I thought it might be cool if we had one post where we could ask each other whatever questions that come to mind. It could be anything like needing help with a character name or you might get stuck with a plot point, whatever.
My 1st piece of advice is BACKUP your writing, not only at the end but I suggest daily or at least weekly, burn it to a CD or thumbdrive or e-mail yourself and keep it in a folder.
A month after last year's Nano, my laptop caught a bad virus(thanks to my son for dowloading a song) and needless to say I lost my entire 2008 Nano novel.
Been trying to rewrite ever since but have suffered from writer's block, I know the whole story but when I sit down to write Chapter 1, I freeze, knowing it will never be the same, although that probably is a good thing. So save yourself this agony and please BACKUP often, you'll be happy you did. Good Luck!
----------
Word Mage
Winner:
2006 - Sewer Run
2007 - Grey Currents- Euranthya Book 1
2008 - Chronicles Of The Banished
11,863 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 02 35
I will second (and third, fourth & fifth) the suggestion to back up your work. Technology failures, accidental deletion of chapters, viruses, giant mosquitoes, whatever -- there's always something waiting to mess with your novel. So, this is excellet advice Word Mage!
Personally, I keep two backups on flash drives. I make the backup every couple of days and I email one to myself every week or so. Oh, and make a local backup even if you are using a web-based word processing tool like google docs or open office.
----------NaNo 2006(win): "Children of the Stars"
NaNo 2007(win): "Darkness Falls"
NaNo 2008(win): "Dark Storm Rising"
41,715 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 21 01
Do we need to continue to agree with backing up your NaNo? xD It's ESSENTIAL to NaNoWriMo, don't have just a single copy! I have actually lost the digital document of my 1st NaNo due to deleting it from my desktop and having my only copy on a CD-RW that then proceeded to stop working, though I do have a printed out copy somewhere back home. xD;
Other suggestions can be found just about anywhere on the nano forums:
--Lock your inner editor away, you won't need them.
--Word wars are your best friends.
Oh and share your NaNoisms, because that's always fun. xD;
----------NaNoBlog
My Twitter
58,637 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 12 42
All good advice so far. Mine is:
Find a way to write or take notes on the go. Get a travel-size notebook, a light laptop (or one you just don't care about), an Alphasmart, a digital voice recorder, iPod nano, texting device, whatever. There are hours of time wasted getting from here to there, or waiting for something to start. Maybe you don't have DVR and have to sit through commercials. All these 5-15min sessions are precious time you could be thinking about your novel or scribbling something down. And if you don't make a note, you'll probably forget it.
That's how I managed to win that one time. (Haven't tried seriously since, so, uh, the other fails don't count...) I got the oldest, crappiest Alphasmart eBay had, and it saved my wordcount. Write before class, write on the train, write while the spaghetti cooks. When you might reach for a book, reach for your writing tools instead.
----------2009: When She Fell
Progress and Chapters: http://thewordofgit.com/writing/nanowrimo
555 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 18 43
Hello everyone I am wordmage's son who he blames that I lost his wonderful story. THAT IS NOT TRUE WHATS SO EVER!!! But it is very important to always save your documets all the time even if you think you know everything. Oh and don't just save the icon (cough cough wordmage) because that is not saving your document.;)
0 / 50,000
Oct 17, 2009 - 19 30
Hey it's great to see some fellow people from North Brunswick representing!
15,141 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 14 26
Definitely agreed. This is especially useful for students (I'm in high school myself & I do this for all my novels). Either use a different notebook or reserve 20pages or so in the back of a notebook (so you can quickly flip to the classnotes when a teacher comes by x]). That way, you dont waste a good 6 hours or so during school.
Disclaimer: dont do this in classes that you arent so good in. I recommend it for those classes that you can easily ace even if you slept through it. or during lunch/study hall/etc.
&& of course: BACK UP
Jess Fong. Pyro.
----------"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand." ~George Orwell
33,267 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 18 44
I carry a digital voice recorder so when I'm driving I can "take notes." I come up with tons of phrases, ideas, and plot twists while I'm cruising the GSP.
Also, I keep a journal next to my bed with a bookmark where I can next write. Believe it or not, I'll roll over at 3am and write notes in the dark (don't want to wake my husband with a light- and I get some spill from the lights outside). I seem to come up with really cool plot twists, poems, names, and characters either when I'm falling asleep or waking up (or at 3am.) It is always amusing to read my notes the next morning- sometimes they are great, other times, not so good.
One of those notes from a dream is what developed into this year's outline. We'll see how it goes.
Capture those thoughts before they slip away and become bland!
----------If you let imagination go....
50,039 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 19 38
I agree with the notebook claim. My addition to that is count your words, even when you are handwriting. Write a few paragraphs (or a page if your notebook is small) and then count 'em up. Write the number in the margin and then keep going. That way you have incentive while you are writing a little bit to make the most of it. I found that it helps. It's just not as fun when you don't know how you're doing every second!
Then I suppose you run the risk of handwriting a lot and having to type it up, but there could be worse problems I guess.
7,014 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 16 23
Even though this is my first year doing this, my teacher gave me great advice. Always give an amount of time each day dedicated to writing. Just write whatever is one your mind, and eventually things will come. Even write when you hit a block, because what ever you write down could be turned into something useful.
----------Living the Dream.