As the Meet and Greet approaches (details will be out soon), I wondered how different wrimos prepare for noveling.
Skipping the ML part of the prep work, I always start off with my characters and a sketchy story arc. My writing is heavily character-driven, so learning my characters, their motivations, etc., often determines where my story goes. I've never been able to get into using the index card method to organize my thoughts -- for that matter, I can't write a decent outline to save my life, either. So my entire manuscript consists of hitting events I've thought up (and occasionally written-down) and connecting the dots. The other bit of structure I add is a calendar. I decide when my story is taking place, and when those disparate events I want to include happen, so that I can do my best to keep things internally consistent.
Technologically, I format a thumbdrive specifically for NaNoWriMo-related items. These include:
* My novel, of course. I work on it on my work computer during slow periods of the day, and having the file on a thumbdrive makes that much easier. (It also makes it easier to print it out at the end of the event -- a satisfying activity.)
* Novel notes (such as they are)
* A word count chart in MS Excel. It tracks my daily word count, gives me revised daily word count goals to make it to 50k, etc. I've kept the data from the past four events on it, which comes in handy on those zero-word count days when I feel bad, and go back to discover that I had four or five of them in one year once and still finished the farposhketeh novel.
I also set up a routine to back up my files to an external hard disk drive, and keep the main copies on the hard drives on my computer.
So what do you do?
----------
Travis (tkphotog)
Official Photographer and Control Freak
Municipal Liaison (with Anna/QueenOfTheUniverse)
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
22,025 / 50,000
oct. 10, 2008 - 17 16
Not ... much, if anything.
There have been all these posts on my LJ friends list about planning and outlining and practicing and I don't do any of it. I've kinda thought up a few ideas, but last year I came up with something about three days before November and went with that ... and had a blast, so go figure.
I used to attempt to outline, but the two times I've planned, plotted or otherwise prepared I've failed, and the two times I haven't done any prep work, I won, so ...
Uhm.
eta: No, I looked on my LJ ... I decided what I was going to write on Halloween.
/is a bad example
----------just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake ♥
50,250 / 50,000
oct. 11, 2008 - 14 53
Last year, I sort of figured out the basics of my characters, and the more I began to think about things, the more notes I kept about side characters, names of places, and other things I might need to remember (if someone's a blonde girl or actually a guy, for instance. Or maybe a puppy).
This year, I'm tackling a project I've been putting together in notes for some time now, so I have to transfer all the handwritten stuff to my computer to keep it all together. I sort of write the way I fly: by the seat of my pants.
.....and I just gave myself a personal motto....
-----------Tom-
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~ Groucho Marx
I write like I fly: by the seat of my pants.
51,811 / 50,000
oct. 11, 2008 - 15 02
This year, I'm tackling a project I've been putting together in notes for some time now, so I have to transfer all the handwritten stuff to my computer to keep it all together. I sort of write the way I fly: by the seat of my pants.
.....and I just gave myself a personal motto....
Flying by the seat of your pants is fine, so long as you don't lower your flaps for landing in public. :-)
Cheers,
----------Travis (tkphotog)
------
Municipal Liaison, Official Photographer, and Control Freak
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
Travis (tkphotog)
Official Photographer and Control Freak
Municipal Liaison (with Anna/QueenOfTheUniverse)
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
63,425 / 50,000
oct. 11, 2008 - 16 49
Hahaha as you well know Travis , last year was debacle-land for me. The 18,000 word day will NOT be making a repeat appearance. I'm STILL finding stuff that makes no sense (In one chapter, Mel and Lucky are from Minneapolis. In another, Austin! Whatever. They move a lot I guess. Whatever, it's almost all cleaned up!)
Last year, it was November 4th, and Ed (husband) and I were grouching at each other for some reason, and my head went back to the time before the wedding when I was having a bridezilla day and I said "I'm either walking down the aisle or getting on a plane, and it's your choice!" Well... I obviously took door 1 in reality, but I wrote a whole book out of door 2. Fabulous! But a horrible mess logistically.
I already have my plot, most of the big twists and surprises, and the ending to this year's project in my head, so it's a lot more sturdy that last year's plan of "Stick a girl on a plane and see what the hell happens." Because that ends with it being the middle of September the following year before you write that one sticky chapter you couldn't tie together from all the other pieces.
So this year, I have a spare bedroom in which to wage war on my wordcount, and I will be doing the traditional outline method on a 4x4 corkboard:
Bios of all MC's at the top of the corkboard
1 index card per Chapter with:
Who is in the Chapter
What happens in the Chapter
What it connects to in previous chapters
What it is setting up in coming chapters
My storyline this year is a lot more complex, as it alternates between the discovery of a clue to a mystery in the present, and the sixty year old love-story that unfolds as more clues are found. So I need to have a plan, or it's just going to be my MC jumping around in past and present like Quantum Leap, only no squealing handheld or holographic best friend.
So, space to write, major plot points, index cards, and enough caffeine to give a bull elephant a heart murmur. That should do it.
I'll stick a few pictures up on my flicker of the writing room as it comes into shape!!
20 days!
Belynda
----------Per ardua ad astra
Nano 2007 :: Crossing Clouds :: 50,146/50,000 (Read "Clouds" http://snurl.com/4sbu6 on Authonomy.com. Read. Vote. Beat the Slush!)
Nano 2008 :: The Somerset Prints :: 0/50,000 (Chomping at the bit)
50,476 / 50,000
oct. 11, 2008 - 18 05
Mrs. C... I like the info you add to your cards... I need to remember to add that to mine too.
I've got a relatively simple system of index cards I keep in a blue box I got from Staples. (it even has a lock on it!). I keep my index cards color coded. And what I mean is this... I buy the plain blank, white cards. (I don't know why, since I hate unlined paper, but unlined index cards are apparently ok, and even better than the lined... probably cause I can fit more on one. But who knows.) I've got a bunch of markers, to mark each card with. A big colored circle goes in the top left corner of each card. Yellow: character cards, Red: place/ location cards, Blue: plot/scene cards, Green: random/general information, Pink: whatever section I need for a specific novel, for example, my current novel includes exotic made-up plants, so the pink cards contain information about each plant I created. In a past novel the pink cards were a list of made-up books my characters were reading.
----------It's as simple as that. However, I'm debating typing all that into my computer, so I have one less thing to lug around with me. If I do that, I'll just use plain bullet points in my favorite word processor known as Word Perfect. (Nothing else I've ever used beats it, and Mirco Word just annoys the heck out of me.) The bullet points would be used for plotting. Everything else might just go in boxes, so to keep each character's info separate from each other and such. But I might just stick with the cards. We'll see.
---
Queen Anna
Queen of EdMo
www.nanoedmo.net
Boston co-ML with Travis
63,425 / 50,000
oct. 11, 2008 - 20 10
I love the idea of the pink card section! One of the challenges of my last novel was that it was set in Sevenoaks, Kent, UK, and because it's a part of England I've never visited, I found myself going "I need a restaurant/park/hospital" and going online and researching for actual places in and around town that would suit the purpose. There were also marriage/parentage issues that required a disgusting amount of research to make it "real world friendly". This was a HUGE timekiller during Nano, so this year I definitely want to research my locations and any particular things in advance, so I can pluck them when I need them. Whee! Thanks for the idea on color-coding!
Books and music played in heavily last year as well (I've never listened to Sgt. Pepper's so much in my life!). My characters were subjected to reading whatever I happened to be reading, I never thought of "user-created" books and music!! My protagonist this year is an author, so I'll be picking your brain for help with fake book names ;) Maybe one of your characters could be reading something my character wrote? LOL! The plant idea was very cool too! Did you get wild and sketch them out?
As far as saving the manuscript, my nutty idea was to write different sections in different fonts (in one giant document. File that under "seemed like a good idea at the time") so I could scroll around and find what I was working on. For being a total disaster it worked surprisingly well! Although, now I'm trying to chapter everything out and get it cleaned up to let people read it (Yeeep!) and It's like "Oh. Damn. I need to find their first date! :::::: zink zink zink zink ::::::: Copperplate! Got it!" Sigh. Made hubby's eyes cross. This year, definitely separate files for separate chapters, all backed up onto my external drive. I love that little thing!!
----------Per ardua ad astra
Nano 2007 :: Crossing Clouds :: 50,146/50,000 (Read "Clouds" http://snurl.com/4sbu6 on Authonomy.com. Read. Vote. Beat the Slush!)
Nano 2008 :: The Somerset Prints :: 0/50,000 (Chomping at the bit)
50,029 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2008 - 07 58
Well, this is really the first time I planned anything in preparation for November. Usually I’m like “Won’t it be fun to sit down and sob on my keyboard for thirty days as I pull a plot-shaped something or other out of my butt crack?” and that’s great, but it usually doesn’t get me anywhere I’m especially proud of. The few people who were present for my ‘breakdown at Ben and Jerry’s’ will recall that I don’t handle being stuck very well, especially in time-sensitive scenarios such as Nano. That was kind of a train wreck -a train wreck that lead to werewolves, but a train wreck all the same.
This year I decided I wanted to pull my inspiration from a bit of writing I’ve done and enjoyed in the past. I wrote out a character sheet on my prospective main character to see if she worked – her history and background blurb turned into something like an outline. With help from experts on the forum (who I had to track down MYSELF, darnit! Why would they take away the expert listing? It was my favorite!), I turned that outline into something a little bit more 3D. Now I have four walls built – November will be for putting up a roof, furnishing the rooms, adding some paint, and planting a garden if I have time.
Recently I’ve just been gathering information (AKA stalking experts and practicing my google fu) and making a few lists. I’ve spent a bit of time trying to develop my more minor characters to the point of humanity, since last year I had crazy issues with some characters being more flat and boring than others. I’ve been calling a particular group of characters “the cohort” and I’ve been enjoying perusing the quirks forum to add little things to them that make them more fun – and then justifying why those quirks exist.
I’m really excited about this index cards system, though! My friend donated some cards to me yesterday, and we found a card box (nothing fancy with a lock, though), so I’m planning on starting some kind of system. Right now I have stuff on paper all over the place, so having one place where everything is would be AWESOME. Also, that way I could carry it around with me like a security item and comfort myself with its contents when I’m not able to be actively writing.
Meanwhile I still have no clue where I want to start OR where exactly I’d like to end up – or what point of view I’d like to write from. It seems that planning will only get me so far!
----------Nano 2008: Hot Pink Chameleon
A story about some people doing some stuff!
(Hey, that's more than I had last year at this time!)
63,425 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2008 - 19 02
Haha Veela, I am very familiar with that feeling :) Ever since I did Nano last year, I carry around my laptop strapped to my back everywhere I go as thought it were a 2-year-old at a Leche League conference. The most expensive personal apparel/accessory I own is my timbuk2 messenger bag to lug it in. It's ridiculous, but I don't care. It makes me feel better, so poop on conventionality I say!
Here's the thing. Even if I am stuck as all get out, I can scroll through what I've worked on, fiddle with character descriptions, and it turns that frown upside down. Plus I can write/edit wherever I go; train to Boston, 10-minute break during class, in my car during lunch (it's that bad). The cards box will have much the same magical power to soothe and inspire.
Best of luck and flying fingers!
Belynda
Per ardua ad astra
----------Nano 2007 :: Crossing Clouds :: 50,146/50,000 (Yay!)
Nano 2008 :: The Somerset Prints :: 0/50,000 (Chomping at the bit)
Per ardua ad astra
Nano 2007 :: Crossing Clouds :: 50,146/50,000 (Read "Clouds" http://snurl.com/4sbu6 on Authonomy.com. Read. Vote. Beat the Slush!)
Nano 2008 :: The Somerset Prints :: 0/50,000 (Chomping at the bit)
50,032 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2008 - 20 41
Wow, you people are so organized. I don't do anything nearly that methodical.
Usually I have some sort of vague NaNo idea in my head about a month or two ahead of time. I brainstorm it, discuss it with noveling friends, hash things out on the forums, etc. I start a WordPad file and just chuck everything in there as I think of it. By the time November starts, the file will usually contain a few embryonic plot summaries, character biographies, title ideas, suggestions people gave me on the forums, and a plot bunny or five. Sometimes it's amusing to go back and look at my original summaries and see "Oh, yeah, that character started out as a man... then became a woman who dressed as a man... then got cut from the plot..."
I also have an all-purpose name file on my computer with lists of names I like. This year, since my characters all have Italian names, I have separate name lists (first and surname) in my 2008 file.
----------2005--Deathspell: winner, and a disgrace to novelkind
2006--Out of Luck: winner, and still my favorite
2007--Ladies of the Court: winner at over 52k, with my most cohesive plot so far
2008--Teatro: we'll see!
50,029 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2008 - 21 46
Oh goodness! I am SO horrible with the separation anxiety! Two years ago, when I was still in high school, I carried my flash drive with me EVERYWHERE during school hours because I was so paranoid about somehow being separated from my novel. I had it on two separate flash drives on two lanyards which I kept on me at all times. I just sort of stroked them like a paranoid freak all day - until creative writing class, naturally, when I had a few friends who were either noveling or knew about nano (and lunch, when I'd go into the library and get on the computers and either write or edit for a while to ease my mind). It was so ridiculous, and I KNEW it was ridiculous, but I couldn't help myself. I'm the same way with new books - even books I've borrowed from the library- they need to be on my person and/or in my sight at all times or I get awkward and anxious and can't function.
I'm not the type of person who could deal with having a laptop on me at all times, so this box option is AMAZING... especially because I don't own any flash drives this year!
No school tomorrow - with any luck I'll have the box up and running by the end of the day!
Haha Veela, I am very familiar with that feeling :) Ever since I did Nano last year, I carry around my laptop strapped to my back everywhere I go as thought it were a 2-year-old at a Leche League conference. The most expensive personal apparel/accessory I own is my timbuk2 messenger bag to lug it in. It's ridiculous, but I don't care. It makes me feel better, so poop on conventionality I say!
----------\/quote]
I don't enjoy writing. I enjoy having written.
Nano 2008: Hot Pink Chameleon
A story about some people doing some stuff!
(Hey, that's more than I had last year at this time!)
15,898 / 50,000
oct. 13, 2008 - 07 27
This is the first year I'm indulging in any serious plot-planning... the previous two years I've sort of just run with it, and it hasn't been very satisfying. I'm a very wordy and verbose sort of person, so I'm able with relative ease to finish 50,000 words without nearly finishing the story. This year I'm using the Davis Square plot-party to try and actually get a coherent story arc to contain myself to. It should be fun...
As for keeping track of characters, I usually resort to index cards later in the tale when logistics get messy, but for the pre-writing stage I just write blurbs and article-sized things about them and keep them in a list on my computer. I tend to group them by subdivisions -- People in MC's Office, People MC Doesn't Like, Potential Love Interests -- and so forth. My goal this year is to get more character-driven and less plotty, so we'll see how that goes.
Oh -- and my other gearing-up strategy? Buy an embarassing amount of candy, microwaveable popcorn, and Wintergreen tic-tacs. With my treats, I'm a lean, mean, noveling machine. :D
51,811 / 50,000
oct. 13, 2008 - 07 53
With that kind of strategy, I'd be anything but lean. LOL!
Travis (tkphotog)
----------Municipal Liaison, Official Photographer, and Control Freak
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
Travis (tkphotog)
Official Photographer and Control Freak
Municipal Liaison (with Anna/QueenOfTheUniverse)
United States :: Massachusetts :: Boston
50,085 / 50,000
oct. 13, 2008 - 17 36
This year, I've got:
- my iPhone with WriteRoom downloaded
- my laptop
- 5 pages of notes already, including a plot outline (loose, but divided into chunks of 2,000 words each - my goal is that on a normal day I'll finish a chunk)
As far as I'm concerned, that's all I'll need, except for my local café (yes, I have one of those punch cards where you get a free coffee every 10th time or whatever!)
----------2008: Once Bitten
63,425 / 50,000
oct. 20, 2008 - 08 18
Wow on the subject of planning and notes and things? I just read through my character developments from last year, and immediately thought to myself "Who the heck are THESE people, because they're not in my book!" LOL!
Hooray for outdated info. It's sort of like looking at old photo albums in a way.
----------Per ardua ad astra
Nano 2007 :: Crossing Clouds :: 50,146/50,000 (Read "Clouds" http://snurl.com/4sbu6 on Authonomy.com. Read. Vote. Beat the Slush!)
Nano 2008 :: The Somerset Prints :: 0/50,000 (Chomping at the bit)