Tools of the Trade

I have an Alphasmart Dana that I have used for the last two NaNos. It is great for pounding out wordcount because I don't have to worry about formatting or even spell check. I hardly look at the screen. I just type. I shall probably trade it for a netbook eventually, but it works great for now.

Winner - 2006, 2007, 2008 as Orual

I end up getting using a different computer every NaNo, though I never set out to do it that way. The first year, I resurrected my five-year-old college laptop for the event.

After trying to work every day for a month on a computer that hadn't been out of the case in half a decade, I begged and pleaded with my family and managed to get a new laptop for my birthday. That was the computer I used for my second NaNo.

Then in October of last year, my husband decided it was time for him to upgrade to a laptop and the price on it was so great, we were able to afford a new laptop for me too. My third laptop, just in time for my third NaNo!

This year the finances are a little tight since I'm doing the full-time aspiring novelist thing right now and I was sure I'd be noveling on my Studio 15 again, breaking the tradition. But then last Sunday Kalayna graciously loaned me her Acer netbook until the end of November, so the streak holds!

I wonder what I'll be writing with next year...

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

I really like writing in a notebook with a nice, smooth pen, but my hands get worn out and I have to switch to a keyboard at some point...this year I'll be going back and forth from the computer at work, which is an ancient beast, to my husband's Macbook Pro [I'll be using GoogleDocs to transfer the story from one to the other w/out too many complications]. My Dell laptop desperately needs a power cord but I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet so I probably won't use it. :P

-Kate the Sape/Snapefan4life

"The day you do suss out what you want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones." - Spike

My first time doing nano, I used my work laptop (shhh...). Last year, I used a combination of my netbook and my regular laptop. I will probably do the same thing this year. My netbook is tiny and doesn't have a full size keyboard so its hard to type. Next netbook, I buy will have a full size keyboard.

Go Tigers!

I really like writing in my notebooks, but alas what I write in them rarely gets transferred to a typed form. When it does, its not the same as when I wrote it the first time, thus an inefficient practus for Nano. I am forced to use my computer. A dinosaur that I just realized I've had for five years now. Yeak! But maybe this year I'll get a computer just for Nano! You all got me thinking it might be a great thing to have around.

A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.
Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

I do the bulk of my writing on my laptop (I LOVE HER SO), but I also carry around a notebook with me so I can jot down any thoughts that come to mind. It's rare, but I will sometimes get all or most of a scene scribbled down that way, and then I can type it all up once I get home.

Euphemia (2008)
Heir of Solland (2009)
Need to waste some time this Nano? Check out Subeta!

I will be using a notebook and pen again, though last year I used a pencil and it was my downfall because I kept trying to erase and rewrite. So pen this year. I can't use a laptop because a majority of my writing will occer in class when I should be taking notes. =X
But I got a few nice pens and I should go get a new one, so I'll be set.

Fun Fact: Claiming NaNoWriMo as your religion and your writing desk, along with the buliding that houses it, a place of worship will not get you federal tax reductions.

NaNo 2008: To His Face-Fantastic FAIL (13k)
NaNo 2009: Blackjack-We shall see...

This year will be the first year I get to NaNo on my mini lappy. I love my Acer! That is, if I remember to upgrade to the full version of office before the 31st, when my word processor trial version is set to spontaneously combust expire. Muha.

I'm also fond of killing trees paper and I'm heavy handed with outlining in my notebook. It's hard to waste words when it takes more effort to pound them out in ink than by keyboard. I keep a small notebook in my purse at all times, a pen and a pencil handy. Never be unprepared when creativity strikes!

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. --Robert Louis Stevenson

StarStones: NaNo Novel 2007
Eyewitness: NaNo Novel 2008
Broken Spark: NaNo Novel 2009

You already know, but.. I feel like talking =P

I ordered an AlphaSmart 2000 for myself, since my laptop's charger is currently chewed beyond repair (thank you, puppies). Then I learned a valuable lesson. I'm very good at managing my money (by which I mean, I'm good at not allowing myself to go near eBay, because I'll buy it all on impulse). Unfortunately, this seems to be a laptop-specific skill, so when I started borrowing my boyfriend's computer...

Well. I bought a set of two AlphaSmarts. I mean, $11 plus shipping for TWO MORE. It would have been a crime not to bid. (Right? Right?) And then there was another one that was going for $2, and if no one is willing to pay more than that, they don't deserve to have it. So I, uhh, rescued it.

Currently, I'm going to use the as-yet-unnamed 3000 for Only Child. I've planned that novel to hell and back, so I'm confident writing out of order in it, or as confident as I'll ever be. I have a 2000 named Ipdi for everything else (file one: journal. File two: outline for Of Servitude and Silence. File three: temporarily, an English paper. File four: eventually outlining for Prophet's Bane. Files five and six: actual texts of oSaS and PB. File seven: quotes to remember. File eight: classwork, for quick switching-to if the professor walks behind me). I've loaned one 2000 to my friend Melanie for the duration of November, and the other to my boyfriend for note-taking in class.

And eventually, I'm going to get a power cord so I can upload all those lovely words and count them x_X

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

I used a laptop last year and am debating whether or not to use digital or un-digital this year. I have a hankering for the pen on paper experience again...

I also use index cards, and post-it notes as needed.

Trebuchet Club member
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It's the end of November and you're still twitching? Come over to www.ToBoldlyNano.com ; we've got what you crave.