The One in Which Jez Announces a Winner & Talks About Writing
First off, I should announce the winner of the Nerdwriters Trick-or-Treat contest! I didn't get nearly as many responses as I had hoped, but oh well, I am thankful to those who did participate. The winner is rolandflakfizer, our self-proclaimed #1 fan! Congrats Joe, you get to pick the punishment for Gaby. She was the one who did not post last week (for shame!).
The order was:
Monday - Hilary
Tuesday - Toni
Wednesday - Jenny (Yup, our little monkey wrench)
Thursday - Jez (Yeah, I got to impersonate Toni again, but I was scheduled to write Hilary's.)
So, Joe, once you figure out a punishment for Gabs, let us know! I think you, more than anyone, knows how to contact a nerdwriter, so take your pick of how you want to go about it.
Now, moving on. Today is the 3rd day of NaNoWriMo and I am sitting here at 5731 words. That sounds like a lot, especially considering the goal for today is 5000, but I have only written 318 words today. And I wrote less than 2000 yesterday. My first day was amazing, like, I was a rockstar. Yesterday and today have not been quite as fabulous, unfortunately. But I shall persevere! So, here's a little bit of advice that I have found helpful in my three years of NaNo, hopefully they will help you too.
This is not a first draft, this is your zero draft. This one comes to us from the lovely Justine Larbalestier* who tells us that your "first" draft is going to be absolute rubbish. It's going to suck, and you need to realize that going in. Don't think of it as a first draft, leave that for edits or rewrites (depending on your preference, mine lies in complete rewrites). This is just to get the ideas down, get the words out, and find a place to start from. John Green seems to echo this idea, by saying in this video on Sunday that this run-through is like digging the clay out of the ground, while the rest of the writing process is taking that clay and making something of it (I don't think he ever meant for someone to quote him on that, sorry John!). I know a few people doing NaNo this year who need to realize this if they are going to finish.
It's not about quality, it's about quantity This goes hand-in-hand with the above statement. Don't worry about whether or not it's bad, just write it. Keep writing & don't stop.
Keep at it This is the #1 thing, just keep writing, no matter what.
There is no tomorrow there is only now. If you keep putting it off until tomorrow, pretty soon it'll be 30 November and you'll still be sitting at 2000 words. NaNo doesn't work like that, you don't write an entire novel over night. It's an every day process, so make it one. Make it a habit. This, I think, is great for people who plan to write outside of NaNo because in December, they might still keep that habit. I'm going to try, anyway.
A little competition is healthy for you. That's what NaNo is, essentially, it's a competition. See who can reach 50,000 words by the end of the month and who can't. Now that isn't to say that you can't have smaller competitions either. Race each other (that's what I'm doing...I just haven't told my competitor yet), see who can write more words in a day, or better yet, have word wars. What's a word war? You set the clock for a specific amount of time and then you take off writing. Whoever has the most words at the end of that time wins. You might even consider making them themed, that was how a lot of my good ideas came out in my 2006 NaNo. Give the other writers a theme to write about, or an object/line/character to fit in somehow. You are allowed to ignore the theme, but sometimes they help you come up with ideas & avoid writer's block.
Stay on task this is not the same as keep at it. This one means no twitter, no tumblr, no LJ, no messengers (well, maybe messengers, it depends on the person), no tv, no constant checking of email, no watching a movie or The Guild** or Grey's Anatomy***, or vacuuming your cat. That doesn't put words on the page, and you have all of December for those.
Well, I need to get back to writing now, as today is my mostly free day. I somewhat look forward to this weekend because I will have so much free time, but then again, who knows how much I will be able to write after the surgery on my teeth? (Yup, that's Friday) Of course, I can't wait for that, my teeth are killing me. 3 more days!
Toni, GET WRITING YOUNG LADY.
Jenny, I am glad you decided to do the full NaNo after all! GOOD LUCK I know you can do this!
*who I really wish I were able to see tonight or tomorrow since she's in the area, but alas, I cannot.
** You know who you are :P
***Okay, that one is me.
1. What is your tip for those trying to stick to a habit (not just NaNo)?
2. What is your number one biggest distraction? Mine is twitter, followed by Grey's Anatomy season 4.
3. How many mentions does a potato really need?
4. How would you describe an airplane to someone who has never seen one before?
5. What's your view on the Eggo shortage?
The order was:
Monday - Hilary
Tuesday - Toni
Wednesday - Jenny (Yup, our little monkey wrench)
Thursday - Jez (Yeah, I got to impersonate Toni again, but I was scheduled to write Hilary's.)
So, Joe, once you figure out a punishment for Gabs, let us know! I think you, more than anyone, knows how to contact a nerdwriter, so take your pick of how you want to go about it.
Now, moving on. Today is the 3rd day of NaNoWriMo and I am sitting here at 5731 words. That sounds like a lot, especially considering the goal for today is 5000, but I have only written 318 words today. And I wrote less than 2000 yesterday. My first day was amazing, like, I was a rockstar. Yesterday and today have not been quite as fabulous, unfortunately. But I shall persevere! So, here's a little bit of advice that I have found helpful in my three years of NaNo, hopefully they will help you too.
This is not a first draft, this is your zero draft. This one comes to us from the lovely Justine Larbalestier* who tells us that your "first" draft is going to be absolute rubbish. It's going to suck, and you need to realize that going in. Don't think of it as a first draft, leave that for edits or rewrites (depending on your preference, mine lies in complete rewrites). This is just to get the ideas down, get the words out, and find a place to start from. John Green seems to echo this idea, by saying in this video on Sunday that this run-through is like digging the clay out of the ground, while the rest of the writing process is taking that clay and making something of it (I don't think he ever meant for someone to quote him on that, sorry John!). I know a few people doing NaNo this year who need to realize this if they are going to finish.
It's not about quality, it's about quantity This goes hand-in-hand with the above statement. Don't worry about whether or not it's bad, just write it. Keep writing & don't stop.
Keep at it This is the #1 thing, just keep writing, no matter what.
There is no tomorrow there is only now. If you keep putting it off until tomorrow, pretty soon it'll be 30 November and you'll still be sitting at 2000 words. NaNo doesn't work like that, you don't write an entire novel over night. It's an every day process, so make it one. Make it a habit. This, I think, is great for people who plan to write outside of NaNo because in December, they might still keep that habit. I'm going to try, anyway.
A little competition is healthy for you. That's what NaNo is, essentially, it's a competition. See who can reach 50,000 words by the end of the month and who can't. Now that isn't to say that you can't have smaller competitions either. Race each other (that's what I'm doing...I just haven't told my competitor yet), see who can write more words in a day, or better yet, have word wars. What's a word war? You set the clock for a specific amount of time and then you take off writing. Whoever has the most words at the end of that time wins. You might even consider making them themed, that was how a lot of my good ideas came out in my 2006 NaNo. Give the other writers a theme to write about, or an object/line/character to fit in somehow. You are allowed to ignore the theme, but sometimes they help you come up with ideas & avoid writer's block.
Stay on task this is not the same as keep at it. This one means no twitter, no tumblr, no LJ, no messengers (well, maybe messengers, it depends on the person), no tv, no constant checking of email, no watching a movie or The Guild** or Grey's Anatomy***, or vacuuming your cat. That doesn't put words on the page, and you have all of December for those.
Well, I need to get back to writing now, as today is my mostly free day. I somewhat look forward to this weekend because I will have so much free time, but then again, who knows how much I will be able to write after the surgery on my teeth? (Yup, that's Friday) Of course, I can't wait for that, my teeth are killing me. 3 more days!
Toni, GET WRITING YOUNG LADY.
Jenny, I am glad you decided to do the full NaNo after all! GOOD LUCK I know you can do this!
*who I really wish I were able to see tonight or tomorrow since she's in the area, but alas, I cannot.
** You know who you are :P
***Okay, that one is me.
1. What is your tip for those trying to stick to a habit (not just NaNo)?
2. What is your number one biggest distraction? Mine is twitter, followed by Grey's Anatomy season 4.
3. How many mentions does a potato really need?
4. How would you describe an airplane to someone who has never seen one before?
5. What's your view on the Eggo shortage?