Jody's 2003 NaNoWriMo Blog

10.30.2003

Gave It a Little Thought 

I was thinking about the novel before bed last night. Specifically, I was trying to decide what type of novel to write. I think it would be smart to get that decision out of the way before I start to write.

I also decided that I'm going to aim for 10 Chapters. In the past, I just wrote and wrote to 50,000, and when I got there I was always in the middle of the novel, meaning to have a finished novel, I'd have to, well, finish it. And so far I haven't actually finished the two previous Nano Novels.

So this time, I'm going to outline 10 chapters (10 being fairly random - 5000 words per chapter sounded good) and I'm going to make sure chapter 10 actually ends the book. Even if a ton is missing prior to chapter 10, I will write chapter 10 and it will say "the end." I seem to recall in one spot in one of the previous novels I have the line "A lot of stuff happened between then and now that I'll talk about later" to cover a big leap (like a chapter's worth of stuff) between A and B that I just didn't have time to get into.


10.29.2003

Less Than 60 Hours 

Can you just smell the excitement in the air? I must confess, I don't know that I'm going to stay awake just so I can plunk a few words out. But I might - maybe I'll be so wound up from eating my son's Halloween candy that I won't be able to resist.

Couple of items I need to prepare:

  • A progress spreadsheet. I've used a notebook to keep track in the past - I don't know that it's better or worse than doing it on the computer. All I know is that one column contains the "where you should be if your pace is 1666 words a day" one contains your actual word count (I track by day - that way I can see when I've had a banner day), and the last (or third, if you're going to track more items) contains the "how many words I need to write to get back on pace". Or something like that. You get the idea. I'm all about the numbers for Nano.
  • My Word template. I can use the one for last year, but I still need to look it over. The header contains the chapter title on the left and the document word count on the right. The footer minimally contains the page number and the "last printed" date so that if I'm looking at a printout of page 120, I can kind of get the sense if it's the most recent printout by the date.

I don't stock up on special foods, although I know people who buy extra teas, or whatever they use for fuel. I tend to think that those folks may have more trouble producing than I do, as I try to fly through my 1666 words without worrying that I'm drinking the wrong beverage. But I don't begrudge people the tools they need to get the job done. I just don't need to stockpile.


10.28.2003

Commenting Added 

If I did everything correctly, you should now be able to comment on posts. I can't vouch for the way things will look, but it's better than a kick in the head with a pointy-toed shoe.

[update: yep!]


First or Third Person? 

Okay, this is getting silly. It's my third time participating in NaNoWriMo, and the third time I've had to face the "do I write in first or third person" question. And the third time I just don't know. There are pros and cons to each, but let's look at what's important: which one is going to help the word flow for the 30 days of Nano? In the past, I've actually switched midstream (and I believe, switched back, I'll have to check). I thought one might be better than the other. With first person, stream of conscious rambling is a gimme. It IS easier to write when YOU are the main character. However, everything else has to be from that person's POV. With 3rd person, you can jump around into the heads of other characters, be omniscient, and really, that can be SO much easier. You don't have to explain things in the voice of any particular character, or force dialog just to explain things. Another bonus is that the reader isn't put into a position where he or she has to identify with the protagonist (if, for instance, you end up with a not-so-likeable character.)

I think writing in the 1st person is great, don't get me wrong, but it did raise problems when your main goal is spewing out 1666 words a day, 50,000 words in a single month. Anything that bogged me down at all, any bumps that I needed to work through, would just KILL my productivity. And that's not good in Nano-land.


10.22.2003

Twiddling My Thumbs 

[Update: I did verify on the NaNo site that you can make notes and outlines, but not a single word of the novel text, or anything previously written can be used. I know one person using Nano to "finish" something already started, and that ticks me off to no end. Do NOT say you are participating if you aren't following the rules. Then again, I'm a purist who says you shouldn't be able to write notes or outlines either. That's all part of the writing process, and should have to be done during the 30 day time limit. But it's not my contest.]

Man, I am just SO READY to get started. I don't want to start writing anything else right now, because the rules of the competition are that you not even think about this until one second after midnight on November 1st. I have read on at least one website out there that someone who is participating has starting doing some pre-work, and I had to bite my tongue to not point out to her that she's really not supposed to do that. But I'm not the NaNoWriMo police. If she's comfortable bending the rules, fine. We'll all know that she couldn't do it, though. She couldn't write a novel during the month of November, because she started early.


10.6.2003

I Wish it Was November Already 

Why can't I ever write anything unless I'm taking part in Nanowrimo? It makes no sense!

I'm going to use this page to test out some alternative commenting software. We'll see how it goes.


10.1.2003

It's Almost That Time Again 

31 Day countdown is on to NaNoWriMo 2003. And yes, I'm already signed up! Woo!