We made it!

A little bit of a belated Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s National Novel Writing Month – we did it!

It was not an easy journey, not for a lot of us. Even if we finished our word count ahead of schedule, some are still trying to finish the story line, and others are entering the world of editing – something we (ought to have) fastidiously avoided for a full 30 days.

It’s scary.

Well, maybe not for everyone, but it is for me.

My biggest challenge in December, writing-wise (because naturally trying to stay sane in the Christmas season with two kids, a husband and a cat keeps me busy) is going to be finishing my story. After that, I have big, fun, scary adventure goals – editing, which after nine NaNoWriMo’s I have actually never done, and then publishing. And hopefully selling.

Have you found the Big, Fun, Scary Adventure Challenge yet, by the way? I have. I’ve posted my goals there, but for some, me included, that big forum with hundreds and thousands of people posting, it’s a little impersonal.

So hey, in the spirit of adventure, I’m going to share with you my Big, Fun, Scary Adventure plans for the next year. Last year I had three – to post a weekly video of myself (which lasted a week), to doodle every day (which lasted about four months), and…um…something about writing more. Didn’t happen. But this year people asked me about the challenges I’d set for myself, and I felt something.

Guilt. I felt guilt. Because I had tried, but not managed it. So this year, I have that guilt driving me. I also had another idea…my ideas, they weren’t big and scary enough. They were manageable, had I kept at them, but I didn’t have to fight for them.

So this year, I have a couple BFSA’s I want to share, and if you’re interested, I want you to share yours, too. Then next October, when we’re gearing up for NaNo again, we can hold each other accountable.

Nicki’s BFSA’s for the 2012 season:

• To finish, edit, and publish my 2011 NaNo Novel, Esther Goes Outside
• To write two more novels (Camp NaNoWriMo, here I come!), edit them, and publish them
• Get no less than 100 people to tell me they don’t want to buy my novels (go ahead, ask me why!)
• Keep our region meeting monthly throughout the year, every month until next November, with no less than five people in attendance each time

Hrm…have I bitten off more than I can chew? I don’t know – but NaNo and Chris Baty have taught me one thing – if I can do this, there is unlimited potential to what else I can pull off. And this time, heck, I have a whole year!

So congratulations for giving NaNoWriMo a shot – you rock, and you are my hero. Rock it on a little harder throughout the year in honor of Chris Baty with me.

Tools

Well, I don’t know about you, but when I sit down to write a novel, I come armed. Very armed. And tonight, when I realized that my motivation for my current plot (but not my motivation for my novel!) was weakening, I whipped out my toolbox and took advantage of several to get my word count taken care of.

Let me share!

Write or Die! - I bought this two or three years ago for $10, and it was the best $10 I ever spent. What it does is simple – based on your parameters it will take your goal and time limit and keep you on track. It will delete your words if you stall too long in Kamikaze mode. It will play the sound of babies crying or wretched violins. And when you meet your goal, there is the lovely sound of trumpets cheering you in your victory!

Why does this work for me? I’ll be honest – I do not know. Perhaps it’s the very real threat of a deadline and certain doom if I do not keep typing. It frees me from my inner editor better than any other method I’ve found.

And yes, the writing might not be as good as if I agonized over every word, but that’s not exactly what NaNoWriMo is about, now, is it? So I pulled this out of my box so I could get the words in without worrying so much about the content. It got my story to where I need it to be to make it interesting for me again, and it was even almost painless!

Yarny – This is an alternative to some of the other novel-writing software out there that you have to install. Personally, I tend to drown in all the options of those other software programs. Yarny gives you some options to combat this. You can create what they call Groups and Snippets. Groups, in my case, act like chapters. The Snippets like scenes. I can tag them which is super convenient because I’m already used to doing this in Gmail and Evernote, and so I tag them with people, events, and the date I wrote them on.

Really, the only downside to Yarny is that it is entirely online (for now), and if I don’t have access to the Internet I’m stuck trying to remember what I wrote last and how to tie it together later when I realize there’s a hole. On the upside, not only can you export all your writing (backup, backup, backup!) into a text file, but they’re working on an offline version for the future.

I am really digging this as a tool because I can set my word count goal (actually 75,000 this year), all my writing, no matter how it’s segregated, gets added to my total word count, and I don’t have to hit any extra buttons to see said word count – only move my mouse to get out of full-screen, no-distraction mode. *squee*

Netflix - Creativity-sucking media as a writing tool? You may think not – but I was surprised at the pull my favorite television series had when I thought about not being able to watch it until I was finished! So yes, Netflix was my reward at the end of tonight, and man it felt good.

So what kind of tools are you using? I’m interested! I don’t have time to learn them all, but if you have some goodies you’d like to share, let us know!

Down to the Wire

Why does Facebook hate me right now? I’m trying to let everyone know that NaNoWriMo.org is…well, under dressed. All the style sheets went missing, and it may be a tiny bit before they come back up. But Facebook won’t let me post!

It’s a double whammy in the world of Nicki.

Well, is everyone ready yet? NaNoWriMo is a mere six days away. Our regional Kick-Off Party is even closer – four days! I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to Sunday when I plan to persuade my dear husband to let me sleep until noon. Who really needs clean laundry on Monday, anyway?

The party Saturday is going to be stellar, not just because of all the goodies I’ll be bringing with me (new stickers, anyone?), but because of all the goodies you guys are bringing! People have offered to bake and bring brownies, apple crisp, cookies, and a couple mystery desserts, drinks, sandwiches, cookies, chips, and other yummy noms. So don’t worry if you haven’t had lunch yet, or have a wait until dinner. We will sustain you!

(Thank you, awesome people who have offered to bring noms, by the way! It’s totally not required – they’re all just doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, and willingness to help out. I luff ewe!)

Also, I have a nifty surprise for folks who have never heard Chris Baty speak. Unfortunately I couldn’t get him shipped Express Mail in time for the party, but I do have a very cool, inspiring something-or-other for everyone to watch. It gives me fuzzy knees just thinking about it!

And if you are able to come, please be sure to remember your new pen and notebook for the exchange!

Um…well, there are a ton of things still to be done in the Ivey household before Saturday, so I’m going to keep on getting organized. See you on Saturday, or at the first write-in, or on the forums, or on Facebook (if it ever starts playing nice), or on Twitter!

Kick-Off Party and Other Events

We have our Kick-Off Party completely scheduled!

Where:  Eastern Exterior Wall Systems conference room
When:  Saturday, October 29, 2011 – 2-5 p.m.
What to Bring:  (1) blank notebook and (1) new pen
RSVP:  On the forums, if you could please!

The event will be friendly for all ages, Young Writers included. You may bring a guest, non-writers included, just let me know when you RSVP if your guest is a potential WriMo or not.

We also have several Write-Ins scheduled! But not all of them – I will also be scheduling Sunday write-ins. This is not the be-all, end-all of write-ins! You may host write-ins, or simply let me know when you will be at a particular location and I will add it to the Regional Calendar! Because there is only one of me, I can’t make it to every single Write-In. But I am trying to schedule a wide variety of locations, so hopefully one of these works for nearly everyone.

Keep an eye on the schedule, and please let me know if none of the scheduled events work for you, but there is a day/time that would. I really want to get as many folks involved in getting out to write with others in our region, because a little group writing can be a great thing!

State of Affairs

Hi, folks! As I write this, we are closing in on the end of October 10, 2011. As you know, NaNoWriMo and the Office of Letters and Light is in the midst of a major site overhaul, the likes of which have not been seen in some time. I know they are valiantly trying to hit the deadline they gave to us all, but if they don’t, never fear!

I’ve paused my Questions of the Day on the forums for the moment, merely because I don’t know when things are going to go down. So when the site comes back up in its new and glorious awesomeness, you, my fellow Lehigh Valley WriMo’s, will have some catching up to do!

I’ll be posting updates here as I have them to give you – like the new awesomeness of the website release, our new forum location, all the goodies you’ve come to know and love. I’m also posting tweets of posts, and stuff on Facebook.

If there is anything you want to see or need more information on and you can’t get to the forums, this is the place! I’m around almost all the time.

It’s all so exciting – I can’t wait for November!