The Final Hours!

NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching in a few hours. Today's kickoff party at Barnes & Noble went very well. There were six of us in total who showed up, but there are more people in the region who are participating. I will be going out tonight to partake in some midnight NaNoWriMo as I meet and greet another fellow writer in the area. I think this will be a fun adventure! This will be my first-ever NaNoWriMo in which I actually wrote on November 1st. Last year, I started about 12 days into it.
As I await the final few hours, I'm doing some last-minute preparations and outlining for when the madness begins. I'm so nervous and excited! Good luck, everyone on NaNo 2010!

Last Week

So now we've arrived at the home-stretch for when NaNoWriMo officially begins in less than a week. I'm really not too nervous about writing my project. What I am nervous about is me possibly undertaking this ML position head-on. This year our region has a few newcomers to the scene, and I want to make sure their first experience is enjoyable so that they would be inclined to want to do it again next year. My greatest challenge so far has been trying to coordinate with everyone's schedules so that these meet-ups will cater to as many as possible. Of course, I would also like to schedule more than one meetings per week if possible to cater to those who have weird schedules but really want to participate. It's a difficult endeavor to tackle alone, especially when you have your own schedule to keep up with, as well, but I will just hold my breath and hope for success next month!

Outline Revisited

It's about time I revisit my NaNo outline again. I was looking around for some Novel writing/outling software to see if any of them would be of use to me, but it's taking me quite a bit of time to play with the different software and learn how to even use the things! I'm not sure if I even need one. I just wanted to try and see if it makes the writing process that much smoother, or does it cause more harm than good. My idea of 'outlining' has been writing down notes in Notepad/Wordpad. I know that's probably a horrible way of doing things, but then again I'm a weird person with a weird way of organizing my thoughts. I like to venture out every so often and see if there are ways to make things easier.

So far, the two programs I've tried have been yWriter and Storybox. I wanted to try and get yWriter on my eeePC since it uses a Linux environment, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to install software on that computer. Despite me having my eeePC for almost 2 years now, I am still Linux-challenged. The Windows version of yWriter looks very intimidating. There's just so many places to put information, it almost looks a little too organized for me. Storybox looked like a neat little program to try, but again, I was left with the same thing. So many places to fill in the blanks and not really sure how to fill them in properly so I don't get confused.

I would like to check out LiftLift and FocusWriter (though I think the latter is more for when NaNoWrMo actually starts) next and see how those are. It would be really good if these programs came with a sample file with the information filled in so I can get a general idea of how to do things. I tend to learn things faster when there are templates/samples so the program interface doesn't seem so intimidating.

NaNo Prepping and ML training

Since finishing GothNoWriMo, I've been getting focused on my NaNoWriMo story again. I have to refresh myself with the plot and characters so that I won't run into blocks along the way. I'm also trying to figure out what would be the most effective (and less stressful) way to go about writing 50,000 words. Last year, I wrote everything in OpenOffice with little to no pre-planning done. Not only that, I started NaNoWriMo when it was nearly 12 days into it! I spent many long nights trying to write 3k words just to catch up. I actually enjoyed writing that much in a day, and I tried to do it again for GothNoWriMo. It defintely takes a lot out of you in the end, though. I know 30 days seems like more than enough time to shell out 50,000 words at the pace I go (I mean, I managed to write 20k in about 8 days, after all, even though I really didn't meet my 3k word counts per day at times).

In addition to the Thanksgiving holiday, so many other things are happening in November that's going to distract me. I'm still trying to figure out how I managed to do it last year. I think it was the motivation I got from the write-ins. This is my first year as a ML for my region and I'm hoping to be abel to schedule more write-ins because I think that's what really kept me motivated to keep writing and make my daily 3k wordcount, no matter what.

Unfortunately, I've not seen or heard from any other MLs in my area, so I might be the only one. I'm very nervous about that because I was hoping to learn some things from the veteran MLs, but it seems I'll be on my own for now.

On a lighter note, I went on a shopping spree for my swag in celebration fo finishing my GothNoWriMo story! I still have to get No Plot? No Problem! and will get all my ML gear in order in time for the kickoff party and beyond.

20,048!

Finally! I've finished GothNoWriMo with 20,048 words! Granted, this novel will be undergoing some heavy reconstructive surgery in December, I managed to get all of the story down on paper, at least. This was a great experience for me to be able to write a gothic-themed novel. I've spent these past nights listening to "The Crow" soundtrack on repeat just trying to stay in the dark mood. I will have to definitely say that Daggax'iylion is my favorite character of the story. I think for next year's GothNoWriMo, I will be retelling the story from his point of view this time.
 Now that that's over, it's time to prepare for NaNoWriMo! I will be raiding the OLL store sometime this weekend. I need that totebag and journal now!

WriMotivations

So there are three things I plan to get out of the NaNo store before November hits: The tote bag, pen and a copy of No Plot? No Problem! I think if (and when) I manage to finish (and win) GothNoWriMo, I shall reward myself graciously as I prepare for the big NaNo in November. I'm going to be writing every chance I get to keep up with the daily 3k wordcounts and finish the novel well in advance. I don't want it to be October 29th and I'm just barely finishing it. I need at least a week or two to take a breather from all that writing and get mentally prepared for the 50K challenge the following month.

I know it's not Christmas yet, but I'm feeling the spirit of Christmas already. It's my favorite time of year! It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I can't believe Christmas is only two months away -- and 2011 is only 3 months away!

As my current GothNo stands, I've reached one of my favorite points in the story when Jasmine is about to meet Dagg for the first time. I think from here it will get much easier to write. I was struggling trying to build up to this point, now the main part of the story can be told to my heart's content. This story and my November one will be victims of the December editing month once it rolls around.

WriMo Madness!

So GothNoWriMo started, NaNoWriMo got the site update, and I'm writing up a storm to try to catch up to my daily wordcounts already. This weekend has been busy for me having gone out of town for a day and now that I'm back it's been full of more distractions to try to get any sort of writing done. I am planning to take regular trips to either the library, coffee shop or bookstore just to get some peace and quiet to write! I thought I would actually find some use for the writing space I made in my room (which took over 6++ hours to clean!!), but it's just not working. I either have to wait until after 1-2AM when everyone is in bed, or I just have to attempt to write through all the noise and interruptions, but it's really aggravating!

I don't mind writing late at night sometimes, but there comes a point where my mind just shuts down, even when I'm on a creative roll where all the words just seem to flow endlessly. I really hate it when I have to stop because my brain decides it's time to go to sleep.

I'm loving the new NaNoWriMo site, also! I am going to be getting some new swag from the shop. I especially love the tote bags. It'll be perfect to carry my little laptop in. I'm such a sucker for bags. I have no idea why. The new pens look awesome too. Since I've been made a new ML for my region, I really want to try and contribute something to the cause since I haven't done so yet.

In addition to catching up to my GothNoWriMo novel, I just got a new art commission that I will need to start on ASAP. The work just never stops!