Hi.
Amy here. Not sure why my caption still reads Syracuse. I am in Philly. I guess this just reinforces that you can't always believe what you read. . .
[Hey, it's been fixed.]
Anyway, I am your other ML for the Philadelphia area. I met a few of you last year, then proceeded to fall off the face of the earth. My apologies. Gravity just isn't what it should be some months.
So, here we are at d minus 26 days and counting.
Are you training? Are you ramping up your caffeine intake so that that first 2-pot coffee day/night doesn't compel you to go streaking through the neighborhood at 3am trying to outrun the bees in your bonnet and the ants in your pants? Are you double-brewing your herbal teas so that the first time you need that 4th cup of lemon zinger, your significant other doesn't have to pry you loose from the ceiling fan as you circle round and round and round? Are you doing some extra finger crunches, working out your fingers so that on the 24th day you don't suffer debilitating pinky cramps and the letters p, q, a, z and the capitals and semicolons, colons, commas, etc. don't fall right out of your novel of awesomeness (think grand canyon awesome, not surfer-dude awesome)?
Are you staring off into space at work, preparing for the necessary daydreaming/creative writing that must occur when you are away from your novel? Just think people, one day we could rival March Madness for the hours lost to obsessing about things not in our work contracts. Dream Big, folks.
These are just a few of the things I may or may not be doing currently in preparation for November.
How about you?
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11,479 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 09 05
Hi Amy,
LOL to most of what you wrote. Because it is so true. and Funny.
I have already stated my outline (started today.) and researching what ever I missed before. I will be working on the plot outline and character motivation and defining each role they will play. I had hoped to try and make sure that I keep the wip medium length. the entire story would be too big for one book.
I will also be closing down my facebook account and other group accounts I belong too (no distractions) LOL... Others should consider it too. Just a thought.
----------Michelle Curet-Caporiccio
11,479 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 09 06
Hi Amy,
LOL to most of what you wrote. Because it is so true. and Funny.
I have already stated my outline (started today.) and researching what ever I missed before. I will be working on the plot outline and character motivation and defining each role they will play. I had hoped to try and make sure that I keep the wip medium length. the entire story would be too big for one book.
I will also be closing down my facebook account and other group accounts I belong too (no distractions) LOL... Others should consider it too. Just a thought. I have been setting up my schedule for the next two months and having my writing group partners help with the moderating during the month of November.
Michelle C
----------Michelle Curet-Caporiccio
17,008 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 18 44
I am planning, semi-outlining, and gearing to go. I'm doing a story of two characters who use the dares thread (I took a bunch of dares from last years forums) and I have different colored paper with the dare at the top, then I outline a little story for it.
That way I can just go in and start writing different ones, and if I get stuck on one I can move onto another.
I'm planning pretty well this year. I've got a weekend at a convention in Boston this November so I'm losing 5 days of writing.
Nicole
50,272 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 23 40
Wow! I just love those ideas for preparing for November. If the event doesn't drive me stark raving bonkers, I might actually manage to get something done on this, my first try. I have a story idea, a few characters dreamed up, so I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Should be fun!
----------I write, therefore, I have fun! ^_^
89,800 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 06 37
lots and lots of planning going on for me ... finished my outline and then started another one!! (can someone say i'm bored at work?)
----------2008 - The Silent Treatmet - WIN!
2009 - Awake - outline finished ... we'll see!!
39,536 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 08 05
i'm preparing by thinking about how i'm supposed to be planning and preparing and doing nothing instead.
so i'd say the usual.
11,479 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 16 51
You’re bored at work!!.... I wish I could be too. But at least I am moving faster. So I can get done on time so I can get home to my notebooks and computer.
----------Michelle Curet-Caporiccio
22,042 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 18 23
i'm planning how to spend the six-figure advance i'm sure to get from this genius work of literature.
YES THIS IS A JOKE JEEZ COME ON YOU GUYS.
----------"the difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
- mark twain
43,417 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 20 44
I'm collecting snippets of dialog, character, and situations on notepads. Little scenes pop while I've been sitting on the screen porch, reading or otherwise enjoying the open air. I jot the scenes down, too.
----------No idea if they have *anything* to do with whatever's going to flow in November, but it helps me figure out who the two lead characters are.
I'm also collecting bears.
Long time ago, I read a quick how-to by an author named Dick Perry.
I remember two things from that book:
1) "toot ta dooo!" A really annoying sound he dropped into his narrative once in a while. I have yet to figure out what to do with this.
2) "Put a bear in the canoe." As in, 'When all else fails, and your protagonists are drifting, your story is stalled....put a bear in the canoe and write about what happens next.' "
Random is good.
www.house-of-jorob.com
35,085 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 03 22
Outlining, character and world building, mostly. I've written a synopsis, I'm hoping it's enough plot to sustain the novel.
----------42,101 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 04 51
Reading.
Daydreaming about loves found and lost and imagined. Inventing people I'd like to be for a day. Coming up with a one sentence synopsis, and then a one paragraph synopsis and then more, and then starting over. Wondering who will play me and how far I will go.
We don't have to declare our major until the 30th.
Clearing the decks of November and asking for spousal support: can you cook, pay the bills and go to the party without me? I'll still take out the trash. Don't wait up.
Setting boundaries at work: No, I cannot work late; yes, I'll be leaving at five; why of course I'll accept a 25% raise.
Yoga. Must remind the body that it is alive and passionate and full of fire, especially after the tenth asana in an 86 degree room. Firing the body increase the stamina of the mind.
Art. Throwing open picture books from the renaissance and scanning about for my Romeo and my Juliet; searching for heaven and hell.
Or, at least I'm imagining doing all of these things. I'll be at Enso tomorrow for yoga.
----------Leaves of the Body -- A journey through desire, boundaries and New England.
39,261 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 08 47
That reminds me. I need to warn my scrabble partners that words may not exactly happen in that context and to not feel bad if they force those games into forfeits. Indeed, on one of those games, a forfeit may be the only way to save face. And, farmtown, oh farmtown. I think I'm just going to pretend it's winter and not plant anything and let the flowers wither....
39,261 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 08 49
Hey. I want in on this 6 figure advance. With my luck, they'd probably be a square, triangle, circle, rectangle, octagon and rhombus, definitely a rhombus.
22,042 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 11 46
ba-ZING!
----------"the difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
- mark twain
11,129 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 16 30
Not much actual preparation for me, I'm mostly trying to get ahead in my classwork so I'll have a little more time. I'll try to get an inspirational playlist set up, get some pictures up around my desk, and read some good books if I have time.
1,559 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 07 40
Well considering I am writing a story that I just came up with and know nothing about plot-wise I made a banner. It actually ave me some ideas and some new stuff to use in the plot.
----------0 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 21 21
I'm occasionally beating myself up over not having started an actual outline yet. I know the basic idea of my plot, as convoluted as it is, but I don't really know where it goes -- and I'm explicitly planning on not having an outline for the entire second half. We'll see how well that goes.
----------"I never thought much of the courage of a lion-tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people." ~ George Bernard Shaw
50,086 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 02 41
I have a ton of mental notes and a very, very, rough outline. I also have a notebook full of stuff I adopted in the adoptable threads, all ripe for the using.
I've also stockpiled a truckload of chocolate in my study. Got to keep the hyper up.
25,751 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 11 29
You're better off than I am! I've got nothing except a brief conversation snippet I overheard the other day when I went to get Chik-FIl-A for lunch! And that's it!! On the up side, I went to Borders last night and picked up Baty's "No Plot? No Problem!" for some inspiration!!!
----------"Paint. That's the magic word. Paint pictures with words. That's the greatest advice I can give anybody. Paint the pictures with words. The picture will appear in the imagination so the person reading it can say, ‘I can see that.’"
– Brian Jacques
6,888 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 19 39
I am spending most of my time being scared and anxious. I try to devise ideas that I think will develop into great stories, but they seem to fizzle. I am hoping I will have inspiration when I need it most. Oh, and of course I am reading.
----------Janine
11,479 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 19 54
Michelle Curet-Caporiccio
"Oh" I know how that is. I was feeling the same way (scared and anxious,) Then I just started hand writing the plot out line . And before you know it , I have the entire book plotted . Now all I have to do is type it up. LOL.
Good luck
----------Michelle Curet-Caporiccio
39,261 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 02 45
I forget who said it, but one way around writer's block or that scared/anxious feeling is to lower your standards. Take some pressure off yourself. Tie up your inner editor or send her on vacation. Outlines... maybe you won't need one.
These days, as time ticks down, I'm reading like a mad woman. For writing practice, I'm picking random objects and writing a paragraph about them. Sometimes I do this once a day, sometimes twice. Sometimes I do this in the car as I'm commuting and the paragraph never gets typed. Mostly, I'm just working on putting one word after another after another after another until I have a sentence or a run-on sentence or a paragraph of run-on sentences.
Random object for this morning's commute: my green pen that just ran out of ink.
50,086 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2009 - 11 21
These days, as time ticks down, I'm reading like a mad woman. For writing practice, I'm picking random objects and writing a paragraph about them. Sometimes I do this once a day, sometimes twice. Sometimes I do this in the car as I'm commuting and the paragraph never gets typed. Mostly, I'm just working on putting one word after another after another after another until I have a sentence or a run-on sentence or a paragraph of run-on sentences.
Random object for this morning's commute: my green pen that just ran out of ink.
I love this idea, totally borrowing it. Now, what can I write about a scary looking stuffed monkey doll?
460 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2009 - 12 09
How am I preparing? I've got 2 different novels to decide between, and in overkill, I have a plot, an outline, character bios, phrases and research for each one. I'm obviously masochistic. Now if I could just decide which to write.
Seriously, I'm prepping by writing fanfiction, to get my brain in gear. Laying in tea and coffee. Trying to get as much work done beforehand on other things, so I can have time to write. The real issue will be that I'm also job-searching for a better position, and I have to put that first, so Nano may suffer this year . . . unless I find that perfect, well-paying job beforehand!
----------32,453 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 11 06
I think I'm plunging in without much preparation. The more research I do the more I realize I don't know about my historical period. Making a whole bunch of history notes will take me back to the unpleasant memory of the Great American Novel I researched to death and never wrote. I want to be casual and nonchalant with research for this Nano!
----------~~Ida Wells-Barnett, a woman for all seasons - and, of course, a writer
45,000 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 19 07
I'm using Victoria Lynn Schmidt's, "Book in a Month." I began using it last year but didn't start filling in the worksheets early enough and had to abandon it and just keep plugging without really knowing where I was going. I won but my story never got finished. This year I'm doing fan fic so the characters are set for me. I need a better title but I've uploaded an image and a blurb. I plan to start looking at your nano author home pages to see what you are working on; so, I hope you've put something up. Have you seen the "book trailer" on the sites front page? I've never tried to use movie maker (I'm not sure I could put Potter images on utube with a book trailer without copyright infringement) but it would be a great project and too bad we couldn't post them on the site here. But, regardless of putting it out in public, I think the process would be helpful. It helped me to think about how I'd do one to pull together the "synopsis on my home page (such as it is). I just wanted to title it Aftermath...because I want to do a bunch of short stories (sub plots) within the main story to tie up all the loose ends and questions I was left with when J. K. Rowling finished her series. Of course she plans the Scottish book (encyclopedia) but I see no reason to wait for that to get the itch to know out of my system.
50,272 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 01 05
A few days ago, I bought a notebook (the paper kind), sat down in a quiet place at home with the NaNoWriMo book and got down to work prepping for the blessed event to come. I currently have a semi-fleshed out story idea I think I can squeeze 50,000 words out of, though I suspect I'll have to beat it with a mental whip every now and then. Ahh, the challenge! Should be fun!
----------I write, therefore, I have fun! ^_^
50,272 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 01 11
I don't know if I've already mentioned or asked this (I kinda get absentminded at times), but I'm thinking about investing in either a netbook, a standard laptop or an Alphasmart Neo for out of house writing. Can anyone provide info on what works best for them? I'd be grateful!
----------I write, therefore, I have fun! ^_^
14,245 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 08 20
I'm reading Steve Lopez's novel "Third and Indiana" located in Philadelphia. My style is much different, but his novel gives me feel for the city. Also , I've collected a stack of books on Philly. Thinking about jotting notes, but my style is more - just jump in and go.................Maggie
----------I wouldn't be here if I wasn't stubborn.
0 / 50,000
Oct 22, 2009 - 13 49
Well, lets see...
I spent the beginning working on character names, descriptions, and personalities, so I'm pretty much done with that. Since my story revolves around the genetic experimentation on humans, so i tried to do some scientific research.... But I only got into the bare surface of it, so I think I'm going to dump my idea of switching to the doctor's pov and just stick with the main character. Other than that, I'm working on drawing up the cover of my book and trying to figure out the sequence of events xD
I am dazing off into space during class, at times :p But I'm not preparing coffee because I don't drink coffee *LE GASP!*