Heyyyyyy college students (particularly Bridgewater State, but whatever you are)

Hey Sam

I graduated in May (can you hear me sobbing and whimpering? I miss college!!!), but for the last three years I managed a full course load at Loyola Chicago, was editor of their literary magazine (and, in fact, one year had a HUGE PR scandal bust open early in November), and worked part time. All three years I won and for at least the last two, I broke 70K.

Seriously? Use this: http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

Also, substance abuse can be good for word counts. Hrm.

Best of luck!!! I swear, it can be done!

-Bre
The 8th year of madness. That's the best one... right?

I'm in my third year at MIT and my fifth year of NaNo, and so far my winning streak is unbroken! I may not be getting a whole lot of sleep in November, but that doesn't actually set it apart from the rest of the year.

2005: Deathspell
2006: Out of Luck
2007: Ladies of the Court
2008: Teatro
2009: untitled

Sam.... it's easy... a piece of cake. My first year doing Wrimo was my senior year of college. I won, finished early is a matter of fact. Then, the following two years I spent at another college getting a Master's degree, and I still managed to do Wrimo and win. Easy. lol. Of course, let's be honest, I hate studying, and pretty much didn't do it. And unless the text book was interesting... I spent my time writing anyway. If I'm not working I'm writing, so I guess that takes the guess work out of how I won during college. lol.

I'd offer you some good luck this month, but I know you don't need it. Just keep writing!

---
Queen Anna
Queen of EdMo
www.nanoedmo.net
Boston co-ML with Travis

hey I'm Molly, I go to college in Salem. I hope I can finish this, it's basically my month goal, and seems impossible right now haha. Anyone have tips for college students in particular?

I won in 20 days my senior year of the undergraduate degree, which was my first NaNo, while taking a creative writing class and writing intensive lit classes. Last year I failed miserably during my first semester of grad school, mostly because I had a job that made me constantly ill and I was still adjusting after moving to Boston. Actually, the crappy job not letting me get to write-ins was probably the deciding factor. I get a lot done at write-ins.

This year I'm confident I'll win. I'm taking a graduate level writing workshop, I'm a full time grad student, and I have a job, but I'm writing like crazy on the weekends and getting everything done. Organization, discipline, and attending write-ins does wonders :) If you figure out a plan and stick to it, reward yourself for goals met, and just keep going, NaNo is very possible during college.

"I never thought much of the courage of a lion tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people" -G.B. Shaw

This is my first year doing NaNo so I can't say much, but I am currently a sophomore at Northeastern University and was also worried about being able to fit NaNo into my schedule. With class, work, two student groups, and an honor society, I'm still over two full days ahead of schedule so far for NaNo.

I guess it depends on the person, but if you enjoy writing and have at least a vague idea of what you're going to write, you should do just fine =) And even if you don't, the point is to have fun, not necessarily finish the 50,000 words. Though it's a great accomplishment nonetheless, having fun is more important.

Oh, and doing homework. That's important, too.

Why... Yes... I DO wear blue socks...

Well, I've never won and i'll blame that on me being a dedicated college student who NEEDS to study over NEEDS to get 50k. ;)

1. If you love sprints and have a lot of writing-intensive homework: rotate your NaNo and your homework over sprints. You don't know HOW much this has made essays bearable for me and made me want to write when i'm exhausted! (like today)

2. time your writing speed in 15 min... most people can get a fairly decent amount of words in 15 minutes. And a few words is better than no words.

3. USE your class breaks! Even 5 minutes will give you a few words.

4. Have a notebook/notecard/scrap-paper handy on trips to doctors, dentists, flu shot clinics, a local pharmacy, transit trips... anywhere you're waiting for a decent amount of time can be used for writing time.

... and be on the look out for my topic tomorrow because i'm gonna gather together resources for busy-folks(like some awesome chatrooms) and asking if anyone would be interested in a boston-specific online-write-in day! [I am writing during the time write-ins go on, as i can't attend write-ins because apparently life hates letting me GO to them--and i thought i'd be able to this year :( ]

Dreamers United:: Emmy:: brides_koneko
Rebelesque Daredevils
NaNoWriMo Master Post: http://dreamwriteremmy.livejournal.com/32006.html
Official Word Count: 903
Unofficial Word Count: n/a

I'm also a first-timer for NaNoWriMo and a sophomore at Brandeis University, so I have to say the advice is appreciated.

The two major research papers that I have right now are kind of suffering, and combining that with extracurricular activities (that are demanding practically every single free hour on the weekends) is going to make for an interesting month. Although frankly, for me the hard part is going to be remembering that I do have to put the schoolwork over the novel, since I'm doing just fine on the novel's word count.

*sigh* I'll make it through somehow, I'm sure. Don't know quite how yet, but I have a month to figure it all out. (Less this last week, of course.)

NaNoWriMo '09 - Stories of Sokuni: Starlight Rising

Well fancy that! I'm also a first time NaNo-er, and a sophmore at Northeastern University.

So far this is what my game plan has been- when you DO have the time, build up a buffer for your word count. Like, one or two days if you can. I know that certain days I just won't have time for it, like if I have and exam coming up (like right now, ugh) then I'll still be okay on my word count. Also, another trick I use: after i finish one scene and have to go to class, I take a notebook and think about what could happen next, or how to work the upcoming scene when my mind drifts during a lecture. Which it would do from time to time either way, but this way my day dreaming becomes a productive thought process.

Also, I've developed a very, very late bed time recently. I don't know how much I'd recommend that one though.

Hm, this sounds like my current semester to a T. Surviving so far...

I'm a grad student, and so far it's going well, but this is probably because writing this has basically been my reprieve from all that pesky school work I don't feel like doing, and has replaced a lot of my reading and studying. hrm...

Angela

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." - Sylvia Plath

Angela

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." - Sylvia Plath

I'm in my sophomore year at Suffolk (or sophomore and a half... long story) but I'm pulling it off so far, perhaps because most of my course work this semester is reading rather than writing. I'm about halfway there as of right now, and I think I have a decent chance of pulling it off this year.