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.
5 days ago
4 comments:
Knux, if you ever feel the need for new ML advice, you can always ask me. I'm Annalia on the website, and I started last year, so I remember that stress.
Also, I totally agree about Write-Ins. They motivate me so much my wordcount just flies through the roof. :)
I'm also available for ML advice :) "Becka" on the website (I tried to make it easy for everyone :P).
The one thing that everyone agrees on is that write-ins (lots of them!) are important. If you can't get to every area to host a write-in just let people know that "mini" write-ins are ok and that you can put them on the calendar. They can host them at whatever time and place works for them, there just won't be an official NaNo presence there (and therefore no stickers! which is what my Wrimos get for coming to official write-ins). Last year we ended up having mini write-ins in every area of our region, and my area kept meeting all year at the same time every week :) Which makes them ready and raring to go for NaNo this year!
My other suggestion is to take as much help as you can get. I've got about a dozen "minions" this year to help me out, and I'm not sure how I ever did this ML thing without them! They are indispensable!
Thanks, guys for the advice! Well the region I am is pretty small, so I'm not really expecting the turnout to be really crazy (though I might be surprised). I've been going around town asking venues like Barnes and Noble and other places to see if they might be inclined to allow us to do write-ins there. It's been difficult trying to find places that will allow us to do this, which is a shame since we're promoting something positive (literacy) to the community!
I definitely think scheduling lots of write-ins are important. My schedule is busy during the week, so I was going to try and do them on the weekends, but I was hoping there would be other MLs this year that would be around to be able to schedule write-ins on days I (or others) may not be able to make it. I guess we'll see what happens.
I don't bother asking places if the crowd isn't going to be that big. As long as everyone buys a coffee or bagel or whatever they have a right to be there for as long as they want. The only time I ask is if we are having a big party type event and I want to make sure there is room.
You could always have a non-ML do some of the weekday write-ins. Give them a pack of stickers and have them bring a timer for word-wars :)
Post a Comment