demons story line and has allowed me come up with a few story points that, come the dreaded yet brilliant editing process, will enable me to expand The Searcher’s Want and make it as well rounded as I hope it can be.

Whilst writing the first demon profile I chose to give it a history. This meant having to explain where the demons have been and how they have lived and survived since their birth 400 years ago. As I was writing the story I mentioned a small amount, which I’d hope to expand on later, about the demons and their history up until the present day. This first of many character profiles has instantly provided me with a major story point that I can build upon in the other demon profiles and in the story edit.

So, I hear you ask. Character profiles? Indeed. I reply.

Thanks for reading as always and see you, hopefully, next week.

Bye Bye