How do you make it through November? Leave a post in this thread to help new and returning wrimos in getting through November.
For me, I need the following:
- A public place outside my apartment - At home I have a kitty, a television, and all sorts of other distractions.
- Wrimos with interesting name suggestions - Although I can write a novel, I apparently can't think of interesting character names. Several wrimos over the past two years have donated names that remain in my novels to this day (after many edits and rewrites).
- Caffeine - Well, duh.
- Music - I always write to some sort of soundtrack. For instance, when writing a battle scene, I like to listen to the Buffy series finale overture/score (Chosen) that was written specifically for that episode/scene.
Tell me about what helps you the most!
----------
Tim
Co-Municipal Liaison for
NaNoWriMo::Illinois::Chicago
52,055 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 10 52
Oh, yeah! My requirements are the same as yours. I make a playlist on iTunes specifically for songs that remind me of certain scenes or characters in my novel. I've found it helpful to keep me in the mood needed to write particular parts.
I also have my novel-writing kit from the NaNoWriMo store, which I used last year during NaNo and I plan on using it again this year.
This year, I'm also reading a "quirky" book or two to get me in the mood for November.
The biggest thing that helps me, though, is an understanding husband who doesn't mind if I hog up the computer for 99% of November. :o)
----------NaNo 2008: Heidi's List
NaNo 2007: Legacy (part one)
NaNo 2006: Looking for Carmen
NaNo 2005: (Untitled 100,000-word monsterpiece)
8,979 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 15 39
Thank you for these suggestions; they're very helpful.
I've been finding that I'm rather word limited when it comes to descriptions, so I've taken to keeping a thesaurus handy (a really big one!). I also keep two dictionaries handy (both are technically the same, but one is travel sized, and the other is a full-sized desk copy. I keep the travel size within very easy reach, and if I look something up in it and can't find it there, I immediately open up the drawer and drag out the full-sized one).
I've found this very useful as I am trying to get away from my dependency upon MS Word's spellcheck. I used to be a WONDERFUL speller, but since the invention of spellcheck, my spelling ability has become absolutely atrocious. So I now ignore spellcheck, and if it finds a word it doesn't recognize, I will look at it to ensure that it is in fact the way I want the word spelled, and if I have any doubts what-so-ever, I pull out the dictionaries.
Do any of you do this?
----------___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
52,055 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 16 35
I'm lucky that I'm a good-enough speller. I do use spellcheck, just to check for typos and stuff, but I avoid dictionaries. I am a wordaholic, and I know I'd spend more time thumbing through the dictionary than I would writing!
Plus I've found that being worried about spelling makes me worried about my novel in general, which throws me out of a writing mood. As long as nothing is spelled horribly wrong, I usually don't worry about it.
----------NaNo 2008: Heidi's List
NaNo 2007: Legacy (part one)
NaNo 2006: Looking for Carmen
NaNo 2005: (Untitled 100,000-word monsterpiece)
50,126 / 50,000
Okt 14, 2008 - 05 53
My requirements are actually rather similar to yours, Timm:
1) A place outside of the home that serves coffee and DOES NOT have internet, or at least has internet that I have to pay for. There's nothing worse when trying to churn out words than thinking "hm... I wonder what's going on on the NaNo forums? I wonder if I have any new email? Anything good on CNN?"
2) As you said, caffeine is a must. I want to do a scientific study to see if Venti Mocha Frappucinos from Starbucks make the words come out faster.
3) No re-reading what I already wrote! That's the only way I can keep my silly internal editor turned off.
4) If I'm stuck, I don't sit there and try to think what to write. I'll do a 3-sentence summary of what should have happened for the rest of the chapter and then start a new one from a different character's point of view.
5) I always try to keep in mind that my NaNo is for fun, not something I ever want to truly see the light of day, and it's *supposed* to suck ^_^
6) Oh, yes. Word Wars. (!!!!!) There's no motivation like wanting to beat another city/country into a bloody pulp.
----------2004 - My Last Knight - 20,000 Words
2005 - Cylunia - 50,124 Words - WINNER
2006 - Losing Lives - 80, 290 Words - WINNER
2007 - The Harvest - 68, 586 Words - WINNER
2008 - NaNo 1 was lost to a computer crash. NaNo 2 TBA.
63,520 / 50,000
Okt 14, 2008 - 07 32
Well we'll have the entirety of New Zealand to whoop on this year in terms of the word war =D
----------Tim
Co-Municipal Liaison for
NaNoWriMo::Illinois::Chicago
50,971 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2008 - 13 49
There are days when I need to be at home, on the computer, but it has to be late at night when there's poop on the teley. If I'm out and about, I have to have my typewriter (or, as I explain it to the children - a prehistoric laptop), plenty of paper, my mp3 player, and caffeine.
And warm food for feeding the brain. It's not a must, but it does help.
Audcat
----------"Don't let the muggles get you down." Ron Weasley
30,013 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2008 - 00 24
1) A semi-clean house. Then I can think with a clear mind? I know, weird.
2) A dog who does not need to be going outside every 10 minutes. Preferably, she's zonked out of the couch.
3) Coffee (morning), Coco a Cola (pm) , Popcorn (anything salty and crunchy) that keeps my fingers clean..
4) Mini-snicker Bars for when I'm stuck...
5) Ben and Jerry's for when I'm "majorly" stuck and wondering where the girls (muses) are..
6) My collage of my characters, staring at me expectantly going. waiting.....waiting....
7) New ream of paper and knowlege that the printer will not run out of ink
53,261 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2008 - 02 41
1) A behaving computer with Q10 or OpenOffice.org running (I discovered Q10 last year, it's great cuz it counts down and does a running word count and has NO editing tools whatsoever and doesn't even let you see the Windows Task Bar). Not sure if I'll be using Q10 this year tho, cuz I don't think there's a Linux version (which is what my newly resurrected laptop is running on)
2) Lots and lots of cold caffeine. Preferrably Dr. Pepper but Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, Mr. Pibb or in an extreme pinch, 7-Up will do.
3) No internet. I get too easily distracted by that. Which is why I am likely to never bother to put a wireless network card in my laptop. It's got a plug for an ethernet cord so I can get online at home to update the OS and OpenOffice.org but beyond that it's very easy to disconnect it and ignore the web.
4) Instrumental playlists. For some reason when I need to concentrate on language, like if I'm reading Tolkien or Shakespeare, or I'm writing, I need music without words. Luckily I've got a few instrumental playlists, with some good music. Stuff like the Doctor Who and Torchwood soundtracks, lots of TV theme songs, Star Wars soundtrack, other movie scores, etc. There's even a Queen song hidden in one of those playlists. Cuz just because it has to have no words whatsoever doesn't mean it has to put me to sleep ;)
5) Nibbles. Candy or cookies or Doritos (Cool Ranch please!) or other stuff that's easily eaten one handed. I'm a muncher when I spend hours on the computer...which is part of why finishing my midterm paper was so rough cuz you can't have food or drink in the school computer lab. Yuk.
----------http://knitchick1979.livejournal.com
8,979 / 50,000
Okt 20, 2008 - 19 48
OK, *sigh* Can I ask you all a question? What's the obsession with caffeine? I try to stay away from it unless it's in tea (I don't drink coffee) because from 2000 to 2002, I was drinking upwards of one full case of coke, plus glasses of coke at work, as well as when I went out with friends, about every 3 - 4 days....
So I "woke up" one day and realized just how much coke I was drinking all the time, and decided to stop drinking Coke. And I did. And the first two weeks were absolute hell because I had a headache EVERY DAY the full two weeks, and it didn't register why. I later figured it out.
I've never touched Coke since, and whenever I do drink soda, it's usually diet, and caffeine free. The exception these past two weeks has been my purchase of a 36 case of Diet Pepsi (I never could stomach Diet Coke) from Costco. So far, in two weeks, I've only drank 18 of them. I'm rather proud of myself.
Anyway, so yeah, I was just curious why everyone seems to be on a caffeine kick for Nano.
As for music, I'll probably download a bunch of random CDs in addition to what I've already got stored on memory stick thingies. I'm too eclectic and moody to know what I'll feel like listening to at any given time. Though I have a feeling that I'm also going to be downloading my Audio CDs of The Return of the Native because it has Alan Rickman narrating, and along with my other soundbites that I have of him (plus the music video In Demand by Texas, also starring Alan Rickman), and the Sweeney Todd Soundtrack (just decided on this one right now). The ST soundtrack will be perfect for two reasons.... 1. It will help me keep the mood for my novel, because it will likely be just as bloody and tortureous (is that a word? I don't feel like looking it up, lol) as my novel will be, and 2. It has Alan Rickman speaking AND singing!
If anyone's wondering who Alan Rickman is, feel free to ask. I'll be more than happy to explain, but be warned.... I can talk about him forever!!!! In fact, I'll give a little snippet now.... He's good at playing bad, and he was on the cover of People Magazine in 1991, his voice is liquid chocolate sexy silk, and to his devoted/obsessed fans (of which I am a proud card carrying member!) he is sexy as all hell!
----------___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
52,055 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2008 - 06 50
You don't understand the obsession with caffeine? *scratches head* You were addicted to Coke, right?
Personally, I enjoy coffee. I usually drink one to two cups a day, and sometimes three, but rarely more than that. I love the effect of the caffeine in the morning and early afternoon--my cutoff for coffee on "school nights" is 5 PM--and I simply love the taste of caffeinated coffee. Decaf just does not taste the same to me.
Coffee is warm in the winter, cold in the summer, inviting, and tastes great. I crave the taste of coffee in the morning, and I can't start my day without it. I look forward to Friday and Saturday nights, in part because I can extend my coffee curfew until 9 PM, since I don't have to go to bed at any particular time on those nights.
Coffee goes well with novels, whether I'm reading them or writing them. It goes well with board games and chats and snuggles with significant others. It's very nice after a meal with lots of spices--Indian food, Mexican, or Italian. It clears the palate and makes me feel all warm inside.
Maybe I am in denial, but I really don't think I am all that obsessed with coffee. I just really like it. It's a semi-obsession, I'd say.
----------NaNo 2008: Heidi's List
NaNo 2007: Legacy (part one)
NaNo 2006: Looking for Carmen
NaNo 2005: (Untitled 100,000-word monsterpiece)
53,261 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2008 - 10 47
Honestly, I would probably die if I tried to give up caffeine cold turkey. I go through probably a two-liter worth of Dr. Pepper a day I bet. I know it seems like we're always bringing a fresh bottle up from the basement :) I've tried cutting back but there really isn't much out there I can stomach that isn't Dr. Pepper or another cola product. So really, NaNo for me is just a slight increase in intake. *shrug*
Oh and I love Alan Rickman! Ever since I first saw him in Galaxy Quest :) and then I was ecstatic to see him in the Harry Potter movies (no one could play Snape better!). But my fave's gotta be his Marvin the manically depressed robot from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ;)
~MJ~
----------http://knitchick1979.livejournal.com
1,466 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2008 - 07 17
I'm totally new to this, so I'm not sure what's going to work best for me. Caffeine and complete silence worked for writing research papers in grad school. Definitely no Internet; that is my biggest distraction. We don't have a TV at home and my husband is really busy, so I'll have a quiet house to myself most of the month. I don't live close to a university or I'd head over to the library. Also, there's no Starbucks close by. :(
50,034 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2008 - 09 11
Caffeine is cheaper than ritalin. That's all I have to say.
I have ADD so I don't think some of my strategies would work for everyone. Caffeine has a calming effect in moderate doses rather than a boosting effect. This is awesome for doing a lot of sitting work like writing a novel. There are other things that people with ADD often do to help them work.
- Loud music to drown out pesky background noise.
- Face a wall to prevent being distracted by sudden movements in the corner of my eye.
- Go some place where there is no TV, books, nagging girlfriends, or other distractions. Possibly the library or a quiet, low traffic coffee shop.
- Get responsibilities out of the way before writing. It's tough to concentrate when you have bills at the back of your mind.
- Wear comfortable clothing that doesn't rub you the wrong way. The worst thing is to get distracted by a part of your shirt that is too tight around the armpits.
2,805 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2008 - 14 33
2) A dog who does not need to be going outside every 10 minutes. Preferably, she's zonked out of the couch.
...
For a second there, I thought I was reading my own list! So true, especially #2. :-\